August 9, 2025
Susan Hoover
Dear family and friends,
Greetings from Paraguay, this cold August morning! On such a morning we realize that winter is not yet over here in the southern hemisphere, although we have enjoyed quite a few nice warm days already and even some days when we've used the air conditioning in our room. Today we have the heat on again, making it nice and cozy here in our casita! The sun is shining and the sky is a perfect blue, but the temperature is a frigid 9 degrees Celsius right now yet at mid-morning! (49 degrees F.) I expect it will warm up more yet as the day progresses, although the forecast for today is 15 C for a high, 58 F. But we are enjoying the sunshine after nearly a week of grey, rainy, foggy weather! I have a couple loads of laundry out on the lines and it looks quite hopeful for drying it. A cold south wind is blowing. In the southern hemisphere, the south wind is the cold one, and the north wind is warm.
In spite of grey, dull weather, God has been so good! We have had a good week. I believe I wrote last on Sunday, about our plans for going to Argentina. On Sunday night, from about 11:00 and onward, we had a tremendous thunderstorm here! Rain and hail pelted down like it only can in these sub-tropical countries. Lightning flashed and thunder roared. The wind whistled and blew mightily and tugged at the corners of the roof. Knowing that around our windows it is not very water-tight, I got up at one point to check if everything inside was staying dry. I was surprised when my feet hit water!! I turned the light on and saw that almost half of the floor was already a lake, and water was pouring in under the door! The strong wind was just driving it in. Fortunately we had a squeegee in here, and I opened the door and began pushing the water back out. It was quite a battle for awhile to keep ahead of what was still coming in but the wind and rain finally abated a bit, and I saw that it was no longer coming in. I mopped up the remaining puddles as best I could, and went back to bed! In the morning I was surprised how dry it was already in here, but the yard outside was one lake. It would be interesting to know how many inches of rain fell, but we had no way of measuring.
So, after that rather restless night, we got up and prepared for our trip to Argentina. We were actually thankful that we didn't need to go out early in the morning to catch the bus, as it was raining quite heavily around that time yet. We had time to relax a bit yet, and also got a few loads of laundry put through. In fact, I quickly did our own laundry yet too, and put it through the dryer. The wash basket that I use for a hamper, was in the flood and consequently all the dirty clothes in it were soaked. And I didn't think it was a good idea to leave a basket of wet clothes sitting there for a few days!
Around 9:45 Cornie and Elma Doerksen arrived to pick us up. It was so kind of them to offer us a ride! We didn't know them at all, but we soon got acquainted as we drove along. They are both very talkative and it was easy to visit all the way. They have been through a lot too, healthwise. Cornie has had a kidney replacement surgery, twice, because the first time his body rejected the new kidney it was given. This was about 13 years ago, and he has needed regular medical checkups ever since, farther apart as time went on. So this was their reason for going to Asuncion that day -- he had a number of different appointments for Tuesday, starting early in the morning.
It was grey and rainy but we had such a pleasant time with them all the way. We stopped once for fresh, warm chipas -- delicious! Then close to Asuncion, we stopped for lunch at a cafeteria style restaurant. We had said they could just drop us off in Asuncion and we would find our way across the border into Argentina on our own. But no, they insisted on taking us all the way. We crossed the border together and then drove on to the town of Clorinda. And they dropped us off right in front of the hotel which we had reserved ahead of time. We appreciated it so much! We went in and got settled in our room. A pleasant room on the second story, small but ample, newly remodeled, very nice and very clean. After awhile we decided to take a little walk and see the town. It really wasn't much to see, it was kind of dumpy. Old and falling apart is what it looked like in the immediate area. We came back to our hotel and marveled that such a nice hotel existed in this area, where most other things looked like no one cared for it! But like I mentioned, the hotel was newly renovated and it was obvious that a lot of work had gone into making it pleasant. We had a nice verandah off our room, overlooking the street. It was fun to sit out there and watch the world go by. It was so nice to have some time away from the daily grind here, to rest, enjoy one another, and spend time with the Lord.
