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.