Feliz Navidad

I can easily say that my first Christmas away from home was nothing I expected. For starters, Paraguay doesn’t seem to place quite as much importance in the holiday as the United States. And in my family at least, Christmas Eve resembled the holiday more than the day itself.

Due to my mom’s job as the top public defender in her office, she had to work the morning of the 24^th. That left me free to sleep in, fully enjoying the air conditioner strategically located above my bead. For lunch I completed the 2 minute walk to our “maid”, but more like family, Shirley’s house. We drank tereré while we waited for my mom to get back from work and join us. Her 5 year old son Gabriel ran about the house, exhibiting his normal behavior…slightly annoying, but also entertaining. After eating and a few hours spent chatting, my mom and I went back home and I took a cozy little nap while she ran to her office to sign some last minute paperwork.

When she got back we loaded up the car with sparkling cider and set off for my grandparents’ farm (about a 15 minute drive). Meat was thrown on the grill beside some traditional “chipa guazú” (the closest American food I can relate it to is cornbread) while my aunt stirred a pot of seasoned chicken hearts. They had decided that although the same amount of regular chicken cost the same, the hearts were so “rico” they couldn’t pass them up. I had already tried “corazon de pollo” on another occasion and they were a bit chewy for my taste, so I passed when the bowl made its rounds at the table. We ended up eating around 11:30 or so, finishing up in time for the big turn of the clock to officially begin Navidad. We all gathered around the tinseled X-mas tree and surrounding nativity scene while my mom led the family through some traditional Catholic prayers. When she finished we all exchanged hugs and my mom and I went home.

I woke up early the next morning (6 o’clock to be exact) in order to give Camp Ramp a proper Merry Christmas at the strike of 12 back home. The call was actually my Paraguayan mom’s idea and she was fairly persistent that I had to call exactly at midnight, which was adorable. Hearing all their voices (minus Hunter who was supposedly asleep downstairs anxiously awaiting Santy Claus) was great, but it also made me miss home. However, in all honesty, I think it’s fairly impossible to not miss your family on a day like Christmas. After I finished the call I crawled back in bed for an hour or so until my mom told me it was time to go. Our Christmas day was to be spent on the beach.

We picked up one of my mom’s coworkers, crossed the Brazilian border, and made our way towards a lake in the town of Santa Helena. It took about 2 hours to arrive, what with one wrong turn and all. By noon we had our sun block (or in their cases, tanning oil) on, towels laid out, and were soaking up some strong Brazilian rays. When the sun got too hot for us, we took a quick dip in the lake, reapplied our UV protection and laid back down. With the exception of a quick break to eat some Christmas fruitcake (VERY popular in Paraguay), we continued this routine until about 5 o’clock, packed up and started the return trip. Once back in Paraguay we made a quick stop for dinner…at Burger King of all places. The coworker had been wanting a Whopper all day, so my mom and I went along with her craving.

Needless to say, my Christmas celebration included many things it most certainly would not have back home: spending it in a bikini, working on my tan and grabbing a bite to eat at the BK lounge. In some ways it feels as though I skipped Christmas for a year. I did have a great day with my mom; it just wasn’t anything I expected. Yet another great addition to my experience…

Camboriu

I realize that it’s been a little while since I’ve posted, but it’s been with good reason. My last 10 days have been spent on the Brazilian beaches surrounding a town called Camboriu. I made the trip accompanying the graduating class of my high school. They, along with just about every other group of graduates across Paraguay spend a little over a week in mid-December enjoying themselves after all of their hard work. We headed out on Friday the 12^th at midnight on a double-decker bus, full of excitement for the 16 hour trip and more importantly, the sunny shores awaiting us. Some of us managed to get a few solid hours of “bus-sleep” (definitely not to be confused with a good night’s sleep) before we pulled up in front of Hotel Sibara.

That night was the first of seven that would be spent at a discotheque. The schedule called for us all to be outside the hotel awaiting the bus by midnight and we’d get back from the club between 4 or 5 in the morning. At that point some of us decided to go to bed, while others spent a few hours chatting it up on the nearby beach. I only felt up to the early morning beach visits a few of the “nights”, but I must admit that the sunrises were beautiful.

The days were spent at various surrounding beaches, where I was able to fully appreciate the much missed “mar y montañas”. I also managed to soak up some sun and work on further converting that Alaskan colored skin. Miraculously I didn’t burn in the slightest, although I may have been the sole one of the group constantly applying “el protector del sol”. The two days that the beautiful weather cut out and the streets were filled with rain we spent our time shopping at close by malls. It could be due to the tropical surroundings and lacking frosty weather, but I seem to keep forgetting that Christmas is rapidly approaching. However, the grand Christmas displays housed by each mall were blunt reminders. My friends and I had to take advantage of a photo op with Papa Noel.

One of our daily excursions was spent at an aquatic park, while another was aboard a pirate ship. Both were quite fun, although the pirate ship was admittedly my favorite. And I didn’t get sea sick or anything! Dad you should be proud…:) The trip left me thoroughly exhausted and I spent my first day back home sleeping and coming to the realization that summer and the accompanying heat is just beginning here in Paraguay...Good luck to the Alaskan girl, eh?

Pumpkin Pie and So Much More...

