2014: A Look Back Over the Past Year

The past year has been one full of many changes for me, full of new places, culture, languages, and personal growth.  I have decided to write this blog post to remind myself and to share with you just how far I have come over the year and the thousands of wonderful experiences I have had.  So I have chosen 55 photos (I tried to get it down to 50, but just couldn’t get there) as well as many of the quotes that have helped me get through the past year.  It is a rather long post but worth it I hope, and you might get to see some of your favorite photos from past posts, please enjoy the photos and quotes from here in Paraguay!

 Unless someone like you cares a whole aweful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.

-Dr. Seuss  

Chipa, something I had never heard of until Paraguay but now is a staple of my diet here in Paraguay when traveling.

The bumper crop of watermelon last year, sadly this year many of the plants didn’t produce much this year, but still a great memory and refreshing treat on a hot day.

Be a reflection of what you’d like to see in others.  If you want love, give love.  If you want honesty, give honesty.  If you want respect, give respect.  You get in return, what you give. 

My site presentation where my bosses came and introduced both me and Peace Corps to the community.  

My cheerful and full of energy nephew Junior.  It has been so great watching him grow up this past year, and he has been a faithful companion always visiting and keeping me on my toes!

My adorable niece Rocio who has become my best buddy working in the garden, especially with my flower beds. 

You can bury a lot of troubles by digging in the dirt. –Unknown

The first day of school my first year in Yukyry with Rocio in the first grade and Maribel in fourth grade, with Junior wishing he could be in school.  Every day when I was in site I was able to walk the girls (with Junior most days) home from school and had just a great time talking and laughing with them.  

My first of many pique that I have pulled out of my feet here, I am now an expert but at the time had no idea what it was, much less how to dig it out of my feet!

Sometimes the best thing you can do is not think, not wonder, not imagine, not obsess.  Just breathe and have faith that everything will work out for the best.

Romina and I traveling last year down to Paraguay Verde, the national environmental camp.  It was a very long ~14 hour road trip but totally worth it! If you are interested in learning more or donating to help run this year’s camp please visit: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/paraguay-verde-v-a-national-environmental-camp/x/2378485

Romina and I standing in the river in Encarnacion looking over into Argentina.

A few of the thousands of beautiful and HUGE avocados that are found in my community.  Last year living with a host family I was not able to use as many as I would have like but this year I already have plans and recipes ready for all the avocados that are getting ready to turn ripe!

Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat and when you sleep really to sleep.  Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might and when you laugh, laugh like hell, and when you get angry get good and angry.  Try to be alive.  You will be dead soon enough. -Hemingway

A cooler day here in Paraguay (which I am wishing for right now as it is 100+ outside) with all of the dogs trying to stay warm underneath the cook stove.  

The sad and tragic death of fellow PCV Porter Knight and remembering him surrounded by PCV’s, his Paraguayan families, and staff.  We will always remember Porter and his service here in Paraguay. 

There are things that we don’t want to happen but have to accept, things we don’t want to know but have to learn, and people we can’t live without but have to let go.  

The old coleigo which became my house.  This is a couple of photos from when I first found it with all the dirty floors, walls, broken glass, and thousands of stinging insects.  Now after a lot of blood, sweat, and even tears it has become my home full of very precious memories!

If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?

My sister Rosa with Junior making up chipa for Easter.  I never knew Easter was celebrated with such a force but we had a great time and such wonderful food celebrating this very important day, which will be just around the corner again!

Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ’s compassion for the world is to look out. — Saint Teresa of Avila

My room at my host families’ house filled with all of the new items that I had been collecting for when I moved into my new house.  I am very glad that I had slowly started to accumulate things so when the time finally came where I could officially move in, I was ready to go!

One of the many photos taken when my friend Thad came down to visit.  While he was here in addition to many other things he helped me put in my garden which has been a huge personal success for me.  

When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.  

-Alexander Graham Bell

The finished garden which now has 7 raised beds and has provided countless wonderful fresh veggies and now a wonderful herb garden!

My completed house after living with host families for about 8 months I was finally able to move out on my own.  It is just such a blessing to have my own space and I have learned so much about growing my own food, cooking, baking, and just a lot more about myself!

May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears. 

-Nelson Mandela

My first trip to Itaipu Dam located in Cuidad del Este which produces more hydroelectric power than any dam in the world and is the second largest behind Three Gorges Dam in China.

