Paraguay, Days 10-12 (Monday-Tuesday)

Oh my goodness, this has been a full couple of days! Sunday night's service was wonderful, pretty much a carbon copy of the morning service. The church presented us with gifts to thank us for the work we had done. After the service, we ended up spending quite a bit of time saying goodbye to our new friends. Patricia, a friend of Kelly's, took us all into a back room and sang part of a song from Phantom of the Opera that she will be singing Wednesday as a requirement for her university training. She has a fantastic voice, and I wouldn't be surprised if she becomes a pro.

Monday, we got up really early (2:30 AM) to drive across Paraguay to Brazil. Armando drove us, while we slept. We passed termite hills, and a whole lot of countryside. We visited the largest dam in the world, and the accompanying largest hydroelectric plant, at Itaipu. It is 14 km up the Parana River, from the crossing of the border between Paraguay and Brazil.

Crossing over to Brazil is quite an adventure. The Paraguay side is somewhat of a wild west, and the actual bridge is no man's land. We had to keep the windows locked, and everything valuable looking hidden. Although traffic crawled across the bridge, we had no incidents. Once safely into Brazil, we went shoe shopping. The ladies all got shoes, the guys enjoyed the scenery in Brazil.

After lunch, we headed north to Iguacu Falls, which really does place Niagara a distant second. It is beautiful. David, Aaron, and I were going to do a boat ride to the falls, but it was cold, wet, and the $80 discouraged us. Still, it was fantastic.

In the evening we went to dinner at a place that features the dances of Latin America. It was pretty showy, but gave us a good taste of the cultures here. The people of these countries are proud of their heritage, and rightfully so. I will say that I enjoyed the Paraguayan dance the most.

This morning (Tuesday), we went to a bird park with some of the best aviaries I have ever been in. Lot's of parrots, macaws, and many other kinds of birds. I have some pictures of a toucan, which thought my camera might be good to eat. He couldn't bite that hard, so I let him have my finger. Now I have a toucan bite on my thumb. It actually drew blood. Way cool!

On the way home, we went to Big, which is the Walmart operation in Brazil. Cheap prices, lots of products, and a great place for Brenda to get some groceries. I bought a USB cable there for 2 bucks. It costs $40 at the Radio Shack here in Paraguay. Unfortunately, it didn't fix the scanner I brought Brenda, so I'll have to take it back home and return it.

This will be my last blog from Paraguay. We leave for home tomorrow. This has been a wonderful time, learning from the Lord about our brothers and sisters here in Paraguay, learning about ourselves, and experiencing God. It's going to be hard to leave, but good to get home. Thanks for praying.

Ciao.