Hannah in Paraguay

Did someone speed up the world?

2009-06-18T05:12:00.000-07:00

These past three weeks have been CRAAAAZZZYYYY busy, and have absolutely FLOWN by. But that's totally cool because it means that I'm provechando-ing the last of my time here. Good deal.

This past weekend was that of my birthday! (yay.) Not at all really an exciting even, since the only thing my host family did for me was say 'Felicidades Hannah!'. I really wasn't expecting anything though. Things are tight money-wise in my house right now, so when mi abuela tipped her glass of Brahma to me and gave me a huge hug, I counted it as one of the best presents ever gotten. That or being tackled by a pile of my smallish cousins :)
Other than that, my friends Emerson and Sam bought me lunch at a restaurant here that's pretty much stapled into the culture - Lido Bar. I was running late (as usual) and my boyfriends took advantage of my not-there-ness and got the whole place to sing to me as I showed up. Pretty classy, except for the fact that I blushed tomato-red and almost tripped over my seat. The rest of the day consisted of Emerson and Sam arguing on who should pay for me, since it was my birthday and all. Definately not a day I'm going to forget though. It was a great memory to add to the Paraguay pile.

The weekend before that, we had our last AFS camp. Pretty much sad in every way, because I've truely met some incredible people this year and made some awesome friends. I noticed almost immeditately that once we got there, people clumped up into their own countries. So I was just like 'Screw this, it's an intercultural exchange, I'll hang out with everyone.' - and I did just that. It takes alot of energy to be friends/hang out with more than 70 people, but I managed. Needless to say though, I was wiped by the time it was over. Other highlights of the camp included ultimate frisbee in a tennis court (net included), tastesless, monotonous food, fancy german chocolate, dancy dirty/having a nightclub experience in the bus ride home, and dressing like Rambo. Pretty good, I think.

Two weekends ago (which seems like such a long time, considering how much time I actually have left) was the chaco trip. I went sin-amigos (without the two people who are almost always with me, Zan and Emerson) and so everyone who was there got to expierience just me. It's hard to explain, because I missed my two buddies, but I'm glad they weren't there, because I got to hang out with alot of more people as a result. Just like in our AFS camp, everyone broke up into their country groups, so I summoned up an incredible amount of energy and ran circles (literally) around everyone. I was affectionately referred to as 'la loca' because of my insane energy and desire to hang out with everyone. Highlights of that trip included an hour-long game of ultimate (dodging piles of poo), gaining an unofficial hijo (from germany), the texas chainsaw massicure, Europe appearing in the middle of nowhere, poker, German people, more German people, and learning the word for 'armadillo' in German, and playing with dead stuffed animals. Classy.

But back to the present/future....
These last few days are filled with going to school and exploring what left of the country I haven't already seen. This includes a train ride, a depressed hippo, buying a machete, pretty waterfalls, and lots of milla cocas.

Whew, long post. I promise to post pictures as soon as I can access fast internet that doesn't give me a brain aneurysm.
See you all soon!

counting down.

2009-05-27T11:38:00.000-07:00

With the days numbering, I just can't help but think about what time is left and what to do with it.

My latest host family is amazing. After being with these people for just over a month, we have finally started being comfortable with each other - learning the other's quirks and how to live together - and I'm glad to know that i finally, FINALLY, have a paraguayan family. I've been told repeatedly that I'm going to be missed when gone, and even though I've promised to call when home, I know that I'm most definately going to be leaving a piece of me behind with these people, in this place. Weird.

My feelings can be summed up rather simply. (These words are stolen from a text zan sent me...sorry.)
''The thing is, I hate leaving people but I'm addicted to travelling around. That makes no sense...''
But life rarely does. Who knew that I'd figure that out here.

But anyhoo, even though I'm leaving so soon, I'm finally settling down here-

My daily routine is that exactly - a routine. After five months of summer vacation and not knowing what I was going to do that day until that morning, having a daily way to go about my business is kind of weird, but just a reminder of how it'll be once I'm home. I wake up at five every morning and hop onto the bus half-asleep to school, which takes an hour. I always am plugged in, listening to Frankenpod (thanks again, daddy!) and snooze my way through the ride. I always get off the bus early so I can walk a little bit and wake up, in fear of getting hit on the head by a number of objects if I'm found sleeping in class. (Known from experiance..haha)
My school day is somewhat boring - now that Im no longer a hot commodity being new and all, my companeros have fallen in step with me. I still get greeted in the halls by random strangers (''hola hannah montana!!!'') and I'm still friends with all of the teachers. Overall, life is good.
It's just weird to think that I only have a month left of this.