November 27^th came and went for me without much importance. Granted I was filled with jealousy as my mom and two brothers were able to spend it in Vermont, taking part in the Thanksmas celebration. Luckily I still was able to take part in some Thanksgiving festivities, I only had to wait until December 1^st. Our “Halloween” trip was so much fun that among the American AFS students, we decided we were going to have to work together and create our own Thanksgiving feast, with Ciudad del Este playing host. The 6 Asuncioners got in around 1 PM on Monday the 1^st, but the arrival wasn’t without a few small hitches. We knew that the bus they took from Asuncion was capable of letting them off right outside of Linny’s (Missouri) house, which was serving as base camp for the visit. The only thing they had to do was ask the bus driver to let them out at “Colegio San Jose” (Linny’s school). Simple enough, right? As the hour of their arrival neared, Linny and I set out to meet them…however as time passed and the bus didn’t passed by, we began to get a little nervous. Finally we got a phone call from Hannah, informing us they had gotten off the bus and were fairly certain they were mere blocks from “San Jose”. At this point, Linny and I were fairly sure where they were, but the fact that they thought they knew where they were going in a city they’d never been in was slightly concerning. This, in addition to the fact that Linny’s entire street was named “San Jose”, along with the high school and a few dozen businesses, left us unsure which “San Jose” they were heading to. Miraculously, ten minutes later we spotted a very American looking group of kids and set off to Linny’s house where Nate (Arizona) realized he had accidently left his phone on the bus. In a country as filled with corruption as Paraguay, the chances of someone finding it and actually giving it back were one in a million. The problem was that Nate didn’t have any records of his host family’s phone number and couldn’t let them know about the missing cell phone. Luck seemed to be on our side, as astonishingly a worker from the bus company answered Nate’s phone and informed us he would hold it until the next day.

That afternoon was spent at the grocery store, gathering ingredients for our approaching feast. Knowing that trying to make dessert the day of might prove too difficult, I had slaved at the stove the day before to crank out 3 fresh pumpkin pies. I was admittedly quite proud of them considering I had had to use actual pumpkin and make a crust from scratch (Libby’s canned pumpkin and pre-made crusts just don’t exist in Paraguay). The rest of the dinner included 4 chickens (turkey is quite expensive here), mashed potatoes, salad, rolls, cooked sweet potatoes and carrots, and sopa paraguaya (Linny’s mom’s addition). With Linny’s family, we were 16 people. The dinner itself was quite touching and tears were definitely shed. First of all, I think I can easily say that the food reminded us all of home and made us miss our families. On the other hand, Linny’s family is so incredibly inviting and wonderful we were all incredibly happy to be spending Thanksgiving with them. We spent time saying a blessing and having each person present mention something they were thankful for, as tradition mandates. The night was one of the most memorable we’ve had here in Paraguay and will not be easily forgotten.

With stomachs overly full and circles under our eyes after staying up all night catching up, we boarded buses to show off “el centro” (Ciudad del Este’s downtown streets filled with illegal goods…i.e. copied movies and video games costing a dollar a pop). We spent the morning strolling the streets, eyes peeled as to not get mugged. After a quick lunch we broke into two groups, one heading to check out the Itaipu hydro-electric dam and another, myself included, to Linny’s house for a quick nap. The agenda for the evening was to take them to see “The Parana Country Club”. The “PCC” was home to 6 of our 10 Ciudad del Este AFSers and was a world apart from Paraguay. The gated community was filled with mansions, clothing stores, and groceries, taking away the necessity to ever actually leave. The high measures of security made it safe to walk the streets at whatever hour, something not all of us were able to do in our hosting neighborhoods. It was the closest thing to the U.S. there was in CDE and they all picked up on it pretty quickly as we passed through two different manned security gates. We didn’t spend long there as homesickness was already starting to set in for a few.

The plan Wednesday was to take a small group to see the Falls of Iguazu, the amazing waterfalls the Brazilian border is host to. Unfortunately, our group consisted of Linny’s 15 year-old host sister and Brazilian law prohibits people under 18 from entering into Brazil without their parents. Normally the border is not as tightly patrolled and for this we hadn’t thought it would be a problem, but apparently we had used our luck up earlier. We crossed back across the “Friendship Bridge” on foot to cross back into Paraguay and spent another morning walking in and out of various shops. Wednesday evening coincided with Teresa (an Austrian volunteer)’s birthday, so we prepared an “asado” (typical Paraguayan barbeque) for her at Linny’s house. That night around midnight the Asuncioners taxied to the bus terminal for the 5 hour bus ride home. It was great to see them all, but it was also sad having to say goodbye to the 6-monthers who I most likely won’t see again. However, Paraguayan Thanksgiving = 1 Grand Success!

The Middle of Nowhere...And Then Some

Last-minute excursions seem to be becoming a theme of my life here in Paraguay. This past Saturday my mom told me she would be taking a trip the next day and invited me along. When I asked her where we’d be going, I wasn’t given a concrete answer. It was clear that it was in the “interior” of Paraguay, near a very old town called “Villa Rica”, but the uncle we’d be visiting wasn’t exactly living in civilization. Without much information past the 5 AM wake-up call, I happily agreed to accompany her.