Salto Monday which is a very large waterfall located in Cuidad Del Este.  

My completed community map which highlights all of the houses which correspond to my survey I completed as well as natural resources and land usage.  Even though I have been in my community for over a year I am still learning more about my community and adding to my map.  Through all of the ups and downs this past year this place I didn’t know existed a little over a year ago has now become home.  

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.

Two of my very regular visitors to my house Maribel and Marcial (I call them M&M for short).  They love to come over and help me clean my house (almost on a daily basis) and we have also made countless cakes, fresh bread, and so much more.  They are a huge fan of coloring and we are now working on multiplication tables and division.  

Basilio, the principle of my school, and I during one of the two trainings held by PC.  This one was project design and management where we came up with a project plan and brought it back to the community.  

Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go

do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

-Howard Thurman

My adopted cat Sam from another PCV who left.  He has provided me with much comic relief, kept me warm on cold nights, and helped control insect/rat populations in my house.  He is the only animal here that is truly mine even though I also have another cat and dog that pretend to call my house home as well.  

A picture of some of my wonderful students during my conservation and English class that I held throughout the school year.  On this day we made a wonderful compost pile that I then later used as fresh compost for my garden. 

People may not remember what you said or did 

~but~ 

they will always remember how you made them feel.

All of us that attended the biodigestor training of trainers.  We had a great few days and learned a lot about biodigestors.  I am currently working on writing a small manual of a step by step guide to help future PCV’s and Paraguayans alike.  

My coldest birthday on record celebrating with my wonderful host family and the yummy German chocolate cake I made.  

When you try to control everything, you enjoy nothing.  Relax, breathe, let go, and just live.

The last training we had as a large group with our community contacts was more technical/ hands on training.  This is just a few of my g-mates and other PCV and technical trainer right before we planted some trees.  

My community contact and I after we finished the training at the beautiful facility.  

When people walk away, let them.  Your future is not about the people who walk away.  It’s about the people who stay in it for the ride.

The very fun and successful recycled art day which was put on my some great VAC mates (the other PCV’s that live around me).  Each of the kids went home with 5 new recycled art items and even now kids are still collecting the “trash” and turning it into many fun new things.  

Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life.

After many months of waiting, many shopping trips into Caaguazu for materials, and over a week of work my bathroom was finally built.  In addition I got running water for an outdoor sink which has made my life so much easier!

The glass bottles we cut and fish we painted while my mom was here visiting from the US.  

Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.

My mom and I at Itaipu Dam in Cuidad del Este.  

Visiting Iguazu Fall in Argentina for the first time.  It is just magnificent and takes your breath away, such a great and fun experience to be able to share with my mom! 

 

Sometimes our fears keep us safe, and sometimes they keep us from ever doing the things God intends us to do.  We mustn’t hide ourselves away while life passes us by.  When God calls we must listen and respond.  Don’t let fears keep you hidden from life.

Me beginning to explore my community more with my new friend who has showed me many new but beautiful spots in my community that are a little tucked away but so worth the walk.

A few of my g-mates and I swimming one hot afternoon in Asuncion during Ahendu weekend.  It was a great weekend to just reconnect with friends and have fun together!

No one ever really chooses their way of dying, but they do choose how to live.

One of the beautiful borrowing owls that we have in my community that live just right across the street from me. 

FIND A PATH THAT CAPTURES YOUR HEART AND FOLLOW IT TO THE END. 

Me working on the eco-bench with the hard work of my students collecting and making the bottles as well as the wonderful PCT’s that were visiting my site for long field practice.  

Our completed bench!

I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done.

~ Lucille Ball

A relaxing trip to the waterfall after the hot morning of work.  

The view from the plane headed up to the Pantanal and just the harsh realities of deforestation here in Paraguay.  

Chilling out by the Rio Negro one afternoon journaling.  

The beautiful and unique landscape of the Pantanal.

But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. –Isaiah 40:31

The trees which remind me of those found in the movie The Lorax.  

A beautiful sunset looking out over the river.  

Pray as if it all depends on God, for it does.  But work as if it all depends on us, for it does.

 –George W. Bush

Picture perfect skies!

