The PY Chronicles: My Two Years in Peace Corps

4.26.2010 - Where Has the Time Gone?

2010-04-26T21:17:00.002-04:00

So I'm here at my computer, as I usually am at this time of the evening, and I decided to write a short blog since it's been so long.

What have I been up to? At this point I am counting the days until I go home (about 3 months), trying to raise the rest of these funds to construct the new women's center (see previous blog entry), and essentially doing my best to maintain my mental equilibrium.

I continue to have an occasional run-in with a tarantula getting into my house somehow (most recent one was about 4 nights ago), however last night, while I was showering at my former host family's house, I came across a smaller but deadlier critter. A scorpion in the shower. It was so small I had to lean in close to tell what it was, was shocked when I realized it was a scorpion, but then a bit more shocked when it didn't move the entire time I showered. Interesting. So today I consulted my local mother who informed me that it was likely not dead, because staying still is typical scorpion behavior. At that moment, I almost saw my life flash before my eyes. Good thing, however, that I kept a close watch on it as I showered and was therefore ready to kill it with my flip-flop at the drop of a dime.

That's all for now folks, please visit my Peace Corps Partnership Project's website and give as much (or as little) as you can. We are truly making a difference in the lives of poor, rural women for generations to come.

Peace!

Help Me Construct a Center for Rural Women in Paraguay!

2009-12-02T14:24:00.006-03:00

Dear Family and Friends,

I hope this entry finds everyone well. As you know, I have been in Paraguay since May 2008 serving in the Peace Corps. The past year has been filled with many amazing highs as well as its share of lows, through all of which I have done my best to remain positive. My main work in site has been with a rural womens' group, La Asociacion de la Mujer Rural (The Association of the Rural Woman), also known as AMUR. It is composed of three groups of women in three communities, with its central group in my town, Valenzuela. Most of my time is spent teaching basic computer classes and working with the ladies in Valenzuela, but I also meet with one of our sister groups once a week in the nearby community of Minas Cue (MEE-nas KWAY). AMUR's objective is to build the capacity of rural women in order to improve their economic situations and work with them to develop sustainable, income-generating activities. The purpose of this email is to talk about what will very likely be the biggest project of my Peace Corps service and how you can help me make a difference.

For the past ten years, the women of Minas Cue have met every week to learn and make craft works such as crochet, ao po’i (traditional Paraguayan embroidered linen shirts), homemade detergent and soap to sell, as well as other activities. They also cook various traditional foods, which they sell at a weekly community food stand in order to raise money. They are very low-income, extremely hard-working women. They were holding their weekly meetings in a vacant house in the community until earlier this year, when they began having problems with the owners and were forced to vacate the house. Instead of embarking upon a prolonged and expensive legal battle, they decided to meet in the home of one of the members pending the construction of their own meeting house. In their house they would no longer be renters, but rather owners in control of their own situation. They would be able to work more effectively and empower themselves as a group through workshops and educational courses that would be held in their own women's center. Through their activities, the women of AMUR in Minas Cue are fulfilling an important need by motivating the females in the community, all whom are of limited economic resources, and deserve a place of their own where they can work more effectively.

Earlier this year, the women pooled their monies together to take out a loan from the local cooperative to purchase a plot of land on which to construct the house through a loan from the local cooperative. As a result of the aforementioned food stand sales, they have also raised some funds to help with construction costs. While the ladies have already begun enthusiastically preparing for the construction process, they are still without the financing needed to bring the project to fruition.

It is for this reason that I am utilizing a program called the Peace Corps Partnership Program to raise the funds to construct the center. Peace Corps volunteers such as myself work with the community to write up the project, which is approved by Peace Corps Paraguay and then forwarded to Headquarters in Washington. Utilizing the contacts of our family and friends that we provide in the application, the Peace Corps Foundation sends out copies of of project proposal so our folks can donate to the foundation and fund our project. Once the project is fully funded, Peace Corps forwards the money to Peace Corps Paraguay, which forwards the money to me so we can begin construction. So how can you help? First, email me at scoopermorrison@gmail.com with your home address and email address in order to receive a copy of the proposal (look for it in the next month or so) once it is approved by Peace Corps and posted to the Peace Corps website. After you receive a copy, please go to the website and contribute to the project so we can make this dream a reality. Please forward this to anyone you know that might be interested in contributing. No amount is too small!

Thank you all in advance for your help, without which this project would not be possible.

Celebrating my birthday

Preparing food for my birthday party

Showing their craftwork. Even the babies participate!

Na Isabel crocheting

Na Isabel helping Na Antonia with her crochet.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." - 3.20.09

2009-03-20T19:44:00.007-04:00

A moment of clarity at Cerro Yaguaron in March

So here I sit, approximately two-and-a-half months since returning from my trip home for Christmas, and still a month before that since I wrote my last blog entry. Where have I been you ask? Everywhere from the depression-induced low of having to readjust after my visit home to the highs that come with meeting new Paraguayan friends and living life down here to the fullest. If anything, I am fully confident that my coping mechanisms are in overdrive. Let's start with the sad stuff first.

My visit home for Christmas can be described in one word: bittersweet. The sweetness of course was being reunited with my friends and family, after having spent the longest time away from them until that point. The bitter part, which I tasted even before I left Paraguay, was knowing how fast the time would fly, how potentially traumatic it could be, and also knowing that I would not be able to see everyone as I would have preferred. While I was home, I almost felt like I was living out the last days of my life - trying to spend as much time with everyone as possible, still having time to lay around and relax at home, trying to buy up all the necessities to take back with me, even eat what seemed like my last meals! And of course, as my return date back to Paraguay approached, so did the anxiety we felt when I was preparing to leave in May 2008. However, leaving the States a second time was actually 10 times worse than before. The lump in my throat began to form as Lil' Mommy and I approached Dulles Airport and were in full torrential swing when she walked me to the security checkpoint. My heart was broken all over again, as my responsibilities in Paraguay snatched me from my mother's breast, just as the anticipation of what awaited had seven months before. I cried from Dulles to Panama to Peru to Asuncion. Although once I reached Asuncion, I begun to feel a little better, even better still when I stepped out into the warm air and familiar smells and surroundings of my current home.

When I finally arrived back in Valenzuela two days later, my recovery process continued to improve, until I was struck down by the entrance of a number of tarantulas into my house. Initially it was one per day for the first three days I was home, and then maybe one or two per week until I discovered the root of the problem. Let me make you understand how I absolutely loathe bugs, let along big, hairy, evil, devilish spiders that are, in most cases, poisonous. So here I was, by myself, literally confronted with the devil incarnate in my bedroom. It was unnerving, to say the least. As a result, I developed the obsessive-compulsive habit of checking upon entry every corner of every room of my house, and not taking a step without a broom in my hand just in case I found another one. I lost the peace of mind I once had in my home and felt like I no longer had any control of my situation. I wondered what I was doing here and why I was putting myself through such hellish challenges. I was happier when I was visiting my friends in their nicer houses or in a nice hotel in Asuncion. Finally, I realized that I had no choice but to regain control, leaning harder on my neighbors for solutions to my problem until I figured it out. I also began to cook more for myself instead of always eating with my host family, and taking other steps to regain my independence. The other week, I had two more get in after not having seen any in weeks, after which I quickly identified and covered the entry points to prevent their re-entry. I was finally in control!

While the "squatter situation" was comfortably under control, it was not until last weekend that the cleaning situation was effectively tackled. There are many times down here when I am reminded of just how much of a "lazy american" I am. Please believe me when I tell you that you have not seen people working hard until you come to a developing nation, especially one with a strong agricultural base, such as Paraguay. People wake up at the crack of dawn, work around the house or in the field, wash clothes by hand at a water spout a half mile from their house, come back and prepare lunch from scratch over a fire, maybe rest a little after lunch, head back out in the hot sun to gather firewood, come back and get dinner ready, bathe for maybe the third time that day, and then go to bed. You can't tell me that just reading that routine didn't tire you out. I swear, some days it's all I can do to wash my clothes and make my lunch. While this may not be everyone's routine, there is no shortage of housework down here with the abundance of red dirt and dust that gets into everything. Lil' Mommy asked about the potential for using a vacuum cleaner; I compared it to vacuuming dirt from the backyard. While I had been sweeping my house regularly, cleaning my bathroom and other more or less low impact cleaning, I had yet to tackle the numerous cobwebs on the ceiling and other more thorough chores. I knew I would hate doing them and it would put me in a bad mood by creating a bigger cleaning task. So it went undone, and I just continued living as I had been in my house. However, paying someone to clean your house is pretty normal in many houses down here, so I knew it would likely be the route I would take. My next-door neighbors have a family member that cleans their house and watches their little daughter, so they suggested I check with her about helping me out. And so it was that last Saturday Patricia came and delivered me from the filthy evil that was my house. The amount of dirt and debris that fell from the ceiling was UNREAL. From even my front porch, she went through the house like the white tornado. When she finished, my neighbors came in and said that it was as if the house was "breathing new air". I thought to myself, "Lawd I WAS NOT living right," and swore that I would never let it reach that point again. Even after she finished cleaning, I continued to do other chores around the house until almost 6pm. Cleanliness is certainly happiness!

Earlier this month I started my computer classes, which are going well so far. I have about 20 students on Tuesdays and Thursdays, two per hour, one hour each in the morning and afternoon. It is definitely an adjustment from being on vacation and not having to be somewhere at a certain time most days, but it will also be good to get back into the routine. We'll see how things go. I will leave you all with some pictures from the past few months I've been m.i.a on the blog...

Me and Paulette at Thanksgiving in Encarnacion

Me and Courtney in Asuncion watching the Super Bowl

Lazing around my friend's house in January; that thing on my arm is my lil fake boutaineer (sp?) i found. Yes, we were bored.

Supermarket in Asuncion - toothpaste, anyone?

Too Busy Choppin' It Up to Write in the Blog - Journal Entry 9.19.08

2008-12-04T10:53:00.008-03:00

Asuncion, 12.4.08 - My people!!!! Although today is December 4, 2008, in the interest of keeping my entries semi-chronological, this entry has been taken from my journal on September 19, 2008. Read on...

So my entries have become fewer and further between; I need to work that. However, that may be indicative of something positive - the fact that maybe I don't have as many personal issues to work out, or the fact that I can dialogue with my friends in my town instead of working it out through my journal. Nevertheless, I can confidently say that I am fully integrated into my community. Anyway, I finished re-watching the first season of The Wire a few days ago and last night finished reading Little Scarlet by Walter Mosley. Great book - it's so great to have time to read. I've read three books since I've been here, which I swear is more than I've read in the past year. Once again, things continue to get better.

The biggest thing that's happened in the past few weeks was my recent move with a new family in town. Prior to my move when I was out in La Colonia, I either had to leave to come into town inthe morning when the bus passed my house, hang out at AMUR in the morning, eat lunch at a family's house, go back for a bit in the afternoon and then catch the 3pm bus back that passed by the house. If I missed either one of those two buses, the other option was to walk 1.5 km to or from the bus stop on the main road. When it's 1pm and hot, it's definitely not the best option. I was first made aware that my living situation would change about two weeks ago when Na Nelly informed me that she and Don Ramon would be going to Ciudad del Este (about 3 or 4 hours away near the Brazilian border, their children live there) so he could have his hernia operation. At first they thought they would only be gone for a week, in which case I could just stay in the house. While I initially had no problems with that scenario, I then decided that I would rather stay with Na Gertrudis and her family (the German family). I had spent a night there and thoroughly enjoyed myself - they're the closest thing in my town to Americans and she is an excellent cook. So I arranged to stay there for the week; everyone was happy. When it became clear that Na Nelly and Don Ramon would be gone for at least two weeks, extending my stay with the Germans would be a minor technicality. That was the plan until last Friday, when I was in town hanging out with Na Luci, Na Pitu's sister-in-law who lives next door, and her family. I was telling her my plan and she asked (in Guarani), "Why don't you come live here? It's even closer to your job." While Na Gertrudis and them were closer than I was before, I couldn't get any closer to AMUR unless I lived in the little building itself. I thought about it briefly and happily accepted Na Luci's offer; Na Gertrudis was also happy when I informed her of the change in plan. I told Na Luci that I would arrive Sunday afternoon after Na Nelly's birthday celebration. That event was also a lot more fun than I thought it would be, given my disposition the last time the whole family was in town.

As last Sunday drew near, I hoped that things would go better than they had previously (see 8.21.08 blog entry, I think?). After the last time, however, it became clear that the bad impression was only on my side. For example, Na Nelly spoke to one of the daughters just after my birthday and she sent belated birthday wishes, saying that she was sorry that she didn't know about it earlier. I thought it was a very nice gesture. The son, David, first arrived on Saturday early evening with one of the aunts and we all sat in the kitchen chopping it up. I hadn't met the aunt before, so we of course had to go through the usual gathering - where I was from, how long I had been in the country, and of course with everyone remarking at how much Guarani I spoke :-). The other kids arrived later in the evening after I had laid down, so I got back up to say hi. Big hugs all around - I knew at that moment that everything would be fine. We spent the evening talking, joking and drinking. As it approached midnight, one of the kids put wine in everyone's glasses that we had to sip and not empty until after midnight when it was officially Na Nelly's birthday. Don Ramon and I almost finished our wine so we had to get refills...( don't judge us!) lol. At 12, we all wished her happy birthday and she received hugs from everyone. Then came time for the gifts. When I was in Asuncion last week I picked up a little coin purse and bracelet with different images of Jesus on it, which my sister in Aveiro always wore. Na Nelly loved it. She also received two perfumes and all the kids chipped in to buy her a microwave. I finally turned in around 12:30, exhausted but happy to have spent quality time with the fam.

The birthday girl, Na Nelly (pronounced, NAY-yee)

Chopping it up with the fam

The birthday cake

The next day was spent cooking and getting things ready for the barbecue. Numerous family members and neighbors all came for the celebration; it was a great vibe with everyone. Even still, I couldn't help but be a little sad that I was leaving my little space I'd carved out, and also nervous about how my new surroundings would compare to my first home in Valenzuela. My primary concern was that my room at Na Luci's didn't have a door but rather a pink patterned sheet in its place. Not...quite...what I had in mind...I thought to myself. I just prayed that things would continue to fall into place as they had up until that point. The Ovando kids ended up giving me a ride into town since David needed to take a look at one of the computers in AMUR. Unfortuatenly the power was out so he wasn't able to. They then headed out, reiterating that they would be awaiting my visit, saying that I just needed to get there and everything would be taken care of once I arrived. I also meant to give one of the daughters my T-Mobile phone so she could get it unlocked and I would pay her back, but I forgot to give it to her. All in all it was a great visit and I have more additions to the growing list of lifelong links in Paraguay.

