#TOTALSOCIAL - My 9-5

This month's theme for #TOTALSOCIAL is my 9-5. Right now I'm on a little real life hiatus or you can say I'm funemployed. I recently finished my Peace Corps service (in April) and have stuck around here in Paraguay, mostly to spend time with my boyfriend and well I wasn't quite ready to leave. I'll be headed home (for now) in August. 

So I thought I'd talk about my last 9-5 ... the Peace Corps. But, if I'm going to be honest the Peace Corps is not your normal 9-5 job. Its more like 24/7.  The tagline for the Peace Corps is that "Its the Toughest Job You'll Ever Love," and it couldn't be more true. When you are are a volunteer even when you aren't working you are still "working." 

*at my Peace Corps swear-in ceremony with my host mom

I was a Community Health Volunteer, which meant I spend most of my time teaching health lessons in the schools on things like nutrition, dental health, parasite prevention and in the high school, sexual education. I also taught healthy cooking lessons for families in my community and led a weekly exercise class which consisted of walking groups and volleyball games. I also taught English classes and Computer classes. One of my biggest projects was helping plan a national boys sports and leadership camp that taught young boys, ages 13-18, everyday values, morals, self-esteem and gender equality through sports. 

*first annual Camp Deporte y Vida!

However, some of my most meaningful time spent as a volunteer was when I wasn't officially working on any of those projects. Instead it was the time when I was drinking tereré (the national beverage of Paraguay) with my neighbors and telling them about my life in America. Or it was the times I was painting my nails with  my host sisters and talking about the importance of school, planning for the future and self-esteem. Or finally, those hundreds of times when my 3 and 5 year old neighbor would come over and we would read books and draw pictures and I would show them that it is ok to be creative and think outside the box. Sometimes it's hard, because when you are in your community you are always "on." You always need to be sure you are being a good representation of Peace Corps and the United States. So even when you aren't working you are "working."

 *after reading a book about cats we made cat masks

So, yes Peace Corps is not your typical 9-5 and it can be incredibly difficult and isolating. It lives up to its reputation being the toughest job you'll ever love because I won't lie, it is hard, but, I wouldn't trade my time as a Peace Corps volunteer for any regular 9-5 or for anything.

The End ... or The Beginning?

The time has come … I am no longer a Peace Corps volunteer. I am now what they call a Returned Peace Corps volunteer. It is called RPCV instead of using words like ex or former because they say you are a Peace Corps volunteer for life.

About half of my group (G-38) had left Paraguay already, but, 15 of us were left for our swearing-out ceremony which included words from our bosses, receiving our completion certificates and ringing the bell that signifies the end of service … oh and who can forget, the cake!

It is a bittersweet moment ending my service. I was feeling a mixture of emotions, excited for the future, sad to be leaving so many new people in my life and just a feeling of uncertainty. End of service is one of those things that always seemed off in the distance and now that it’s here, I can’t help but thinking …. What  is next?

Well I do have a plan for the next few months at least and that is …. To stay in Paraguay! I have moved to a town called San Ignacio in the department of Missiones. I will be living with my boyfriend Jose and exploring some possible working/volunteering opportunities.

I have also decided to continue blogging! Keeping you up-to-date on my daily adventures.

Camp Caballero!

In Peace Corps a lot of your work is done with children ... they are the future. (Corny, but true.) In Paraguay youth under the age of 25 make up almost half of the population. In development work worldwide a lot of time is focused on educating and empowering female youth, and trust me I agree this is important, it is something I work on every day of my service. 

Women in every country are taught growing up to be careful. We are taught not to walk alone at night. We are taught not to dress too provocatively so as not to attract unwanted sexual attention. We are taught to always keep an eye on our open drinks at bars. There are even classes designed specifically for women to defend themselves. And of this things are great, I think its important for girls to be aware of the world we live in.

But, there is another side to this. Our young men need to be taught as well, they need to be taught the values and morals to make them grow up to be responsible adults. To grow up to be men that will be leaders in their communities and can inspire other young adults as well. 

