Mbaracayu

i went to a magical place called Mbaracayu. it is an all girls school that is self sufficient. the girls come from places like brazil, paraguay and a few from bolivia. 

i went with a handsome group of people, Juan, Ton, and Leah. we left on Wednesday at 11:00 am and arrived there at 7:00 pm. i love bus rides, but any ride that is more than 2 hours can be difficult on the heart and soul. a part of the trip was over an uneven dirt road. but people selling chipa and playing music on their portable radios made the sojourn more bearable. 

we arrived in a little place called Villa Ygatimi and spent the night there.

Leah, reading The News from Paraguay

 6:30 am, a man picked us up and drove down a dirt road into the reserva. this is us at the entrance:

Leah and a Mika

after we were feed delicious rainforest breakfast, we went on a rainforest walk. 

i can't remember the last time i was in a rainforest like this. Mexico most likely. i love the smells, the sounds, the lighting. it's kinda mystical. 

only down side: this was mosquito planet. 

girls cooking lunch

i learned that paraguay is well known for it's butterflies. huge blue butterflies were fluttering everywhere. i found a dead one. my lucky day.

i made the huge mistake of forgetting my camera when i talked with the girls. i found my friends (three girls stayed in asuncion a few weeks ago and they taught me how to dance and sing songs) and they gave me a tour of their campus. 

i fell in love with the place. 

i fell in love with the girls. 

these girls are young, ambitious and strong. they were telling me what they want to do. study in costa rica, continue learning and working, becoming engineers, biologists. wow. 

the first graduation will be this coming december. i wish i could attend. 

OH!!! and this is a plea to anyone who knows how to make FEIJOADA, teach me!!!! I must learn.