Another thing that happened recently while I was in Asuncion handling some business at the Peace Corps Office. I was staying at Alpes as usual and there were also a bunch of other PCV's there for their close of service conference and the Paraguay vs. Venezuela soccer game. I struck up a conversation with Kathy, whose service will end in December, and found out that she had lived in Silver Spring for a year while working DC, and she even knew my neighborhood :-). She had her laptop and I had my iPod with me so we began going through each other's collections and exchanging music. I couldn't believe some of the music she had - from Depeche Mode to Stevie Wonder to A Tribe Called Quest to Aerosmith's Greatest Hits. I took it all. It was like Christmas because she had things I had lost when my iPod and external hard drives crashed and didn't think I'd see until I went home in December. I was almost in tears. On top of that, and American movie was on cable in English with Spanish subtitles. Earlier that evening I had also bought my ticket to come home for Christmas at the cheapest I'd seen it. Things could not have been better.

This week has also been a good one. Fernando and Chris (from Peace Corps) came on Tuesday for my official site presentation, which went well. The day before I had made two marble cakes with the help of one of the socias, and also made several gallons of fresh orange juice with oranges from the Ovando's orchard. The PC folks also brought my bike, helmet and my huge suitcase, which they said won the award for heaviest suitcase ever. $150 in airplane overage fees and a damn-near dislocated shoulder later nevertheless, but I was proud. "I have to be prepared," I explained.

About a week or so ago I finally arranged a meeting with the lady who owns the house I want to rent. The house is in the next block down from where I'm living now, so it's still close to AMUR. It had been closed up for sometime so I worried about mold, but when we went in it was in great condition since she comes to clean it regularly. I told the owner that I would need to check in with Peace Corps about anything I needed to do on their end and I would get back in touch with her. She said that was fine and even invited me to spend the day at her house a few towns away. The following week I began asking around about a bed, stove and fridge to put in my house. It currently has two beds that needs new mattresses, several chairs and tables, all of which I plan to use, As of now, I have everything but a fridge, which I will likely have to buy - the cheapest one I've found so far is $200, an older, Brazilian brand but in great condition. I spoke with the owner today and let her know that I intended to move in on November 1st, but would like to begin putting things in a little earlier so I could be settled on the 1st. No problem, she said. Even better is that she's renting it to me for lower than I thought - $62.50 per month not including electric and water, which will probably be no more than an additional $12 per month. While this may not sound like much, it is when you're only making about $343.75 per month. I am also contemplating getting internet at the crib, but we'll see if it fits in the budget after several months.

That's basically the update for now; tomorrow night I will be going to my first town party in Valenzuela so we'll see who comes tumbling down when the waistline wines up...what whaaaat! Lawd.

PICS OF MY HOUSE!!! 11.12.08

2008-11-12T18:09:00.005-03:00

Yes everyone! It's the pics you've all been waiting for! MY HOUSE!!! I am currently writing my next blog entry so in the meantime I figured I would post some pics of where I live. I love my little house, my scary-ass room is even growing on me. Enjoy!

The view from the street

My front porch

My side yard, Yes! This is Peace Corps!

My foyer/sitting room

The view from the foyer

Where I lay my head at night. I will be getting a bigger bed this weekend. Sweet dreams!

Through the door to the rest of my house. The closed door is the storage room/where the Senora who owns the house will sleep if she comes in town for a night (maybe twice a year).

My kitchen table and side door to the yard.

The kitchen. Over yonder is the scary-ass back room.

My bathroom. The showerhead is higher up out of the picture. Y'all see that I got my products posted up and everything.

My toilet. There is a tank above it. Yes it flushes, and very well if I may say so myself.

View of the back room from the kitchen

The kitchen cabinet I haven't gotten around to cleaning yet and my sink where I wash my dishes.

The back window.

Stay tuned for the next blog!

WHERE HAVE I BEEN??? (OBAMA 2008) 11.4.08

2008-11-04T13:17:00.004-03:00

As you all know it's been quite awhil since I've written any blog entries. Most recently my mom reminded me that Granny asked her again if I had written anymore postings, at which time I had not. However, I decided that I can't have Granny waiting so I wanted to at least do a quick posting to give you all a quick update.

Things are amazing and getting better in site. I recently moved into my own house so I am officially settled! My house has two bedrooms, a sitting room, a kitchen, and a scary-ass back room with a sink where I wash my dishes. Before I walk into my bathroom I usually peek in to make sure that there's no huge bug in there, because you never know down here. So far there's been the occasional moth but nothing major. I also have a huge mango tree with fruit currently ripening; I am looking forward to afternoons sitting in my yard eating mangoes. I also have a vegetable garden in my backyard that belongs to my neighbor, for which we have already made plans to transplant as well as plant vegetables. I spent this past Sunday afternoon with these same neighbors, a younger couple with a nearly 2-year old daughter named Milagros. She already knows how to say my name and everything and apparently asks where I am when I am not around. I love it.

I haven't writing because I've been so busy kicking it with all my people and traveling to visit my friends in other towns on the weeekends. Everyone will be happy to know that I have officially replicated my "Treehouse" situation in my town! Despite the fact that I moved out of my host family's house (I'm less than half a block away), I still eat lunch with them most days, stop by there after work before I go home, and hang out all the time. I even stop by various mornings to drink mate and then my senora makes sure that I have a full thermos of cocido and bread. What could be better?

So I am currently in Asuncion with a bunch of other PCV's for the election. We're going to a spot to watch the election coverage and then we're celebrating. All of the Paraguayans are pulling for Obama - good Lord willing and the creek don't rise we will all have our wish come true. History in the making, it just doesn't seem real...

I'll be catching a ride back to my site tomorrow, on the way stopping by to pick up a bunch of stuff for my house so I can really start cooking more (or will I...) and get more settled. Stay tuned for the next blog entry which will be jammed packed with funny anecdotes and pictures. Special thanks to Debbie Heffron - I received the package and am looking forward to making the brownies!

Home Again - Aveiro, That Is - 9.7.08

2008-09-27T16:41:00.005-04:00

Valenzuela, Cordillera, 9.7.08 - Right, so it's been awhile. The days aren't as action-packed here as they are during training - I'm not complaining though! The real story is that since the arrival of my birthday package, which contained 30+ DVD's, including all five seasons of The Wire, I watch a lot of tv. Yes, this is Peace Corps.

On Friday after my birthday, I headed into Asuncion to switch to a Tigo cellphone (the company that actually works in my site), do some research for my charla the following Monday, and see about my package that Lil' Mommy sent. It was indeed a happy birthday when I received it. And she even included her iPod so I can listen to all my music again all the time! Eric, Paulette and Rebecca also came in town so we went out for lunch. Like me, Eric was also going to Aveiro to visit his fam, so he and I headed out around 3:30. We were both talking about how great it felt to be "going home"; we got off at the stop to change buses and jumped on a crazily crowded bus that would take us to the entrance to the town. Eric was almost hanging out the door at one point - just like old times! We jumped off and started walking up the road to our houses, and it was immediately like we were in a different world, a familiar world that made us forget any anxiety we may have felt in our sites. We greeted the passers-by with the customary "Adios"; one woman even stopped to chat for a bit, saying that her daughter had gone by my brother's house looking for Tim the other day. Apparently the neice, who lived in Czech Republic and spoke English, came to visit and wanted to meet Tim and converse in English. I remembered them because the woman's daughter, who's maybe 16, came over and was chopping it up with Timmy at a 1-year old's birthday party and the mom came over and snatched her up like, time to go you fresh lil' hussy! It was hilarious. So I left Eric when I got to my house and he continued up the road.

I walked around the side of the house and entered through the kitchen shouting, "HOLA!!!!". Mama ran over and gave me a huge hug that brought a tear to my eye. We were so happy to see each other. My sisters came out of their rooms to greet me and I went to see Papa in the living room. I put my stuff down in my room and then Mama led me back out to the tv room so she could give me my birthday present. It was a really nice black cotton sleeveless shirt. She went into the kitchen and finished cooking the empanadas, one of my favorites, while Papa and I chopped it up. Once they were ready I went into the kitchen where we were joined by Gabi and Wilsin (my neice and sister-in-law, respectively), so we all hung out chopping it up. Wilsin remarked that I had lost weight since I left; Mama agreed, saying you could tell it by my face also. I told them my new family wasn't feeding as much as they used to, we all laughed. I watched tv for a bit and then retired to my room, watched part of Friday and then went to bed. The next morning, my other sister Muka arrived to get some clothes for a conference she had to attend that day, so she wouldn't be spending Saturday night and Sunday as she usually did. While they began preparing the water for mate, I went to see Misuri's new kittens that had just arrived the day before. They were teeny little things, too. We pretty much hung around most of the day Saturday; after lunch I talked to Lil' Mommy and then decided to visit my people in the town.

My first stop was Don Blasido's farm to see Na Dora, Angela, Noelia and their people. On the way I ran into Eric's host dad, Andres, who was making his usual number rounds on his bike. We talked briefly about how much weight Eric had lost, and how his Aveiro mom had made his favorite milanesa and salad the night before. We said goodbye and I continued up the road. When I arrived at Don Blasido's I received big hugs from everyone including Don Blasido, who is normally a handshake man. We sat and talked about Valenzuela, how things were going, how the other groupmembers were doing in their sites and various other topics of interest. They said that they missed me very much and thought that I might've forgotten about them since I hadn't been back for a few weeks. I told them that there were no other people like the ones in Aveiro, that I missed them too and that it would be impossible to forget them; they were family. We had some rolls and cafe con leche and, after having been there for well over an hour, I continued up the road.

The next person I saw was Miriam. Our next door neighbor at the house where we had training classes, she was one of the kids that would wander into the yard and play frisbee with us. She was very good - definitely better than the other little boys. She was twelve years old, and over time she became my little sidekick. Back when we all left at the end of training, she was also in tears. When she saw me, she screamed, "SASHAAAA!!!" and ran toward me. "MIRIAM!!!" I cried, and ran toward her. More big hugs. Her mother came out along with Eric's little sisters and we sat and chopped it up in Guarani. They were also concerned about Eric's weightloss. It was starting to get dark and I still had to go by Paulette's family's house, so Miriam and I walked over. Apparently Paulette had left her hiking boots and a mosquito net in her room there. Since she hadn't really mentioned missing her hiking boots and I already had a ton of stuff to take back to Valenzuela, I decided to leave them there and we could get them when we were all back for In-Service Training in November. Miriam and I rolled out and headed back to her house where I was also warmly greeted by her two grandmothers. One of them calls me "La Morenita Linda" and always gives me hugs; she is a darker-skinned Paraguayan - maybe slightly darker than I am. We brown-skinned people are always happy to see each other, I swear. Eric's host mom was back home so I went by to see her - more hugs of course. As it had been dark for some time, I didn't stay more than 30 minutes since I still had to walk back home. Just before I left Eric got back from playing volleyball and soccer with the guys so we also chopped it up. Of course the visit wouldn't been complete without some town gossip. During training, we would always talk about how Matt's host dad was really moody, at times downright standoffish. Matt was glad to leave when training ended. Now, three weeks later, Eric comes back and finds out that Matt's host dad has a new taxi and paid for lights on the soccer field. Keep in mind that he seldom works and the family's main financial support is from his wife who works as a domestic in Spain. Deductive reasoning would therefore lead one to conclude that he used the money he received from Peace Corps for Matt's room and board to finance his recent expenditures. Do y'all understand how some people have no shame?! All I know is that Hell is hot...I wrapped up the visit and got back home around 6:45pm. Mama had prepared my favorite ground beef with rice and veggies and lots of garlic. "Because I know how much you like garlic," she said. I punished it and then settled in for the night.

Miriam and I at a town gathering in June 2008

On Sunday we woke up and drank mate and then I ate my beloved buttered toast with dulce de leche. We are more modest folk here in Valenzuela, so I had missed the comforts of my home in Aveiro. Mama of course made sopa paraguaya as she does every Sunday. I went next door to my brother's and jumped on the internet for a bit, and for lunch there was of course the customary asado. After lunch Papa and I sat and chopped it up about my work in Valenzuela. At the end he said that he just wished me the best of luck and that the door was always open anytime I ever needed anything. It almost brought tears to my eyes because, while you know he cares, very seldomly does he say something so heartfelt. Instead of going to my room and taking a nap as I usually would, I went and finished packing, took a shower and then it was time to head to the bus stop. Rita and Mama drove me to the bus stop and waited with me until the bus came. Nothing like family. Period.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME - 8.26.08

2008-09-26T17:39:00.003-04:00

Blowing out my candles
My ladies - Na Nidia, Na Nelly (with whom I lived ) and Na Inma
Singing Feliz Cumpleanos

Valenzuela, Cordillera, 8.26.08 - So today was my first birthday spent out of the country and away from my family and friends. When I went to sleep last night, I said to myself that the day would either be miserable and mediocre or really great. Thank God that it was the latter.

The celebration started last weekend when I went to visit Paulette in the good Yataity. Beautiful little town - the people live well too. Her little casita is so cute. There was also a little black Brazilian lady - the first one I'd seen in Paraguay - who ran a bar/restaurant/convenient store in town. We went there to eat on Friday night and Saturday afternoon before heading out to visit another PCV in a nearby town. Please believe she is a good cook too, I murdered all of the food.
So anyway, we left Yataity and headed to Villarica after lunch. I had heard about Brennan's laid-out living situation, but seeing it was a whole different story. First of all, the neighborhood could've been in Florida or California, lots of nice houses. The PCV lives in a compound owned by a former Colonel during the Stroessner dictatorship who is now a physical education teacher at a local school. He is also something of an expert on any number of subjects. In the compound there's the main house where "El Coronel" lives with his wife and then three other smaller houses around a central courtyard. Please believe that these fools also have a POOL, albeit empty but still, the principal of which is enough.We hung out and drank terere and then once Stu, another PCV, arrived, we walked around town. There are some sick houses around too. I finally bought a hair dryer, one of the Gama professional ones, for about $25 - much less than what I'd seen it for previously. Stu headed out on a date with a volunteer from the Korean peace corps-type organziation known as COICA, while the rest of us hung out at the crib playing Spades. Yes, that's right, Spades. How I had missed it - though I must say it wasn't quite the same as when I'd played it back home in folks' backyards, basements and sitting rooms. It was fun nevertheless. We then went out for pizza, which took so long to arrive that I asked the dude if they needed help in the kitchen or something. After pizza we came back and I took a nap from about 9:30 to 12:30 before going out. And of course the pizza would have torn up my stomach as usual, but I was not fazed. I peeled myself out of bed and got myself together; we eventually headed to the club around 2am. Apparently the doors don't even open until midnight. It was a lot of fun - the music was on point and I was very happy to drop it down to the ground. We stayed until about 4:30 am. I woke up a few hours later and caught the bus back to Valenzuela around 9:30, finally arriving home at 1:30.

So today was a great day. I received my first birthday text from Mama in Aveiro at about 6am, followed throughout the day by other greeting from Aveiro, the G-27 crew and back home. I talked to Lil' Mommy and Daddy, then drank some terere with my people, followed by a lunch of my favorite pork chops, rice salad, yuca and sopa paraguaya. In the afternoon we went into town, where I hung out with the socias, ate some cake (not the official birthday cake, but still good) and checked on some housing possibilities.

I came back with the 4pm bus, stopping by Dora's on the way back to chop it up for a bit. Na Inma even drove by on her wat to my house; we then headed over. We hung out in the yard for a bit, drank terere, and then I was told to go over to the gazebo and found that they had set up birthday cake and my beloved hot chocolate! They sang happy birthday in Spanish, we ate cake and drank hot chocolate and then everyone headed home. I had no idea they had done all of that! Truly a pleasant surprise. I watched my beloved telenovela, Marina, at 6pm and received the last call of the day from Ashli. A happy birthday indeed.