This coming weekend I'm going to el chaco on an AFS trip (i'm the only american going, so it's basically just me, serkan (from turkey) and about 30 germans. Fun fun fun, since they all call me 'nazi'... we'll see how that goes.)
Once I get home from this marvoulous adventure I will surely post pictures and talk all about it.

Next weekend is our final AFS campamento - it's all based on going home, and how to deal with what you're going to see/feel/expieance. That's hard to think about - going home. As much as i miss being home and the people there, and sometimes even fantasize about how being home is actually going to be, I know iIcan't actually imagine it.
I officially fly out of Paraguay on July 8th at 18:00, and after a couple hours of layover in Buenos Aires I'll hop on good ol American Airlines and touch down in Miami around 6.00. Whoa. After a few hours of customs, I hop on another plane, and then i'll be in o'hare by 11, where the smiling faces of my family (and a Zan! will be waiting for me just beyond security, or at baggage claim, maybe. Double whoa.

But back to paraguay.
The next next weekend is that of my birthday(!) where there are many plans, but none set in stone... they range from having a huge asado at my house to heading back to my first house here in Paraguay (that of the Perez family, not sure how I feel about that) and partying it up with Jorge and a few of my friends. We'll see though. a very paraguayan thing to do is not plan, and then come up with what you're going to do at the very last second, and I'm pretty srue that is what's going to happen.

After that, I'll have just over 20 days left in Paraguay. It's very hard to believe - all year I've had this feeling that my time here is never going to end. I've known how much time is left since the plane first touched down, and now, that I've finally stopped counting and focusing on missing home, I'm truely enjoying my time here.
That, and the fact that many of my friends have started heading home has kind of slapped me back into the reality of my situation.

The move. [(Again again.)]

2009-04-15T18:07:00.000-07:00

So hopefully third time's a charm, eh?

As of tomorrow, I'm going to be moving to my newest residence in Paraguay con la familia Diaz...a family so close and intricated that I had some trouble keeping up with who's who the first few days. But all's well, because for the first time in Paraguay, I'm a part of a family. A living, breathing, included, part. I never get left behind in the dust or ignored like I did with my first couple famlies.

So the story goes like this:

About a month ago, my second host family and I decided it best if I go ahead and move out - I didn't want to be there, and they didn't want me there. I'm not going to badmouth them or anything. It just didn't work out...again.
In between all of this family chaos and another trip to the hospital I continued with my schooling..(of course.) But this past month was filled to the brim with tests (which I don't do) so I decided to explore my school. And just like at home, I'm friends with most of the staff (especially the office lady) because I'm justsodarnedcute and charming. =]
So after hearing the tale of my then current wearabouts, the school secretary, Bettina, offered her house to me for Semana Santa. (Holy Week, a time where the country shuts down and you spend all your time with your family, and since my family and I weren't on the best of terms, I packed up and headed right to Bettina's house.)
I was immediately swept up in the meaning of a true Paraguayan family. Betty and her family live seperately from the rest, but close, and see the extended family almost every day.

Her sister, Paty, is my new host mom. Paty has three boys (16, 8, and 6) who are my host brothers. Mis abuelos live with mi tia Cynthia and her daughter Sol. My grandma (we call her Tata) basically runs the show, and feeds us all. So I'm technically living with Paty, but eating at Tata's, which is just fine with me. Tata is a great cook. =]
I've basically gone from having no family at all to actually having one...not just a place to sleep in but a real family. A real real family. I don't think I'll ever want to leave.

Back to school...

2009-03-07T10:23:00.000-08:00

(Me and my german friend Niko drinking tereré.)

This past tuesday, my summer vacation in Paraguay officially ended, after four blissful months of sleeping in, hiding from the heat, hanging out with Zan in her garden, or with Emerson in el centro and travelling to the far reaches of this beautiful country I'm in. (By the way, as of March 1st I've been here for seven months. Time flies, definately.)
Most of the time though, I was exploring. I hopped on new busses in my hometown of Asunción, hoping it went to where I wanted to go. I hopped on fancy Greyhound-like busses that took me to the other side of the country, heading to lugares such as Ciudad del Este, Encarnación and Pedro Juan Caballero.

