Last Few Months in Morinigo

I’m sure that you all assumed I had given up on the blog, but I haven’t.  I have just been readjusting to my new life in the capital city of Asuncion, which is very different from the little town of Gral. Morinigo. 
The last few months I was in Morinigo, I mostly spent time with all of my friends and enjoying the simple life before my move.  My parents came to visit in the end of September.  We spent the first half of their visit in the northern part of Paraguay.  We flew up to Bahia Negra and then took a boat up to the Pantanal.  We stayed at the Biological Station Tres Gigantes (Three Giants).  

Plane to Bahia Negra

Boat ride up the Rio Negro to Tres Gigantes Biological Station in the Pantanal

We were planning on taking the plane back, but it rained and the flight was canceled because the runway is dirt.  Fortunately the bus coming up from Asuncion got caught in the rain and arrived a day later than expected so we were able to take it back down south.  If we hadn't caught the bus might have been stuck up there for a week.  The bus ride was very long and dusty, but we got to see a lot of the country on the way to Filadelfia, in the Paraguayan Chaco.  We stayed at ranch just out side of Filadelfia, which doubles as a bed and breakfast.  From there we hired a tour guide to take us to a reserve Campo Maria which is known for it's salt lagoons.  The lagoons are on the property of the Campo Maria Ranch.  The owners of the ranch are required to leave a portion of land surrounding the salt lagoons as a protected area.

The second half of their stay I showed them around Gral. Morinigo.  We ate lunch with a lot of my friends and did a little site seeing in surrounding areas, including climbing the tallest mountain in Paraguay.  We celebrated my birthday, a little early, which was fun because we my parents were able to meet many more of my friends and their families in site.  Also, my friends were all very excited to see them.

Hike up the tallest mountain in Paraguay-Tres Kandu (Three Knuckles)

Preparing for my birthday party

Three Rs Workshop

As you many have notice much of my service has revolved around trash and what to do with it.  One of the projects I am most known for is the tire chair.  Many of the people in my community, long before I was even close to leaving, asked for my chair after I left.  I decided rather than figuring out who to give it to I would teach them how to make their own chairs.  I planned a workshop to teach people about the "Three R's" (reduce, reuse, recycle).  I created a presentation and brought in examples of things I had made from recycled materials, such as a pencil holder form a soda bottle, a bowl from magazines and a few other things.  Also we did an activity to demonstrate how long certain materials take to decompose and everyone was very surprised as how long things plastic, and even paper take to break down.  The municipality donated money so I was able to buy paint and brushes to paint the chairs and also a re-usable bag for each participant. There were 8 participants, which was fewer than I hoped, but it worked out well because I was stressed enough trying to help them get their chairs made, I can't imagine I what I would have done with more people.  

Although my time here in my little town of Moriningo is coming to an end, my time in Paraguay is not.  I have decided to extend my Peace Corps service for another 13 months.  I will be working as the Volunteer coordinator for the environmental sector.  I will be working in the main Peace Corps office in Asunción helping volunteers find resources and being an overall support person for them.  Also I will be helping the environmental sector managers with new site development and visiting current volunteers.  About 70% of the time I will be traveling with them.  I am excited for the change and the opportunity to see more of Paraguay, but not looking forward to another Paraguayan summer.  Fortunately I will have a month of home leave which I am taking in December to escape a little of the heat and get in some much missed skiing and family time.