"Pigmeat Roasting on an Open Fire..."

So, we missed everyone terribly over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Chris and I helped butcher a pig that weighed like 130 kilos. Chris helped clean the fat off the pig and we ate at about midnight on Christmas Eve. It was nice because we were able to meet Simon´s parents and brother who had come to visit them for the holidays. (Simon and Jessica are the closest volunteers nearest to us, and they are a married couple.) Then we were all treated to some of Jessica´s fabulous pies, including pecan, apple, and pumpkin and that was the highlight for me, personally. Thank you again, Jessica!!

The next day was pretty sad though because we had to walk the long, dusty, red road home to our little shanty and we were sad. We did laundry and ate rice and beans for dinner. I´m glad that Christmas is over and hope it´s the only one we have to be here for...
We are still trying to get the housing thing figured out and do not yet know whether we are going to build or rent. There is only one house that we have deemed acceptable for possible renting only because it´s close to a good family for security and has some land for growing a garden and planting trees and raising chickens. We would still have to make big improvements on this house as there is no water, no shade, and Chris can barely stand up in the doorway. But, we are still looking into building and I would love a new house made of brick. However, it´s expensive and we are afraid that it would take forever to get done, and we just cannot afford to wait three months to get out own place. I will die before then if I can´t get situated soon!
Otherwise, everyone here is really nice to us and we have no shortage of people who want to talk and feed us lunch. It´s of course super HOT here, nothing new. But we are going to buy a fan today to help combat the heat and that´s about all one can do, except for the occassional long walk to the stream which is too shallow to swim in anyway. There´s some pretty cool animals and insects here and the other day I found myself defending this thing that looked like an albino snake. It had eyes that were so small, I´m pretty sure they were vestigial and knew it could not see well. It had no teeth and was this pale white color. It was within an inch of being crushed by a big board held by a very small child, until I stepped in. They told me that it was a ¨bicho¨(pest, basically) and that I should not touch it. I told them that it could not see, had no teeth, and was scared and that I was going to take it away, which is what I did. I know it was a snake because I could feel it´s spine. This is what has basically happened to all the wildlife in the area. There are no monkeys, large lizards, capybara, or other large mammals left because they all have been eaten or are seen as pests. There are wild parrots here, but they are also commonly taken out of their nests for sale or to be kept as pets. It makes me really sad. I plan to do a lot of work in the school with Chris regarding animals and I hope that I can get the children to see that the animals in the environment are important too.

I suppose I should try and wrap things up here. We have found an internet place with Skype in Caaguazu, so we can now call people when we come in to town, about every 10 days. We miss everyone and hope that everyone celebrates the New Year safely and we send hugs and love to everyone. Chris and I will be cooking over our little charcoal burner and trying to stay cool with our new fan. We will also be thinking about you all with your snow and cold weather and good food and drink. Wish we were there!!

Jill, hope you have someone to celebrate the New Year with in Ireland, and I miss you very much!

Also, Congratulations to Corey and his new bride, Jillian. We look forward to meeting her and hope you have safe travels when you are out and about wherever you are. Much happiness to the both of you!

Signing off for now,
The Updikes