Ostrich meat prices...

check out this ostrich site...Hmmmm, I have some pretty expensive meat here! I better get working on it...Ostrich hamburgers, Ostrich empanadas, Ostrich spaghetti...

P.S. Thanks for the meat grinder, Martha.

Ostrich Stew???

So...here I am, taking a break from all my visitors to look up recipes for Ostrich Stew! Four guys went hunting with Isaac for two days and they brought back some deer and ostrich meat. Brandon was very excited and asked me to cut it up and put it in the freezer. I kind of didn't want to even touch it, but I did eventually get out my sharp knife and I started wacking away at this - 5 Xbigger than a chicken thigh- thingy.

The guys were almost eaten alive by mosquitoes and really roughed it for a whole two days with bad sleeping conditions and all. But, they did enjoy a good venison barbecue.

So, I am wondering how to cook up this ostrich meat. Does anyone have any recipes?

US Work Team

Our work team has been painting inside and outside at the school and they have been waiting patiently for our Paraguayan people to come to start building together. The people in this laid-back culture took time out for the holiday weekends and left our group kind of stranded. Today at 9 am they were supposed to be there with all the equipment! We hope!

We took a day off last week to visit the Iguazu Falls. It was a very hot, crowed day, but every time we go there...it is a reminder of God's greatness and power! The work of His hands is always amazing no matter how many pictures I have of the same thing!

A Movie Scene???

Today I was coming home from town and this little white car came at me from behind flashing it's lights and closer to my window a guy leaned out and screamed..."pull over. We're the police". I thought they were drunk or joking so I kept going. They sped in front of me and stopped, making me have to stop, too. I had some Argentine visitors with me and Edson. They all started praying when we saw four guys with four guns jump out of the car at us. They surrounded the car and one policeman pointed a gun at my (driver's) window and said, "open all the windows". I did, and asked, "what is going on" in unbelief! He looked in at all of us...gun pointing at my head. (The ladies in the back were still praying.) Then, he said. "Excuse me, Ma'am, there has been an armed robbery and this is the exact same car the the thieves were in. My advice would be to drive with all your windows down or you'll probably be stopped every mile down the road."

Here is the link from the ABC newspaper. (in Spanish)

Edson's version is quite interesting!

It was just so weird and so fast...I just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time...

Praise God for His daily protection!

More of our adventure...

This is where the warm and cold waters meet in "Paso Carreta". The other pictures are of the scenery around this area.

Friends

Last month we went to Chaco, Argentina to visit some friends. They invited Oscar to a Youth Retreat. Argentina had a holiday weekend, but we didn't. I let the kids skip school on Monday. I can't believe I did that...we NEVER skip school. Anyway, we had a great weekend. Now, our kids are friends with our friends kids. Isn't that cool?

1. Edson and Mildren

2. Gaby and Brian

3. Gaby, Brian, Brandon

4. Brian and Brandon

Monday Falls, Ciudad del Este - Paraguay

Beautiful Things...

Beautiful sights on our trip...

The FAIR...From a TEEN'S point of view...

Brandon and Gaby with some friends at the Asunción Fair...La Expo.

More (San Pedro) Winter Shots

1.My sister-in-law is using the wood stove to make fried tortillas for about 50 people.

2. Yes, there is a kitten next to the fire in the second picture.

3. Check out the little niece by the fire...she is bundled up in sweaters and has on flip flops.

4. Our little nephew, Juan, was just so cute and funny. He was helping me make bread.

San Pedro Adventure...

So, on one of the coldest and rainiest week ends of the whole year we went to San Pedro to celebrate two nieces 15th birthdays. The guys butchered the cow while the ladies prepared for the massive cooking! I was kneading 25 lbs. of flour/bread. Oscar was chopping wood for brick oven. Then...we started cutting and cutting.

Every once in a while we had to take a break beside the fire, just to warm our hands up a bit and drink some máte together.

Even the kids made a fire for them to sit around...and pop popcorn over the flames! When they weren't by the fire, they were all huddled together watching a movie...

Ok...three posts in one day is ENOUGH!

Argentina 9 - Asado 2

Look at the ribs in this picture...One big ASADO!

Argentina 8 - Fruit and Vegetable Stands

I LOVE the fruit and vegetable stands in Argentina! They have fruit from the floor to the ceiling, mixing colores and textures enough to make your mouth water...beautiful rows of color and freshness.

You pick what you want and the amount, and usually a young man will be there to take your baggie and weigh it inside.

I remember going to these stands while living in Argentina. It was just so much fun!

Argentina 7- Asado

Today is finally cool...or maybe should I say, COLD! It's 70ºF! The past couple of days have been sooooo unbearable hot and sticky. Fans blew around hot air. It was even better to leave glass windows shut so the hot air would not blow into the house. Everything was dusty. The grass was drying up. Finally, we had an amazing wind storm and then a couple hours of light rain. The electricity went off at about 3pm and stayed off until 12pm! Good thing things cooled down and I had saved 3 gallons of water before the water went off, too.

Last night we had 15 people over and we had to "dine" by candlelight! This morning I woke up to the messiest house I've seen in a LONG time!

Today it is fun to sit at the computer. Its cool. Edson is asleep and the boys are off...TO SCHOOL! I have a couple of minutes to myself and a lot of catching up to do!

So...My Argentina pictures can't be complete without the famous ASADO pictures!

Argentina 6 - The Storm

As we were getting ready to leave Curuzu Cuati'a (funny, this is a Guarani name meaning Paper Cross...in the middle of Argentina.) we looked outside to see an amazing cloud formation. It started getting bigger and bigger and more interesting. A storm was coming fast! We were on the third floor. (The night before Oscar, Edson and I got stuck in a 1960 elevator with about 110ºF, cause we didn't want to walk up 3 flights of stairs. From then on, we we took the stairs.)

I started taking pictures of the incoming storm since it was coming at us so fast. Then all the electricity went out! (good thing we weren't on that elevator). We ate breakfast while it stormed and poured outside. Finally, it let up enough to pack up our stuff and continue our journey. Our friend texted us with a warning of a huge storm that was making a huge mess 50 km. away from us! In the next city over there were uprooted trees and broken branches everywhere.

Thankfully, after a good rain, things cool off (for a couple of hours, at least.)

Argentina 5 - Picaditos

In Argentina, they are famous for their "picaditos". Salames, cheeses and bread...this is their afternoon snack, or a snack before their "asado", etc. We stopped on the way to Buenos Aires in Colonia Alemana and enjoyed some homemade salames and cheeses for lunch. They had some fun things for kids to do, too.