Living The "Tranquilopa" Life in Paraguay

If Paraguay had a catchphrase or motto it would undoubtedly be “Tranquilopa.” A mixture of Spanish and the indigenous language of Paraguay, Guarani, it means relax, no worries, hakuna matata, don’t sweat the small stuff.

Living in Paraguay has, at times, been difficult for me coming from the go, go, go, fast-paced culture of the United States. I grew up with society telling me that time is money, and that both time and money were very important, if not the most important things. For Paraguayans that is not the case. I can’t tell you how many times as a Peace Corps volunteer I tried to have some sort of meeting, which in the United States would have taken 20 minutes, to have it take almost two hours. Paraguayans aren't in a hurry. Yes, the task will get finished but there is no need to stress out about it, take it easy, drink some tereré, the national beverage of Paraguay, and gossip a little. This obviously can have a negative effect on productivity on a personal level and on a national level when it becomes a consistent cultural norm.

According to a recent Gallup poll Paraguay is the happiest country in the world with 87% of residents scoring high on the index of positive emotions. This poses an interesting question. What is more important? Being efficient, making more money and working as hard as you can or being happy? Can you have both? There are so many who will say that yes, Paraguayans are happy, but they also live in the poorest country in South America, there are families of eight who all share one bedroom. That again is a matter of priorities. To most Paraguayans money is important, but, it is not the most important thing in life and I think that is a vital lesson to be learned.

Back to the question of can you have them both? I think you can. When I came to Paraguay over two years ago I considered myself a laid back person, I later realized that was far from the truth. Having lived in Paraguay I have definitely learned to be “tranquilopa” and according to other Paraguayans I still have a long way to go.  I now have a mixture of both the go, go, go culture and the no worries, just relax culture. I realize it’s important to work hard, to earn money to maintain a good living. But I also appreciate that work and money are not everything, that there are times when you just need to sit back and relax, drink some tereré and gossip a little with your friends and family. 

~ originally posted on Pink Pangea ~

I've been missing Paraguay a lot recently or maybe I've mainly been missing my boyfriend. But I don't have to wait much longer because Jose is coming to visit and he'll be here this Friday. I'm incredibly excited, words can't even describe it. Its only been a month since I've seen him, but its felt like longer. So, I'll probably be M.I.A for the next couple of weeks. We have an action packed couple of weeks while he is visiting, literally traveling all over the country. But, don't worry I'll tell you all about when I get back. 

Travel Flashback: Lucerne, Switzerland

On my last travel flashback post I talked about my day in Verona, Italy on my trip through Europe in college. After we left Verona we made our way to Lucerne, Switzerland. Lucerne is a beautiful city located in the German speaking portion of Swizterland and has long been a popular destination for tourists due to its location on Lake Lucerne and in the shadows of Mount Pilatus. Lucerne is an incredibly beautiful country, sadly we only spent one night there. That amount of time is plenty to see all the sights the town has to offer, but, it is so quintessentially Swiss that spending more time there is definitely a must. Here are some of Lucerne's must-see sites!

Walk Along the Kapellbrücke (Chapel) Bridge: A covered wooden footbridge, the Chapel bridge spans the Reuss River. The bridge was originally built in 1333, a fire in the early 90's destroyed a significant portion of the bridge but was later rebuilt. What makes this bridge special is the paintings that line the interior walk.

Take a stroll through the Old Quarter:  The old quarter situated north of the Reuss River is so beautiful. It has lovely Swiss architecture with incredible painted buildings. So wander along the cobble-stoned streets and soak it all in.

Hike up to the Musegg Wall: The nine towers and walls are the framework for the 13th century fortification that protected the city. Four of the towers are open to the public and offer scenic views of the city and the lake. It can be a bit of a hike up their from the city (note the red face in the photo below) but the views are definitely worth it.

Visit the Lion Monument: Sculpted in the 1800's the Lion of Lucerne was made to commemorate the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution while they were acting as guards for King Louis the 16th. It is a beautifully tragic carving of a mortally wounded lion, that was glorified by Mark Twain as "the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world."

Have you ever visited Lucerne, or Swizterland? What are your favorite kinds of sites to see when visiting a new city?

