Asuncion in the Rain

check out these pictures in our ABC news. Scroll down to where it says...¿La Venecia de Sudamérica?

There are a series of pictures of the rain and flooding we've been experiencing.

They say...more rain today!

Friday

Friday was our "exposición gimnastica" at school. We were waiting until 6:30 pm to see if we were going to cancel it or not. The weather was not good. It thundered, rained a bit, and then the sun came out with a rainbow in the sky. We didn't cancel, but during the whole show there were strong winds and lightning. Right after the last number, the rain started coming down along with HAIL...as big as ping-pong balls! The storm did a lot of damage to some homes with just tin roofs. The hail cracked the Marcel's (our accountant who lives next door to church) windshield on his car. It was a strange way to end the program. People started running to take cover and leave as fast as they could.

Oscar told me that in San Pedro there was a lot of damage near his mom's (brother's) house.

Winter Weather

...A glimpse of the Paraguay River from our bedroom window...

Today: 85º F

Sunday: 44º F

CRAZY winter weather!!!!

Keeping Warm

These are some of the ways we are keeping warm here in Paraguay...wood burning stoves and máte!

Rainy Days

Rainy days are days to catch up...on somethings! It is a lazy enough day to read blogs and write blogs. It has been raining for almost a week now. Isn't funny how I am just now catching up with the blogs?

Rainy days also get me backed up....backed up on laundry especially! When our clothes dryer doesn't work (the Sun) then, my clothes (washing and drying) get backed up. I put them out and about in the living room and kitchen at night, but that means we wake up to 50º weather for our family devotions.

Yesterday we had our Mother's Day asado (Barbecue) at church. We didn't have it last week because of the rain and our party was ended with a rain that didn't stop until just now.

Rain is on the weather forecast till Wednesday.

Either I will get a lot done...or...maybe not.

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.)

120º

YESTERDAY
...120º F...(in the sun) at 3:10 pm.!

Warm Weather!

Jeremiah 17:7-8 (New International Version) "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."

Summer is my favorite season. It's warm. It's beautiful. We have longer daylight hours. I enjoy creation; the sights, the sounds, the warm feeling.

But...
...yesterday (and today's forecast) was just a bit too warm! In the afternoon, my outside thermometer reached 109ºF.

Now, it's 8:30 am. I found a neat time/weather site and these are the current weather conditions...

Sunny. Warm.
Location: Asuncion / Aeropuerto
Temperature: 81 °F
Comfort level: 85 °F
Dew point: 72 °F
Barometer: 29.65 "Hg
Humidity: 74%
Visibility: 10 mi
Wind: 6 mph from 0° North

I wonder what 12:00 noon will be like? Later on today it says 96º F and comfort level like- 103º F.

Last night we turned on the airconditioner in our room about 9:30 and about an hour later the electricity went out in the whole neighborhood. It was soooooo hot and there were so many mosquitoes that all I could do was pray for electricity! (How strange...living in a country where we have two, binational-hydroelectric plants...power shortage is kind of a normal, expected thing.)
Well, back to summer; clothes dry out on the line in 10 minutes. Lettuce and watermelons are becoming some of the cheapest things to eat. Flowers brighten my day!

Sunday's Storm

Sunday was extremely hot and humid all day long. In our neighborhood, there was a problem with the electricity and we had "low tension" (it would be "baja tensión" in spanish...not sure how to say that in English. I mean that the lights were only half bright and other electrical appliances were not working to their full potential.) So, we had an extra-hot afternoon until a nice, cool thunderstorm came through. That cooled things down tremendously and then the sun came out! Later on that evening, another storm was brewing and we walked outside to see hailstones as big as marbles!

Thunder Storms

Another week of Thunder Storms for Paraguay!
Tue Feb 3
Chance of thunder- showers
High 33°C (91°F) Low 26°C (78°F)
Wed Feb 4
Chance of thunder- showers
High 36°C (96°F) Low 27°C (80°F)
Thu Feb 5
Chance of thunder- showers
High 37°C (98°F) Low 27°C (80°F)
Fri Feb 6
Chance of thunder- showers
High 35°C (95°F) Low 27°C (80°F)
Sat Feb 7
Thunder- showers
High 33°C (91°F) Low 26°C (78°F)

Yesterday's sudden storm blew a tin roof off of a school in town and the roof fell on a young guy (20 yrs. old) waiting for a bus on the street killing him instantly. Many more in Asuncion are without electricity or roofs and there are trees fallen all over the streets. Thankfully, I was at home...with Edson.

Saturday's Storm

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Well, we had a strange storm on Saturday night that destroyed a lot in about 15 minutes. Weather reports advised thunderstorms and rain for all weekend. Brandon and Gaby went to church earlier on Saturday for some afternoon activities and I told them that I would follow about 6 pm...if it doesn't rain. Oscar was with a group in Concepcion, about 5 hours from here, and I was going to go with Edson on a city bus. Well, It rained off and on that day, but the sun came out about 5:30 pm. I turn on the computer and worked for 15 minutes and decided to get ready for church and go. About 5:45 there was a snap of lightning out of no where followed by a loud thunder. My computer zapped.
I was sad.
I called Oscar and tried plugging it in and out and couldn't revive it. So, by then, it started sprinkling a little bit and I debated going to church or just staying home with Edson.
I stayed home. I got some things done and went to our bedroom. I sat Edson in his pack'n play with a bunch of books and I also layed down to read and rest.
All of a sudden there was this strange wind and it seemed as if twigs or hail were hitting the window. I heard other shutters banging in other rooms of the house and went to check it out. Right about that time, the electricity went out and Edson was screaming. There was thunder and lightning almost together and non-stop...then, just as soon as it started, it stopped. I was relieved, but still we had no lights. I had to grope around for candles and mosquito spray. I was glad I didn't go to church.
Our house is on a slight hill and I could see for miles that other neighborhoods were without electricity and Vivi called me from church saying that they finished singing when the storm started and now they were without electricity, too.
By morning we also had no water. I walked outside and saw our unripe mangos all over the ground. Trees laying on top of each other, twisted and broken and one uprooted. The yard was a mess!
News reports say that the wind was about 150kmp/hour. 4000 homes affected, millions of dollars damage to the electric companies, trees, signs, and debris all over the city. The cities with the most damage were Villa Elisa and San Antonio...our city.
Thank God for His AWESOME protection. He moved those trees like toothpicks and kept me (and Edson) safe.
Sunday afternoon we went to a neighbor's house to play soccer and visit and Gaby fell cutting his knee open. Pastor Pedro took him in to get 4 stitches. Oscar got home later that evening. It was raining. I quickly started washing up dishes and cleaning toilets with rain water. We ended up showering under the rainspout in the dark!
Our lights came back on Monday at 4 pm and water at 6 pm. I went to 5 different gas stations on Monday looking for ice...with NO LUCK. Ice and bottled water were scarce!
We're cleaning up the mess...but we're SAFE!