First, 80k from my site, Coronel Oviedo, on bikes with Melissa, Kristin, and the Barandas. Twice as long as we expected, and when we got there everything was closed. But, it´s the journey, not the destination, blah blah blah. So it was good.
Then, 2 days later, with my Couchsurfer, Alé and 2 other volunteers, Shavonda and Lindsay, walking from 20k away. Everything went well until it was time to leave, and many of the problems with Paraguayan society were suddenly evident. Disorganization, lack of information, misinformation, the inability of anyone to admit when they don´t know something which then leads to lying, treating people like livestock on the buses, etc. It was a clusterf@ck. But, finally made it home at 6:30am and slept all the next day.
Then, it was time again for a new group to swear in, so of course we had a concert.
We had the End of the Year Close Out Celebration for Kavichu´i, my community center, with all of the appropriate adorable kids dancing, singing, a Christmas play, etc.
2 days later, I, with the help of Kristin and Domi, other volunteers close to here, held a Mini-Health Camp, teaching 130 kids how to wash their hands and brush their teeth. It went fairly well, considering the glitter fights, dozens of kids at a time stuck on me like leeches, and then the riot-level havoc that ensued when we tried to give out toothbrushes. Like every other project here, it doesn´t go exactly how you plan it, but goes well, all the same (but we did find blue glitter on Melissa a week later and she wasn´t even there).
And my contact Alicia is getting married, so at my NGO, they made her a toilet paper dress, gave her embarrassing joke gifts, then dumped raw eggs and wet yerba all over her. Good times.
Then another couchsurfer, Jordan, also cool (I have great luck with couchsurfers)
And we´ll end with the random photo collection:
On a bus, note both the "Drugs are bad" sticker and the "Acid" smileyface sticker
Creepiest Memorial Picture ever (found in another volunteer´s amazing borrowed house)
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