Spurring off these ideas Peace Corps Paraguay is planning their first annual national boys leadership and life skills camp, Camp Caballero (Camp Gentleman). The camp is designed as an all-male camp that would teach values through sports, a popular activity for Paraguayan male youth, in order to better attract participants and maintain their focus. By having a camp solely for young men we can address issues that are gender and age specific and teach our lessons in a way that is specially geared towards them in hopes of making the greatest impact. For example, we will teach gender equality by having male AND female coaches for sports activities. Also, we will have respectable, successful, Paraguayan me give presentations on gender equality and prevention of domestic violence. In addition to gender equality and sexual health awareness, the participants will work to develop the values of responsibility, respect and planning for the future during our structured sports sessions and other camp activities.

This project is especially dear to my heart, I am on the planning committee. Any amount of money you could donate could help make this camp a success!

Please Donate - Camp Caballero!

Time Flies ...

We will get back to the last and final blog post about my vacation to Uruguay next time, I had something a little more pertinent and time sensitive to talk about.

The group of 27 volunteers that I came to Paraguay with and went through training with they are called my G-mates.We are G38! Our sister G is G-35, they were the Health volunteers that had been here for a year already when I first got into country and they will be finishing their two-year service in April. I remember thinking they were so wise and seasoned and that I couldn't wait for that to be me.

Well my friends .... that time has come. In less than a week the new group of Health volunteers will come from all over the United States to little old Paraguay to become G41. And let me tell you I cannot believe that I have almost been in Paraguay for a year! That is ridiculous. There were definitely days, weeks, or months I thought were never going to end but, honestly the time has flown. There have definitely been hard days, and there are still days I really have no idea what I'm doing, but isn't that life. I love Paraguay and the people I have met along the way and I can wait to welcome this next batch of Health volunteers and hope that they love it as much as I am right now.

G38! The day we arrived in PY!

Oh the Books You Will Read: An Ode to my Kindle.

I love to read. I have ever since I was a little kid. I also have always loved having a huge collection of books.  I've always dreamed of one day having a house with my very own library, when I was little it was one the size of the Beast's in Beauty in the Beast, now a little more realistic, but still a dream.

However, as I've grown up I've also gained a love of travel, and it is quite a struggle to pack lightly and also bring along books for the journey. This is where my Kindle comes into play. Before I left for the Peace Corps I was so anti-kindle you would have thought that I had stock in Border's or something. But I am here today to tell you I am a Kindle convert.  Don't get me wrong I will always love a good old fashioned book, but nothing beats a being able to carry hundreds of books in something that only takes up the space of one.

With the awesomeness of my Kindle (and the awesomeness of the PCV library) added to more free time and less things to do with said free time I have been able to read over 30 books since I came to Paraguay in February.  Here are some of my favorites:

Mansfield Park (Jane Austen): Taken from the poverty of her parents' home, Fanny Price is brought up with her rich cousins at Mansfield Park, acutely aware of her humble rank and with only her cousin Edmund as an ally. When Fanny's uncle is absent in Antigua, Mary Crawford and her brother Henry arrive in the neighbourhood, bringing with them London glamour and a reckless taste for flirtation. As her female cousins vie for Henry's attention, and even Edmund falls for Mary's dazzling charms, only Fanny remains doubtful about the Crawfords' influence and finds herself more isolated than ever. I enjoyed this book. It wasn't my favorite Austen, but it did mark a special occasion, the completion of all 6 Austen novels!

Everything is Illuminated (Johnathan Safran Foer): With only a yellowing photograph in hand, a young man -- also named Jonathan Safran Foer -- sets out to find the woman who may or may not have saved his grandfather from the Nazis. Accompanied by an old man haunted by memories of the war; an amorous dog named Sammy Davis, Junior, Junior; and the unforgettable Alex, a young Ukrainian translator who speaks in a sublimely butchered English, Jonathan is led on a quixotic journey over a devastated landscape and into an unexpected past. Part of this novel is from the perspective of Alex, a Ukrainian, his characters narration is written in the way his English would sound, grammatically incorrect with numerous mistakes, for this reason it took me a little bit to get into this book. But, once I did I actually really enjoyed this novel. 

