2 months

A few weekends ago I went to San Bernardino with my family and our friends for Semana Santa which translates to "Holy week." Effectually being our Spring Break. It is a popular vacation spot for city dwellers in Ciudad del Este, Pedro Juan Caballero and Asuncion to name a few. We stayed out in the campo presumably to avoid all the commotion caused by the avid partiers who inhabit San Bern during this time, while still remaining in close proximity to Lake Ypacaraí. (Urh-Pa-Ka-Ah-Ree) The lake has a lot of historical relevance and is cited in several popular Paraguayan songs. It is about the size of Lake Washington, probably slightly smaller, yet the second largest body of water in Paraguay. It is nice hangout spot, however widespread pollution has consequently turned the color of the lake into a nasty brown.

Much of our time in San Bern was consumed in the campo which was basically a ranch setting (though in addition to going to the lake, we took a trip into Asuncion for bowling) playing Mímica meaning Sharades, (in this case for movie titles) and a popular card game played principally in Brasil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Southern Chile and Venezuela called Truco.

Truco, meaning "trick" is played between 2, 4 (Two teams of two) and 6 (Two teams of three) people with Spanish playing cards. It is like nothing I have played before, the only way I can explain it without launching into too many specifics, is that it combinds the aspects of Hearts (The premise of winning "tricks") and Poker (Deception and Intimidation). Besides, Wikipedia does a much better job anyway: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truco. The rules are fairly simple, but the strategy takes months or even years of practice to become worthy.

Last week I went to Foz do Iguaçu with some friends, a Brasilian town just adjacent to Ciudad del Este to watch a movie at the cine. I definately feel fortunate to live boardering two other countries. Especially the fact that it is an open boarder between Paraguay and Brasil, so you can just scoot on through without being interrogated by some douche who wants to know what is in your trunk. "Its plastic explosives, you jerk, whats it to you?!"

The movie turned out to be Fast and the Furious 4. (Yes, it was terrible) I was really impressed with the condition of the theatre; it was nicer than any that I've been to in the States.

Last night, we went back, but this time with the whole family. We watched Slumdog Millionaire which was great, because I hadn't seen it yet. (Gasp?)

I was impressed, just like everyone else, but I feel like I would've liked it more if my expectations hadn't been so high. After seeing and hearing statements like "omg, that was liek the best movie I have EVAR seen!" and "Wow, that totally changed my outlook on life" (I usually take such assertions with a grain of salt) its just hard to go in without preconceived notions. Curse media hype.

Afterwards we went to this neat little Brasilian restuarant closeby. I love the Brasilian style: Instead of serving yourself, the waiter brings you the prepared platters of food, and serves them from there onto your plate, so you don't have to deal with it. You can recieve white table cloth service and 5-star food in this region for the same price as you would pay to dine casually in the States, that is definately one point I am beginning to appreciate. (Due to the fact that all the meat is raised locally and job security is sparce, among other factors). As my Spanish has been vastly improving, I am learning that Paraguayans are great story-tellers, which explains why formal meals are longer here. People seem to enjoy each other's company more.

Next weekend I am going to Buenos Aires, Argentina with my "mother" and "brother" for five days. Really excited, except for the roughly 18 hour bus ride.

I guess I just have one burning question: Is the air actually nice in Buenos Aires?