Sunday morning, literally at the break of dawn, after quickly picking up my grandparents from their farm, we set out on our 3 hour journey. Admittedly I had been planning on sleeping most of the way, but having been designated the server of the mate (very hot version of tereré) I decided to fight my heavy eyelids. We took a main highway most of the way, but then turned onto, get this, a “sand” road, it wasn’t even structured enough to be called a “dirt” road. I knew we were close. 7 Kilometers later the road ended…and we had arrived. My mom found it quite comical that I am now able to say “I’ve followed the road all the way until it stops.” I suppose I’ll have to show her both of “The End” signs you can get to after traversing all of Sitka’s 14 miles of road!

Getting out of the car I spotted something long, green, and slithery and quickly decided I am not a fan of snakes. After notifying everyone of what I saw, my grandfather nonchalantly, but to my eyes quite courageously, picked up a sturdy branch and swatted “el serpiente” away. Mid-morning was spent sipping tereré in the shade, chatting in Guarani, and lovingly laughing at the fact that I didn’t understand a word of what they were saying. Lunch consisted of marinated beef, chicken, and of course, mandioca (the Paraguayan potato). As afternoon and the accompanying heat set it, we stuck to the shade, drinking even more tereré, and watching the cows in the field meander our way and into their pen all on their lonesome. I was quite impressed with them. The farm also had a small patch of grapes that I owe so wanted to try despite my mom's warning of their hard and still to sour to eat nature. I tried them. They were hard and sour...

I was beginning to get eaten by the bugs, which my mom tells me is because they get my skin confused with milk (I’ve definitely darkened down here, but I’m still nowhere near the Native Paraguayan). We said our goodbyes, buckled up, and headed on our way. I slept most of the return trip, but awoke to watch our roadside transaction with what seemed to be a 6 year old girl. A crate of tomatoes…only 15 mil Guarani (near 3 dollars). Cheap and fresh produce will definitely be missed.

Pictures featured include: The sunrise turning on to the main highway, “El serpiente”, the infamous tereré (the shot looks into the “guampa” showing the green stuff aka yerba and the metal straw aka bombilla), the “road” we used, and finally a pretty sunflower field we passed on the drive.

Halloween: Or something like that…

Last weekend the Kate, Linny (both from Missouri) and I traveled to Paraguay’s capital, Asuncion to visit the other U.S. exchange students. The original plan was to visit them for Halloween and have our own “celebration” filled with scary movies and ridiculous amounts of candy. Due to stereotypes towards an American Halloween and our not always so helpful AFS volunteer, we weren’t able to do that. Instead we waited a week and still had a blast seeing each other. Originally one of the CDE girls and I were going to stay at one students house while others were at another house, but after a few hours together no one really wanted to leave each other. So, it ended up that all 11 or so AFS USA kids crashed on a couple of mattresses in just one of the empty rooms available in Hannah’s enormous mansion.

The weekend was jam-packed of so many things it definitely seems like it was longer than 2 days. Adventure began as soon as we stepped off the bus and were met by Emerson (VT) and Hannah (Wisconsin). They had been debating between the each other which bus line was the best to take back to her house and decided upon “Linea 13”. Let me just take a second to advise anyone who may be taking Asuncion buses in the near future…NEVER TAKE LINEA 13. The first 2 hours we sat on the bus we laughed off the fact that it was taking us all over the city, but not that close to Hannah’s house. We decided it was our chance to really get to know Asuncion and for 2,300 Guarani (50 cents), it was the cheapest tour out there. The final hour made us a little nervous and as darkness began to set in we reached the end of the line which consisted of a couple other buses in a large parking lot in the middle of a shady neighborhood. This was definitely NOT where we wanted to be. We decided the police officer (armed with a huge gun) was the safest bet to ask for directions. Luckily, without needing to bribe him or anything (quite normal here) he told us to wait 15 minutes for the next bus to leave. A half hour, a smelly bus ride, and a cramped taxi ride later we had arrived at Shopping del Sol. There we met up with the other U.S. kids and ate a good healthy meal…Pizza Hut.

That first night we decided to hang at Hannah’s house. We attempted to make chocolate chip cookies, but shopping for ingredients in Spanish and then converting measurements to metric proved to be a little difficulty. The kitchen was left smelling pretty good and despite their varying consistencies, the cookies were pretty good. Later on we took a dip in the pool and showered off the bus rides. All cuddled up, we chatted until the wee hours of the morning recounting all of our treacherous tales.

With a 3 or 4 hours of sleep in us, we were ready for the next day and set off to the mall. This experience was particularly strange for me. Walking into the Nike store with all the prices in dollars and later lunching at McDonald’s in the food court really left me feeling like I was in the U.S. However, unlike the other U.S. kids, I’m not used to malls and had the sensation of being on a vacation somewhere in the U.S. The rest of the day was spent shopping around off the streets, sweating in the 100 degree weather, and lunching in the Asuncionsioners favorite lunch spot, the “Lido Bar”.

