Sunday, February 27, 2011

Keeping Up With Kevin

On Monday February 22nd, 2011 I embarked on my first solo journey through part of Paraguay. My desitination was ¨Fernando de La Mora¨a small city within the larger city or capital ¨Asuncion¨ to visit Brett )an EYD volunteer and 1 year Paraguayan). I´ll admit the journey started off a little rough thanks to my host mom. The day before, Peace Corps was kind enough to lend me a cell phone to use while on my 3 day visit but failed to inform me that the phone was only for ¨emergencies¨. Unfortunately, I had already made 2 phone calls and sent a text to Brett to indroduce myself and coordinate our first meeting spot when I made this discovery. Somehow, I was able to get in touch with a PC staff member who instructed me to buy a mini-carga )temporary phone card) so that I could use the phone again when I needed it, since I could only receive calls now rather than make them. I communicated this need to my host mom and together we walked to the nearest despensa )store), but they were out. I then asked my host mom if I could borrow her phone to give Brett a quick ring to update him on my phoneless-ness. She brushed off my request and said we could buy a mini-carga in the morning before I had to meet up with Brett at 9am. SO, 8am monday morning rolls around and I´m already a little tense-anxious, yet I remember I need to buy the phone card. I asked my host mom which store I should try and she ONCE AGAIN brushes off me off insisiting ¨I don´t need one¨and ¨I´ll be fine¨. GREAT. Then, I spent the next 30-45 minutes waiting for a specific bus number )written on my detailed instructions from Brett) that didn´t exist. I finally got some ayuda )help) from a police officer who happened to be standing nearby. For those of you who know me best, I HATE to get lost, yet it happens to me ALL the time. With this being said, already furious, frazzled and now hungry...Brett must have called at least 8 times. I know he was trying to help me, but the bus was louder than the rooster-crowing competitions that take place here every morning. I could barely hear myself think, let alone hear him talking. I could make out a few instructions....¨ask the bus driver where you are....look for the college....I live close to the really huge Supermarket Selemma and the Super Real¨. I asked the bus driver where I needed to get off and he told me ¨In about 10 minutes¨-Paraguayans are awful with directions by the way but that´s another story. I watched the stores we passed by like a hawk and saw Selemma. I nearly leaped off the bus the minute it stopped and right on cue, Brett called again. I realized I got off a little too early but I still wasn´t far. Brett wasn´t too pleased but he volunteered to walk towards me until we met. About 10 minutes later, I saw him on the other side of the street and flagged him down. I eased up a little and he gave me the low down on our schedule for the day- 1.) Drop my stuff off and have a quick intro with the host family 2.) Take a bus to get acquainted with a new school, 2.) Have lunch with a friend´s family nearby, 3.) Get acquainted with another new school, 4.) Go home relax a little 5.) Go out to eat for dinner. 6.) Go to a friend´s bday party. This was pretty much how my first day went, BUT the friend´s bday party didn´t commence until around 11ish and by then it was pouring down rain and I was exhausted. Brett asked if I wanted to go and I could barely  hold my eyelids open, the next thing I knew he was out the door and said he would wake me up in the morning....what a gentleman, huh? I was too tired to care but I was a little taken aback, I´ll admit especially since he left me in the living room with the host family I had just met hours beforehand. So.....Day 2 the plan was to go talk to the mayor, but I was given the option to sleep in a little longer since this activity really didn´t relate to me much. C´mon now, of course I chose to sleep in! Brett warned me to knock before using his bathroom because ¨the shitter and quitter¨- his words not mine lol aka an old family friend who comes over just to stink up the bathroom EVERY morning may be in the process of completing his daily routine. I attempted to stifle my laugher, but Brett was serious. He said he would swing by to pick me up about 2 hours later and we would walk together to ¨Dequeni¨-the place where he works and also teaches English classes to a few students. I helped out which was pretty easy since I´m fluent in English but not yet fluent in Spanish lol. After a few hours of tutoring, we went home for lunch which wasn´t too bad....some beans and tortillas and chilled out again. Later we went to another friend´s house for dinner which was the best meal I´ve had since I ´ve been in Paraguay...a veggie tart which was delicious and fried potatoes with cheese on the side, yum! Not that my host mom isn´t a good cook, she´s great but this lady´s profession was cooking meals for other families...that´s gotta say something right? Anyways, we ended up staying there so late that we had to be driven back home because the buses weren´t running anymore, it was worth it! Day 3.......RAIN and the most rain I ´ve seen since I´ve been here these past 2 weeks. It was peaceful and lucky for us Americans when it rains really hard, Paraguayans don´t go ANYWHERE because most have to walk. I was relieved because Brett is some kind of Superman and I didn´t think I had the energy to keep up with him and all of his projects- 7 total by the way...can you imagine what a week would have been like shadowing him? Aye Aye Aye! ) Brett later confessed he was relieved also because he hasn´t had a day off in a while, I was glad he finally got one.) We ended up hanging out with the host family again and having lunch where I witnessed the 9 year old daughter wipe her face on the couch after eating. I´m sure I looked shocked, but nobody else seemed to be. I was also informed later by Brett or ¨Kevin¨as his host family calls him, there was a ¨cucaracha¨ in the queso used to make the pasta we all ate for lunch. I then informed him in return that I would not be eating any more meals at that house. We walked to the Super Real and bought the green apples I´d been trying to find....then again later for supplies to make pizza. Overall, it was a pretty good trip. I learned a lot and I definitely saw what life can be like for a volunteer- with a host family or not, busy or not, really it´s up to me and I don´t plan to try and be a superhero like Brett, but I do hope I make at least one of my projects a success....we shall see!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

