A Journey Further South

When I told my boss I'd be going to Paraguay for 2 weeks in July his first reaction was, "Why??" My response is, why not?

On Tuesday June 30th I will begin my trip to Paraguay (I won't actually arrive in Asuncion until Wednesday July 1st). Despite my experience in Honduras I am a little more wary of this trip. For one thing, it would be the first time I forgo the hotel and hostel experience and really rough it with my friend Jordan while we visit Eric - a Peace Corp volunteer - at his site a few hours outside the capital. It will also be the first time that I'll be going so far with my friends, and two boys to boot. I'm going into this trip not knowing if I'll have any cell reception or internet access or even shower access. Actually come to think about it I'm going knowing only the following things:

• I'll be in Paraguay...and going to Buenos Aires at some point in the trip
• Eric lives in an old building/store/structure and built his own bathroom there
• It'll be winter and cold at night
• The ATM is your friend and only emergency cash will be carried
• You can get a jug of liquor for $1USD
• Everything's really cheap
• I get the mattress and Jordan gets a sleeping pad on the floor
• We'll be spending a couple days in the capital and then going to Eric's site since it's a few hours away (4+???)
• There's terrible cell reception where Eric is
• There may be little to no internet during the trip

I'll be getting a sim card for an unlocked phone I purchased while I'm down there. Hopefully I'll be able to send short updates to the blog through SMS since I'm assuming I won't have much internet access. Otherwise it may be just some good old-fashioned notepad entries uploaded at a later date. There are so many unknowns about this trip that it's a little intimidating, but I'm definitely sure that nothing but adventure lies ahead.