Eggo Waffles, Funerals, Disaster Bus Rides

       First, I would like to say, that i started my blog post and the power decided to go out...so this is my second try.  Maybe it was a sign that my title or introduction was not as good as it could have been.  The tents, tarps and wooden shacks have gone.  The weather has gone from sweltering heat, to crazy thunderstorms.  I have gone from not missing anything, to pretty much being mom sick a lot (of course I miss my dad and brother and cats...but there is just somthing about mom.)  Other wise, I´m doing pretty well!   Now I will help you imagine my stay through some stories of what I have been doing here.
       Every morning I take two busses to get to work.  The first bus takes me to the highway and the second bus takes me onto the highway until where I get off and walk a few blocks to work.  On my way on the highway, i pass a factory everyday.  I do not even know what it is called, but there is a billboard close that says Belén, so I am just going to call it Belén.  Anyhow, i love passing by thi factory because...it smells like eggo waffles.  I think I could maybe count on one hand how many times i have had eggo waffles, but there is just somthing about the smell that is so nice.  I will say, that i have been craving waffles and pancakes a little morethan i had been previously.
       The rain can stop everything here.  The rain has powers.  When there is rain, you do not go out.  In the country side where some of my friends are it is worse, but even still, today for instance, I didnt go to work because there were some pretty massive thunderstorms and heavy heavy rain.  Well, I guess I lied, the rain almost stops everything...  I went on a trip last saturday to a place called Laguna Blanca, which is in the north of Paraguay, with a lot of the AFS students from all over Paraguay.  I woke up at 4:45 saturday morning to take a shower and to get the rest of my things together, only to find that there was a huge thunderstorm, and no electricity or water.  I had no idea if the trip was going to happen, especially if it would be raining.  Laguna Blanca s a beach area and we would be camping, so I honestly was hoping that it would be cancelled and moved to a more sunny weekend......  It took us about 7 hours to get there.  It was literally raining inside of the bus.  The seats were wet, i got wet and it was a long trip.  One boy set up his hammack in the aisle and slept through most of it.  Somehow, we had luck.  Once we got there, the sky cleared up and there was not a drop of rain!  In fact it was pleasant weather and the sun even peeked out the first day.  We all played volleyball (which I am not the best in) and went swimming later.  The water was really clear, you could see right through it.  During the night some people played guitar and talked and it was really nice.  Some friends walked on the beach and we looked at stars.  It was really incredible.  I have never seen stars like i saw that might before in my life.
     Well, the next day was HOT.  We went swimming and then some friends and I went on a hike on some path close to the lake.  It started off in sand a brush type plants and then went into thorny bushes and then the woods and then back to the sandy brush.  It was a long hike, almost two hours.  Part way through, someone asked for water, and we all realized that no one had brought any with us.  Those noxt few kms were pretty hard.  We finally made it back to the site and had lunch.  Then we packed everything up and loaded up the busses.
       I thought the trip was going to be the disaster with the rain and all, but it actually turned out really great!  The disaster was getting home.  First, there was no air on the bus and it was so hot it made you feel sick.  I just tried to sleep so that I would not be aware of the heat.  I woke up and felt really sick to my stomach, which could have been from lunch.  The AFS people said that the people living or staying in Capiatá for the night (me) were supposed to be switching busses at some point on the trip home.  As we got farther and farther a volunteer told us we would all be going to Asunción instead.  Of course, we asked why.  "Well, when we stopped at the gas station, the volunteer bus forgot one of the girls there, so they had to go back and pick her up and they are kind of far away now."  That was a little discouraging, because it meant that we would be waiting in Asunción for atleast another hour for this second bus to pick us up.  Our bus got there at 11, and everyone else left, leaving me and 8 other students at a shoppng mall waiting forthe other bus to take us to Capiatá.  We waited in a Dominos pizza and al ate, because we had not had dinner.  Finally around 12, the bus came and we all groggily boarded.  We were going for a whie, and the bus stopped...I heard one of the volunteers saying somthing about a car crash we were in and that some one had to call the police.  I was just thinking...really? is this really happening?  Eventualy we left and made it to somewhere in Capiatá, well that is when the bus just stopped moving.  I dont know if it ran out of battery, or gas, or what...but it stopped.  We rolled for a little bit, downhill, but the the road got flat.  At that pont i was getting annoyed.  It was 1 in the morning and now i had to carry all my stuff along with the other students a number of blocks until we got to a volunteers house.  It was an experience... once we got to his house, the nine of us somehow fit in his small living room and all slept together on the floor.  It was one of my most interesting times here yet.
       Well, I went to a funeral yesterday.  It was the funeral of a coworker, and I thought I should go with my coworkers and for the experience too.  We took the bus there (Asunción) and it took a lifetime...and it was incredibly hot...and i was wearing black pants.  We finally arrived and entered.  I was a little surprised to see an open casket and the corpse out in the open like that; I just was not really prepared or expecting it.  There was a ot of praying and singing, but at the same time it was very casual.  People were wearing jeans and t-shirts.  It was an all day event and we were supposed to go to the cemetary too, but i ducked out before that happened.  It wa brutally hot there and kind of boring.  I am glad that I went, though i do hope it will be my only one here.
       Well, I am trying to think of any more interesting things and I think I pretty much covered everything for now.  Sorry for spellingor gramatical errors...I am using a Spanish keyboard and it just says I am spelling everything wrong!!!  Hope everyone is doing well, and I will be checking in again soon.  Hasta pronto.