Parana Hotel Asuncion

... group of volunteers in our sector. We finished these in March. The second is to do 1 year in site visits for the group that has finished one year in site. We finished these in June. The third (where we are now) is to do site development. Basically, we are developing new sites for the next group of volunteers whom arrive in Paraguay in September. We go to possible sites, visit the people, see if they are interested and if the site qualifies saftey and work ...

... with whom you've had great laughs. :)

Paraguay is a country where tourism almost nonexistant. In the buses I was regularly the only cream-white one, and the looks carried a mixture of suspicion and curiosity. The touristic infrastructure is nowhere to be found, so one forgets about hostels and has to go to real hotels. As a result it's quite expensive to travel in Paraguay, because even the crummiest hotels aren't dirt cheap, and you don't want to go to a crummy hotel ...

... te slapen met een zwembad?!? Zou dit meisje familie zijn van het jongetje wat aan de overkant geld probeert te verdienen op dit late uur, of zou zij zielsalleen zonder eten, drinken, onderdak of liefde hier onder de ogen van iedereen aan het wegrotten zijn? Wat is het ****ing oneerlijk verdeeld in deze wereld. Wat zouden haar stadgenoten denken die in hun dure villa´s in het oosten van de stad wonen en gezellig naar het centrum gaan om wat te drinken? Zien ze haar uberhaupt, of went ...

... books in our bags hopped on the next cable car and made a bee-line for the bus station. Having asked around we found that the only way to Asuncion was to get a bus to the border town on Clorinda in Northern Argentina and go from there. The "helpful" young man selling us our tickets (whom we soon realised was as reliable as the Argentine government) assured us that we wouldn't have a problem crossing the border from Clorinda, "es muy facil" he calmly said. This was ...

... way. We were camping on the outskirts of Salta, which thankfully had a swimming pool as the temperature was rising! The following day we went white water rafting down a grade 3 river, not too extreme but Charlie screamed the whole way down. Was lovely scenery and lots of nice wildlife. Lunch was an Argentina style red meat BBQ followed by an afternoon of zip-lining across the canyon. We had to walk up to the top which was pretty sweaty and we got eaten by sand ...

... area about 5km from Guarambare. My house is actually fairly comfortable, simple but comfortable. We have running water, plumbing, and electricity, and I have my own room with a bed and dresser and that´s about it. We do have a TV, too, so its not too rough. I should try to enjoy it because my post where I am assigned will likely be much less comfortable. My host "parents" are a middle aged couple with three kids in their 20s. The daughter lives with us with ...

... up saying through my tears was, "thank you for giving me the confidence to work here, because without your faith in my skills I would have accomplished little." Which pretty much sums up my Peace Corps service - that whatever I have given to Paraguayans has been far overshadowed by the experience they have given me - lessons in simplicity and tranquility, my first real exposure to my dream career of forestry extension, and a second home ...

... his guests) around town, where we saw some beautiful old houses, a convent, some other religious buildings, and the beautiful lake. It was a nice walk and we ended up back home around 7 or so, where we later had a (as usual) delicious dinner. Another good day... PHOTOS

... zwar nicht, dass Kakerlaken in irgendeiner Form gesundheitsgefährdend sind, aber ich könnte doch ganz gut drauf verzichten. Ich schätze, das liegt an der mangelnden Hygiene. Es gibt zwar eine Putzfrau, aber die bringt immer nur einen Sack (!) Orangen mit, anstatt zu putzen. Zweitens: Wir haben warmes Wasser und ich Vollidiot hab eine geschlagenen Woche jeden Morgen eiskalt geduscht! Bevor ich jetzt für völlig verblödet erklärt werde, muss ich zu meiner ...

... be greeted by barefoot dirty street kids asking for money to buy bananas. I felt really bad at telling them no, but I´d only just gone to the ATM and didn´t have any change. They seemed happy enough with a high five though. The money here is doing my head in. 1 euro is roughly 6000 guarani. In Brazil it was ok, one euro is 2.4 Reals, which means i can buy a beer and as I can count to 20 i know roughly how much money the bartender is asking for. Here is a different matter ...