Che Apurahei Guaranime

This is the debut of my first song written in Guarani (with a little spanish). It was played at Peace Corps fundraiser in Asuncion. (unfortunately the video starts a little bit into the song)

The lyrics...roughly translated:

How´d you wake up?...woke up great because I got to sleep in late

Later on I´ll be workin on the farm

Drinking terere with my crew, and chattin it up

Chorus;

This is what life is like

Terere, in the shade, speaking guarani

I´m living care free/chilled out

Yo what up, how is going? Fantastic

Because I´m about to eat a kick ass bbq with my family

Later we´ll head to the soccer game, drink some beer and eat Chipa (a paraguayan bread)

Right on brother!

Chorus

I´m waiting for a girl to come through my window (a paraguayan joke)

¨Come over here for a minute¨ some good luck (The ¨come here...¨ also being a popular saying)

Unbearable is the heat here

Later on well hit the party and get sloppy drunk, Dance with beautiful women

Yeah, I´m happy in Paraguay

Chorus

My new life

Aiko chano, companiape!

Tanto tiempo no? Please forgive the fact it’s taken me forever to get an update on this blog. As crazy as it sounds, I actually feel really busy. That’s mostly attributed to the fact that I’ve finally moved to my own little house, I went to Asuncion for a few days to watch election coverage, then the next week we had a few days of training back in my original site to go over some Guarani, and finally all us volunteer met up for Thanksgiving. All of those excuses have turned out to be fantastic reasons to be busy. I absolutely love my new house and all my new neighbors. They have welcomed me to their community with only the kind of generosity I’ve seen here in Paraguay. And during Guarani class I turned into the complete language dork that I am … eating up every Guarani tip I could get like an 8 year old devouring a Snack Pack in an elementary school cafeteria. With the rest of my time I’ve been trying to make my rounds and get to know my new neighbors. Since just about every single one of my neighbors is a “productor” of some crop(s), an important part of “making my rounds” involves working with them. So far I’ve been working with melon, pineapple, and sugar cane. Most crops will change as the seasons change, except for sugar cane, which is only harvested for 6 months of the year the other half consists of cleaning and preparing the land for the next year. By far the most laborious work down here is with the sugar cane…but I’ll get into that a little later. I should also point out the colossal amount of Terere I’ve been drinking/sharing with the neighbors. It’s so fundamental to the culture down here that it’s absolutely unimaginable what this country would be like without it. Down here, us “norte americanos” call it T-ray, and the act of sharing would be “gettin in on a T-ray circle”. Because I live without a refrigerator or freezer I often drink lukewarm t-ray at my house. Therefore, when I drink at a house where the precious invention of ice has been added to the t-ray it’s like I’m almost in one of those exaggerated Corona commercials where a gorgeous couple lies next to a crystal clear beach as they open up their icy cold beers. If Corona shot a commercial down here it would probably consist of a group of Paraguayans sitting under huge mango tree, sitting in those amazing Paraguayan chairs, with a Paraguayan fan hanging from the tree above. Unfortunately, as highly technologically advanced as Paraguayan fans are, they still haven’t figured out how to put one under a tree, where t-ray circles take place. Do I hear Peace Crops project???...I think so. One more thing about t-ray, while am at it. Aside from pouring the water from a thermo to a special little mug filled with dried “yerba” leaves, they usually also put a “remedio” or “juju with the water in the thermo. Most of these consist of plants or roots that grow wildly. The average Paraguayan can probably indentify up to 20. Sometimes a Paraguayan will have sought out a particular remedio and bring back to plant in their yard. The most popular ones are called “refrescantes”.

So if you can’t tell from what I’ve written so far, all is going just splendid…o sea “de lujo” se dice aqui. There are a few things that are worth complaining about; the bugs and the heat. The heat is just inescapable and relentless like no other heat I’ve encountered. The inescapability of the heat constantly makes me think of the repeated argument I’ve had with my parents about how when going out for the night I need to wear a jacket. This fight, or should I say “exchange of a few words”, always ensues as I’m about to leave my climate controlled house, get in my climate controlled car, and drive to another climate controlled place. Therefore, you’d think that because my dad is a lawyer he’d see my case neatly and clearly laid out. But just I as expect him to start slapping his fist on the arm of his LazyBoy to let us know court is adjourned, he irrational grants my mom a victory. Damages being that I now have to go upstairs and get my coat just to later throw it in the back seat of my car. Anyway, the point of this nonsense is to point out that here, whether inside or outside the house, one must have the weather in mind. Therefore, seeing men without shirts is practically the norm here. If Paraguay had St. Louis winters I promise you guys I’d always wear a jacket before leaving the house in the cold.

The bugs are the other issue here. I’m already used to the mosquitoes but it’s the insane number bugs I find in my room at night that are taking the getting used to. They are huge, numerous, and also inescapable. The most frustrating part is how they manage to get in my mosquito net and annoy the crap out of me when I read in bed before going to sleep. Fortunately, I’m not getting bitten a lot. But in order to kill a lot of them I have to smash them into my bed. Each time it leaves a little dead bug smudge on my sheets. It’s gross but necessary. Another gross aspect of the bugs is watching tons of them fall dead on top of my mosquito not each night. This is the result of my “killer” fan being directly above my bed and smashing anything it touches with the force of a South American dictator. I also have frogs living in my bathroom. They’re kind of my buddies…harmless and amazing to look at. I usually find them next to my sink or taking a shower with me. They are the kind of frogs you see pictures of in a National Geogrphic…slimy/transparent green but huge bulging eyes. I’m working on a good picture but I’m waiting for a super good one till it makes its way to you all.

Bueno, (deep breath) that’s my transition word down here. I’ve written down some interesting things I’ve noticed over the past month and so I’m going to take it topic by topic.

Before getting started I should mention that when I just wrote “bueno” it made me think how I never mention that I do indeed speak Spanish here…it’s not all Guarani for me, even though it is for a majority of Paraguayans. (I kind of feel like I’m getting the best of both worlds with both Spanish and Guarani) Just to clarify again, almost everyone at least understands Spanish and a decent percentage have no problem speaking TO ME in Spanish, as long as we aren’t in a group. Put two Paraguayans together and it’s definitely Guarani. That’s why it’s so important that I speak it. I would say that I’ve taken advantage of those that are comfortable with Spanish while still making what I’ll call a “valiant” effort at Guarani at the same time.

Speaking of language, that’s actually one of the topics I wanted to touch on in this blog. More specifically I wanted to explain what makes language incredibly unique down here, which is “the joapra” or the simultaneously mixed use of Spanish and Guarani. There are really three ways in which the jopara works.

The first is when two people are talking and the conversation goes back and forth from Spanish to Guarani. This usually happens in more of a business/professional setting because although the speakers are probably more comfortable with only Guarani, there are so many technical words and phrases that can only be said in Spanish that it just has to be this way. The second way to speak the jopara is by speaking mostly Guarani but often adding in words in Spanish at the same time. This is mostly due to the fact that: some words just don’t exist in Guarani because it’s an indigenous language, other words are so difficult to pronounce in Guarani that the people prefer the Spanish word, and lastly because Spanish is more articulate. The third and most interesting way is used when a Spanish word takes on the Guarani conjugation and pronunciation. For example: Guarani works like English in the sense that the person doing the action is established before the root of the verb. An “a” before a verb means “I”. Vender(Spanish)= to sell. Because there is no word for “to sell” in Guarani they just convert “vender” to avende. This is done with many different verbs and can sometimes make following a conversation a whole lot easier. For us volunteers, the classic example of this is the use of “no entiende= he doesn’t understand”. The ironic part about this is that Paraguayans can’t be discrete about saying “he doesn’t understand” while in my presence. It’s “nontendei”. (the “no” in this case is just a coincidence…Guarani doesn’t use “no”) Ridiculously similar no? This happens to me almost every day when I’m with a group of Paraguayans speaking Guarani and someone thinks I don’t understand, which may or may not be true. After determining that I don’t understand this someone will usually say under their breath “noentendei”. This person is trying to be secretive about telling his friends that I don’t understand but really it’s just as painful as if he approached me like a drill sergeant and screamed in my face “You don’t understand, you American idiot!”. It’s terribly evident this person is trying to speak Guarani so that I once again don’t understand, but really I couldn’t be more obvious, and at this point I feel like ripping my hair out.