Yoga Workshop in DC with Rachel Brathen

If you have been following along with this blog in the last several months you know that I've been trying to step up my yoga game and one of my biggest inspirations in this endeavor has been Rachel Brathen or better known by her Instagram handle @yoga_girl. She's always good some great inspirational words and pictures.

So when I saw that she was hosting a yoga workshop in DC I jumped at the chance to attend. Now at this point I wouldn't call myself extremely proficient at yoga, still trucking along at beginner status. I started to get a little nervous when I got there, every one seemed to be way more advanced then I was. But, I'm glad I stayed. She did a great job of breaking everything down into simple terms and not making me feel embarrassed for being at a lower level then most of the others. She also did a great job of forcing us to reach out and get to know the other people in attendance.

It was an incredible workout and I was definitely feeling sore the next morning. I'm so glad I didn't psyche myself out about being at a lower level and stuck with it. It was great inspiration to keep  me going and motivated. 

Have you ever attended an exercise workshop?

Surfs Up! My First Attempt at Surfing

Surfing is something that I have always wanted to try. When I was younger I loved the movie Blue Crush and always pictured myself living the beach bum life and going surfing every morning. Well in Eleuthera, Bahamas I finally got the chance to live out my teenage fantasy. I knew surfing would be difficult and I probably wouldn't be turning pro anytime soon, but I thought maybe since I've been snowboarding a bunch of times before that it would help. Boy was I wrong!

The day started off great as we got to Surfer's Beach on the Atlantic side of Eleuthera. There were a decent amount of waves, but they weren't too huge as to scare off a beginner like me. First, we each got a board and obviously took the obligatory "standing with your surfboard" pictures. This should have been my first clue when my I could barely hold the board with my short little arms. So we headed out there, paddling my little heart out. Once we finally made it past the break and my arms sufficiently recovered we were going to learn to push ourselves up to sitting and turn around when a wave comes. Well, I never got past the sitting part. The pulling myself up to sitting part was pretty easy it was the staying on the board while sitting part I had troubles with. Every time I pulled myself up I probably had a good 30 seconds of wobbling back in forth before I finally tipped over one side or the other. It was probably a hilarious sight to see and I sat there trying to talk myself out of falling over, "No no no no no."  I finally switched to a different (nicer) board and was able to manage and sit on the board for a good 5 minutes or so at a time before I would fall off. Deciding to see that as a success I called it a day.

Even though my day isn't what you would call a conventional successful day of surfing I had a great time and I definitely want to give it another try and as my wise teacher told me, "Even if you don't have a successful day surfing, sitting on a board, relaxing in the middle of a beautiful blue ocean ain't bad." 

Have you ever gone surfing before, were you better at it than I was?

My 5 Post Peace Corps Goals

I have officially been back in the United States for three weeks and to say it has been an overwhelming three weeks in an understatement. Everything from driving, large crowds of people, grocery stores and bachelorette parties can be a staggering experience. But, now I'm starting to get back into the swing of things, figuring out the next step. But, in the mean time I have a lot of free time and so I've made a list of goals to keep myself busy while I figure out what is next.

*quality Sister time, now that I'm back

1. Get back into a regular workout routine. Now that I have access to a gym again, I want to start working out on a regular basis, to say that the during the Peace Corps I wasn't in the best shape is definitely an understatement.

2. Learn French! I'll still need to keep up with my Spanish but, I've always wanted to learn French. So I'm starting off slow with this free website, Duolingo, and maybe later I'll look for a tutor or conversation group. Spanish and French are so similar it will hopefully make it a little easier.

3. Attempt another Pinterest DIY project. I already have had one Pinterest DIY project success with the glittered champagne bottles, so I want t keep the success rolling and try something else.

4. Read. I'm currently reading How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, after that I want to read some books from some of my favorite authors, Margaret Atwood, Barbara Kingsolver or Tana French. If you have any other books you think I'd love I could always use a good recommendation.

5. Plan the best visit ever for José. My boyfriend, José is coming to visit the United States for 18 days. This will be his first visit to America and I want to make it the best trip ever. We'll be heading to Las Vegas for my best friends wedding, New York, Washington DC, Baltimore and Annapolis. I'm counting down the days until he gets here.

Do you have any goals for the next few months?