So I know the holidays are a few weeks past but I'm just now getting in the mood to write again. And a ton has happened since the last post so this might be kind of long. I've been better at uploading pictures so if you get bored while reading this, take a look at the new pics! http://picasaweb.google.com/mandisue182
The first week in December my friend Erica and I took a short vacation to Mar del Plata, Argentina. We took an 18 hour bus ride to Buenos Aires, then another 5 hours south to Mar del Plata. It's a beautiful tourist town with tons of gorgeous beaches, where we spent most of our time. We stayed in a cute little hostel owned by a bunch of brothers and sisters. We were only there for 3 days (+2 days of travel) but we made the most of it; going to the beach during the day, exploring a little, then going to eat delicious food at night. Most bars and clubs don't even open until after midnight so being accustomed to life in the campo and going to bed by 10pm, we didn't experience much of the nightlife. I was constantly amazed by how different Paraguay and Argentina are. Even the Spanish accents are entirely different, which frustrated me to no end. Our hosts one evening told us that Paraguayans are uncivilized because they live with "the natives". Argentina has natives too but they keep them all separated in the north. I know many Paraguayans who have either gone to Argentina to work or have family there who send money back on a regular basis. It makes me sad that Paraguay is surrounded by all these thriving countries but, because of bad luck and bad leaders, it's been left in the dust to fend for itself.
On our way home, after being on buses for 22 hours, we got to the Argentina-Paraguay border and realized we could go no further. Both sides of the border had closed to all buses and anything besides foot traffic. Argentina wanted to raise the tax for people entering and Paraguay just closed theirs to retaliate. Apparently this happens often. They were saying the border wouldn't open for 3-5 days. We had no money and both of our cell phones were dead so we decided to walk to the border and find out for ourselves what was going on. It turns out we had no trouble crossing on foot, they even let me stop and charge my phone for a bit, and there were buses waiting on the other side to take us the rest of the way to Asuncion. So that was not an ideal way to end our vacation but an experience nonetheless.
All of December was spent fixing up houses. Some people repainted, some bought new furniture and added on rooms. It was crazy. I almost felt like I needed to spruce up my house a bit, but then realized they were only doing it to impress family members that would be coming for the holidays.
I spent both Christmas and New Years with my boyfriend's family. The have a ranch-style house about 30 minutes outside of my community. As soon as I got there the day before Christmas, Elvio's mom gave me a plate of
chipa guasu (cheesy, oniony, deliciously greasy cornbread) and told me I was too thin. She fed me nonstop over the next couple of days. Christmas Eve was spent watching tv, eating, drinking wine and coke, and just hanging out. We all stayed up until midnight, wished each other Feliz Navidad, then went to bed. On Christmas, no one really mentioned it at all. Elvio and I took a horse out to explore his land and visit a nearby stream but it had just rained so there were billions of mosquitoes so we decided to head back home.
The day after Christmas I started feeling really sick. I had a fever (having chills and goosebumps when it's 100 degrees outside is weird) and every part of me ached. I could barely move without being in extreme pain. Elvio's family was really worried and after about 24 hours of this, his mom said they were going to take me to the hospital if I didn't call me doctor. All of my symptoms fit those of dengue fever, and although it's very painful and not fun, there is no treatment or cure besides drink fluids and rest, which I had already been doing. So after a couple of days, my fever finally went away and I was able to get on my feet again.
The week between Christmas and New Years I spent with neighbors, drinking terere, eating watermelon (cut in half and eaten with a spoon), and trying not to die of heat stroke. Have I mentioned it's hot here? Yeah.
New Years were more of what I had expected from Christmas. I went back to the ranch and a bunch of aunts, uncles, cousins and distant relatives came over to celebrate. New Years Eve I helped Elvio's sister make clerico, basically fruit salad soaked in white wine. We stayed up until midnight once again, the kids set off a ridiculous amount of firecrackers, which scared me every time, and then we went to bed. New Years day I met all the family and, just when I thought I had gotten used to the extreme awkwardness of Paraguay, got asked multiple times when I was going to start having kids because I'm almost too old now! I told them it is prohibido to have kids in Peace Corps and that I would prefer to stay here and not get sent home. They all agreed. For lunch we ate delicious asado (not-quite-barbecue ribs), chorizo and duck along with more chipa guasu and, of course, mandioca. After lunch and before food-coma, we all filled our glasses with wine and went around saying what we were thankful for and what we wished for in the following year.
So now it's 2011! Last year flew by as I'm sure this one will too. I'm looking forward to starting new projects, continuing old ones and doing everything I can to make a difference here.
