All good things must come to an end..

As we come to the end of an incredible adventure I have to reflect back on what we did and how we made such a difference in the lives of five families.
Yesterday morning, after a very short sleep, we were up to pack and head to $the site for the dedication of the five homes. It was a nice ending, albeit very hot. Since we donated our shoes and sunscreen and our hats were packed, it made for a really long celebration. Leandro and Carlos were very thankful and gracious. Leandro's parents and brother were there as well as a representatives from the Minister of Housing and the US Ambassador's office. We all received a "suitable for framing" certificate of appreciation plus a piece of Paraguaian lace. Leandro and Carlos also made us a montage of the music we listened to on the job site. We were some mad, dancing gringos so we are anxious to listen to what is on it.

After our happy/sad tears, we said good-bye and headed back to the airport to go to Buenos Aires.

A real bus met our group with a real guide! She gave us a lot of important information about how to stay safe while enjoying the city. She was also going to take us on a city bus tour today. Caused a bit of a ruckus when I told the tour guide that we only needed one map as Ann and I were a "couple". She told us all about how liberal Argentina was and gay marriage was perfectly fine. We did set her straight later today.

We stayed at the Hotel de las Americas and it was a real hotel with real beds, a TV and a private bathroom. Paradise. Since Argentinians have a more relaxed lifestyle, they don't eat until at least 8:30. So off we went to do a little shopping. Since I packed exactly according to the packing list, I ran out of clean clothes and had nothing to wear suitable for dinner in BA. Upon recommendation from Silvina, we went to a very cosmopolitan mall. The mall was filled with great boutique stores but each store had only one size of each item and few of the sizes were mine. After two hours I over-paid for a shirt and decided to wear one of two pairs of Ann's last clean pants.

After a quick shower, Ann, Stefka, Julieanne, Brad, Ryan, Melissa and I ventured out to Puerto Soho in the northeast part of the city for dinner. We enjoyed an excellent Steak and salad (not a great choice) and some nice Argentine wine. After dinner we ventured out to an Armenian dance club, where several hundred couples danced the tango and samba. Those latin women, with their double jointed hips, had the most shapely bodies. We did not dance but thoroughly enjoyed watching. Arriving back to the hotel at 2-ish am, we met up with some 15 year old English speaking Argentine girls, drinking beer and ready to party. They told us their curfew was 6 am. Not ever in my house.

We were out and about early to finish souvenir shopping. Regretfully the previous evening's dinner played havoc with our plans and we had to skip the tour.

So now we are at the airport, ready to board. We'll be in Dallas by early morning and in Denver before noon.

Hard to believe that this is over. We've planned for a year and it was so worth it. My life has been enriched by this experience and the 40 new friends I've made, and the five families lives I've helped to change. So this is it for now. Tomorrow I'll write more, but from Denver. Thanks to all of you who followed my journey. Pictures with follow soon.

Love to all,
Karen

Last Day

Wow, hard to believe that yesterday was our final building day! We lost four people from our team (2 sick, 1 accompanying a sickee to the hospital and one who was manning the magic digging machine).  Plus our beloved masons were also ill because they drank water from the on-site hose.  Therefore those on site had to work super hard, and we did.

We kept digging in the septic hole, hauling out dirt in bucket via a rope.  We finally reached the required depth and began to brick the inside.  We also hauled up/handed up ceiling and roof tiles to masons, mixed and carried mortar and cement, cleaned the interior and exterior site, etc.  Needless to say, we were suburned, exhausted and sore.

Last night Habitat Paraguay had a celebration and thank you ceremony in town at a beautiful mall - in the food court.  Entertainment, dancing, beer in towers, etc.  They kicked off the five day build a week ago and finished today.  We´ve had tremendous press coverage - front page last Monday.  We finished the evening at a dance club, hosted by the families and our military friends.  Those of us who stayed till the end are looking a bit rough today.

Yesterday the Minister of Housing did come to the site, but toured other homes so everyone at my house missed him. So we are off to the final press event, then on to the airport for our flight to Buenos Aires.