Don’t wait until everything is just right.  It will never be perfect.  There will always be challenges obstacles, and less than perfect conditions.  So what.  Get started now.  With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident, and more and more successful. 

-Mark Victor Hansen

My garden in production mode before the summer came with my marigolds growing like crazy with lots of fresh onions, garlic, carrots, beets, tomatoes, and cucumbers.  

My new summer class consisting of art, cooking, English, and conservation classes.  This is after we painted the eco-bench one morning.  

My students who just blew me out of the water with their knowledge about trees and their benefits and art skills to create such a masterpiece!

Christmas cookie day where Annie and I made a bunch of traditional Christmas treats and then invited some kids over and we decorated sugar cookies.  A fun experience for all!

My Christmas tree and decorations to help celebrate such an important day.  

I just hope and pray that my next year that I am here will be just as full with such rich and fulfilling experiences, and that I am able to make a small difference here in the lives of those in my community.  A couple of my favorite quotes/ songs I just thought belonged here at the end.  

In the blink of an eye, everything can change.  So forgive often and love with all your heart.  You may never know when you may not have that chance again.

I'm begging for forgiveness, I wanna make a difference

Even in the smallest of ways

I'm only one person but I can feel it working,

I believe in better days

That's why I pray.

-Big and Rich

New Year's Celebration

This year I was blessed to be able to spend New Year’s Eve with one of my favorite families in my community.  My host family was all away visiting other family so I was unable to celebrate with them this year, but I had a wonderful time none the less.  The big celebration here is very similar to the celebrations at Christmas Eve where we all just sat around all evening waiting for midnight to come around when the festivities really begin.  The picture below is the family welcoming in the New Year right at midnight complete with songs and a guitar! 

The New Year’s meals complete with the typical pork, beef, mandioca, chipa guazu, and even a pig head!

They were very proud of the pig head and wanted a photo with it.  Since this is a very large family at big family get-togethers they don’t have enough plates and utensils for everyone plus who wants to wash the dishes afterward so instead there is some communal knifes and you just go for it.  They did give me a plate though and a chair even, so I guess I was a fancy guest for this wonderful and fun dinner!

Three generations of women eating dinner complete with the cleanly eaten pig jaw on top of her head with the mom and grandmother with bones and knives.  A very fun family and new eating styles that actually make a lot of sense!

This picture is a little bit out of order but this is the sunset from behind my house, or the last sunset of 2014.  What a great way to end a year full of such great adventures!

So on New Year ’s Day I once again celebrated with the same family and they had even more family come in from Caaguazu so we just had a huge celebration.  This family has 12 kids in total with so many grandchildren and such it’s hard to keep track of.  For this celebration we only had 6 of the 12 kids there but we had a very full house but luckily plenty of food!  This is a picture of us making the sopa Paraguaya (the wonderfully healthy food I had a blog post of awhile back) in one of the wash bins because we didn’t have any bowl that was big enough.  

Just a photo of me sitting out under the mango tree waiting for the outdoor oven to get hot enough to but the sopa in.  

The freshly baked sopa coming out of the oven, yummy!

Some of the little girls hanging out and playing in the dirt making dirt pies which kept them busy most of the morning and afternoon while we were preparing lunch.  I am just amazed here at the limited number of actual “toys” but how kids can just entertain themselves with just such simple things and seem so much happier and have such wonderful imaginations.  

The family dinner with once again eating with your hands and trying to eat fast enough to get food before it is all gone.  I brought a cucumber/onion salad with vinegar to the lunch and was wonderfully surprised when they ate it all. A lot of people don’t know what a cucumber is and/or how to eat one, so I brought them fresh from my garden and made it up there.  They said it was a great balance with all of the grilled meat and other “fatty foods”, good to know I guess!  

The rest of the afternoon we spent out underneath the shade tree listening to music and just hanging out.  It was a very hot afternoon so it was nice to just sit and relax after such wonderful celebrations! You can also see the carrot cake I made which was a huge hit with everyone and was quickly eaten.  

I just wanted to end this blog post with a nice quote I found.  I hope you all have a Happy New Year and here’s to 2015 and whatever things may lie ahead!

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're doing something.

-Neil Gaiman

Christmas in Paraguay

Christmas this year in Paraguay was very different from my celebrations last year.  Last year this time I was living with a host family and celebrated with them.  This year though I am in my own place and had the opportunity to celebrate Christmas with my family and friends in my community.  This blog post is about my celebration and the few days leading up to and after Christmas.  I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas surrounded by your own family and friends.  Feliz Navidad!

