"An Island Surrounded by Land"

Frequently, when you read about Parguay, you may find that the country is referred to as "An Island Surrounded by Land", which was a phrase written by Roa Bastos about his country, Paraguay. (Bastos was a novelist who often wrote about dictatorship). I am still mystified as to what exactly he meant. I will not attempt to provide further explanation, but will in my own way, be trying to interpret this statement the whole time I am in country. I may provide my own interpretation on a later blog. But, I digress...

I can't believe it's already the 13th of August! Exactly 15 days of work left for the both of us. At the beginning of the month, we were dreading almost five more weeks of work and now it's almost half-way done. Where does the time go?? Now it's lock and load time--more packing, cleaning, getting rid of junk and other arrangements. The details of our road trip are coming together, and I'm excited to do this, as I've never been on such a long road-trip before. And now, I think my brother, Hillary, will be joining us for the first ten days, which would rock.

Oh, and new information for all of you should you choose to send us (much loved) care packages or hand-written letters. Here it is:

PCT Christopher and/or Marisa Updike
Cuerpo de Paz
162 Chaco Boreal c/Mcal. Lopez
Asuncion 1580, Paraguay
South America

Please make sure that the green customs stickers ( available at the post office) are affixed to whatever you are sending, and it's also a good idea to make packages less than 4 lbs. If they are more than 4 lbs., we have to personally retrieve them from customs which can be costly and time-consuming. Also, a lot of times, packages are opened and items are stolen, so don't send anything expensive. A good thing to write on the package is "Productos Femeninos" (femenine products) or "Cosas Religiosas"( religious items), which are less likely to be tampered with for obvious reasons.

On another note: Lots of Paraguayan food is prepared with tasty items such as tongue, intestines, onions, and lard. Chris hates onions!! I think someone's going to have a hard time eating down there!