Finna Git Ta´ Workin´ and the Showdown 8.20.08

2008-08-21T10:19:00.001-04:00

Valenzuela, Cordillera, 8.20.08 (6 days til birthday!) - On Monday, the AMUR Board of Directors (4 of the women) finally met to discuss my workplan and other orders of business. This was the third time the meeting had been set, since everything gets cancelled when it rains.

It took place in the house of Na Inma, the head of the Board, who is also one of the more well-off members of the community. Her husband, Don Carlos, was the one who gave me a ride out to the Ovando's when I initially arrived. They have hectares of farmland on which they primarily cultivate sugar cane. He is the first farmer I've met with a fully mechanized farming operation, as opposed to oxen and manual labor. They also have a number of animals on the farm aside from the coker spaniels, Chucho and Lola, that I met initially. Upon approaching the house, visitors are greeted by two gargantuan, killer attack rotweilers, one of whom is named Negro. I am serious when I tell you that there is no shortage of dogs in this country named Negro and Lobo. But I digress. Even though the dogs are chained, the chain is like 20 or so meters long, so the dogs can reach past the center of the driveway and tear you up if you're not careful. Therefore, before people come visit they are strongly advised to walk along the far left side of the driveway along the fence so as to avoid any maiming. There have apparently been several instances in which people either forgot or didn't know the dogs were there and suffered the unfortunate consequences of their sudden appearance. In one case, a couple arrived on a motorcycle and the dogs snatched them from the bike. Although the wife suffered a minor bite wound, the husband was not as fortunate and had to be taken to the hospital. He survived. Anyway, aside from the rotties they have an ostrich, rabbits, a monkey named Monica, as well as cows and probably chickens.

In the meeting we mainly talked about things they wanted to get done and my role with the organization. One of the first things I'll be doing is a series of charlas ("talks") on topics of interest to the socias. The first one, which will be next Monday at 2pm, will be on gardening. Don't laugh...lol. However, since my knowledge is quite basic, I am basically going to introduce the topic and have another socia who is a gardening pro do the presentation. Instead of talking at the people, I figured we could have people work in AMUR's garden, maybe visit some nearby gardens, and at the end have people sign up to help tend the garden. As it is, there are one or two people that do most of the work; hopefully my plan solves this problem. Na Nelly was also saying that, when it's been done in the past, the women enjoyed making different dishes from recipes found on the internet. Me too. The problem is that there is no money to pay for the cooking gas, which is expensive. I will need to figure out a way around this obstacle if I decide to restart the activity. A problem is also lack of member participation (shocker! lol), which would certainly be improved by the institution of regular activities.

The biggest thing the Board would like to do, which will be my long-term pet project, is start a profitable business in which most or all of the socias can participate. As I told them, it would require a lot of time, planning, research and potentially trial and error, but I was excited and up for the challenge. There are many towns in Paraguay that are known for a particular good that its inhabitants produce. For the especially popular ones, people come from all around the country to purchase. My goal will be to have AMUR profit from and also be recognize for a particular product. Even if they don't achieve national fame, sustainability is most important. I first need to figure out what the socias would like to do, whether there's a demand for it, and what it would take to produce it. This means the cost of capacitating the socias, the cost of raw materials and so forth. And naturally we will have to figure out where the funds will come from. Paraguayan small-business development here we come :-)!

So this afternoon I was walking to the bus stop on the main road and I came across a suspicious dog. He kind of looked like a hyena; he was brown and skinny. He still looked a little crazy though. Normally the dogs here just kind of do their own thing, but this dog seemed to be a bit too concerned with my movements. You can't be completely sure if a dog is going to kirk out on you or not until you're almost up on them, so I didn't want to take any chances. At first I turned around and walked in the other direction, glancing back to see what the dog was doing. Walking in my same direction. I then came across a decent-sized log, with which I could effecttively defend myself in the event things got hairy. Weapon in hand, I turned around and walked back toward the bus stop. Since it was siesta time, the roads were basically deserted. I couldn't take any chances. As the dog continued to observe me from a distance, I shooed it away by raising my club. He seemed to still be curious. Instead of going about his business, he went and sat under the little shelter where I had planned to wait. He sat. He watched me. I cursed him under my breath and gave him the evil eye. Not too much og an evil eye though, because I didn't want him to think I was challenging him. Not wanting to complicate thing, I walked a little down the road and waited in some shade. And of course the flies attacked me and my freshly-washed, perfumed hair. I set my stick down since ol' boy appeared stationary. He then started to walk back toward me. I picked up my stick; he reconsidered. And then the bus came.
So of course I get to the town and the person that's supposed to meet me at AMUR to work in the garden doesn't show up. I sat and chatted with Na Rosa, ate some oranges, met the English teacher, bought a few little things for the house and a Guarani dictionary for myself. I made sure to catch the 3pm bus that passed my house so as to avoid a run-in such as that which I experienced a few hours earlier.

Tomorrow I'm going to check out some internet to see if it's working, have lunch with Na Nico and then sit in on the advanced computer class in the afternoon. This weekend I'm going to hang out with Paulita and some other PCV's and come back before lunch on Sunday. And so the birthday celebrations begin...

Peaks and Valleys: Adaptation Rears its Ugly Head 8.17.08

2008-08-21T10:13:00.003-04:00

"Just me and my shadow..."

Valenzuela, Cordillera, 8.17.08 - So it's been a week since I arrived. I started to make another entry a few days ago but it didn't quite work out; this one, however, is truly necessary.
I've basically been hanging out the past week; I got over my cold a day or so ago, so I'm back to normal in that respect. Last week I went to the bank in Caacupe, a nearby larger town, to get a replacement card and inquired about unlocking my phone; it appears that the latter is only possible in Asuncion. I stopped by the grocery store to pick up a few items and headed home. Yesterday was El Dia del Nino (Children's Day) around the country, which is a big celebration in the Ovando household. The family began arriving Friday night - the two daughters, the grandson, as well as a host of other relatives and friends. We hung out Friday night, eating, drinking, and sitting around the house. Saturday morning we had breakfast and then went to a neighboring town, Minas Cue, where Na Nelly's family still owns a house. At the nearby soccer field a boys'soccer tournament was underway; some watched the games while others hung out in the yard. In the afternoon we came back and prepared for the annual kids' party at the Ovando household. When the party was in full swing, there was a legion of kids and their families on the property. There were treats, games, toy distribution, and the ubiquitous hot chocolate - a must at any childrens' gathering. After the bulk of the folks left late in the afternoon, we cleaned up and then finally relaxed. One of the daughters slept in the twin bed in my room and everyone else slept in the guest house. I was relieved to finally go to sleep around 9:30 pm. One daughter and her boyfriend left last night and everyone else left today. For the entire weekend the kids ran around playing, the adults drinking, talking and laughing. All the ingredients of a perfect weekend; for me, however, it was one of my lowest points since arriving in Paraguay.
While at times I did have fun, the majority of the time I felt like an outsider who was just along for the ride. Invisible, even; truly a visitor in a foreign land. In an attempt to sort things out and reflect on how to improve future situations, I have been trying to figure out the source(s) of the issue.

Making adjustments and adapting is an everyday reality of the PCV. While at times it is welcomed, other times it is bleak. I have really missed my family in Aveiro and have tried to replicate that environment as closely as possible here in Valenzuela. The fact remains, however, that just as people are different, the Ovandos are not the Gonzalez-Aquinos. I have also noticed that I am especially aware of and affected by changes in my daily routine. Finally, while my Guarani continues to improve, at this point it is still a daily struggle, even more so in groups. These factors particularly magnified themselves this weekend.

Most of the relatives that came were engaging and very friendly. But while the Ovando kids were nice in general, the vibes I received from them were lukewarm and not very engaging. Normally when I meet Paraguayans, they ask a string of questions in attempt to get to know me as a person. In this case, however, after the initial introductions we had minimal, mostly passing conversation. They laughed and joked amongst each other and the other family friends; at times it was like I wasn't even there. I would then leave and find a more engaging relative. This, of course, was never the case with the Aveiro fam; they always made me feel included in everything - my host sisters especially, which is why I refer to them as sisters. Now, I recognize that the Ovando kids may not have been doing it on purpose, nor might they have even been conscious of it. While the thought initially makes me feel slightly better, when I think it about it more it actually makes me feel worse because it means that I wasn't even a concern. For example, at one point when we were in Minas Cue, we were all sitting in the yard and then the daughters got up and walked away toward the soccer game. I was left sitting with Na Nelly and some other relatives. I ended up walking over shortly after when urged by the little grandson. One might ask why I didn't just go along with the daughters when they left, despite the absence of an invitation. I have never been one to trail behind any person nor group around which I do not feel comfortable or welcomed. This never would have happened in Aveiro. In an effort to see it from the kids' point of view, maybe they miss the old volunteer and wish that she was still here; maybe they had learned everything they wanted to know about me beforehand from their parents; maybe they were preoccupied with getting things together for the day's events and intend to get to know me more in time. Only time will tell; for now I will give them benefit of the doubt. If things remain the same, oh well; they are a miniscule part of my experience.
Another contributing factor to my despair was that I had minimal personal time all weekend, which I am not used to. Kids were everywhere; I couldn't even turn on my computer to hear my treasured 80's music. I was constantly "on"; the number of people was overwhelming. Any ill feelings from the day pretty much piled on top of each other with minimal time for personal reflection. And then who can forget the omnipresent Guarani struggle...lol. I absolutely know how Mom felt when she was in the Dominican Republic by herself with people who spoke no English and her passable Spanish. When they spoke really quickly, I know that her passable Spanish felt like almost none. After awhile you get tired of fake-smiling, barely understanding or acting like you understand something that was just said. Enough already, damn this, you say to yourself.

Nonetheless, the fog began to lift when everyone left, I got my space back and we resumed our normal activities. Even better when I talked to one of my group members who had also been feeling lonely and we caught up on each others' happenings, as well as exchanged words of encouragement. Na Nelly then made an amazing lunch of pork chops, tomato and rice salad, and sopa paraguaya, after which we sat around on the front porch. Don Ramon told me that his brother remarked that I had a great capacity for learning Guarani and that I had already learned a lot. Words of encouragement are always great. I then retired to my quarters for siesta.
Now, two hours after I started writing, my hand is about to fall off and my therapeutic, reflective session is coming to an end. In the end, I just try to remind myself that, just like back home, I will have good days and bad days. As I have also learned in life, not everyone gets along while playing in the sandbox. As I told my treasured buddy Cynthia when I talked to her earlier today, things always get better. That, my friend, is certain.

Pics from Swear-In Weekend August 2008

2008-08-21T09:42:00.004-04:00

Me and Joan

The RED crew with our trainer Brian

Peeking up over the bushes. The pic didn´t come out quite as I had envisioned it.

The ladies of G-27

Me, Mark (l) and Jesus (r) looking official.

Shola being a dictator

Me and Paulette

The amazing cake

Some of the fellas. Notice Mark with the requisite "Certified Black Man" picture grill.

No everyone, Matt and I are just friends. This was when a bunch of us decided to take prom pics, so he and I took one. HILARIOUS! We are out of control down here, I tell you.

Some Pics of Valenzuela

2008-08-21T09:07:00.004-04:00

the cows that graze next to Ña Nico´s house
the center of town

beautiful flower

pics of the house. and yes, that is me milking the cow...lmao

Funny How Time Flies as Hours Turn into Whole Days 8.11.08

2008-08-21T09:00:00.002-04:00

La Colonia Pirareta, Valenzuela, Cordillera, 8.11.08 - Right, so it's been a good two weeks since I've written; what a whirlwind it's been. I am currently back in a section Valenzuela called La Colonia Pirareta at the Ovando household. I will be living here for the next 3 months.
Needless to say, my future site visit was very productive; I met numerous people, most importantly the Ovandos. I chose to stay with them because the environment reminded me of my home in Aveiro. Na Nelly and Don Ramon are empty-nesters with 4 kids who are all grown and live in various parts of the country. Their house is on a 6-hectare plot, with two adjoining lots where other family members live. Next door are Don Ramon's parents, and next to them are Don Ramon's brother, his wife and three kids. Great people - everyone runs back and forth to each other's houses and they even have a soccer field on the land where all the neighborhood kids come and play. Today for instance, I played a brief game and was reminded of how out of shape I am...lol. When I was here last I spent the night and even milked a cow with the kids at 6:30 am the next morning. How 'bout it?! Y'all know that I never leave home without the skillz ;-)...After deciding to stay with the Ovandos, I made Na Nico feel better by assuring her that I would come by for lunch from time to time and possibly even stay the night if I was going to be in town late. She felt better. She is also going to ask around to see about houses I can rent. Good ol' Na Nico.

So after I left Valenzuela I met up with the homies in Asuncion to see The Dark Knight, which we all loved, and have lunch, which I annihilated as usual. We then headed back to Aveiro, finally arriving after having to take 3 buses - talk about exhausting.
I barely remember the time between then and Swear-In last week, we did so much. Lots of loose ends tied up in training, I did my presentation on business ethics and sustainibility in tech class and that was basically it. I spent a lot of time with the fam; at one point Mama said that she was going to hide the day I left because it was going to be too sad to see me leave. I felt the same sense of desperation in my stomach that I felt when I left my family back home and prayed that I would be able to hold it together. I said "see you later" to my people around the town and then we were out.

The day we left for our Swear-In as official PCV's, there were no tears with my family because we hurriedly threw my bags in the van and I jumped in, blowing mama a kiss from my seat. I wasn't super sad because I knew I'd be back in a few weeks to celebrate my birthday. But then of course when we went to pick up the others their families were outside crying so naturally I started crying too. Have mercy. Everyone was all dressed upfor the ceremony; I wore my light-colored plaid, short-sleeve suit and gold sandals. Yes, I was unstoppable as usual :-). We got to the Embassy and they gave us a play-by-play of how things were going to go down. One of the instructions was, when taking the oath, we were supposed to say "I" and then state our names and continue repeating after the USAID official administering the oath. In the past, other groups had actually repeated "state your name" instead of saying their names. In our case apparently, we seemed to have been waiting for him to prompt us to say our names or pause longer so when he didn't, we said nothing, then laughed, and he continued. I lost my official chance to say "I, Samantha Alexandra Cooper-Morrison..."...lol. Oh well. Paulette made a great speech and when it was all over I made sure to head straight to the cake table so as to reserve my place at the front of the line and ensure my receipt of the coveted corner piece. The cake may have been the best chocolate cake I've ever had in my life. Unfortunately there are no words to describe it. If I were to make an attempt, however, heaven, ecstasy, utopia and abyss of chocolate bliss might appropriately fall in the ballpark.

