Hola! This past Wednesday Matt and I met up with a girl named Marlene we knew through my sister Jana. Marlene lives and works in Asuncion. I called her at the beginning of last week and she said her birthday was on Wednesday and invited us to come over Wednesday night. Since it was her birthday, she had friends come over, and we all went out to a nice bar called 904. We spent the whole evening there visiting, eating, and drinking. It was a so fun meeting people and visiting with them. In general, we talked about each others aspirations and Paraguayan culture and social/economic condition. Later in the evening we played pool and ate and drank more. It was a very wonderful time.

In the billiard room we met a guy from Canada, a friend of Marlene, named Vincent who is living and working in the slums west of Asuncion. He works through and organization called Un Techo Por El Paiz. They assist in constructing homes for the poor. He has lived in Paraguay for a year before (which is when he met and actually shared an apartment with Marlene), and is here again for a shorter time and will go back home to Quebec in December for Christmas. His first language was French, and he wishes to move to Vancouver next year and improve his English (though it was already quite good). Anyway, after that he intends on writing a book about the slums here, and return again. I think that is a really neat dream. Anyway, we visited with him quite a bit, and he said we could come help sometime before we live, so I hope we can do that. He said not to bring our cameras though because they would most surely be stolen.

Matt and I stayed the night in Marlene's apartment and Vincent did as well. The next morning we all went out to the biggest and most popular market in Asuncion. I'm not sure what to say, but it was just awesome. There were people everywhere selling all kinds of things. In the meat area there was just...everything, hearts, livers, intestines, etc... hanging from hooks or piled on the counter to be purchased. In the fish area there were gutted fish laying out or hanging as well. At a clothing store I bought a jersey from the Cerro football team, which is a local favorite team along with the club Olympia. There is a huge rivalry between the two teams here in Asuncion and, as I understand, in Paraguay in general. I can't count the times I've been asked whether I was for Cerro or Olympia, but now my answer is Cerro though I really don't care, haha. Matt bought an Olympia jersey, but hid it, and is playing the undecided card with the kids. I'm not sure which is better. The funny thing is, I plan to buy an Olympia jersey at some point, because I want to have both of them as souvenirs, but I don't dare tell anyone (and here I am announcing it on the web). I put my jersey on after buying it, as you see in the picure (the red and blue stripes), and when I came back to the Hogar one of the guys that gives me the hardest time and is never nice to me ran up to me and hugged me and gave me a high five. I've made some friends and made some enemies with my "decision", haha.

So, after the market we went to a place to eat, and after eating we went to some stores and street vendors around. Marlene had to go to work in the afternoon, so she left us with Vince and soon after Matt and I took a bus back to the Hogar office in Asuncion, and from there took a bus back to the Hogar in Capiata.

That's all for now! Here are some pictures:

This is Matt and I with Marlene in her apartment before we left for the market.

Matt in market.

Gutted fish in a cart. Yum.

There was a vendor with piranhas laying out. We talked to the lady a little and took some pictures. This is Vince with his finger in the mouth of one of the piranhas.

This is the restaurant we ate at after going to the market. We all had noquis which are my new favorite dish, at least in Paraguay. Surely we have these noodles/dough balls in the States, but I've never had them before, and they're great!

This is one of the guys living here we call Chino (meaning Chinese in Spanish) because he looks Asian even though he's not. His real name is Ariel. Anyway, he is a really nice and funny guy. He has helped me a lot with my Spanish and is always encouraging.

From left to right this Alejandra (Ale), Carol, and Anja. Ale is one of Paty's adopted kids, Carol is one of the girls living at the orphanage, and Anja is one of the German girls who is volunteering here.

I bought the black hat (kepi) worn by Danny on the left in the market at the same place I bought my shirt. I was in my room with these guys, Danny and Armando, listening to music. Danny liked my hat so he put it on and started dancing with it, and Armando joined him.

So, it was actually a couple weeks ago that I went to the English class of one of the guys here. He goes to the CCPA, which stands for something like Centro Cultura Paraguayo Americano. Anyway, it is a place that was set up many years ago by the US Embassy in Paraguay to teach young, bright students in Paraguay about American culture and how to speak English. I really enjoyed the class. Nobody during the class was allowed to speak anything but English, and since it was an upper level intermediate class, they all spoke fairly well. They asked me a lot of questions, and even the teacher asked me some things! For instance he asked about the usage of the adjective “beautiful”, whether it could be used for a guy. Also, he asked about delineating between a male and female friend. Do you say “boyfriend” and “girlfriend”? Good questions, and understandably not readily understood. The teacher was really funny; he made the classroom a really pleasant atmosphere. They all told me that they enjoyed having me in class, and I hope to go again soon with Matt. The class is only on Saturdays, so there aren’t many more chances to go. Anyway, it’s very interesting being on the flip-side of language learning, everyone is learning the language you speak! A new experience for me.

