Guest Post: Rachel Matney (Sister)

When I tell most people that my sister is in the Peace Corps, one of the more frequent questions I get is “Does she live in a mud hut?” Although I do know the answer to that question, when asked further, I couldn't really answer any other questions about what life in Paraguay was like. So after a daunting 26 hours, 2 painfully long layovers in NY and Argentina, and countless in flight movies later, I began my journey in PY to find out.

One of the very first things I learned while on my trip was that my Spanish is not AT ALL what I thought it was. I do not think I have ever been so happy to hear someone speaking English than I was the night my sister met me in Asuncion. Translating from that point on was a fun experience, especially in my sister’s community, when a conversation would occur in Guaraní, be translated for my sister into Spanish, and then translated to English for me. But even after just 10 days, my Spanish improved tremendously, and I will continue to practice for my future visits.

Overall I’d have to say my favorite experience of this trip was getting to meet the families and other PCVs my sister has spent so much of her time with. Everyone was so welcoming and friendly and it’s nice knowing that my sister is in good hands and has a community that cares and loves her as one of their own. While my sister was busy teaching classes, I spent some time with her neighbors Fatima and Mariana. Although language was an issue at first, they were able to explain to me about all the different fruits that grew naturally around their house, which trust me, are a lot! My favorite had to be guayavas (Guava), which I thought tasted like a mix between raspberries and watermelons. I was a little scared to eat it at first, being in a foreign country, picking some random fruit I’ve never seen or heard of before off of a tree, but it was surprisingly good and I definitely ate my fair share. I also enjoyed the grapefruits, which grew on a tree behind Kelley's house, but were the size of small pumpkins, and were supposed to be eaten like an orange.

On an adventure with Mariana, Fatima and Alex

Playing with Elena

Rachel and AnaLiz

Eating a Guayava (Guava)

Hanging out at my neighbors house

Although I was only there for a short amount of time, I already miss all the people I met and of course I miss my sister. It’s been hard having her so far away but I know she is having the experience of a life time and I am extremely jealous of all the memories she will have. But who knows, maybe sometime down the road I’ll have my own Peace Corps experience of my own!

“Tourists leave home to escape the world, while travelers leave home to find it.”