The next several days were spent out partying until early hours of the morning, taking care of particulars at the Peace Corps office, running around Asuncion withdrawing money from our new bank accounts and, in some cases, making impluse buys. Just like home! There was even an alleged run-in with Johnny Law, which was resolved in the end by some good ol' fashioned bribery. Just another day in the fourth most corrupt country (at one point recently) in the world.
I finally made it to my site yesterday; however, me being who I am, it couldn't have just been a simple trip from Asuncion to Valenzuela. When I initially got to the Terminal I had to do some asking around about which bus was mine. I was finally directed to the driver who happened to be Na Nico's tenant that I had met during the FSV. "Jahata," (let's go) he said.
As we drove out of the city, one of my favorite radio segments was on, the one in which they play all salsa for a few hours. I heard a number of songs I always listened to at HCS when I would play Latin music from 2:30 pm until. I danced, I sang, all was good. Aside from me spilling the yerba mate all over the front of my shirt while preparing the terere for the bus driver, the ride was pretty uneventful. That is, of course, until we were about an hour or less from the turn off to Valenzuela.

On this particular stretch of the road, the driver had accelerated to high a speed. While preparing the terere I noticed the engine straining until suddenly something snapped under the bus. "Oh Lord Jesus christ have mercy," I thought to myself. I waited for the bus to careen to one side, planning to grab the pole in front of me so as to avoid tumbling. Thank God that didn't happen and we pulled over to the side. I learned from someone later on, however, that had the part broke in the front the bus would have gone tumbling. Too scary - my little rosary sure does come in handy...lol. As the bus sat on the side of the road, it was evident that that leg of the trip was over, and people began filing off the bus with their bags. The bus was basically in the ditch and leaning to the side; this coupled with a slippery bottom step resulted in one woman slipping and falling in the grass on her behind. Luckily she was not hurt. I got off the bus with my daypack and big pack, leaving my stupidly-huge and heavy duffel bag stowed in the front.
By this point I definitely had to go to the bathroom. As I was contemplating this next order of business, a woman came up to me and asked if I was the next volunteer in Valenzuela. I confirmed that I was. She introduced herself, Angela, saying that she remembered me from weeks ago when we visited the former PCV. She said there was a bathroom across the road at the entrance to the Mennonite Hospital, so we headed over. Now when I say "bathroom", I mean a semi-enclosed latrine with a toilet seat on it, a tin roof and a cement wall so people can't see you from the road in front of you. As you use the "facility", however, I swear that people can see your little head peeking out. Luckily, I never leave the house without without some baby wipes so I squatted and then wiped my hands with my trusty wipes so as to keep things sanitary. My companeras and I then returned to the other side of the road and waited for the next bus to come. At this point it was about 1:15 pm, sunny, and not too hot so waiting wasn't bad at all. I sent a mass text to the homies and then called the fam in Aveiro. "Naturally this would have happened to me," I told Mama. We had a good laugh as my host sister dyed her hair. I also informed my people in Valenzuela so they wouldn't be worried.

After about an hour or so another bus arrived and we were on our way. I would soon find out, however, that the other half of the day's adventure was just beginning. While the bus I was on initially passed directly in front of the Ovando's, the second bus did not. For a little while on the bus I even wondered whether I had made the right decision because it went a back route I didn't recognize. Nevertheless, my travel buddies who were on their way to Valenzuela had also boarded so it had to be the right bus. It left us in the center of town, from which I would have to figure out a way to get to La Colonia. At this point my cell was no longer getting any service so I had to use a woman's phone who had been on the bus to call my people. Don Ramon suggested I take a taxi, which would have cost 50,000 guaranies (a little more than $10), or wait for the next bus that would arrive around 6:30 pm. While I didn't want to spend the money for the taxi, it was a more attractive option than waiting until it was dark to get on the bus. The phone then cut off because I had used up all the woman's minutes, so I gave her Gs. 3,000 to recharge them.
Since I was right by Na Antoli's house, I went over and told her what had happened. Angela, who was still with me at the time, had the idea of going by the comisaria (police station) to see about getting a ride from one of the patrolmen. As we left Na Antoli and headed over, I made sure that the police weren't going to try and extort money from me. You never know in a developing nation right? Angela said that she didn't think they would, since I was with Peace Corps. Free was certainly better than what it would cost for a taxi. She also said that it was highly unlikely that I would get a cab on a Sunday. Great, I thought. So we get to the station and the one officer there says there are no officers to take me because they are all at that soccer game. So much for that idea. I decided it was time to try Na Nico's and Angela was going to see her aunt. If her aunt had available transport, she'd meet back up with me; if not, peace out. Na Nico was nowhere to be found, nor were the neighbors I had previously kicked it with. Next on the list was Na Nico's family about 2 blocks away that I'd met before. Fortunately they were home so we sat, drank mate and chopped it up. They said that Na Nico was likely at her sister's house up the road; they weren't sure what time she'd return, but most likely before dark. At this point it was looking like I might stay the night with her and then take a bus in the morning out to the Ovando's. The family agreed. I ran back to Na Antoli's and told her the proposed plan. I drank some more mate and then we tried to call Na Nico. A boy answered the phone, saying she'd gone out to the field and had left her phone but she'd be back soon. The phone cut off before we could get more details.

Since I had yet to reach Na Nico, Na Antoli suggested I go to Na Rosa's for the night; I agreed and we set out the few blocks up to her house. I left the huge duffel at Na Antoli's with plans to pick it up in the morning on my way out. Poor Na Antoli's back damn near broke carrying my daypack; the laptop was in there so it was pretty heavy. On the way we saw Na Pitu (naturally), but we couldn't stop long since we were on a mission. We finally made it and I was able to take a load off and rest a bit. Na Rosa called Na Nelly to let her know my status. It also happened that Don Carlos, who's family lived near the Ovandos, may have been in town visiting his mother. Na Nelly would call his wife, Na Inma, to see if he might be an option for getting me out there. In the meantime, Na Rosa asked me if I wanted some mate; I told her I was starving, since it was about 6:30 pm and I hadn't had a meal since breakfast. It turned out that Don Carlos was in town, so I finished my food and we hoofed it down the street to see if he was still there. Success! We went back to Na Rosa's to gather my things and he came and picked me up after his visit.

And so it was that I finally arrived at the Ovando's around 7:30 pm. They were relieved that I finally arrived, saying that they had been worried when I didn't arrive as scheduled that afternoon. I had sent Don Ramon a text earlier that day around 11 when I left Asuncion, saying I'd see them in a few hours. We laughed about how a few hours turned into a whole day. Pure hilarity, I tell you!

FSV Day Three - 7.28.08

2008-08-21T08:54:00.000-04:00

Valenzuela, Cordillera, 7.28.08 - So here I am in my little room. I would say that the morning was very productive. I think I slept too much yesterday during the day because it took longer to fall asleep and then I woke up at 12 and didn't really fall back asleep until 2 or 3 am. So I woke up around 7:30 am or so and finally started out around 9.

After stopping by the Tigo place to refill Na Nico's cellphone and confirming my appointment with Na Antoli to bake a cake tomorrow, I stopped by Na Pitu. We chopped it up for a little and then her cousin Frisi came back from wherever she had been so she hung out too. She pretty much speaks to me exclusively in Guarani; I would say that I understand 65% of what she says and the remaining part I either act like I understand or ask for clarification in Spanish. I clarified the directions to Na Rosa's house which, as she said, we very close.

Na Rosa was very happy to see me; her house is really nice too. She and her family live in a type of compound; there are several grandchildren in addition to her and her husband, her daughter, son, another son and his wife. I like the way it's laid out because it reminds me of the Aveiro fam. The grandchildren, Renzo (6) and Thania (5), are two of the cutest kids I've ever seen. They are so active and just run all over the place playing, yelling, arguing and being kids. Na Rosa and I sat eating oranges and talking about about my day, possible living arrangements around town and then she showed me the fruits and vegetables growing in her huerta. The huertas are extremely popular down here; I can't wait to start my own when I get my little house. She then introduced me to Rosi, her daughter-in-law, who is also on my list of potential families to stay with. Afterwards we sat in the yard chopping it up and drinking terere. I would say that so far Rosi and Fernando/the Riquelme compound is at the top of my homestay list. It's very lively and full of people, which can also be a bit tedious at times. I will continue to look at my other options and make a decision by Wednesday afternoon. I am going back there tomorrow for lunch so I can talk more with Rosi about the possibility. As lunchtime drew near, I excused myself since Na Nico was waiting for me, though not before eating a small square of pizza and yuca. I love the Paraguayans.

I set out on my walk back to the spot and on the way stopped briefly by Na Pitu's again to see another family member that wasn't there before and David Copperfield (remember him, Na Pitu's son) was there! I drank some more terere and talked about how great it was that I was going to be living in the community. We recounted my overnight visit some weeks ago and how we sat and drank mate the morning I left, saying how great it'd be if I ended up back here. And here I am.

I finally made it back to the spot where a tasty lunch of meatballs and rice with a tomato sauce and salad awaited. One thing I can say about Na Nico is that she's a good cook. However, I am not sure whether I want to live with her or not; since being here I have definitely missed being surrounded by more family members. I would also like a bigger living space. After siesta I plan to stop by another house or two to have more options from which to compare. Jahechata oiva (we'll see wassup)...

FSV Part 2 - 7.27.08

2008-08-21T08:53:00.000-04:00

Valenzuela, Cordillera, 7.27.08 - So I was just out not too long ago kickin' it with Maura and her fam, over at her sister/brother-in-law's house. This afternoon we ate lunch, took a siesta and then went to Na Antoli's house. I finally got to drink some terere and we walked around her amazing huerta. She had basically every vegetable one could want down here, and she also has tons of beautiful flowers. She gave us lettuce, cilantro, basil, some medicinal plant, and another long, plam-looking plant that smelled like garlic.

After that we headed back to the house and then went back out to see where Maura was. She had run to the hospital but, upon returning, knocked on our door and I came back out while Na Nico made dinner. Initially it was me, Maura, her brother-in-law and her brother sitting in the yard drinking beer. Then her dad, aunt, and younger cousin came over. It was quite a little gathering. I also met her sister Gloria and the baby, Fatima. We talked about the States, the Valenzuela schools, the youth, English, and they were amazed at my Guarani skills. We get along quite well. In the morning I plan to walk around town and make it to Na Rosa's and/or some of the other socia's houses that are on my list for possible places to live. We'll see how it goes.

The Future Site Visit 7.27.08

2008-08-09T16:59:00.009-04:00

Valenzuela, Cordillera, 7.27.08 - It is with great pride, elation and anticipation that I now present myself as the future Peace Corps Volunteer of the town of Valenzuela in the department of Cordillera. This, of course, was also where we came for our Tech Overnight a number of weeks ago to visit the Jen, the former PCV, while she was still here. We learned our sites two days ago and then came out to them yesterday. I was beside myself when I learned; I was damn near curled up in Paulita's lap like a baby when they called the names. I could not have asked for a better site - easily accessible to Aveiro and Asuncion, running water and modern toilets, and amazing people.

I will be working with with AMUR, which means Asociacion de la Mujer Rural (really hard translation: Association of the Rural Woman), on on advancing current projects as well as developing new ones. As if that wasn't good news, to top it off Paulette (I'm sure you all have noticed that I refer to her interchangeably as Paulita also) is in a site close to me, no more than an hour away I think. So needless to say we were crazy excited. A surprising assignment, however, was that Pooja is going to Tembiapora, which we had all speculated that Mateo would get. He will actually be working with a cooperative that produces and exports organic sugar, which is also amazing. The PCV before him apparently lived in a laid-out crib on a golf course.

The lady I'm currently staying with is Na Nico, a 75-year old widow of 10 years who, just as many other Paraguayans, spends time between Paraguay and Buenos Aires. I believe her husband was Argentine. She's a cute little lady though - she enjoys conversing, she's a good cook (though limited in what she can eat because of her gastritis), and is pretty funny too. The Peace Corps folks dropped me off in the Prado (like a Land Cruiser) yesterday morning with Na Rosa, and then Na Nico met me there. On our walk back to her house we stopped by Na Pitu's house (where I spent the night when our group visited weeks before) and chopped it up with them for a second, went by Na Nico's neice's hair salon, and then back to the house. We ate some lunch and then I went to sleep for a bit - I had been up since 4:15 am - exhausted! I woke up and hung around the house, read some more info in my folder about the site, and then Na Nico showed me her vegetable garden in the backyard. She has quite a few things growing - lettuce, oregano, green onions, radishes, squash and parsley in addition to some other veggies. Later in the afternoon we went by the hardware store where I scoped out an adapter I'll need for my laptop/surge protector.

After the hardware store, on of the neighbors, Na Maria who is a retired school director, came by to kick it with us. She talked about the work she used to do in the school district, in which she worked from the early 70's until '97; almost 30 years. She also talked about how things were during the Stroessner dictatorship. A member of the Colorado Party, which was the ruling party for 60 years until this year's April elections, she said that she had never had any problems with the government and only concentrated on improving the situation of the schools. She did, however, have an uncle who was not so fortunate.

He was a member of the opposing Liberal party and a priest in a small, poor town whose people lived in deplorable conditions. A passionate advocate for the people, he spoke out against the government and its inability to improve the lot of the townspeople. After leading a protest in the town he was taken away by the authorities and, although he was not imprisoned and tortured as many dissidents were during the dictadura, he was sent to a far away town and held under a type of house arrest. After a short period he was released and returned to his home town where he had led the initial protest. Instead of remaining quiet after his run-in with the law, he continued to speak out against the regime until he was thrown out of the church and exiled to Buenos Aires. While in Argentina he was extremely unhappy and longed for his homeland to which he was forbidden to return. Luckily someone in the family had the means to send him to Paris in the hopes that he would be happier. While there he met and married a woman but, nevertheless, continued to miss Paraguay. His family there offered to send him back to Buenos Aires but he refused, saying he couldn't see his homeland from the city. They finally settled on Foz do Iguazu, Brazil, a border town between the two countries at Iguazu Falls. He went to Brazil and tried to cross the border into Paraguay but was surrounded by the authorities as if he were a drug trafficker. Years after his initial exile, he was still forbidden to enter. Left with no other choice he settled in Foz do Iguazu, where he was content to at least see his beloved country on the other side of the river. He remains there to this day.

Na Maria went on to talk about how, after the regime fell in 1989, she almost lost her job because of the stigma attached to her from having worked during the regime when the new administration, despite its Colorado leadership, attempted to clean house. She refused, stating that she had always worked in the best interest of the schools and, lest the school district administrator forget, her uncle had spoken out against Stroessner and suffered the consequences. She was allowed to continue working in the schools until her retirement in '97.

This is one of many stories and englightening conversations I will have during my time as a PCV. Through these conversations I will form lasting friendships with my new neighbors as we work toward the improvement of the community. My experience so far has been so much more than I could have imagined; truly amazing.

Return to Aveiro/El Salon de Belleza - 7.22.08

2008-08-07T09:32:00.004-04:00

Aveiro, 7.22.08 - So I wanted to get an earlier start on the writing this evening, since I yet to report on the rest of Friday and the weekend.