Ok, so continuing with what I was planning on writing:

Mitaikuera=ninos=children. They have taken a liking to my entrance in my community in the same fashion that my host brothers did in my very first house. They come to my house uninvited, say “permiso”and start looking through all my stuff and asking an endless amount of questions. Here are some good ones: I was asked how much money my wooden hammer costs. An hour after unpacking my stuff I was asked if I plan on leaving my speakers or if I’ll take them back to the states…in 21 months! I was told my bike helmet was very nice and he asked if he could buy it off of me. One kid crawled on my filthy floor on his hands and knees to see what was under my bed. They touch absolutely every little thing and think my digital clock, which I bought at The Dollar Store before coming, is some incredible alien concoction.


Otra cosa. I did have a friend from the states point out that my house isn’t nearly as rustic as they were thinking. I thought that was a great opportunity to explain that by just by walking down my street you wouldn’t thinking the people are very poor here, but you’d be mistaken. Most families, if they have one nice thing to their name, it’s their house. The most common reason for this is that an astoundingly high number of people have had a family member work in Argentina or Spain, save a bunch of money, and buy a new house. In fact, the number one revenue source in this country is those remittances! The average person here has very little but you can bet your ass that what they do have they take amazing care of. This goes back to how they’re always sweeping. They also take amazing pride in their cleanliness of their clothes and their appearance.

The ice cream and chair incidents

I’ve now had two similar incidents that have absolutely amazed me. The first was when I went to little furniture store to buy one of the fantastic chairs I speak of. I went in where I’m used to seeing them outside and told them I wanted to buy one. They told me that wasn’t possible. They only sell the chairs in groups of four, with the matching table. (These are lawn chairs here folks, not a dining room set!) I explained that I live alone and have no need for four chairs… but that meant nothing. Baffled, I asked if when they buy the chairs in bulk if there is some special relation to this grouping of four…no, they told me. I asked if ever in the past someone has come in wanting only one, two, or three and after thinking for a sec I was once again told no. I’m my attempt to get them to sell me just one I tried explaining that there’s no chance I’m buying four, so just sell me one and you’ll get my money. Flashing the money still did nothing. They sell in fours and that’s the end it. Therefore, I still don’t even have my own Paraguayan chair but 80% of families have their group of four.

The other incident was almost the same but when buying ice cream. The 16 year old attending to me was sold out of their medium size cups. Therefore I told her to give me the amount of ice cream that fits in the medium size cup but in the large cup. She looked at me as if I’d just spoken Farsi. “I can’t do that” she told me. I asked why and she told me that the bigger cups cost more for them so if she gives me a bigger cup she has to fill it up and charge me for it. I politely explained how business and the employee-client relationship works. “The point of a business is to make money. “You are a business?” I asked. I don’t want the big size, so if you don’t give me the medium amount of ice cream your sale will be zero but if you fill the larger cup with the medium amount of ice cream you’ll then earn a profit, although it may not be as much as if you had the medium cups in stock, like you should. Then I explained that she should also give me what I’ve requested because I’m a frequent customer of the medium size cup. By not giving me the meduim we’d be facing a serious violation of the employee-client relationship….which entails giving me the ice cream for the sake of repeat business and all the money I’ve already poured into your store. But of course, all of this explaining did nothing to help her understand what I want and why she should give it me. She told me that her mom, the store owner, had instructed her on how to serve ice cream and it just doesn’t work how I was trying to order. Therefore, I walked out, dying for an ice cream, but hoping that maybe one day she’ll look back on that day and figure out what I was talking out. Hopefully, this serves as a great example of why business volunteers like myself are needed down here.


Bueno, next story. So I was in my training site doing those few days of Guarani class I mentioned earlier and I was hit with the familiar feeling of my stomach dropping out like a bowling ball thudding onto the wooded floor. To a normal American this would be called diarrhea, but down here it’s so common that we just call it “the D”. When I get done taking care of business and go to flush I quickly realize that there is no water. What? No water? Yet, the water sometimes goes out for a while here. The problem here isn’t exactly that I can’t flush it’s more that I’m terrible afraid for the person that has to lift that seat up after I’ve made a clean getaway. I crack the door open with a tissue is hand, this way just in case someone is waiting outside I can fake a sneeze, start to blow my nose and hope that the other bathroom door opens up before I have to concede my lose and explain that “you won’t be using this toilet anytime soon.”

I said earlier that I’d get into how cutting down sugar cane is absolutely back breaking work. Well we’ve arrived at that part of the blog. Cutting down sugar cane involves taking thousands of machete hacks to 15 foot high canes of sugar, cutting off the leaves, throwing the cane into piles and eventually lifting the piles into an ox cart. This is all done in brutal heat while wearing long sleeves and pants to protect yourself from the millions of tiny thorns every sugar cane leave has covering it. The process of lifting the piles of sugar cane is also incredibly laborious. It’s like putting together a pile of uneven/curved bench press bars, squatting down, pulling them against your legs, hurling them over your shoulder and then walking them up a short latter to the guy in the ox cart. This is by far the best workout you can find down here.

The reason I mention that the cane is uneven and curved is because those aspects make it incredibly difficult to throw a bunch over your shoulder while only using one arm to balance the pile. (The other arm is needed when you climb the latter.) Very often in my first attempts the cane was swaying as if my shoulder was a rubber ball submerged in water. One time I dropped a ton of cane can yelled “fuck”. The Paraguayans I was with stared to crack up even though they’d never heard the word before. The immediately asked me to repeat it and asked for the Guarani equivalent. They took to it like a Paraguayan 9 year old takes their new American neighbor. All day they were screaming “fuh” every time a little thing went wrong. Whoever thought cuss words could bring about such a nice cultural exchange?

Well, I actually have some more I was planning on writing but I’ll just save it for next time because I’m exhausted from this blog. It’s pretty good stuff so you’ll have a lot to look forward to.

Just a reminder, I wasn’t joking when I said I NEED NEW MUSIC. New albums that I believe have come out since I came here include: Imogen Heap, Jacks Mannequin, Greg Laswell, Tim Easton, The Format, Ben Kweller, Regina Spektor, Matisyahu, Bright Eyes, Cold War Kids!, Nightmare of You!, and any good Latin music

(my name), PCV
Cuerpo de Paz
Chaco Boreal 162 casi Mcal. Lopez
Asuncion, 1580, Paraguay


Hasta la proxima!

The ingredients for the delicious salad I was about to make! All these came from my neighbors/my garden moments before eating

The landscape around my house

My neighbor preparing sausages after our other neighobr killed a cow and kindly gave the intestines to them as a gift....to later be stuffed with pork

My nieghbor (owner of my house) feeding the chickens and ducks

Right next to my house!

