Toews fest

One of the best things about living in Bolivia has been the opportunity to get to know my mom's extended family. Long ago, in Paraguay, her mom's sister (Margaretha Schroeder) married her mom's brother (Julius Toews). These are my double great-aunt and -uncle. They began their family life in the same village - Schoenfeld, Menno Colony - as my mom's family; their oldest two girls were like sisters to my mom. The Julius Toews family then moved to Bolivia in the mid 1950s, as others were doing, in pursuit of a simpler, less "worldly" life. They first settled in one colony near Chorovi, and today live in the colony Canadiense 2, or Morgenland - as do six of their children and their families (one son lives close by in Campo Leon and another is in Paraguay).

This family has been extremely welcoming of us and my brother's family. We are always invited to weddings and to family fests, which take place on/around all the major holidays. We have had countless meals and terere sessions in their homes. Some have been like parents to us and grandparents to our kids. We will surely miss them once we're back in the U.S.

But in the meantime, we finally took the initiative to host them - all of them except the parents and one son - for the Toews Easter fest. So a few weeks ago, we all gathered on "our" yard at MCC for a day of visiting, drinking terere, eating a Bolivian feast prepared by our MCC colleague and his wife (Marcelo and Paola Beltran), playing a quiz game prepared by Ramont (how many times do you bake tweibach?), singing,  eating faspa, and so on.

Here are some snapshots of the day.