Thursday, February 26, 2015

Spicin' it up with Tobati!

This weekend I went on an adventure within my adventure. Me and some of my fellow interns took a trip to Tobati, which I couldn't remember the name of for three days after because I kept jokingly calling it "Tapatia."

It was kind of a last minute decision to go to Tobati. I had almost no idea of what we were going to do, and so I cleverly brought virtually nothing with me. I did have a water bottle, however. It turned out that we went on this scenic hike up a hill, lined with rows of beautiful palms. It's lucky that my friends had cameras with them, because the view was spectacular. It was a perfect day.


When we got to the top of the hill, we took a stroll into a small cave where there were hundreds of bats. They were so cute! Michael wanted to hold one, but I guess that wasn't such a good idea. I secretly wanted to hold one too, but I'm not eager for rabies. Our guide kept pointing out the bat guano, which littered the cave floor in a layer of black droplets. He told us that when we see the guano, this will let us know that bats are overhead. Seems like a good notion to me.

After we climbed out of the cave, we hiked back down the hill. I took the opportunity of employing my best parkour moves on the way down. At the bottom, we got into the back of this lovely little trailer, and drove along a bumpy, marshy terrain.


I'm not going to lie to you. Being in the back of this trailer on the natural terrain was the scariest part of the trip for me, even though we went repelling after. As I was jammed in with my peers, all I could think is, one rock in the road and game over. We are done for. I have a huge bruise on my back to remember the experience by.

So, we hiked up another hill, and while looking around, we found a little waterfall! Of course, we had to jump in. It was just too perfect. I was such a lamo jumping in the first time. I literally stood on the edge saying how scared I was, but when I finally jumped off the fall only lasted about one second. The water felt good!


I love waterfalls. They are so serene and beautiful. I am making it my new goal to visit as many waterfalls as I can, in as many different places that I can.

Repelling was a scary experience. I have been repelling one other time in my life, but it was only a short drop down, and I didn't even have to wear a helmet. This time, I was on what must have been a 200 foot cliff, and the guide kept telling me to walk off of the edge, but my feet just didn't think that was a good idea. My knees buckled under me as I braced myself against the edge of the cliff. He kept telling me to lean back, but I just knew if I leaned back I was going to fall off. It was a surreal moment when I walked off of the edge, and found myself walking down the face of the cliff.

I couldn't help it. Michael and Myles were at the bottom filming me, and I screamed, "I'm so scared right now! Aaaaaah!" They told me to spread my legs and to let the rope slide through my hands. I was so stiff. It was about halfway down when I got the hang of it, and I let myself glide down and swing softly in an arch. It was thrilling, but I was glad to be at the bottom. When I was at the top, they told me not to look down, but of course I looked down anyways. Here's a pic of Myles being a pro.


When I got to the bottom, I yelled, "I'm alive! Yo vive!"

And we explored again and found another waterfall! The picturesque, movie-scene kind. I love that in Paraguay, you can play in the waterfalls. I've been to falls like this in Hawaii, and one in Oklahoma, but I was never allowed to get close.





I have to share one of my favorite pictures of me and Michael from the adventure. Think Titanic:



Michael and I made our status as best friends official last week, on a bus. Feel free to offer congratulations or gifts. It was a special moment.

Paraguay never ceases to amaze me.


I am so grateful to be here in Paraguay, living a dream of traveling and teaching English. I've been thinking a lot lately about my goals, and what I want my life to be like. I always knew that I wanted to live an extraordinary life, and that I want to create things and to change the world in my own small way. In order to accomplish this, I have learned that I need to just stop dreaming and start creating. If I want my life to change, then I need to take initiative and make that change. I have the potential to do anything I set my mind to.

If everyone knew the extent of their potential, they would amaze themselves.




Hasta pronto!

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