Two thousand and fifteen

The year that I could never imagined would arrive.. or at least as quickly as it did. The year that seemed impossible and yet it is here. The year I longed for and equally dreaded. Two years ago I was toasting to friends and family and 2 years of Peace Corps service from the kitchen of my aunt and uncles house. I was surrounded by  the people I love and care for most at home and who were next to me supporting this new adventure of mine, it was my going away party. I remember explaining to people that I would be serving in the Peace Corps from February 2013- April 2015. I also remember so clearly how foreign the year 2015 looked, it might as well said year 2099- thats how crazy it appeared. 

These past two years and especially this last year have meant so much for me. In 2014 I lived a whole year abroad in another country, completed 1 year of service, spoke more spanish words consecutively then my native language, stood next to my sister as she married the love of her life, planted 400 trees, toured a natural wonder of the world, danced till the sun came up, crossed borders, helped build a house, translated for 18 canadians, perfected my cinnamon bun recipe and loved a lot. 2014 was a year to remember. I was the happiest I’ve been in a while and felt more alive then ever before. I could have never prepared myself for the amount of fun, adventure and pure excitement that was shared in 2014. 

This morning when I was trying to meditate and reflect on 2014 and the best memories, moments and what have you’s... I kept getting stuck, because 2014 was the best. It was the best of everything. I cannot pick just one moment or memory, it was all so incredible, full of life and love and most importantly happiness. My hope for 2015 is to be better then 2014, if thats possible. Thats scary because I don’t know what my next adventure is or where I will be in 2015 or what I will be doing. But after having the best year in 2014 I know one thing about 2015 it can only get better. 

I hope that for all of you too. To believe in the new year, new things, new adventures and better things. I truly believe things get better with time and we are always changing and change gives us a chance for something better. So here’s to 2014 for being the best yet and for 2015- you have some major shoes to fill but I cannot wait! I am ready for new adventures, new friends, new experiences and the celebration of another year lived in this beautiful world. 

Feliz Navidad and a very Merry Christmas

Since I will not be home for the holidays...sigh... I figured I'd share some holiday cheer and wish all my readers, family and friends a BIG electronic Happy Christmas!!! I will be in Paraguay for Christmas celebrating a bit differently but I have been invited to spend it with the sweetest family and I could not be more excited! Traditions are a different here but thats ok because so is the weather. As much as I miss the christmas spirit and this season in the United States... its a bit difficult to imagine curling up next to the fire with a hot chocolate watching my favorite christmas movies.. only because it feels kind of like a fire here in Paraguay, all the time. No hot chocolate, just lots of ice water and terere. And i'd rather curl up in the air condition...


Here is a small list of a few things that I have noticed during the christmas season in Paraguay, in no particular order;

- Almost every family has a nativity seen somewhere in their yard or in their house, they decorate it with lights and tinsel and wait till the 25th to put baby Jesus in it. Also the little house that you put the nativity characters in can be bought all along the highways of Paraguay. They are made out of grasses and different natural resources found around Paraguay.

- Sweet bread is the fruit cake of Paraguay, it is filled with dry fruits and nuts and you can buy it anywhere and everywhere... And like fruit cake I don't like it...

-Instead of buying a christmas tree to put somewhere in the house, we usually just decorate one that is already in the yard. Why spend money buying a tree when you can just decorate one of the 25 you have in your yard??

- Its hottttt. There is absolutely no snow falling from the sky, but it is mango season and there are lots of mangos falling from the sky... and sometimes they have the same effect...I can get really excited for mangos!

- Christmas eve is all about family. You visit both sides of your family during the night and its a big party at midnight.. so I've heard. I will report back after with full details. That night is actually called noche buena which means good night.

- Christmas day is also spent with family, relaxing or parting, depending on the family. I will hopefully be in the swimming pool relaxing and thinking about how chilly it is in the states and how i'm in a swimming poolllll!

- There is no eggnog but there is a wine drink called Clerico, which is wine mixed with juice or coke and all the ripe fruits of the season, pineapple, grapes and mangos. Its really sweet and really delicious, best served on ice.

