Hello everyone!

I can´t believe I have finally found some time to write another blog post.  These past two weeks have been pretty crazy.

One thing that has changed about me since I last wrote is that now I can officially say that I have been the the chaco.  I went with a group from AFS two weekends ago.  It was a long long long long long trip!  It started out on Friday at noon with a trip to Capiata (close to Asuncion) which is about a 5 hour bus trip.  Then I waited, with a bunch of other AFS kids, infront of Hipermercado Espana for another 5 hours or so outside in the cold until all the kids who were going got there.  We departed from Capiata a little after 11 pm.  We picked up some more kids in Asuncion and headed off to el chaco!

We were in the freezing cold bus the whole night.  I didn´t get much sleep because I was freezing freezing freezing.  I knew it was going to be cold, but not THAT cold.  Honestly I think I have been wimpefied.  That is to say, less tolerant of cold.  Maybe that would have something to do witht the fact that I living in crazy heat for the past few months.  I can officially say that I don´t need to put on the air when I enter my room, infact, sometimes I have to turn on the heat (which I am very lucky and happy to have).

We got there in the morning around 7am and bought some breakfast food at the supermarket.  Then we went to go tour the Trebol factory.  Trebol is a brand of dairy products.  Then we went to a bunch of musems and walked around town.  I must say that the chaco is NOTHING like the rest of paraguay.  When we got off the bus it was like we had traveled to a different country.  The language is hardly the same considering that the majority of the people spoke German.  And most of the signs were in German with Spanish underneath.  This is because the Chaco was colonized by German Menonites less than 100 years ago.  The people didn´t look "Paraguayan" either.  German German German....  It was pretty interesting.  The landscape is really different too.  It actually looked more like MI than CdE.  The ground wasn´t red, it was more sandy.  There were lots of trees.  Not very many people live in the Chaco because of the extreme climate.  In the summer it is extremely hot and there is practically no rain at all.  Oddly enough, it rained on of the days we were there.  In the winter is gets really cold.

The weekend was mostly spent in a bus.  The Chaco is a rather large area so once we were there, we still didi a lot of traveling within.

We went to a military place where we had an asado for dinner and then danced.  It was so much fun.  And we got to talk to some of the military people and learned a bit about there life.  They said they are there right now because of a problem with the EEP, or something like that.  And that not to long ago someone was kidnapped.

Paraguay is dangerous place.  It has been interesting living here.  One thing people keep telling me and you should know if you ever come here is, don´t trust anyone.  You really can´t, not even the police.  There are alot of fake police who will pull you over and then just steal your car.  Or if you called 991 they might not show up for a few hours.  It seems like everyone has a story about being assulted or at least a friend of family member.  My friend´s mom had a knife put to her throat and was asked to give her money to them.  It seems like you just can´t get away from.  I am not trying to scare anyone or anything like that, but it´s just how things are.  I am so glad to have not had even the slightest problem here as far as that type of thing goes.

But back to the Chaco trip.  We stayed at a hotel one night which luckily and surprisingly had hot water and heating!!!  The next day we visited a few more historical places and then emarked on the long journey home.
I arrived home Monday night and took a shower.  I can´t believe I only took one shower the whole weekend.  My host dad told me that when he and a group of his students went (he used to be teacher) for a week, the didn´t bath at all.  It was nice to get back home.

Tuesday and Wednesday I went to school like normal and then Thursday my class went on a field trip to Santa Rita.  It is a town about 90 minutes away from CdE.  We went there for Economy class because right now there is an expo there.  The expo is like a bunch of companies with stands in one spot.  We had to interview of few of the owners and then we just walked around the rest of the day.  It was pretty fun.

Friday was the Paraguayan independence day.  I was in the parade.  I was a chirolera.  Basically what I did was just walk and spin a stick.  It was pretty fun.  All the students from EVERY school was there.  The parade started at 9 and lasted till about 4 or 5.  Luckily our school was second in line so we finished early.

The after the parade I got home and packed, ate lunch, and headed off to the bus terminal.  I went to Asuncion with a bunch of my friend from school.  We went there for a Wisin y Yandel concert.  It was so much fun hanging out with them and such.  The concert was really good.  That was the first time that I had been to a concert like that, and it was awesome.  The most fun part about it was just getting to spend more time with my friends!  I have to make a note about the music here.  There is this thing here called Reaggaeton.  Personally, I like it, and so does EVERYONE else in Paraguay.  I have never met a person in Paraguay who doesn´t like it, young and old.  Then after the concert we spent the night at my friends apartment.  The next morning my host dad picked Sady and I up and we went to my grandma´s house in San Lorenzo.  We went there for Mothers Day.  Not all the cousins were there and some of them left early, so it wasn´t a super fun cousin fest or anything, but it was nice seeing at least part of the family.  We had an asado and just chilled.  I was really tired, so I went to bed early.

The next day Sady and I returned to CdE in bus.  It was the longest bus ride ever.  I just really really wanted to be home.  When we finally got home we ate dinner, watched a movie, and went to bed :D

So that brings us to today, Monday.  And I am still as happy and healthy as ever.  Next week I am hoping to visit my friend in Hoenau again.  And the next weekend there is AFS camp, the next weekend Sady and I want to visit my cousins in Oviedo, the next week, AFS goodbye party, the next weekend, my goodbye party and packing  up my things, the next weekend, Fourth of July, and I´ll be back home!  I have busy month and a half ahead of me.  But busy is good.

I am so excited to go back to church.  I really miss church.

Okay, well, that´s it for now

See you all (family) relatively soon,

Erin :)