ORDERING PARAGUAYAN STYLE

FISH
We ordered fish for the first time and this is how it came! At least it was already dead! It is called Surubi and it has a good flavor.




PORK
When we order pork, this is how it comes. Then we have to play butcher and cut the meat off the bone. Pork is the cheapest meat option around here because everyone raises pigs. Thankfully we all love pork (Ginny is a BIG meat eater!) and I have converted several of our chicken and beef recipes into pork recipes. Our guests asked if it was hard to butcher a pig. Jeff’s reply, “Anyone can butcher anything if they put their mind to it. It’s not like brain surgery.”

Ginny LOVES pork and doesn't let the fact that she has been missing her front teeth for over a year now stop her from eating.


(The other things we make our guest do...help carve pork and try local foods)


We sometimes order a whole (baby) pig to put on the grill.

ENROLLADO

This is something we don’t order. This was given to us by a thankful patient. It is pig parts wrapped in (hairy) pig skin. It is tied with a sting and then boiled. It has a very chewy, interesting taste. I’ll just make you think we are good missionaries and ate it all up with smiles on our faces....I won’t tell you what I made for a “back-up” meal.

BLOOD SAUSAGE
We don’t order this either, but another patient blessed us with this. It is blood sausage and it is made with pig parts, fat, and blood mixed together and stuffed in the intestine. My kids actually love this, but we adults have a hard time swallowing it!

OH! THE THINGS I MAKE MY GUESTS DO!

Sunday, November 14, 2010



This is Ailsa, a doctor from South Africa. She stayed with us this past week. When she planned her 6 month long South American tour, she hoped to visit her high school friends (and our team mates) in Paraguay. However, our team mates’ plans changed (as missionary plans tend to do) and they went home on furlough. We are so glad that Ailsa decided to stop in Paraguay anyway. She was fun to have around. They kids enjoyed making paper with her. She painted Jeff a new sign with his hours of attention. She went to bible studies and visiting with us. She spent some time with Jeff in the mobile clinic and did a few house calls with him. And she even wrestled a pig with me at 2AM. Please be praying for Ailsa as she still has a month of travels before heading back to South Africa. When she gets back, she will be specializing in surgery and then......we’re praying that she finds her way back to the mission field.



This is Katie. She spent the weekend with us. The SIM school in Villarrica is always needing English teachers and last year Katie spent a few weeks teaching as part of an internship with her university. She liked Paraguay so much that she came back to teach again (and that isn’t even her degree). We were glad to have her spent some time with us out in the boon-docks. Please pray for Katie as she finishes her time in Paraguay. She is unsure of where the Lord will have her serve next (or perhaps there’s more schooling in her future).


Saturday morning I answered the phone and a panicky voice asked for the doctor. Her uncle wouldn’t wake up and they needed Jeff to come over immediately. Jeff went over, but it was too late. The man had died (of probably a massive stroke). Jeff was asked to embalm the body (first time for that request). He politely told them that he didn’t learn that in medical school.

Mid-morning I took my guest for a walking tour of San Francisco. Our first stop was to pay our respects to the family of the man who died (and who Jeff wouldn’t embalm). It is never easy to see a dead guy on a table.

OH THE THINGS I MAKE MY GUESTS DO!

While we were out, we decided to buy to pigs. These pigs weren’t for eating (just yet), but rather as pets for Ginny. Katie and Alisla carried them home.


OH THE THINGS I MAKE MY GUESTS DO!






Saturday morning at 2AM I was abruptly awakened by a high pitched squeal right outside my window. I knew immediately that our (sweet, loving, wonderful, friendly) dog was trying to kill the baby pig. Sure enough, when I walked outside, the pig somehow got out of his pen and was trembling under the car with Lady pacing back and forth licking her chops. Knowing my limitations – that I couldn’t catch the pig alone – I woke up Ailsa (she was rather fond of the pigs) to help. We spent about a half hour on our hands and knees on the dewy grass trying to corner the little guy. Finally, Ailsa stalked him from behind and......grabbed his back leg. It was awesome! The poor thing squealed and squealed and squealed. I am pretty sure he woke up all of San Francisco. We delivered the pig to his pen and barred the gate shut (our dog had somehow opened the locking devise).

OH THE THINGS I MAKE MY GUESTS DO!

HELLO

Every culture has different ways of greeting people. I thought I’d share a few of the greetings Paraguayans use.

1. “Hola” is pretty straight forward and used in many Latin American cultures.

2. “Adios! is said when passing by someone (which seems funny to me). Actually, the “s” is dropped so the word sounds more like “Adio!” Paraguayans shorten the word even more to just “O!”

3. “Nde Guapa?” is used like we would say, “How are you?” and literally means, “Are you hard working?” I think it is a pretty cool question. The implication is that if you are hard working, you are healthy and if you are healthy, you are doing ok.

4. “Mba’éichapa?” is “how are you” in Gurani.

5. “Nde gorda” is not a question, but a statement which means, “You’re fat.” Paraguayans don’t have a problem describing someone as being fat (even to their face). It just isn’t taboo like it is in the US. If someone is fat, then they are seen as being healthy. I don’t think I’d ever be comfortable saying this to someone AND I don’t think I will ever get use to people saying this to me. Julia was 15 days old when we went back to San Francisco and tons of women greeted me by saying that I was now fat.

SOME FRIENDS

MEDICINE and the GOOD NEWS

Last term Jeff volunteered 2 days at the local health outpost and worked 2 days at our house (the mobile clinic van is parked in our yard). He was the only doctor for our town and the surrounding towns (about 5000 people). While we were gone on furlough, the government sent a Paraguayan doctor and a Physician’s Assistant to our small town. This was a nice answer to prayer because Jeff had been praying about spending more time on his own turf, but he didn’t want to let the staff at the health outpost down.

