First 'letter' home...

...two months after I arrive!
My trip down was blissfully uneventful. What an enormous treat business class is! Because the length of travel time was over 14 hours I was granted an upgrade by State policy…as it stands now. Who knows how much longer that will last as more and more funding goes to the defensive arm of our country's budget and less to our diplomatic corps. Though quite frankly, I think the latter is a far better defense. I arrived to a beautiful sunny hot day and the familiar smell heated air tinged with burning trash. Ahhh…it felt good to be home again.

My sponsor met me at the airport and while she was/is very kind and well-meaning – she disrupted my favorite tradition which is taking in all of my first impressions on the road from the airport to hotel/temporary quarters/home. Nonetheless, I was greeted by a great contrast of verdant and dusty landscape and I was eager to see more. We pulled up to my new home – a three level, fairly modern/new townhouse. I have two wings to my house. One has central air the other does not. Guess where I live? As most know, I have a pool, a sizable though impractical kitchen, five bathrooms, 4 bedrooms (only two of which are ready to use), an office which will convert to a bedroom for all incoming guests, (!!!!) and several terraces.

There are guards that sit at the end of the block and a patrol that comes by throughout the day and night. I have needed both on several occasions! Once I locked myself out in between my front door and my front gate at dusk – peak mosquito time!, once when I accidentally opened one of my two garage doors (the patrol drove by, saw it, and checked on me) and once when I suspected someone had entered my home. Funny story really – I came home to find my top lock unlocked, my pool filtration system running several hours earlier than it is programmed to do and a floating soccer ball! A little disquieting but really, if someone had come in they left everything in tact, my pool a little cleaner and even a ball for me to play with when friends come to visit! I walked through the house with two of the patrol men and all was okay. Since then, I have set my alarm whenever I leave the home.

The roads in my neighborhood are heavily cobblestoned and very difficult to walk on. Nicely though, it keeps speeding way down. Driving in and around the city is a little chaotic. But it seems to me to be a slow motion chaos which is handy in that it gives a person time to react. I don't have my car yet but once it arrives, I will spend weekends trying to familiarize myself with directions and driving etiquette. Honestly, some of the worst driving I've seen has been that of various co-workers taking advantage of the different traffic norms while cursing them at the same time! Oi.

I arrived on a Wednesday afternoon and was told not to worry about coming in the following day. But as I looked around my house, with no phone book, no money in my pockets, no idea of where I was – I thought better of that idea and awaited the shuttle Thursday morning at 6:50 am. Oddly, I don't remember meeting anyone on the shuttle but on that road – I got to see some beautiful old homes, new homes and a lot more green. One big decadent house even has an ostrich in its front yard. A real one. If there were an active PETA down here, I'm sure it would be set free in some midnight raid. There is the expected interesting and heartbreaking blend of poverty and extreme wealth – so prevalent in countries in mid-development.

Corruption is an enormous problem here within the government - in fact Paraguay rates 3rd in the world on that front. There are elections coming up this year and it will be very interesting to see what comes of them. I spend a great deal of time in taxis talking to the drivers and it is very clear that no one is happy. What is interesting is that Paraguay has been, since the overthrow of the dictator Stroessner, largely controlled by the Colorado Party. But people still believe in the party itself just not the people within it. Sound familiar? There is also great division among the ranks of the Colorado Party.

The Embassy is located within a botanical garden and the grounds are lush and beautiful. The Ambassador has several animals – deer, pheasant, sheep, turkey, peacocks. No ostrich. Yet. He is trying to get a little horse of some kind.
The ambassador also has a small vegetable farm on which he grows all of the greens and such for his cooking needs. Apparently this saves enough money to really add to the funds for the annual 4 th of July bash.

There are several buildings on the compound and I work in the main chancery. I'm not sure when it was built but it is an odd building, not particularly attractive nor practical. A new building project is in the works and should happen sometime in the next decade or so! Long after I have left thankfully as I think it will be a huge undertaking. There are about 60 families here and a number of varying government agencies – USAID, Dept. of Justice, Dept. of Treasury, Peace Corps (one of the largest in the world) etc. Everyone is very nice and yes, it is definitely a big family Post – though I understand that is changing. I have two great bosses – both for whom I have a great deal of respect. And in turn, they both have very nice wives who have been great in helping me to get to know the area and all that is available. The wife of the Regional Security Officer (my main boss) is really good about including me in social things too…and that makes a huge difference.

Food – all I can say is you must like meat. They have a great deal of it. One taxi driver told me – "La cena pueda falta pan, aqua, ensalada, pero nunca pueda falta carne!" = We can have a meal without bread, water, salad, but we cannot have a meal without meat! And if you ever go to a Mexican restaurant and ask for sour cream - be advised that 'crema blanca' is most decidely NOT sour cream - but instead a whipping cream that is not that tasty with fajitas! With that said – I have enjoyed many meatless meals! Some Italian food, pizza with arugula, risotto, soups, and some Japanese food too. I think there are a great deal more restaurants I need to go to and I look forward to it for sure. Once my car arrives I will have a lot more freedom. I have also found my little coffee spots thankfully, where I have been enjoying café con leche just like those I used to sip in Barcelona….heavenly.