But now, I'm taking on a new adventure - Paraguayan school. Yes, I was enrolled in Colegio Del Sol for a few months, but that hardly counted. CdS is one of the most pristine private schools in all of Paraguay, so almost all of my classmates spoke English. I barely learned any Spanish. However, my spanish has rapidly improved in the three days that I've been in my new school, Colegio Expiremental Paraguay y Brasil (CEPB).

CEPB is a private schol too, but with less money, so it's more tranquilo. My host dad drove me in, walked me to the office, introduced me, then promptly left me without a word. So started my first day of school. I'm in 2do 'A' -- the grades are broken up into two classes - A and B -- but my AFS friends Emerson and Janneke are in 2do 'B'. The two opposing classes hate each other, and I happen to be Switerland. I'm friends with all of mis compañeros, but I'm also already friends with kids in the 'B' class. So basically, there's a war going on to see who I like more, A or B. I wish I was kidding, but no. It's a hard-core battle to win my love/attention. Almost everyday I have something to do after school, whether it be with 'A', 'B', or AFS students. I've gone from having nothing to do all day to having too much. It's nice, but really hard.

(Some of mis compañeras and I, at a friend's house.)
In class, I do rendir, (try, basically, but there really isn't a direct-translation for it into English) but only in some classes. Physics, for example, I wouldn't understand in English, let alone Spanish, so I just kind of sit there and doodle in my notes. In my math class, we're learning stuff I learned a few years ago, so no problem. I really fell back into the 'school' pattern quite nicely; honestly, I was seriously worried about how I'm going to go back to BHS after spending a year here. But I have been doing this for almost 12 years of my life, so it really wasn't that hard. The school atmosphere might be different between BHS and CEPB, but it's still basically the same thing - sitting there, taking notes, and getting tested on the material.

Overall, I'm in a good place. These last four months are going to fly by, for sure. I'm having problems with my new host family, but I'm sure I can hold up for four more months. Nothing too horrible going on that I can't deal with.

ps: AFS gave me my offical return date! I fly out of Asunción on July 7th at 18:00. So I should be back in America the 8th!

Switching Families

2009-01-29T12:45:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I'm guessing that by now most of you know that I switched families, out of the Peréz Ramírez household and into the Taboada Olmedo household. I have my parents, a sister, and a brother. They're awesome.

The actual process of switching went rather fast. It actually only really took a week, so that was cool. Friday, AFS gave me a call and said they had a family for me, and they could switch me today if they could just talk to my Mamá (at the time), but of course, mis padres had chosen that weekend to head out to the chaco. So, I waited until monday.

Monday rolled around after a REALLY awkward/long weekend, and AFS called me in the morning, and by 8.00 that night the taxi was there to pick me up to bring me to my nueva familia. So, the afs taxi/volunteer dropped me off, and I was met by a flurry of hugs and kisses and holas, and was automatically welcome and wanted.

That's an amazing feeling, by the way - being automatically loved. I'm still smiling because of it.

So they gave me a little time to unpack/get settled, but I felt weird being by myself, so I headed out to the kitchen table and proceeded to get questioned about myself/my life here for the next 3 hours. Now it's day three, and my mom still smiles at me and asks if I'm doing ok. I'm getting a copy of the house key, and I have access to the change bucket for bus money.

Overall, life is good, and I LOVE IT HERE. =] Basically wondering where these people have been the most amazing, loving, nuturing, (insert nice adjective here) paraguayans that I've encountered, thus far.

Oh, and here's my new address, if anybody feels like sending me a letter - I promise to write back!!

Hannah Weiger

c/o Flia Taboada Olmedo

Juana de Lara 461 c/

Nanawa - Lambaré

PARAGUAY

Picture update...

2008-12-29T14:28:00.000-08:00

Nothing really exciting has happend to me lately. Besides hanging out with Zan more - like 24/7 basically. So, here's some pictures of us and our cuteness. :)

On occasion, we let Emerson hang with us...(notice, that we all have matching toothbrushes)

Being Paraguayan with the termo and guampa...and wearing a stolen shirt from Florida. :D

Serving the tereré...want some?

You have to admit it - we're adorable.

I mean, come on people. We're so darned cute.

