Getting into everything...

One of the tucanos

(The layout is quite messed up, but that's just how it is...)
So far I've spent 6 days in Paraguay. Mostly I have been in the house in San Lorenzo, doing things like study Spanish on my own, reading books and painting a little.

I'm kind of used to being able to be outside for at least 2 to 3 hours every day, or do some sort of physical activity at least an hour per day, so I've been kind of uncomfortable with that part... there are only so many hours you can spend alone and in complete stillness.

But on the whole, it's probably quite good that I'm just sitting right now, since I arrived with a really nasty cough that I caught at the flight here. 

Last night was really strange aswell, like, concerning my health status. I was up talking to my sister until about 12, and then I just couldn't sleep until about 1.30 am because of the cough. It isn't that bad during the day, but at night, it's almost like I'm choking on it.. Quite unconvenient. 

My mother got me tons of different things for allergies, stomach illness, ache and insects

 (what a joke, the largest insects I've found so far are mosquitos. It also bit me, so I'm just hoping it wasn't one of those mosquitos carrying Dengue... and another thing concerning health. At our orientation camp, we were told that if we remember being bitten by a mosquito and a couple of days later have a headache or some other ache, it is a bad idea taking painkillers with paracetamol, which is the only kind I brought, since Dengue influences the liver so that it can't metabolise the paracetamol and then you just end up with hepatitis. Tss...)

but of course, there's nothing there as simple as something for sore throat or a cough.

Just some family members...

Also, as I have been told, the older generation here is full of supersticions, especially concerning health. Yesterday my mother explained to me that oranges are bad to eat when you have a cough, because it's a 'cold fruit'. Which sucks, because the oranges here are delicious. The oranges which are at the house are from a tree which grows at the land area the family owns.  

But still, I can eat pears (Which is apparently a 'warm fruit'), so no harm done really.

An adorable cat came by two days ago. From the waterpipes, apparantly. Found her in a hole in the floor...

Talking about eating... the Paraguayan cuisine is amazing. So far I've not tried all too much, but one of the things I've had is Sopa Paraguayana, which is not a soup, but rather a kind of really dense 'cake', which consist of onion, eggs, corn flour, cheese, milk and some other things, and it is delicious.
Another thing they've got here is Dulce de Leche, which is a rich, sweet, caramellic thing with the consistency of soft butter and it is eaten on bread... 

Well, it´s winter here. Only 30 degrees Celsius. What a shame...

 I'm probably gonna gain quite alot of weight here, but hopefully, when my cough is better, I'll be able to run at least once a day or something. I'm not here on some kind of exercise program, I'm aware of that, but for my healths and mental stabilitys sake, I really need to be in motion... =)

Two days ago, we had a visit by one of the most adorable cats I've ever seen. It was unceremonialy thrown over the garden wall, but returned, then was thrown out again. And returned...

 


One of the things that are most tiring is the time difference. I didn't really get a massive jetlag and I've been quite sharp and alert, but still, Paraguay is 6 hours behind my mental clock, so it can be quite confusing. Now I've gotten into is quite well though.

Yesterday was the first day of spanish classes. I really need those... At first I was very dubious, seeing as the techer talks really, REALLY good spanish, but no other language... But upon consideration, it is good, because than you really have to learn. Do or die.      

                                                                                      Take care, stay safe.    

...Heard there was some criminals around...?

 
                                                                 
   
                                Some photos. Unfortunately most of them are the wrong way. But still.

Paraguay... It has begun

Friday 20th I arrived to Asunción, Paraguay to begin my year as an exchange student.
Almost 3 days has passed, of which the first were at the AFS orientation camp to learn a bit about Paraguay before we´re thrown into the mash, so to speak.

Some of the very useful things we learned was about body language and signs they use here, and also some about Guaraní, one of Paraguays official languages, and terere, which is a kind of rich, aromatic, cold herbal beverage which almost everyone, from small children to old people drink a couple of times per day. It is a kind of social drink which is more popular than any alcoholic beverages as I understood it.

Yesterday I met my family for the first time. I was quite nervous, but they are really nice people. The family consists of a mother, Marina, a father, Manuel, and a daughter, also Marina but called Mume. Mume is fortunately fluent in english, so I´m not completely lost.

I have not ever studied spanish, if you don't take into account these two months since I recieved message that I was going to Paraguay, in which I've listened to Harry Potter y la piedra philosophal and tried to learn some expressions. Well, the AFS sending coordinator had some idea that I'd get into the language within a few months. Right now, I´m finding that quite hard to believe, but I´ll do my best...

Paraguay is not really what I've been told by friends and relatives... at least where I am, near Asunción, in San Lorenzo, it is a quite civilized country. People here does not live in trees or in mud houses.... The houses may seem a bit dirty or sloppy, and that seems to be one big difference between our countries. I believe that our houses are more 'orderly' and organized because we need to keep the heat inside. My house here is kind of an inside/outside house, you walk from the kithen right out into the garden. And it does not have central heating. Which means it is as the 'cold' in here is about as 'warm' as it ever get during a swedish summer...

Today, we went 'out into the wild life' to a piece of land by a creek that the family owns. There are orange trees here!! (Abit impressed...) and also, I saw a monkey on the veranda of a house... If I want one? YES.

Greetings from Paraguay