On Thanksgiving I was invited to the Deputy Chief of Missions house and there I was introduced to a Peace Corps volunteer and his girlfriend who works here at Habitat for Humanity. I had contacted them months before moving down here but never heard back so I was thrilled to meet someone on my first outing! She and I exchanged information and I have been on my first project site outing with them. Such a great day I spent helping two families build the foundation of their new homes. We had to drive out of the city for about an hour – into the Chaco. The Chaco is a region of extremes – with very verdant tropical areas up to very desert like conditions – from what I understand. We were really not too far into it at all – so I will look forward to seeing more. But the work was tough and grueling on a very hot day. I shared the tererere – which is akin to the Yerba Mate so many in South America drink. But it is iced tea and almost EVERYONE here carries it around with them in these monstorous thermoses. From street vendors to students to businessmen. It is quite a sight and furthermore, it is good stuff! I had heard it was refreshing but nothing had prepared me for just how refreshing it is – it really sticks with you. There are supposed to be some addictive, minimally narcotic properties to it…maybe that is why? Whatever, it was yummy and I intend to make some from time to time. The families we were helping spoke largely guarani and so it was hard to communicate – but we all smiled and laughed and drank tea and had good fun with the work at hand. The work consisted of moving tiles and bricks from one spot to another in order to make room for two truck loads of bolderous rocks to be dumped out. We then carried the monster rocks over to the plots to start the foundation walls, very heavy and very hard and so rewarding. I'm really looking forward to my return trip.

The river has been so low that my planned trip up it to the Chaco in December was canceled because it was believed the old boat would get stuck. So I will save that for another day and send pictures when I do it. The river depth also affects my household effects which were scheduled to arrive, via Buenos Aires by boat, sometime at the end of December but will now most likely arrive in the coming months. It is all rather surprising though because we have had rains unlike any I've seen before – rains that literally turn the streets into rivers – sweeping up massive dumpsters and small cars and stalling any number of vehicles not paying heed to the dangers of the current and depth. And even though my car is high off the ground – I think there are some rains I simply will not drive in.

A few nights ago I went to a new 'lounge' bar downtown with some friends. (my boss and his wife!) First, I was shocked to see how deserted the downtown area was – absolutely no body was on 90% of the streets we traversed. Incredible. But…there are things happening. The little pizza joint we went to first was hopping, and then the little bar was too. We walked up to the second floor to find this sort of 1950's Havana like bar space – 25 foot ceilings, bright colors on the walls, palm trees framing tall open French windows with small terraces occupied by one table and three chairs. An old jukebox sat in the corner. And all around the bar are other rooms filled with various types of art – video, sculpture, photography, paintings… Up another flight of stairs you walk out onto the rooftop. Up there, on non-raining Saturday nights (we were out of luck) they host jazz shows. Up there, with absolutely no railings on the side of the buildings, no signs telling you to be careful and an incredible view of everything. I can't wait to go back on a non-raining Saturday night. Last night, New Years Eve, a group of us went back downtown to eat at a wonderful Spanish restaurant with excellent Sangria and paella. For all visitors…it will be a must. The ambiance is really quaint and perfect – with shells hanging from the again, very tall ceilings, adages and paintings filling up the tall walls, cozy lighting. All in all, it was an excellent choice. My gazpacho came out with ice cubes in it but…all in all it was still okay. The paella was excellent and my fish soup was delicious too. I left with a souvenir clay sangria jug – filled to the rim with sangria! Needless to say, the drive to our next destination was a bit harrowing but I managed to not spill a drop. So while this does not quite tell you absolutely everything I have been up to – I hope it gives you some idea and I hope it is not too long! In 2008 I hope to get out and see a lot more of the country and involve myself in more adventures. I was told, by a young person at the lounge on Saturday night, that the past year has seen a great deal in activity in restaurant/lounge openings and that the streets of downtown are beginning to come to life...it will be interesting to see what this next year brings.

Can it be real?

It seems as though I have been waiting for this to happen forever. It wasn't until a year ago that I realized I had to actually try to MAKE it happen. Thankfully I did, and it has. I'm in. I am going to carry a little black US Diplomat passport once again. - this time as an employee and not as a dependent. Yay! In some ways it feels as though I am returning to the fold...but I am certain I will have a lot of rude awakenings ahead of me. Still...that beats the humdrum lifestyle of the corporate cubicle I have called 'home' for the last three years.

I start training in almost three weeks...by the end of July I will know where I am headed to. The big question will be how long I have to get there! Will I have time to finish school stateside or will I complete my degree correspondance style? I love these predicaments...

The pictures I have posted are pictures taken on my recent travels - Mexico, Kenya and Turkey...I can't wait to add more! New places, new experiences....this seems so right. Will I be saying that when I find out my post?