Although our house was not fully complete, we know we made a significant contribution towards its completion.  Our masons were so thankful and greatful for our help.  As a show of  thanks to them, we all left our work boots for them.  Weird for us, awesome for them.

There is supposed to be lots of photos at www.habitat.org/py.  I have not checked there yet, but will do so soon.  Hopefully I can write more if the hotel has computers.

It was an incredible experience and one I will never forget.  We are already talking about where to go next.

Love,
Karen

Forgot an important thing

The backhoe that we were so excited about turned into a post-hole digger with a thin auger.  Not quite what we wanted but ended up getting two days for the price.  It is helping but not the be-all end-all that we had hoped.  Oh well.  It saved a few team members backs and arms.

Good night,
k.

I can´t feel my arms!!!

Today was an interesting and very productive day.  I was part of a group to meet the Minister of Housing (aka Secretary of Housing) for Paraguay. Senor Gerardo Eugenio Rolon Pose was much younger than I expected and also much more accessible that our friends at HUD.  I have never met Shaun Donovan but envision it would be more difficult that walking up two flights of stairs to meet him.  We endorsed our support of the Paraguay affiliate as well as spoke about our strong government/quai-government partnership with the affiliates in Colorado.  That was our role.  The Paraguay affiliate has entered into an agreement with the government to build 80 units for the indiginous people of the Chacao region (northern part of the state encompassing over 60% of the total land mass).  These individuals would be comparable to our Native Americans.  Most do not have education, skills or an ability to sustain themselves. A large Mennonite community donated the land and will teach the homeowners to become self-sufficient - including providing livestock, teaching them farming, etc.  The government has verbally committed to the project but to date has not delivered any $$$$.  Sound familiary???
We did end the meeting with the hope of the Secretary coming to the job site tomorrow afternoon.  We were psyched about that, as he brings media with him.  I do have some pix from our meeting today to share with Jerilynn and Rachel.

After our outing we returned to the job site. Although cooler today, we were "hot" to finish this house.  Everyday we learn/relearn a little more about our house and our family.  It seems that our family had already paid their downpayment to Habitat so Habitat hired these awesome masons for the build.  The other four families had not paid their downpayment so their contribution toward the home would be the payment to the masons.  So they contracted with a masonry cooperative - a group of masons working under the same business.  Consequently these inferior workers are producing inferior results both in quality and speed.  Our house/family/masons totally ROCK!!!  This is the perfect team for me -everything is a competition - to have the best house built the faster, as we are succeeding at that, so far.  I personally have found a way to satisfy my OCD niche - cleaning brick.  I do this for hours and I am very good at it.  No wonder Acora (and formerly Waltzie look so good - I can´t stop the incesssent brushing, scraping and wiping).  I was fortunate enough to work with Habitat Colorado´s Executive Director Stefka Fanchi to "raise" the first ceiling.  As a team, she placed terra cotta tongue and groove tiles on a stake that I raised up to an awaiting mason on the roof. The mason fitted the tiles together.  It was so cool to watch Carlos and Leandro see the room take shape.  She is a teacher but he is not a semi-pro soccer player as he told use but rather a third year Columbia law student studying family law.  And they are the hardest workers of all,

It has been a blessing for me to meet such wonderful people and to have a great team to work with and great homeowners to work for.  This is truly workforce housing at its finest.

We closed tonight with a board/Executive Director dinner.  Lots of US representation, but a little light on the Paraguay side.  The board president is 76 year old German immigrant who now has a 2000 cow dairy farm.  We enjoyed a wonderful Brazilian steakhouse dinner with plenty of meat.  Now we are entering a beef coma so that is all for now.

