One day, I followed Catalina as she was going to milk the cow at her mother-in-law’s next door. Coming back through the fields toward Catalina’s house that didn’t have electricity and still had an open air well, Catalina said to me: “Helene, don’t you think my house is beautiful?” I said: “Oh yes, it is really very beautiful.” And I meant it, since I thought it was one of the most charming houses I had ever seen. I found myself dreaming of having one like it. Catalina was an artist. Did she know it?“
Having an attractive home is highly valued in Paraguay, and families that can afford it paint or whitewash their houses every year. Proud of her house, Catalina is equally proud of her children. Every evening, prior to her husband’s return from the fields, she bathes them and dresses them in fresh clothes. She will send them to bed in their clean clothes, ready to go in the morning. As Simeon’s horse enters the courtyard, she lines every one up, including herself, to greet him. He too, can be proud of his family!