heeeelllo MOTO

So...
For those of you who didn't know Paraguay is the 2nd poorest country in South America...sad but true. With that being said, obviously there aren't as many modes of transportation as there are in the US. Here, you can risk your ^belongings OR sometimes your *life lol by taking a "cole" or bus. (Side notes: ^Theft risk high because the biggest crime in PY is pick-pocketing and it happens the most on buses...*Life risk because the bus drivers not only receive AND give change while driving a massive stick-shift machine, they also drink Teree' as if after a crash the medical examiner can say.."Well at least the bus driver wasn't thirsty.") The "chu-chi" or well-off people usually have cars, so the cheapest way to get around here is...you guessed it MOTORCYCLES. Now at first, the idea of riding on my own moto seemed very dreamy, I'll admit it. However, the Peace Corps will not allow it and if caught you're sent packing, no joke. This of course lowers one's interest drastically, but if not completely, I'd like to share a few observations I've made to convince myself (and hopefully a few others) that although Motos are VERY Paraguayan, they are not as secure as one would think.
Observation #1: Nobody wears a helmet unless in Asuncion (but only because it's worse than NY madness in the city)
Observation #2: Anybody can buy one, you don't really need ID here because the laws aren't enforced (Aubrey could buy one, no problem....forreals)
Observation #3: There are no stop, caution, or speed bump signs and speed limits only exist on the "rutas" or main highways (folks in the neighborhoods: hide your kids, hide your wife)
Observation #4: The people themselves: I've seen 8 year olds ridin solo; I've seen 8 people sharing a Moto (ok not really lol, the most I've seen is 5 though. Yep, 5. A 2 year old, like 4 year old, two grown women AND a man was driving); I've seen 2 parents with a sleeping kid dangling in between; I've seen a family of 3, mom craddling baby (this one always makes me cringe); I've seen 2 parents with the mom breastfeeding the baby (ok not really, but would you really be shocked? Lol I wouldn't); I've seen a parent (or sometimes 2) with the kid riding in front; I've seen 2 girlfriends riding together; I've seen 2 homeboys riding together, (this is actually the most common I've seen. No big deal here, but in the US..who knows?); I've seen 2 girlfriends riding together, the second not holding on and texting; I've seen 2 homeboys, the second pouring a little Teree' and passing it up to his buddy; I've seen an obese woman with her child holding on (or trying to) for dear life behind her; I've also seen a guy pick his nose with one hand while steering his Moto with the other..... And you would think the "tormentas" or thunderstorms would slow a person down right? WRONG. People drive in the rain, thunder, and lightning here like it's regular day. I asked my host mom why this was and her response was: "Because it's so much cooler". I've seen a guy driving in the rain and talking on his cell phone; I've seen the driver wearing a helmet and his passenger not (ok so make sure you're good, but don't give the memo to your amigo? Nice.); I've seen a guy in the back wearing a helmet, but the driver not (this one baffles me, the passenger is smarter than the driver, yet who would probably die first? lol); And my personal favorite, when passing by a church I've seen people "cross" themselves. Yes, risk your life more by taking your hands off the wheel to ask for more protection, brillant.
Now would anyone like to solve the puzzle as to what the #1 cause of death is in Paraguay? Hmmm....I wonder why lol

