ECHO 22002 Daily Diary  
Columbia Education Center
ECHO 2002
DAILY DIARY
July 29, 2002

Today's ECHO activities brought to you by


Grupo Gato Montes

Elfrieda Nafziger
Carrie Boden
Frank Spikes

 



Freddy Isaisas, 28, and Santiago Hernan, 27, delivered the ECHOers safely to destinations in Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil. During the long rides, members of the ECHO delegation had the opportunity to learn that Freddy has been a driver for four years, while Santiago is new to the profession with only 6 months of experience. Both chose to drive tour buses, rather than taxis or city buses, because the pay is higher and the countryside is safer and more peaceful than the city. Freddy and Santiago grew up speaking Guarani as their first language, but both speak fluent Spanish as well. Santiago comes from a large family of ten children, and Freddy has only 2 brothers and one sister. In their limited leisure time, Freddy and Santiago enjoy playing football and volleyball. They also enjoy an occasional movie and dancing.
In addition to chatting with the drivers, the ECHOers spend time reading, taking in the countryside, listening to music, watching videos, singing, and sleeping as the bus travels through rural Paraguay. Another common bus pass-time, as seen on the right, is web page authoring. Here, ECHOers Jim Harper and Linda Nolevanko of Team Liberty Spuds put the finishing touches on their daily diary as the bus traveled between Villarrica and Concepcion. Since this trip was especially long (although not as long as the next two bus trips to and from Filadelfia), the ECHOers were given some extra time to explore Villarrica before departing at 10:30 for the day's journey. Many used the reprieve to exercise, take some last minute photos, or do some shopping before the arduous bus ride north. .

En route to Concepcion the group stopped in nearby Coronel Oviedo, a major transportation crossroads in eastern Paraguay, to eat at yet another buffet and to change money. The ECHOers had no success in cashing Travelers' Checks, which are not readily cashed except in Asuncion. Dollars and the good old ATM card, however, were negotiable. Since the ECHO group's arrival on July 9th, the Guarani has fluctuated a lot - from G 5900 per dollar to G7900 per dollar for a few days. Now, it has stabilized at G 6200 per dollar.

The ECHOers saw many ranches, like the one pictured on the left, during their travels.




During the trip, the ECHOers observed changing landscapes as they left semitropical southern Paraguay and moved toward the Gran Chaco, which is just across the River Paraguay from Concepcion. Small towns lined the highway, and ECHOers saw many general stores, like the one pictured above, featuring many household items.


On the left, Lidia Sarubbi Hoege, our tour guide for this portion of the trip, pauses for a picture in the lobby of the hotel in Conception. Lidia is the director of the Colegio Tecnico y Centro de Entrenamiedo Vocational and also the CCPA, or Paraguayan/American Cultural Center, in Villarrica. Locally she is known as "Teacher Lidia," and the ECHO delegation met her former students everywhere. She is the local contact for AFS, Peace Corps, and visiting American and German delegations. Should there be political unrest in Paraguay, her home has been designated a "safe" house from where the foreigners could be evacuated.

On the right, a typical street scene outside the hotel in Conception. The ECHOers arrived in this small provincial town just before sunset. Conception is located on the Paraguay River 310 kilometers from Asuncion and is known locally as the "forgotten city" as it was a center of opposition to Stroessner and therefore was completely neglected prior to 1988 and didn't receive funds or attention. Since then, the road to Asuncion has been paved and it is more accessible.