Paraguay Day #8: Caagazu
Today we got up at 4:30 AM for a 2.5 hour drive to Asuncion. My cousin Lina went with us so that we wouldn’t get lost. We checked our luggage into a $10/night/person hotel. (Trust me, you get what you pay for.) Then we walked to the bus station and caught a bus to Caagazu.
When my mom was in the Peace Corps 30 years ago, she helped build a school in Caagazu. This is also where she met my dad. When I was a kid, my mom would tell stories about the town. When she lived there, it only had electricity during certain hours, assuming the generator worked. It didn’t always. While I cringe at the thought of no Internet service, she always spoke quite fondly about this time in her life.
After leaving Asuncion for 3 hour bus ride, we arrived in Caagazu. The bus terminal was quite hectic. All sorts of people tried to offer us rides and sell us stuff. We walked a couple of blocks and my mom began to get excited. She saw the school that she had helped build. I
When she was there 30 years ago, the school only served elementary students. One set of students attended in the morning and another in the afternoon, so they could accommodate twice as many students. Now with electricity, the school had grown to include a high school, several additional classroom buildings and even a courtyard. We walked around the campus and took pictures. My mom was a little sad that we weren’t able to visit while school was in session. She wanted to see the school still in use with children. (My mom’s not freak, just a retired elementary school principal.)
After taking a bunch of pictures, I noticed a small crowd of people walking through the gate. Before I could say anything, my mom started running, screaming “Dona Pablo! Dona Pablo!” It was one of the ladies that helped her build the school more than 30 years ago.
Now in her 80s, Dona Pablo still lives down the street from the school. Apparently my mom had sent her a letter a few weeks earlier, letting her know that we would soon visit. Dona Pablo got confused by the dates in the letter and sent her son, who is now also retired, to pick us up at the airport last Sunday. After waiting all day at the airport, he finally gave up and went home. Dona Pablo looked for us every day for almost a week. It seems that a neighbor saw us walk into the school yard and knowing that Dona Pablo was expecting guests, called her to come over.
Dona Pablo brought her children and grandchildren. Needless to say, the were lots of hugs, kisses and tears. She also brought a current teacher and the current school director (principal.) The whole thing was really quite emotional.
We then went to her house and sat on the porch. From what I understand, it was very difficult for women to do business in those days. They were able to get almost all the building materials donated and convince community volunteers to do the labor. Once the school was built, my mom led a parade down main street. I even got a pict of my mom holding a pict from the parade. Over the next hour, they shared stories and looked at old pictures.
Then the son drove us around the town. My mom couldn’t believe that all the roads were paved. She showed us a few places where she lived.
We only visited for about 3 hours. My mom would liked to have stayed much longer, but since you can’t make reservations for the public bus service, we were concerned how long we would have to wait. It had already been a very long day. Fortunately, we were able to get the 1st bus. Dona Pablo invited my mom to come back and stay for a month. I think she may consider it.