The original plan had been to go out to a disco Saturday night, but we had a few under-18 guys with us and didn’t want to risk them not getting in. That, and some people didn’t want to spend the money to get into a club. Us CDE kids still wanted to get out though, so a restaurant was suggested. Around 11 or so that night we headed to a Mexican restaurant, which I would highly recommend. The food was delicious! A quick ice cream stop and we were on our way back to the mansion. Unfortunately that night, Linny got sick and spent the night in the bathroom. The next morning we took her to the hospital and were informed that she’d have to stay the night there. That was a slight problem since our tickets were for noon. It must be mentioned that here in Paraguay, they use the hospital much more frequently than we do in the U.S. so it wasn’t that big of a deal that she was “hospitalized”. Kate and I ended up catching the noon bus and the other exchange students hung out with Linny in the hospital. By mid-day Monday she had recuperated and was back to Ciudad del Este that evening.

The trip home was pretty calm for Kate and I, except for the fact that about 30 minutes outside of Asuncion our bus broke down. We ended up having to wait about 2 hours on the side of the road, without air conditioning, but eventually another bus came and we set off to finish the 5 hour journey across the country. It was a great chance to catch up on all our missed sleep, though. Now we are all trying to plan our next get-together, but next time CDE is hosting.

India

About a month ago my classmates informed me that we would be preparing a dance as a part of a school project. Our class was assigned the country India. I wasn´t entirely sure what all being a part of the dance would entail, but it sounded fun so I signed up. In the meantime, the other girls in the class went and found a dance instructor to help us with the choreography and a few Bollywood videos for inspiration. Whenever we found freetime during school we would push the desks aside and work on the dance. I´ll admit that it´s the first choreographed thing I´ve done since my fifth grade days in the Sitka Skippers. As the week of the ¨World Fair¨ approached we all began to realize that the dance was not exactly near completion. The girls (who generally do all the work while the boys tend to screw around) went and found another dance professor to help us finish up the dance in time. We ended up having two separate hour long practice sessions a day (each with a different instructor) and it was kept secret from the original teacher that we had hired another. Vivianne (my fellow Swiss AFSer) and I played dumb (not always that difficult) and acted as if we knew nothing about having 2 teachers.

The day of the Fair, classes were suspended in order to have time to prepare. The previous day my class had all headed over to my Indian classmates house where his mom spent hours painting detailed Henna on each girls´s arm. All the while she was preparing delicious Indian food to be sold the next day. Friday, the day of, we arrived at the school around 9 and set to work setting up our Indian themed ¨stand¨. The 80 degree weather that early in the morning didn´t seem to promising to me, and the thunder storms that ensued later weren't that comforting either.

Around 4 o'clock the girls all showed up at Lorena's house for hair and makeup. Lorena's mom used to have a salon inside her house, so it worked out great. The only problem was that it took a little longer than expected to dry, straighten and style each girls hair. The Fair supposedly started at 6:30 and around 8:30 the last car full of dolled-up, Indian-dressed girls pulled out of the driveway, rushing to make it to the school in time for our spot in the program. My entire class, boys and girls alike, were all quite nervous as we waited backstage. Surprisingly, I wasn't in the least (I suppose it's all that DDF). The dance went pretty well and there were only a few mistakes made. Unfortunately, we didn't win the contest, but it was a fun experience nonetheless.

There and Back Again...

Tuesday evening as I was heading towards bed, my mom informed me she'd be going to Asunción the next day and wondered if I'd like to accompany her. The only details I was really given is that it was for work, we wouldn't stay long and...oh yeah, we'd be leaving about 3:30 AM! Nevertheless, it was something to do and I'm always up for spending time with my mom. So bright and early (actually it was still dark out...) the next morning we headed out, accompanied by my mom's secretary Millie and her body-guard-like coworker Paez. I snoozed off and on as light began to fill the sky, awaking only for a little while in order to consume my beloved chipa and customary cocido from a stand on the side of the road. Before arriving in Asunción we made a quick stop to show me the Virgin Mary's Cathedral in Caacupe. The height of the ceiling as I walked in certainly took me by surprise and the glass windows were, of course beautiful. We even payed the 25 cents per person to climb to the top and look out over what I was told were mountains (certainly not by Sitka standards). I may or may not have scribbled my name next to hundreds of others at the top of the cathedral...:)

As we entered into Asunción I discovered that the true reason for coming was to talk to some man...turns out he was sick and the 10 hours of driving we did were in vain. However, we spent a few short hours rushing around the city while my mom acted as a tour guide. We managed to hit all three branches of government and I even took my "Paraguayan style" White House photo in front of el Palacio de Gobierno. Something I immediately noted while gazing up at the newly constructed Legislative Building were the houses on the other side of the street which were falling apart and strewn with garbage. It's amazing how often I see similar sights all over the country.

After hitting a few other historical sites and a name brand shoe store (for my mother's sake) we embarked on our 5 hour return trip. However, right outside of the capitol we made a stop in a small town where there is literally an entire street FILLED with hand-made goods. And when I say hand-made...I mean ceramics! I was in heaven, except for the fact that it was 85 degrees out and I didn't have shorts with me. My mom didn't buy anything, but did do a bit of bartering with one of the saleswomen. We ended up getting home around 4:30 PM, but all the car riding had tired me out and I didn't really amount to much. I'm glad I looked past the early wake-up call and went on the trip because it really was quite fun, and informative!

