doing stuff

I'm on my ninth consecutive day of twelve in a row at the hostel and I'm tired. My eyes hurt. Last night when I was falling asleep behind the bar, my lovely boss told me to go home. And I get to leave early tonight, too. This is my own fault for taking two days off last week, but Punta del Diablo was worth it.

In other exciting news, I went to the Paraguayan embassy today. Paraguay is one of those countries down here that acts in exact accordance with what the U.S. makes their citizens do to enter in our country. What that means for me is that I have to get a visa that costs $65, proof of entering and leaving Paraguay, 2 passport-ready photos, a letter from my friend saying that I will be visiting and staying with her and since I don't have a credit card (an essential), I will have to sit down and have a formal interview. Then, if all is in order after 24 hours, I will be permitted to enter Paraguay for 4 days. Well, I can technically stay longer, but such is the duration of my trip. Hopefully this all works out because I have a flight that leaves from Asunción to La Paz on March 20 and I know Josh will probably freak out if I leave him alone too long in Bolivia.

Along with this unbelievably annoying process, I am also applying for a new license so that I can rent a car when I get to Florida. This involves filling out a certain application, then getting said application notarized (still working on explaining that concept in Spanish), sending app to mother, mother going to DMV, mother sending new license to father y ya está. Thanks for the help, mom.

In total I have about a week and a half left in good ol' Monty-V to be spent running around and getting things in order, saying goodbye to all 5 of my friends, packing and planning. I will return briefly in March with Mom and Steve in tow, which will be fun. I'm looking forward to showing them the little life I've built here and also to eating in all the restaurants that I've wanted to try.

It is going to be hard to leave my South American home base, the only other place I've lived outside of the southeast corner of Pennsylvania, but I'll save the sentimentality for a later post when my departure seems more real.