2008-12-18T15:55:00.000-08:00

(Me, Sam, Emerson and Zan in CDE. And little Edu in the corner there.)

This past sunday I visited Villa Hayas - a small town on the outskirts of the Chaco - to visit my friend Zan. We had tons of fun talking, listening to music, chillin, and drinkin tereré. It turns out that we had so much fun, that I ended up staying for the entire week there helping out at her school/worky-job thing. It was really fun.

Zan works in this self-sustained farming school, and inside of that this biointensive research garden. She's all written up and smart about it...and I have trouble knowing which plant is the weed and which one is the flower. =] So basically I either sat there and served her the tereré or helped weed. It was TONS of fun. So during the hot chaco days I 'helped' in the garden, and then at 4.00 we were off the for rest of the day. During that time we snacked on granola and talked about basically anything. It was fuuuuunnnnnn....And now I'm in love with Zan...she's amazing, and it's cool to have a fellow Wisconsinite with me. She's definately fighting for the best friend position.

And THEN...after a few days of lonesome separation, Zan came to visit me for a few days! It was awesome having her around again. My family simply fell in love with her - wait, no. My entire HOUSEHOLD fell in love with her. The fam, the maid, the cook...bascially anybody inside my house now loves Zan. Its awesome, because she's always welcome in my house for whatever amount of time. Taking her in is no problem, because she and I fit in my bed together just fine (no need to take up extra space with another matress in the room) and plus she doesn't eat alot. So bascially, I've got a sister. Its sweet.

Thanksgiving in Paraguay (a week late)

2008-12-04T09:15:00.000-08:00

Guess what???? I cut my hair. It's back to normal now, all nice and short.

From Sunday to Thursday I was in a city called Ciudad del Este with all of the AFSers from the US for Thanksgiving, just a week late. If I would explain all the details this post would be REALLY long, to say the least. To sum it up, it was probably one of the most memorable Thanksgivings I'll ever have, and I'm pretty much ok with that. But there were a few things we did outside of the norm. Like the fact that we couldn't find turkey, so we had chicken. Or the fact that it was 85 degrees out when we had our dinner. Those are only minor details though. =) Afterwards, with our stomachs filled, we just hung out, talking and sharing stories from past Thanksgivings we'd had. All of us AFSers from the US are like family, (I feel like I have three families, my real one, my host one, and my AFS family. It's awesome.) because we're all so close, but we've really only known each other for four months, so we never run out of things to talk about, because we've got our whole lives to talk about.

(My dinner. Don't worry mom, I kept it healthy. :P)

(Hanging out ((literally)) in the hammoks outside after dinner, just chillin.)

However, Thanksgiving was only day one. The next day all of us headed down to el centro to check out the cheap electronics market they've got there. I bought a pair of decent headphones for only $10. I'm proud. But we couldn't do that all day, so we split up. Half went back home to rest and chill, and the rest of us went to Itaipu, the largest hydro-electric dam in three of the four hemispheres. Honestly, I was amazed. This thing was HUGE, and I really can't wrap my mind around how they made it. But anyhoo, we we tourists in the real sense, taking the tour bus and watching the 20-year-old intro video and everything. So THAT was fun. don't worry, I took tons of pictures.

The next day we split up again. Me, Emerson, Cara and Kate stayed back and hung out all day while the rest of them went to see the waterfalls in Brasil. We decided not to go, because we didn't want to get caught without a visa and end up in Brasillian prison, even though it'd be a pretty sweet reason why you got sent home. But, what you need to understand is in Paraguay, everybody knows everybody, and the gossip is crazy. So most Paraguayans we talked to said that we were allowed 40 km into Brasil without a visa, (the falls are right at the 40 km mark) and as long as we showed the police there our visas for Paraguay, we'd be ok. However, my friend Cara called the American embassy and talked to them about it, and the representative there was pretty sure that'd we would be arrested and thrown into prison, then deported. So those who went wanted to risk it; the rest of us just stayed home and chilled, and I'm ok with that.
But, it turns out that those who went were turned down for whatever reason, so we really just spent the day hanging out and recovering from the past two days of madness. However, that night we threw a surprize birthday party for our friend, and then we took a bus home at 1.20 in the morning, so the recovery was necesary. Overall, I had a blast, and I really miss it, but I'm glad to be home in Asunción.

