Chaco

Well! I have not blogged in a long time, because life here is just usual life, therefore nothing too exciting has happened. However, unexpectedly, last weekend I ended up going on the trip to the Chaco in Paraguay. I was not planning on going considering it was one hundred dollars for the trip and I am saving up for other things. But, unfortunately my friend Alicia got Dengue, the none-preventable mosquito virus going around and she was unable to attend so she gave me her place.  With less than three hours to spare I got my things together to board the bus with my fellow AFSers and Peace Corps Volunteers.

It was a nine hour bus ride that took place during the evening. Therefore, we slept two hours and the rest of the time we had a mini rager :) 

Por fin!! We arrived! Finally, after nine hours and little sleep we arrived in the Northern part of Paraguay. We visited museum after museum. That was not the most exciting part of the trip...

 

There were some great flowers and butterflies which caught my attention more than the historic things.

 

They had amazing Dr. Seuss trees! 

 

My new friend from Japan! We were headed to the Chaco. We had to change busses in order to handle the dirt roads. There were not enough seats for everyone so it was fun to hear many of the inexperienced Peace Corps people wine about their issues with the bus, because they usually live in small cities where there are no city busses.

 

Our whole group in the Chaco. This was the area that the triple alliance war took place.

 

Lunch time was the usual MEAT!

 

Yummy...yummy...

  

This is a plant in the Chaco that has goo inside. In the Chaco there is little to no water, these plants adsorb water and turn it into a drinkable goo (that stuff seeping out of it), the soldiers used to drink this in order to survive.

 

Our awesome trees that were used as cooler environment during the heat and protection.

 

This is one of the bunkers that the soldiers would sleep in.

 

Our guide!

 

The whole path of the Chaco

  

The causalities  

We went to the area where the indigenous people live.  

 

We brought candy and clothing for the people and they all crowded around trying to get more and mroe.

  

Us with the indigenous people. 

 

The kids sang to us in Guarani. Many do not know how to speak Spanish because they do not go to school nor have parents that have ever been introduced to the language.

The area was very poor, many of the kids were without clean clothing, or shoes.

The most ironic part of this trip was that the second day in I too got Dengue!! I was extremely sick with a high fever, complete body pain and headache. That made the second day and bus ride home quite awful. All in all it was not the best trip ever, but it was better than just sitting home.

Primer ultimo día

Well yesterday I had my very last day of high school. Even though I already finished high school that was really the end of it all, the high school part but also, the Paraguay part as well. It started out just another day, of me not thinking about it and going through the motions, but then at lunch the reality of the situation kicked it. It didn’t faze me that it was ¨last day of high school¨ but, that this was the last time I would be with all the people together, ever. Because, yes I will see a few outside of school over the next few weeks but, it is not like I will ever have the relationship I have with them now once I go home. Which is slightly heart breaking, because these are some of the nicest and most welcoming people I have ever met. That’s when it hit me that this is all coming to an end, in a month. Though it is still surreal that it may not happen, because this is my life here and life back in USA isn’t actually there anymore just my life in Paraguay. That moment sitting at the table watching my friends yelling and swapping food with each other, made me realize that this is ending. My dad asked me over Skype the other day, ¨Was it worth it? ¨ I really stumbled over the answer and ending up changing the subject. But, when I think it through, that even though this trip hasn’t been anything close to perfect or a vacation in the least, it is coming to an end. This makes me see all the good that has come out of the whole experience. How being here has allowed me to grow a perspective as a person from the United States, but also as a Paraguayan, along with being able to let go of many things that were making my life much harder in the past and move on to the future. Also, I replied that ¨Maybe I should have gone to Panama¨ which had been my other country option. Thinking back on this response I just want to take it back. Because, even though Paraguay is not the perfect place and I could never see myself wanting to spend the rest of my life here I would never want to give up meeting the people that I have become friends with here. I could not even imagine not having these people in my life. And going to a different country would have done that. Also, though my Spanish is nowhere near perfect, when I was able to tour the city of Asuncion the other day with ten people from France that spoke no English but, a few spoke Spanish and I was able to speak to them in Spanish, it allowed me to realize that this is not only a necessity of life while living here. But, also how it opens so many doors to my life; between getting jobs and also allowing me to meet people I would never have been able to know because of a simple language barrier which is a great feeling. All in all, this trip has been worth it. Though not easy, it was and still is worth it.