Marcitos Turns 7

This past Sunday I had the pleasure of not waking up till about 10 AM or so. After showering and such I headed outside in search of my family. I found them sitting in the shade passing around a bombilla, taking terere (the typical Paraguayan drink that consists of Yerba Mate (a plant) and water) preparing for the afternoon to come. Not long after, a few ladies and their kids showed up to help out. At 3PM my little cousin Marcos was having his 7th Birthday party and I believe 20 kids were on the guest list. I was told we would be inflating balloons and mentally prepared myself for some severe light-headedness (because I know how much the Paraguayans like to use balloons)...however, I was surprised to discover my Aunt Mauchi ingeniously using the vacuum cleaner on reverse to inflate all 150 or so balloons. Several hours and many "Hot Wheels" themed table clothes later the kids started flowing in. For the most part, it wasn't nearly as hectic as I would have imagined. The kids stayed outside, downing boxed juices, hot dogs and empanadas (A ground beef and egg filled pastry like snack). We all belted out a round of "Feliz Cumpleanos" and dug into the double layer dulce de leche cake topped with a couple strawberries. (Dulce de leche translates to "sweet of/from milk" and is a delicious frosting like substance that Paraguayans put on everything). There were two pinatas, one for the girls and one for the boys, which were actually enormous balloons filled with small plastic whistles and such. As darkness ensued I scooted inside to relax a bit and to escape all the small children....

¨Teenager´s Day¨

The past five days or so, my schedule has been pretty jam packed. It all started out on Thursday, when instead of attending school, all students in grades 7 through 11 (here 11th grade is equivalant to senior year) headed to Hernandarias for a two day camp. The reasoning behind the short vacation from school was celebrating ¨Teenager´s Day¨, which I´m pretty sad we don´t have back in the states. The camp itself was really fun. It started out a little slow because only 7 of the 15 or so kids in my class actually went...but for a lot of the games we teamed up with the 11th grade (which was overflowing with enthusiasm, unlike us..). A few highlights of the camp include my first Paraguayan campfire (at 1:30 AM), an hour and a half spent running through the woods playing a game entitled ¨rambo¨which left us all covered in mud, and the big futbol game between Cerro y Olimpia (The 2 big teams here...the Paraguayan equivalent of the Red Sox vs. Yankees).

I got back from the camp around 4 PM on Friday, took a quick nap and shower in preparation for the ¨World Fair¨ being hosted by another high school. The school had been transformed by the addition of a very large stage, booths selling food of all varieties, and performances of dance from around the world. The event got over a little early though, so some friends and I headed to a pizza place where we bought the ¨all you can eat¨pass for 26,000 Guaranis per person (about 7.50 US $). The types of pizza here continue to surprise me...they range from the typical pepperoni to corn to tuna to chocolate and strawberries. Needless to say, after only getting four hours of sleep during the camp and then staying out till about midnight I was significantly worn out and ended up sleeping to 2 or so the next afternoon.

That takes us to Saturday, where the rest of the day was spent lounging about the house watching movies with my mom while it (gasp) rained outside...It actually made me a little homesick to have a dreary, cloudy, rain-filled day. That night I headed over to a friend's house around 10 to get ready and after 4 or so other girls showed up we all started towards Coyote (a disco). We didn't actually get there until 12:30 or so and ended up staying till 6, but it was a blast. I literally danced for 5 straight hours! Granted I do have a few random bruises on my feet now, but it was definitely worth it! That night I crashed at the friend's house and spent the better part of Sunday hanging out with her and other friends. The weekend was great, quite tiresome, but a ton of fun...that seems to be a theme in the Paraguayan lifestyle!

El Segundo Campamento

I realize I haven´t posted in awhile (except for the previous post which I just posted...) and some people may have been slightly concerned (sorry Mom...) or maybe just looking for some fun stories. My excuse for not writing sooner is that I spent the past weekend in Asuncion for our second AFS orientation.

The 7 CDE kids all made it to our 7 AM bus and settled in for the 5 hour ride to Paraguay´s capital. The trip was relatively uneventful besides the occasional looks we got for shouting English between rows...I ended up sitting next to a very nice Paraguayan man named Omar who told me all about his life, family and travels. It was good practice for my Spanish, plus he let me go to sleep when he noticed I was tired (always a plus in a traveling companion). After arriving we went to the AFS National office while kids trickled in from all over the country. It was great to see all the U.S. kids once again.

The camp itself was hosted by the Pueble Hotel in San Bernadino. The hotel was really nice and the food was great. We spent the weekend hanging out, talking in English, destroying all the progress we had made thus far with our Spanish, and found time to watch the big Paraguay-Argentina soccer game. The weekend seemed to go really quickly and I was sad to leave everyone. The trip back was pretty easy. Somehow we ended up on a really pimped out bus with seats that we could basically lay down in. I´m a little worried that AFS took my passport and I still don´t have it back, but everything always seems to work out...

By the way, the photo is mainly for my mother (whom I love dearly!). She's really been wanting to see my school uniform. The black shirt I'm wearing underneath is technically contraband, but it was cold...

The Shock Factor

As I quickly discovered, electricity in Paraguay isn´t quite like that of the U.S....First off is the fact that my mom won´t let me walk around the house barefoot. Her reasoning is two-pronged.

1. She tells me the floor is cold and walking around without shoes/slippers will cause a ¨dolor de huesos¨ (boneache)

2. Walking around the house without a layer of plastic between you and the floor often ends up with you slightly electrocuted.

