A Paraguayan Love Story

I'm finally getting around to writing about all the craziness that has happened since my wedding almost a month ago. I've had plenty of time to do it but every time I start to write I end up just swaying in the hammock and reminiscing about my time here and realizing how little I have left and then I get sad/happy/terrified/excited/nervous and I can't possibly write through all those emotions. But since that's how I'll probably feel for the rest of the 4 months I have left here (Eek!) I'll power through it for your sake. Your welcome.

The wedding was perfect. The days leading up to it were some of the most stressful of my life and that actual day I thought nothing would go right but when I saw Elvio in his tux and he took my hand, I knew everything would be alright. By the end of the night I was completely exhausted and in a daze but I could not have been happier.

We went to Puerto Iguazu, Argentina for our honeymoon. It's a cute little tourist town and the only thing to do there is go see Iguazu Falls, one of the largest waterfalls in the world, and recently voted one of the New 7 Wonders of the Natural World. Unfortunately the day we went it was rainy and misty but the view was still spectacular. We planned to return the next day, which was warm and clear, but I ruined that by getting really sick. It was still a great honeymoon though; a nice getaway from normal campo life. And Elvio discovered the joys of breakfast in bed while watching tv.

The day we got back we were informed we had to move out of our house...again. The lady who owns it came back for a rezo, a 9-day prayer service for her dead brother. Originally she had said we could leave our stuff there and just sleep somewhere else but she changed her mind and decided we should just clear out. So now we're living in a prison-cell-sized room with our neighbors (Elvio's aunt). I shouldn't call it that because the family has been nothing but welcoming and kind to us but it's TINY and we are newlyweds. The annoying part is that it's totally normal for Paraguayan couples to continue living with their families after they are married so I am the only one who thinks this arrangement is weird. But our landlady told us a few days ago that she is leaving again before Christmas and we can have the house back. Thank goodness.

As I mentioned earlier I only have 4 months of service left. Yikes, every time I think about that it freaks me out. There's no way that's possible. How could time have passed that quickly? What am I going to do with the 4 months I have left? Well, currently I'm doing a lot of waiting around. I recently turned in a petition to PLAN International (NEWSFLASH: a snake just slithered under my hammock and I managed not to have a heart attack...) for $3500 to build sanitary latrines for 34 families in my community. I have been trying to get this money for a long time and keep getting turned down. I'll find out in January what's happening with my petition. I also just mailed off Elvio's visa application. AND grad school deadlines are coming up in January so I'll be waiting to hear from the schools that I applied to. Lots of waiting. So for now I'm going to enjoy one more year of warm weather Christmas and New Years and eat fresh watermelon and pineapple until I explode.