On Saturday we
technically had the day off but they gave us an option to help with a river
clean up sponsored by a local NGO. So
about 20 of us went into Asuncion early Saturday morning to help clean up the
wetland around Asuncion which has a surprising number of bird species year
round considering how close the big city is off in the distance. To get there we had to drive a ways on bad
dirt roads going through what used to be the wetland but now has been taken
over by squatters and shacks built everywhere.
Also sadly many of these people make their money sorting trash and
selling the things they can so the trash they can’t do anything with just goes
into the wetland. Luckily part of the
wetland is “protected” so no one lives on it but there are still many animals
raised in the wetland. It was such a
beautiful site because where we were was across the river/bay from Asuncion so
we had a breathtaking view of the skyline of the city.
By the time we
arrived there were already hundreds of volunteers’ mostly just church groups,
the local military (mostly PY air force-which I didn’t even know they had!) and
the police academy. We were divided
into different colored groups and each had a certain section to work on. So we got to work and picked up a lot of
different trash mainly plastic trash but I did manage to find a very nice shoe
and different Barbie parts. I had a
great time and it was great to actually be able to work with Paraguayans who
are also passionate about a cleaner environment and many of the military and
police loved to practice their English phrases.
We worked for just a short time since they had so many volunteers but
had a wonderful time. When we got done
they had a car loaded down with empanadas as well as drinks for us as well as a
small gift bag which was a nice souvenir.
Below you should be able to see some pictures of us doing clean up, I am
in the blue shirt and green hat in case you couldn’t find me.
Also I forgot to
mention that summer is in full force here yesterday the thermometer hit 42°C
which is just way hot and today is even worse so my mission this weekend has
just been to keep hydrated and start to get adjusted to the heat. The things I am thankful for here is a half
way decent ceiling fan, cold washcloths, and cold Terere. Some trainees have air conditioning in their
rooms, but oh well I will just be better adjusted to the hot air!
This week we have a
lot of various trainings from all sectors across the board and lots of
language. We will be learning our site
in just over a week now so I am super excited about that so will keep you all
posted. It looks like the last few weeks
of training are just going to fly by. Please
try and enjoy the nice and cool fall weather also if you have any fall color
pictures I would love to see them (you can just email them to me)!
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