The showers here are also electric and I have been warned by previous AFS Paraguay students to not touch the showerheads. What with all the water that´s involved in showering and then adding electricity, I´ve decided to heed their advice. This is just one of the many cultural/electrical differences I´ve encountered...

Others include:
-The fact that tossing trash on the ground is acceptable
-The fact that toilet paper isn´t put in the toilet after it´s been used
-The fact that nearly every exchange student has been told they can´t eat something cold with something hot because they´ll instantly come down with a stomacheache
-The fact that everyone kisses each other twice upon arriving or leaving an event
-The fact that texting seems to be appropriate in basically any situation
-The fact that Halls cough drops are eaten as candy

Ode to Steve

Today, as some of you may or may not know, is my father's 50th birthday. Unfortunately, I find myself a considerable distance away from him, unable to properly shower him with love and gifts. So sitting here, pondering my dilemma I had what I believe to be a stroke of genius. As a gift I shall dedicate an entire post to the "showering of love" of my dad, Steven Allen Ramp. Here it goes:

My father was born on August 29th, 1958 to Hank and Judy Ramp. (To be honest I don't know every detail of my dad's childhood, so I'm gonna skip to the part where I'm alive and could enjoy his presence...:)

I have been blessed to be able to spend 18 wonderful years with my father and look forward to countless more. He's always been there for me for whatever I need. He is a provider, not simply financially, but with every other aspect as well. If I need to talk or advice, he's always willing to listen. "Mr. Fix-It" as we call him, is perfectly suited to his personality. Not only is he ridiculously talented at making household appliances work (especially the silverware drawer that was the most annoying thing in the world to rip open), but any problem I've ever seemed to have with any type of authority figure, he's taken care of with ease. He just has a way of getting his way, and when he's on your side, it's truly amazing the progress your team makes.

My dad was there to help me shoot my first (and only) deer. He was also on board, standing beside me, coaching when I landed a 46 lb. king salmon. If you are ever looking for how to cook the best tasting king salmon in the world, talk to my dad about talking some private lessons. I know few other people who could get so excited telling me about their day at work (granted he does go look at amazing wildlife, but still...). Other skills include the aptitude to play Solitaire for extraordinarily long extended periods of time.

My dad has taught me basically everything I know about responsibility and all accomplishments thus far in my life are due to the time and love he's given me. I'll never be able to repay everything he's given me and my writing could never due him justice. However, I hope my feeble attempt at displaying his splendor on this most important day has at least brought a smile to his face.

I love you Dad! Happy 50th! Here's to another 50 years of happiness!

Mi Cumpleanos

The fingers being used to write this sentence have now been in existence for 18 years. Pretty exciting, eh? My birthday celebration itself was relatively uneventful. I woke up about 9 to find no one else in my house, but 10 minutes later my mom and aunt came rushing up to me, arms open prepared to hug. My mom then scurried away to her bedroom and came back with two shiny packages in hand. Unsure of the correct gift-receiving protocol I took the presents graciously as my mom quickly began telling me to open them. Inside the first package was a maroon-colored leather mini-backpack (Berett, now I can be a little like you) and in the second was a semi-matching wallet. They are both really cool and I'm already using them to tote around my stuff.

After gift-giving concluded, we headed out to my grandparents farm for a bit. My little cousin Marcos and I had fun playing with the color accent feature of my camera (Thanks Jub for the expert opinion on camera selection. I love it and all the kids in my Spanish class are jealous!). We ate some lunch including the typical mandioca, which is some sort of starch that I've eaten plain, cubed, and as potato chips. It's pretty awesome eating on a farm and knowing that half of the food your eating was grown on the same land your sitting. In fact today I had an omelet filled with cheese that my grandma somehow made (I don't know why, but up till now I seemed to have forgotten that cheese was actually made). After the farm we headed home where I napped for a bit.

That evening I headed over to my friend Jazmin's house where we had a small birthday party for me. Since we had school the next day, we didn't go that late and spent our time eating pizza, cake, and playing Paraguayan Pictionary. I'm quickly discovering that down here they have many of the same games, but with different rules. For instance, Pictionary is played with the same board and set of cards (in Spanish of course), but the rest of the game is played like Charades. Another example is Five-Card-Draw which we play without betting at all. I simply go with the flow and all seems to be fine. All in all it was a good celebration of adulthood.

Oh and in my mother's honor, the day after I ate some birthday cake for breakfast. Aren't you proud Mom?

My First Beauty Pageant

Everyday after school, I have a required Spanish class with all the other AFS students living in Ciudad del Este. The best thing about it is being able to see everyone and talk about how everything is going (most of the Spanish we´re going over I already know...the alphabet...parts of the body...etc.). We all discovered on Monday that Kate, a girl from Missouri, had somehow been selected to represent her school in a beauty pageant. She was pretty confused as to what she actually had to do, but wanted us all there for moral support. So....