We're planning on going back soon though, because we all had so much fun. The feeling of family that we have when we're together is SO strong. These people aren't my friends anymore. They're my family - a very important part of my life and I want it to stay that way. =)

Update!

2008-11-27T05:48:00.001-08:00

Ok, as most of you know I was hosptialized last week, which is pretty interesting while you're in a foreign country. I spent 5 days and 5 nights in El Sanitorio San Roque, and MAN was it boring. I basically watched TV all day, and slept all night, but sometimes nurses would come in the middle of the night and poke me with needles and God knows what.
To say the least, it wasn't very fun.
But of course, I was sick, so I'm sure you all want to know what I had/have.
3 differant things...now put on your medical caps people, because it's a mystery. Or at least it was...they finnaly found out what was wrong with me on day number four.

1) I had a cough. A really bad, full-body, make-my-back-hurt cough. It sucked, and I still have it. But it turns out that I had bronchitis, so that'd be why I was coughing. It took them 3 days to figure THAT one out.

2) I threw up everything I ate, so bascially, I didn't eat for 3 days :( (but on the bright side, I lost weight! Yay!) First, they thought it was appendicitis, because when they were examining/poking my stomach they found by my appendix (or my right ovary, take your pick) it was very sore, and hurt to touch it. (Probably because I went '¡OW! ¿Qué haces?' Every time they poked me there. But it turns out it was number three...

3) Which is that I have a cyst (about 4 cm long) next to my right ovary, and the puking was because I was really hormonally imbalanced. Or at least that's what they're saying. Soooo, (now guys, this might get a bit uncomfortable) they gave me a pill to jump-start my time of the month, and now because of it, the cyst may get bigger or smaller. If it gets bigger, I have to have a surgury to get rid of it (nothing big, just a quick in and out) but if it gets smaller, which is more likely, we have nothing to worry about.

Ok, so that's why I was in the hospital for almost a week! And no worries guys, I really am ok. Nothing life-threatening here. :)

Tereré and poolside adventures

2008-11-13T10:11:00.000-08:00

Summer in Paraguay is pretty much described in one word: lazyness. I've been on summer break now for around a month, I've been having sooo much fun! As most of you know, my first week of break was spent in the chaco, I worked hard and had a blast, but these other three weeks have been even more fun. I get to enjoy doing nothing until March...yay!

My AFS friends and I hang out almost every day of the week, and when I'm not with them I'm with my host brother Jorge and his friends. Most people would think that we do productive things during these times, but the truth is we don't...really. Whenever I'm at home (which isn't very often - most of the time I'm out and about doing nothing) I'm sitting by our pool getting rid of my farmers tan, listening to reggaeton and drinking tereré. (Tereré is a very Paraguayan drink that sort of tastes like tea...it's hard to explain.) But whenever I'm out with my friends, we're either at the mall hanging out drinking tereré, or at someone's house drinking tereré. As you can tell, there's lots of tereré being drank no matter what the occasion. It's the social norm to see tons of people drinking it, whether or not they're hanging out by a pool, working, or doing whatever.

Some may ask, 'Why don't we do anything?' and the answer is simple - it's just too darn hot to even lift a finger, and it's not even summer yet! For the past few days it's been around 40-45C, which is 104-115F and I've been promised by many paraguayans that it's only going to get hotter, so I've got that to look forward to.

(And I promise...there are pictures to come!)

2008-10-28T16:07:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week my parents and I went to the chaco, a place which can vaguely be considered as the countryside of Paraguay. It's about a three-hour drive to my parents' ranch. However, only an hour of this drive is on paved roads. The other two are on this dirt road, swerving through cows and trying to avoid mud puddles that the truck could get stuck in. The other members of my family don't find this very appealing, but I had a smile on my face the whole way. Getting out of the city and into the country is one of my favorite things, and I got to have that rubbed in my face for almost two hours :)

After the potencially dangerous drive through other people's plots of land, we finnally arrived to the Perez-Ramierez ranch. Before we had left, my mom had told me 'don't expect lots' about their house in the Chaco, but once again, my family surprized me. There I was, expecting some random hut in the middle of nowhere, but the random hut was actually a small cottage, bigger than my friend Emerson's entire house. When we got inside the walls were covered in pelts from the carnivors who had unsucessfully tried to hunt their cattle.

