Team Paraguay Final Post

Well we're all safely back in the USA after three flights starting in Asuncion Paraguay to Sao Paulo Brazil, Miami and finally Dulles and Home. The trip may be over, but the memories will last for a life time. During our time in South America our group transitioned from a group traveling together to a group of friends that I hope will last for a long time. Yes it was HOT, but I don't think that affected our enjoyment of the experience one iota.

The opportunity to be immersed in a different culture is something that is priceless, and our experience our ones that I don't think any of us will soon forget. From visiting the native Paraguayan Indian reservation and joining in on a native dance, to our side trip to Iguaco National Park in Brazil and seeing 127 waterfalls on one tremendous journey through the park, each is a memory that will last forever.

Our last few days saw us travel south from Asuncion to the city of Encarnacion for a night of good food and good friends, and then north west the next day to Cuidad Del Este, where Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil all come together. We returned to Asuncion for one final night and a wonderful dinner hosted by Jay Gonzalez's father and several Paraguayan SU friends, (who I'm not naming at this point for fear of misspelling their names.) We were greatly relieved that one of our members, Marykay Hester, after suffering a swollen ankle much of the week, was give a clean bill of health after a visit to a local Asuncion hospital. According to Mary Kay, the care was fantastic.

I can't say enough Joaquin "Jay" Gonzalez and how he made our experience in a foreign country so much easier. To say "Thank You" just doesn't seem enough. Also the warmth and openness afforded to us by Jay's parents, father Jose and mother Silvia, we will remember them with great fondness. Both will be visiting the US in the next several months, and hopefully we will welcome them as warmly as they did us.

So now we retire to our memories, pictures and videos, and remember the trip of a lifetime. I have to say that the GCP program offers us at Shenandoah amazing opportunities to truly learn what global citizenship is all about. What did I learn from this trip? That deep down all people, Hispanic, Asian, Indian or American have many similarities, we just have to get past the language barrier and that is one thing I plan to do. After being in a Spanish speaking country and how many people in the world, now speak that language, I am going to learn the language. Not just for me, but for those that I will meet in the future. It's a small world, and it's getting smaller all the time, so we need to embrace global citizenship. As I said once and I'll say it again, "GCP it's not just fun, it's an adventure."

Signing off and fade to black.

Rick Ours

Update on GCP Paraguay/Argentina/Brazil

As you will note from the title of todays program, we have decided to change our name. As I mentioned in yesterdays post, we crossed over into Argentina for about an hour during the visit to South America's 2nd largest hydroelectric plant. Today took us on a truly memorable trip into Brazil. More on that in a minute, but hence the name change.

We left what has turned out to be the best hotel of our trip, early this morning in Encarnacion and made our way north west up along the Parana River to the city of Cuidad del Este, which sits just across the river from Brazil. On our way up country we made a stop at a set of Jesuit Ruins dating from the early 1700s. It was a fascinating tour that took us through the history of Jesuits in Paraguay. We arrived in Cuidad Del Este around 12 noon and had lunch in a combination Esso station and restaurant. Most of you don;t remember Esso, but it was Exxon's name through most of the 50's, 60's abd early 70's.

The highlight of the name was a trip, made possible by our connections in Paraguay, to cross the river border into Brazil and spend 5 wonderful hours in the Brazilian National Park of Iguacu. There we took a 1300 meter hike down into a canyon with more waterfalls than any of us have seen in our lives. Spectacular, Wonderful, Awesome were just some of the words used by the group to describe this experience. And not only were we witnessing dozens of waterfalls of all sizes, but we were also in the Brazillian rainforest. We all came away soaked to the skin both from the humidity, but also from the opportunity to get within about 25 feet of the giant falls. So now a little R&R (and a good shower) until dinner.

Tomorrow we travel back to Asuncion for our last night in Paraguay, and a reception being hosted by our Paraguyan friends of Shenandoah. GCP it's not just fun, it's an ADVENTURE.

Rick Ours

Sweden Nothern Lights and Ice Hotel

The Sweden group took a 19-hour overnight train north from Stockholm to the small village of Jukkasjärvi, where the group visited the world-famous Ice Hotel, learned about the local Sami culture, drove reindeer sleds, and saw the spectacular aurora borealis (or "northern lights").