The Shadow of the Wind (Carlos Ruiz Zafon): Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer’s son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julián Carax. But when he sets out to find the author’s other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax’s books in existence. Soon Daniel’s seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets--an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love. For some reason I really enjoy books about books, and definitely get that in this novel the first in the series about the Cemetery of Lost Books. I can't wait to read the next book in the series and find out what else happens to Daniel. 

A Secret Kept (Tatiana de Rosnay): Entirely set in France in the present day and in 1974, A SECRET KEPT begins when Antoine Rey, a divorcee in his mid-forties, takes his sister, Mélanie, to their childhood vacation spot, Noirmoutier Island, for her fortieth birthday. Passage to the island is made on a causeway called Le Gois, a road that is only passable at low tide and which becomes treacherous in moments once the water rises. They make the passage and spend an idyllic time on the island, but the devastating events following their holiday set in motion a search for clues surrounding the untimely death of their mother when they were children. This is written by the same author as "Sarah's Key" and while not as good,  I still tore through this book in no time reading it in one night. I look forward to reading more from her.

The Routes of Man (Ted Convers): Roads bind our world—metaphorically and literally—transforming landscapes and the lives of the people who inhabit them. Roads have unparalleled power to impact communities, unite worlds and sunder them, and reveal the hopes and fears of those who travel them.With his marvelous eye for detail and his contagious enthusiasm, Ted Conover explores six of these key byways worldwide, in Peru, Pakistan, Kenya, Israel. China and Nigeria. This book was great! It appealed to the travel junkie in me, but, I liked how it took a different look into travel.

Lady Oracle (Margaret Atwood): Joan Foster is the bored wife of a myopic ban-the-bomber.  She takes off overnight as Canada's new superpoet, pens lurid gothics on the sly, attracts a blackmailing reporter, skids cheerfully in and out of menacing plots, hair-raising traps, and passionate trysts, and lands dead and well in Terremoto, Italy. I'd heard of Margaret Atwood before but this was the first thing I'd read by here. I really enjoy her writing styles and am really excited that she has written so many more books for me to choose from ... next up "The Blind Assassin"

Visit my  Goodreads account to see the other books I've read so far. Also, all the summaries in this post were borrowed from Goodreads.

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.”

Toughest Job You'll Ever Love.

When I first heard this tagline about the Peace Corps ... "The toughest job you'll ever love" I probably thought something along the lines of "oh, how clever, I do enjoy a good catchphrase." But, now almost 7 months into my service I can't begin to tell you how incredibly true it is. I hope whoever came up with it got paid the big bucks because I can honestly not think of any better way to describe this "job."

There are days that you wake up and everything just seems to go wrong, days that you wake up but you don't necessarily want to get up, seeing people and interacting with them is just too much to handle. There are days, days that EVERY volunteer will have, where you wonder what you are doing here and whether it wouldn't just be easier to go home. 

I heard a fellow PCV say that  Peace Corps isn't a one-time decision. It is a decision that you make every morning when you get out of bed a decision to keep going to power through the hard times and make it out on the other side because its worth it.

In my last post I may have complained a little bit, (Which will happen in the span of two years) and yes having my little host brother and sister come over whenever they want can be annoying, as annoying as any little brother or sister can be sometimes. Yes, there are incredibly tough days in the Peace Corps, but there are incredibly tough days in life. I love it here so far and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else at this point in my life.

And honestly how could you not love seeing these little faces every day. 

Catching up.

I haven't written in a while for 2 reasons.

First off in the first week of August I had Reconnect. All of G-38 came together in our training communities to have a week-long language and technical training. It was great to see all my G-mates again! I had missed them. It was also good to see my original host family again.  I had missed them too.

The second reason is that the day after Reconnect training ended my sister Rachel came to visit! It was my first visitor in Paraguay (hopefully not my last) She was only here for 8 days, which for future visitors is not enough time! It seemed like a very short trip. The night she got in we stayed in Asuncion because she had been traveling for over 24 hours. The next morning we left for a few days in my site. She got to meet my host family, spend time with my neighbors and see my new house. Then we went back to Asuncion for a few days to see the sights. It was a blast. Here are a few pictures from her visit.