Stay warm and see you soon.
Love,
Karen

Weird day today

Greetings to all,
We awoke today to pouring rain - almost a monsoon.  The roof leaked in our dorm so my clothes that I was "storing" on the top bunk bed (as we have no closet) were soaked.  There were other building leaks too.  But we all got ready and went to the job site, just in case we were going to work.  As it turned out, there were no masons at the site and it was raining too hard to do anything.  So we piled into the vans and went into Ascuncion to take the tour today that was supposed to be tomorrow.  We went on a walking tour to several churches, a few government buildings and the walked around the Presidential Palace.  That was very interesting in that this beautiful building with the dictator and other key officials is literally open, except for the armed guards with AK-47s.  Their biggest concern is that we stepped on the grass.  Surrounding this building were the slums; actually more of shanty towns, loose pigs, dogs and many children.  No one seemed concerned that we walked around the building, on the helipad and took pictures.  Can´t quite imagine that in DC, can you CHFAians?  Stunning comparison with the slums around the buildings too.  The country has a quiet dictatorship, meaning that they elect a new dictator every five years, but for the past seven elections, they´ve elected the same guy.  Hmmm wonder if they like him or there are no other choices.  We did learn a lot about the people who live here.  At one point, in the late 1800´s following the war, there were only 80,000 men left, of which only 3,000 were not children or elderly.  There were 120,000 women, so each man got to have multiple wives.  The founding of polygamy, I guess.  And these women were also traded amongst men like possessions.  An interesting collectible.

The "natives" are restless in the Habitat group.  Some group members who have been on other global village trips are complaining that we don´t get enough cultural time,we aren´t eating indiginous foods and we have lousy lodging.  As I have nothing to compare it to, I keep quiet.  Additionally there are some side excursions for some Executive Directors to tour other Habitat sites, meet with prospective families and tomorrow, a meeting and luncheon with the Paraguay Minister of Housing.  I am supposed to go to that one, but not sure what value-add I will have.  We´ll see.

We did go back to the site later in the day and got the first beam up!  My team and our family are amazing. Tonight they cooked for us and had some music and dancing.  A very special night. My time is over on the computer so that´s it for today.  Love and miss you all,
Karen
xoxoxo

Day two update

Today was an amazing day. I am luck enough to be part of the best team.  Our house is farther finished than any others; we have a family who works daily next to us; and we have a great team with no egos and no one who is above doing any tasks.  Our family, Carlos and Leandro have been great.  Carlos is a semi-pro Bolivian soccer player; Leandro is a jkindergarden teacher.  They are out there working as hard as the team every day.  Additionally we have a group of five soldiers who are assisting us.  We originally thought that there were somehow connected to the family.  Wrong. They chose our family because our masons had the best tools and were the most organized.  And they are correct.  The foreman, Alberto, is amazing.  He keeps the workers and volunteers going.  He has taught us so much about concrete and brick work.  I am ready to bring his crew back to the US to fix our poorly constructed concrete.  Another big aha today regarded the hole digging for the septic system.  One hole needs to be 1meter; the other one 2.5meters.  We have the smaller of the two complete but the otheris killing every team.  So today, our team in their infiinite wisdom, decided to hire a backhoe/digger to get all the holes dug.  The Paraguay Habitat was concerned about the cost - $120 American $$$!  Seriously, we would have chipped in to BUY a backhoe rather than keep doing what we are doing.  So $5 a piece later we are ready to have mechanical assistance tomorrow.  More about that tomorrow.
So we are enjoying some giant $2 cervezas, thanks to Michele Gentry´s translation assistance.  And off to bed early for some rest.
More tomorrow,
Love Karen

Back at it today

Good morning,
6am came relatively unceremoniously for the group.Everyone is not quite as perky as they were yesterday morning. Lots of Advil at breakfast with our coffee and liquid yogurt. But overall, no one seems unable to work and is looking forward to finishing the hole digging today. We watched the Super Bowl until early in the second quarter when the dining area closed.  No other TVs on the group.  Regretfully the great ads were replaced by racy Spanish versions, which would have sent the FTC screaming. Odd to listen to the Spanish commentary too. So we had to wait till this morning to hear the final score.  Very overcast and humid today.  Luckily few mosquitos and no giant bugs or snakes - yet! Regretfully I am unable to post any pictures, although I have taken plenty.  Email has stopped working for me too, at least for now, so this is it.  Back to you all hopefully tonight. K

