Slumber Party Weekend

August 22 - La Rubia y la Morena

Sasha came to visit today, discovering that we are just one quick hour bus ride away from each other. I played Show and Tell tour guide with my town. As we were walking by one of the Ao Poi shops, we heard a voice from a group of women doing embroidery: "La rubia y la morena." "The blond girl and the dark girl"

I took her over to meet my girls, and while we were there I mentioned that we were going to be eating dinner at Rosa's place, the restaurant where I sometimes eat lunch.

"Well, did you call her?" the girls asked.

Sasha and I looked at each other. Um, no.

So they called her for me, dialing 40045.

"Um, hi Rosa, yeah, we wanted to eat dinner there."

"Bueno, What do you want to eat?"

"Hmm...milonesa?"

"Bueno. And what time will you be here?"

"About 7"

"Bueno. Chau."

"Chau."

Paraguayan dinner reservations.

At dinner Sasha and I mowed down Rosa's riquisimo milonesa, which is your typical slab of meat, breaded and fried.

After dinner the Kung Fu guy came in with his guitar, and Sasha and I sang Guns N Roses' "Don't Cry" while he played with a pick cut out of a phone card.

Sasha flirted in Guarani.

August 24 - Wild Weekend in the big city

Sasha and I headed out to the compound in Villarica to chop it up a little with the other volunteers. Walking there we saw a guy riding a motorcycle holding a can of Budweiser.

Across from the bus stop was a store we found out later was the chuchiest furniture and appliance store in town. Sasha went in looking for a hair dryer. We priced refrigerators, floor fans, blenders. We joked about having the overstuffed sofa and chairs in my little grass-roof house. There was an air conditioning unit for two million Gs. I asked if I could buy the flat-screen tv. She said no.

I kind of thought that my standard of living would be decided for me down here. It´s hard when you decide, when you can buy air conditioning, a washer and dryer, almost anything you want. I guess the deciding factor for me is if it sets me apart from my community. The girls have hair dryers, but almost no one has air conditioning.

We arrived at the compound with plans to dance it up with everyone that night, but when I mentioned the club to my friend there, he said that we can go, but he's not coming with us. For reasons no volunteer here seems to understand, the club doesn't open until 1 a.m. There are no other bars really to start at, nothing much else to do but wait.

Sasha chose to sleep until said start time, but I thought it best to plow through. So I played cards with the guys until it was time. We ended up walking out the door with Stewart, a volunteer from a nearby town and the only other one willing to brave the madrugada, starting our night out at 2 a.m.

The club was like any other in the U.S. There were the Paraguayan versions of men I'd see back home, those with their shirts sleeves rolled tight against their biceps, looking for ladies who enjoy a good gun show.

We drank Brahmas and danced almost from the second we walked in. We attracted a friend who knew how to lead and took turns twirling Sasha and me.

Sweaty and tired, we nodded to each other at about 4:40 and took it home. At nine a.m. the neighbors in the compound started blasting Limp Bizkit.

We breakfasted on pineapple, rolls, honey, instant coffee and leftover pizza. Sasha returned home straight from there. I took the bus that dropped me off at the routa and walked a few kilometers into town. As I neared my house, I heard kids running and yelling. Around the corner flashed what looked like a running puppy. Then a boy came into view, and huffed for a second at his losing pace. He then restarted after after the animal with his friend. As the scene passed me, I saw that the huffing boys were losing ground in the chase of a very fast little piglet.