God Bless America!

I really like Paraguay. I do. The people are friendly, the weather is perfect (at least the lovely winter weather here), and I just love new places and experiences. BUT...it is also super dirty and ugly in places and has crazy drivers and motorcycles all over the place. I guess that is something I love about traveling...it helps me realize how lucky I am to live in the United States of America where littering is not legal or socially acceptable, where dogs are spayed or nutered, and where at least we have a government that is less corrupt than most of the governments in the world.


We really are so lucky. Sometimes seeing places that aren't as great as the USA or knowing people who are in tough situations of poverty makes me feel bad and a little guilty. I guess I just wonder why I got born into such ease and luxury relatively speaking compared to the rest of the world. And I take so many things for granted like the opportunity to progress, to gain an education, to feel safe, to be clean, to have clean hot or cold water run right into my house, to not have to disinfect every fruit or vegetable I eat, to have and be able to afford medical care, dental care, food, clothes and some things that I want too. Our government isn't perfect, gas prices are ridiculous, and we have problems of our own, we do, but we are SO BLESSED. Anyway, not to give you all some big speech or something...it just has been on my mind lately.



So most of the other interns and I headed to Iguassu Falls this weekend. I'll add more pictures of the trip (of course including tons of pictures of the amazing falls) but here's a start of some pictures from the trip.



We took the midnight bus from Asuncion to Ciudad del Este. We payed the extra five bucks and got on the executive bus with the seats that fold down almost all the way. It wasn't too bad of a ride...especially thanks to my good friend Nyquil. Oh yeah and those who know me best will be AMAZED to know what I'm carrying in this picture is all the luggage I brought with me for three whole days. I guess losing your luggage changes what you see as necessary.

Bus terminal coffee shop...may I interest you in a lollipop, or maybe some hard liquor?

Or maybe a doll of 50 Cent...or some more hard liquor...that bus ride can be pretty long...

We stayed at a super cheap hotel in Ciudad del Este. I was called Hotel My Grandma ... I guess that would be the direct translation anyway. It wasn't much like my Grandma's house at all though. The pictures don't really do it justice but it was pretty bad. It actually wasn't too dirty or anything but it was just old and moldy. There was mold all over in the ceiling of the bathroom...my grandma's bathroom doesn't have mold in it (at least not a lot).

Nor does my grandma's house have orange paint sponged onto white walls.

Or a bathroom so tiny that you can multitask. The only problem is that the shower gets water EVERYWHERE in the bathroom. This is good because your bathroom gets cleaned everytime you shower but bad because then there is water everywhere which is a great breeding ground for fleas. I never have been bit by a flea at my grandma's house but I was at Hotel Mi Abuela. Oh well, it's not like it's the first time I have been bitten by fleas.

You can't see it very well, but the beds have pillowcases with leopard print that go so well with the flowery bedspread...my grandma can decorate better than that!

We survived Hotel Mi Abuela however and were able to get ready for the day and go out on the town. Ciudad del Este is a very interesting/dirty city. Probably the dirtiest city I've been to in South America or Central America for that matter. There is also a huge black market there...I guess one of the biggest in the world supposedly.

Garbage, garbage everywhere!

But luckily there is an entire store of cheap stuffed animals to make you feel more warm and fuzzy inspite of the garbage everywhere.

What a crazy place!

They start them young. What a cute little boy...he obviously takes his business seriously...but how sad too. He is selling cigarettes and lotto tickets, something he wouldn't even be able to buy in the US...and not for several more years.

I wonder how this orthodonics place in Ciudad del Este got Denise Richards to do their advertizing for them? Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Everything in this city is black market...even the advertizing.

Friday night we went to Itapu Dam. It isn't the biggest hydroelectric dam in the world but it creates more energy then any other hydroelectric dam in the world. It is pretty huge...I couldn't even get it all in the picture. It supplies 95% of all of Paraguay's power and 25% of all of Brasil's power...plus I think that Brasil sells a lot of its power from the dam to Argentina. Pretty amazing and they are pretty dang proud of their dam.