End of Day 1

Wow, what a day! We began construction on the five homes that are slated to be completed by Thursday. All are small, with a kitchen, bathroom, laundry sink, living area and a bedroom.  About the same size as Acora´s stall plus half of Skeeter´s stall.  They are all constructed of terra cotta blocks which are made locally. Their is a crew of seven +/- paid masons per house working with eight Habitat volunteers.  Carlos and Learndro (sp?) will be the homeowners. Leandro is a teacher, part of the cooperative of teachers who had the land donated to them.  The land, a beautiful walled area has a pool and will later have about 40 houses. A weathy second homeowner donated the land to Habitat. We hauled blocks, tarred roof tiles and dug holes for the septic system.  Needless to say, we are exhausted, but feeling very proud of  the work we did.  The families cook meals and provide snacks for their teams while at the worksite.  Mega carbs but yummy food.  We should have the walls complete tomorrow and start on the roof.  My team, mostly women and two men, were having a tough time with the holes.  However, we had several military men helping today (as the husband of one teacher is deployed) and one studly guy felt sorry for us and did some serious digging.  So now it is beer, dinner, and the Super Bowl (at least we hope).   So for the Packer fans and Tom, Tina and Nick, have some nachos and beer for me and go Packers!  Love to all, Karen

 Julianne our team leader meeting Leandro.

Carlos and Leandro.

We Made It Safe and Sound

Hi All,
The flights were uneventful, albeit 10+ hours long. We spent plenty of time in customs, lines getting into and out of countries.  They scan the luggage a lot but you take nothing off going through the security lines, take liquids through the xray and carry nothing if all our personal lives fit into a 1 qt plastic bag. The hotel is really more of a pretty summer canp. Ann and I are staying in a women´s type dorm. No frills but we did snag a table. No hangers, one towel for the week...Had a very informative orientation last night. 80000 teachers in Paraguay<, 95% literacy rate. Very enlightening after watching Waiting for Superman on the plane, a documentary about the US education system. We´re not doing something right.
Not sure if we can watch the Superbowl tonight.  Saw two TVs but none plugged in. Best go eat breakfast so as not to be late. Love to all, Karen

Just the other address

Group Blog Site

As an amateur blogger, I neglected to give you the full address of

I can't believe the time to go is finally here

It's nearly 12:30 am on February 4th - the departure day has finally arrived!  After a year of calendaring this trip, it finally struck me last night that Ann and I were really going to do this.  In my usual "I'll have time to do one more thing" fashion, I've put off packing until....tomorrow morning.  The bedroom chair is heaped with assorted clothes, worksite necessities and personal items. I'm not sure how to get all this into one small suitcase and a backpack.  I am envisioning being an upside down turtle when my backpack (which is supposed to contain 3 days of clothes and personal items in case our luggage gets lost) flips me over trying to dislodge it at the security checkpoint.  My hair products alone would fill the backpack!  I'll be working on packing in a few hours.

Our flight out of Denver is already delayed, as is the Dallas flight to Buenos Aires.  We'll have plenty of time to mingle with the other Super Bowl fans arriving for the big game ( GO PACKERS).  I've saved two Ambien for the flight there and back and looking forward to a deep and restful sleep.  Yeah, right.

Our hotel in Ascuncion was also changed today.  The previous hotel looked very nice and offered all the amenities that we could want.  This one may not be quite as nice, but we'll have to see.  Previous guests really loved it or really hated it.  More on that later.

I best close this note, continue working on laundry and try to sleep a little.  I will update as I can.  Also watch the group blog at http://partner

Preparing for the Journey of a Lifetime

Here I am, one week away from what I know will be the Journey of a Lifetime, travelling to Paraguay to work on a Habitat for Humanity home build project. Many of you have asked me to stay in touch during my experience. Please follow my travels as I write about them here throughout the trip.

Karen