Running Water? Who Needs It!

Post 3 of 3.

At the end of March, certain circumstances led me to quickly move into a new house around the corner from my old house/second host family's house.  Though the move was sudden, I had the help and welcome of a veritable army of women and children who were to be my new neighbors.

They surprised me with a sign welcoming me into my new home :)

The majority of my things, moved into the main room of my new house--being watched over by Leti, the cheerful younger daughter of my new landlord.

Some of my new neighbors! Brayan, Sebastiana, Olga, and Romina taking a break after helping with the move.



Impromptu outdoor game of ping pong.  Why not?





The view of my new house from just outside the gate/barbed wire fence. Espectacular.





My house doesn't have running water, but this is the drop toilet out back, and the path through some citrus trees that leads to my landlord's house.  I go there just about every morning to drink mate with Olga and her daughters.




Out back!  Soon to be my garden, but you can see here an old tatakuaa that my pets like to use as a fort, and the palm-type tree straight ahead is a jata'i --as in Jataity




One side of our little road has about 7 houses on it, and across the way there are large marshy fields that are constantly full of grazing cows.  I've got to remember to keep my gate shut, or they like to wander into my yard!  Fulana is tied to the mango tree for the moment, so she'll stay out of trouble for a little while...




My pozo (well)!  The water is too dirty to drink, but I can use it to wash dishes, clothes, etc.  Soon I'll have someone empty out the water and clean it a bit inside so I no longer have to lug drinking/cooking water from a neighbor's house evey day.




Another shot of the fields across the way, and a glimpse of Sebastiana, Romina, and Brayan's house next door.






Che fulanokuera! Look how big they've gotten!!




Fulano, not happy at being disturbed from his slumber.



Fulana, probably hoping she'll get some more food.  I swear this dog will soon be eating my entire monthly allowance...and still only 4 months old!

So I'm not sure exactly what order you'll be reading these posts in but...

And so I have begun my first months in site.  The adjustment hasn't always been easy, but I've had a great support network back home, as well as in country.  My sector's staff, the other volunteers in my G and VAC, and the Paraguayans I've met in my community have all been amazing.  Although there are still some bits of Paraguayan culture that irk me (you're going to blast polka music in the middle of the night, really?), mostly I love it (yesss, I'm freezing--I would love some maté!).

I've also finally started to get into a routine, including both visiting friends and working.  I've got some regular mate and terere visits, I see quite a few people when I'm walking my dog and running, and I've begun working "regularly" in the school, with some garden committees, with some families, and even in a weekly radio program broadcasted to the entire Pilar district of Neembucu (eep!)...and so I'm starting to feel a lot more comfortable here at "home."  

I hope you enjoy these three posts!  I do apologize for not posting sooner, however, as I have heard other volunteers put it--the days pass slowly, but the weeks pass quickly.  For the longest time, my main "job" in site was just meeting people: visiting random houses, drinking terere, name-dropping the environment whenever I could.  It never felt like there was much to write about.  And now here I am, suddenly, almost 5 months in site, and I look back and I actually Have done things! Not only that, but I actually enjoy visiting my neighbors and chatting...it's no longer "work" in my day, but the break from work.  I can't say that Guarani isn't still a struggle (both actually speaking it...and forcing myself To speak it...everything’s so much easier in Spanish!), but things are a-changin'.  I like visiting with volunteer friends in Asuncion (we just had a week-long mini training, called Reconnect, which was great...) but I was glad to get back to site afterwards; to hang out with my pets and my neighbors, and start implementing the new things I'd learned (grafting!!).  This past weekend, a new group of trainees also swore in as Rural Health volunteers, meaning I am no longer of the newest newbie group of volunteers!  Haha, but boy, do I still feel like a newbie…

Over the next few months, more of my projects should be picking up, so I'll have more to write about.  I’ve added some new links on the right-hand side of this page, as well, for those of you who’d like to do a little extra credit.  Also, for those of you who don't know yet, I will be visiting the Chicago area for two days in early June, and I'll be in Florida for about a week after that.  I'm not sure exactly what my plans will be yet, so contact me if you're interested in hanging out.  And I've loved all the letters and packages I've received so far--thank you so much!! (My address is on the second tab of this blog, for those who didn't know.)  Hope to hear from you all in comments, facebook, gchat, and snailmail!  Thanks for all your support, and for kicking my butt (or “poking” me, as the case may be ;) ) until I got these posts up :)

(Oh and PS, I really appreciate all your interest in what I’m doing…but I want to know what’s going on with YOU too!  I’m starved for news from the outside world.  It may feel like same-old-same-old to you—but I want to hear about it! I miss you. Yes, you. That is all.)