My next door neighbors

The crossroads of my site

The Presidential Palace

100 Days!

"The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time"

- Abraham Lincoln.

I have officially been in Paraguay for 100 days. Time has both flown by and gone incredibly slow at the same time. But, so far I feel like this is exactly what I should be doing.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

Here is a video I made of a bunch of my pictures during training and some videos. I keep forgetting to put it up. So here you go. Enjoy.

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Yet Another New Beginning!

Its official ... I am now a real deal Peace Corps Volunteer. I am no longer a trainee. I have stood up in front of the American Ambassador to Paraguay and Sworn/Affirmed to protect and defend the constitution of the United States of America and all that jazz. I took the same oath that the President of the United States takes.

The past few days we all have been staying in Asuncion (the capital) to celebrate being volunteers and spending our last few moments together before we go off to site on our own.

The Presidential Palace

But today is that day my friends. The day I go off to my site, by myself, where I will be living for the next 24 months! The first 3 or so months I won't really be doing any work. Just hanging out and getting to know my community. So let the adventure begin.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

This upcoming week is my last and final week of training! On Friday we swear in as real and official volunteers. Up to now we have just been trainees. After Swear-In we are all going to Asuncion for the weekend to celebrate then on that Tuesday its off to our sites!

Due to the trouble of internet in third world countries. I never told you much about my Site visit. It went great. I stayed with this lady Maragarita, she is the head of a Women´s Committee in my site. My room was actually had her mother-in-laws house next door (who is one of the nicest ladies in the world.) But, I spent most of my time with Margarita and her family. My new best friend is a 12 year old boy named Geraldo. He is awesome.

I also had a lot of cow experiences on my site visit. I milked a cow for the very first time, fed a baby cow milk from a bottle and witnessed a cow slaughter. They literally use every single part of a cow too, its pretty impressive. They take the intestines and fill them with meat and vegetables and then boil them. Sounds disguisting ... but it was actually one of the more delicioius cow dishes that I ate, a whole lot better than Cow Liver Soup and Stomach Lining.

There is a Colegio (high school), escuela (lower school) and a health post in my site as well that I got to visit with a little! I´m super excited to work with them.

Ill try and update more this week! (And a lot more pictures!)

New Sites and Sorting Hats

So my friends my fate has been sealed. I will be heading to the Caaguazu department of Paraguay for the next two years. I’m pretty close to the capital of Caaguazu, Colonel Oviedo and about 3ish hours from the capital of Paraguay, Asuncion.

It was a very anxiety ridden day. First off in the morning we had a “Cultural Viaje” (excursion) where we went to Asuncion and got to wander around for a while. Then we went back to the training center and had a session on Paraguayan Music and Dance, which was super cool, but, at this point I did not feel like waiting any longer.

After that we finally started. They had a hat with all our names on it and a huge map of Paraguay with all the possible sites marked off. 

I´m pretty much smack dab in the middle of those names

They then picked a name out of the hat, (Harry Potter - Sorting Hat style) that person received their folder full of their site information and then put their little picture on the map where their site was and then chose the next name out of the hat.

It was so stressful and nerve-racking. But, right now after reading all my site info I’m super excited about my site. There is a colegio (highschool) and a puesto de salud (health post) for me to work with, which were both things I asked for.  I also have a women’s commission of about 30 that want to work with me. There are about 130 families - 650 people that live in my site. I am 6k from Oviedo a much bigger city, but there are no buses so I was told to get my biking legs ready. 

I’m super eager for my site visit that starts Thursday when I’ll get to see my site for the first time. I’ll know more after my site visit too, but, if have any questions about my site feel free to ask!

Another super awesome thing is that one of my best friends here so far is only 2 hours away by bus! Some of my other friends are a little farther away, but, we’ll still each other a bunch. I’m going to miss seeing them every day, but, I’ll get to meet a bunch of new awesome people.