To pick up where I left off, after the homies came across the water, we all piled in cars and headed back to Aveiro. It was so great to see Eric, Paulita and Mateo; Eric gave me a big hug, picked me up and swung me around, and big hugs from P and Mateo. We've never been separated for so long; it will be hard when we all head out to our sites. Anyway, my stomach was improving so the ride back was cool. I was so happy to get home and the fam was super happy to see me. Always great to come back home :-). I asked Mama how the week was and she said that it was awfully quiet without me and they frequently wondered what I was doing. I recounted my intestinal ordeal and we had a good laugh - Tim's family wasn't home so he came over too. They all remarked at how much better his Spanish had gotten. Yay Timmy! Afterwards I took a shower, ate, then retired. I was EXHAUSTED.

So the next day I woke up around 7:30 am so I could perm my hair for the first time since I've been down here. I had my host sister Rita get the perm in and then I combed it through. There a couple of areas I had to cover with more perm, but she did a good job for it being her first time. I washed it out in the sink outside using a plastic wash basin and the pitcher to pour water over my head. While I noticed later that there were some areas that could've straightened more, I'm very pleased with how it came out.

After lunch, we all headed to Asuncion to celebrate Paulette's birthday. We stopped first at the Peace Corps office to check email and use the phone; I was able to make my customary call to Daddy. Afterwards we went by the mall so Paulette could buy a shirt. In a serendipitous turn of events, we ran into a PCV we knew and the municipal services development (also known as Muni) part of our group as we were walking to the hotel, another family reunion! It was the first time we'd seen each other since we'd left for LFP the previous week. Even some other munis - Shola, Erik and Liam - passed by on the bus.

The hotel was great - Hotel Los Alpes - it looked like a little oasis in the middle of the block. We all stayed between the two attics, which were big rooms with six beds and a table and chairs in the center. It also had a wall-mounted tv and a really nice bathroom that even had hot water faucets! I've gotten so used to the cold water-only sink and the shower with the switch to turn on the electric shower head that heats the water. We were all starving so we headed to the popular Lebanese spot, Monte Libano, for some lomito arabe (AH-rah-beh), which is shawarma. I was also really happy that they had Heineken, so I bought a 32 oz. bottle and drank it like it was water. Truly an excellent dinner. We hung out there for awhile and then went back to the hotel to change to go out.

Our first stop was this bar with an outside patio called Cafe Bohemia. The neighborhood was like a street in Berkeley with art galleries and little boutique shops - stark contrast to the Paraguayan countryside and other parts of Asuncion - at times we almost forgot we were still in Paraguay. We stayed for a bit and then went around the corner to another lounge that had better dancing music. And by better dancing music I mean choice hits from the 80's and early-90's WITH VIDEOS (just like my host brother)! The Paraguayans are truly fans of 80's music and have allowed me to rediscover my love for the decade. The drinks at both places were expensive by our standards - by that point I was drinking less and taking sips of other peoples' drinks, so at least I wasn't spending any money. A fun time was certainly had by all.

The next morning we took advantage of the free buffet, which was an absolute treat. It even had a toaster oven, great coffee and real butter!!! Oh, the little things. We finally got everyone together to leave around 10, and it took forever for the bus to come but at least we were able to get seats. Once back in Aveiro we went to Paulita's for lunch. Her family had the bomb asado! Needless to say, I punished the food. We sat around for a bit after lunch and then Tim and I rolled. Talk about being exhausted. I hung around the house for the rest of the day - it was definitely a packed but fun-filled weekend.

Last Days in the Dos 7.19.08

2008-08-05T12:43:00.001-04:00

Tembiapora, Caaguazu, 7.19.08 - I am sitting on the banks of the Yguazu River listening to Reasonable Doubt on Tim's iPod. Thankg God for it. It's just me, Aurelio (language teacher) and Pimpo (Peace Corps driver/employee) - the others crossed the river on the barge to Tembiapora to meet up with Kyle (PC volunteer) and the others that went to visit him. My stomach has been unbelievable to' up all day I didn't want to chance adding sea sickness onto it so I elected to stay on this side. We left Tavapy 2 around 10 this morning.

The last two days in "The Dos" were great. Wednesday we hung out in the morning and then went over to Na Blanca's to make sopa paraguaya and have lunch. I helped grind up some of the corn and did all of the mixing :-). For lunch we had tallarines and chicken, which was tough as all hell to chew, and they gave me the breast too which was even tougher. If I am not mistaken, this means that we were eating an older male chicken. Nevertheless, the food was good. After we went back to Dres' and chilled out for a little then started preparing the seeds to plant the abonos verdes. This are types of trees that farmers can plant whose leaves replenish the soil's nutrients when they fall and decompose. Once the trees are full grown, it virtually eliminates the need for fertilizer, thereby preventing the farmers to have to spend money on chemical fertilizer. Initially intended as a demonstration for the farmers, it ended up being them planting them and talking to us about them, which was great. Nothing like unintended experiential learning, I tell you.

After we planted them we walked around what was left of the Atlantic rainforest with the two coop members (also known as "socios" in Spanish) and then headed back to the crib. While removing the skin from a coconut that Dres gave her, Pooja cut herself and kirked out ("flipped out", for those of you unfamiliar with DC slang). Apparently she doesn't do well when she sees blood. While the cut did bleed quite a bit, her reaction was way more dramatic than necessary. I proceeded to dress the wound and then she went and cooled out in the hammock. Crisis averted! lol. When I got back to Feliciano's later in the evening, the grandkids were watching Titanic on the computer in my room. They had just started and I didn't have the heart to kick them out, so we were up until about 11.

We spent the next morning putting the finishing touches on the planning session we were leading with the socios on the future community center, which was something very important to the socios. Around 10:30 we headed to Tim's host family's house for lunch. Before lunch, however, we walked around the family farm. A stream runs through parts of the farm, so the family had built two noteworthy, home-made bridges ("puentes caseros") to cross from one side to the other. One was a big tree trunk thrown across two banks with a thin metal cable with which to steady oneself. The other, which was more out of an Indiana Jones movie (Temple of the Lost Ark, maybe?), had planks of bamboo strewn across two wire cables connecting one bank to the other. The bridge was definitely not new, as evidenced by a number of semi-wide spaces between some of the planks. I prayed and then crossed.

More tallarines for lunch, relaxing in chairs eating tangerines and then back to the spot. The brainstorming session began around 2:30 pm and it turned out quite well. I was in charge of the introductory icebreaker, which I did primarily in Guarani. Yay Sasha. The socios threw out some great ideas for the community center, all of which we got on paper. For the rest of the day we laid around Dres' crib and later in the evening, just as I was getting ready to head back to the homestead, Na Blanca and the crew came over to make dinner. With some direction from Pooja, they even made an Indian-style dish with peas and potatoes and other signature Indian ingredients. Dres even threw in some curry he bought in the Western part of the country near the border with Brazil. Needless to say I punished it and then headed home. Since it was the last night, I sat up and chopped it up with the host fam while they of course gave me more food. You can probably guess what it was - TALLARINES (shocker)! We talked about things back in the States, my family (at which time I whipped out the pics), and how badly the town needed a community center. And also the inadequacy of the nearby medical center - many poor people, they said. I also reminded them that I was leaving the following morning - they couldn't believe it and asked when I was coming back. Too bad I couldn't stay on with them, they said. I agreed and said that hopefully I would come back soon. With that I retired to my quarters. If only the next day could've begun as peacefully as that day ended.

I was jolted awake around 4:45 am by crazily unbelievable stomach pains. I laid awake in bed waiting to see if they improved so I could go back to sleep. Womp, womp, as my friends and I say. Much to my horror, they got worse until it was evident that I was not going to get away with not doing some major biznis in the latrine. Christ have mercy, I thought to myself. I grabbed my flashlight and toilet paper and made a mad dash for the rancid inferno before I ended up messing on the floor in my room. Once inside, I hurriedly took of my sweatpants and slung them over the door so as to avoid any mishaps on the clothes. I hung my toilet paper on the hook and, with my flashlight, made sure I was aiming correctly so I didn't have any casualties on my feet. I then squatted over the hole, steadying myself on either side on the small wooden shelter. While normally the stomach pains would've subsided after relieving myself, this time was not one of those cases. I repeated this same grueling exercise three more times. The last two times I was squatting I tried to get up and caught the ill cramp in my left hip - it was not a good look AT ALL! I ended up having to put both hands on the ground in front of me while crouched down, then lean forward and push up as if I were stretching. Talk about an ordeal. After the fourth time I was finally able to go back to sleep around 5:15. If I ever have to go through something like that again, I pray that I have access to a modern toilet or, if not, a latrine with a seat so I don't have to crunch up my stomach and damn near dislocate my hip in the process. Jesus Christ have mercy!

Day Dos in the Dos - 7.15.08

2008-07-31T11:25:00.005-04:00

Tavapy 2, 7.14.08 - Today was another fun-filled day. I woke up, peed in the latrine, brushed my teeth by the water pump, and then took a nice hot shower. I got dressed, drank mate (remember, MAH-tay), then my host family gave me some sugary-ass, hot milky stuff that I found out was soy milk. Not a fan. A rack of bread for breakfast; I ate one sweetbread and then took the rest to go.

Our "language class" was super chill; we talked a bit about abonos verdes (planting trees whose leaves automaticall replenish the soil) then chopped it up about random stuff, then Pooja's senora brought everyone pireka (think: West Indian bakes) for breakfast. Yum. We then went on a search for a hierbal (hierba orchard) and basically went on a fantastic voyages through two through about 20 hectares of farmland. On the way we may as well have been bushwacking at times; it was a good thing that I had on my heavy duty hiking boots. And then Pooja stepped on a fire ant hill and she had Tim (who had on flip-flops, poor guy) were semi-attacked. We gave up and decided to head back to my host family's house for lunch, and then of course when we were back on the path we ran up on two of the guys harvesting hierba leaves from the trees. We arrived at Feliciano's and immediately gulped down some terere (remember, like mate only cold) and then ate lunch. It occurred to me that I told them how I love tallarines (pasta, pronounced tie-yuh-REE-nes) with beef and that's exactly what we had. We hung out a bit after lunch and then headed back to Andrew's crib for siesta. There is absolutely no stress down here, it's amazing. Who knew life could be so simple.

After siesta we were supposed to translpant some lettuce from the seedbed to the garden, but Dres had to go take care of some coop stuff so we laid around and hung out. Earlier in the day I successfully extracted a pique from Pooja's foot, and she had another one in her other foot but for some reason it refused to allow itself to be extracted. Recalitrant little bastard. So anyway, I broke out my Swiss Army knife and decided to saw a bamboo branch and then Timo was playing baseball with it. After awhile Timo left with his host and Pooj, Dres and I hung out until about 8:30. We dropped Pooj off then Dres and I came back to my host family's, ate dinner and chopped it up with Feliciano. He gave me a huge compliment when he asked Dres, "how does she speak so much Guarani???". I thought to myself, mmmmyes the illustrious plan unfolds...

Day One in the Dos - 7.14.08

2008-07-31T10:22:00.002-04:00

Tavapy 2, 7.14.08 - So I'm sitting here in my little room at my host family's house trying to listen to some music on my iPod, but it keeps freezing. It just started playing, I think it may be possessed. At least it gives me an excuse to buy a new one. So anyway, I'm here in the town of Tavapy 2 (pronounced tah-vah-pull dos), visiting Andrew aka Andres. So despite my comments about how filthy his feet, etc. are, he is a cool ass dude. He has definitely gone "native" though, as some other PCV's have said. We got here earlier this afternoon after meeting him in a nearby town. After going around and meeting the different families we'd all be staying with we hung out around his crib, which is part of the cooperative with which he works. We took a tour of the coop's barbacua, which is where the hierba is processed before getting sent to the hierba mate company for packaging. The town has beautiful countryside; Andres has an amazing view of the valley from his huge yard. Pooja and I are staying with families right near the coop, while Tim is about 2 km away. Too bad he couldn't have been closer. We also took a walk to the field near Andres' crib and picked some cilantro for our dinner. That'd be tight if I can have some growing wild near me when I get to my site.

So now to the main thing that's been on my mind since I got here - THE BATHROOM SITUATION. So apparently my host family here has an electric heated shower but they all use a latrine. When I say latrine, I mean I'M BOO-BOOING IN A HOLE! So when I first got here I immediately asked where the bathroom was so I could get it out of the way. So I went in there and the stench was UNREAL. It basically smells like a Paraguayan sewer (or any other 3rd world country you may have been to): stale urine and feces on the rocks. So there I was with a little flashlight my host mom gave me, and I squatted and peed. She said that if I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and didn't want to walk all the way there, I could just go on the side of the house. That at least saved me from having to smell the stench, have mercy. We'll see if I'm brave enough to do some "major biznis" in the latrine tomorrow morning, I'm not sure that I will be...lol

On another note, the family computer (yes, I said computer) is this room, it's REALLY nice. Quite an interesting juxtaposition with the latrine out back. The granddaughters were watching a DVD old cachaca (Paraguayan music, similar to cumbia, look on Wikipedia if you're still not sure) music, and one of the groups had these dudes with sick-ass Mexican mullets. Not just business in the front party in the back, but gel-sculpted Elvis pompadour (sp?) in the front and permed-out, crimped-up, mid-back length mane in the back.

Some Pics and a Video

2008-07-23T12:24:00.004-04:00

More pics from live in Aveiro...I don´t know whether I´ve lost weight or not because my host mom (i call her my ¨Maa", like Granty says it) has been feeding me like a pig getting fattened up for the state fair. Nevertheless, that at least means that things are all good :-)

This is a pig from the Permaculture Farm.

Interesting New and Preparing for Long Field Practice 7.12.08

2008-07-13T18:32:00.001-04:00

Aveiro, 7.12.08 - So last Sunday I washed my hair, partially blow dried it and later in the evening, my host sister Rita actually flat-ironed it for me! She did a good job - I think I will have her do it from now on, assuming she's willing. In the late morning we went over to my host mom's sister's house, who was having an asado (barbecue PY style) for her birthday. I met a bunch of other family members, ate a lot of meat, some really salty noodles with chicken and some excellent birthday cake. Happy Birthday Auntie!

Not too much has happened this week. I continue to enjoy having the internet next door at my host brother's, and because of that I was able to reformat my iPod after it crashed a week or so ago. Yes, it crashed and I lost everything. But, luckily I also brought my discman and some cd's so at least I have some music to listen to. I also plan on repopulating my iPod with some of his amazing 80's music; PY soundtrack here we come! However, today I tried to load some songs onto it from my friend's laptop but some of them didn't transfer, and then it froze again so it may be gone for good. So it's very likely that I'll use my readjustment allowance to buy a new iPod at the end of my PC service, assuming I don't get a new one before then. It's all good though. When my computer eventually arrives, I'll have all my music then, so it'll be even better. By the way Lil' Mommy - I met a guy today who was born and raised in Boston but his parents are Paraguayan, and he says that Fedex is how he would always send stuff and it would get here in a week. He moved back down here a few years ago. Depending of course on how much you pay - nevertheless, however long it takes is fine, as long as it arrives.

