Photos!

Waiting at a bus stop with Becca (the trainee who lives across the street with my host grandparents), Karen (her sister/my aunt), and Lourdes (my aunt, who took care of me during the first few weeks of training)

My 9-year-old host sister, Nayeli, and I, waiting for one in a series of buses to go to a nearby outdoor fair ("expo") that was going on throughout the first week or so of training

The guampa (cup), bombilla (straw), and termo (thermos) for tereré that Karen carried around the whole day--like the majority of the people at the expo

One corner of the plaza where the expo was being held--motorcycles are one of the most common modes of transportation...though we´re not allowed on them

(Different day) Some awesome artwork in Asunción (the capital of Paraguay)

Traditional Paraguayan lacework--Ñanduti

The volunteer, Liz, who I visited for my PCV visit, along with the children of the family whose property her house is on

Just a really sweet looking plant

Teamwork! Teaching the niños how to make bracelets

A watering hole where we took some local students to go swimming--it´s hot out!

Halloween!! Trainees bought candy from town and left it with our host families, and then some of us taught our small host siblings how to (kind of) dress up and go trick-or-treating

Brook, who dressed up at her house to give candy to the niños

Crescent moons here look like a U, not a C!  I think it´s cool...

 [It's too much of a pain to rotate these photos. Sorry I'm not sorry :) ]

On the way home from our Long Field Practice (visiting another volunteer for a week), we stopped at Paraguay´s original 200 year-old train station in Sapucai.  Paraguay had the first rail system in South America...though now they have no rail system...

We went to Long Field Practice in small groups--very busy and very fun

Some of the original train blueprints, still just sitting out in the open in the train station, which is now being restored to become a museum and cultural center

One of the original trains--pre coal burning--these locomotives ran on steam produced by wood

Our tech trainer, Leo, and Guarani language professor, Ramona, who came on long field to keep the training going

My 6-yr-old brother Erwin after performing a traditional Paraguayan dance at his school´s dance festival last night (11/11/11)

My 9-yr-old sister Nayeli, in yellow, performing her class´ dance

Nayeli and her classmate Jasmine

My 16-yr-old brother Edu (all the way to the left)

Edu again, second from the left--his class did a "modern" dance

No Paraguayan event would be complete with the odd dog rolling around on the ground :)

Enjoy!  I´ll add more pictures soon of the rest of my family, and of my house and neighborhood.  This Wednesday we find out the name of our future sites, and on Friday we meet our community contact and travel with them to site for a short pre-service visit...so we're all a little preoccupied right now.  I´m very excited and very nervous.  I can´t wait!!