Superhero Shopping and Hunted Guinea Pigs

I’ve been in Asuncion for a week to catch up on editing (and I’m staying at least one further week).  I wasn’t looking forward to coming because I enjoyed staying with the Stirlings so much, enjoying especially Renee’s cooking, the lack of mosquitos there, and the pets.  The Asuncion base, in comparison, can be quite quiet.  However, the Houghs moved in for 6 days before taking their final big load of stuff down to their new house on Route 8.  They have 5 kids, 4 of them in that age group that makes them fun to be around (that is: not toddlers, not teenagers).  The two eldest are cool.  One of them was on a 4-day search for a new guinea pig whilst in Asuncion, and once one was located, the poor creature (named Max after we all looked up a Youtube video to determine if the vermin was male or female) was then sniffed out by the guard dog whose bed happened to be through the open yet thankfully barred window Max’s cage was at.  Sometimes two black ears and 2 wide eyes would appear sneakily over the window ledge trying to scope out the pig.

Guard dog sniffing out a caged, gnawing mammal.

Silas, the 2nd youngest kid and another small-fry friend were left alone in the living-room with Max for about 3 minutes whilst all the adults drank terere on the porch until the sound of them smashing their little hands against Max’s metal cage reached adult ears and Max was found, seemingly dead of a heart attack, face-down in his food bowl.  It turned out he was playing dead in an attempt to fool his tormentors.  A small house was constructed for Max out of a pizza box and he has since stayed in there cowering in terror, hoping to awaken from the nightmare back in the pet shop.

I was given the task of watching out for the 2 eldest for a couple of hours as the rest of the family went grocery shopping yesterday and as I sat on the porch I was entertained watching them do fight moves in the garden, make superhero sounds and make grand statements about “trickery!” and “STRENGTH!” as they ran around dressed as ‘Thing’ from Fantastic Four, and a doctor.

Dan Reich was here a few days too, and this morning we spent a few hours packing the infamous SIM Paraguay trailer with the Houghs’ belongings (the trailer had managed to pull the moving gate off its rails and mechanism when it had arrived at HQ 2 days before, cementing its reputation as a Judas).  Later, as the food was being packed into the 4x4, Thing reappeared to put his superhero strength behind the groceries, and brought his pal Spiderman.  Meanwhile, Silas, when in the car with his elder sister and dad as the latter placed the bags safely in the back, activated the child locks trapping half the family inside for a short time.

Basically, all this to say, it has been a really fun week!  I look forward to the day I get to go down and film their work as youth workers at the church!