Since being back Jeff has been attending patients each weekday morning at our house. It didn’t take long for the word to get out that “doctor Jep” had come back. Each morning he sees about 10-15 patients plus scheduling some procedures for afternoons. Of course, people come at all hours seeking medical attention. This morning – Saturday, he has seen two minor emergencies and it isn’t even 10:00.
Each morning Jeff shares a Bible story with those who are waiting on our front porch to be seen. More often than not, the patients speak up afterwards, sharing about what the story meant to them. This has generated some great life applications. Once, after Jeff told the story about the Pharisees asking if a man born blind was because he sinned or his parents, a lady shared that she had always wondered why her child was born with “special needs”, but now she felt encouraged knowing that God really does have a plan for his life. On another day, after hearing a Bible story Jeff told, A lady said “I want to follow that God.”

I know that the nurses and staff miss him at the health outpost. Several of them have come to our house specifically to ask him to come back. But Jeff tells them that he doesn’t have the freedom to preach about Jesus at the health outpost. At home, he can do whatever he wants. He goes over to visit them from time to time to trade out medical supplies, just to communicate that we still love them and that we’re all working together on the side of good health.






Some interesting medical cases:

A lady in a diabetic coma was brought to our house. Her blood sugar was 30 and she was unresponsive. Jeff and Pete tried to give her sugar water but she wouldn’t swallow. We had no IV glucose (the health outpost doesn’t either), so Jeff sent her to the nearest city (45 minutes away). The following day we heard that she was doing well.

A guy was in his field chopping wood with his “homemade” axe – a blade and handle attached together by wrapped cloth. He hit a hard knot in the wood and the axe head flew off and cut him very deeply in the face. He was bleeding profusely. We were afraid that he would have to drive the 5 hours to Asuncion to have his face sewn, but (praise God), there was a surgeon just 45 minutes away who was willing to help.

A 10 year old boy came with a 3 inch piece of wood stuck in his groin. Ouch!

A 20 year old swallowed poison in an attempt to kill herself. She was unresponsive and Jeff sent her Caazapa (45 minutes away). Not much else to be done, really.

We went to visit a friend of mine and while we were there their 4 year old daughter stuck her hand in an electric corn grinder. Her middle finger tip had been cut through the bone and was hanging on by very little. Jeff brought her home and did the best he could to stitch it back together. 3 weeks later, it’s looking great.

A 65 year old lady came with a very rapid pulse (about 190/ minute) with extreme fatigue and very low blood pressure. Jeff tried several maneuvers to slow her heart down, including massaging her neck over the carotid artery, squatting down while blowing air against her closed lips and nose, rubbing the sides of her eyeballs, plunging her face in ice water. Nothing worked. Then he started an IV and gave her a shot of Amiodarone, an antiarrythmic medication, and her heart rate returned to normal in less than a minute.

One lady had a blood pressure of 270/ 150 with no symptoms!





ON A LIGHTER NOTE:
After clinic hours a couple arrived with their son. When Jeff asked them what the emergency was they said, "We think our son's nose meat is growing." Jeff said, "That's not really an emergency. You need to come back during clinic hours."

3 MONTHS

Julia is 3 months today - November 5th.

9lbs
Sleeping well
"talking" to us
laughs and smiles often
Doesn't mind getting passed from Paraguayan to Paraguayan at bible studies
Doesn't mind getting passed from McKissick child to McKissick child at home
Grabs for toys
Found hands...and once they are found, she puts them in her mouth
She is a blessing!

LOOK WHAT I LOST THIS MONTH

Loose teeth


One tooth


Two teeth

EVERYTHING’S TURNING UP ANIMALS

In Asuncion Jeff bought Ginny 2 new hamsters (to replace to ones that dehydrated on one of our recent trips). Ginny picked out 2 that looked the most similar to the ones that died and she named them the same – Spot and Hyper. They had a close call driving with them to our house and I think they were on the verge of death again, but Pete (our friend) poured cold water on them and suspended the cage out the moving car window and they came to. Hyper had a second scare his first week with us. He ate a bead (one that you would put in a friendship bracelet). For a long time we could feel it in his cheek pouch, but after a while he swallowed it. I told Ginny to prepare for a possible death. But just yesterday as she was cleaning out his cage, she found it. I’m not sure which way it came out, but the hamster survived again.

Ginny and Spot


Joshua spent his money on 2 guinea pigs named Chewy and Snowy. They are cute things with big ears. They have really taken to Joshua and will make funny whistle sound when they see him. Boots, our cat, has been VERY interested in them.

Joshua with Snowy and Chewy


Boots, our cat, camping out in front of the cages.


A patient of Jeff’s gave us two baby chickens to show her thankfulness. Ginny loves her chickens. “Bird” remains her favorite (it was the very first one given to us). She calls it and it comes, she carries it around and dresses it up and the bird watches movies with the kids.

Will her sister share the same interest in animal?


Can you spot the chicken in the photo...watching the movie too.


We may not have bread or diapers out here, but we do have plenty of toads. In the evenings the toads come out in abundance. My kids love catching them and playing with them. It grosses me out to see one. They know that toads aren’t allowed in the house but we still every now and then will here, “Has anyone seem my toad who escaped in the kitchen?” YUCK!





Our duckies are doing well. They are growing fast. they are usually outside, but Ginny brings them in every now and then.




As you can see, Boots, our cat is quite interested in the ducks.


Jeff and Pete built rabbit cages. Thankfully Ginny has decided to wait until our garden is grown before she gets rabbits. Oh, and we’re having our pig pen made more secure....so stay tuned for the next “animal” news.