But anyway, I digress as usual. So this past Wednesday we learned that, due to funding cuts from PC headquarters in DC, our training will be cut short by a week, so we will be swearing in as official PC volunteers on August 6th and heading to our sites by the 9th, instead of swearing in on the 14th and arriving in site the following Monday. While folks were pretty shocked, most of us were relieved because we're all pretty anxious to get to our sites. However, it is also sad because I'll be leaving all of my friends and my wonderful Aveiro family. They have really spoiled me - I hope that I have similar luck with the host family I will live with at my site for a few months. My current family I think of as my Paraguayan home base and an important component of my local suppor network. They are praying that I don't get sent too far away so they can easily come visit me and vice versa, but either way I will definitely come back to visit when I can. A true blessing indeed. Later that day I spoke with Daddy and he asked me when I would possibly be coming home to visit; I told him January. However, as I have begun to think about it more, I think there may be a possibility that I come home for Christmas for about two weeks, depending on my schedule at my site. Based on what I have heard from other volunteers, December through February are among the hottest months in the country and a lot of people go out of town because apparently not that much gets done. Also, when I am able to travel and have visitors starting in November, I will start out with 48 vacation days for the two years, which will decrease as I take vacation. Assuming this is the case, I will definitely have enough vacation days. All of this will become more clear in the coming weeks as we prepare to head for our sites and become official volunteers. As the Paraguayans (and many Latinos) say, "si Dios quiere y la Virgen permite" (if God wills it and the Virgin permits it). Indeed we will see...

Long Field Practice Here We Come 7.12.08

2008-07-13T18:21:00.000-04:00

Aveiro, 7.12.08 - So tomorrow I will spend most of the day preparing for my week-long visit to a volunteer about 6 or 7 hours away in a town called Tavapy 2. This is known as Long Field Practice, in which we really get to see the ins and outs of volunteer life, and will even be conducting workshops with the community. I will be going with two other folks from my group, one of whom I pray that I don't strangle while I'm there. I'm sure everything will be fine though. The volunteer we're visiting is also an interesting guy to say the least - he has the record for longest days without bathing and the most pique (PEE-kay). I suggest that you all google pique to find out what it is, but just to give you an idea, it's a parasite that is contracted usually in the feet as result of contact with cow or pig poop or otherwise contaminated soil. It looks like a little splinter when you initially get it, but it then matures and lays eggs which can cause major nerve damage and, in extreme cases, death. EXTREME CASES. I thought I had one the other day and had the doctor look at it but apparently I didn't. So anyway, this particular volunteer had 6 IN ONE TOE at one point, as a result of his penchant for walking around barefoot, especially in the dirt. He's a really nice guy, but we also think he is semi-insane; he kinda reminds me of Pigpen from Charlie Brown. All of that notwithstanding, I have every intention of staying as clean as possible. As was the case in Valenzuela, we will be staying with families. I have already been told that, while the family I'm staying with has a latrine, not a modern toilet, they do have a hot shower! So yeah, needless to say I will likely have some stories at the end of my week. Stay tuned and pray for me! :-)

The Organic Farm in the Middle of the City 7.12.08

2008-07-13T18:20:00.001-04:00

Aveiro, 7.12.08 - This past Thursday afternoon we went on yet another amazing excursion, which is definitely at the top of the list with the low-income housing cooperative. We went to a family-owned and operated, organic and environmentally-conscious and sustainable farm located in Lambare, just outside of Asuncion. We were greeted by Fernando, one of the sons, who also gave us a tour of the property. He is a forestry engineer who also speaks excellent English as a result of his time in the States when his girlfriend was in grad school at Oregon State. He began by telling us about the family's biodigester, which uses pig excrement and water to create methane gas that they use for cooking. The contraption itself looks like a garden row covered over with plastic, with resealable openings at either end. When they clean out the pigpen they load up the biodigester, which converts it to methane. They have piping that runs from the BD to the house through the ground, allowing it to come through the burners. The BD cost 300,000 guaranies (a little less than $100) to build and paid for itself after only 2 months' gas usage; they even use less than the propane they had been using before. The BD was in the same area as the rabbit hutch, the vermiculture (where worms are grown for composting) bins, the cow shed and the pigpen.

The farm is set up according to what I viewed as a circular, recyclicle pattern - a true model for sustainability. Many of the trees on the property grow quickly and can be used for firewood for cooking. This is especially important for small farmers who cannot afford to wait years for trees to grow because they need to feed their families. The flora truly looks like a tropical oasis; a little island in the middle of the city. It provides more than ample shade for the compost piles, which are made from the cow manure and leaves from the trees, among other ingredients. They have several bins of dirt with worms in them to enrich the soil that results from the compost. Fernando even had an experiment going in which he was seeing how well the compost pile heated water. He had a container of water in the pile with a copper pipe (because of it's ability to conduct heat) through whcih he filled it. I'm not sure how long the water had been in there, but the amount that came out was pretty warm. It will be interesting to see whether it can become a viable option - using the natural chemical reactive processes that take place within the pile to heat water instead of gas or other conventional indoor plumbing methods. They keep rabbits that are fed with greens and other foods from their farm, that they have for autoconsumption or sell. The rabbits were all so cute, especially the baby bunnies. I understand that the meat is also excellent and very lean.

In addition to purchased feed, the cows also eat the leave from the sugar cane and corn that's grown on the farm. The cows also produce milk the family uses to make yogurt and cheese, which they also consume and sell to buyers around Asuncion. All organic. They may also eat the beef from the cow - I would think so, they grow/raise everything else. Just above the cow area is the pigpen that housed about 15 or 16 pigs, including the piglets. The one male pig they had was the biggest I'd ever seen, 170 kilos (340 lbs)! At 3 years old, it was the father of all the little pigs. It was absolutely huge, it looked like the pyscho, monster pig you might see in a nightmare or that would eat people like those pigs in the Silence of the Lambs sequel. Lawd have mercy. Right, so moving right along, in addition to eating the pigs themselves they also sell them.
Next we went to the poultry coop where they kept chickens, guinea hens, ducks and quails. Autoconsumption as well, but they also sell quail eggs as a delicacy. I must say that they are pretty tasty. In there huge garden they grow yuca, hibiscus (for juice and jam, rich in vitamin C), strawberries, green onions, corn, and some other roots vegetables. So at the end of the tour, the mother and sisters had a whle spread of amazing goodies, all homemade, laid out for us - chipa (Paraguayan sweetbread), yogurt, strawberry milk, hibiscus juice and jam, orange pound cake, strawberry and guava jams, cheese, and quail eggs. The food was crazily ridiculous, unreal. We ate until we couldn't eat anymore. So folks also bought some yogurt and jam. So, from our tour we learned about new information we can pass onto our communities to improve the quality of there lives. The only thing that could've been better was if Fernando hadn't had a girlfriend; actually it's probably better that he did because otherwise we would've all been fighting over him (lol).

How to Make Paraguayan Cheese 7.12.08

2008-07-13T18:19:00.000-04:00

Aveiro, 7.12.08 - So yesterday was our fourth Dia de Practica (Day of Practice), in which we go out into the community and learn about different people's activities. My friend Paulette and I have been going to the farm of Don Blasido, a local dairy and sugar cane farmer. While he mainly specializes in sugar cane, at one point he kept even more cows and sold milk, but currently keeps them mainly for autoconsumption and the dairy products they still sell. On the farm they also have pigs, chickens, yuca, several types of squash and root veggies, citrus trees, and his sister next door has tomatoes.

The first few times we went over there, we pretty much hung out with the women of the family. The time before this most recent time was our most productive; we helped clean and peel yuca for their lunch, and one of the grandmothers who had just flown in from Argentina taught us how to play quince (pronounced KEEN-say, Spanish for 15), a popular card game. The main folks on the farm a Don Blasido, who kind of reminds me of my grandfather, Na Dora (his wife), Noelia (his neice, age 24 but she looks about 30) and her two sons (Blasito, 4, and the younger one that I refer to as Chiquitito, 16 months), and Angela (the daughter-in-law, maybe late 30's?) and her two sons (the younger one is 4 or 5 and the older one, Matias, is 12). We spend most of our time with Angela and Noelia in the the cooking area, which is the center of their family life. Angela is definitely the sharpest tack in the bunch, while Noelia is, not so much. Nevertheless, they're great folks.

So the last time we were there, Angela said that she would show us how to make cheese the next time, which we definitely able to do yesterday. I learned how to make it in the traditional Paraguayan style, using the cuajo (say it with me, KWAH-ho), which is the stomach lining of the cow. You start with the milk - since it had been in the fridge since the day before, Angela first heated it until is was warm, approximately 90-something degrees. I then put in the cuajo, swirled it around for a bit and then put it back in the bucket in its bath of sour orange jouice and salt to preserve it. She also said that after you take it from the cow you have to stretch it on a stick and dry it in the sun so it lasts longer. She then showed how you kind of press the cheese around in the pot as the curds form, which Paulette and I both did. After you pour the liquid residue, known as the suero (SWEH-ro), out of the pot. The suero is excellent sustenance for both pigs and dogs. You let the remaining curd sit for awhile, then put it in a colander or cheese mold and press out the rest of the water. After the liquid is pressed out it's ready to eat. The finished product was good, but I prefer the drier, more aged cheese. How y'all like my new skill??? I will be impressing the folks in my site in no time...Real country living boy I tell you, I love it.

Tour of INCOOP and Fourth of July at the American Embassy in Asunción 7.5.08

2008-07-13T18:18:00.000-04:00

Aveiro, 7.5.08 - So after being here for a number of weeks, certain folks are definitely starting to work my nerves. A few days ago we had the first big fight between two people in the group (not the larger group, but our RED group of 6), but luckily they've actually managed to smooth things over and get along.

Yesterday we went to the American Embassy for the July 4th picnic, which was a lot of fun. In the morning we went to the Mercado de Abasto, where farmers come to sell produce. We learned primarily about the section in which farming coops are able to sell their produce wholesale to individuals and supermarkets. Some of the buyers set up produce stands in another area across the street and sell it by the kilo for, in some cases, double the price. Crazy, but what can you do when folks are just trying to make a living in a Third World country. Sorry if that wasn't politically correct but oh well. I am living in a Third World country - who would have thought. But anyway, I digress.

After Abasto we went to INCOOP, which is the main body in charge of regulating all coops in the country. It's located in an 8-story building in Asunción with beautiful views of the city. We were initially met by Inginiero Angel Caballero, who kinda looked like a telenovela star. He kept checking himself out in the mirror throughout his schpiel. Hilarious. He is in charge of overseeing new initiatives they have. In one current initiative, bigger coops are working with smaller coops to help them improve their technologies, methods, etc. to improve their overall situation. After he talked with for awhile the president of INCOOP came in, Ingeniero Doctor Antonio Ortiz, who looked like a mini Tony Soprano. Yes, that's what I said - Mini Jimmy Gandolfini. So he talked more about coops in the country, and then Ing. Angel took us on a full tour of each department. My favorite part was when we went to Mini Jimmy's office, which was easily the size of the people's two bedrooms I stayed with in Valenzuela, and bigger than many other houses I've seen in Paraguay. It was one big room with a conference table, two leather couches, a coffee table, a big screen tv (by PY standards - looked like a 30") with a stereo whose speakers were hooked up to the tv for surround sound action., his huge desk and a computer. He also had his own bathroom and what I think may have been a shower in another room, but the door was closed so I didn't dare check. He gave us copies of a little book with all laws related to coops and INCOOP's annual report. An assistant of his even brought us little cups and saucers with espresso and later glasses of water. Talk about big time! Before we left he showed us pictures of his trip to Boston last year, which I believe was sponsored by the US DOD. He spent quite a bit of time with some soldiers, one of whom had been in Iraq and another one who was apparently from Puetro Rico. He was like (in Spanish), "he spoke perfect Spanish", and I thought, um yeah he is Puerto Rican so that's not a shocker, Mini Jimmy. But he was a cool little guy overall. One thing that we all noticed was that the secretaries were all young, attractive females; deductive reasoning led us to conclude that this was among the job qualification criteria.
So after that we piled back into the van and headed to the Embassy. The grounds are pretty lush - it looks like a tropical garden for real. They even have animals on the grounds - I saw two sheep and two peacocks - interesting indeed. The picnic was a lot of fun - they had hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, baked beans, and other goodies. There were lots of embassy folks, PC affiliates and their families. We pretty much hung out, drank beer and people-watched. The world being as small as it is, of course I would've run into a dude named Shawn that went to Stanford with my friend Abeo, even her same year (sorry Abeo, I didn't ask what his last name was). He works in the Office of Public Affairs at the Embassy. I also bought myself a Peace Corps shirt that says "Cuerpo de Paz Paraguay"on the front, and then on the back it has a picture of a popular brand of mate and the words "We don't smoke our weed we drink it" on the back. Truly priceless - I'll drink to that (as Maceo would say)!

Valenzuela 6.29.08

2008-07-13T18:16:00.000-04:00

Aveiro, 6.29.08 - This past Friday after class we headed out to a small town called Valenzuela for our Tech Overnight. The Tech Overnight is when the Rural Economic Development (RED) and Municipal Service Development (MSD) groups each go to visit a volunteer in their respective sites. The RED homies and I went to visit a female volunteer, Jen Cheng, who works with a cooperative in the town. On the way there we stopped at a little place called Casa de Mani, which specializes in things made from peanuts. They also have bomb lomito sandwiches (seasoned chopped beef, the sandiwch also had melted cheese) and soft serve ice cream.

A little less than an hour later we arrived in Valenzuela and met up with Jen and then got dropped off at our various households where we were staying for the night. We hung out at our houses for about 30 minutes and then got back together to go see the women's center where Jen had done a lot of work, AMUR, which stands for Asociación de la Mujer Rural (Association of the Rural Woman). The house and land on which AMUR is located was donated by a Swiss family that lived in the town. In the front room they a small general store in which they sell various handmade and miscellaneous goods, mainly school supplies and stationary. In another room they have a computer center that is populated with computers y'all might've seen in the 1990's, which is an accomplishment in itself. Two computers were donated initally by one woman's son who had a successful business in another part of the country, and the other computers were purchased with grant money. Not sure how often the acutal classes take place - if I am not mistaken, I think they're on hold because the demand was greater than the teachers available. In the kitchen, they have a commercial oven recently purchased so the women could learn how to bake bread in the hopes of selling it in the community. They currently have a professional baker that's teaching them; we'll see how it turns out. Since she is leaving, one of us will actually be going to her site; possibly me? In another room they have a huge weaver that didn't seem to really be used much. But, if folks decide they want to make hammocks or some other weaved product, it's there. It also doubled as a storage room.

After that we went back to the cooperative where we were met by the woman that maintains the coop's office in the town. The coop, which is similar to a credit union, is in much better shape than that of the volunteer I visited a number of weeks ago. It has a lot of members and a strong Board of Directors. Jen actually lives at the coop in a room they constructed for her along with a modern bathroom and a kitchen; I think the kitchen might've been there already. After the woman left, we hung out with Jen drinking mate (pronounced MAH-tay, a type of tea, the national drink of Paraguayans) and talking about her time in Valenzuela. She said that she absolutely loved it; aside from a period in the summer when she got really depressed because of the heat, which apparently is very strong. That was also when she was applying to schools and stressing over that. She's going to grad school at Yale in the fall for international relations. It started to get a little late so we all headed back to our houses.