At Site Presentation

There are still 3 weeks left of training so I’m definitely going to make the most of it. Also in other news … it is officially Otoño (fall) here! The past few days have actually been a little chilly. It’s been fantastic, however, I don’t think it will last. It’s supposed to get warm again, but, winter is coming and for those who don’t know it does get cold here!

Long Field Practice and More !

Last week we had our “Long Field Practice,” which basically means in your language groups you go visit another volunteer for 4 days. I visited a volunteer (a fellow Marylander) in “FulgencioYegros” (hope that is spelled right) about 2ish hours from Guarambare.

She is super guapa (hard working in PY) and super organized it was a great Long Field. I stayed with a host family; it was actually one of her host families when she came to site. They were an awesome family, 2 youngerish parents in their late 20’s early 30’s Ethel and Jorge and they had two kids Ingrid (8) and Jorgito (4).  I’m almost a little jealous she gets to spend so much time with them because they are awesome. Jorge the father joked that I was SUPER shy but it was really because it was SO difficult to understand, he mumbles so much. Ethel said that it is hard for Paraguayans to understand him though so I didn’t feel bad.

I was on a radio show! My volunteer and some other volunteers in the area to a radio show weekly. We helped with their show about High Blood Pressure, a huge problem in PY. We prepared ahead of time and I basically read straight from my notebook which was nice because I was super nervous. But, radio is easier than TV because you only have to worry about your speaking not your facial expressions and all that.

Maddie (another trainee in my group) and I also gave a charla (talk) about “Manejo de la Basura” (Trash Management) to a group of 3^rd and 4^th graders. I was a little nervous before hand but I think we did a good job and it helped a little that my host sister Ingrid was in my class. I wassurprised at howgood I was at thinking on the fly in Spanish.

As we were leaving heading back to Guarambaré we went to this place “I can’t remember the name of” that has these historical boats from The War of Triple Alliance (a very “interesting war” – you should look it up … basically PY tried to fight Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay all at one time). You could walk up on top of these boats – which was definitely “I’m in PY moment” because I was like this would never happen in the US because where you walk on top of the boat was super old and no one was watching you or in charge or anything, and at one point in the walk-way there was a decent sized  hole you just kind of stepped over. But, it was super cool and then we went swimming in the river.

When we got home from Long Field I got my first PY sickness. I got a fever and was throwing up and couldn’t really eat anything at all. My host mom and sister were so cute though they took super good care of me at one point they were both just standing there watching me as I was trying to sleep. It was really only like a 12 hour bug because I felt a lot better the next morning. But, in my feverish delirium I dreamt that I had Dengue Fever – a sickness that isn’t usually fatal really only if you don’t go to the doctor and leave it unchecked, but it’s nicknamed “Bone Break Fever” because it hurts so bad it feels like all the bones in your body are breaking. That morning I had helped build a fogon and was super sore and so because my body hurt I dreamt that I had Dengue, it was a very realistic dream but, I’m lucky it was that, only a dream.

So training is already half way over!!! This week I have language interviews to see how my Spanish is improving and Site interviews where they ask us questions about what we want in our future site, AND next week we find out our future sites and then we go visit them!! Ahh!

Professional at Awkward

The Peace Corps staff often tells us how we are going to experience so many awkward situations over the next 2 years and to prepare ourselves. They say we will be so good at dealing with awkward situations that we will be able to put it on our resume. I’ve been here a little over a month now and have experienced or my friends have experienced quite a few awkward and hilarious situations.

These are situations either I or other volunteers have experienced:

·         Jumping rope while your family pulls up chairs to sit and watch you huff and puff and sweat profusely like you’re the television

·         Coming home to have your next door neighbor waiting for you to tell you that this is his favorite time of day because his pretty American neighbor walks by and proceeds to ask for your cellphone # - luckily I could honestly say I don’t have one

·         Explaining to someone you don’t eat meat and them saying they don’t understand how that’s possible because you are a little bit fat

·         Asking for “Polvo de Hornear” (Baking Powder) at the Dispensa (little store in someone’s house) but, actually saying “Polvo de Orinar” (verb Orinar – to urinate) so basically asking for “Pee Powder”

·         Saying you are working out so you can look like Shakira and them telling you that would take a long time because you are lacking a lot to look like her

·         Asking your host sister if she has a tattoo – using the word “tattoo” because you think it the same in Spanish when in reality it means Vagina in Paraguay.