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Chistes/Gossip

2-13-2011
Paraguayans love to make and hear jokes, a quality I share with them. I love laughter period. Whether I am participate or the subject, it doesn´t really matter. My host mom for example, loves it when I mess up sometimes AND correcting me when I use the wrong word during conversations with her. The reason I always know I´ve said something wrong was because she laughs at me....hard.
Examples of my incorrect word usage-
mejor-better, I said mujer-woman
libre-free, I said libro-book
companero-classmate, I said ¨I would like you to meet my cuaderno-notebook, Rosa¨
AND MY HOST MOM´S PERSONAL FAVORITE-
trasero patio-backyard, I said ¨We have a big trasero here, right¿¨ trasero-butt
I still get words mixed up sometimes, but now that I can talk a little better I was able to tell a joke rather than be the ¨trasero¨of one lol. I told my host mom that I can´t function without something sweet. I told her my heart and my blood need sugar or I will die....she thought this was hilarious and the next afternoon she told me to come into the kitchen because she had a surprise for me. I was a little skeptical, but it turned out she made me a huge bowl of flan-like pudding or ¨crema¨and told me ¨it was for my heart, so I could live.¨


Whatever you´ve heard about Paraguayans gossiping, it´s true. Everybody knows everybody...and everything, literally. ¨The oriental lives there¨....¨The fat girl speaks good Spanish¨....or in my case ¨The brown girl got lost yesterday¨. It´s a both a blessing and a curse. It´s a blessing because you´ll never TRULY get lost, somebody knows something about your family and-or your house. Yet it´s a curse because if you get lost before dinner, everyone in your barrio- community will know by breakfast the next day. Unfortunately, you are remembered here most for your wrongdoings, not for your accomplishments. It´s also a curse because if you need to vent or you make a new observation- like I´m pretty sure my 14 year old neighbor has a little crush-crush for example... all you have is your host family and if you say something, more than likely at least one person will get told. I´m still getting used to biting my tongue at times, so my 3 new journals are very helpful at times like these...so special thanks for those!

Another Ejemplo- Example of volunteers´ first meeting- ¨Hey mom this is my friend So and So¨...Hello So and So, Nice to meet you. ¨She lives in this neighborhood too¨...I know she lives with Fancy and her 3 sons. ¨We go to the same school¨.....About 4 blocks from here near the cornfield. ¨We aren´t in the same class¨¨....Hmm mm but Paula is her teacher. I have some pororo-popcorn for you since I know you like it....¨Yes, thank you I would love some, how did you know that¿¨ Oh it´s nothing! My cousin´s neighbor sells you some in the Super every week.

I might be exaggerating a little bit, but I´m really not and of course it´s said in a much nicer way. I only said it like this to get the point across, but Paraguayans are very blunt and it´s also true that somebody is always somebody else´s uncle´s goddaughter´s grandfather´s cousin´s niece lol. My new favorite game is def Six Degrees of Random Gente-people lol

Eat. Pray. LEARN.

2-12-2011
Everyday is a headache...but in a good way. At the end of each day I am tired both mentally and physically but that´s how I know I am doing something right. It´s only been a week and I don´t even need my dictionary at the lunch or dinner table anymore. I´ve discovered that the way I think in my head doesn´t always have to be spoken exactly the same way in Spanish. And if I don´t know a specific word, I´m able to describe the color or the usage or the location to the person I´m talking to and get them to say it for me, thus learning the new word and practicing my Spanish at the same time. If I haven´t said it before, I´ll say it again the language of Spanish sounds so beautiful to me...now I understand why it´s considered a love language. I´ve also discovered about myself how much I truly love learning since I´ve been here. It´s almost more like a thirst, I always want to know something new AND remember it and I love it! Anyways, so one thing that does annoy me is I brought a lot of shirts, dresses, and shorts but I´m not allowed to wear them in school because they are very conservative here. So, I told my host mom I needed some more skirts and she took me to buy tela-fabric and see a modista-seamstress. I got 3 dresses and 3 skirts made for about $6 each and they turned out nicely...so nicely in fact that 3 other volunteers in my school asked me where I got them from, and when I told them I had them made they instantly wanted in on the modista club lol. My modista ¨Norma¨ is soooo azucarado- sugary sweet lol or muy muy amable- super nice and I want to keep buying fabric for her to make me clothes just for this reason! BTW- I had the grand idea to make sweet empañadas...which I made the mistake of assuming exisits in most if not all Spanish speaking countries, but apparently not. I am going to get my host mom to help me. We are going to use her same exact recipe, just change what goes in the middle....pretty brilliant idea right I know! Lol.