Last night we all showed up at the Club Nautico in Hernandarias around 8 o´clock to discover that the show was a little larger than we had imagined. The venue was outside, in the center of some sort of fair grounds complete with a ferris wheel. There was a band playing quite loudly on stage, surrounded by strobe lights. The pageant itself didn´t start for an hour or so, and Linny (a friend from the U.S.) and I managed to sneak backstage for a quick peak at what was going on. What we found was pretty hillarious. Kate was standing in a room full of very sparkly, scantily clad Paraguayan girls, looking quite confused. She too was spiffed up, but with a little less skin showing. My favorite outfit had to be the tight jeans with the drastic fade on the butt paired with a hoodie that was cut just at the bottom of the girls chest, but high enough to see her bra. After feeding our appetites for ridiculous spectacles, we found our seats and waited for the show to begin.

There were 19 participants and each one was instructed to walk on stage and down the catwalk, strutting their stuff. Each one succeeded at completing this task. There were three different outfits. The first seemed denim themed from the hips down, accompanied with some sort of shiny top and, as always, heels. The second outfit had to consist of some sort of clothing from one of the sponsors, and the third and final ensemble was a dress of their choice. I´m sad to say that Kate did not win. However she did look fabulous and didn´t fall or trip at all. We did all manage to have lots of fun cheering her on and exploring the fair grounds. All in all, it was a quite successful first night out without my sister.

An Only Child

I am now an only child. I just got back from a day or so in Asuncion (Paraguay's capital), sending my host sister off to France for a year. We certainly did make quite a group between Anahi's mother, father, best friend, half-brother, boyfriend, and I. Plus there was a friend of my mom's named Victor who lived in Asuncion and seemed to be our guide. We were supposed to leave Wednesday at 9:00 AM, but due to the effects of Paraguayan time, we were probably on the road around 10:00. It was a five hour drive, plus an hour for lunch. I tend to be prone to car sickness so I was sure to sleep the whole way.

After we got to Asuncion, we headed for the city's center in search of our "apartamento" and after asking three different pedestrians we found it. I was surprised at how large the place actually was. There were at least two bedrooms, a bathroom, living room, dining room, kitchen, laundry room and something resembling an office. I suppose it had to be pretty large in order to accommodate us all. We didn't hang out long though; simply dropped our stuff off and headed off again, this time in search for the woman who baptized Anahi. We managed to find her, her two small daughters and their two small dogs and hung out for an hour or so. The rest of the night was spent watching a movie (a pretty bad one called The Foreigner), played cards, eating the largest burgers I'd ever seen (they consisted of strip of steak, a fried egg, ham, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and bun), and sleeping as much as we could considering that we had to be at the airport by 2:00 AM for Anahi's flight.

1:00 AM came pretty quickly for me...in fact a little too quickly I think. We packed up into our two cars and set off for the airport. We ended up not leaving the airport until a little after 5:00 AM because we wanted not only to say goodbye, but to also wait until the plane was ready to go so that we could watch it actually take off. It was kinda cool I admit, I was just a bit tired at the time. The trip back was relatively uneventful, seeing how everyone our car slept the whole way. Luckily my host mom says I don't have to go to school today, so I can spend it lounging about, catching up on any sleep and writing this post.

Sweet 15

As I have quickly discovered, in Paraguay they don´t have big ¨Sweet 16¨ parties like the stereotypical American does. Instead they have massive 15th Birthday parties. And they are huge! I got to go to one on Thursday night with my host sister and it was crazy. First of all, it didn´t start till about 10 at night (like most nightime activites), but being on Paraguayan time, we got there about 11. From the street the entrance was all decked out like an Egyptian palace and once we entered, it only got better. There was a main dining room with tables, which I understood to be for the more important guests. All of the teenagers crowded around the doorways while the birthday girl climbed down from this grand staircase wearing one of largest dresses I´ve ever seen. It was completely white and covered in sparkles and must have weighed a ton...there was so much volume to it! She danced with her father and a couple of my male classmates. After passing through a smaller room, filled with every kind of food imaginable, we reached what appeared to be the kids´hangout. There were couches and a dance floor and a bar and tables of food....

After the birthday girl had been ¨presented¨ to what seemed like everyone in Paraguay, we went to the dance floor to watch a group of dancers. This part of the night seemed to resemble a bachelorette party more than anything else, considering the fact that the women were wearing only a bra (with glitter, of course), underwear, and fishnet stockings. The men had on jeans, black mesh muscle tanks, and some sort of plastic outer shell. It was pretty hillarious watching people from ages 6 to 60 watch the performers dance. Let´s just say their style of dancing wouldn´t have flown at a Sitka High dance. :) It was definitely a completely new experience!

Photos

So my struggle to post pictures continues. I did manage to get a few posted online in a roundabout sort of manner. After waiting for 45 minutes, trying to upload the pictures to Facebook, and after having downloaded them to my computer as the smaller, supposedly faster files, Facebook unfairly denied my request to upload. Then I spent literally 2 hours waiting for them to attach themselves to an email, which I sent to my mother. From there I had Hunter upload the pictures as an album on his profile on Facebook. So....if you want to see pictures and haven't already, check out Hunter's Facebook page, or go to "Photos of Allison" on my Facebook profile page. Sorry for all the trouble, but sometimes dial-up is really a drag.

Healthy and Happy

Oh yeah. I kinda left you all on a somber note a few posts ago, but I'm all recovered from the stomach thing. Hopefully it'll be the last of my ailments abroad...

Rules of the Road?

