Hotel del Lago Asuncion

... in this country has left a bad taste in our mouths. The pervasive corruption and poverty here, combined with a very bland lifestyle and mediocre work experience, had us packing our bags long before our departure date. It wasn't all bad - we got to know each other that much better and we got to visit Iguazu - but when we think about the possibility of leaving this very bleak environment, only one thing comes to mind: we can't wait to get out of here.

... to them we found they had been travelling since 2003 and had been in South America for 2 1/2 years.5th - A nice lazy day today, we caught up on some odd chores, chatted to the neighbours and otherwise took it easy. Part of the reason for this is that all of the places in town are closed on a Sunday and so it is not worth going in.6th - Into the town centre this morning on the moped, it is about 6 kms, a nice easy run. On arrival at the main ...

... also bought my bus tricket to Ciudad del Este, 70 guaranies using NSA bus company, mine left at 1:30 am and took 5 hours to reach the destination, so, I reached CDE at 6:30 in the morning, i Think I lost my 26 dolars because i only slept a few hours in that Plaza Hotel. But it is ok, at least i had a bed. The bus was good, but the movie inside was from the 80's, and the volume was so low, I am glad i brought my SE ohone with music.

... rooms.So we went off to one of Asunción's luxury hotels, the Asunción Palace! :) The prices, expensive for the country, are still very reasonable for westerners. We didn't take the luxury suite, which was made of three separate rooms plus the bathroom, only a normal room that only had two rooms... It had air conditioning, WiFi, mini bar at the same price than small corner stores, breakfast included, what a misery... ;)

We managed to push back Daniela's return flight, so we had a ...

... no fat and so tender. BUT.... No Coke for me, as every one knows that drinking coke with pork could kill you. Really, a grown woman told this to my face. Sunday was the big event of the weekend. We all went into Villeta, the seat of the municipality, to go to the inaugural festivities of the local soccer league. There are 16 teams just in the municipality, and my host father is the coach of ours. The teams paraded out in their uniforms, speeches were ...

Sorry that it`s been a while since I've written. It's been hard to find the time to come in to the Internet and sit and write for a while, but today is a lazy Sunday and a few of us have walked here to the Internet (it's about a 40 minute walk from my house to the nearest one). This weekend was tech overnight, where we divided into small groups and went out to volunteer sites to work on projects. A group of 5 of us went out to a site in Paraguari department. We visited a ...

... is huge and probably covers about 8 or 9 city blocks with stalls selling everything under the sun, but we did not have time to explore before it closed. We then went downtown, where absolutely everything was closed. It was like walking through a ghost town on Sunday with very little people out and about. The city was fairly disappointing. For the downtown of the capital of an entire country, it is not modern or impressive whatsoever. Most of the ...

... lots of small towns near Areguas, around the huge lake, visiting a basilica and other interesting places... yeah, sorry, i'm tired... the pictures will have to do for now... PHOTOS

My first thoughts on missionary life in Paraguay. 1. I don´t think I will be bored to often here 2. The chickens have come back to haunt me 3. It is scary and awesome to be a real nurse 4. In some ways life is much more normal than I thought it would be 5. It is quiet with out my crazy family here 6. Pan y carne (Bread and meat) 7. Spanish, Portuguese, Guarani and English together it might be harder than nursing school

... the extended family in the bathroom. I guess for three pounds a night for a double bed and en suite you can´t expect the Ritz, but still deserve better than the Pitz... I had arrived yesterday in 32 degree humid conditions and threw my shorts on this morning for the first time since Byron Bay back in early May. I really should have at least conducted at least a cursory check of the conditions before doing this and myself in grey, wet conditions, standing out even more than I would ...