Dale. Daledale. Dale dale. Daledaledale...daledale. Dale, Chau!

Please Excuse this Interruption of your Regularly Scheduled Program for an Important Message from Our Sponsors:

Post 2 of 3.

A MONTAGE OF MY PETS!!


Please let me introduce you to the too-adorable-for-her-own-good puppy.  You're fortunate you're meeting her at a safe distance because she enjoys slobbering all over new acquaintances.  She was probably born in mid-December, and she goes by Fulana (or Lana, but only if you let her do all that slobbering).
Fulano and Fulana are the names that Paraguayans use when they're describing a situation that involved some anonymous person, and a filler name is needed.  For example, in English we might say, "If John or Jane wants to vote, they need to go register at such and such place..." but a Paraguayan would say Fulano o Fulana. Ajepa?





My first host mother, Gladys, knew that I was interested in a puppy, and gave me a call one day.  She said that somebody had left a litter of puppies on the side of the road by her house, and there was a little hembra I could come get if I was interested.  But of course! So she held onto Fulana for me for a few days until I could buy some dog food and come by to bike home with Fulana hanging from a cloth bag on my handlebars...and she's been che memby (my daughter) ever since!





My kitty! Named....you guessed it...Fulano :)  You may imagine the confused reactions I get when I share my pets' names... because no one is ever actually named Fulano or Fulana.  But usually the confusion is followed by laughter...usually.






Fulano (you may call him Fu) explaining to me that it is, in fact, his backpack.
He was born in mid-November, to the cat of another volunteer living in Pilar.





Tensions were high when I first brought Fulana home to meet Fulano...but they were more similar than they thought...





Fulano checking out the strange newbie from a safe vantage point.




It's hard to resist a good stick.




So...getting a cat, dog, and new house all in the same week might have been a questionable decision...but it all worked out in the end...
Fulano's new favorite game is chasing around the end of Fulana's leash, and Fulana enjoys licking Fulano's face...and everyone loves some good spooning.




 

Aaand...We're Back!

Post 1 of 3.

The night before Swearing-in, at the end of training, the family of Becca and me had a wonderful, and sad, despedida (farewell party) for us.



With my host mom, Lourdes, and her youngest song, Erwin.  I'm the first volunteer to ever stay with this family, although there have been training groups who've lived in this community in the past.  Mamá Lourdes says I will always be her hija (daughter), and am therefore welcome back any time.  They have been the most welcoming, caring family I could ask for during the shaky transition into a new culture and language, and I have indeed returned to visit several times in the past months (for a day on the way to or from Asuncion), a pattern which I hope to continue throughout my service.





My host siblings and I--Erwin, Nayeli, and Edu



After the million and one combinations of group shots, I let Erwin run wild with my camera for a while...resulting in a few surprisingly artistic shots!

And here is a shot of my terere equipo--termo, guampa, and bombilla--graciously being modeled by my friend Jimmy during our last terere session as trainees.

And finally, the day we've all been waiting for...Swear-in!  I'M A REAL VOLUNTEER NOW!

Fellow G-mate Jake, who we nominated to speak for us during the Swear-in ceremony.  There were also speeches from the US ambassador, several Paraguayan officials, the Peace Corps Paraguay Country Director, and Eli, the head of my sector.  These numerous speeches were followed by a strangely anticlimatic "repeat after me" oath led in English by the US ambassador, and then in Spanish by a Paraguayan man of import.  And voila! The transition from PCT to PCV was made with success!

Our training families were also invited to attend the ceremony, and the Municipality of our training city (in whose building the ceremony was held) gave us each a tajy (the now-rare national tree of Paraguay) to bring to and plant in our new communities across Paraguay. 