Let me say that the house I stayed at in Valenzuela was NOTHING like my house in Aveiro, and I was living in relative squalor for one night. Let me give y'all the lowdown. They basically live in two rooms, eat and brush their teeth in an outside corridor between the sleeping quarters and the kitchen shed. The bathroom - thank God they had a modern bathroom - was filthy and next to the sleeping area. I didn't dare sit on the toilet; I had brought my toiletries but please believe they stayed right in my backpack. The shower floor was covered in dirt, and the sink was not even hooked up. Anyway, when I came back from Jen's that night I watched tv with a granddaughter of Ña Pitu (short for Doña, pronounced DON-yah) and Ña Pitu's older son who has some sort of chronic disease (Parkinson's maybe?). When I first met him earlier, he would ask me a question and then just kind of stare at me, which the two neices were also doing. I might've been the first black person they'd seen up close. But yeah it was kind of weird; I was like, "man I hope this man is not staring at me when I go to sleep and then I wake up and have to knock someone out,". But he actually looked kind of like David Copperfield. So after some time, Ña Pitu called me to come and eat dinner, which was stewed chicken and sopa paraguaya (remember, the paraguayan cornbread). I ate what I could of the chicken because I wasn't really seasoned that well and was undercooked on the inside Oh my God, it definitely was not my Paraguayan mom's cooking. They also gave me some really sugary soda, which I can't stand, and the weird son asked me why I didn't drink more of it. So I failed to mention that they spoke primarily Guarani so while I was able to get in some practice, at times I had NO IDEA what they were saying. She asked about how things were in the States and then, I am reminded as I write, inquired about how much I was paid. The Paraguayans are super-forward at times. I lied and told her I didn't know exactly, but enough for living expenses. She also asked if there was crime in the States, I said there was, and then she said that Paraguay didn't really have any crime until after Stroessner (the dictator) fell in 1989; I got the sense that she wished that the same (or similar situation) was still in place. This same dictator of course initiated a lot of violent repression of dissidents and all great things the worst dictators are known for. Nevertheless, we were watching a hilarious comedy show that I hadn't seen prior to then (because I am usually sleep or in my room reading way earlier than 9pm), so that was cool. At 10:15pm I finally excused myself to go and lay down, in the same room as they continued to watch tv. Her bed was also in the same room on the other side on a big wardrobe. I put on my iPod and was down for the count.

The next morning I was supposed to meet the other RED folks at 7am, but for some reason (I don't know why, I guess my mind wasn't right) I thought they were going to come and get me, since we had all been dropped off by car the night before. So instead of meeting them I hung out with Ña Pitu and 'nem drinking mate, chopping it up, and watching her cousin sew clothes. I had just received a letter from Mommy with a pic of Granny so I showed it to them and they immediately thought Granny was white...lol. Naturally I turned it into a teachable moment about Black American history and told them about how we have many colors - they also said that they also have family members of various shades, so we had even more in common. So finally Ña Pitu was ready to head over to the AMUR center for Jen's going away party and rolled in around 9:30 am. Everyone wondered where I had been - I apologized to Brian, saying that I thought he was going to come and get me, he said that it was no problem, that he figured that I was fine and had meant to come get me but got trapped in conversation. I love how everything is so "tranquilo" (pronounced, tran-KEE-lo) down here. No worries. My friend Mateo was singing and playing a song on his guitar at the time, after which Jen came up and said some farewell remarks. Afterwards there were refreshments, including some nasty food I couldn't eat, and then we piled in the car to head back to Aveiro. Before heading back, however, we stopped by the coop's main office in the nearest urban town about 15 minutes away. As I mentioned, they are extremely well established - they also have a weaving warehouse on the office grounds where coop members (socios) make rugs and hammocks, and an agricultural technology building.

The first thing I did when I got home was to go to the bathroom and take a shower; easily the best one I've had, laid down for a bit, and ate. Despite the fact that the living conditions of the people I stayed with were a bit different that those I had become accustomed to and the food was nasty, they were great people. The bed, at least, was extremely comfortable (although I slept in my fleece jacket because it looked a lil dirty). It definitely made me appreciate my current living situation, but also made me realize that I can deal with a lot more. And it could've been worse - at least they had indoor plumbing.

A Lesson in Paraguayan History (or not)

2008-07-07T19:54:00.001-04:00

Guarambare, 6.29.08 - Yesterday, as a part of a session about Paraguayan history and politics, two women came to speak to us about Parguayan history and politics. Unfortunately they were notthat effective. One woman basically used the time to brag about her accomplishments and the time she spentin 30 of the 52 states, namely Arkansas and Albany, NY, where she was an AFS exchange student.Everything she mentioned could be found on the State Department´s website on Paraguay, and of course Wikipedia. The best part was at the end when, in an attempt to quell any fears black peoplemay have had about racism in Paraguay, she told of an encounter she had with a black policeman outside of Chicago. After he stopped her and she began talking, he asked where she was from, towhich his immediate response was, "are there any black people in Paraguay???" In allhonesty, that was also my first question (lol). So at that point in the story, she said thatthat was her first time being made aware of the question of race. While this may have seemedsimple, in relating the story to us, she referred to the policeman as "colored". Now, upuntil that point, the point of her anecdote was unclear and I had pretty much tuned out. However,upon hearing the word "colored", my internal record player came to a screeching halt and I said to myself,"wtf did she just say???" and looked around to see how it registered with the other black peoplein my group. We all met glances. While I am sure that our reaction was not was she was tryingto ellicit, that´s what happened nevertheless. She probably meant well; no one bothered to say anything because we were relieved that she had finished talking. Ah, the irony.

MY ADDRESS

2008-06-18T12:43:00.002-04:00

Samantha Cooper-Morrison, PCT
Cuerpo de Paz
162 Chaco Boreal c/ Mariscal Lopez
Asuncion 1580, Paraguay South America

Kickin It with the Homies in Asuncion and My Trip to Tacuati - 6.18.08

2008-06-18T12:37:00.000-04:00

Tacuati 6.16.08 - So I am sitting here typing this entry on the laptop of my host volunteer, Mary, in the small town of Tacuati, which is about 8 hours from Asuncion.

By the way, I am kicking myself for not bringing my laptop with me because it is such a great thing to have (yes Kara, I now understand what your brother meant), not to mention the fact that several people in my group brought theirs with them and have used them to store photos, music, and pre-write blog entries so you don't use up all of your internet cafe time. One person's laptop burnt out, not sure what the details were about that though. So Mom, whoever comes down here first will definitely need to bring my laptop, external hard drive, and backup software cd's. But I digress, back to my story.

I arrived here Saturday afternoon around 2pm via teeny local bus. A large van with a center aisle, it left from Horqueta, the closest urban center (about 1.5 hours away via Peace Corps jeep). Nevertheless, the roads were bad from the previous night's rain so it took about 2.5 hours, which apparently isn't the longest trip seeing as how the bus only broke down briefly. Before I go into that, however, let me recount the hours leading up to my arrival here.

This past Thursday was a national holiday so we all had the day off, which I spent laying around, eating, napping, and studying. It was the perfect opportunity for me to make some Guarani verb conjugation cards that were SO NECESSARY - I feel like my language capabilities improved just from the execrcise. I was starting to get frustrated with the fact that all the Guarani was getting jumbled in my head and I couldn't quite get it organized. After making the cards, I can say that the fog is definitely starting to lift. Two weeks and some change - I swear it's been two months that I've been down here...lol. So Friday during technical training class we went on a field trip to Pooja's host family's huge farm and her host dad gave us a tour of the expansive chacra (farm). It was rumored that there was a 3-legged cow in residence, but we were not able to confirm this as we only saw cows with four legs.

After class, since Eric and I were among the trainees (PCT's) that had to go into Asuncion to catch night buses to head out to our volunteers' sites, we were able to hitch a ride with some PC staff that had come into town. Chris, the Volunteer Coordinator, invited us to his apartment for dinner so we didn't have to hang out at the bus terminal. He also informed us that it was Italian Night at the crib he shared with several other PC affiliates and that we would also be expected to dress in costume along with everyone else. Eagerly anticipating dinner, we all set out for dinner along with another group member and PCV that was also going to crash at Chris' place. Oh, what the night had in store.

On the way in we stopped at this HUGE supermercado just outside of Asuncion to pick up some dinner items, as well as some little food gifts for our host volunteers. It was amazing - I hadn't been in a supermarket since I left the States!!! I couldn't believe it; how we celebrate the little things here. So the apartment was really nice, lots of space, and the roommates were really cool. They were all former PCV's that decided to stay in the country and were currently working in the capital with various groups. As they prepared dinner we all hung out and talked, enjoying the time away from our training sites. Just before dinner was ready everyone changed into our Italian/Godfather- themed attire - three ladies were dressed in knee-length skirts or dresses (Nayeli was kinda enough to lend me a dress that I ended up stretching a little, she was a good sport though...lol), one person was Sonny (James Caan's character), there were two dudes in wifebeaters with slicked-back hair (and in one person's case, drawn-on chesthair), the PCV was Al Pacino from Scarface (I will make it my Facebook pic as soon as I can - an heroically priceless photo) and last but not least, two suited-up mobsters. For those of you who have seen me throwdown at a table, this night was no exception - beef lasagna, risotto with squash and swiss chard, vegetarian stuffed peppers, eggplant and garlic bread. Y'all know that I massacred that food - both helpings. Laara and I changed our clothes and relaxed for a bit before catching a cab back to the Terminal in time for our 11:45pm bus. Luckily it was comfortable (or maybe I was just that tired) enough to sleep for all but 20 minutes of the 7-hour (yes, S-E-V-E-N) bus ride.

Laara and I arrived in Horqueta around 6:30am where we were met by her host volunteer, Rachel, who lived and worked in the town. My volunteer would have also met us there had the road not been washed out to Tacuati as a result of the previous night's rain. I spent a few hours in Horqueta eating pancakes and hanging out until Mary called to say that the 11:15am bus to Tacuati would in fact be leaving. We headed back to the center of town, I picked up some veggies for Mary, and we sat and chopped it up with another PCV that came to visit Rachel. The bus (aka EconoVan with center aisle) showed up around 11:40 and I was off.

The bus was my first trip alone along the back roads of Paraguay. Yes folks, this was truly a Peace Corps experience. After making several stops in Horqueta we stopped to have someone fill the tank from two 20-liter jugs in the back, which were put in some guy's car parked on the side of the road where we stopped. I understood why we stopped when we did, as the next 1.5-2 hours were spent driving at various lower-range speeds along a seemingly unending dirt road. Many houses had no electricity let alone running water, so the people were among the poorest of the poor. A number of super-skinny, dirt stained kids were also on the bus; by the way two of the girls were staring at me, I might have been the first black person they'd ever seen. After navigating myriad giant mud puddles and one brief breakdown, we arrived in Tacuati around 2pm.

My hostess Mary, who is from Tennessee, has been here for about a year and works with a savings and loan cooperative in the town. The coop isn't doing too well; in addition to the former secretary embezzling a significant amount of the coop's funds, historically the coop has not been good about debt and interest collection. Mary has made amazing progress in helping the coop recoup outstanding debts, as well as getting their books in order (how many coop members are there, who owes/is owed what, etc.). On Saturday night the three members of the coop's board of directors came by for dinner (eggplant lasagna), and one of them even brought fresh parsle and lettuce from his garden. They are nice people who are all eager to get things in order with the coop, so they have helped Mary out a lot.

Mary's house is a three-room shack with a huge backyard, big front porch, and most importantly, indoor plumbing. In addition she has a four-range stove and oven and a refrigerator, so definitely enough to make life easier. Sunday morning we ate scrambled eggs with polenta (closest thing to grits) and care package pepperoni sticks. It was great :-). We hung around for the morning and then took a walk to the river about a mile or so away, the Ypane (uhl-pah-NAY). There are some rocks near the river that are rumored to have Viking carvings from the they came up the river, but the more plausible explanation is that they were carved by indigenous folks umpteen years ago. I took pictures. We also saw the old moorings that used to control the barge that allowed traffic to cross the river until the current bridge was built. Gotta love history! We headed back, picked up some empanadas and fried chicken (or at least the closest thing to it) and ate on a park bench by the park in the center of town. We then came back to the house and I was able to talk to Daddy and wish him a happy Father's Day. For dinner we had barbecued chicken and rice (y'all know how I love my chicken and rice!).

So the "Bored Paraguayan Kid" theme also holds true here, as Mary receives numerous visits throughout the day from neighborhood kids with nothing else to do. When I first got here I played a boardgame with some of them, and then one them, Valeria, yesterday came up with the idea to have a wedding for her male cat and one of Mary's cats, Mimosa. Apparently they were proclaimed married before, but this will be the actual "religious"ceremony. Yes, I'm serious. She has spent the past day or so making decorations for the occasion: her aunt is making the groom's tie, she made a centerpiece with mud and grass, and even brought by two little rings. If nothing else the girl is definitely creative; at least she's not doing something mischevious and illegal (lol).

For breakfast yesterday we had pancakes, and I continued uploading some music CD's to iTunes and transferring them to my iPod. Mary was also happy to get some new music. In the afternoon we went by one of the boardmember's house so Mary could give her daughters computer lessons. We were greeted by the family's employee, Ada, who is also in training to be the coop's secrtary. She informed us that they were not there so we walked around their property, which has a main house where the family lives, a smaller house where Mary initially lived when she got to site, a flock of chickens, three turkeys (yeah, who knew), and the community radio station. We were warmly received by the DJ, Fortin, who was immediately like, "que bueno, una morena!" (translation: how nice, a brown-skinned female!). So that was funny. I also became a surprise guest on his radio show and introduced myself to the residents of the town. I taped it on my camera, so hopefully at some point I'll be able to upload it. So that's one other thing I have accomplished in my short time here - guest on a radio show! After that we headed over to the coop office from 4-6, which are the daily hours, and Mary showed me a lot of the work she had done, namely and impressive Excel spreadsheet with all of the vital information about the outstanding debts. Truly a masterpiece if I've ever seen one. We headed back to the homestead, chilled out, and Mary prepared an excellent barbecued chicken pizza from the leftover chicken.

So here I am on my last day here in Tacuati before I head back toward Guarambare. The visit has been excellent - in addition to keeping me well fed Mary has been an invaluable source of information about everything from housekeeping tips to care package do's and don'ts to places of interest in Asuncion. I just hope that I remember most of the suggestions she provided! Instead of having to catch the bus I came in on I will be hitching a ride with the PC staff that's coming out to meet with the town mayor to another town where I'll get a bus back into Asuncion and then back to Guarambare.

This has been one of many great trips that I will have during my time here and Mary is one of many great people I'll meet along my journey. Until next time folks!

The Only Low-Income Housing Cooperative in Paraguay - IN MY TOWN!!! - 6.6.08

2008-06-18T12:36:00.000-04:00

"It's like I wake up everyday in a postcard!"- Pooja, fellow trainee

Aveiro, 6.6.08 - After our lunchtime and siesta we went to visit a multi-active cooperative that specializes in low-income housing. Since this was my concentration back at HCS, I was super-excited to see it. Little did I know that it was more than anything I could have ever imagined seeing in Paraguay, let alone up the road from my training community. Suffice it to say that it was certainly the most amazing housing-centered project I had seen in my life.

