Partners in crime

Now that I am settled in and shockingly domestic....house pet and all, it is only fitting that this weekend I had my first house guests in CdE (the Swinton not withstanding...she's permanent). But like a proud mom, of course I can't resist some photos of Swint first.

But this week, my fellow itinerant anthropologist Christine had occasion to be in Ciudad del Este. Which was fabulous, because we managed to convince our mutual friend Carrene (the same friend who convinced me to go to Purim with her in Asunción...and may drag me along to passover for good measure) to come visit for the weekend. A house full of ladies (and with those red curtains, scandal!), trouble indeed!

So we set off early on Saturday for Foz do Iguaçu, thinking that we might enjoy a properly Brazilian weekend (the mission: find rice and beans, fabulous latin clothing accessories, and caipirinhas). The bus started off pretty empty when we got on at the bus terminal in Ciudad del Este, which we were slightly worried about since we had hoped that there would be enough locals that we wouldn't have to hassle with customs officials at the border. Living on the tri-border means constantly evaluating how seriously to take the 'border-ness' of the border. If I were to get my passport stamped every time I make the 15min trip to Foz do Iguaçu, then I would run out of passport pages within a few weeks. Locals on buses, taxis, and individual cars never stop at the border...the bridge between Ciudad del Este and Foz do Iguaçu is a traffic nightmare but not usually much else. But on the other hand, for me the thought of getting stopped coming back from Brazil without the proper entry/exit papers isn't particularly appealing. In any event, we were pretty happy to snap a photo on the empty bus (yay off to Brazil!!!), but also equally happy when it picked up enough passangers that we didn't stick out too terribly...and made it across without an issue.


So, Carrene (fashionista extraordinaire...all the way right) decided that I was far far too preppy to make my way in Brazil...which of course meant a shopping trip in Foz do Iguaçu for some proper accessories. First was an excellent latin american scarf (which replaced the J Crew cardigan, at least for the purposes of weekend adventures). Between that, the enormous sunglasses, and crazy paraguayan rocker haircut, I feel like I'm going native. Christine also managed a fashion transformation. She had been wearing the same clothes since Wednesday when she arrived (she thought she was only going to be here for an overnight trip...before I convinced her to stay for the weekend as my partner in crime...), so an emergency clothes-shopping trip was definitely in order. Complicated, of course, by the fact that she is rather taller than the average Brazilian. Good thing fabulous printed dresses are pretty much one size fits all. So this is how we ended up after the appropriate clothing modifications:


And the last part of the mission: relax at a pub, eat rice and beans (a delicious Brazilian specialty that inexplicably are absent 5km across the paraguayan border) and drink 'caipirinhas,' another brazilian epicurian specialty involving a healthy dose of lime, lots of ice, and cachaça (liquior made out of sugar cane). Three girls, three types of caipirinhas, and a lovely afternoon!


And even better, got to try out one of my other new scarves during a a walk around the lake on Sunday with Carrene. I'm going to have to embrace the latin styling. And maybe get a wee little scarf for the Swint too!