With my amazing APCD Eli, the head of the Environmental Conservation sector.

With our technical trainer, Leo, and PS Alistair (Eli's second-in-command)

And then, after a short weekend of celebrations and good-byes in Asuncion, it was off to site for the rest of December and Christmas! For the first several weeks in site, I stayed with Angel and Gladys (pictured above with Gladys' aunt Maria).  The Christmas tradition in Paraguay is to stay up until midnight on Christmas eve, then eat a large meal with the whole family and give a toast at midnight. Slightly earlier in the evening we drove into Pilar to visit the nativity scenes set up in the plaza.

Three of Angel and Gladys' grandchildren, Milagros, Maria Paz, and Fernando, also came with us.  Who doesn't enjoy hanging out with a giant turtle?

Not for the faint of heart...here is our Christmas-day asado (bbq) pig, waiting on the kitchen table to be skinned and cooked up. Nbd. Strangely, I have not yet been convinced to start eating meat....(well, aside from the ocassional chicken and fish...which any Paraguayan will assure you is not meat).

Unlike the US tradition of gift-giving on Christmas, most Paraguayan children get a gift or two on el Dia de Tres Reyes (Three Kings Day).  A family from my community who now lives in Buenos Aires brought donated toys and snacks with them for Three Kings Day and invited all the children of Jataity to a bit of a celebration, so that no one who be left without a small gift this year.

Just before New Years, I moved in with my second host family in Jataity (the same family I stayed with during my Future Site visit).  Here's my host nephew Luca sporting a brand-new (temporary) fauxhawk, in true futbolista fashion.

At the beginning of March, I moved into my own house!  It's right next door to my second host family's house, and gives me the long-awaited ability to start cooking again.  Here you can see the quite common sight of cows strolling past the house.

It is both astonishing and impressive the amount of things that a Paraguayan can transport with their motos.  I've seen a moto going down the street with a board across the back with 2 dozen chickens dangling from it, or a bushel of 20 foot long bamboo stalks across the lap of a moto rider.  Here, my landlord and his son were using a moto to transport some final things out of my new house.  Two people and about a third of that pile of stuff went with each moto trip...

In February, the Paraguayan school year began anew (since the seasons are opposite here).   Though I visited the Directora and profesoras during their prep week, I also went the first day of school to meet all the students at once.  Our  school in Jataity is rather small, with only about 50 students total.  Half come in the morning (first through third grade), and half come in the afternoon (fourth through sixth grade, plus kindergarten).

Here I am with the afternoon turno students and profesoras, and the Directora (to my left).  You  can see  my ever-cheeky host nephew Luca throwin' up some hand signs in the front row...
These kids are great!  I started out actually teaching by doing some activities/a lesson for Water Day in March, and since then I've also been teaching English and teaching some lessons in their Trabajo y Tecnologia (kind of like Life Skills) class on Wednesday.  I work mostly with this afternoon/older group, and so far they've been very receptive to my lessons about venenos caseros (organic pest deterrents), composting, trash, etc.  And they do enjoy laughing at each others' English names (their first English lesson, in conjunction with learning the alphabet).

In March I also brought my friend/community contact, Romina, to a Climate Change Workshop  near Asuncion.   With other Environmental Sector volunteers and their contacts, we learned how to explain climate change to other Paraguayans, and learned about adapting to/mitigating climate change here in Paraguay.  Now let's go plant some trees!

This is a picture of some famous ruins in Humaita, a town not too far from Pilar.  A rather important battle took place here during the War of the Triple Alliance, where Paraguay fought against Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina.  In this war, a  devastating 90% of Paraguay's male population died, and about 60% of the population overall.  In the end, Paraguay lost some of its land in the Chaco region (and part of the Chaco is called President Hayes today, because he arbitrated a decision that kept Paraguay from losing a good deal more).

This is where I am^

This is what I'm doing^

And this is how I travel^
Translation: On the bus.
Top left...How I see it.
Top right...How other people see it.
Bottom left...How those outside see it.
Bottom right...How the driver sees it: Great, there's still so much space!