The cooperative, whose name in Guarani means "sunrise", is the only multiactive (meaning providing a number of services) one of its kinds in the entire country, as all other coops are savings and loan or other food/goods production. While its main goal is to provide affordable housing (yes!!!), the community also has a school, cement factory, dispensa (general store), blacksmith shop, community radio station, hair/nail salon (yes ladies), community recreational and job training facilities, and even a community trash collection system. I probably forgot something but it is, for a good part, self-sustaining and entirely self-managed. And to top it all off, the shot callers on the Board of Directors are all women! I love it!

The project currently houses 130 families with 80-something units under construction and a final 85 that have yet to be constructed, for a total of 300+ units. The houses are all on one level and all attached except for the end units. Each house has 3 bedrooms, a living/dining area, indoor plumbing and modern bathrooms (i.e. flushing toilets and showers), and a kitchen, with about 400 sq. meters of space (I think, definitely bigger than my 620 sq ft condo). Each house has a front patio as well as side and back gardensThe project was made possible by a Swedish NGO (non-governmental organization) that provided money and professionals for the conceptualization of the project, modeled after a similar housing development in Montevideo, Uruguay. Additional money was provided by local and national government bodies.

The initial inhabitants came from Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, who had to take cooperative living class (yay-yayeee! just like what I did!) and other capacitation before moving into the barrio (Spanish for "neighborhood"). Families that did not contribute manual labor to the project had to pay a certain amount to buy into the coop; I am not sure about the exact income limits required for the members. Inhabitants were trained and certified in all aspects of construction and, to this day, maintain facilities that provide professional capacitation. In order to prevent or at least ameliorate the job shortage that is beginning as a result in the decreased construction in the barrio, the coop is in the process of forming a construction company to provide services to other communities. Although the roads are not paved, they are lined with cobblestone to prevent them from washing away when it rains. One sight that will remain with me forever was that of a husband and wife excavating dirt in preparation for the cement foundation. The woman was right in the ditch IN A WHITE JACKET THAT WASN'T EVEN DIRTY, I was like what do you mean??? And it was hilarious because she commented that this was a surefire way to lose weight; I agreed with her, saying that she wouldn't even notice that she was working out!

To top off this most amazing day, my fellow RED (Rural Economic Development) trainees and I decided it would be an excellent idea to climb the 81-meter-high radio tower, which had a lookout point at the top. At first I thought the others were insane for doing it, but once I actually saw them climbing up the caged-in ladder I ran up to join them. Let me say that I have never been so scared in my entire life than when I was climbing that ladder. I know you all probably think I'm insane and wonder why I would have dared to do such a thing, but the folks assured us that it was safe, as someone from the barrio has to climb it anytime the radio antenna needs repairing. However, this did not change the fact that I was praying out loud to my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ the entire time up and down the ladder. A little less fervently on the way down. Once I reached the top I shouted, "I'M THE QUEEN OF THE WOOORLD!!!" and the breathtaking view made it all worthwhile. Palm trees, sugarcane fields and countryside spanned the landscape as far as the eye could see, with some mountains (or at least foothills) rimming the horizon. It was truly "God's Country". What made it even more special was that I shared the accomplishment (overcoming a fear of heights) and the beauty with my fellow RED trainees - Pooja, Matt, Eric, Tim and Paulette - which brought us even closer together. After savoring the view with two pre-teen girls from the barrio that accompanied us up to tower and taking a few pictures, we headed back down. Lord Jesus Christ please get me down safely, I prayed again.

While other things may not seem as death-defying, it will be one of many things that I would not have likely done anywhere else but in the Peace Corps. At other points in my life, I have regretted not doing certain things or taking advantage of opportunities I had available. For the next two years, I have promised myself that I will live every moment to the fullest, and take advantage of every opportunity to meet new people, try a new food (well maybe not every one, no liver or intestine...lol), and travel to new places. I am truly living out my dreams and having the time of my life; I will have no regrets. I hope that others will live to say the same about their own lives.

The Uneventful Lives of Paraguayan Kids - 6.6.08

2008-06-18T12:35:00.000-04:00

Aveiro, 6.6.08 - We have recently begun the practice of playing frisbee during breaks in the yard next to our schoolhouse, which has brought new best friends - the neighborhood children - whether we wanted them or not. Quite a few were playing with us at the end of the day today: Pedro aka Pedrito de la Selva (Pedro of the Jungle, according to his friends), Ariel, Miriam, Fernando, Gustavo, Ivan and Belen. Even baby Gustavito from across the stree, age 1,made it over at point with an empty paper towel roll in hand that he was using as a chew toy. They are so funny because they know all of our names, as does much of the town, and even make fun of us, like today when they started calling Tim (aka Timoteo) "Tomate". In general they're good kids, but they just get really really bored and just kind of wander over to see what we're doing, like for instance if we're doing an activity outside. They're harmless but they can get really annoying. The parents don't really keep tabs on them and just let them wander around, usually because they're trying to figure out how to make some income; their families are among the poorest in the town. Some of the kids are not in school because they have to help with the household chores and other responsibilities, so you can't really blame them for wanting to know more. I'm sure this will be a recurring theme I will witness firsthand throughout my time in Paraguay.

The Quinceañera (15th Birthday) and My PC Movie - 6.2.08

2008-06-18T12:33:00.000-04:00

Juan Antonio Saldivar, 6.2.08 - Tonight we went to a quinceanera for a younger cousin and had a blast! My host brother, henceforth known as Junior, is super ridiculous with the audio/visual and DJ action, so he was getting the party started with some sick, off-the-chain 80's-early 90's mix - WITH THE VIDEOS - and played so many classics that reminded me of my childhood. INXS, Tears for Fears, Milli Vanili, Air Supply and Kool & the Gang, just to name a few. (Hey Nia - I think the only thing missing was Duran Duran...lol). Of course they also played some of my favorite Latin track such as Aventura, Dom Omar, Daddy Yankee, and an extensive mix of cumbia songs (not as much of a fan but of course I still danced). I also picked up some new best friends - other younger family members, one of whom I think has a crush on me (I know, awwww...lol) - all of whom were so much fun. We left there after 12 and as if that wasn't enough (since I had class the next day), we had so many people in my host sister's Kia that we got stuck in a ditch so we all had to get out of the car so she could drive it out. Naturally, she would have had to almost run over her mother and I but we got out of the way in time. Absolutely hilarious.

The next day, aside from being half asleep for the afternoon portion of class, we went into Guarambare because the Peace Corps COuntry Director (PCD) was coming to talk with us. It was the first time in a few days since we had seen our Peace Corps (PC) friends that live in the town, so it was like a little family reunion, plenty of hugs to go around. THe PCD said some great things about what to expect from our PC experience, making the most out of it, and reiterating the the PC staff role in terms of support, etc. He urged us to envision our own motivational "movie" of our service that led us to join PC, and also shared his experience. I thought about my movie, which included complete immersion in another culture, building my professional capabilities in the field of development, as well as my leadership and project management skills, not to mention make myself more independent. What most resonated was when he said that leaders are those who take the tools they're given and find opportunities. This is definitely a major part of my "movie" and experience - to show people how to create opportunities to improve their communities in the long term and work with them to optimize their results. For that reason I have no other choice but to continue along the path I've laid out. Amazing.

San Lorenzo 5.31.08

2008-06-18T12:31:00.000-04:00

Since I've arrived here, I've been discovering that many of the things I was told about Paraguay were not true, or I have yet to confirm the initial claim. The city of San Lorenzo, which is about 30 minutes away from the community I live in, was one such pleasant surprise.

I am not sure whether San Lorenzo is the capital of the departamento (like a U.S. state) in which we live, but it is definitely a bustling urban center. It looks like many of the smaller cities one might go to in the Caribbean (such as La Romana, Dominican Republic); the streets are lined with retail shops, vendors, open-air markets and lots of people. There are sounds of the traffic, people selling and buying goods, and Latin music such as reggaeton, bachata, cumbia, and Paraguayan polka. The availability of the latest Latin music assuged my fears about not being able to get the latest tunes because there it was - not to mention various bootleg DVD's for my viewing pleasure.

My host sister, Leti, set out to buy some shoes and a sweater, which she finally found after tearing through several stores. In the shoe stores there appeared to be a wide range of shoes in my size, which I had the impression would be harder to find, so this was also comforting. Granted, I didn't try anything on to see if it fit, so maybe that claim has yet to be disapproved. I am confident, however, that my shoes will hold up so I don't have to spend extra money on shoes. We even passed by a cellphone store that appeared to sell T-Mobile phones (shocker!!!). Of course when I have tried to find a network signal on my phone I have not been successful, but it was worth a try. After Leti dragged me through several stores in search of a sweater to go with her boots, she finally found one at a store manned by a pleasant Brazilian woman who thought I was Brazilian. While Leti tried on sweaters the lady and I had a nice convo about Brazil, the town she was from (the cleanest in Brazil, probably also the world, according to her) and how hard it was ("sumamente dificil") to get visas into the US. My sister purchased the sweater and we were finally able to get by the pharmacy so I could get some liquid body wash (Dove shampoo), and then caught the bus back to the house.

As you can see, there was very little that I would not have been able to purchase in San Lorenzo, which makes adjusting to live here even easier. Not that this may not still happen, but I have not experienced any verbal harrassment from Paraguayans about my skin color or hair type. I mentioned this to my mama and she was like, "of course there are people of color here, they just think you're Brazialian", which is completely fine with me. Since we touched down we've been welcomed with open arms and treated like family. Granted, once we leave for our posts this could all change, but at least I will have plenty of tools to deal with it at that time - not to mention what I hope wil be a more than sufficient command of Guarani (native language).

Until next time my folk!

Obama 2008!!!

2008-06-04T12:20:00.002-04:00

So let me first say that i was super excited when i was walking through my host sister´s room last night from the bathroom to see that obama secured the nomination!!! obama 2008!

although tomorrow will be my first complete week in paraguay, it seems like i´ve been here for a month. everyone has been so welcoming, inquisitive about what we´re doing, embracing, that i´ve already carved a little place for myself with my host family. i have amazing friends down here. it really was like we became best friends overnight, and when my group of 6 is out in our satellite community and then returns to meet the rest of the group, we gives each other big hugs like we haven´t seen each other in days. i have great communication with my host family, and we do a lot of the things that i was accustomed to at home - sundays are spent eating, chillin, laughing, talking, and just hanging out.

and, you all will be happy to know that my dancing skills are becoming known within my peace corps groups and the family. last dunday we went to a quinceanera (15th birthday party) for another family member, and they were playing all of my favorite latin songs!!! my absolute favorite part was when my host brother, who was the dj and av technician for the party was playing this super ridiculous, off the chain, what-do-you-mean audio video mix of ALL of my favorite 80´s and 90´s songs - i mean tears for fears, inxs, def leopard, milli vanilli, kool and the gang, the list goes on - and i almost lost my mind!

also, last saturday my host sister and i went into a city called san lorenzo, which pretty much has everything i could possibly need to get, and i actually bought some liquid body wash :-). but with this city there is really no huge need to go into asuncion to get supplies, including music, clothes and shoes. it pretty much looks most cities i´ve been to in the caribbean.

that is not to say that there are not times when i ask myself what i´m doing here, and at this point i don´t even know what the end of this three months will be like, let alone two years, but i look at my situation and think about how i want to do development work and realize there absolutely is no better situation i could be in. not only that, but i have the support of all of you all back in the states, as well as the support of my family here in paraguay. my host mother brags to all of the family and her friends how about how happy she is with me and how intelligent i am...ok let me lay it on a little thinner...lmao...but seriously, i already know that they will be a major factor in getting me through the two years.

so my lunch time is running around and i need to send a few emails. i love and miss you all and continue to keep me in your prayers!

EN VIVO DESDE GUARAMBARE!

2008-05-30T15:59:00.003-04:00

What do you mean??? I´m actually here in Paraguay.

so i´m here in an internet cafe down the street from our training center in the town of guarambare. we arrived yesterday, met all of the training staff, and had our first day of orientation. everyone is really nice, combination of american expatriates and paraguayans that will train us in various areas of comptency such as language, community development, cultural adaptation, and a rack of other things i can´t remember offhand.

so let´s get on to the things that you really want to know, first thing first - YOUR GIRL IS LIVING IN THE LAP OF LUXURY IN DIS JONT! no i´m kidding, but i do have running water, indoor plumbing, and i even took a hot shower last night! so yes nirv, the joke is kind of on all of us...lol. my family is amazing, they love me to death and were relieved (to say the least) that i spoke spanish. the toilet is modern, but you put the tissues is a wastebasket on the side so you don´t clog the plumbing. all of that to say that i can wake up every morning and make sure that it´s going to be a GREAT day...lol. the food is pretty good, though we had milanesa (fried steak) last night that was a little bland (but yall know i punished it anyway!), and they also don´t drink liduids with dinner but after. luckily i was not asphxiated by the milanesa so it was okay. my family lives on a decent-sized farm about 20 minutes from the town, it´s really peaceful so i didn´t really have to adjust at all; basically like the suburbs. they have a huge house, 3 daughters, and the parents are retired teachers. the father is a carpenter. they have cows, chickens, a rooster, four dogs (one named toni) and a cat named misuri (yes, as in missouri...lmao). i was like damn, yall aren´t too different from my family! they have a huge outdoor waraparound patio and gardens; just last night my mama made me a tea from guayaba leaves to help my sore throat. they also have television and a land line. oh and also, my mama instructed me to put my clothes in the hamper, since someone was coming to wash all the clothes and they´ll be dry when i get home today! i was like, damn my own mother doesn´t wash my clothes! lmao.

in terms of the weather, let me say that it is COLD DOWN HERE, as in we woke up this morning and it was 36 degrees!!! there is no heat in the houses or the training center so we pretty much freeze...lol (but yet, not). supposedly it won´t last for too long though...

everyone in the group is really cool, no weirdo hippies either! i am also happy to say that i am not the only one that keeps it treal at all times :-)

so i probably will not get a cellphone until i finish training so i can properly adjust. and to be honest it´s pretty nice not to have one, so i can´t be reached 24/7. i suggest that all of yall get skype so we can chop it up over the internet when i come to the cafe at times like this.

anyway, i need to catch the bus back to the homestead with my other friends so that´s all for now. i love yall and take care!

until next time....

sashi

Last Hours in DC

2008-05-26T01:19:00.003-04:00

I'm down to my last few hours in DC. Lots of tears, lots of smiles, too many good-byes. Certain things I should have probably left a little differently, but there's nothing that can be done now. I just hope that I have packed everything I need - Kara didn't to think I needed Dove Bodywash (wdym???) - but either way I will have to make numerous adjustments when I get to Paraguay.

Many people have asked if I am excited; the truth is that right now I am not. This is not to say that there is only the anguish of leaving everything I know and love behind, but one of the many emotions I will encounter on my journey. This is whole thing is so huge, and I really don't think I'll grasp the idea that I'm really doing this until I begin the pre-departure orietation or set foot in Asuncion. In the end, I know it will be an amazing experience.

I still have several things to do, and it would be great if I could get some sleep tonight, so that's all for now...