My lovely room

Back of house...the fence of my vege garden

view from a distance. That field is usually full of cows and oxen but of course they´re all off behind that tree on the right

My hammock!

There is nothing like a good chair

I’m always a little intimidated when I sit down to write a new blog entry. I really have no idea where to begin and because my life here moves one day at a time like everyone else it seems a lot less eventful than it may seem to someone else. All complaining aside, I’ve tried to organize this entry into a few different categories...


Paraguayan culture:

When it comes to Paraguayans there are two really interesting yet contradictory observations I’ve made. One is that if you’re are a guest in somebody’s home they may as well start jumping through hoops to make sure that you have not only the nicest chair of the bunch but are also the best located within the group. It’s quite amazing. Even if I approach a group of elderly, someone is bound to get up out of their seat immediately and offer me their chair. I can politely reject because of the absurdity of an elderly offering me their chair but I’ve learned that it’s really no use. You are going to sit in that chair…because they for damn sure aren’t going to let you stand.

Now on the other hand, the Paraguay bus system is completely the opposite situation. Busses here are frequently one big “quilombo”/big mess. The seats are brutally close to each other and people frequently bring ridiculously large objects on the bus with them. Because automobiles aren’t too common, some of the more interesting things I’ve seen on busses are as follows: a bag of live chickens (10-12), enough groceries to equal an afternoon at Sam’s, a modest 3 piece furniture set. The point of telling you all this is to highlight the utter mess a bus can be. Almost never have I seen anybody move to the window seat so that the next person to come along can have easy access to the aisle seat. And almost never have I seen an aisle seat person get up out of their chair to let a window seat person out. So what do they do then? They make the window seat person to a funky little dance to get by two legs that are ever to politely scooted to side.

(An important note here is that “yes” I did think of the possibility that the guest in a house observation applies to me being an American/Foreigner but that is simple not true. It applies to all guests)

Ok, moving on. I think I can finally say that I do indeed have a favorite thing about the culture down here…and that would be the elaborate use of the “thumbs up”. Giving somebody the thumbs up here can be used in just about any situation. It’s most commonly used when passing by someone to signify “what up”. But it also doubles as a good morning/good afternoon, can mean “nice work!”, can be given to cure an awkward silence, can be given enthusiastically to say something like “how you livin my man”, can be given as a polite way to tell someone “I see you’re there but to be honest I don’t feel like having a five minute conversation about the weather or how the American has 5 Paraguayan girlfriends that he’s secretly not telling anyone about, it can mean “pretty nice day out, no?”, can be given with a mouth full of food to mean “the food is delicious”, or even “I don’t have the slightest clue what you just said in Guarani but here’s a thumbs up instead of a response”.

That’s about it for now but I’d really love to expand upon this list at a later date.

Shifting topics into the kitchen-- Despite most meals here being a very informal dining experience, Paraguayans love to put table cloths on the table before eating. I’ve come to realize that this has little to do with a nice looking table but much more to do with having a readily available giant napkin with which you can raise at any given moment to clean off a sauce covered face. Talk about the most redneck thing you could possibly do! I must admit that I haven’t yet introduced a clean, yet thoroughly stained, table cloth to my face yet… but it is has without a doubt become one of my major goals over the next two years.

*this is hardly something everyone does but none the less has been confirmed as an acceptable way to clean hands and face in Paraguay

There are also two inventions that have made their way to Paraguay that have most certainly never made their way into my life in the states. The first is something I’ve been dreaming about my whole life, a super duper amazing ceiling fan that ISN’T terribly loud. That’s right, Paraguayan fans put us in the Stone Age. They are incredibly compact, quiet and blistering fast. If you put yourself under the right fan you might even muster the courage to attempt an afternoon nap in 100 degree heat.

The other invention they have mastered down here is the lawn chair. And it makes sense…considering the most definitive part of Paraguayan culture is to sit in front of your house drinking terere with your neighbors. These chairs may seem like normal metal chairs with rubber stands providing a support system, but upon plopping down in one for your first terere session you quickly realize that we in the U.S. have had lawn chairs wrong for a very long time now. The most fundamental difference in the chairs down here has something to do with the perfect angle of the arm rests. Also important is the slight upward angle it puts your legs and the slight lean it provides for your back. It truly is chair heaven.

In fact, chairs and fans are so superior here that it’s got me wondering how the U.S. could possibly be so behind with regards to these two things. My only conclusion is that air conditioning companies along with an underground chiropractors union are doing some serious lobbying in Washington in order to prevent innovation in these two crucial industries.

While on the theme of comparing the U.S with Paraguay…Twice now I’ve been to the doctor, (sorry for not telling you mom but I know how you worry) and twice I’ve had quite impressive experiences. The first was when I smashed my foot into a metal bar and it just would not stop bleeding. Therefore, I went to the health center and literally 20 minutes later I walked out with two stitches and a prescription for an antibiotic. The two stitches added up to a grand total of 5 measly bucks and week’s worth of antibiotics were another $9.

My other incident was when I was terribly congested and hacking up a lung from all the cigarettes I’ve been smoking. (Just kidding, at least about the cigs) Anyway, so went to the health center again to get checked out by the doctor and get hooked up by the drug dealer in the pharmacy on my way out. When it was all said and done, I was supplied with two prescriptions that cost a total of $1 whole dollar. When I inquired how they can possible afford to sell their drugs so cheap that looked at me with a puzzled face. “Well because the government provides them practically for free.” Would you imagine that…free preventative medicine. Three days later I was practically back at 100%.

*These prices don’t include the assistance of health insurance. For now, you can only find insurance in the capital



Work related stuff:

Things are going pretty much the same the same at the cooperative that requested my presence. I stop in for about a half hour a day to see if they need my help translating an email. My time at the cooperative mostly consists of throwing out really exaggerated greetings in Guarani, then I move on.

On a more positive note, I finally finished working on the vegetable garden I was doing with a family. A few weeks ago we planted watermelon, honeydew, cucumber, and lettuce. (After weeks of preparation) It turned about to be a really successful project. I say that only because every time I went to help them out they would work alongside me and do even more when on days I wasn’t there. Now they have this big huge garden that all the neighbors are jealous of. That jealousy is very important for two reasons. One, the family I worked with loves knowing the neighbors are jealous and in order to maintain that jealous they’ll have to keep working hard to maintain the garden. The second is because hopefully when the neighbors see this beautiful garden they’re going to ask themselves “why don’t we start growing our own vegetables, that way we can make the other neighbors jealous and we don’t have to buy vegetables anymore ”. What I’m trying to highlight here the importance of a little friendly competition amongst neighbors and how it can be a vital role in creating a more sustainable community.

On to the next project-- I can’t remember if I talked in my last blog about how I’m teaching in a school for “ninos de la calle”/ kids that spend their time wandering the streets, but if I did you can skip over the next paragraph. The reason they spend so much time in the street is because they have absolutely terrible family lives, if they have one at all. Anyway, there is nun who provides them with breakfast and lunch 5 days a week and in between meals she holds class for them. I have started teaching there one day a week. Primarily I’m teaching English, but I’ve started to change it up because for these kids English is about the last thing they need to learn. With that said, English does serve as a nice confidence builder and because of that I don’t plan to give it up completely. I also bring my guitar and play music for them and have started a vegetable with them too.

