GOOD-BYES are TOUGH

July 2-5

July 2^nd didn’t exactly go as planned.  We had hoped to leave Jataity at 7:00AM after all the T.I.M.E inters said a teary good-bye to their host family.  We were going to meet the Bakers (our newest team mates) in Villaricca and caravan with them to Argentina.  Estimated arrival time: 3:00.  

 However, as the last intern was stepping into the van, a man told Jeff that our rear tire was wobbly.  Jeff noticed five broken lug nots.  We drove slowly to the next town (50km away) and pulled into a mechanic’s shop.  We waited for 2 ½ hours and were, praise God, on our way again.

 Truth be told, we always have major car problems, so we were glad to get it out of the way early.  It was too late to meet up with the Bakers and too late to catch the ferry to Argentina, but we’d just go through Brazil and arrive in Argentina middle of the night.

However, an hour from the Paraguay/Brazil/Argentina boarder the van just stopped.  We sat on the side of the road from 6:00 to 8:30 while Jeff tried to trouble shoot with no success and then the mechanic tried to trouble shoot the problem with no success.  Finally, we were towed to a German hotel for the night.  The manager was kind enough to order hamburgers for us at 10:00.

 July 3

Bad news on the van: it will be “stuck” at the mechanic’s shop in the town it broken down in for a week.  Jeff had to hire a driver to take us to the Brazil side of the waterfalls.  It was a beautiful day.  The waterfalls are breath-taking.

July 4^th

At 9:00 we flagged down a public bus and headed to Asuncion.  We made great timing and even had time for souvenir shopping that afternoon. 

 That evening we had an asado to celebrate Independence Day.

 Jeff, as normal, blew up fruit and set off the loudest firecrackers.

I got a text from Ryan saying that he went to Wal-mart and bought vegetable to blow up.  Like father, like son.  Boy, I sure miss that guy!

 However, the evening ended on a bit of a sour note….but you’ll have to ask Jeff about that.

July 5

We said a tearful good-bye to the interns.  During these past 6 weeks they battled no water, cold showers, strange food, freeze weather, illness, car break downs and a language barrier...and they did it all with laughter and smiles. It is always tough to see our interns leave but we are so excited to see how God uses their time in Paraguay to help mold them into the Christian health care professional he has called them to be.