The next day I walked outside expecting to explore a little, but what I found was a saddled horse, waiting for me. I then spent the whole day riding and getting my farmer's tan back. I also helped the gauchos (cowboys, in a sense) do a cattle run, and once again I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of cows overtaking me, but it was still fun :). Once we got the cows in, we met my dad and then had to give them a shot (and when I say them, I mean about 500 calves.) I wanted to help so my dad set me up at the beginning of the chute, and had me poke the calves with a stick when then needed to go in. It probably wasn't a real job, but I still had tons of fun doing it.

So basically, I got to do what I do best for two days. I didn't want to leave, but (as I found out when we got back into cell phone reception) my friends didn't want me to go. But do I really ever listen? I don't think so. Once Jorge finishes his exams we'll be back. Yay!

2008-10-21T17:17:00.000-07:00

(Me and my hot Belgian friends, Charlotte, Pauline, and Sarah)

So lately nothing very exciting has been going on here in Paraguay...

I've been spending my weekdays in school 'learning' (this translates into me doing absolutely nothing all day...) and my weekends hanging out with my AFS friends. Contrary to many of the opinions of my close friends and family back home, I'm quite shy, and have yet to form strong bonds of friendship with my school friends. Because of this, I've got the choice of hanging out with my AFS buds all the time or spending time with myself, and the former is much more appealing. =)

After school each wednesday my AFS friends and I get together at the local mall called Shopping Mariscal Lopez. These friends are from around the world; Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Canada, Chile, Peru, Turkey and of course, America. Even though this is a weekly tradition for us, I'm still amazed that I can have friends from such far away places. That's the beauty of AFS though, I guess.

However, this may be cool, but I've been told by many to get a move on with making school friends (ie: Jorge, my mom(s), and my school friends, jaja) but I find myself surprizingly shy when it comes to starting up a conversation in a foreign language. My spanish is improving slowly - VERY slowly - so when my school ends later this week I'm going to start spanish classes. This may sound corny, taking a spanish class in a spanish-speaking country, but I don't care. If I cared what most people think of me I wouldn't be where I am today.

Which is just the thing, if I'm not worried about my self-image very much, why am I shy? Do the opinions of these Paraguayans that I probably won't ever see again really matter? They may not, but accepting stupidity and looking stupid is something that I've gotten used to. If I'm so worried about 'looking' like something, how will I learn?

(Oh, and I thought you guys would want a look at the cutest AFS logo ever!!)

Cultural Differences

2008-10-03T10:43:00.000-07:00

(From the top right: Emerson, Sam, Zan, and me.)

Having your life turned upside-down is part of the package deal for almost every AFS student. We pay however much money to leave our homeland for a year, and jump head-first into the real world. This is awesome, in my opinion. I get to experience first-hand the amazing culture of Paraguay, and how it differs from my life back home, in the U.S.

Some of the differences between Asunción and my hometown, Burlington, are obvious. Burlington is a small town of 10,000 people, while Asunción is the capital of Paraguay, houseing over a million. But there are smaller, more defined differences than this.

For example, there's no speed limit here. Drivers are welcome to go any speed they wish, or rather any speed they wish to drive over the frequent speed bumps. These can be quite a surprize when the driver isn't paying much attention. I've cracked my skull on the ceiling of the car many, many times when my host brother is driving.

Another driving difference is the lack of respect for the pedestrians. If you cross the road, it's your job to make it to the other side unscathed. If you're in the way, you'll get hit. It's as simple as that.

A more serious difference is social class. This is especially prominent in my case, since my family seems to have lots of money. However, it is common to see a maid, or a housekeeper working in a middle-class home. In my case, we have a driver, a night-guard, a cook, and several maids at our disposal. My family is very reliant on these people; on sunday, when the help is off, we are basically helpless. Nobody (except for me) knows how to cook, and we always order in, or go out for meals. But the social class goes beyond unskilled upper classmen. If they are cleaning, or cooking, or whatever their job is, the help is expected to not mingle with their employers, and to leave them alone. This has been the hardest on me - for most of the time that I've been here, when I'm bored, I've gone down to the kitchens to hang out with Lucy, our cook. She's a very nice lady, and I enjoy spending time with her. Only recently did I discover that I shouldn't be spending time with her, as it is not my place to do so. It may sound rude, but it's just different, not bad, or anything.

It took me a bitto realize that this is just how things go in Paraguay. Sweet, right?