·         Trying to figure out a culturally appropriate way of getting out of eating a … mysteriously crunchy hot dog, cow stomach lining, liver … etc.  (I have already eaten crocodile and carpincho—don’t know if that is spelled right but look them up … they are ROUS’*)

·         Sitting in a room with a bunch of people speaking super-fast Spanish you can’t understand … or worse Guarani – even better is when you can tell they are talking about you.

Also the funniest part of all of these awkward situations is that there is no actual word for awkward in Spanish. There are a bunch of different words for weird … but awkward is just a word of its own with so much more meaning than just weird.

* “The Princess Bride” reference 

Volunteer Visit

Last week I went to visit a volunteer in her site to get more experience and to see what being a volunteer is really like.

I went to a town near Caazapa about a 4-5 hour bus(es) ride from my house in Nueva Esperanza. It was also good experience for us traveling around on our own on the buses here. I traveled with Emily and Liz because all of the volunteers we were going to visit lived super close to each other.

I had a great time. It was nice to see what life in the campo is like. The town I went to visit had about 80ish houses that were spread out over the countryside. There were some incredible views, the campo really is gorgeous. I took a walk with my volunteer and some of the views were so amazing pictures do not do them justice.

While I was there I also go to see some of the projects she works on. I built a fogon (a brick built wood burning stove that is better for respiratory health than for example cooking over an open flame on the ground). It was super hard work, I was pretty sore after and I got super sweaty and super dirty. But, it was neat to see the finished product.

I also went with her to visit her health post that she works with and met and ate lunch with all the people that work there. I also drank tereré (something I will attempt to explain in another blog post, but feel free to look it up in the mean time because it is definitely a part of my daily life here in Paraguay) with the director of the school. I couldn’t really sit in on any classes because even though school started about 2 weeks ago there really aren’t that many students going right now. My volunteer said that more will start coming after Semana Santa (Holy Week). School attendance is a big issue  here.

I also am FAMOUS! I was on Paraguay television. My volunteer does a TV show with 4 other volunteers in her VAC (don’t know exact meaning, but it basically means her “group” of volunteers that are close to her). Two of them are Rural Health volunteers as well; one was an Agriculture volunteer and the other a Community & Economic Development volunteer. That specific episode they just were talking about what is Peace Corps, what they are doing here in Paraguay and specifically what the Health, Ag, and CED sectors are doing. At one point they introduced Liz, Emily and I and there really was no room for us to sit or stand so for the rest of the program we were sitting on the floor. You could kind of see Emily’s head and you could see the back of Liz’s head, but, of course my face was perfectly visible in the bottom right corner of the TV. Towards the end of the program the interviewer was asking questions that people were texting him on his phone and one was something like “What is the name of the girl sitting under the table?” Aka me. So then the camera zooms in on me for what felt like 10 minutes and all I said was My name is Kelley and Hola. But, then when the camera went over to Liz she was so nervous to be on TV she crawled under a table to get away from the TV. It overall was a great and hilarious experience and now Liz, Emily and I can say we’ve been on TV.

Overall I had a great visit. I think it is awesome that Peace Corps does trips like these because it gets us trainees out of the classroom and gives us first-hand experience of being a volunteer in site. 

2 weeks and counting!

So I’ve been here in Paraguy for a little over two weeks now. Pretty ridiculous. Seems like I’ve been here and I’ve know my other training mates for months not days. So I’ve gotten a few questions and I’m going to answer some of them here.

Number one: What is your living situation like?

