SUMMER!!!

It's only 3 more days until we embark on the longest travel adventure we've ever undertaken. We'll be traveling for 55 to 60 days!  We are going to get to see many amazing places with great people including Matt's brother Ben and his girlfriend Colleen, and my good friend from Seattle, Kaitlyn.  Friends from Asuncion will be meeting up with at various points as well.

Here's a map of places we plan on going if you want to follow our adventures. (click on the link)  We'll blog, but probably not as frequently until we return with lots of pictures.  We'll still be available via email, Skype, Facetime, and Whatsapp.  If you have been to any of our destinations, we would love recommendations and input!

Summer break travel plans

Villarrica and Thanksgiving

We had a four day weekend for Thanksgiving here, even though it's not a holiday that is celebrated in Paraguay.  We decided to stay in town for Thanksgiving dinner and eat with some fellow teachers.  We had all the traditional food, minus cranberries, which we could not find.  It was a lovely way to spend a day that we normally spend with our families.

For the rest of the weekend, we traveled about 3 hours east of Asuncion to a small town called Villarrica.  We wanted to get away from the heat of the city for a bit and this area has a lot of opportunities for outdoor activities, including hiking the tallest mountain in Paraguay.  Unfortunately, it had been raining really heavily for the previous 4 days and getting to the mountain didn't work out.  We walked to a nice waterfall one day, but mostly just hung out in this really pleasant small town.

Fresh fruits and vegetables at the market.  Most towns have a version of this outdoor market and everyone shops here.

This is a carpincho, or capybara in Guarani.  It's the world's largest rodent.  The park here had 3 tame ones!

                       

These little boys were fishing at first with a little ball made of flour and water.  When they caught their first tiny fish, they tore it in half and used that for bait. 

The horse drawn cart, or Karumbe ("turtle" in Guarani), is a thing of the past, but still hanging on in Villarrica.

The biggest spider web I have ever seen.  There were probably 100 spiders clinging to it. 

We went for a ride in a Karumbe and got a tour of the city.  We saw the old train station and the factory where they process sugar cane, which is a major crop in Paraguay.

Habitat for Humanity

Now that we're settled, we have started working on ways to be involved in the place that we now call home.  We decided to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity for a day to see if it might be something we can do on a more long term basis as well.  Housing is far from adequate for most people in this country and this seemed like a perfect place to share our time and energy.

Some facts about housing in PY:

In Asunción and other large cities, one out of every three families rents or lives in a borrowed home. Fifty percent of the homes in Paraguay suffer from inadequate conditions, such as:

• 23% of homes are overcrowded.
• 24% have no floor.
• 20% are living in areas such as street curbs, parks, private property or along rivers
• Only 50% of the urban population, and less than 40% of the rural, has access to public water services.
• Only 34% of the population has access to waste collection services, resulting in a severe sanitation crisis and high infant mortality rate

In Latin America and the Caribbean, Paraguay  ranks second in unequal distribution of wealth. While the country has had positive economic growth in recent years, this growth has not diminished the extreme poverty suffered by much of its population.  Most people here live on less than $1 a day.  We are definitely in the privileged class here, although far from the extravagant wealth of some of the families associated with my school.  The economic disparity here is pretty obvious.

after

Before

Matt working on his "ladder."  Definitely not OHSA approved.

 The program builds the house with the help of volunteers and the owners of the future home.  The organization essentially offers a loan (but with far more favorable conditions than a bank) that the owners pay back in the future.   The owner of the home we worked on was named Sonya and she has two teenage sons who will live with her.  She is currently living in a cramped apartment with 5 other people in downtown.  She was incredibly gracious and kind, and made us a fantastic lunch while we worked. Working alongside her and my friends made me incredibly grateful for the opportunities I have been given and thankful I have a chance to do some small thing to give back.  

Rio De Janerio, Brazil

I traveled to Rio for a Google Apps in Education conference.  I went with two other teachers from my school and learned so many new exciting things I came home exhausted.  I'm already getting to implement many of the things I picked up and am excited to experiment with technology in new and exciting ways..stay tuned for a Google Site with my student's writing from the semester!  I met a lot of other international teachers, something I haven't had the opportunity to do yet and I made some great connections.  I have a date next week with a teacher in Sao Paolo to do a "mystery Skpe" call with our students and might get to meet up with another while we are traveling in Santiago next month.  I also go to explore Rio a bit, although not as much as I had hoped for.  I am looking forward to the opportunity to go back for sure, and next time with Matt! Swimming in the ocean, however chilly, was definitely the high point after 5 months of not seeing the ocean.  I was also humbled immediately when I realized that however good my Spanish is becoming, I cannot speak nor understand a word of Portuguese!

We stayed in Copacabana, very close to the beach.  It rained the first two days, but it was fun anyway!

People were building sand castles all along the beach.  I saw some pretty amazing sculptures.

 

I never thought I would be this excited to see a Starbucks, but after months of sub par coffee, it made my day.

This is the view from the top floor at the Escola Americano de Rio de Janerio, where the conference was.  The favela is called Rosario and is one where they have placed a lot of police presence to clear out drugs in anticipation of the World Cup and the Olympics.  They call this action "pacification." As expected, the reactions to this police action are mixed.

Another picture from the school. You can see the tiny Christ Redeemer on the left. I was definitely jealous of this place!  I would love to go to work here every day.

This is a Caipirinha, the Brazilian national cocktail.  It's made with cachaca (sugar can liquor), sugar and lime.  Not my thing, but I had to try at least one.

We went out one evening to Lapa, a popular neighborhood for dancing and night life.  We watched the samba partner dancers for hours, mesmerized.  The women here dance in 4 inch heels and twirl around at speeds that made me dizzy watching.  This particular club had men that you could learn to dance with, but I was too shy.

View from The Christ Redeemer statue on the hill, overlooking Ipanema.  We stayed up there for over 2 hours, amazed by the view and how it changed as the light changed.  It was fun to see such a big city from up high, especially after the general flatness of Paraguay.

Weird stuff seen in Paraguay part 3

Who knows how many installations of this there may be!

Some things are lost in translation.

Found in a Korean grocery store.  It might be hard to see, but her mascara is smeared from crying!

Psy is everywhere!

In the Paraguayan version of Christmas, Santa is skinny and plays the sax.  

We did not taste this, but I'm not really sure how one would go about eating it.

More Paraguay Photos: Recoleta and Urban Fishing

Wrought Iron exterior of the Eliza Lynch tomb

Remnants of the Paraguayan railroad

Payara from the Lambare neighborhood in Asuncion.  Caught just down stream from one of the larger slum areas in the city.  As you may have noticed, it's not an especially healthy looking fish.

 Ayolas is a medium sized town in southern Paraguay.  It is located on the Parana river near the Yacyretá Dam

Left and below:
 the town dock and beach

Trying unsuccessfully to beat the sunburn while fishing for boga and pira pita on the Parana river. 

Boga

Lunch time.  Just season liberally with salt and use a fork to eat off the grill while kneeling in the forest.

Bike wash in the Parana

Town cemetary:

Villa Florida

Exploring the lagoon in Villa Florida