This last weekend was the festival of San Juan in all of Paraguay. It´s a big celebration here in every town, involving many games and unique foods. A lot of the games are about predicting your future, like whether you will get married, how many kids you will have, etc. The most outrageous game I saw was a ball lit up on fire that the kids were kicking around. They pour tons of gasoline all over a ball, light it up, and gather everyone from about ages 7 to 12 to play! Kids do actually get burned playing this game, but it´s the most popular one! Another interesting game was for kids to climb a pole, which was about 30 feed high and covered in oil! There were prizes at the top. I watched about 10 kids try to climb the pole, but nobody was successful.
My favorite food at the festival was the mbeju (pronounced em-bay-jew). It´s a mixture of mandioca flour, egg, paraguayan cheese, and some other things. It´s difficult to explain what exactly it´s like in the US, but it´s delicious! You eat it with your hands by ripping off little pieces of it. At the festival, they also served asaditos (meat on a stick), and empanadas de mandio (mandioca empanadas filled with meat and eggs).
My favorite Paraguayan moment so far: A few days ago, my 8 year old host brother, Enzo, was helping me study my Guarani flashcards. He is also in his first year of Guarani, but is much better than me. He gave me high fives every time I got one right to keep me motivated. I told him that I was so lucky to have a friend that wanted to study with me. He just laughed hysterically at me and said “I´m not your friend, I´m your brother!” He is so cute! I also brought him along to play soccer with a bunch of my friends over the weekend and he loved it!
Update on Political Sitiuation: Some of you may have seen the news that the President of Paraguay did get impeached! Although it sounds pretty crazy, there has been very little violence. The protests are all happening in Asuncion, and I´m about an hour away from there by bus. We are not in any danger here, and we are not granted permission to go to Asuncion at this time. We might be going into the capital to attend a 4th of July party at the US Embassy, but it´s a little up in the air right now.
Yours Truly, Julie G
YoursTrulyJulieG 
your little brother sounds so cute. that story almost made me cry! maybe you should teach them about bloody knuckles.. seems like they like that type of thing. so proud of you, julie. miss you like crazy. send pictures when you can. LOVE YOU!!
Stace! I miss you too! I want to post some photos, but I have to wait til I can use my own computer. Right now I´m at an internet cafe because I can´t get wi-fi at my house. I want you to see the pictures of my cute little brothers!
How fun! It sounds like you are getting into the culture. Any news on the Peace Corp and how you can contribute? How is the weather?
Hey Dad! I will find out on July 25th where I will be and also more details on my project. The weather here is very unreliable. It´s been as high as in the 80´s and as low as the 30´s. Always a surprise! How was your birthday?
Juliz:
greased pole, sounds like fun but tough. I know about greased pigs. I have enjoyed empanadas. Sounds like you are well and learning a lot. Hope you are able to do something fun on the 4th but. that isn’t a big deal. sounds like your family is a nice group. Becky and boys departed today so I’ll have more time to keep up with your travels. Be well, have fun!
Juan
Hey John! I went to a party at the US Embassy on the 4th, and it was a lot of fun! People played tug of war, and we got to eat some American food. How was the 4th on Cuttyhunk?