Stampede, Sunday Bingo, Pikivoli and Attack of the Killer Chicken

I tried to blog yesterday but the connection here was really slow for some reason. Today it´s going reasonable fast so I thought I would catch up. I´m blogging from an internet cafe in Caazapa. It was here last year but was terribly slow so I only used it once. I hear there are a couple of other internet connections here but I haven´t tried to find them yet.

For Deb: Our neighbor is looking after the cat and dogs at home. She´s been a terrific help in the past and we´re lucky to live next to such great people.

We´ve been out to Potrero Guazu several times and Lourdes loves being outside in the warm weather and the family loves spending time with her. On one of the trips, we stopped to visit a relative and we were parked in the street talking to a couple of aunts. An uncle was nearby trying to corral some cows. It seems that one of the ex-bulls was a little randy and wanted to fool around a little and was after some of the cows. In the process of keeping the peace, a mini stampede came our way. Nobody got hurt and there probably wasn´t much danger but it´s still unsettling to have a large, determined bovine headed your way.

We also got to play bingo. I didn´t really come close to winning anything, but my nephew won an entire fried chicken so lunch was free. I think everyone enjoyed playing. My nephew also came close to winning the final grand prize of 300,000 Guaranis in a blackout game. The rate is currently just under 1 to 6000, so it was roughly $50. He didn´t win but there were some anxious moments as a couple of people thought they had the entire board covered only to find out that they didn´t so there was a second and third chance.

Later I went back with a brother-in-law and a nephew to watch pikivoli. Pikivoli is similar to volleyball in that you play with a volleyball and play on a volleyball court (in this case grass), but you can´t use your hands. The players must only use their chests, head and feet to play. I´m not sure which is more popular here, futbol (soccer) or pikivoli. It was pretty entertaining to watch and there were some pretty talented players. Raquel said that kids grow up playing pikivoli and it was obvious. I wouldn´t mind trying it sometime but I think it would be difficult for me since I can´t see very well without my glasses. I would also be at a real disadvantage since I have no talent at this sort of thing. Maybe someday I´ll have corrected vision and be able to give it a shot.

Last thing and I´m going to go. Lourdes loves all the animals out here and has no fear of them. At her grandma´s house she got to chase chickens all day with no problems. However when we went to visit an aunt, a rooster took exception to someone trying to grab one of its kin. Poor Lourdes ended up with a couple of welts/scratches on the back of her leg. She didn´t cry or at least didn´t cry much and said "chicken bad girl" and still has no fear of the animals.

Ciao for now!