And for the most exciting news yet…….I found a group of women who have come together to sell their fruits and vegetables. I’ve been working with them for a few weeks now. If you remember from a while back, I talked about how every Saturday there is a farmers market in my town…well this group comprises that farmers market. They have this open air tent in which they bring all their crops every week but the problem is they’re not selling enough. And that’s where I come in. I’m currently putting together a marketing plan for the group so they can start taking better advantage of their fairly large/relatively affluent market. Fortunately for me, there are a ton of very obvious yet inexpensive marketing techniques they’re currently not implementing. I still have a long way to go in the way of gaining their trust so who know how long it will be till they want to really hear what I have to say. At the very least, I’ll be prepared when they are ready. As for now, I’m just trying to understand their situation better. Another unique part of this group is that they make tons of delicious products straight from their farms like: strawberry jam, homemade yogurts, specialty breads etc. I’m hoping I can help find a more “specialty market” in the capital in which they could put those products. If there were only a Whole Foods in town they’d buy up the whole damn block. What a shame.


Housing:

So for the last month I have been living with a new family. I have my own little house that’s in the back yard of a house that is smack dab in the middle of town. Because the plaza is right in front of the house, this is definitely the place to be if you want to up to date with the latest gossip. You know who is going were with whom and at what time.

The family is composed of a mother and her four kids. The kids range from 11-16. I’m actually the fourth volunteer to have lived with this family, (very rare) so the whole family is very well adapted to having an American around. My host mom is a teacher in the local high school and is an amazing conversationalist. We had tons of great chats about Paraguay/America and about her previous 6 years hosting a PC volunteer. Her stories are absolutely enthralling. Therefore, I’m trying to get her to write a book. Any publishers who might be reading this…you want this book!

Looking back, it’s been an absolutely amazing month with them, but none the less I’ll be moving 7km away in a few short weeks. My new little house is located on top of a hill and it has a view that overlooks endless amounts of coconut trees, sugar cane fields, pineapple fields and tons of other gorgeous plants. I’m super pumped to finally get out with the farmers! I’ll have the opportunity to learn a ton of agriculture and live a really quiet peaceful life. Also, the people out there speak much less Spanish so I’ll really have to step up my Guarani, which is another reason I want to move out there. I’ll still be biking into the center a few times a week to visit the friends I’ve made and for work purposes but I plan on devoting a lot time in the coming months to being a farmer and improving my Guarani.

Side notes:

Tomorrow I’m going to the Paraguay vs. Peru world cup qualifying soccer match. I’ve heard it’s going to be wild!

I’m really desperate for some good new music. If anybody wants so send me some good stuff that’s come out in the last 4 months I’d really appreciate it.

I read a fantastic book recently called “Ishmael” by Daniel Quinn.

*NOTE TO FUTURE PARAGUAY VOLUNTEERS
Paraguayans do laundry EVERY DAY. Therefore, you need not back a lot of clothes. I’ve recently put half my clothes in a bag to never be used again.

Hope everyone is well. Send emails with updates on your lives!

Fotos!

All nice and tucked in

Well I’m finally in the place that I’ll be calling home for the next two years… and I’m nice and settled in. I haven’t really done much since I got here. Basically, I walk around like a chicken with its head cut off (which I can say I’ve actually seen now) looking for conversation with one of my new neighbors. Every person I pass I salute with a passionate salutation in Guarani. From there it’s really a guessing game. Many things could occur. The person could respond back smiling, they cross their eyes and think “who in the hell was that person that thinks they’re my new best friend”, they could say something in Guarani to kind of put me to the test, or they could give me the “come here” wave and say “veni un poco”. The “veni un poco” (come here for a minute) and the Guarani test are the two reasons I’m walking around in the first place; to let me face be known to my new community and hope that the person is curious enough to initiate a conversation. Then I get to do this schpeel about what I’m doing here. Usually before I get to explaining that I’m with Cuerpo de Paz, they ask if I’m a Mormon missionary. I don’t know much about their presence here in Paraguay but it certainly seems to be very well known. So immediately after explaining that I’m not a missionary, very few Americans are Mormons, and that my mission has nothing do with religion, I usually receive the following questions; “So you’re not a Mormon missionary but you are a Mormon right?”- ….no I’m not a Mormon -“O but you believe in the Virgin Mary right?” I’m still juggling the answers to the latter.

It’s also important to note the hand gesture that accompanies the “veni un poco”. It’s actually the exact inverse of how an American would face their palm up and move their fingers toward them. A Paraguayan flips there hand over, with their palm to the ground, and moves their fingers back and forth ever so slightly. To me, this looks a little bit like an extended arm having a hand seizure. Therefore, even though I’ve been here for a few months now, I still do a double every time somebody is waving me toward them.

But the very best part of meeting new people is when I get meet someone really old. It’s the elderly that absolutely eat up the idea of a “Norte” speaking Guarani. With a few simple sentences I can make “una vieja” light up light a Christmas tree. And the best part is, when you string a few simple sentences together they walk the whole way home laughing and telling people that the new Mormon missionary speaks fluent Guarani…would you fancy that.

I have to admit that sometimes when I’m walking around I just take a step back and say to myself “Where the hell are you and what are doing here?” It has become incredibly surreal to me that this will be my home for the next two years. With that said, I do feel like I’m incredible lucky to be working in this town and with the cooperative in it. The coop is going to be an amazing opportunity to learn about organics/fair-trade/global trade etc. I’ve also gone and met the Principals of the two schools in the area.

The first school maintains a huge garden with every kind of vegetable you could dream of. The Principal told me that the reason for doing the garden is to show the community and to spread the word to farmers that they don’t need a huge plot of land in order to feed themselves. What they need is to be is smart in the way they manage the land. I’m actually really excited to learn about that stuff…at the school and from local farmers.

It was super funny when I visited that school because the Principal who was taking me around was a rather large woman and the instant she met me she locked her arm in mine and we went strolling around the school (where all the kids are playing various games/sports) and was introducing me as her new boyfriend to all the girls. Every time she would introduce me to a new group she’d laugh and laugh and say something like “Can you believe this is young American is dating a fat Paraguayan like me?” It was truly a trip.

But that story brings up a good point, which is; Paraguayan’s are ridiculously blunt when talking about the way they look, or the way you look. Almost every overweight person I’ve met has blatantly acknowledged that fact in a joking manner. Also, if you have a defining feature, that feature automatically becomes you’re nickname. For example, if you have a big nose, look like monkey, sweat a lot…that’s you’re nickname. “Hey big nose, what are you doing tonight?”

Getting back to the schools; At the other school there is some serious potential for an amazing project. The Principal wants to put together an orchestra (that’s right, and orchestra), prepare a show, and take the show on the road to surrounding schools…all in the name of promoting the power of music. (ARE YOU SERIOUS!) If you know me at all, you know this would be an absolute dream to make this happen. Anyway, he said he’s been planning this out for a while now but he was missing somebody to teach the kids guitar and some singing. Despite my limited knowledge in both those respects…that’s my new job! You see, we discussed the idea having the orchestra play a mix of Paraguayan songs and classic rock songs. The idea being that it’s much easier to promote and have fun when you let them play the songs they know and love. Therefore, it will be my job to lead the rock part. There’s obviously a ton of logistical things to figure out but it’s obviously “vale la pena” (worth it). In order to get the kids excited about the idea, I told him that the first thing we should do is get the movie “School of Rock” and show it to the kids. (School of Rock is a movie about a substitute teacher who turns his class into a rock band and they end up competing in a talent show) Therefore, I’m off to Asuncion this week to track down the movie and get the ball rolling.

