Okay so I have failed at updating my blog. But here it goes. In my last update I was about to go on family vacation. Well lets just say it was fabulous. It was a very memorable vacation that I think all of us will never forget. The beaches were fabulous, Laura and I hit the tanning nicely. We did a lot of exploring: we saw a very uniquely designed house, went over a roller coaster bridge, visited the delicious tea and waffle house (and of course ate our very own yummy waffle!), and hung out with the fingers on the beach! We ate well, played a card game most nights and had our own dance parties! We explored Montevideo one day while waiting for Laura to arrive at the airport then after she got in we got to experience a tango show and some typical dances from Uruguay! Uruguay is beautiful with very nice people and definitely a trip that’s worth taking. Only I was very exhausted from translating everything- I really didn’t know it was going to be that draining, and I got confused a lot! But I guess that’s probably normal!
The real fun began when we arrived in Paraguay. The countries are so close and both end with -guay… but they are really not very similar! Paraguay is such a less developed country and my family definitely got to catch a glimpse of that. We spent the first night with my training family in Guarambare. We played with Alexis, held my new baby sis Sofie, and ate tons of food and fresh grapefruit juice! Although they couldn’t communicate with my family we still had a really great time. Laura really enjoyed taking pictures and checkin out the family animals! The following morning after a delicious breakfast of cocido we started heading south. We drove over 300 kilometers to Tacuaras, since I’ve always traveled by bus it was also a really great experience for me. There is so much you don’t realize while you’re on a big bus! My dad did a great job of not hitting any animals and navigating the many potholes! And it was really beautiful… the way the landscape changes is really neat! And now my parents really believe me when I say I live in the swamps! We arrived early afternoon, and of course I didn’t have any food to eat! Ha! But we quickly got to finding beds for everyone, we were hauling around bed frames, mattresses and pillows from the neighbors! Then we headed over to Nancy’s house (the host family I lived with for the longest here!) we sat around drinking tereré, looking at Jimena’s birthday party pictures, and having every single person walk by us in a complete stare! My biggest comments from people were, WOW you’re parents look young, and your sister is really skinny and pretty! Then being the super hostess that Nancy is she made us hot dogs and sandwiches! We were having such a good time by the time we left it was basically dark and ready to get ready for the birthday party that night. So we didn’t get to visit many other families. The birthday party was for the 12 year old Mario who is the son of one of my best friends and neighbors, Blanca. Who is also the pre-school teacher and who I spend almost every afternoon from 2-4 in her class with her! At the party we ate 4 different kinds of meat: pork, beef, sheep and goat. It was pretty freakin good! People were very nice and used all the 2 words of English they knew. And I just sat around translating! The following morning I wanted to go visit more families and walk around, unfortunately in Paraguayan fashion it was raining- hard! And there was a power outage. So we left early. We drove back up to Asuncion, where we stopped at a artisan tent to buy some gifts then just rested and showered up in the hotel and went to dinner. My fellow PCV Stephanie ended up joining us for dinner which was very nice, she got to help translate too! And in the morning we got up way too early and returned the rental car and everyone headed to the airport and me to the bus terminal to head back to site! It was an absolutely wonderful vacation, and I feel so blessed that my family made the effort and spent the money to come down and see me. You can explain your life over and over, but until you’re there and see it in person, touch it, eat it, feel it. That’s when you understand. And I couldn’t not be more thankful to my family for taking the 24 hour journey and sharing in a part of my life that will be an extremely defining and life changing experience for me. So thank you Aunt Cathy and UK (Kentelton! Haha) for making the trip possible and to Mom, Dad and Laura for taking time out of your busy lives and for everyone’s continual support. This truly is the hardest job you’ll ever love!
No comments:
Post a Comment