Truck shopping

The process of shopping for a truck here in Paraguay is a little different than in the US. Typically we would either buy used and go directly to someone's house to look at the vehicle, or go to a dealership and just take whatever you want out for a test drive. This week I have spent a lot of time looking at vehicles. When you go to a car lot, many times the person selling cars only has a few on a their lot, but often they know of other cars that are for sale. We were at one lot and they didn't have anything we were interested in, but the salesman knew of someone selling a car that might be of interest to us. So he got in the car with us and we drove 30 minutes or so to downtown Asuncion where this man was working who was selling his car. He came out to the parking lot and we took his car out for a drive. That one I wasn't convinced was in good shape. The next day, the same guy called us and told us of another truck he knew of that was for sale. So we picked him up and then drove to a neighborhood about 15 minutes away. When we got there, we found out we were picking up another guy, but the first guy didn't know where his house was at. After finding the house, the second guy got in with us and we drove about another 45 minutes out of town to another small car lot which was totally unrelated to the lot where the salesman guiding us worked. We finally got there and took the truck out for a test drive. We made it about a block in the truck before it ran out of diesel. We sat and waited while the first salesman walked to a gas station. Another place we stopped and looked at a truck that looked very promising. Low mileage, no damage, and good looking interior and undercarriage. We took it out for a test drive and everything sounded good... until we tried to put it in 4wd. I tried and could not get it to work. The salesman got from the back into the front and tried and tried to get it into 4wd without any success. He then asked if we really needed 4wd. We we said yes, he paused and said, "look it has an electric cooler to keep your drinks cold." Well played with the sleight of hand my good man. So we keep looking. We have one that we are seriously interested in. We took it to a mechanic and his only concern was the clutch. The mileage seems low and the mechanic said it could have been altered but there is really no way of telling. It also has definitely seen use out in the country, which is much harder on vehicles. So we continue praying that God will give us wisdom in the decision. It is more than we have ever spent on a vehicle before, and for an older vehicle than we have ever bought. Here is a little video of some of the roads around here to give you and idea of why it is important we have a sturdy 4wd vehicle.

Road to Yuty from 5Larrabees on Vimeo.

Some differences

Different friends

These are the older girls.  I think they are people watching.

These are most of the older boys.  As you can see there are more boys.

Different flowers

Different ways of doing things
 

A very different way of packing, up as high as possible.

This family is selling manioc on the back of their oxen cart.  

This is a common toilet tank.  Just pull down on the string.

With this toilet you pull up with the little knob on the tank to flush.

Different foods

Here we are making the dough for Chipa.  A bread with manioc flower, cheese, and anise seed.

Here Gabby is roasting the Chipa dough over the fire, using the end of a broom stick.

Among all the differences we know, "I the LORD do not change." Malachi 3:6  

Praise God that He is the anchor that holds us steady when the world swirls around us.

Two for one sale on bananas

Homestay in Yuty

We spent the last week with a Paraguayan family in Yuty.  Christian, Rosita, Claudio, Christian Jr, and Carlitos.  This picture was taken at Rosita's family's farm a short distance out of town.

This was the view from the front porch of our house.

In Gabby's defense, this picture was taken very early in the morning as we were packing up.  We were actually sleeping in a house next door to our host family's house.  The owners are working in Argentina and our host family watches the house.  It was nice to have our own space when we were worn out from speaking Spanish.

The kids all shared one bedroom and had to take turns sleeping on the floor because they only had two beds.

We all agreed that the bathroom was the most difficult thing for us.  You will notice there are electrical wires going to the shower head for the on-demand water heater, affectionately known as "the widow maker".  I was nervous every time I turned it on.  The shower head just sprays all over the bathroom and drains to the a hole in the corner.

The girls made clothes for their stuffed animals out of leaves from the mango tree.  They then got lemons off the tree and made a tea party with the help of the broken drinking glass they found out back.

On Sunday we all went over to Rosita's sister's house and watched the World Cup final.

They also took us over to Rosita's parents' house for lunch.  We had grilled lamb.

On our way down to Yuty we stopped at our colleagues' house and Gabby really enjoyed their dogs and 1 week old calf.

Driving to Yuty

Flooded town in Paraguay

DSCN4549 from 5Larrabees on Vimeo.

We took a little boat ride across the Paraguay river to see a town which has been flooded for over a month. Many of the people who have been displaced are living in shacks in downtown Asuncion.

Arrival

All of our baggage made it.  Some a little worse for the wear.  This one was the worst.  About half of them had some damage.  We enjoyed the irony of the "Unbreakable,  Lifetime Warranty" stickers on all of them.

The kids making new friends and playing on the playground at the guesthouse.