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Last time, you might recall that I was a little bitter about Argentinean Independence Day. But we all learn from traveling and Justin Timberlake might have to sing, "Cry me a river." Andy would probably tell me to call the waaambulance. It's true and evident that I have been on a whine tour recently. I've also been to a Chilean heavy metal show, so excuse my political anger in this volume, please.

The Exploitation and Contradiction of South America: Para Why?

Tysonv
2005-11-05 08:03:11

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Last time, you might recall that I was a little bitter about Argentinean Independence Day. But we all learn from traveling and Justin Timberlake might have to sing, "Cry me a river." Andy would probably tell me to call the waaambulance. It's true and evident that I have been on a whine tour recently. I've also been to a Chilean heavy metal show, so excuse my political anger in this volume, please.

The Tres Leones (Tyson, Andy, and Toren) hopped off a bus three hours or so southeast of the capital Asuncion, Paraguay in a small town of a few thousand called San Juan Bautista. It is the capital of the Misiones Province if you care. We strolled slowly into town as the sun set, much like a pride of lions might arrive searching for new hunting grounds. From the shadows of porches, many daughters whispered to many mothers, "Muy Duros!" (How tough they are!). Andy and I were happy to have Toren with us and not to be just a Pairagays anymore. None, including us, knew what our next step would be, but invading the village of Isla Tobatí 45 minutes walk away, where Toren is volunteering, sounded like an interesting idea at least.

We found one of the three hostels in town, packed away our belongings, and ate a ginormous steak and mandioca (yucca root) dinner for a dollar and fifty cents. Despite the foreign atmosphere, the Paraguayan fog had started to lift. It is a simple culture it seemed, and I intended to get to the roots of their reality in the short time we had. Toren's reality was a little different, I discovered, when I played Santa Claus and unloaded all the junk I had been lugging around South America for 6 weeks: CDs, duct tape, a frisbee, a sleeping bag, ATM cards, and finally, a little pamphlet the Peace Corps had sent to him before he left the States, entitled: Your Assignment: Paraguay. A long, hearty laugh was had by all when he thanked me for bringing his assignment because, for the last eight months, he had no ...