2008-09-18T13:59:00.000-07:00

(Me and my friend Luli.)

So on monday, I went on a class trip to Misiónes, a part of Paraguay some 500 km from Asunción, where I'm living now. It was a long bus ride, but I still had tons of fun. This fun included, much to my surprise, riding horse! I was so excited, since I haven't rode since I came home from Wilderness Pursuit.

The horse I'm riding in the above was only my 'starter' horse. I had to go out riding a few times to convince the vaqueros (cowboys, in a sense) that I actually knew what I was doing. It surprized them, seeing a woman that could ride so well. So after a bit of showing off, they switched me to a more difficult, young horse that needed an experienced rider. After switching, I really rode all day, not wanting to take the breaks that they forced upon me. A couple times I went out by myself, exploring the thousands of acres that they had at their disposal. The terrian is much like the west in America; flat, barren, and dry, so it was hard to get lost. When I returned from one of my trips, I was able to take part in a cattle drive which ment a few more hours of riding (which I didn't mind at all, really).

The cattle drive had us moving thousands of cows. And when I say thousands, I mean it. I've never seen so many cows in my life, and I'm from Wisconsin, for pete's sake.

I quickly learned the art of driving cattle, and found myself fitting in quite nicely in the middle of the Paraguayan wild west. But once it was over, it was over. I was under the influence that I'd be riding the next day, but I was scammed and sentenced into a day of boring, smelly museums on tuesday. Honestly, I'm not exactly sure how I went this long without riding...but as usual, I'll find a fix for it, or I'll make one myself. I usually do. :D

Futbol and Mac&Cheese

2008-09-10T17:30:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, I had AFS orientation. I met new friends, and had a blast. But the fun didn't stop there. Tuesday night, I went to an official Paraguay soccer game--PY vs. Venezuela--and had tons of fun. I'm not much of a soccer fan, but the energetic atmosphere that was present en la cancha I just couldn't resist. We stayed out late (for a school night) and I wasn't exactly looking forward to waking up in the morning, but I still had loads of fun. I'd do it again, any day of the week, no problem.
The way we aquired tickets for the game was interesting. It had the same amount of shiftyness you wouldn't be able to trust from the weird-looking guy standing outside of Soldier Field minutes before the Bears game started, but to my relief the tickets were real, and worked.
I also was able to experiance Paraguayan culture at its finest: the threat of having Coke dumped over my head if I wasn't wearing a Paraguay jersey. In response to the threats, I complied and bought one, which looks quite dashing, might I say.

One might think that I had my fair share of funness and exiting things happen to me, but the fun continues. The Sullivan family sent a package of things Jorge left behind, but also included mac and cheese! I couldn't believe it, and Jorge and I spent five straight minutes jumping up and down in excitement. We had it for dinner, and man, it tastes better than EVER! I missed it so much... But we have two more boxes to go, and I'm looking forward to the challenge.

2008-08-27T18:25:00.000-07:00

So it's official. I've decided to stay in Paraguay. Sorry to all of those who thought that I had a chance of coming home early. Why is this? Because I'm in love with Paraguay. I'm in love with the people, the culture... and the dog. (Her name is Lorenza.)

I'm also becoming more comfortable in my house. I've found a place to read, which makes me able to officially dub this place comfortable. My reading spot, (much to the dismay of my host parents) is on the roof of the house.

Being the only 'foriegner' in my school, I also find my self surrounded by people who want to know more about me. I'm making new friends daily, and speaking more spanish. However, I have not forgotten my fellow Americans here in Paraguay, so friday night I had an AFS party, celebrating our time here.

So, yeah. I'm staying.

