Well, Phase I has reached
its end and I am currently soaring over the Andes with about an hour left in my
flight to Chile. I fell in love with Paraguay while I was there and I am actually
sad to leave. In my book, I defined
Paraguay as…
A friendly hand offering a
cup of ice cold terere,
The red dirt roads that
intersect the country,
A pile of mangos
littering the ground around the tree they fell from,
Strangers welcoming you
into their homes as if you had known them your entire life,
The slightly uncomfortable
humidity and innumerable bug bites,
Safari playing on repeat,
Harsh R’s and a rollercoaster
of inflections,
Refreshing bursts of air
conditioning,
Broken down busses on
poorly paved roads,
And finally, doble besitos.
I am going to miss this
place but I am sure I will be back…
Anyways, back to where I
left off…
Days 8-9:
San Ignacio, Argentina
To put it this way, I am not
sure exactly why I spent two full days here. I went to two different Jesuit
ruins that had little historical context and looked pretty much like any other
ruins I have been to. I also tried to go to a beach, only to walk for two hours
only to find out said beach doesn’t exist. Overall a relaxing couple of days.
Days 10-14:
Posadas, Argentina
The beauty of being a world
traveler is seeing people you never thought you would see again! I spent four
days in the lovely city of Posadas, staying with a friend from exchange. The
days were pretty relaxed; drinking terere by la costa, eating pizza, reminiscing
of our times in Denmark, and hanging out with Argentines. On the last day there
was an incredible reunion; Me MN to DK 14-15, Brenda ARG to DK 14-15, Agustina
ARG to MN 15-16, and Sage MN to ARG 16-17. If that is too hard to follow,
disculpa pero no tengo otra manera para explicarlo.
Just across the river
from Posadas, this little merchant beach town became my home for one night. I
took the train over then spent the day at the beach, getting sun and just relaxing.
I ordered a kebab and a daiquiri at one of the beach bars and ended up getting a
huge sandwich and 700mL of fruity, alcoholic deliciousness. I was also
approached by an old man wanting to know why such a pretty young girl was at the
beach alone. While that may sound creepy, and in the beginning I thought it
was, his intentions were to make sure I was safe and that is why I love Paraguay.
Days 16-19: Coronel
Oviedo, Paraguay
My world is a whirlwind
of things I don’t understand… When I was in Posadas, my friend put me in touch
with a Rotex Club in the middle of Paraguay. I took an eight hour bus ride
(without air conditioning and mostly on gravel roads) to spend the weekend
being taken care of my other ex-exchange students. They took me to party after
party, I got my makeup professionally done, they showed me around the city, let me stay in their guest house, and gave me an amazing weekend. I also got to see
another Minnesotan who is there on exchange which was really cool and he has
already promised me an ice cold cup of terere when we both get back in July.
There was also a big Rotary lunch that I was invited to; imagine endless meat
and lots of mandioca. The Chairman for the district is close with North Star
and knows everyone that I know. We
chatted about how small the world is and a picture of me is now on his facebook
page. Next thing I know they are calling people up on stage and I get called up
as the “Blonde Rotex who came all the way from Minnesota.” It was a very odd
moment for me…
Day 20:
Santiago, Chile
That’s today! PHASE TWO
HAS BEGUN.
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