So my “room” is separate from the rest of the house. I have what I think used to be part of the garage when they had a car. (Which they don’t anymore) This “garage” has been split into two rooms by a thin ply wood wall and my room is on one side and there is storage and random stuff on the other. I can lock the “door” to my side of the room and the door to the entire garage. (And sometimes I lock my chuchi stuff into my dresser with my luggage lock – p.s. chuchi means fancy) I have a twin bed which doesn’t really bother me and my chuchi green mosquito net. My room has a bathroom with a shower but I its all one room and I only use that shower to wash my feet off when they get dirty (which is a lot) and I only use the toilet if I have to go in the middle of the night because it doesn’t flush I have to throw a bucket of water down it. The bathroom in the family house though is pretty chuchi. The shower actually has a little step down so its not all part of the same floor which is normal for bathrooms here, there are no tubs; and I have hot water! But guess what guys … I never use it! I have never craved a cold shower so often in my life. It is SO hot here every day, mind you this is like mid-august summer time in MD (sometimes hotter) but the cold shower is my only escape.

Number two: General questions about language and my language classes?

Just in these two weeks here my Spanish is definitely improved, especially because I have my only little Spanish translator/teacher, Susi. Whenever I don’t understand something or didn’t hear someone she will repeat it for me or say it a different way so I’ll understand. She is awesome.

My classes are going well. Mainly I’m just doing a review of Spanish right now. But, I’ll start with Guarani classes very soon.

My Host Sister - Susi

Number 3: What is the food like?

So in Paraguay breakfasts and dinners tend to be smaller meals and lunch is usually the biggest meal of the day. My breakfast usually consists of “Hot Chocolate” – basically warm milk and some chocolatey powder, yogurt (which her is more of a beverage than something you eat with a spoon – but it tastes exactly the same) and some sort of fruit, usually and apple or a pear. Most of the times I’m eating lunch at school so my mom packs me a lunch, every once and a while I get to go home for lunch. Dinner I usually eat with just my mom and Susi. There is usually mandioca at every lunch or dinner meal. Mandioca is the Spanish word for yucca root. It’s very starchy kind of like a potato. I really like it a lot, some people don’t but it usually is at every or most meals. There are also these two corn bread type dishes, one is called Sopa Paraguay (and no its not soup – the word for soup in Paraguay is caldo) and the other is called Chipa Guasu. Sopa Paraguay is a little more drier than Chipa Guasu and Chipa Guasu tends to have more whole fresh corn used in it. I lean more towards the Chipa Guasu part of things but I like them both. There is a lot of meat … Beef, Chicken, Pork, etc. Also there is a lot of fresh fruits that you can just grab off a tree. Mango season is just ending which is sad. But, grapefruits are just starting to get pretty ripe! There are also apples, bananas, guavas, avocados, pinas, oranges and limes (and so many more I’m forgetting.)

I know there have been other questions and I’ll try to get to them when I can but I don’t have that much spare time and when I do I’m usually hanging out with my family or other training mates or sleeping. Here are a couple pictures. The first picture is of me and some girls in my training group and the second is my 3 year old cousin Lujan (not sure actually – maybe my niece. She calls me her Nueva Hermana) who is the cutest little girl ever.

Also, this past Thursday we went to Asuncion for the day. We were paired up with some one. My partner was Kalena (fluent speaker woo!) and we were supposed to go to the Mercado 4 and to the Public Health – Dental office. After getting a little lost we finally found the market, and it is nuts. Almost anything you could ever want you can find at this market. I got a pair of shoes they look exactly like a pair of Toms, super cheap. (If you didn’t know TOMS are actually based off of a traditional Argentine shoe because the founder saw them there … hence the TOMS logo looking eerily similar to the Argentine Flag) Then we went to the Public Health place and the dentist we were supposed to talk to only comes in on Tuesday and it was a Thursday … womp womp. So that kind of sucked because the lady in the office wasn’t very helpful either. Then we went to the Peace Corps offices and had class in the afternoon. Mostly security and internet security, but, a representative from the embassy came and gave a presentation on Paraguay. I thought it was super interesting!

On Monday I am going to visit a volunteer by myself. Her name is Lauren and her site is kind of near Caazapa (and kind of not ha). I’m so excited. I get back on Thursday and I’ll let you know how it went. The only info I have is that I might be helping build a fogone (a kind of stove).