I don't have any pictures of the class right now because I didn't bring my camera. If I go again with Matt, I will bring my camera and get a picture or two. Anyway, here are a few pictures. The first is a picture of the Hogar from the front.

This is just the house in the front of the property. Behind the house there are a couple dorms (one for the boys and one for the girls) and a mess hall with a patio area for playing volleyball and such. Apparently these other structures behind the house are quite new. The mess hall and patio were only completed about a month before a came, as far as I understand. Btw, if you look close you'll see Adan on the porch there with his arms spread out.

This is a picture in the mess hall. I have confetti in my hair because it was the evening of a celebration for Adan's little girl. They had piniatas with candy and confetti, and after they were busted and the kids took of with the candy I was suckered into a small confetti fight.

I wanted to put this picture up because I thought these little kids were...dare I say, cute. I was walking back to the dorm and they were just meandering around on the sidewalk in front of me. I stopped and brought out my camera and they just stood and stared at me while I took their picture. I showed them their picture and they really liked looking at it, and then I showed them others and they kept saying peoples names they new. When I took it away they kept on saying they wanted to see it, and I'd show them more. The boy on the left they call "rubio" because he's so white (blond) but his real name is Manuel, and the boy on the right is Santi (short for Santiago). Santi is the son of one of the girls here, Carol, who on a side-note is an amazing cook.

That's all for now. Hopefully Matt and I will be meeting up with Marlene within the next couple days. Marlene is a friend of Jana's outside the Hogar. She's going to take us around Asuncion. So, I should have some more interesting stories and pictures soon. Love y'all!!

Long time, no...type

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. Due to the time constraints on internet usage as well as some connection inconsistency it has been hard for me to keep it going. However, since Matt is here as of Monday evening, I have my computer and am able to use it anytime anywhere. So, I plan to write whenever I can with or without the net, and then just copy what I write to my blog.

Anyway, like I said, Monday evening we picked up Matt from the airport in Asuncion. So, he’s here and safe! I’m really glad to have him here because despite everyone around I’ve been a bit lonely. It has just been hard to communicate and relate at deeper levels as much as I would like. Here’s a picture of Matt and I at the airport when he arrived:

I’m looking forward to this next month here with Matt. This month will hopefully find us picking up on the language and doing a healthy amount of traveling around the city. I made contact with Marlene, a friend of Jana’s in Asuncion, and we are planning on going to her place and probably staying a night or two. She said she’d take us around the city and show us stuff. Sweet! Also, last week a couple German girls, Anja and Katie, came to the Hogar and are going to be here the rest of the time we’re here. They have invited us to come to there mission house in Asuncion. Here’s a picture of them:

Anja is on the left, she’s 19, and Katie is in the middle, 24. The girl on the right, Alisia, is one of the girls here at the Hogar.

Last Sunday on 10/10/10 was a special day, not just because of the date, but it was the birthday of the male dorm leader, Adan. I’m actually not sure how old he is, but I think upper 20’s. Anyway, a good size group of guys went out in the evening for dinner. We went to an outdoor sandwich place called a lomiteria. Here’s a few pictures from that night. The first one is all the younger guys that came plus Adan. The second is an angle showing the vendor that made our sandwiches and lomitos. I'm doing a common hand expression with Hugo in while doing you say "namongaru", which essentially means "I'll eat to that" in Guarani. You do it when you say something clever or you agree with something. And sometimes when you do it, they'll stop halfway through and say "I'm not hungry" or "I'm full" and hold their stomach just to mess with you. Of course, I do it too now. The third is a picture of what I ate, mmm.

Now actually, before we left I had a unique and tasty experience as well. While I was waiting to leave for the birthday outing, some people were sitting behind the main house cutting open and chewing on what looked like bamboo. It was actually sugar cane. I've never eaten sugar cane straight; it was quite delicious. It's also kinda of satisfying having to work to cut open the cane in order to suckle on the sweet goodness. Anyway, here's a couple pictures from that experience. The first is a picture of the full canes, and the second is me with a few of the ladies I was enjoying the sugar cane with. As you can see, I have some in my mouth. Mmm, otra vez.

Well, this post is getting pretty long. So, I'll be done. But I'll try and get another post up tomorrow or the next day. I'd like to be a little more consistent...we'll see. I love and miss everyone. God bless!