The next morning we crossed the bridge over into Brasil...sort of illegally. I have a visa to Brasil but no one else in my group did so none of us went throught immigration. We just walked right past the passport control on both the Paraguay and Brasil side...no one seemed to care though...they weren't even paying attention. We had heard it was a pretty loose border, which is why we dared try. I wasn't too worried though because I actually had a visa and figured that I could just play dumb if we got caught..."What passport control? Oops. I guess I didn't see it. Look though, I payed my 200 bucks for this visa so I am legit, right?" Anyway, I guess it isn't at all uncommon for them to not stop people who are tourists going to Iguassu Falls. They both want the money tourism brings.

I love this one...as we were crossing the border there was a fence that must have gotten hit down or something so the police were creating a new section of fence using packing tape...that'll keep them out, I'm sure.

When we got to Brasil we got a ride in Jesus's taxi to our hostel.

To be continued...

It's here!!!!!!!!!!

Finally after three days of patiently waiting I got my luggage today! And luckily nothing was stolen out of it or anything (as far as I know). And I didn't have to bribe anyone to get it or anything. Must be that picture of Christ I had in my suitcase that I'm taking to my mom in Brasil...how would they dare touch my luggage with that in it?!? I did have to spend about 25 dollars to get to the airport and back to get it, but at least I have my luggage. And just in time because I'm off to Iguassu Falls tonight! Later dudes!

God Bless Germany!

Okay, so get this. One of the other interns here in Paraguay is from Germany and he was telling me about how he ended up here in Paraguay, etc. Well, I had heard that Germany is an awesome place to work because they have more paid days off of work than any other country in the world...hence the high incidence of spandex and B.O. at our national parks each summer. But I had never heard of anything like this. He works for a consulting firm in Germany. He got a SIX MONTH PAID leave of absence from work so he spent a month in Germany, is spending three months here, and then is going to travel around South America and Europe for another two months and then go back to work...I guess if he feels like it. And not only are they paying him full salary as if he were working, but they rented him a car down here in Paraguay...for THREE months (wonder what that costs). They are also paying his cost of being here because I guess it is humanitarian work or something and he used his frequent flyer miles from his business flights to fly himself down here first class. So basically he is spending next to nothing and is making money. Oh, and the internship he's doing has nothing to do with his job. He's just doing this whole thing so that he can learn Spanish because I guess knowing German, English, Italian, and French isn't enough. After he told me all this I was like, "What the...?" and he responded "Well, I have worked for them for two and a half years I guess they felt they owed me the leave of absence." TWO AND A HALF YEARS...! What the...?

So I have worked for my company for FOUR long years and here's what I got... I was reluctantly given a SEVEN WEEK leave of absence which will cause everyone I work with to despise me due to the fact that we are chronically short staffed. So I'll totally be the black sheep when I get back. I had to drive back and forth between Utah and Idaho three times in the month of June so that I could work some days in June as well as use all my PTO time so that I wouldn't be taking such a long leave of absence. Oh yeah, and I have no home in Utah and so I had to commute from my aunt's house in Provo which was a big pain and very costly. Between paying the gas to get to Utah and then commuting back and forth between Provo and SLC it was hardly worth it financially to work. I was just doing it so they would give me the leave of absence. Also having taken a leave of absence will probably be a permanent black mark against me...I might as well forget about getting a decent raise ever again.

Anyway, I'm not complaining or anything...I mean how many companies in the US would even give you a seven week leave of absence so you could go to South America and would hold your job for you? Probably not a ton of them. Luckily though this leave was mostly to work on my Practicum for my Graduate Degree so I guess they felt inclined to give it to me because of that. So I am grateful that although reluctantly and most likely with permanent damage to my reputation I was given a leave. So don't leave me comments telling me to be grateful for what I have...I am grateful. I'm not trying to complain, I'm just trying to say, "Come on America, let's get with the Germans on this taking time off of work and not killing ourselves for jobs that we don't care about. Let's work a lot and relax a lot." I mean the Germans were way off on that whole Nazi thing but they are right on with the vacation time thing. Go Germany!