- FIREWORKS. For the past week and leading up to the new year.. there are constant fireworks. The big explosive kind, sparklers and the little poppers the kids love! I am getting a little sick of hearing fireworks explode all through the night.

- Presents.. You really don't buy gifts, at least I haven't noticed that happening. There are lots of Christmas baskets you can buy at the grocery store that are filled with food and drinks and those are gifted a lot to families. But presents like we do in the states so far, I have not seen.

That is all I can think about right now. So far spending Christmas is Paraguay has been good. I did have an emotional break down in the grocery store when I'll be home fore Christmas came on.. but I recovered, bought christmas decorations and decorated a tree in my front yard. I really miss my family and the spirit that Christmas is but I am enjoying the new experiences that Paraguay is giving me during this holiday season.

Wishing you all the joy and happiness this season brings where ever you are in this universe, it is the season for bliss and I hope you find that this Christmas! Happy Holidays!!

Me and my Christmas tree in my front yard. 

Iguazu Falls, Argentina

This is a continued post from when Rachel and Jessica came to visit Paraguay a couple of weeks ago. To read about the whole trip check out the post before this one. We left Paraguay on Tuesday morning and spent Tuesday- Thursday afternoon in Puerto Iguazu, Argentina visiting one of the natural wonders of the world, Iguazu Falls! This post and these pictures will do no justice to just how spectacular and incredible the falls really are, I would highly recommend it you find yourself anywhere near Brazil, Argentina or Paraguay that you make it a priority to go visit them.

Tuesday- We woke up in my house with a light drizzle that quickly became a downpour. I didn't mind that the one rainy day was our 5 hour bus day. We packed our bags quickly and headed to my closest town to catch our 5 hour bus ride out east. We took a double deck bus to a city called Cuidad de Este ( the East City, how original). Rachel and Jessica tried the traditional bus food of Paraguay, chipa and loved it! We slept a bit, chatted and enjoyed the ride. Once we arrived at the terminal we took at taxi to the ferry that crosses the Iguazu River. When crossing into Argentina from Paraguay you can either take a bus or a ferry. The spot where the ferry departs Paraguay is called the 3 frontiers. When you are in the middle of the river you are actually in the middle of Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil. It was a really incredible experience to see all three countries from one point. The ferry was about 10 minutes and we arrived in Argentina!

We got settled into our cute little hotel, Yreta Apart Hotel , I recommend it if you are looking for accommodations in Puerto Iguazu. It was close to the terminal and the downtown centre. There was a pool, nice staff and the best shower I've had in a while! Just make sure you have pesos to pay with, they do not accept cards or dollars, I wish I had known that before.  We went exploring  that afternoon around town and got some food. That night we had a nice dinner at a local restaurant, enjoyed some live music and got a good nights sleep. Wednesday was the big day and we needed to be rested!

Wednesday- I had arranged for a tour guide to pick us up at the hotel at 9am. He had a car and would be with us all day. He was great and such a big help. If you are interested in him or knowing more information please contact me. We had your typical south american style breakfast and were off to the falls. The weather was perfect. It had rained the day before and was still calling for more rain...but we got so lucky and the sun was bright and beautiful and stayed out all day!

The Iguazu water falls are huge, incredible and so powerful. They fall between the border of Brazil and Argentina and divide the river from the upper part and lower part. The word iguazu in guarani means big water. It is said that the falls were found by a spanish conquistador in 1541.There are 150-300 waterfalls that very from 197 to 269 feet depending on the water levels. They are in the shape of a U and can be viewed from two different parks in Brazil and Argentina. Argentina has a larger portion of the falls and more walkways for viewing the falls.

We spent the whole morning walking around the park. It was incredible. I have never seen something so beautiful and so powerful. We got to stand under the falls and feel the water rushing over us. We were misted and it felt so magical. We took the boat tour of the falls and literally sat under the water as it poured over us, it was execrating, to say the least! We were soaked and it felt so good. We were amazed and in awe. I can't really describe to you exactly what it was like. You will have to look at these pictures and go check it out for yourself. I definitely recommend the boat tour. You can take it on either the Brazilian side or the Argentina side and prepare to get soaked!