Other projects I’m getting involved in; In the name of goodwill my host dad for the time being has decided that were going to help a struggling family friend of his expand his garden. I also spoke with the President of the coop about English classes for the coop employees and additional classes for the community members. We also talked about how the coop needs a website, so I’m in charge of that and also translating all the information so the website is in both English and Spanish. Lastly, I asked him to help me find the next family I stay with…I want to make sure it’s with a sugar cane farmer. That way, I can work on the farm and learn the life of a “campesino” and start to understand what I really means for a farm to be organic (which is more than just “non-chemical”)

How about a little bit about my living situation? Well, right now I’m truly living in middle class Paraguay. The family I’m staying with is a middle aged couple with both their kids working in the big cities of Paraguay. They run a few different businesses out of their home. The first is a sort of mini grocery/pharmacy. People in the surrounding houses come to their house to buy their bread, soap, empanadas, beer, eggs etc. Then, behind this “dispensa” they have a rather large open room which has a few tables. At those tables they serve lunch to anybody that wants to come in. So it’s kind of like a restaurant except they only have one meal prepared each day, as opposed to a menu. A fresh salad, fresh juice, and a fantastic home-made desert accompany every meal. (They use lime juice for salad dressing, delicious and healthy) Paying in Guaranis it costs a Paraguayan about $2 for this meal. The third part of the business is basically a catering/delivery service. You can phone in orders and have them delivered hot to your door.
Obviously, this is a lot more work than two people can handle, therefore, they have 4 additional people working for them; three women in the kitchen and a delivery guy. I absolutely love hanging out with the three women in the kitchen. They also think most things I say in Guarani are hysterical; either because it’s ridiculously wrong or the utter shock factor of an American speaking their language. Oftentimes I hang out with them while they’re cooking because they teach me a lot about not only Guarani but how to cook. And they also think it’s a riot that a man would take an interest in cooking. One day when they were really busy I offered to help dice tomatoes and they reacted like I’d just offered to fly them to the moon. Not only did they crack up at the notion of a man preparing food but also that I possess the incredible skill of “dicing”. When I took that first tomato in my hand they all gathered round and were secretly praying for me to screw it up(which I’m not sure is possible). When I completed the mission they began saying to each other in Guarani “how intelligent, how hard working”. Honestly, on the average day I get far too much credit.

In essence, I get to eat like a king. I have tons of privacy because they have no kids and are very respective, I have a full size bed (like a large couch cushion), and a floor fan. The only down side it that I’ve been getting ridiculously bit up by mosquitoes.

I guess you could say everything is going really well. Of course, I have times when I’m “down” too but who really wants to hear about that depressing crap. Really, I just miss friends, family and “normalcy” sometimes. Come visit!


That’s it for now. Nos vemos.

Streams and Swamps

2 big updates:

1. I officially finished training and swore in as a volunteer

2. I found out where I´m going to be living for the next two years. It´s called Arroyos y Esteros (streams and swamps) Its a small town of about 8,000 with several surrounding companias/rural pueblos. Two weeks ago I spent a week there visiting before moving all my stuff out there in a few days. I´m not yet sure if I´ll be living in the more ubran center area or out in a compania, but I´ll definitely be starting with a host family in the unban center.

In the center of town there is the cooperative in which I´ll be working. It´s a fairly large coop, 20 employees, that specializes in organic/fair trade sugar. Some cool things about that: Because it´s organic/fair trade they are able to do a lot of exporting to europe and are constantly looking for new markets, including the US. Therefore, they need help with communications in English and with English classes so they can remain in touch after I leave. Also, the townspeople have become very aware of the importance of organics and it has served as the first step toward being a more socially conscience town. Every saturday there is a big farmers market where the local farmers bring their organic fruits/veges/meat. With that said, this town and cooperative are much more progressive than I ever imagined. Therefore, potential projects weren´t exactly jumping out at me as they are in the town in which I´ve spent the last few months. The biggest thing they need at this point is internet, both the coop and the town in general. So maybe I can do an internet project. Backtracking for a sec, but because I spent my only week in the urban center I´m not as familiar with what´s problems the farmers are facing in the surrounding areas. Basically, my first few months in site will entail going around to those farmers, getting to know them, and talking about what kind of potential projects they may be interested in. That´s pretty much it. I´ll probably have a lot more expand upon after living there for a few weeks. Hasta entonces.

Poco a Poco

-So because I felt like my last post really sucked I made a serious effort to brainstorm some interesting cultural things. Here is goes:

- My family is always asking me "Do you want to shower?". I find it incredibly strange considering I’m 23 years old and am pretty good at determining when I’m ready for a shower. I know you must be thinking, "You obviously smell terrible and nobody has the heart to tell you." Despite the fact that I think I smell like roses, I’m constantly burring my head in my armpit to check on the current situation. One conclusion as to why they’re so inquisitive about my shower habits is that because it’s usually so hot throughout the year they shower like crazy…It just so happens that it’s not that hot yet. Another conclusion is that they are very particular about the order things should go in. Maybe they think I should have to shower before eating dinner. For example, I have to brush my teeth before I drink mate with my dad every morning.
- Speaking of drinking mate…I’ll take you through my typical morning real quick. I wake up at about 6 (I usually go to bed at about 9 or 10) and read for a bit. So then I get up at 6: 30 and drink mate with my dad. He lies in bed and I pull up a chair. Meanwhile, we watch the equivalent of Paraguay’s "The Today Show". The best part of this time is that as opposed to only talking about headlines, they literally put a camera on the headlines of the newspaper and color the day’s news. I sit there with my pen and dictionary and jot down words I don’t know. The whole time I’m doing this I get the feeling that my dad is thinking "when is this weird ass American going to put down that damn dictionary and start making me some breakfast".
-They love to iron their clothes here. There are very few luxuries people have here but one of them is definitely an iron. They iron every single piece of clothing they have. From their t-shirts to their socks. It’s quite astounding.
- They are incredibly indirect. If anybody needs anything from you, you’re sure to hear about it from someone besides the person that needs that thing. Therefore, they never give answers of yes or no. If you ask them a yes or no question you’re sure to beat around the bush until you get the point. For example, if someone is trying to sell you something and you don’t want to buy it you say "another day" or "later".
- The gossip around town is unreal! If I so much as blow my nose all my neighbors are sure to know about it. What makes this really weird is that when I see my neighbor later that day he’ll ask me…"So I heard you blew your nose earlier?" And then for some reason they expect you to comment on things that you’ve done as if they just asked you what the meaning of life is.
- People here don’t do anything alone or go anywhere alone. If I want to go somewhere my little brothers will ask me "do you want me to come with you?" If I was to say no they would be really thrown for a loop. So taking a walk by yourself just for the hell of it is kind of out of the question. The idea of family is the central theme of everything they do.
- They don’t really have trash cans. The only trash can in my house is the one next to the toilet. Therefore, all of their trash just goes on the floor. For example, when we are done eating bread and there are a million crumbs on the table (because there are no plates) they just wipe them on the floor until the floor is swept. Sweeping in general is a huge thing. Because they don’t have paved roads, there is always red dirt all over your feet and shoes. And they don’t take their shoes off before entering a home…so it wouldn’t be uncommon at all to sweep the floors of your house 3 times a day. In conclusion, the floor is the trash can, with all sorts of trash. Then they burn their trash in a hole in the ground behind the house.
- There is absolutely no such thing as too personal of a question. For every single thing I own there has been the question of "how much does that cost?". I have been asked many times about my sex life, why I only have one sibling, if my eyes are natural etc…all in the initial meeting. While I had a beard, someone even asked me if I was trying to look like a terrorist.
- On the public busses there are vendors that hop in and out selling everything from food, gum and bread to socks and movies. Nothing would surprise me at this point.
- People share all the drinks. For example, if sharing some after dinner dessert, aka coca cola, you would pour one glass and pass it around. At more social functions they love to combine the Coke with wine. That one took a minute to get used to but I’ve started to come around. They drink their beer with the same sharing style and sometime combine it with Coke also. It makes it very tricky to know how much you’ve drank because everyone is essentially just taking sips out of the same glass all night.
- Girls become adults at the age of 15 here; so there is huge party. After that point they are eligible to date a man of any age. The courting process if full of home visits with the family until you can escape to a "love motel" where you have to get it on by the hour. Another option is to tell someone indirectly that you’ll be leaving your window open that night. Flirting can be done through excessively long staring matches, scratching the inside of someone’s hand during a handshake, or by telling someone "say hi to that person if you see them". It’s called sending saludos. Those are just the beginning…
2 more things. Last week I visited an organic/permaculture farm where a family of 10 is almost completely self sufficient on less than an acre of land. It was the most interesting day I’ve had yet. We had this Paraguayan hippie lead us through his farm explaining how everything on the farm works for some purpose. Every output from a plant or animal is an input for something else. For example, the poop from the cows and chickens go into the compost pile with other organic products like leaves on the ground and peels from the grapefruit tree. Then the compost pile becomes the fertilizer for the crops. The crops not only feed the family but also their animals. (very basic example) They are even energy independent. They use what is called a bio-digester to produce gas. A bio-digester is a tube like thing where you put water, animal waste, and plant waste into until the right chemical reaction takes place. Then they run a hose out of it to the kitchen where they use the gas from the bio-digester to heat the food. They also sell products like homemade jam and eggs for income generation.

