Back... and better than ever??

I´m back in San José after a few weeks of holiday excitement and family time, splitting up my vacation between home and Paraguay.

I first left on the 20th with my friend and PCV to the San Pedro airport. We enjoyed a ride on quite possibly the smelliest, most uncomfortable bus in the world... almost like Honduras was trying to convince us that leaving was a great idea. We then got a ride (and a free baleada breakfast, delicious!!!) from a señor who works with San José´s youth tourist group. I was so grateful to him for his kindness, as getting a ride in a taxi to the airport can sometimes be costly and a real hassle.

So after a late-night arrival into Dulles I spent a glorius week at home with Mom and Steve and all the fam... flushing toilet paper down the toilet again and seeing my cranky cat and drinking skinny mochas and eating my favorite foods again, was really exactly what I needed and reminded me of how much I missed everyone and everything at home.

I then left for Paraguay, spending a much-needed week with the bf after about 18 months of not seeing him. Despite the fact that my suitcase didn´t arrive til three days later (then got lost again on the way back, and still hasn´t been recovered... yikes), it was a great time with Chocho at his house with his many adorable kittens and wonderful dog Rex. I spent New Years in Paraguay, which makes a really big deal out of the holiday... Chocho´s family spent the evening together, listening to Brazilian country music and a delightful Spanish rendition of Rudolph the RedNosed Reindeer. We then had dinner around 11 and waited around for midnight to arrive, at which point we toasted and hugged and congratulated everyone in the room. Then the parents went to bed and we kids went out dancing til 5am. We went to a club in Caacupé that had the reputation for its sweaty sauna-like atmosphere... apparently in cold weather the heat rises from all the sweaty bodies, condenses on the tin roof and falls back down on the dancers below... a rain of sweat if you will. Soooo gross, luckily for us it was incredibly hot so no worries about the sweat making contact with a cold tin roof. In all it was a whirlwind week, I met approximatly 3,000 of Chocho´s relatives and enjoyed lots of good Paraguayan meat and bread and their idea of "coffee" (essentially hot milk with a spoonful of Nescafe).

Fam on New Years Eve dinner... with the traditional Paraguayan nonsmile. Chocho´s pointing at something, not sure what...

Beautiful lake town of San Bernardino, along Lake Ypacaraí. Just like Honduras, there´s only one natural lake in Paraguay.

Me and Rex his wonderful dog!!!

Us at the airport on my last day...:( Notice the ghetto fabulous tshirt he´s wearing, quite possibly the ugliest shirt I´ve ever seen.

I then got back home and had about 2 days to see friends, see family and buy new clothes and toiletries since my bag had still not made it back from Paraguay. My flight for Honduras left at 4am, arrived at 10am and after a two-bus trip I arrived in San José in the early afternoon. Since getting back I´ve been easing into life in small-town San José again: the bolos calling my name, the kids playing Monopoly, the meals of beans and tortillas and the promise of a water shortage in town that will supposedly last months. Back to the Peace Corps life.