compliments of Norma :)

Negregito

2-12-2011
Negregito's Usual Spot
So for those of you unaware, in Paraguay I am considered a vegetarian because I don´t eat red meat. So far, I haven´t had anything that I don´t like and-or refused to eat. My host mom is soooo nice and a really good cook. Usually she makes me a ensalada (salad) with some kind of main dish to go with it like papas (potatoes) or soja (soy) empanadas or vorivori´- a dumpling like soup my fav! Anyways, keep this in mind.....also in our patio-aka backyard the pet bird is kept and his name is ¨Negregito¨. For some strange reason, and I do plan to ask one day lol, my host mom moves Negregito and his cage a LOT. Sometimes he is in the tree, sometimes near the outdoor firepit- used for burning trash, and another time somewhere else. Well, one day I came home from school on my lunch break, went outside to the patio and didn´t see Negregito anywhere...which I thought was even stranger. I thought..where could a caged bird possibly be put inside our house without me seeing-knowing it! So....for lunch this very same day I am given my usual salad and main dish, this day it was rice on veggies in a soup like sauce with wait for it......pollo (chicken) resembling a small bird. Of course I immediately thought, "OMG I´m eating the family pet this is wrong, this is cruel, and this may be a cause for reason to leave Paraguay on the very next flight". BUT, I didn´t panic lol I actually forced myself to eat some of it so that my host mom wouldn´t look at me funny and want to know why I didn´t finish my ¨chicken¨. My Spanish is mediocre and the thought of having to explain why I didn´t like my comida (food) would have been awkward for the both of us. In the process of figuring out what to do, I quietly excused myself after the meal and returned outside to think and guess who was there to greet me *aside from relief that is* lol NEGREGITO
Negregito's Yardwork Spot
Negregito's Rainy Day Spot

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Sabado Siestas

Saturday February 5th, 2011

Today I think I officially fell in love with Paraguay. It rained again, which does two things-makes the weather much cooler AND puts me in the best mood imaginable. It´s a lot easier to take in the simple beauty of the country when it´s  not sweltering hot! I started off the morning walking to the local school with a fellow volunteer. Side note- I finally found my adapter and plan to use my alarm clock because my host mom wakes me up...which is very nice but she always insists I eat something whether I´m late or not...which usually I am lol. I do enjoy the tea she makes for me in the mornings though, I must admit it´s worth the tardiness and it sort of preps my stomach for the future food encounters of the day. Anyways, upon arrival at school I noticed the general surroundings to be very interesting. We literally have classes with cows, chickens, roosters, horses, ducks and dogs roaming around us on a farm next door. It´s so noisy yet somehow peaceful at the same time. The people here are sooo friendly. And I believe my host family genuinely cares about me. My host brother called several times to ask his mom how I was doing the days I got sick- and my host mom nearly pitched a fit when I returned home from school calling her ´´Señora´´. She informed me that this was my home too, and I shouldn´t call her that. After her lecture, we had lunch together....a dumpling soup called ´´vorivori´´´ which wasn´t too bad and we discussed what I learned in school earlier. Next she explained to me about ´´siestas´´ which are naps taken in the middle of the day for no reason really lol....but who needs an excuse to sleep uhhhh not this girl! lol I was told that locals get one daily, but teachers in the city really only get them on the weekends. It may be different in the country though...I may or may not find that out later. After showering off the red mud from walking to school that morning, I layed down, opened my window once more, and let the soothing wind drift away with my worries.... I think I´m going to like Sabado Siestas!























Make it Rain!

Thursday February 3rd, 2011
I spent most of thursday recovering from my sudden sickness, so it wasn´t very exciting.

Friday February 4th, 2011
I felt much better and learned a lot from training class and my host mom about Paraguayan money. I also had the best sleep I´ve had since I´ve been here because of MY FIRST OFFICIAL RAIN IN PARAGUAY!! And it rained a lot, so I opened my window. The cool breeze was sooo refreshing and relaxing that I feel asleep instantly. I didn´t even need a cold shower to cool down! I´m pretty sure I got bitten by a few mosquitos but I was so out of it I didn´t even notice or care lol.

