Day Before Departure

It is Sunday afternoon right now, and my bags are mostly packed except for a few odds and ends. Strangely if there is any one group of similar items that is taking up the most space, it would be not socks or pants or shirts, but books. I think I brought about 15 of them, which I guess makes me a slight nerd, but hey, I’m going to need something to fill the hours with down there.

First and foremost I would like to thank everyone who came to the going away party that my parents had for me last Saturday. It was great to see friends and family one more time before leaving, and I hope everyone enjoyed themselves. I think my parents counted about 60 people total, which is quite a lot considering the size of my house. The notes that people wrote were very thoughtful, and I have put them all safely into a binder to be taken them with me and read when I am in South America and need inspiration. So thank you again everyone who came out and congrats on finishing all of the beer except for approximately 9 Budweiser bottles (way to go, Marty). No worries though they will be taken care of at tonight’s Superbowl party.

The party was a week ago Saturday, and for the past week I have been surprisingly busy, meeting up with various people for social lunches and dinners, saying goodbye and trying to take my Mom's advice and put on some storage weight before I get to Paraguay. Highlights of the week include Tuesday, when my cousin Jake and I attempted to explain to Grandpa Miller that Google is so awesome because the algorithm that they use to order websites in a given search is the best of all the search engines. This was comical, as he still refuses to read emails on a computer (my Grandma has to print emails and give them to him for him to read them). I also explained the concept of a ‘web log’ or blog to him, which was not quite as difficult. I hope me having this blog gets him to start using the internet. And I hope that I similarly hold out on technology for my hypothetical Grandkids, those spoiled brats. I mean who knows what kind of crazy stuff they will have in 2060.

In my attempt to be as American as possible this past week in order to savor the flavor of this great country, I even ordered MGD on tap at Palmers, which has 36 beers from around the world on tap a couple of nights ago. Followed by a Budweiser bottle. This is rare for me. My friend Pete said it would be more American to have Keystone light, and I agreed. Maybe there will be Miller and Bud in Paraguay, but I am going to bet dollars over donuts (shotout to my cousin Jimmy for telling me about this awesome expression) that there will not be Keystone Light.

The peace corps requires that volunteers bring two pairs of eyeglasses if they need them, so I had to purchase an extra pair this week. I picked them up yesterday, and the rectangular black frames make me look (and feel) like a hipster when I am wearing them. All I need are pants that are a bit snugger and some PBR and I think I’ve got it. It figures that the contacts that I ordered Monday (which the lady said would be in by Saturday at the latest) aren’t going to come in until probably Tuesday, a day after I leave. Looks like I’m going to be a hipster quite often in the near future.

When I was having lunch at my Grandma and Grandpa’s in Downers Grove the other day, my Grandma gave me what I think is a solid idea. For this post I am going to request that if any of my loyal blog readers have a question about anything Paraguayan they just leave the question in the comments box below this post (or send it to me if you want) and I will try to respond to them in future posts. I mean, even after doing a fair amount of research on Paraguay I still feel I have a largely rudimentary grasp on what life is actually like there. And what better way to get those questions about Paraguay that you are dying to know the answer to than to ask someone who is experiencing the country first hand! Well, maybe not dying to know, but you get the idea. My Grandma led things off with the question “Do they have movies in Paraguay?” which, although basic, is something I could not give an answer to and be 100% sure about it. Well of course they have movies in the big cities, but how widespread is cinema there? Does Paraguay make its own cinema or watch American Movies? So think of some good questions, and I will do my best to answer all. Don’t worry Grandma, I will get on yours first no matter what.

I just checked the weather in Guarambare, the city where I will be doing my training. It is 104 degrees Fahrenheit. The “realfeel’ temperature when I arrive on Wednesday is supposed to be 120. Yea, it’s going to be hot and humid. I’m sure I will be needing a lot of B list ‘it’s so hot jokes’ in the near future so I’ll just quote my 3 year old cousin Ava for now: Are you kidding me?

Oh and I almost forgot, my staging is in Miami, where I'll be getting into the airport tomorrow around noonish. In light of the location of the Super Bowl this year I will be sure to let everybody know about any athlete or other celeb sitings. Take care everybody, next post should be from Paraguay.