A couple of days before Christmas my family killed the large hog they had been fattening up for this sole purpose.  So early one morning they killed the pig and a bunch of neighbors and all the family came over to help with the butchering.  I was surprised because they ended up taking all of the meat into Caaguazu to sell and just used all of the other “parts”.  This helps provide an income to my mom during the holiday season that she used to buy other food for Christmas as well as other things she had been waiting to buy.  This picture is of the men cleaning up the pig skin and cutting off all of the fat.  The fat then was used in a variety of ways.  A delicacy here is called chicheron which is just pig fat that is fried and eaten, not my favorite but a big favorite of Paraguayans.  They also boiled down some of the fat and then that’s what they use to make the famous Sopa Paraguaya and Chipa Guazu.  

What I loved about this picture was just how is showed how everyone was involved the day of the butchering.  The men were working with the fat while the women worked with many of the organs and made up fresh blood sausage and cooked many other parts to be used in soup among other things.  The kids had a great time and were in charge of trying to keep the dogs and cats away.  Here they are playing with bubbles.  

Christmas here is mainly celebrated Christmas Eve and this year I celebrated with my family.  So Christmas Eve evening we started out mainly just hanging out and talking and having a good time with everything leading up until midnight.  The popular drink here for Christmas is Cidra which is sparkling apple cider which is slightly fermented.  This drink is popular with the kids and adults alike.  So we had a great evening and this picture shows all of the wonderful meat we grilled and ate once midnight came around.  So once it is officially Christmas everyone tells each other “felicidades” and then we all sat down to eat all the meat, sopa, and mandioca.  We also had quite a few fireworks (many of which are not “legal” in the US) but here in Paraguay it is all about who can make the loudest noise when it comes to fireworks.  

This is called clerico and is just a very large fruit salad (apples, oranges, melon, pineapple, bananas, and grapes) that is mixed with wine and sugar.  This fruit salad is very popular for both Christmas and New Years and eaten by the gallons by kids and adults alike.  It comes at a good time though when many of these fruits are fresh from the fields or trees!

A picture of us eating our Christmas “dinner” but really early breakfast! Luckily it had cooled now quite nicely that evening and many of us were actually reaching for light jackets which was a very nice change from the hot weather lately.  

The cake my mom and sister made for Christmas.  We had already eaten all of my Christmas cookies by this point, so sadly didn’t have any left but the cake was a nice touch.  Also on Christmas day I made up a carrot cake to celebrate baby Jesus’ birthday, which is a tradition that I always did with my mom back home.  

My wonderful Christmas morning breakfast compete with chocolate chip pancakes (my all-time favorite), bacon, eggs, fresh apple and peach, and maple syrup!  

The little Christmas area of my house, complete with a small tree with two ornaments, one owl and one nativity scene.  I also had some pine scented candles as well as Christmas lights and nativity scene stickers my mom sent down.  Lucky for me Santa brought more paint for my kids to use as well as fireworks and pineapple!  

My Christmas lunch with a fresh bird from the forest made into a wonderful soup (more information on that later) with fresh bean salad with the veggies and beans picked fresh.  

The past week or so I have had the privilege to be learning some more primitive hunting techniques from someone who has lived with the local indigenous community.  So here are some picture of a trap for birds using just wood, a knife, corn or beans for bait, and a small fishing line.  It’s a very simple setup using all things that you can find in the woods and has been very successful providing a lot of meat for wonderful soups (as seen above).   

Some trees that were growing in my garden from the nearby Tajy or Lapacho (national tree of Paraguay) that I decided to transplant into containers with the hopes of transplanting them back somewhere else later on.  Also a good use of the Pringles cans I have collected during my first year of service!

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas surrounded by many friends and families.  I can’t wait to see what the next year may bring and where I will be celebrating Christmas next year, who knows!

December in Paraguay

Well I have now been in site for more than a year, and it’s just so amazing how the time has flown by.  Since I am living in my own place this year for the holidays I have been able to do a lot more than I did last year to help celebrate.  This blog post just highlights some of the activities that I have been up to during December including garden harvests, my new summer classes for my students, and much more.  Enjoy!