Sweden Day One

Our eight-hour long initial flight (and first flight for one of our members) was panic-attack-free and an overall success. Though the shakeup that resulted from the trip’s six-hour jump forward in time left many of our members sleep deprived and ripe for jet lag, our connecting flight from Copenhagen to Stockholm provided a much-needed power nap to most everyone. After we got off the airplane, we took a spacious and comfortable train from the airport into the heart of Stockholm. We trekked around Stockholm to get to our hostel—a ship called the AF Chapman that is moored in the waters of the city’s harbor—on a pretty extensive march with our caravan of rolling luggage. We dropped our bags off at the reception building and went back into the city to sightsee. Though the weather was fair for the area, wind and shade contributed to a fair amount of chilly stretches that pushed the temperature just past the point of being comfortable, even in our many layers. We arrived at a walking mall and split into two groups to dine on street food and café sandwiches for lunch, both options being fairly pricey, before reconvening and setting out to continue our sightseeing. We wandered through the narrow alleyways and stopped to admire the small mom-and-pop stores as well as Stockholm’s grander feats of architecture on our way between sites such as the Medieval Museum of Stockholm, two historic churches, and the Royal Palace of Stockholm. As we prepared to move on from the palace, however, we noticed that the guards standing before the palace had begun to call out to one another and march. A military ceremony of some sort took place over the next five minutes as we looked on. After the conclusion of this service, we were even able to snap a few pictures with a kindly guardsman at his post. We bid the gentleman goodbye and proceeded onto the Stockholm City Museum, where we found shelter from the ever-dropping temperature as well as some interesting models and facts about the city’s history before leaving to make our dinner reservation. The medieval-themed Sjåtte Tunnan served these hungry (and increasingly weary) travelers a grand and delicious medieval feast of several different dishes in an atmosphere of crude wooden tables, stone walls, candle lighting, and notes challenging patrons to eat their food the medieval way—without the aid of silverware. We bonded over the extravagant festivities and recalled our exciting, tiresome day. Then, almost as if to wake up those of us who were drifting off into sleep-deprived stupors, our waiter proceeded to dazzle us with an impromptu indoor fire-breathing display before dessert. As the dinner drew to a close, however, many of us were inevitably overwhelmed by our exhaustion. We paid our tab, trekked across the darkened streets of Stockholm once more, and retired to our rooms aboard the hostel.

Christopher George

On Dasher, On Dancer….

Have you ever imagined what it feels like to be Santa Claus, being pulled on a sled behind nine reindeer??? Me neither. However, during our one of a kind stay at the Reindeer Lodge outside Kiruna, Sweden, this long spoken tradition became a reality. Reindeer have long been an important component of the livelihood of the Sami people, who are indigenous to Lappland, the northern region of Sweden. Their hide is used as means to stay warm, their antlers as tools, and their meat for sustenance. In the span of twelve hours with the Sami people we fell in love with the reindeer and the people’s simple way of life. Reindeer are seemingly gentle in nature and welcomed us with open antlers. We started our encounter by sharing a lunch of Sami bread and reindeer meat in a teepee warmed by a wood fire. The smell of the burning birch wood made for a warm home-like feeling that lingered for hours. The meat was very lean and had a taste similar to pastrami. The savory smoked flavor enveloped each taste bud individually and made it jump for joy. The next part of our reindeer adventure was racing each other around a track driving reindeer sleds. We each had the unique opportunity to individually drive the reindeer and yell “AY AY” to get them to go faster. Some of the reindeer were moving at school bus speed while others raced off as though they were a ferrari. After taking our reindeer for a quick spin we had the chance to bond with them. While some of our group members were reindeer whisperers, others seemed to be wearing reindeer repellant, causing the animals to bolt the other way. We hand fed them reindeer lichen, a moss that is found in their natural environment that they seemed to enjoy. Following this we pow wow’ed in the tee pee and enjoyed blueberry muffins, homemade by our Sami guide Nils’s wife. We warmed up with reindeer hides and enjoyed coffee while intently listening to Nils tell stories of his culture and traditions.

Brittney Drogo and Heather Ambrisco

GCP Bahamas update

The GCP Bahamas group has enjoyed the first five days on the islands, Nassau and Eleuthra and are finally getting a chance to let you know what's been going on! Our schedule has been jam packed as we've already toured large portions of both islands and got extensive looks at an Evangelistic temple, Adastra gardens and zoo, Clifton Heritage, a Junkanoo shack, Parliament, the Post Office, and many shopping areas. We've also eaten among the locals at many restaurants (as well as eaten Bahamian food at Breezes Resort), meaning that we've had a lot of conch, grouper, snapper, chicken, and other spicy foods.

Today (Wednesday) we got to travel to Eleuthra, an island north east of Nassau. We headed for a two hour trip to Spanish Wells and then took a water taxi over to Eleuthra. And of course, the water is so BLUE! Our tour guide took us to a pineapple farm then off to the glass window bridge. Look left, you see the Atlantic Ocean, but look right and you see the Carribean Sea. This is mainly exciting because of the difference in colors. After this, we got to go on the pink sands of Eleuthra and saw some of the clearest waters. After some cracked conch and grouper at a local restaurant, we headed to Preacher's Cave. Finally, we headed back on the boat and returned to Nassau.

Other than some sea sickness, we had a great day and are excited to wake up early to go to school tomorrow!

PS Encanacion

Not that we're trying to compete with the Australia trip who we hear have feasted on crocodile and kangaroo, our dinner this evening featured a local delicacy, which according to Jay Gonzalez consists of pig intestines stuffed with ground up various internal organs. Everyone had a taste, some enjoyed it more than others. But there was ice cream too!!

On a late night stroll we ran into another American, who attracted by our english approached us. He turned out to be a Peace Corps volunteer from upstate NY, on a 4 year commitment to work with thos who live in the barios of Encarnacion. We exchanged emails and hope to stay in-touch.

RO