Ituagua Paraguay

As of June 14th...Right now we are in Argentina and plan on going to the world renowned waterfalls! Then to Brazil!

Let me tell you...those bus rides were something else. Our first 18 hours were great...we had big seats and stopped about every three or four hours so we could stretch and use the toilet. Our bus arrived on time in Santa Cruz and we were happy to be off the bus! According to our original ticket, we would leave Santa Cruz at 1800 that same night (six hour stopover) and arrive in Asuncion at 1200 the next day (another 18 hours). However, when we arrived we were told we would be leaving at 2030 and would not get into Asuncion until 2100 Friday night...adding about 6 more hours to the already long bus ride. All is fine...we think (more about that in a bit).

With our stop over in Santa Cruz, our new found friends from Lima set us up with a priest living in Santa Cruz to perhaps show us around (we were thinking originally of staying for longer but the world cup beckoned us to Paraguay) and talk with us. We arrived and feeling a bit awkward, we called him from a call center. He told us to stay where we were and he would come pick us up! Five minutes later, an older priest, Father Paul, comes and picks us up. He tells us that some pressing business has come up that he must attend...we can ride with if we want. This pressing business happened to be out in the country side and we did not think we would have enough time...so he offered us his house. We had lunch made for us, maracouya juice, and a TV. So for a couple of hours we watched TV, drank juice, and had some splendid stretched out time (and opened loads of cards)! Father Paul had lunch with us and we talked Bolivian politics, history, and a bit of US politics! He headed out on his business and we stayed behind!

So come 1830, we head for the bus terminal, eat dinner, and go to our bus company. This is when horror strikes!!!!! Our bus is tiny, both of our seats are broken...Beth´s more than mine, and we have absolutely no leg room...our knees were smashed into the people´s backs in front of us. There were about 3 kids under the age of three that enjoyed screaming and the bus was hot, stinky, and full! So much for the nice bus and the extra leg room we payed for. Beth and I were quite angry...rightfully so with a 24 hour bus ride in front of us (not to mention the road we were taking is known for being out of this world dusty and with ¨potholes that are infamous for swallowing buses)¨ To make a long story short...the bus ride was terrible. Instead of getting in at 2100 Friday night we arrived at 0230 Saturday morning...we lined up in single file at gunpoint on the border for two hours while they searched every person´s bag, we stopped at at least 5 military checkpoints and sat around for an hour or so (on the bus, we could not get off) in a hot stinky bus each time. Our seats were two rows up from the bathroom and everytime the bus stopped the stench would overpower us and the gag reflex would kick in. We were pretty happy to see Asuncion and the end of that bus ride.

In the end it was all worth it. Kayla and her roommate were still waiting for us...God bless them...and they took us back on another bus! We made it to our lodging and in bed by about 0500 Saturday morning.

Now for the good part. Beth and I are staying in a convent. This convent is for retired nuns and next door to the program Kayla works with! We have our own little casa and our own bathroom with hot water! To get to Kayla we walk a quick 1 minute to show up to her place. The weather has been absolutely beautiful, straight up sunshine and about 75 to 80 everyday. Right now it is citrus season so we have been enjoying oranges, grapefruits, lemons, mandarins, maracuya, and not citrus...bananas and avocados!

Kayla has treated us like rockstars! Our first two days we were on tour visiting all of her friends. People here have extended so many invitations to have us over for dinner, mate (a crazy group drink), or just to chat. Some of the highlights have been cow stomach prepared in a true rural paraguan home (chickens everywhere, open faced homes, and a large family), an organic, self sustaining farm, night clubs, and the St. Juan festivals (Monday was a public holiday and many celebrations took place). One of these festivals included men riding horses and competing for beer, cigs, and hats for their families. We went with a family of about 12 and had a splendid time!

We also have spent time at the program Kayla works with that is for 12 at risk girls (such a broad term). They come in the morning and hang out until 1215 when they go to school. We have cooked breakfast, lunch, played Thank you for your bundle and Uno and just chilled with these girls. It has been another great cultural experience and has really showed us that adolesents is a really hard time no matter where you live in the world (Beth at St. Philips in north Minneapolis, me in west London, Kayla in Paraguay), similar problems different continents!

Lets see...there is so much more to say but I am running out of time, we have another function in 15 minutes. We are having an incredible time! We will probably be here until Friday and then we do some traveling in Paraguay with Kayla!

It has been so nice to see Kayla, cook with her, listen to her perfect spanish, and watch her interact with all of the people here. Beth and I are having a great time! We will see you all in a two weeks!

Go kickball and Happy Father´s Day!