One month

It is surreal to think that I have been here for one month already, things have gone by very quickly.

On that note, I can definately notice my gradual assimalation into Paraguayan culture...

• I wore a wool shirt and jeans today and did not drown in my own sweat.
• I no longer have a tendency to look like someone with a severe case of Down Syndrome in class.
• I can generally participate in conversation in social situations (or in the very least understand the topic).
• My bowels do not turn over after I indulge in a couple of empanadas or most other questionable local delicacies.
• I have found that wearing a seatbelt is not fashionable, ever.
  
• I ignore vendors when they makes this obnoxious sound that can best be described as: ¨chih-chih-chih¨
• People´s conception of time is not universal.
• Paraguayan sleeping patterns: It does not necessarily happen when you want it to, it happens when it is convienient for everyone else.
• Similarly: You are important, but the collective good is more important.

Other than these Observations/Personal victories, I have been doing a variety of things the past two weeks. Two saturdays ago, we went to Carnaval, which was held in my city. Apparently it is not to be confused with the Brazilian ¨Carnival,¨ (I still don´t quite understand the difference). It was basically just a huge Disco. There were probably about 400 to 500 people there, though that estimate is rough. We got VIP passes, so we were partying in style.

Today, I just returned from San Bernardino (A vacation suburb just north of Asunción) where I and the other AFS-Paraguay students attended Adjustment Camp for the weekend. It consisted mainly of learning about Paraguayan history, Hanging out, and talking about our feelings... (Yeah, just great). We stayed in a hotel, but we basically had the whole place to ourselves. It had a beautiful pool, which we took full advantage of by playing a large game of Marco Polo.

It was interesting to talk to the other exchange students: How well they are getting along with their host family, how proficient they were in Spanish in relation to my ability and finding out more about the country which they are from. There were students from the U.S., France, Belgium, Germany, (A surprising amount) Thailand, Japan, Switzlerland, and Iceland. The guy from Iceland was incredible at cubing. He could solve the standard Rubix cube in 20 seconds and the five by five in two and a half minutes! He even had a seven by seven but it was apparently too valuable to take with him to the camp. He declared that he was ¨probably the fastest cuber in Iceland¨ I didn´t doubt it. All in all, it was a pretty nice weekend.

Well thats all for this time.

Buenas Noches,

Leif