Halloween PC Style.

Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE Halloween. All the great movies (i.e. Hocus Pocus, Halloweentown, etc.) all the Candy, and getting to wear awesome costumes what is not to love.  Paraguay does not celebrate Halloween, most of them know what it is, Dia de las Brujas (Witches Day), but that is as far as it goes. So I didn't think I would be getting the chance to celebrate Halloween for the next two years, but luckily I was wrong. This past weekend I went into the capital with some friends to celebrate a couple of volunteers birthday's and we did so by having a Halloween party!

Pebbles, 80's, Hippie and a Cat

On the left a box of Zumuva, which is a popular boxed wine in Paraguay

Chris is dressed as his local bus!

One of the funniest parts of the night was that when we went out to a local bar we were the only ones wearing costumes. We already get extra attention being Americans in Paraguay, now add ridiculous costumes to the night makes for a fun night.


On another note, I hope everyone back home in MD made it through Sandy safe and sound, especially those in Ocean City who seemed to get hit pretty hard. You all are in my thoughts. 

Guest Post: Rachel Matney (Sister)

When I tell most people that my sister is in the Peace Corps, one of the more frequent questions I get is “Does she live in a mud hut?” Although I do know the answer to that question, when asked further, I couldn't really answer any other questions about what life in Paraguay was like. So after a daunting 26 hours, 2 painfully long layovers in NY and Argentina, and countless in flight movies later, I began my journey in PY to find out.

One of the very first things I learned while on my trip was that my Spanish is not AT ALL what I thought it was. I do not think I have ever been so happy to hear someone speaking English than I was the night my sister met me in Asuncion. Translating from that point on was a fun experience, especially in my sister’s community, when a conversation would occur in Guaraní, be translated for my sister into Spanish, and then translated to English for me. But even after just 10 days, my Spanish improved tremendously, and I will continue to practice for my future visits.

Overall I’d have to say my favorite experience of this trip was getting to meet the families and other PCVs my sister has spent so much of her time with. Everyone was so welcoming and friendly and it’s nice knowing that my sister is in good hands and has a community that cares and loves her as one of their own. While my sister was busy teaching classes, I spent some time with her neighbors Fatima and Mariana. Although language was an issue at first, they were able to explain to me about all the different fruits that grew naturally around their house, which trust me, are a lot! My favorite had to be guayavas (Guava), which I thought tasted like a mix between raspberries and watermelons. I was a little scared to eat it at first, being in a foreign country, picking some random fruit I’ve never seen or heard of before off of a tree, but it was surprisingly good and I definitely ate my fair share. I also enjoyed the grapefruits, which grew on a tree behind Kelley's house, but were the size of small pumpkins, and were supposed to be eaten like an orange.

On an adventure with Mariana, Fatima and Alex

Playing with Elena

Rachel and AnaLiz

Eating a Guayava (Guava)

Hanging out at my neighbors house

Although I was only there for a short amount of time, I already miss all the people I met and of course I miss my sister. It’s been hard having her so far away but I know she is having the experience of a life time and I am extremely jealous of all the memories she will have. But who knows, maybe sometime down the road I’ll have my own Peace Corps experience of my own!

“Tourists leave home to escape the world, while travelers leave home to find it.”

Tourism in Paraguay

When I got my Invitation to Paraguay from the Peace Corps I did as much research as I could about the country I was going to live in for two years. A few times in  my research I saw Paraguay referred to as the "Forgotten Country." As we are surrounded my two powerhouses Brazil and Argentina this can be true sometimes especially when it comes to tourism. Paraguay is a small country compared to Brazil and Argentina and doesn't have some of the big tourist spots that they do, but, there are definitely some great things in Paraguay that are worth visiting and as I travel around in these next 19 months (yep 8 months down!) I'm going to write about them for you all to read. 

I had the chance recently to visit Mbatovi (prounounced "bahtovee") Eco-Tourism. One of my volunteer friends boyfriend was visiting from the States so we decided to make a day trip out there. It is about an hour and half course of hiking through the woods, a small rope course, ziplining and repelling. This being my first time doing anything like this I had a great time. I think for someone who has gone ziplining before it might be a little underwhelming because there was only one ziplining part. I definitely would have liked it more if there was more of that. But overall I definitely recommend it to others. The views were spectacular, some of the best in Paraguay I've been told. Also the staff were great, very nice and helpful and made me feel safe and secure, and they actually took most of the pictures I have from the day. They knew just what us Americans wanted ;)

The whole gang (Matt -visiting from the states, Bree, ME, Frances, Ian)

What a view!

Trekking through the woods

Almost there!

Ropes course.

Ziplining!

This is the scariest part when they tell you to lean back!

But then it was fun!

We had to take a taxi to and from Mbatovi because there are no buses that "consistently" run past it, which was a little annoying. But we stayed the night at a very nice and quaint hotel in the town of Piribebuy about 20k from Mbatovi and we had yummy pizza for dinner.

I also got to meet one of Bree's friends in town Natalia and her family. She actually just finished writing a guide book for Paraguay. She is the daughter of a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) father and a Paraguayan mother.  I ended up buying her book because I'm a sucker for guide books. So I highly recommend her it if you are in the market for a guide book about Paraguay. You can buy it on Amazon in book form or kindle form. Here is the link: Other Places Guide - Paraguay