So Close
Thanks to the help from some good friends, I was able to find a functioning Paraguayan phone directory online. I called my mom and we looked through the directory together, searching the name of every male in the family that she could remember. Females wouldn’t be listed, of course. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of the population has phones, so it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Finally I was able to find a number of an uncle!
I used conference on my cell phone (for free) to connect to my mom. Then I used a calling card for the international long distance charges. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, we called the phone card’s customer service line and told them what was happening. They put us on hold to try a test call. Tragically, the operator came back and said the number had been disconnected. What a let down.
My mom thinks she has a list of everyone’s name and the names of their children. Of course, she doesn’t know what she did with the list since she last had it 20 years ago. I am sure she didn’t throw it away - it is not in our family’s nature to throw such things away - but finding is much easier said than done.
On a side note, my mom told me last night that some of the descendants of a great, great uncle came looking for us in my home town a few weeks ago. These were same relatives that we wanted to call in CA when we took our road trip a couple of months ago. Apparently they went to the local Town Hall asking for descendants of my grandpa and one of the ladies told them where to find my aunts. My aunts were not feeling well at the time and forgot to ask them their full names and phone numbers. All we know is that Patricia somebody now lives in VA. Great.
Who knows, maybe my family in Paraguay is trying to find my website right now.
July 27th, 2004 at 6:29 am
Sam, did you get the second email I sent with my mom’s advice? I’ll resend it just in case. It’s comin gfrom my work email address.