We could have stayed there all day just taking in the views but we got pretty hungry after all that walking. Our lovely tour guide took us to a local empanada place and we had the most delicious lunch at the cutest little market. Then we continued the touring and went to the Iguazu Ice Bar. Yes you read that correctly we went to an ice bar. We went from bathing under water falls to parkas and ice sculptures. We spent 30 minutes in the ice bar with an open bar. We had a great time. The rest of the day we were exhausted and sun burned.. well not me..but Rachel and Jessica... who would have thought Rachel would get sun burned? We had another delicious dinner on the town, walked around and shopped a little and headed back to the hotel for a much needed good nights sleep.

Thursday- We slept in a little, packed our bags up and headed downtown for some last minute shopping and ice cream. It was getting hot quickly and ice cream at 10am seemed appropriate. We made friends with the sweetest puppy that followed us into the ice cream shop, we gave him some water then headed back to the ferry. We said farewell to Argentina and got our passports stamped out. As we crossed back into Paraguay I prepared terere and shared it with some new friends I made on the ferry. It felt so appropriate. We hitched a ride with a couple up to the customs office, at this point I was not a fan of carrying my 65 liter backpack in the 100 degrees and neither was Rachel or Jessica. We stamped back into Paraguay and continued our adventure to Encarnacion.

On the Bus! 

On the ferry to Argentina

The point between the 3 frountiers

At the point of Paraguay with Brazil and Argentina behind us

A few images from the Falls

Lunch with our tour guide! 

Out to dinner one of the nights 

So happy to be together

Rachel's new canadian best friend 

In the Ice Bar! 

Leaving our hotel, backpacks on ready for the next adventure! 

Rachel and Jessica in Paraguay

Whirlwind.  That is the best work that I can use to describe last week. It was jam packed with adventure, heat, taxi rides, bus rides, spanish, children, volunteers and much much more. I want to blog about it all because it was all so incredible. A lot of planning went into this trip. They were only going to be here for 1 week and I wanted to do as much in that 1 week as possible, and we did! I was a little nervous how it would go and how much they could handle, and they did great! I am so proud of them. Paraguay is a difficult place to just jump into for a week. There wasn't really anytime for adjustment or questions, you just had to go with it. I am thankful that Rachel and Jessica were ready to do whatever I threw at them.. even if it included a very long 5 hour bus with no air condition ( disclaimer, I didn't think it would be that long) It was an adventurous week and I here is my attempt to share it with you all, its a little long..but I think you'll enjoy it! Also this is just a post about our time in Paraguay- I will be writing another post about Argentina!

Sunday- They arrived a little later then planned, special thanks to American Airlines for being famous for flight delays and frustrated customers. None the less they arrived with 4 giant suitcases and 2 backpacks. Wait I thought you were only here for 7 days? Leave it up to the best mom in the world to pack snacks, presents, squeeze cheese and about anything else I could ever imagine. Those 2 extra suitcases were worth it. We arrived at my casita (little house ) just in time for a quick tour, some showers and celebratory wine! My host family had cooked a huge barbecue and we headed over there promptly at 8:30 for dinner. It was great, not to awkward with the language barrier, the kids warmed up quickly and we were laughing in joking in spanish and english in no time! Dinner was complete with chicken, sausage, chipa guazu (cornbread), 2 different salads and of course some cold beers! My family was so happy to finally meet these people I'd been talking about for months, they all had on their best clothes to welcome them into their home. We gave a little tour of the animals of the house and the little chapel on their property. All in all  I think it was a great first impression of Paraguay, complete with the hospitality of a saint!