Disclaimer: Neither of the two Germans interns here wear spandex or have B.O. and they are really nice and stuff. Also I really do love America (mostly Idaho) for most things.

Hola Paraguay!

Yay...I finally got here! And so far so good. Oh yeah except my luggage got lost again! Never lost my luggage my whole life and then it gets lost two trips in a row...and in less than 4 months! Luckily though after losing my luggage for 3 days in Portugal I am now a much better carry-on packer. I used to carry on the least amount possible...I didn't like to carry everything around the airport, but now I am the one you see pushing the limits in the carry-on allowance department. It is still annoying not to have my luggage though. For example I'm using a t-shirt as a towel, I have no sheets, and wore a dress last night as a nightgown. Next trip I'll pack even better in my carry-on. But where do you draw the line on what to pack in the carry-on? Basically I need most everything or I wouldn't be bringing it! I'm going to always plan on having my luggage lost from now on though. Aim low and achieve!

I got in late last night. I already really like it. I don't know why sometimes I feel most at home and comfortable when I am most out of my comfort zone. To be honest I think I just really needed to get away from Utah and from my job for awhile. I was really hating it. I guess when I get back we'll see if that hate is permanent or if it was just temporary. I really can't believe how happy I am here though. I don't know anyone, I don't know what I'm doing, and I'm sleeping on a foam mattress on top of wooden slats...and I love it! I am staying at the intern house for the NGO. It is an interesting but fun situation. There are I think 10 people that live here...both guys and girls. Don't worry MOM, the rooms for the girls and guys are separated and so are the bathrooms. It is actually a pretty big and nice house. I just share a room and a bathroom with one girl. Having gone to only Church schools and then the University of Utah but living alone at that time it is interesting living in this situation. It is pretty fun though. I think that only 4 of us are from the States, 1 is from Spain, 2 from Germany, one from Bulgaria, one from England, and I can't remember where the other one is from. Then there are some interns that are working in other parts of Paraguay but come here on weekends or just a day here and there...so there is always something going on in this party house. Just kidding MOM...it's not a party house. Everyone is really nice and normal and are not druggies or drunks or anything like that. If anything I am the white trash here because I go to the University of Utah. So far of those I've asked the other people are going to or have graduated from: Oxford, Yale, Duke, and 2 from Johns Hopkins. And then there is another girl who is a Fullbright Scholar. I don't know how I mangaged to get an internship here among all these geniuses...it must be my awesome personality and passion for my work I guess.

Anyway, I think that soon I'll be leaving all these smarty pants people behind because I think that they are going to move me to some housing closer to where I'll actually be working...out at the NGO's Agricultural School in the country. I hope that they don't move me until the first part of next week though as everybody here is planning on going to Iguassu Falls this weekend and I really want to go. I mean it is one of the 7 natural wonders of the world! Luckily my lost luggage is providing a nice reason for me to stay in the capital city for now. Oh and you'll all be relieved to know that tonight I found a Radio Shack (I love America) and they had flat irons for sale that run on their voltage here. It wasn't much more than buying a new voltage adaptor would have been so I just figured I'd buy the new flat iron and then I can use it on other trips. So now tomorrow I will not have barrell roll bangs...actually it was barrell roll hair. It kind of looked like how my mom did my hair for me when I was around 3 years old...all rolled towards my face. I am excited to face tomorrow with a higher self-esteem due to my new flat iron!

These are my sweet living quarters the little luggage I have with me.

A close-up of the bed situation. I'm not worried though because I slept on a bed like this for one and a half years as a missionary, so any damage to my spine has already been done! Ooh...I hear a mouse squeeking in the closet...or maybe it is a bird chirping...I'm not sure but I AM SERIOUS so I've got to go check out the situation. Later.

