My introdcution to Villa Ygatimi

So I am actually back in Asuncion for the weekend but I made the journey out to Villa Ygatimi and met a lot of people and saw a lot of things. I am heading back out on Monday for good but I thought I would use this opportunity to give you a taste of where I am going to be. Getting there was a little more complicated than anyone could have planned. The last 50 km of the journey is down a dirt road and it was raining really hard so the dirt road was a like an ice skating rink. We watched oil trucks slide backwards down a hill and countless other cars slip and slide around. Then about 10 km before arriving we spun out and got full on stuck in the mud. So we spent over an hour trying to get the truck out of the mud and finally with a little pushing we were free to continue on. Once arriving I moved my stuff into the room that I have at the Fundacion Moseis Bertoni where I will be living. I have a nice little house with a kitchen a full bathroom and anything else I would really need. It is a much nicer place than I was expecting which is exciting. Then we went to get some food and drove through the town. It is very small but there are a couple stores, a couple of restaurants and a school. It is very small but seems nice. There are two really funny things that I have already learned about it. #1 there is no cell phone reception for at least 30 km and most people have cell phones and there is even a cell phone store. I asked a couple of my co-workers about it and they use them as watches and alarm clocks, I just think they could buy watches or alarm clocks but hey it is Paraguay and I have learned to stop questioning things. #2 Everything shut down with the rain. Everyone just sits on their porch and watches people walk by (but there are many people walking so they just watch the street). The school was even shut down because of the rain. Imagine if that was the case in Portland, we would never learn anything.

Later than afternoon we went out and met the comites that I will be working with. There are five in the area around Villa, three of men and two of women. They all seemed like wonderful people and I am really excited to get to know them better. Also Hugo (my supervisor) told me that everyone spoke Guarani but I didnt really believe it but in the end it was the case. I am going to have to learn Guarani which is exciting. Overall I really excited about being able to live there but it is going to be a change in life style for sure. There is really nothing to do and the world stops at about 7 pm. So i am going to be reading a lot of books and a friend of mine in Asuncion loaned me her guitar and I am going to learn. As most of you know I am a busy person so this will be the ultimate deprogramming and I think that will be really good for me. If anyone wants to give me a call there is a land line in my office (the only type of technology for 40 km) and the number is 59548210556. You should all get Skype and call me. So yeah that is the first update and I will let you know what is going on when I have a chance but please send emails so that i know what you are all up to.