The other day I got back from what is called "long field practice". I went with two others in my group to visit a volunteer, Greg, for a week. We had an absolute blast. Greg lives in a town right on a lake and you have to go across a 2.5 kilometer barge to get there. Upon arriving on the other side it absolutely gorgeous. There are huge banana fields as far as the eye can see and the lake often times serves as a backdrop. The volunteer has spent a large part of his last two years setting up a radio station and working with the cooperative that’s main purpose is banana production. Because his site is very rural he mainly speaks Guarani…fluent Guarani I should add. (he also speaks fluent Spanish now too) It was absolutely amazing seeing him mash it up in this crazy sounding dialect. Very inspirational but also a bit intimidating…as one person from our group is going to be his replacement. I’ve kind of got my fingers crossed that I get his site because I requested a very rural site and I know of a few of the other future sites that aren’t quite so out there. He also did great work while he was there, so by following him I’d already know the people in his town have had a positive experience working with PC volunteer. I’ve only one more week until I find out…ridiculously exciting. Highlights of the week include; going swimming/bathing in the lake, crapping in a hole for a week, having my buddy kill a chicken and then I plucked out all the feathers (we then ate it for lunch), and just walking through incredible banana fields.
The next time I write I’ll know my site! Jajotopata.

Check out Paulette's blog for more pictures and info peacecorpsparaguay.blogspot.com

Todo Bien

Alrighty, so here goes another attempt to bring a little insight into my life here in Paraguay. I have had an awesome last 2 weeks but before I get into it I want to follow up on the story about making mate dulce. As I had mentioned, in order to get the coco I was cracking the shell with the dull side of an axe. At that point I wasn’t really questioning where the mini coconuts were coming from. There are many gigantic coconut trees in the area so clearly my little brother had gone underneath one and collected all the coconuts….or so I thought. What really happens is that while the cows are grazing they eat the coconuts. The coconuts they eat actually have two different shells, one on top of the other. Therefore, what happens is the cows eat the coconut and as it digests them it breaks the first layer down so that when they take a crap they send out coconuts with only one layer left. So that means…my brother picked out the coconuts from the piles of cow crap that are out in the field. Pretty disgusting to think about but I still would jump at the chance to drink some, even as I write this.

Since drinking coconut milk that has passed through the digestive track of a cow, I have had a few more experiences that are worthy of sharing. The first one was when my group of 6 cooperative volunteers went to visit a small town called Valenzuela. It is there that a current volunteer, Jenn, is about to finish her service. We went there for to 2 days to check out her site and see first hand what she has been up to the last 2 years. To start, Jenn did her service where her main project being a women’s group, as opposed to a cooperative. The women’s group has a very similar idea to the co-op except with a goal more centered around empowering women.

So when I got to Valenzuela I was dropped off at my host new host family (Just for this one night). They were the sweetest family ever. They have 6 little kids and my main interaction with the 4 youngest ones consisted of them staring at me for long periods of time as if I was some sort of alien. The dad is a Priest and plays guitar. Both him and his wife are taking an intensive year of night school so they can get there high school diplomas. By the end of the year they’ll have done the equivalent of their last three years of high school. Part of their ciriculum is English. Naturally, I was able to help them with that and they, like many, think it’s a modern marvel I can help them with their English homework. Then, before we went to bed that night we passed the guitar back and forth, showing each other what music is like from our respective worlds.

In the time between getting dropped off and that rock out session, we all went to Jenn’s women’s center and the cooperative in her town. The women’s center is composed of a few different rooms. The first one is little store that sells various school supplies and things like cotton blankets and placemats. Behind that is a room of computers that Jenn put together. Through a matching grants program in Paraguay she got the computers and internet. Then in the back there is a huge wooden structure that makes the blankets and placemats that are sold in their little store. Unfortunately, I don’t know the right name for it but its basic purpose is to use huge spools of cotton and convert it into cloth. There are a few petals on the bottom and by stepping on them you send the string from one side to the other. Then pull the stings together and tie off the ends. Lastly, there is a kitchen where the women are holding classes. They bring in a chef from the capital in hopes that a few of them will go on to start their own bakery. As of now, all the baked goods are brought in from a neighboring town. Therefore, there seems to be a large demand for a local bakery. As you may imagine, this would set a great example for women to be more entrepreneurial in the future.

After we left the women’s center we went to the cooperative, at which she doesn’t work because it’s an incredibly successful co-op. It was there we met with the director and she explained to use the 40 year story of the co-op and its road to success. They have done such a good and have so many members that they’re even able to provide health insurance! The co-op makes its money 2 ways. In the same way Jenn’s women’s group makes things with the cotton machine, the co-op does the same except thing on a much larger scale. Not only do they make tons of blankets and placemats, but also rugs and hammocks. They also give out loans and collect on the interest. If you want a loan you have to start off with the equivalent of $125 and if you pay that back you can continue to build your way up and up with every repayment. They have something like 6,000 members! All those members pay an upfront amount to join and then a monthly payment as well. The benefits they receive by being a member are: they have access to those loans, they can buy the products it produces at a discount, and they get a share of the profits every year. In the case of this co-op, those profits are going toward helping to pay for different form of insurance, in addition to the health insurance. To say the least, I was fascinated hearing about the success of the co-op and how it has played such a big role in improving their local economy.