Earlier this month we had a big celebration in the school where each of the students got their final report cards as well as the top student from each grade received another certificate.  My host niece Rocio received the top honor for 1^st grade and many of my other students received this top honor.  This picture is of the oldest grade (9^th) in our school which means they have “graduated” and then this fall will be starting to attend the coleigo located in a nearby community.  

Just one of the many wonderful pizzas that I am starting to get really good at making, and has turned into a Saturday night tradition, with wonderful leftovers for Sunday.  The best part is the homemade dough followed by all fresh veggies from my garden!

My crop of garlic and onions harvested from the garden.  I had never grown garlic before and I was surprised at how easy it is, just like onions.  Ever since I got back from my trip to the Pantanal my garden has gone through a complete overhaul but I am now enjoying these wonderful fresh veggies!  

A stunning sunset one evening from right behind my house, I am just constantly blown away at the beautiful colors of nature.  

This is the eco-bench that we made during long field practice that got a paint job thanks to my wonderful students.  This picture pretty much sums up the experience though using oil based paint with kids.  I told them to not get paint on their hands because it will stay on but of course they thought it would be fun to paint with their fingers so needless to say luckily I had paint thinner and that we had all put our clothes inside out to paint.  But we had a great time painting the bench and when we get another chance we will be adding some more colors to paint the different handprints.  

This summer I have started what we are calling summer camp.  It is a class that I have at my house twice a week during the morning hours where we divide our time between 4 subjects including healthy cooking, conservation, art, and English.  It gives the students a chance to get out of the house and time for the moms to get work done while the kids are occupied.  So far we have had a great time with each other and have done a lot of fun activities. 

This picture is of the kids during the art portion of the class where I asked them to draw a tree as a group.  They completely blew me out of the water from the roots and soil with worms and ants to the birds and fruit in the trees, I was just so impressed.  From there we went into the conservation aspect and came up with many benefits of trees.  By the end of the class we all had a better appreciation for trees and the many benefits they provide.  During the next few weeks we will be beginning to plant tree seeds to start our tree nursery project.  

A picture of my wonderful students in front of the tree they drew with the many benefits we came up with.  

Just a couple of photos of the sunflowers that I planted along and in front of my house which have just grown like crazy.  Many of them are over 10 feet tall and got to the point where the flower heads were falling over because they were so heavy.  They have become very popular in my community and many are asking for the seeds which I am currently in the process of collecting and drying right now.  

The weekend before Christmas I decided to have a baking day and invited some families from my community to participate.  Also this past month I have been able to welcome a new PCV, Annie, to San Roque (the community a couple of kilometers from me) to the area.  She is also a fellow environmental volunteer and just recently sworn in.  It has been such a great time to get to know her and can’t wait to see what fun activities we will be able to do together.  So since I decided to make Christmas cookies and goodies I decided to invited Annie over so we could make a day out of it.  So she came over early Saturday morning and we made a large assortment of cookies from fresh fudge, toffee, 4 types of cookies, and pudding. 

In the afternoon we invited some families over to try everything out and decorate sugar cookies that we had made up beforehand.  This sign on my chalk board is all of the different goodies we had to try with our clever names we had come up with in Spanish.   

The table with all of the goodies to try as well as fresh mango juice!

After they had a few minutes to try all of the sweets with the kids we made up some green frosting for the sugar cookies and then had a great time frosting all of the sugar cookies.  Each of the kids had a great time and loved icing the cookies but loved the sprinkles more, in the end though we all had a great afternoon of fun and each of the kids were able to go home with a plate full of fresh cookies.  It was just a great way to help share a little Christmas tradition from my house with them and we all had a wonderful time!

My new favorite Christmas cookies called Snowballs which are just basically a chocolate chip cookie rolled into balls, baked, and the rolled in powdered sugar.  Very easy to make and were a hit with my family and friends here!

Some of the wonderful bread that I have been making every week.  I have found that it is just easier to make two loaves and so have one for myself and one to give away.  Nothing beats a fresh loaf of bread!

My students during the English class playing Twister learning colors in English which has become a very popular game!

Our last class before Christmas during our art class we took some time to make Christmas cards for our families.  The kids had a great time and special thanks to everyone back home who sent art supplies, stickers, and construction paper we use them just about every class now!