Oh yeah and P.S. I can't get the spell check on the blog to work in this country for some reason...maybe it is the slow internet connection...I don't know, but please excuse any misspellings.

The Terminal...

If you've ever seen the movie The Terminal with Tom Hanks you'll know how I spent my day yesterday. I felt like I lived in the airport in Buenos Aires. I already was supposed to have a long layover in Buenos Aires due to the fact that there aren't many flights from Buenos Aires to Asuncion and then the flight I was on got delayed so I ended up being there about 9 hours! You're probably wondering why I didn't go do something.

Well, first of all the Buenos Aires airport isn't very close to anything cool to see as far as I know. Second of all, I have been to Buenos Aires a few times and honestly it didn't really seem that cool and just seemed like every other big South American City I have been to, but maybe I'm not giving it a fair chance...maybe I haven't been to the right parts of BA. Also, it was rainy and cloudy as it has been 3 of the 4 times I've been to Buenos Aires but I guess I should give the city a break because it is Winter down here. And last of all, I didn't go out and do anything because I didn't know that I would be there so long although I probably could have gone out to the city even with just the planned layover that I had. I know, not like me not to take advantage of every second in a foreign country, but I had been there before.

So basically I just hung out at the airport. I people watched, ate alfajores, watched Arrested Development on my iPod, used the internet, practiced my Spanish by asking the airline people like a million times if they knew yet what time my flight was leaving, and even took a bath. Okay I didn't exactly take a bath, but close. I HATE being dirty...I really only have about 12 hours after showering before I want a shower again...and when I found out that I was going to have a long layover I tried to find a hotel close to the airport that would let me check in during the day and just take a nap and shower. But I didn't have any luck with that. I felt super disgusting after flying from Idaho Falls to SLC and then SLC to Atlanta and then Atlanta to Buenos Aires. So I walked around the whole airport until I found a bathroom that had a deep sink in it...I think it was a utility sink or something used to fill the mop buckets but it was perfect for what I needed to do...wash my hair. It was awesome...what a find. Also since this bathroom was way off in the corner there wasn't a lot of traffic so there weren't very many people in my way and really nobody gave me any harshly weird looks for washing my hair at the airport. Maybe they had seen the movie The Terminal or something.

I even had my hairdryer, roundbrush, flat iron, and a little root lifter with me (lesson learned from losing my luggage when I went to Europe in March) so I could do my hair right. Or so I thought until I realized that I had brought the wrong voltage adaptor for my flat iron...stupid me...and I always pride myself on being such a prepared packer. And my hair is SUPER short right now because I had Audrey cut my hair super short since I'll be in South America for almost 2 months and everybody knows you can't get a good haircut in SA unless you are into She-Mullets. Haaaaaaaaaa I can't wait to see my mom after her first Brazilian haircut, but that is a whole other story. So I can't flat iron my hair but at least it is clean. Due to the shortness of my hair though and the humidity in BA I ended up with some pretty ugly bangs...think barrel roll bangs. I have super straight hair other that right around my face and whenever I'm somewhere humid it goes curly and was especially bad because I didn't even have a chance to flat iron it. So I hung out the rest of the day looking like I had just walked out of 1995 (I had barrel roll bangs then, big time).

It was fun to spend the day in Argentina...even if it was just at the airport. The last time I had been to Argentina was 4 years ago and it was fun to be reminded that mostly things are still the same in Argentina.

They still take the Tango VERY seriously (can't you just see the seriousness in their eyes) and still claim that Argentina invented it although Spain claims it too. Soccer is life though...every other shop in the airport is a store selling soccer jerseys.

If they don't have the right change they still just give you a piece of candy in place of the change. I had forgotten about that. I bought the alfajor and got some money and a little green candy back. Can you imagine in the US going to buy something and getting your change...10 dollars, 75 cents and a Reeces Peanut Butter Cup? That might not be half bad...change you can eat.

Ahhhh and they still have Alfajores...and lots of them. Yum.

I'll miss you Idaho!

