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?