Monday- Started with farm fresh brown eggs that I picked from my neighbors chicken coup. I scrambled them with ham and cheese and made fresh squeezed orange juice. I love having people to cook for so I was up before the sun with joy! Also I had a few presents to short through (thanks again mom!) Then we were off, I wanted Rachel and Jess to have the full experience so my host dad took them on ride around town... on this horse cart! It was a bit bumpy but there were lots of laughs. It doesn't get more Paraguayan then that. Then we were off to my original host families a little over an hour away for lunch. Despite the stares and catcalls Rach and Jess survived their first public city bus ride. They were lucky it was midmorning and were able to get a seat. We enjoyed the views while sipping on some ice cold terere like true paraguayans! We had a delicious lunch with my host family and share conversations, questions and laughs. I was amazed at how easy it was to communicate between the 2 languages. It was a really amazing feeling to be able to bridge that gap, that was once impossible. We took some family pictures, exchange gifts and then my host dad was kind enough to drive us to the highway.

Thant evening I had planned a end of the year party/ celebration with the kids in my english class. I wanted them to practice their english with Rach and Jess, play some games and I had certificates for each of them. My mom sent down a bunch of candy, I bought a watermelon, some donuts and made some juice. The kids arrived and were very timid... I knew they only need some sugar and a half hour and they were be ready to play and the complete opposite of timid. I was right. They were crazy! We hula hooped, played frisbee tag, played twister ( which they absolutely loved, thanks Betsy) then Rachel led a mini yoga class... I think in hopes to calm them down. It was a very fun and high energy hour and a half. Then I handed out their certificates and passed out all the left over candy and they were gone! We survived. The rest of the night we made a spicy chorizo ( sausage)  pizza, homemade ranch dressing  and sat outside talking and catching up on the last 6 months.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoon - We were in Argentina exploring one of the natural wonders of the world. That deserves its own post...be looking out for that next.

Thursday ( Thanksgiving) - We got back into Paraguay around noon. We had 5 minutes before our bus left the terminal. Just enough time to grab empanadas, ice water and use the bathroom. Unfortunately there were no air conditioned busses and we had a long, hot 5 hour journey across the southern part of Paraguay. It was a very breezy ride to say the least, lots of wind in our hair. We made it to our beautiful hotel filled with 70 Peace Corps volunteers just in time for thanksgiving dinner. The cooking crew had been cooking for 2 days and it was the most delicious meal ever, also there was turkey! I have not had turkey in 2 years! It was a bit wild, you can never get 70 volunteers together at destination hotel and ask them to behave... but Jess and Rach embraced the craziness and got to meet all of my friends! It was so special. These are the people I am most thankful for in Paraguay, I could never do this without them. We are each others family. It was so appropriate to spend thanksgiving with them and then to have my sister and Jessica there, my heart was so full. After dinner we had a full night of trivia and dancing!

Friday- We had a nice and very paraguayan breakfast at the hotel, packed up our things, said bye to my friends and headed to a city called Encarnaction to explore before another long bus ride. This is the most Southern city in Paraguay. It is right next to Argentina, there is a river that separates the 2 countries and it has one of the only beaches in Paraguay. We walked around, went into a few shops, stopped by the beach and then headed to the bus terminal. This bus had air condition, it wasn't the strongest but it was about 100 degrees outside so I imagine it would be hard to cool off a double decker bus.

We got back to my house ready to go back to my host families for my birthday party. I had been planing this party for awhile now and it was finally here. It sure didn't feel like my birthday, but I was ready for Rachel and Jessica to see how Paraguayans celebrate birthdays! My host family set everything up and when we arrived I almost cried. They blew up balloons and made little flags to decorate... I was so surprised! They knew I loved that stuff and went ahead and made it for me. It was the sweetest feeling. There were so much food- pork, ribs, chicken, sausage, sopa paraguaya               (cornbread) salad, bread and I am probably forgetting something. We ate a lot and of course there was beer and cake! We sang happy birthday in 3 languages, but the best part was my family surprised me with fireworks after we sang!!!! Like come on, really? I felt so special! Everyone loved it! The kids kept wanting to sing more! It was a long day, the girls went back to my house to get some sleep and I hung out with my family for a little longer.. once it turned midnight they sung happy birthday again! It was a great start to a full birthday weekend!