When we finished with the co-op director Jenn told us about some the side projects she’s done, which often end up being a larger part of a volunteer’s service than their main project. The two that stood out to me were a project involving digital cameras and the other a diary project. Beginning with the camera project, PC Paraguay got a grant for some digital cameras and if a volunteer requests them they go with the volunteer to their site for a few weeks. In those few weeks the volunteer teaches a group of youth how to use them and some basic ideas of what kinds of pictures to take. Of course, the kids absolutely love using the cameras. It’s a fantastic project to introduce the power of art and build self esteem. It commences with an exhibit of all the kids favorite pictures. And the best of best will actually be on display at the embassy for the 4^th of July party. (Strangely enough, it’s the second biggest US embassy in the world, second only to Iraq)

The other project she did was a having the kids write a diary. She said the kids really got into it because any sort creative writing is something completely new them. From what I’ve been told, the only writing they do is direct copying off the chalk board while in school. Then at the end of the diary project they presented them at the school…meaning they read their diaries aloud. Amazing. I can’t wait to do both of those projects! I especially can’t wait because I just read The Freedom Writers Diary. It was the perfect book to keep inspired.

Well that’s pretty much it as far as my visit to Jenn’s site goes. The other cool experience I had was my 3^rd “dia de practica” or day of practice in the community. These days of pracitca are days that we spend alone networking in the community as opposed to going to language class all morning. In day one I was assigened to a part of the community and I basically just walked around getting to know the people and their situations. The idea is that at the end of the day you pick the one place you visited where you want to spend the remaining 4 days of practice. The most fascinating place that I went was a huge awesome field of lettuce, onions, carrots, and other veges…which I think I’ve mentioned in a precious blog. Well anyway, last week I was able to work in the field with them all morning harvesting lettuce. The process went a little like this: There is a sort of head of lettuce coming up from the ground and because the ground is so fertile you stick your hand into the ground and rip it out by the roots, rip the roots off, and grab a few more. Once you’ve made a nice little pile of you move on. Then all the little piles get loaded into a huge wooden box which is carried to the sink to be washed. The washing process is done in two huge cement sinks coming off the ground. The first is to sort of get the majority of dirt off and the second to get it pretty close to all the way clean. Then all the lettuce is piled together and we had to tie them into bundles for shipping. While sitting in are these little kiddy chairs, kindergarten style, we took the leaves from the coconut trees and ripped them into sting. The leaves have veins that run vertically so you can easily split them into something viable for tying the lettuce together. This went on for a few hours and being that I was bare foot and on my hand and knees all day I was nice and dirty when it was all over. Throughout the day I had been inquiring about whole process of how they get their products to market and what kinds of problems they are encountering. It was a great learning experience, and hopefully I’ll know a lot more by the time I’m done with my 5^th day with them.

I’m going to try and wrap this up here. A something I have coming up: Next week I’m going on a 5 day visit with 2 others in my group to a volunteer who is in a really rural site…meaning no running water or toilets. Because we’ve met him a few times already and realized that he’s got a ton to teach us we’re pretty excited. His service has been spent working a banana plantation and the production cooperative it’s associated with. It’s in a community that almost completely surrounded by water so you have to take a boat to get there. When the bananas get picked up for shipping to Argentina a huge truck has to come across via a barge. I’ve heard it’s absolutely gorgeous. I can’t wait. And because he leaves in a few weeks we think that his site will be one of our sites in the future. I´ve kind of got my fingers crossed.

Then the week after I get back from there we get our site placements. We’re all nervously awaiting to hear what site we’ll be spending the next 2 years of our lives.

That’s it. Until next time.

p.s. I´m gathering a list of interesting culutural stuff. That´s still to come.

Typical Night?

So I just had a really cool night and I thought I’d take you through it. It’s a two part story. The first part begins to take place on a freezing cold night in my back yard. It was there that I was smashing miniature coconuts with the flat side of an axe. My little 12 year old brother and I were tag teaming the process of making something called “mate dulce”. To help with the mental picture, while doing this there were 2 huge oxen about 15 feet away and tons of chickens running around us. My job was to crack the shell of these mini coconuts so he could gather up the coco part for later use. After collecting a few handfuls we took them inside and put them inside a wooden bowl. Then with a kind of wooden hammer we smashed up the coco into something a little thicker than coffee grinds. Meanwhile, my dad was boiling cow’s milk in the other room over a little fire he had just made. He then added some sugar to the milk and moved the fire to the bedroom, where we would drink the “mate dulce’’. Then we filled a wooden cup, called a guampa, with the coco grounds and poured the milk in. In order to drink it up we use this metal straw called a bombilla and take turns filling it up with hot milk, drinking it, and passing it. (this is completely different dink than regular mate, although the drinking process sounds almost identical) To say the least, I absolutely fell in love with this “mate dulce”!!! As we sat there drinking it for the next half an hour I couldn’t help but think about how perfect it was that every aspect of this delicious drink had come from within a few kilometers of my house…the milk, the sugar, the coco, the supplies for the fire. I realize I may be a huge dork for thinking this is an incredible cool experience, but whatever. Actually, I think the only thing that would have made it better would be if I had milked the cow myself, which I plan to soon. (By the way, this drink would absolutely kill at Starbucks if anybody wants to mention it to them.)

The next part of the night deals with the fact that I have recently been teaching my 2 little brothers to use my laptop. Considering that it’s the first computer they’ve seen, let alone been able to use, they absolutely love it….especially the 12 year old. He bugs me like crazy to use it and it is truly a test of my patience but of course I understand where he’s coming from. I mean if I was 12 had a chance to search through endless amounts of amateur porn I’d probably do the same. Only kidding, I would never be that negligent. I keep all the porn on my thumb drive. But seriously, I am teaching how to use MSFT word and how to properly write something, which I do very little of on this blog. Because the education system here is really behind, he’s still not familiar with things like capitalizing at the beginning of a sentence, where to put the period, the commas, etc. The reason for being so behind has a lot to do with the fact that they only go to school for a few hours a day and have no access to books. Therefore, we’ve had a few sessions now on how work the computer in general and I told him his assignment tonight was to write something all by himself. He ended up doing so and when he said he was done he came to get me and we looked over his mistakes. Therefore, we got to hammering away as to how he could improve his writing. Little by little, he would finish, call me back in and we’d go over the paper. As almost 2 hours had passed, the document was starting to read pretty well. While he was sitting there writing, I could hear my music selection of Damien Rice playing from the computer in the next room. Then it happened. All the sudden the he changed the song, which caught my ear, and it was Imagine by John Lennon. For the first 30 seconds I sat in shock trying to figure out why, of the thousands of songs on my computer, he chose Imagine. Could there be a decent explanation for choosing “the song” of songs? Eventually I decided it had to of been just plain coincidence. At the end of the song I went in to ask him why of all songs he chose that one and he reaffirmed that it was chosen randomly. Personally, I think that’s pretty amazing! And on that note, and a personal one, I think there is such an enormous amount of hope in the future of the computer and its ability to bridge the education gap throughout the world. And because internet and computer projects are something that PC volunteers are constantly working on, this was a really inspiring night for me and a great reminder of why I’m here in the first place.

As for what’s to come, this week I am starting to help out on a farm that grows tons of lettuce, onions, carrots and other “garden” style veges. I’m super excited about that and hopefully will have an update about that in my next post. It’s sort of a practice experience during training to prepare for being at my site. I also got a request to talk more about cultural differences, so that will be part of the next one too. Mas tarde.

Tranquilo

Ok, so after being here for what feels like the longest week of my entire life I’m finally able to sit down and write about what my life has been like since joining the peace corps in Paraguay. O boy, so many things to cover to and no idea where to begin.

Lets start with pre service training. My first two days were actually in Miami to prepare us for the crazy cultural differences of Paraguay. It was there that I met the other 17 people in G-27. They are fantastic and I can’t say enough about how great it has been getting to know them.

