I Work Hardddddd For The Money

Well, to be honest, that statement is hardly true. I make a measly $10 a day and the amount of work I do on a daily basis is pathetic according to American standards… But - sometimes coming up with blog titles is tiring…

Anywho! I just passed the 5-month mark in site! It’s crazy how fast time is flying. And since on Friday I have to have a meeting with my boss and explain to him what I have been up to, I figured I would do the same with you all. So – here is a breakdown of my projects.

Library: Every Tuesday/Thursday I go and work in the library for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Usually it’s the same group of 6th grade girls who are just looking to write “Noelia ama Braihan por siempre” on paint, but occasionally they do pick up a book, play learning games on the computer, and explore all it has to offer. Either way, the kids love having this extra-curricular, so I am happy to provide it for them!

English Classes: Right now I am teaching 2 English classes – to that same group of 6th grade girls, and to a couple of high school students. With the girls, the class moves slower because there are about 10 of them and they are all friends, but they seem to enjoy it! We have covered basic greetings and questions, and this week learned our first verb – to be. With the high school kids, I just started this week. I can tell already they are quick learners and I will be able to get more complex with them, which should be fun. I never anticipated teaching English, but am finding that it is one of the things I do here that I enjoy the most!

Dental Charlas: Every Wednesday (when there is school…) I go to the school in the morning and afternoon to give a quick dental charla to the students, and then I have them brush their teeth and rinse their mouth out with fluoride. They really enjoy it! The only downside is… I did it the first 2 weeks, and then since then there hasn’t been school on Wednesdays. Right now the school system is on strike, and so whether or not there is class is always an issue… Hopefully next week I will be picking it up again!

Chicken Commission: Many volunteers work closely with commissions during their service, and looks like I am going to be one of them as well. Right now I am working with a group of about 10 women who are looking to receive 25 chickens each from the government. It has been an interesting process… The previous volunteer essentially did all the work for them, and I let them know right away that isn’t how I work. How is it going to be sustainable if they don’t know how to do it? So after I said that, I think they got the wrong message, and stopped inviting me to meetings… woops! But, now we are all on the same page and I am back to helping them. Yesterday I went to the municipality building with the president and treasurer to see if we would get our pedido (what we are asking for) approved, and we did! So now, we just wait until the funds are in, and then we can get ourselves some chickens! Oh- and as to why they want chickens… It will provide a healthy source of protein for the families between their meat and eggs. They will be able to raise more, sell when they need money, a nd cook delicious and healthy meals for their families!

So… SEE MOM AND DAD! I do have work! It’s just very little…. Haha

I will leave you with this pic of my sleeping beauty. Looks like an angel, but that is the FIFTH make shift tie-out I have set up… She has broken through all the others…. For all you people raising a pup in the states. YOU ARE SO LUCKY. With no access to quality leashes, kennels, collars, toys, obedience school… Raising a pup is quite the challenge!

Manza II

Happy days, people -- just got myself a new pup! I brought her home a week ago and she is settling in very nicely. I am calling her Manza again for a couple reasons, but mostly because there was already a dog tag in the mail from my parents at the time Manza passed away… haha. Plus, it’s a great name!

So anywho, got this one from the vet! She is 3 months old, which is great. Eating dog food already, now I just have to train her. She’s already a campo dog (meaning she runs free and I just hope that she will show back up at my house eventually)… but definitely still needs some potty training work!

The vet I got her from says that she wont get too big, but then my neighbor had a vet come over and he said she would be a medium-big sized dog, so we shall see. Hopefully she doesn’t get too big; there are flight restrictions for bringing her home to the states at the end of my service!

Oh and more exciting news – My plans for Christmas/New Years are official – some friends and I just put the deposit down for a house on the beach in Uruguay, and then we will be hitting up Buenos Aires for NYE. YAHOOOOOO!!! So that means only 43 days until my parents come to Paraguay and then we head to Peru, and 94 days until the beach!

Hope you all have a fabulous week!

First day at home :)

Trying to break free (she already made it happen with 2 other make-shift leashes)

K

Kickin it in the hammock

Core Expectation #3

“Serve where the Peace Corps asks you to go, under conditions of hardship, if necessary, and with the flexibility needed for effective service”

This was one of the core expectations I thought most about after accepting my position here in Paraguay. I would fall asleep at night to thoughts of mud houses, bucket bathing, pooping in a latrine for two years… fully confident that I could excel at whatever hardship the Peace Corps threw at me.

Then the other day, as I was sitting in my hammock drinking tereré, I literally laughed out loud. Hardship? I have a modern bathroom. I have a hot shower. I have a kitchen sink. I have a brick house with tile floors. I have a community that speaks Spanish in addition to Guarani…. The only real “hardships” I have here is that I live 7km from the ruta (with a bus out only 3 days a week) and limited cell phone service. I got to comparing my life to those volunteers I know in Africa or in poorer regions of Latin America and began to question whether or not I am a “legit” volunteer. Then it dawned on me - Is pooping in a hole in the ground for 2 years what makes you a great volunteer? Nahaniri! (No!) While those friends will most likely have some pretty hilarious and ridiculous stories to share that I won’t be able to relate to, it doesn’t make my purpose of being here any less important.

That same day as I was working in the library, I heard a third grader reading out loud a book. She was struggling with the words, but made her way through it. And it’s moments like those that remind me why I am here. To meet people. To share culture. And to hopefully slightly improve the lives of a few. So – time to stop comparing myself to those people with their crazy roughing it stories! I still have my fair share, and in the end it isn’t really what matters. Myself in Paraguay and the people I know in Africa didn’t join the Peace Corps to bucket bathe; we did it for an adventure and attempt to make a tiny difference in the world!

Pues, jajotopata de mi chuchi casa!
(So, see you later from my fancy house!)