Saturday (My Birthday!! )-  I woke up on my birthday before everyone to spend some time reading some birthday cards my sister had bought from the states. As I laid in my hammock to read them I cried a little. Tears for overwhelming happiness to have such a supportive and loving family, it was a great way to start the day. We tried to pack up and get out of my house a little early, I had a full day planned for us in the capitol city. We went and visited the Peace Corps office and they got to see where I spend a lot of time when I'm in the city. Then we had a nice lunch at a vegan restaurant I go to often. After we did a little shopping and then we were able to check into our hotel. This hotel is amazing. It is my favorite hotel ever. Its a boutique style hotel and pretty fancy, but worth ever penny. We were welcomed by the reception with a "Happy Birthday we are giving you an upgrade!" Hello best birthday ever! We checked into our executive suite complete with a full kitchen, washer and dryer and living room. I WAS IN HEAVEN. We freshened up a bit then it was time for our massages. It was the best 80 minutes of our lives. After a long week of traveling in the heat it was the perfect way to relax and wind down. It was the first massage I have had in a very long time and was much deserved.

The rest of the evening was spent with some peace corps and paraguayan friends. We enjoyed a delicious meal, popped champagne and shared some drinks. I had a great birthday! Rachel and Jessica were able to see all different parts of the city and meet my friends. As much as I wanted to go all out and dance the night away... the bed in our hotel room was calling my name and I needed a good nights rest. We were home by 2:30am which believe it our not is pretty early for me!


Sunday- We relaxed all morning by the hotel pool and it was the perfect way to end the trip! We did some shopping in the afternoon to get some souvenirs then had a late lunch. Their flight was on time and as we headed to the airport I started to feel sad... and once we got to the airport the tears started! Happy happy tears because I was so thankful they got to come and spend the week with me. We had a wonderful time and I am so thankful for our trip.. its a week I will never forget! Rachel and Jessica thank you so much for coming to Paraguay, it was a pleasure showing you around for the week, thank you for being so flexible and ready for adventure!!! xoxo

In front of my house!

Summer Camp Project

Happy December, can you believe it? Lots of exciting things have been happening down here. Today I am sharing one of my favorites...enjoy! 

As my time down here in Paraguay is coming to a close I have a few more projects to complete. One of them is a really exciting opportunity for Paraguayan youth to attend a summer camp that will discuss the importance of a healthy mind and healthy body in relation to living and feeling well. This camp will include both boys and girls and hopes to provide a space for youth of the opposite sex to gain a better understanding of each other through sessions that will discuss issues from self-esteem and body image to the impact of sexual harassment on both genders. There will even be a session on Ally Training for the Paraguayan youth to learn how they can be better allies to each other as often times their peers are the ones that try to bring them down. The idea is to equip the youth with a holistic view on how they can live healthy lives and that the way they treat and view themselves reflects in the way they treat those around them. The name of the camp is Healthy Mind, Healthy Body ( Cuerpo y Mente Sanos in spanish) and it discusses the role of gender and development. 

Here in Paraguay, boys and girls do not spend much time together, most all of their activities are segregated, this is a trend that is evident even when adults spend time together. By having both genders involved in this camp we hope to show that it is possible for boys and girls to be friends and find ways to relate to each other. The camp will last 3 days and the hope is that after attending the camp, the youth will then share the information and resources they learned in their own communities with the help of their volunteers. Thus, we aim to aid a seed of sustainability to the work we do here as Peace Corps Volunteers. 

I am currently the director of the camp and busy planing everything for the month of February. But, in order for this camp to be successful, we need the help of people back home to donate to the cause! In the future we would like to transition the camp to a Paraguayan organization that will cover the costs but for this year (its inaugural year) we need YOUR help. So please, whatever amount you can afford, donate! I would appreciate it so much and will be sure to share the success of the camp with all of you. 

Also if you have friends or other family that you think would be interested in donating and supporting our cause please forward them the link and if they have questions they can email me- roniannlaroque@gmail.com

Thank you so much for all your love and support over these past 2 years! I so am happy I get to share this experience with all of you 

Here is the link