Tuesday morning we decided we needed to go find some food. There were no restaurants nor even supermarkets in the immediate area where we were, so Peter checked online where we could go and get something to eat. He found a fairly large supermarket, nearly a mile away from our hotel. So we decided to go there and do some shopping. The only way we had to get there was to walk, so we set out. There was sidewalk part of the way, but at times the sidewalk was non-existent and we had to either walk through muddy areas, or else on the side of the street. We did manage to get there though, after crossing a main thorough-fare. The store was big enough, but not as nice as our stores here in Paraguay. More expensive, too, we found. But we did find some food to buy, as well as water. We had been warned not to drink the water at the hotel, so we got bottled water to be safe. Then we had to carry all our purchases home! And on the way back, as we passed through a market area, we bought some fresh fruit yet too, to add to what we already had. We were glad to get back to the hotel and put our burdens down! It was good exercise though! :-) My knee was complaining a bit by the time we got back, but I think it was good for it actually.
And so the rest of the day went by, we rested, read, listened to a sermon, relaxed. Wednesday morning we packed up and left the hotel, heading for the border again, which was only about five blocks away. (It was not the same crossing that we came in on). This was only a footbridge across the Pilcomayo River. I must say this was the strangest border crossing we ever experienced. The bridge, and the pathway leading up to it, is a market place. On both sides of the path are vendors, selling all manner of stuff. Clothes, blankets, food, shoes, trinkets, you name it. Everyone calling out, advertising their wares. One has to kind of weave his way through, and then there are people going the opposite direction as well, to add to the confusion. We had to go up a flight of steps to get onto the bridge. The river itself is literally clogged with trash right at that spot. Wooden crates apparently just get thrown over the railing and into the river when the vendors are done with them. Plus any other imaginable kind of trash, just pitched into the river. It made for an interesting sight, at least!! Interesting?? Well, in a certain kind of way!!
Well, we got all the way across the bridge and through all the market along the sides, but then we found ourselves in a larger market area. And we knew that we were now back in Paraguay, but we had not gotten our passports stamped! Where was customs and immigration? It was nowhere to be seen. Only market and more market, on every side. So Peter asked one of the vendors who seemed to know a lot about it. "Oh," he said, "it's on the other side of the bridge. On the Argentine side. Go back across the bridge."
Okay, wow!! There was nothing to do but retrace our steps, back across the bridge, back down those concrete steps, to a very un-obvious window, and even then we were told to go around to the other side of the building. There, finally, we found Paraguayan immigration. Talked to a few officials, answered a few questions, got the entry stamps in our passports, and then we were good to go. Back across the bridge again!
We had to walk a little way to a bus stop, and got on a rickety old bus with VERY uncomfortable seats! They were hard, uncushioned seats and had been made a lot higher than they had originally been, so that no one could possibly have their feet on the floor while they were sitting. (I was wearing my Birkenstocks and had to struggle to keep them on, because my feet were dangling!!:-)) I was amazed at how many huge packages and bundles and bags and boxes of stuff people brought onto the bus, and then I understood why the seats had been raised so high. For more space to haul stuff! This uncomfortable ride took two hours, in a very round-about way to get to Asuncion. It stopped here, there, and everywhere, taking on more passengers and dropping others off. All the seats were filled, and the aisle was full of people standing as well. Finally we were at the place where we were to get off, and get another bus. I waved one down that had the correct destination on the front, and that one took 15 minutes or so to get to the main bus terminal in Asuncion. Finally we were that far! We bought tickets for Campo 9 and sat down to relax, as we had nearly an hour till the bus left. Peter bought some warm chicken empanadas, which were very tasty.
It took nearly five hours from there to Campo 9. Julian and his lady friend picked us up at the bus station, which was very special! They brought us back here to the Hogar then. It was about 7:30 when we walked into our own room here. It felt like a long day! I think I went to sleep as soon as my head touched the pillow that night.
So that was our little get-away! I was surprised at how refreshed I felt the next morning, ready to get right back into the work here. There was plenty to do! Some laundry had been folded and not put away, and there were several loads waiting to be folded as well. And of course, plenty in the bin to be washed!
Hein and Tina will not be here for nearly two weeks. They flew to Bolivia on Tuesday, to visit Tina's mother, who is 95 years old and seemingly still going strong! She still lives in a house by herself, on the yard of one of her children. Hein and Tina go every year to visit her. We miss them, and will be glad to welcome them back on the 16th, I think it is.
And so that is the end of the narrative for this past week! In a way it seems like it has been a very short week. We look forward to the worship meeting again tomorrow, at the Missionsgemeinde in Sommerfeld!
Wishing a blessed weekend to all!
Susan for the Hoovers