Thursday, February 28, 2008
Peacing Out in Cerrito
Ahhh...there´s no place like home. Since I´ve gotten back from Asuncion on Saturday, life has been tranquiloPA...Sunday was my host dad´s birthday (we can´t figure out if he´s 78 or 82, but we know he´s the second oldest guy in the community, next to his brother...he´s 23 years older than my host mom.) and my oldest host sister came from Buenos Aires with her Argentine husband and child to celebrate. This poor guy is a rich city dweller, and just can´t take the campo. He´s more American than I am! He poured bleach down the well because he thought it was dirty (and broke the water pump in the process, so no flushing or showering) and now is tastes like a pool. He still won´t drink it (buys bottled water from town) and now no one else will either...they go next door to get water from the neighbor´s well! He can´t take "all the flies" or the pigs and ducks running through the house, and assures me he would be gone already if his bus ticket weren´t set in stone. He butts heads with everyone, even me, and tells tall tales about everyone to everyone else. Fortunately we all know this, and pretty much write him off. I kind of like it...I´m not the weird one anymore! Anyway, it´s also been raining a monton and the temperatures are a pleasant 75 ("cold" for some), and in Paraguay that pretty much means we´re all on vacation. So I´ve been baking a lot, hanging out with the family, and cleaning my wee house from top to bottom (it may even get painted this weekend!). No news is good news.
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6 comments:
Do you get to vote when you're stationed with the Peace Corps in Paraguay??? Just wondering.
Hi Megan,
I have sent things to my son in Paraguay, but he has not received them - they are light (under two pounds) but I filled out a customs form. Maybe I should not have done that. Since I did, does that mean he has to go to Asuncion and get them from customs? Glad to know about the under 20 pounds box...Thanks!
Megan - I am the person who left the anonymous message earlier. I had forgotten my gmail password.
So.. have you been taken captive by a mysterious bee keeper and are you being forced to carry his many love children to preserve his family name? or.. what? Goodness, I hope not.
Its a good thing its not an emergency. I'm glad I don't need something.. $20,000 for example, or a kidney, for that matter.
Hope all is well.
Layla Bliss, darling...I DO get to vote with an absentee ballot. I'm also glad you don't need anything "emergent" because I have very sporadic email access. I also do not have 20,000 OR a kidney to offer you. I can, however, offer you love and occasional messages from the countryside of 3rd world latin america....
Hello Claire,
It takes 1-2 months to receive things from the US. Sometimes things never arrive, and sometimes they arrive a year later. It's hard to tell, but 80% do arrive, which is an excellent chance! Everyone has to fill out customs forms when mailing overseas, so that's fine; just be sure to be honest about the value of the items, because he'll probably have to pay a percentage of what you say the package's value is. Regardless, he will almost surely have to go to Asuncion (if he's a PC volunteer, at least) because there's virtually no interior mail system here. However, since the country is so small and there's a decent bus system, he can probably get there pretty easily. Pretty much all volunteers are in Asuncion about once a month. Is he, by the way, a volunteer? If so I probably know him! Any way, feel free to write me again, I love to help. :)
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