BUY SOME SURGICAL TUBING FOR YOUR SLINGSHOT TODAY. Yes, that's right. This was on a sign outside a drugstore in Idaho Falls. I saw it my last day there and thought to myself, 'man I love this place...where else do they advertize surgical tubing for slingshots?' The thing is, it is probably a good idea to advertize that...I have in my lifetime owned a homemade slingshot made of surgical tubing...I bet some of you other Idahoans have too so I bet it is a popular sale. That's one of the things I love about Idahoans...we can make something out of nothing. And we can make our own fun. We don't need fancy malls, concerts, and art museums. We have slingshots, potato guns, spotlighting, firecrackering, toiletpapering, and each other. For example just this 4th of July my uncle used a potato gun to shoot candy out of and then all of the kids at our family barbeque ran after it and beat each other down to get. It was awesome and the kids loved it.

I spent about the last month at home in Idaho with my family with a few horrible trips back to Utah to work for a few days. It was so great to be there. I LOVE IDAHO. Big time. A lot of why I love Idaho is that the majority of my family is there. I guess being home made me realize how much I miss when I'm not there...the family Sunday dinners, FHE with all my extended family, barbeques, mission homecomings and farewells, game nights, and just visiting with and being around each other. I guess that is the main reason that I love Idaho and plan to move back in a couple of years...I just don't want to miss out.

But Idaho is great for other reasons too. For example...housing is cheap, people are generally nice and friendly, no traffic except on 17th Street on Saturdays and around Christmas, no safely and emissions testing on cars so it is cheap to register your car, and yet the air is clean and clear (you can actually go running outside in the summer and not almost die), the summers are beautiful and are not too hot, and it isn't too crowded (except for at the 4th of July Fireworks, but I can handle that).

Anyway, I won't be back in Idaho for awhile but I just wanted to give a shout out to Idaho for being such a great place to live. However, if you are reading this and you are not from Idaho, don't move there...I promise you'll hate it and we don't really want anymore people there so we'll probably hate you. Just kidding! But yeah, don't move there. And for those of you who are lucky enough to live in SE Idaho...enjoy it!

4 Orphans...Unsupervised!

This is what I found my brothers ages 31, almost 26, and 21 doing this afternoon...playing Rock Band. Somehow they even roped me into playing a few songs with them, although eventually I was kicked out of the band because I am so bad. They said that I was "bringing down the whole band," or something like that. I guess my video game skills peaked in 1995 when I conquered Super Mario 3. I didn't really care that I got kicked out though because I had plenty of blogging to catch up on (as I'm sure you can all see).

We decided to have a party...just the four of us tonight (my sister-in-law is out of town). We played rock band, ate pizza (don't worry mom, I made the boys a salad too), and just messed around. I think we were all just trying to keep our minds off of the fact that our parents really are gone for three years. I'll be honest. When my parents first got their call it seemed pretty unreal but was also kind of exciting. Then we just started focusing on all the things that had to be done before they left and so we didn't have time to think about the reality of it. But now it is real and it is really hard. But thanks to the mind numbing activities of blogging and playing Rock Band I have been able to keep my breaking into tears down to only two episodes today. Yay for me!

I mean, what is my problem? I'm going to see my parents in a month and a half when I stop by to see them on my way home from Paraguay. I guess it is just knowing that they are 25 hours and a 1800 dollar plane ticket away, that I don't really have a home now (although Lee and Kim are super nice and still make me feel welcome at my parent's house... it just isn't the same), that I don't know what I'm doing with my life, that I have no desire to return to Salt Lake in the Fall even though my Grad program and work are there, that I'm going to Paraguay in a week and I don't know anyone there or even for sure what I'll be doing while I am there and I'm totally not ready for that trip, and that I lost 1200 dollars on the stock market today (okay, it isn't lost until I sell, but still...)! Somehow in spite of all of this I feel great and at peace with my life and am fully functional other than the sporadic crying episodes. So yay for Rock Band, Blogging, and three excellent brothers!