Paraguay: A Peace Corps Adventure: Fourth of July/Pub Crawl

Got to Asu on Wednesday night and was finally able to see Maria. I hadn’t seen her yet which is ridiculous. She was my close friend and is a TAC member with me, and it was simply incredible that we both got placed in Paraguay. That does not happen, it’s like a one in a million chance. God, we’re lucky. Anyways, we went to a restaurant called Bolsi and I got some delicious mini burgers and cheese fries. They were SO satisfying. Then we went to TGI Fridays, I don’t even know if I’ve been to one in the States ha, but they had a 3x1 drink special which was perfect because there were 3 of us. We got Strawberry Mojitos and Tequila Sunrises. It was so fabulous having real drinks and not shitty Brahma brand beer.

Jen arrived in Asu on Thursday morning so I met her at the P.C. office. We hung out for a little bit because there were a lot of other PCVs there and we were able to reunite with some G-mates who also arrived. Then we went to get sushi for lunch. YUM. Jen and I decided to take a little adventure to Mercado Cuatro, which is just like this HUGE street market that has everything from clothes, appliances, fish, fruit, instruments to monkeys. Yes, they apparently sell monkeys there. So we walked around for a few hours and then realized we had literally no idea where we were. So we’re just sort of wandering around trying to figure out where we are, but it’s really difficult because everything looks the exact same. So finally we’re standing on a corner trying to orient ourselves and a dude on a moto pulls up and asks if we’re lost and if we’re Peace Corps Volunteers. Thank goodness that people in Asuncion are familiar with PC and can detect PCVs instantly. He gave us directions and we finally found our way out.
On Friday, we had to get up sort of early because there were some committee meetings in the office. I’m hoping to be a part of the Library Committee, the HIV/AIDS Taskforce, and the Gender and Development Committee. This was an all-day affair and then there was and NVAC meeting. This is a huge meeting with all of the VAC reps from each departamento (for example, my VAC is the Itapúa VAC) and the committee leaders. Being newbies, a few of us G-44ers decided we would check it out. What we didn’t know was that this meeting would last 3 and a half hours. No. I do not accept that. That is way too long, and I was not able to mentally prepare myself. I was thrilled when it was over.

That night there was an Asuncion 4^th of July Pub Crawl. It started at 10 so naturally we didn’t leave the hostel until 10:30. So we left with some G-43ers and assumed they knew where to go because they have been here longer than us. We were wrong. We were lost (this is becoming a trend apparently) and the annoying thing is that Paraguayans have this thing where they don’t want to disappoint you so even if they don’t know where you trying to get to they will make something up even though it could be totally wrong. This causes problems. So we ended up walking in a huge square that was like 20 blocks in total in the middle of downtown Asuncion, until we decided to stop at a gas station to get some beers. Exciting news: I shot gunned my first beer ever…in the gas station parking lot. Classy, I know. Whatever, moving on. So then we finally see a large group of what could be nothing else but PCVs. We followed them to the destination and found out that the pub crawl tickets were sold out, but that didn’t matter because we just decided to follow the group where ever they went, plus it saved us money on the 50 mil ticket. It was a fabulous time filled with dancing and just a little bit of drinking.
On Saturday morning we had the 4^th of July party at the embassy which actually ended up being super fun. We all got decked out in red, white and blue and got to eat hot dogs and hamburgers and chocolate chip cookies. There was country music and games. G-44 definitely held our own and actually won a few of the games, obviously we’re the best G. After the party we all went back to the hostel to nap because that night was Ahendu. Ahendu (which means I listen in Guarani, I’m pretty sure) is an event every 3 months for PCVs to perform their musical talents. We rent out a bar for a few hours for the event. Clearly I had nothing to contribute but it was so awesome hearing everyone play their instruments and sing. It was Great Gatsby themed which is an incredible theme, so classy. It was just so fun to be able to socialize and party with all the other, older volunteers.

Sunday was the day we were supposed to leave, but obviously a few friends and I decided to stay one more day. We hung out, got some free BBQ samples from a guy who is American and opening up a BBQ restaurant, and just chilled. I returned home on Monday. And that was my weekend…well it was more of a week. I regret nothing. It was so great to let loose and spend time with my fellow PCVs.