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Asunción, Paraguay!

Paraguay is one of the few countries in the world that has a 2-sided flag and the only one that I know of that has a different image on each side. 

Paraguay was #7 on our list, and we were actually quite surprised when we got the news. Adam did not think it was likely we would be placed there because it is a small embassy in the Western Hemisphere, and his CDO had previously encouraged him to look at different bureaus (regions) and larger embassies so that he gets different experiences. As a result, I barely researched Asunción and Port of Spain, the two posts from the list that are in the WHA bureau. To say I know almost nothing about Paraguay is fairly accurate. 

Luckily, we have a year to start researching and preparing for life in Paraguay and for the two of us to really brush up on our Spanish! I am very rusty, but hopefully it'll come back quickly and by the time we leave Paraguay, hopefully our whole family (including Olivia!) will be speaking Spanish well (when I left Ecuador, my Spanish was conversational, but nowhere near the level I would want).

I am very excited about working on my Spanish and I look forward to exploring the area and being in another part of South America. I am a little worried about the mosquitos and I am not looking forward to more humidity (and summer temperatures of up to 109 degrees with humidity? I'd gladly take Ridgecrest summers), however I think this will be a great post for us.

We don't know exactly when we will head to Paraguay, but I am going to guess it will be sometime in early 2016 (February or March, perhaps?). Until then, we better make the most of the beaches, mountains, and seafood in Jamaica! We won't be getting much of that in flat, landlocked Paraguay!