So when training ended we flew 8.5 hours into Buenos Aires and then into Asuncion, Paraguay. When we got there we were greeted by Peace Corps staff and all of our luggage...except someone’s was missing. Yes, my baggage was still in Miami when I was Paraguay but it turned out OK as it actually did come the next day.

We then went to the training center in a town called Guarumbare, which is like an hour outside of Ausuncion (the capital). It was there that they told the 6 rural economic development volunteers that we’d be housed in a more rural town another hour from the capital and have to take 2 buses and walk 3km (each way) the two times a week all 18 of meet. The other days of the week I have training in my town of Aveiro with just the 6 six rural folk. Averio is somewhat rural, as most people have some livestock/crops. The houses sit randomly along a few red dirt roads. There’s no retail of any sort, except little stores that sell some of the bare essentials. It is pretty rustic looking from the outside but in general most people are doing ok.

Training isn’t the most exciting thing. We have to be there at 7:45 in the morning and are done at 5. The first half of the day is language training. And in case you didn’t know, the first language here is Guarani, not Spanish. Although Spanish is important and most are bi-lingual, they prefer Guarani and are really stressing it in language class. Actually, the most commonly spoken language is Jopra, which is a mix between the two languages. Then in the afternoon, we have technical training or job training. What that means for me is learning about cooperatives. There are a few popular types of cooperatives that I may be working in; savings and loans, production, sale...or any combination of those 3. I’ll be more specific about that when I have more info. But if you didn’t know, the basic idea behind a cooperative is a group of people coming together to start a business that will directly benefit its consumers/users...hence, themselves. There is likely some sort of shared labor system and all dividends are equally distributed. A basic example may be a group of farmers coming together to start a market. This way, they don’t have to sell their crops to a middle man and are more in control of their fate. Maybe they all take turns working in it and everyone has to put in an equal amount of labor in its construction.

Enough with the boring job related stuff. What’s it like to live with a family, let alone a Paraguayan family???? Well when I was first dropped off in Aveiro, the 6 of use were lined up across from 6 families and our name was called out along with a family name. Everyone clapped and it was just as awkward as it sounds. Then I was introduced to my new house for the next 11 weeks. It turns out, I live in a really nice house. Things I have that I want necessarily expecting; sparatic electricity, running water, and a stove. I will admit its nice to not have a run to an outhouse every time I need to use the bathroom!!! Only one of the 6 of us have to do that. But the bathroom situation is definitely a developing one. Although I do have a toilet, you can’t throw the toilet paper in it. The TP goes in the trash can and mixes with last person to take a crap, which produce one beautiful aroma. The shower does have a hot water switch but literally one little stream of water comes out. If I want freezing cold water more will come out. I do have my own room but I feel terrible because the other 3 in my family are all sleeping in the same bed to accommodate me. There is a single light bulb hanging from each of the 4 rooms and it provides minimal light. Around my house I have all sorts of animals and plants. At any given time and I’m probably within 20 feet of several chickens, dogs, cows, and/or pigs. I also have several orange and lime trees and mandioca (like potato) plants in my yard. As far as eating goes, every morning I wake up and drink mate with my host dad. It’s kind of this cup you fill with plants and take turns drinking hot water from it with a straw. Then I have bread for breakfast. For lunch and dinner they eat a lot of meat and fry everything they can. This is definitely not the place for a neither balanced nor healthy diet. The people are super nice but also so incredibly curious about everything. While I was unpacking my family just stood there and watched. They go through my stuff when I’m not around. Not because they are rude but because this family oriented culture shares everything. And now that I’m in the family they want to see all their new stuff.

The first few days were absolutely freezing, below 40 at night. Therefore I was sleeping in practically all the clothes I brought. But to be honest, it wasn't that bad after getting used to it the first night. But the last two days were actually quite hot. We are supposed to be in winter but I could swear it got up to about 80 a few times in the last 2 days.

The people here have been so nice. They are characterized by the word "tranquilo" (calm, chill, don't worry) and it certainly shows. Us Americans have become somewhat famous around town. Everyone knows are names and we haven't even met them. It got old really fast.

I have to wrap this up here but 2 really cool things I’ve done are go to local soccer game and visit a housing cooperativa. I hope everyone is doing well. I’d love to hear from you via email, although I can only get to email for about an hour a week.

Hasta luego.

Todo Bien.

Ok, so here goes another blog post, which I’ll be uploading at the same time as the previous one. The reason for this is that I haven’t had any access to internet in the last week but I do have a computer. Therefore I can write beforehand.. In that time I have been super busy and really enjoying life in Paraguay. We have been learning a lot about agriculture, gardens (for food), compost piles, and the struggles of the Paraguayan economy. In each of the “job” training sessions a current cooperative volunteer has come and helped lead the session. They all seem like they have learned such an enormous amount of information. I’m so jealous! And so excited to get to that point. A few examples of projects the volunteers are working on; One in working in a banana cooperative helping to set it up and organize a buyer in Argentina, another started a women’s cooperative so they could come together and start selling their crafts, many are working on bringing internet to their town, many are working on projects to simply improve the overall efficiency of the co-ops (through Microsoft excel and other uses of the computer), many are talking a lot about crop diversification, planning, and “the way the market works.” Those 3 things may seem like very basic ideas but are brand new to Paraguayan farmers. Literally the simple idea of planning could be a new concept to them. We are receiving amazing training on how to teach these concepts and hopefully implement them upon starting service.

On the other training note, learning Guarani has started to seem a lot less intimidating. I am actually able to have the most basic of conversation and am picking up words here and there in my house. (my entire family speaks in Guarani unless they are talking to me) Meanwhile, my Spanish is also improving because that is my only means of communication outside of Guarani class. The only problem is that many people here speak really bad Spanish. O well.

I had an interesting night last night when I went over this girl’s house, Belen, to get Guarani help. (Also just to get to know my neighbors) She has told me a few times that I should come over and she’ll help me with Guarani and I can help her with her English studies. (She’s 17 mind you). Anyway, I went over and her dad was outside so I introduced myself to him and Belen came out. In the time that she was helping me with the assignment, a good 8 of her family/extended family members seemed to come out of nowhere and were just watching us. It was the most uncomfortable I have ever been in my life. I felt like I was an exhibit in a zoo. When the homework was over everyone started grilling me about why America and Europe are so much more developed and other ridiculous questions. My favorite was “Why don’t American’s speak Spanish, the rest of the Americas do. What’s their problem?” I did make it out alive but it was certainly a first glimpse of what it will be like to be “’the American” for the next 2 years. Many of my nights have been filled with similar, not as interesting, stories. It’s very normal here to start clapping outside of a neighbor’s door and have them invite you in without hesitation. The clapping is a replacement for knocking because many houses don’t have doors. And there doesn’t necessarily need to be any purpose for your visit. It could very well be just to stop by and drink mate. I especially like doing this with my extended family here. My host dad has 3 siblings that live within a stone’s throw and they love doing very exaggerated greetings with me in Guarani. No matter what I say they think it hilarious. They also like asking me words in English and as soon I say them they erupt in laughter. I always knew I was hilarious but this is the first time I’m getting people beside myself to laugh at the things I say. But seriously, Paraguayans have a terrific sense of humor. I can be really sarcastic and they pick it up immediately. Que bueno!

This weekend I’m leaving for 4 days to visit a volunteer a few hours away. I’m not really sure what kind of co-op he’s working in. All I know is that the town is really nice but his co-op serves a very struggling part of town. Anyway, I leave for that tomorrow and hopefully while there I’ll get to internet and post this. Adios.