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....