Mango- Si ... Guava - No

We departed from the resort pretty early in the morning, around 8am or so. It´s mango season here, so the tropical fruits....bananas, mangoes, guavas, limes are EVERYWHERE! I couldn´t wait to get my hands on a fresh mango. From the resort, we were driven to the the training center where we are to report for language classes everyday. Upon arrival, we met all the teachers and then were immediately thrown into an intro to language class...followed by a ¨treasure hunt¨. The hunt consisted of several doors each filled with something we needed. One door was meeting the local doctor, another getting immunizations, one interviewing for host family placements, another interviewing for language proficiency, etc. The interview for the language proficiency made me the most nervous, but I surprised myself with how much I understood....my problem was responding like a kindergartener lol. I did learn that I was not the least fluent volunteer, which was a relief! The professor that interviewed me was ¨Pabla¨ and she is by far my favorite. On top of being very nice, she is also patient and funny. Once the treasure hunt was over, we were shown how Paraguyans greet one another, so that we could properly introduce ourselves to our host families. Like in Europe, women kiss both cheeks when first meeting. Men and women shake hands and nod a lot. I can´t remember exactly what two men do, but I do know that if a man or woman has dirty hands from working in the fields or washing clothes, they offer their forearms to shake instead of nothing. Finally, we were driven to our communities to meet our host families. Mine consists of a mother Rosa and her son Luis Carlo. Rosa greeted me with a huge smile, helped me load my luggage into her car and immidiately began asking me a million questions. I answered her the best I could lol. When we arrived at her home, she showed me around the house which has hot water and electricity, and my room which has a tv and a large lockable cabinet for my clothes. The house also has a large kitchen, a store in the front, and a gorgeous backyard filled with lots of flowers, a pet bird, fruit trees,etc. It was here I made my first mistake of not throughly washing the fruit from the trees. I had half a guava and threw up almost immediately. I layed down to cool off and rest for a while and before I knew it was dinner time. My host mom insisted I eat..unaware I had thrown up earlier. I attempted to tell her I wasn't hungry but was unsuccessful and I ate anyway not wanting to hurt her feelings. Once again, I chucked it all and felt even worse. I ended up having to call the local doctor who instructed me to take some advil and drink a Sprite. Lesson for the day...don´t settle for a guava when you really want a mango--

Between Two Guays

Our gorgeous plane, Pluna
M&M's: Legit; Chips Ahoy: Tease
Wednesday February 2nd, 2011 was my first official day in Paraguay. The journey consisted of two flights one from Miami to Montevideo, Uraguay and the other from Montevideo to Asuncion, Paraguay. In total, about 11 hours was spent flying. I don´t even know where to begin counting the time spent waiting in between, but I did have a familiar snack while in the Uraguayan airport )see attached picture on right). The food on the plane rides wasn´t too bad either. The plane to Paraguay itself was very colorful eye candy lol. After we landed in Asuncion, we were greeted by two directors from the Peace Corps and later by others. Unfortunately, while waiting for our                      luggage about 20 of us learned only one of our bags arrived and we had to file a report...but we received them the very next day. In the airport, we were divided into our groups Education and Health, and divided again into subgroups for 2 different communities since there wasnt enough host families in a single community for all of us to stay together. Everyone was exhausted...including myself . Despite the hot, sticky weather I fell asleep on the van ride from the airport to the resort hostel. Essentially, we were given a ¨´day off ¨ and got to stay together for a night to catch up on rest before we had to meet our host families the very next day. The resort had warm water and electricity but no internet. I also had the best apple and granola bar I´ve ever had and I´m sure my fellow volunteers would agree!

Outside of Airport in Asunción, PY

Me, Taylor, Ellie, Charly 1st Snack in PY!




Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Staging

Staging was pretty informative. We discussed a lot of potential issues that we may encounter. The more specific issues are gonna be addressed in Paraguay. I am even more tired today than I was yesterday, but I have a 9 hour flight, then a smaller 2 hour flight ahead of me. Hopefully I will get some rest on the plane, if not I plan to crash in the airport. All the other volunteers are really nice and everyone seems just as nervous/excited as I am :) There are 48 of us total (42 women, 6 men: 3 of which are married lol). Well gotta go, the buses are loading to take us to the airport. Not sure when my next post will be, but def. no phone contact for the next 3 months :/ I will try and borrow a phone or send an email as soon as I can. Well...here goes nothing WISH ME LUCK!! :)