So the longer I spend staring out the car window, trying to figure out the rules of the road, the more confused I become. For starters, there are no stoplights that I've seen. I can count the number of stop signs I've seen on one hand. Plus, there's no line in the middle of the road and I've definitely ridden on both sides of it. The speed limits are definitely optional...my mom sometimes drives 120 km/hr in a 60 km/hr zone. I've also never seen a cop pull anyone over, have sirens on, or do any type of enforcement. I'm just kinda glad one of AFS's 3 big rules is no driving, because I'd have no idea where to start!

Stumbling Blocks

I'm now experiencing my first hurdle. Over the past two days I've developed some sort of stomach bug that has left me extremely exhausted. It's really difficult to describe a sickness in a different language. I've managed to say "stomach ache", but that's not the only symptom I'm experiencing. My host mom and sister think I'm just really sad because I miss my familiy, which I do, but I'm also just sick. I really hope I get over whatever this is soon, because I have to admit it sucks being away from home and sick. Oh well, it can't all be fun and games, right?

When It Rains, It Pours

So I feel a little silly. When asked by practically everyone the typical "How cold is it in Alaska?" question, I've been explaining our lack of extreme cold and mass quantities of rain. However, last night I quickly learned that I hadn't seen how much rain was possible. While over at a friend's house for the evening, a thunderstorm suddenly struck. There was so much rain that the house actually started flooding slightly, which did make me a little nervous. Standing water in a room filled with computers is never a good thing. I'm glad I'm able to say that our house didn't take the same beating Jazmin's house did and in fact stayed quite dry. You don't all have to fear that I'm going to be swept away in a flood though, because I was informed that much rain is quite rare.

Technical Difficulties

So I've discovered that posting pictures takes a long time. It took a good fifteen minutes just for this one picture. It's out of the bus window driving through the streets of Asuncion. I'm kicking it old school in Paraguay with a dial up connection. That's right. It has the whole little song and everything! :) It's okay, it just means I probably won't be able to post as many pictures as I would like. Sorry. I need to take pictures of my house and my family so that I have some to work on posting.

Mi Escuela Nueva

It turns out my fear of school was completely unneccesary. My new school is a lot of fun. It´s definitely different from Sitka High. For instance, I´m with the same 15 or so kids for the whole day and the teachers have to walk around and change classrooms. The level of work ethic also seems to be a lot more relaxed, but it depends somewhat on the teacher. Every hour we have at least a ten minute break to do whatever and sometimes we even get longer.
Lunch is delicious. I had no idea what to expect, but after dishing myself a plate of fresh salad and finding my seat, I discovered a tuperware container with my name on it filled with homemade food. It was pretty awesome. Plus Anahi told me that if there was any food I didn´t like, I could tell the cook and she wouldn´t make it for me again. Definitely different from home! Well, technically I´m writing this from class, so I should probably go, but I have this nagging mother that really wanted me to post something about school :)
I´ll write more when I can!

El Segundo Dia en Ciudad del Este

Today is my first full day with my family with Ciudad del Este. Technically I haven't spent the whole day up and about, as most of it was spent sleeping. Last night Anahi took me to a club where we danced until 5:30 in the morning. It was amazing! I was very surprised that a lot of the music that was played, I knew. Such as The Killers and a little Snow Patrol. However here they have actual DJ's, so it was all mixed together with lots of great bass! I'm having a great time here.

My mom is really nice and loving. Sometimes I can't understand her, but Anahi will jump in and translate when necessary. I'm a little worried what will happen when she leaves on the 21st for France for a year, but hopefully by then my Spanish will have improved. I'm missing everyone a lot, but am also having a blast trying everything new. My new philosophy is to try everything, even if I don't think I'll like it. Last night I had river fish for dinner and it was great (don't worry though, it wasn't farmed!). Tomorrow I'll start school and I'm really nervous, but my Spanish can't get any worse, right?

Alaskan Departure

I'm writing from the Miami International Airport, after having spent the last day and a half here in Miami. In about an hour 13 U.S. students will board on our way to Buenos Aires and eventually, Asuncion, Paraguay. I've met some really awesome people and am excited to stay in contact with them over the course of my year. We're all very anxious to get to Paraguay and to meet our host families. No one really knows what to expect. In fact, many kids' host families have changed since they arrived in Miami. As far as I know, I'll still be staying with Maria Vazquez Garcia and her daughter Anahi. Although, Anahi is supposedly leaving for a year in France a couple weeks after my arrival. Anahi's Aunt Maxi has also contacted me via email, so it might not just be mi madre y yo. I'm not sure when I'll have internet access again, but I'll update again as soon as I can.
Mucho Amor,
Allison

(My new Wisconsinite friend Hannah says "Hi!")

Pre-Departure

So I have setup this blog at the request of many. As everyone discovers what my plans are for next year, their first request is for me to write them letters or emails. Now I do love each and every one of you, but writing to all of you would consume quite a bit of time. This blog is my compromise. Depending on Internet access available to me in Paraguay, I will try and update this page with stories from afar as much as I can. Feel free to leave comments or questions. I look forward to hearing from you just as you are probably excited to hear from me.

Currently I have about a month and a half until my departure. I still don't know where or with whom I'll be living, although I am anxiously awaiting a letter from AFS revealing that information. I'm trying to suck as much of Sitka up as I can before I head off. Hopefully Sitka will be a good sport and my weeks left will be filled with sun!