Aventuras!

On Saturday we didn’t have class because we were given “Self Directed Time” to work on projects…so naturally some of my friends and I found our way to San Lorenzo to go to the mall. San Lorenzo is about an hour or so away by bus and we had to change buses at one point. Let me just clarify the bus system a bit. As we got on the bus we specifically asked if it passed by the “Shopping San Lorenzo” (yes, they use “shopping” as a noun here..very weird) and the driver said yes. After a bit we decided that we should maybe ask when to get off and he proceeds to tell us that he in fact does NOT pass by. So we had to get off and ask what bus to take next. It was fine and we made it. Oh it’s also important to note that if it’s raining the bus system (and Paraguay as a whole) shuts down typically. It seems weird but actually sort of makes sense because a lot of places don’t have drainage systems so the streets look like rivers. Yep, you guessed it, it was down pouring while we were on the bus. İQué Divertido! Once we got there we felt like we were in the U.S. practically. There was a McDonalds, a Burger King, a movie theater and the mall was actually very chuchi. There was grocery store attached and we obviously went there first. I bought a pack of oreos, a Hersey’s with almonds and a baguette. I really couldn’t resist the baguette because it only cost 1 mil (approx. $0.20). Next we went to the food court and found Chinese food. We all died and went to heaven. As you can see, food is a big deal to us PCTs. Later on, we went to the Mercado which is like an outdoor shopping area that has little stands with lots of different things. It was really cool to see the differences between the two shopping options.

Shout out to the Texas bunch for reading my blog!! Thanks guys! I received the letter from Mary Jayne on Monday, the 17th, and was thrilled about it! It’s the first piece of mail I’ve received while being in Paraguay. It may have arrived earlier but they sit in the main Peace Corps office, in Asuncion, until someone decides to bring them to Guarambare, where our training center is. I’m going to answer your questions here just because I don’t really know where the post office is in this town..but once I get settled into my actual site I’ll be able to explore a little and find one. I’m getting along with my family fabulously. They are so wonderful! My host brother is really awesome at explaining the language to me and takes in interest in helping me to understand so that’s super helpful! And my host mom does a spectacular job at making sure I’m comfortable while I’m here. My language is getting better but it’s sort of difficult to learn two completely different languages at once. It would be easier if I was already fluent in Spanish, then I could just focus on guaraní but alas, that’s not the case. I’m a little worried that I’ll go into my site knowing exactly the same, basic things in two languages and not know anything else in both. But I have to have faith in the system. They know what they’re doing…hopefully! Again, thank you so much for thinking of me and keep in touch!

Until next time!