October

Happy Halloween, everyone!

It has been an interesting past month or so in the campo. To summarize briefly: My dog died, the heat came, I spent wayyyyy too much money I didn’t have, I hung with friends, I made new friends, I isolated myself, some projects failed, others flourished, the rain came, the power and water went, and in the end… It was a great month. It was the perfect example of the rollercoaster ride the Peace Corps is. For every good day, there was a frustrating one. I’m happy to say, however, I am passing the ¼ mark of my service on a high note.

Time to give brief descriptions of my 2 successful projects this month!

HIV/AIDS taller: Oct 13-14, an HIV/AIDS workshop was held in a nearby pueblo and was organized by two of my volunteer friends. I went to help out with a couple of short lectures. One was myths/facts regarding HIV/AIDS (and sex in general), and the other was a condom demonstration. There were about 10 volunteers in attendance, 20+ high school students, a nurse, and a man came from Asuncion who is HIV positive. I think all the high school kids had a great time, and hopefully they learned a little too! I am hoping to do something similar in my town with the high school next school year.

Gotta love Peace Corps ice breakers :)

All the youth who attended with their certificates

The volunteers who put it on!

Chicken Commission: I think I may have mentioned once before, but I have been working with a group of 12 women on acquiring chickens. We asked the government for 25 chickens for each woman, as well as the food that will help them live healthy lives. I really lucked out with this commission, in that they organized themselves, and were very hardworking even without me pushing them (every volunteer’s dream!). This month ended with them receiving their chickens (although only 20 each), and I am so happy for them! I didn’t think we would get them so soon, so it was a pleasant surprise. We have decided that we are going to continue to meet every 15 days or so, and I will talk about nutrition and/or cook with them to try out healthier versions of their foods.

Also, last Friday my neighbor Andrea had an awesome Halloween party in her site that she and her girls youth group organized. I went to help put on the thing, and it was a blast! The kids thought bobbing for apples was the greatest thing ever, and the face painting station was a hit!

Halloween costume fail

My parents are arriving in Asuncion around midnight tonight, and I am super excited! The first week is going to be spent here in Paraguay. A couple days of the city life in Asuncion, where they will get to meet some of my volunteer friends and see the sights. Afterwards, we’re off to my site where we will visit with neighbors, drink tereré, and they will get to see what my life these days is all about. After that, we will spend a week cruising Peru and visiting Machu Picchu. Having spent almost 9 months in country, I am definitely ready for this break and a bit of home to come to Paraguay.

Until next time!

The 8 Stages of Rain

We have had a lot of huge thunderstorms recently, and as I sat in my house without power and water, I had a lot of time to think. Thus, I came up with the emotional lifecycle of rain here in Paraguay. Enjoy.

1. Excitement: It has been hot for days, and as those clouds roll in you can’t help but get excited! Cool winds, refreshing temperatures, and a chance to just chill in your house without any obligation to be productive. Plus, you are getting really in to a new book and are looking forward to having a whole day to just relax and read. Bring it on!

2. Panic: After an hour or so of intense rain, the streets look more like rivers and the floor in your house is soaked from all the leaks in the roof. Then, you get hungry. Of course, you aren’t stocked up of fruits, veggies, rice, or pasta; so you resort to popcorn for every meal of the day. I hope this doesn’t go on for too long…

3. Boredom: You have been in your house for the past 4 hours and the power went out about an hour ago. Thankfully you charged your phone and computer, but you know that will only last for a couple of hours. You have a momentary freak out when you think you don’t have candles left, only to find a couple of stubs left behind from the last power outage. Awesome, this should last me a good... 45 minutes? Crap.

4. Depression: The power is out, the water is no longer running out of the faucet, everything in your house is wet, you haven’t gone outside in hours, no movies to watch, too dark to continue reading your book. Why was I so excited for this again?

5. Acceptance: Well, I suppose this will be a good opportunity to do some thinking, relax in my bed, and get an early night’s sleep.

6. Happiness: You wake up and find that the rain has stopped! You immediately shower, compose yourself, and head out to get some groceries and to chat with the neighbors about how bad that storm was. Can you believe we didn’t have power or water for 24 hours? I heard parts of people’s roofs came off with that wind! Feels great to get out and be social again.

7. Humiliation: Alright, this is not a universal stage, but is almost always one for me. I run outside to go get food or whatever, lose my guard for one moment, and find myself on all fours covered in mud. Kids are laughing, dispensa lady cracks a joke, and we all laugh it off. There goes the norte making a fool of herself again…

8. Desire: Another hot week has passed. I’m sweating profusely every minute where not even a cool shower helps. I have been busy every day and I have hardly had any time to relax. Can it rain again, please?

Photobooth Fun!

No matter how old or how technologically savvy you are, photobooth is a blast! My 6th grade library girls have recently discovered this as well.

Saying goodbye to a dream... for now.

Alright folks. I said I wasn’t going to do it, but time for another depressing blog post.

Manza II passed away on Saturday. How I got 2 puppies that were/got sick when some Paraguayans treat their dogs like crap and they survive I will never understand. But, it happened. I dropped her off at the vet Thursday morning after her being sick most of the night, and it just got worse over time. The doctors said she ingested something very toxic that she just couldn’t recover from.

As you may imagine, I am pretty damn bummed. While I know that their deaths weren’t my fault, I feel like I failed in a sense. For most people, the Peace Corps can be an extremely stressful experience and a dog is what helps get you through the tough times. For me, I have made it through my first 8 months in country stress free, minus all the dog issues… Just doesn’t seem right!!

While having a dog during my service was a dream, I just am not willing to risk getting another dog here with the chance that the same thing may happen. Thus, my dream of owning the greatest dog to ever walk the planet has been put on hold. I’m going to wait til I’m back in the states, where there are puppy products easily accessible and where I can get to a vet without it taking hours and paying an arm and a leg…

Here’s to you, Manza II (who had just gotten big enough to climb on my chair). A fabulous puppy! And have a blast with my first pup up in puppy heaven! You both loved belly rubs, so maybe you guys can take turns giving them :)

P.S. On a lighter note… On Friday, I went to Andrea’s community to help her plant trees! We planted 200 (although I only helped the second day) with her senior high school class, and it was a blast! Now let’s just hope the cows don’t eat them all… (sorry sox fans about the hat)

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!)