2008-08-19T18:05:00.000-07:00

Wow, I've only been in Paraguay for 2,5 weeks, but somehow, it feels longer. During orientation, AFS gives us a ton of information, including some about the 'emotional rollercoaster'. This is not a ride at Six Flags, however, it is the wave of emotions that is typical for an AFSer, such as myself. For example, in about three months, I am supposed to be super homesick, calling my parents everyday, whining about how much I miss my family, my home, and America in general. Afterwards, I should experiance a wonderful high, being blissful in the fact that I can finnally understand the native language. That's something to look foreward to... And finnally, just before I go I should be sad again, not wanting to leave. But somehow, I seem to have already experienced this.
Every day, I relish (and sometimes find it hard to accept) the fact that I'm in Paraguay, 5500 miles from home. I'm getting exactly what I paid for, in a literal sense. Daily I have school and spanish lessons, but in the rare times I am alone, my thoughts only my own, I wish to be home again. I brought my pillow with me to remind me of home, but sadly, it has lost the familiar musky scent of my bed. It now smells like the bottom of my suitcase, and a new aroma from this place I call home. I look outside my window and see nature as I do at home, but the friendly maple has been replaced by a palm tree. Sometimes I wonder why I came here, but moments later I'm answered by something/someone Paraguayan.
But as always, I try to look on the bright side of life. Whenever I feel sad, I just think 'Hey, I'm in Paraguay. How awesome is that? How many people can say they've been to Paraguay, for an entire year?' Not many, I'm sure. I have more things to be happy about than to worry about, so never fear. I'll be my normal, cheerful self sometime soon. I just have to wait for my cold to go away.

Awesome aspects of Paraguay...

2008-08-10T13:24:00.000-07:00

The McDonalds delivery man!

(There´s more, by the way. This is like, maybe, a fourth of the whole house.)

My gigantic house!

But most of all...

New friends.

=========================

Ok people, I know that that kind of mushy, touchy-feely kind of writing isn´t me, but I couldn´t resist. Sorry.

Adapting

2008-08-04T06:30:00.000-07:00

¿Que tál, Uds.?
(Wazzup, peeps?)

So I´m now just beginning to fall into the rythm of the Paraguayan lifestyle. Everybody here is so laid back, it´s scary sometimes. On Sundays (when the maid, cook, and driver are off) the family and I are left to fend for ourselves. So what did we do? I´ll put it this way: I slept in until noon, and I was the first person up. The day didn´t start until around 3:00, and even then we were just going shopping. One of Jor´s friends needed to buy something, so we tagged along. But afterwards, we went to church. What I was expecting was this humungo Roman-Catholic cathedral, but what I got was mass outside!! It´s the dead of winter here right now and I was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. (Everybody else was in jackets and layers!!)
But today is another day, and the help is back, so all will get back to normal. I´m not sure yet when I´m supposed to start school, but I do know that my Spanish lessons start today.

¡Chao!

First days..

2008-08-03T11:59:00.000-07:00

So I made it, people! I´m still alive and well, and at casa de Perez. My plane flight was very long and I went 40 hrs. without sleep. But after orientation, my host family came and picked me up, and now I´m at my new house! This place is HUGE, and it´s all a bit overwhelming. Of course, everybody here speaks Spanish, but it´s nice that my host family speaks a little English. The English-speaking ends once I start my Spanish lessons, but hey, it´s ok.
I promise to keep writing, even though I´m REALLY busy.

Leaving...!

2008-07-29T16:37:00.000-07:00

So it's off to PY for the year as of tomorrow at 4 a.m., so I'll see y'all in a year. Once I get settled in at Jorge's house I'll give you guys an update.

Bye!

Packing for Paraguay!

2008-07-23T09:24:00.001-07:00

Hola, peeps!

I'm back home from up north, and it kinda stinks not riding horse three times a day. But...

It's only 7 more days to go, until my departure for Paraguay! I'm a bit nervous, but I know I'll be ok. I'm starting to think about thinking about what to pack (yay procrastination!) but one thing's for sure: I'll be out of the country in a week! That's the cool part.

Toodles!

Departure Dates!!!

2008-06-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

Here are my departure dates!

I'll leave for Miami on July 30th, early in the morning .

And...

I leave Miami on July 31 at 8:30 pm,

and I arrive the next day (August 1st) in Buenos Aires at 6:05 am,

My connecting flight to Asuncion departs at 9:30 am,

then I arrive at Asuncion at 10:10 am.

Then I'm in Paraguay until July 2009!

Update!!

2008-05-15T18:10:00.000-07:00

I know that all of you peeps want to know what's been goin on here while I'm still in the US.
SO.......

A couple days ago, I got accepted to AFS Paraguay! Now it's official that I'm going! Yay!
Today, AFS sent me my 'host family' info, even though I know who I'm staying with. I got a big booklet that expains what I need to do.

So basically, I'm just getting ready to go. All the little details are falling into place. There's less than a month left of school, then it's my birthday, then I'm up north all summer. I'll be home a couple weeks before I leave for Paraguay to bid farewell to all I know and love.