Favorite Picture So Far

To me, this photo reads: This is Paraguay.

This is my 2 year old host sister, Vere, sipping some terere when it was just us hanging out. Normally, little kids don't drink terere because it can upset your stomach (so they say...), but she liked to sneak sips when her family wasn't around.

Also, she's a kid who loves to play in the dirt :)

One With Nature

Note: This post is going to be cheesy. I both recognize and accept that.

Initially, I had planned to post a blog ranting about the Paraguayan school system. It’s typed up and everything, just waiting to be posted, but I have decided to save it for another day. Yesterday, something truly awesome happened, so I am going to write about that instead.

I remember the first time I felt it. I don’t think it was the first time I experienced it, but it was the first time I recognized how incredibly amazing the feeling was. I was studying abroad in Bilbao for a semester, and happened to live 10 minutes away from a beach. At the beginning of my semester it would be packed with sunbathers, but as the weather changed, less and less people were there on my visits. Finally, on one of my last trips before it got too cold, I was the only person sitting on the beach. I remember sitting there and watching the waves crash onto the shore, blissfully happy and thinking about how this is exactly where I am supposed to be. Before I knew it the sun was setting, 2 hours had passed, and I needed to rush home before dark. That night I remember thinking to myself what an incredible time that was. Just me and nature, coexisting peacefully, and enjoying each other’s company.

So yesterday, I decided to take a midday walk around my town. There was a part that I hadn’t visited in a while, and so I wanted to check it out again. As I got near the turn around point, I heard a noise up ahead. Assuming it was a cow blocking my way, I grabbed a stick off the ground and continued on. But once I realized the noise was coming from up in the trees, I stopped dead in my tracks. Monkeys! Up above, were 5 or 6 monkeys, swinging from the branches. And if you didn’t know already, monkeys are my favorite animals ever. Needless to say, I freaked out! I grabbed my camera, called my mom and some friends, and watched cautiously from the ground. After the initial excitement wore off, I just stood there for a few minutes, soaking it in. I was watching them; they were watching me; both of us a taking each other in. Again, I had that powerful feeling that you can only get from these occasions.

I’m sure you are all thinking, “Em, chill out… it was just a few monkeys”! But it’s that feeling that makes it so great. When it is just you and nature, recognizing each other’s presence, and taking it all in. It’s a different feeling when you experience it all alone rather than other people, and I absolutely love it.

Here are some pics of my new best friends. Hope you all have a great weekend! Go Cubs Go!

Hello From Site!

Hello everyone!

So here we are, with my first post from site! Yahoooo! I have been here a couple of weeks now, and so far so good. I’m moving families every 1-2 weeks to start to get to know more people, and right now I am on my second family. My first one is going to be my future neighbor, and they are great. The only downside of living with them was that I shared a room with my 12 year old host sister, so privacy was non-existent. Currently, I am with a pretty cool family. They live on a huge piece of land with passion fruit, mandioca, peanuts, pumpkin, beans, and lots of other goodies. Yesterday was my first day/night with them, and so far so good. The first 3 months are meant for integrating, so not much work wise happening besides observing/talking with people/drinking terere.

The pueblo closest to my town, San Juan Bautista, is a great little city. My first week I cruised around there to figure out where the bank is, the post office, and see what kind of groceries I could find there. I went into about 5 or 6 grocery stores/little tiendas before I found an AMAZING one! I can get oatmeal, raisins, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, garbanzo beans (FOR HUMMUS!), and all for a reasonable price. As I was buying all the stuff, I told the guy how much I loved his store, and that I will definitely be coming back more. That place is definitely going to be my go-to store for food shopping here.

There is another pueblo fairly close to me, San Ignacio, which I have also had the chance to experience a bit. There is a volunteer living in the town, as well as lots of people around it. Every Thursday night there is karaoke at a casino in the town, so myself and some other volunteers got together to go out. We ate delicious food and relaxed the night away, and it was tons of fun! I am very glad to know I have a great place to escape so close to me, because I am sure I will need it sometimes.

A couple tidbits/funny anecdotes to share:

-After getting off the bus to arrive in my site, I proceeded to eat shit with all of my bags. I am still scratched up and bruised, and still laughing about it. Also, once I got to my host families’ house, the power went out within 10 minutes because of a storm. It was a great welcome to site!

-I’m going vegetarian (sort of)! I have told some of you, but here in Paraguay while living with host families, you eat an obscene amount of meat (the other day I was served beef soup… for breakfast). Honestly, just looking at it makes me nauseous now. Until I am living on my own (6 weeks, can’t come soon enough), I am going to be eating as little meat as possible. I have bought some soy products and am beginning to cook with them, and I get plenty of beans and veggies now (since I am buying them). Once on my own, I plan on completely eliminating meat. I don’t know if it’s something that will last for the full 2 years, but right now I am pretty adamant about it. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy meat, and when I get back to the states I can guarantee you I will be munching on a Hebrew National dog at Cubs games, but until then… I’m going to do my best to get rid of it from my diet.

-I spent the first three days in site referring to my sister’s boyfriend as the dog’s name, due to a miscommunication.

-During swear-in weekend, a fellow Jewish volunteer and I happened upon an orthodox Jew in the bar. So what did we do? Make small talk of course! Which then led to us getting the rabbi of the synagogue’s number, along with a photo of the rabbi. In case you were wondering, yes, the photo is hanging in my room.

-My birthday happens to be the same day the US Embassy is celebrating the 4th of July in Asuncion. What does that mean? For my birthday, I will get to see my best friends here, eat good food, drink good beer, and just enjoy a relaxing weekend. Can you say AMAZING?!

-The other day, my host mom gave me an avocado, tomato, onion, and garlic as she said the words “want to make some guacamole?” I almost cried, but refrained, simply because that would mean more time until I ate the guacamole. It was the most delicious thing. Ever.

-Washing your clothes in the campo sucks.

-Last night I had a serious battle with a ginormous bug. It was a close call, but in the end I came out on top. They need to learn to watch themselves...

-I mentioned to my host sister that I am looking for a wooden table for my future house. 2 days later, her boyfriend comes home with wood because he is going to make one for me. Nice? Absolutely. But now I have to pay for this table. I really hope it isn’t too expensive…

-I’ve been working on my future house a lot. I need to repaint the doors/windows because right now they are a color that represents a political party… I am also rearranging the furniture and cleaning the whole place like a mad man. Once I am done with it and move all my stuff in, I will post lots of pictures!

ALSO! I have my new address! If you sent something recently to the old one, I will still get it, but this one is faster and will be my consistent address for the next two years. I will also post it under the Snail Mail tab at the top (along with items that will be very well received if you feel so generous as to mail your favorite Paraguayan resident a package ☺).

Emily Zaideman
Cuerpo de Paz
Av. Mñor. Rojas N˚664
c/ Mcal. López
San Juan Btta
4700 Misiones
Paraguay, South America

That’s all for now, jajotopata! (See ya later, in Guarani)

Super moon rising over the campo