8/24/09

Instead of numbering these by week, I´ve decided just to number them consecutively. That way you´ll know if you missed one (unless, of course, I misnumber).

Some observations:
I love my mosquito netting – If you look at the picture on Facebook, you’ll see that my bed looks just like a princess’ bed (well, almost).
Sure does make you sleep better not having to bat at dive-bombing mosquitos.
If you don’t have a mirror, you can use your computer monitor to see how you look. I’m not sure if this works with all monitors but it does with my laptop (though it is a black and white image, at least I can see if my hair is fairly decent). A mirror is on my list of things to buy at the supermercado on Colonel Oveido.
I hate being without running water and not knowing the rules – do you pour the whole bucket down the toilet or just a partial? We have a well so we’re not entirely without water but none of it is running at the moment and the well water isn’t exactly potable (drinkable – or even clean).  I even got to bring up a bucket from the second well (rather yellowish water). The water is down around 30 feet but it was kind of fun (one bucket only).
Never buy a hotpot made in Russia. The first one simply didn’t work so Digna took it back the next trip to Colonel Oveido. The second one burned out two adapters (at 5 mil each). Occasionally it would get the water warm and then cut out. I’m off to Colonel Oveido tomorrow and am taking it back again and buying another brand.
You can’t play pirated movies on your laptop. Unfortunately, Digna doesn’t have a DVD player so the 5 mil (about $1 U.S.) that I spent for Ice Age 3 will remain a bad investment until someone I know has a DVD player. Since Ice Age 3 is the only movie I have at the moment, I’ll go movieless for now. I stored all my other movies in long term storage so I wouldn’t have to pack them on the bus (with two other suitcases worth of stuff that Elisa and Betsy will bring out on their site visit in September).
Living near a radio station is not the most pleasant sound experience in the world. In Paraguay, the radio station broadcasts outside the station. Since we live less than one block away, we hear every bit of sound that is played. I heard some scratching, scraping sounds and I said to Digna, “What is that!?” She replied that it was the radio station playing electronic music. However, it is just like the weather. Wait 3 minutes and the whole focus changes – we hear everything from Paraguayan Polka to hard rock to ballads to scritch/scratch. When it gets too much I put on my earphones and listen to my own music on the computer.
Electric sandwich machines are great (fortunately, this one was not made in Russia – I didn’t even have to use an adapter to plug it into the outlet).
I need a good recipe for carrot cake. I’ve made it twice already but neither time did it taste like carrot cake. The first one was served after the rosary to all the people who came to pray on the third anniversary of Digna’s husband’s death. Unfortunately, there were more people than cake and we didn’t get a piece so I told her I would bake another today. This time I put in less oil, more sugar, apples and more flour. It turned out much better but still not the carrot cake we are used to.  And I’m buying Digna a new grater because hers is in pieces!
The post office in Carayao seems to be a mystery for most people in this town. When you ask where it is, people just point or say to ask someone else. I needed to mail a sympathy card and it turned out to be quite an adventure. First of all, I tried to purchase a sympathy card.
The local store that sells everything had some Christmas cards and some mother’s day cards. I found a mother’s day card that had a nice cover, glued a blank piece of paper over the inside message and wrote my own. So far, so good – now I needed to find the post office. I was directed to a block by the church (which is about 6 blocks away from my house). I asked around there and was told, I needed to go over by the plaza (which is right next to my house) and look for a store.
Well, there are two or three stores connected to houses on every block. I stopped at one on the corner and she told me that I was close – just keep walking down this street for a couple of more blocks and check at the store that is connected to the post office – so off I went again – stopping at each store along the way to be directed another block. Finally, one girl came out to the street and pointed to a house – “That’s it.” Well, that was it – the post office is kind of connected to someone’s house (and their store). The elderly lady invited me into her front room (I checked and there really was a sign outside that said post office). I had to take off my shoes. She invited me to sit down and took out a scale (I’m sure it was made during the U.S. Civil War) and a receipt book. She weighed the letter and started looking through the receipt book. That didn’t satisfy her so she took out another receipt book and looked through it. I finally realized that she was looking for another letter that had been sent to the U.S. I told her that the postage I usually pay is 7 Mil (about $1.40 U.S.). She said that it would be 8 Mil because she had to take it into Colonel Oveido to the post office there. I agreed and paid my
8 mil. For some reason she had to write the receipt again but I have my copy that proves I paid for this letter.  I have changed my mind about having my address changed to Carayao though I should try and see how long it takes. Right now it takes about 2-3 months for packages and about a month for letters to get to the Peace Corps Office in Asuncion. I guess that it will take a lot longer for Carayao but I wouldn’t have to go into Asuncion to get my mail.