Mercedes and the Carpincho

by Emily Francona

Emily with District 4790 Governor Orlando Vilavedra

May 7 - We travelled from Santo Tome to Mercedes all morning to reach Mercedes for lunch with district governor Orlando and some of his Rotarians. Exchanged banners and he seemed pleased by reports he had received about the team.

Later we stopped at a Rotarian´s leather showroom and made some purchases. Of prime interest were items made from the famous carpincho (photo), a type of giant rodent that lives near the water and looks like a cross between a rat and a pig (we saw a large family of them at Las Marias).

The rest of the day was consumed by travel to Bella Vista, our next destination, where we arrived just as dusk fell. Finally, we met the famous Luis Sanchez-Negrette, our able and congenial exchange coordinator. I have the privilege of becoming part of his family for a few days and already feel at home with Alicia, Victoria and Eugenia and German shepard Uco.

Later in the evening we had an exchange of presentations with a group his English students, followed by dinner, discussions and singing until well past midnight. I may have to give yerba mate another try - it seems to infuse energy to sustain this type of hectic pace....