Pictures of Food :)

I decided that I would put some pictures that we have of different foods here in Paraguay. Hopefully, you will enjoy the pictures. For some of these pictures, we want to thank the team that came down from Oregon for taking them for us and allowing us to use them to show life in Paraguay.

This is very common to see. Many people sell chipa on the streets and highways. Some cities are known for making really good chipa. It's bread with cheese mixed in to the dough.
This is a pretty common lunch after church service in Paraguay. I forget the term in Spanish that they use, but it is basically a way to get together, eat spaghetti with big chunks of meat and bread, and chat. I think we call that "fellowship" or "afterglow" in the States.
Yes, we have ice cream, and it is good. It doesn't cost much, either. We can get cones with three flavors for a little more than a dollar. That is the price for the large cone. The small cone with two flavors is 60 cents or so.
At a church in Aregua, the children all get a snack and milk or juice after the service. They can't wait to get their two cookies and glass of juice.
Now, you may look at this and wonder what this has to do with food. This is a picture from Chaz' birthday. This is a thermos and "mug" for drinking TERERÉ, an herbal tea that everyone drinks. They say that it cools off your body, but it doesn't help me (at least not yet). Everytime I drink it, I have to go to the bathroom more. It has a lot of caffeine and other herbs in it. To me, it looks like someone picked a handful of grass, put it in a mug, added water, and drank it. Oh well, when in Rome.... No, it's not that bad. I can handle it. The hardest thing to get over is the sharing. We drink it through a metal straw with a sieve (sp?) on the end, and everyone passes it around. So, you would have to get over the fear of drinking after someone else. I really believe this is the reason that many people stay ill all winter long. When one person in the family is ill, the rest seem to get ill later. I wonder why.Here is another picture of Chaz. Now, I absolutely love this place. It is an open air place that serves meat on a stick. Chaz has given it the name: "the Stick Place." You can order steak, chicken, sausage, pork, cheese, garlic bread, and other meats. It comes out on small skewers. It is well-seasoned and usually grilled to perfection. They don't cook it until you order it. The best part is that each "stick" costs 2,000 Guaranies (about 50 cents or a little less). We can eat at this restaurant for less than 20 bucks! I love it, and so does our budget!
Okay, here is something that is very popular here. It is called either Sopa Paraguaya or Chipa Guazu. To be honest, Sherry is not here beside me as I am typing this, and I can't remember which it is. Either one is really good. Both are eaten at most of the meals in the home and especially in restaurants. Our first night here, we ate this. It's not too bad, but I am not a big bread person. I figure why waste space on bread when you can fill it with meat :)

I guess I don't have pictures of the meat here. There are great, cheap steak houses here that we enjoy. Sometimes, it is cheaper to eat out than to buy groceries because most of the restaurants are "all you can eat", and if we bought that amount of food every time, it would really add up.

Hey, if you have any questions, or just want to chat, drop us a comment or an email. We would love to hear from you.

Blessings,

Charley

Windshield Washers

Here, in the capital city of Paraguay, there are thousands of kids trying to get as much money as they can in order to eat. Well, that is what they tell everyone who gives them money. Many of them are like the two young girls pictured here. They buy these tools to wash your window. I remember how easy it was to pull up to a gas station, get out and start filling up the car, go to the bucket, and pull out the window cleaner to wash and clean the windshield. Here, many kids and some adults have taken this easy job in the States as their personal job. Most people give them from 300 to 500 Guaranies (about 10 cents). Can you imagine how many windshields that would take to buy a happy meal?

The other day, I was driving downtown when two men jumped up from the curb and just started washing my windshield without asking for permission. I don't really like that. I don't mind letting them wash the windshield. All they had to do was ask permission. These two "gentleman" were very forceful, and they wouldn't take no for an answer. I am the "owner" of our vehicle (technically, Speed-the-Light owns it, but they didn't know that). Anyway, they wouldn't listen to the owner, and they went ahead and washed the windshield. So, I gave them the going rate, on the lower end. I gave them 300 Guaranies.

A few days later, I pulled up to an intersection. Two young men asked to watch my windshield. I allowed them to do it because they asked. I gave them my permission, and when they were done, I gave them each 1,000 Guaranies (about 25 cents). I felt more generous when I, as the "owner," was given the opportunity to allow them to wash the windshield of my vehicle.

As I thought more about this, I wondered what God thinks when we just go ahead and do something without asking His permission. I learned, durning our itineration, that I can do nothing with Him. We could not raise the support we needed without His help. In fact, once I gave it all to Him, our support cam in and we left for the mission field. I am still learning to trust Him, completely, with everything. It's kind of like the windshield washers. Most of the time, if they would just ask the OWNER, He would provide. 

I haven't studied doctrine enough to know if this is true or not. This is just my thoughts, but I was just wondering. How much more would God bless us if we did the things He asked us to do? You know, love God, love others (especially, our brothers and sisters in Christ). How much more can God bless us when we do things with His permission? I believe that when we do the things that God allows us to do, the end result will always be better than if we just go head and do something without His permission.

Blessings to all,

Charley