Winter Break Highlights

Joe here. After having the luxury of a three week winter break, we have resumed classes again (this is the second week back). I had almost forgotten what it was like to get up early in the morning. I had trouble sleeping the night before the first day back as I was filled with unusual anxiety. I kept waking up intermittently throughout the night wondering if my alarm had already gone off. Anyways, now that I am back in the groove of things, I have found some time to put up some pictures of how Yoejin and I spent our winter break. These pictures recount our trips to Clorinda in Argentina, and Nueva Italia (the countryside in Paraguay).

CLORINDA:

On the road to Clorinda, which was about an hour and a half drive.

One of the reasons why it took longer than it should have...undeveloped roads.

Passing a river as we entered a small town bordering Clorinda.

Walking on a bridge to reach Argentina. As you can see, there are many who go to Clorinda to do shopping in bulk.

This guy was just amazing.

The produce in Clorinda are in abundance. Here you can see a store selling boxes upon boxes of tomatoes.

There really isn't a whole lot to look at in Clorinda, as people usually go there to get great bargains rather than to do sightseeing. We got the sense that it was a very old, dilapidated city.

As we were driving back home, our driver stopped by the side of the road to purchase this...

Yup, that's gasoline!

As reach home, we had to go over the Paraguay River.

You can see the capital, Asuncion, far off in the distance on the right.

 NUEVA ITALIA:

Rodolfo was gracious to take us to the town where many of his relatives live. We were often greeted by very large cows.

Brick making is one of the specialties of the people who live in Nueva Italia.

Even more brick making.

Rodolfo took us to a retreat campsite that was established by his great grandfather.

Another view of the campsite.

Rodolfo's family lineage. The man in the hat is a pastor (no relation to Rodolfo) who is also the caretaker of the campgrounds .

We did a lot of walking and exploring that day. Nueva Italia is such a tranquil place where you see miles and miles of grassland, and occasionally something extraordinary. 

Enjoying the view from the top!

We did a lot of walking.

At the campsite was a huge grill, which Rodolfo proceeded to prepare for our lunch.

FIRE!

A BIGGER FIRE!

So our lunch comprised of asado, and three links of chorizo. I think Rodolfo overestimated our appetite a bit.

Chimichurri for the asado!

The ingredients used to make the condiment.

The finished product!

We had to do quite a bit of waiting for the food to cook. In the meantime, we played a lot of pool.

These are just a few of the things we did during the break. We are both extremely excited as we begin the latter half of our stay here. Please continue to pray for the both of us!