Paraguay Insects- Post 1

So I know I have many friends out there interested in entomology (bugs) of Paraguay so this post is devoted to you.  I am going to try and update it every month if I find any new and exciting insects.  So enjoy the pictures and if you know what it is let me know, I can update the post with it.

Christmas Down South

Well I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas back in the US.  Down here in Paraguay we had a slightly different Christmas with VERY warm weather the last week or so.  Here in Paraguay the majority of Christmas celebrations begin on Christmas Eve.  We all got up early on Christmas Eve and went over to Hugo (my host dad’s) parents’ house where preparations were underway.  I worked most of the morning in the kitchen with the women while the men took care of butchering the cow.  I had never seen a cow killing done before, in the US, but here it is very primitive with everything done using machetes.  I decided to not watch the killing itself but worked inside instead and then came out when it was already skinned out. 

It was quite the operation with the women working in the kitchen, the men were butchering the cow, and each of the children ran back and forth between the butchering and kitchen transporting every part of the cow to the kitchen for the women.  The kids were just so proud of what they were carrying and comparing with each other which part was the most important.  The women worked hard in the kitchen sorting out everything with most of the organs going into a big pot of water.  The meat was just divided up into the four legs and the rib cage and was brought into the “dining room” and was hung up for a couple of hours.  Once they had everything cleaned up the men sat down at the table and began eating mandio and the intestine, but once again I decided to not participate.  There was also a lot of watermelon consumed throughout the day.

After the mid-morning snack most of the men loaded up on the ox cart and went out into the fields to harvest some fresh corn, watermelons, and melon.  One of the men stayed behind and was supervised by his mother as she told him what parts she wanted cut up for the big dinner.  After the men got back we all sat around in the shade for a while and talked and then went back to our house for the afternoon.  We all tried to lie down and nap but it was just simply too hot for that, so we settled outside under the shade tree for the afternoon.  Around seven we went back over to where we were in the morning.  By that time they had dug a big pit in the ground and filled it with wood and charcoal where they also had big skewers holding all the meat and were cooking it over the big pit.  Here in my community the water and electricity are not the most consistent and sure enough around 8 pm the electricity went out, so it was a good thing we were cooking over a fire for all the food because it didn’t come back on until right before we were to eat. 

As Paraguayan custom the men and women sit in different circles separated from each other so we sat around and talked for a while.  The volunteer that was actually the volunteer in the community we were in (about 5 km from my community) Ted who is finishing up his service and leaving in March came over.  So we were able to sit around and talk for a few hours so it was great to just get some pointers about his PC service and some things he found that worked/ or didn’t work.  It was also great to just be able to speak English for a chance, especially when celebrating such an important holiday.  So we were able to talk for a few hours until around 11:30 when we were all summoned to a big table to eat.  We had just huge piles of beef, mandio, and sopa (which is similar to corn bread).  So we all sat around eating dinner until midnight when we all got up and wished everyone a Merry Christmas, which took a while with around 30 people.  Once dinner was over we all sat around for a little while and then everyone quickly went home because we had a lot of young children that were falling asleep all over the place. 

On Christmas morning we all slept in since we were up late the night before but it just seemed like a normal day here in Paraguay and the heat had us all out of the house by about 9 am.  Here in Paraguay they don’t do gift exchange, and in my community no one really has a Christmas tree, lights, etc.  Christmas is mostly just filled with watermelon, fruit salad, sparkling cider, and shade trees.  Luckily in the afternoon though my host family said we were going to the creek.  So I was really excited because they were telling me about how beautiful it was and about twenty minutes later when we arrived I thought they were joking.  It was just simply a low water crossing that was more just a large ditch but sadly was in the middle of large production agriculture fields with no trees in site.  Normally I wouldn’t even think about swimming in that water because it was dirty just looking at it but the only other alternative was getting scorched in the sun so I jumped in, and the water was surprisingly cool and we played around for a while.  When I got out though I had turned very brown with all of the sediment and who knows what else but I guess it was worth it, the cold water felt so good.  When we returned I immediately took a shower and got most of the brown off (but sadly not all) and went to work in the kitchen. 

My dad had sent me a wonderful care package in November with cake mixes, among other things, so I was able to quickly whip up a cake as is the tradition with my mom, making a birthday cake for Jesus every Christmas.  So I was able to get that done and in the oven quickly since it was so hot inside and was able to sit outside until it was ready.  I tried to watch the Planet Earth ice world’s episode to try and imagine that I was somewhere cold, but sadly it didn’t work to well.  We also had a very rare bird show up at my house today that mimics the end of a branch and unless you’re really paying attention you will miss it.  So you should be able to see some pictures of it and it also had a very cute little fur ball baby under its wings

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Right around sunset I took a walk through my community towards the church and there was a fantastic sunset that I was able to get some pictures of.  Overall I had a great Christmas down here and I was able to talk to my family and friends back home, so it was a great time.  Next year though when I have my own house I am going to try and actually have a tree and lights so I can try and spread some of my American culture down here! 

A lot of you are also asking about my address so here it is again.

MY NEW ADDRESS:

Kaitlyn W. Bradley, PCV

Correo Paraguayo- Caaguazu

Caaguazu, Paraguay

Codigo Postal 3400

Sudamerica

0984664378

Also my internet in site doesn’t work enough to upload pictures so I am only able to do so when I come into town a couple of times a month, so please be patient with me I will get them up as soon as possible!

The men butchering and all of the kids standing around and helping.

I thought this was cute with a momma hen taking care of ducklings, they said their mother died and then was adopted by this hen.

The meat hanging in the open air kitchen!

One of the cute little boys in my family eating watermelon.

Some pictures of all of us at the dinner table. 

A picture of me and my host sisters swimming in the hole.  In case you didn't recognize me I'm the girl in the green hat trying to not get fried in the sun!

Can you see me?  

Another picture of this very well camouflaged bird, and the picture doesn't show it very well but she has a cute fur ball (baby) under her wing.

The beautiful sunset on Christmas Day overlooking the fields.

The only church in my community.

The birthday cake I made to help carry on the tradition I had with my mom growing up to bake Jesus a birthday cake.  It turned out alright I think!

First Two Weeks in my Community Pictures

The cute puppy sleeping with my smelly shoes, fortunately he found a great home!

All of the animals love my room.  Kitten by my pillow and dog under the bed!

One of the beautiful scenic points in my community, a wonderful cow pasture.

A wonderful yellow flowering tree, simply amazing.

Some cute owls that I see every time I go by them.

A cool old dead tree in the middle of the citrus fields.

My nice a dirty feet after a walk through my community.

Just a few of the many beautiful flowers that are found in my community.

First Two Weeks in my Community

Well I know many of you have been worried about me since I haven’t posted for a while but out here I don’t have the best internet connection.  It is highly dependent on the weather and quite frankly whatever else it feels like, so I am only connection every few days or so, so you will have to be patient with me.  From here on out I will probably only have a blog post once or twice a month.  So I have officially been in my community, Yukyry Central, for about two weeks now.  So I am once again living with a host family with Hugo (host dad), Mabel (host mom), and two sisters Pilar and Maria, and then their cousin Teresa.  So we have a very full house now, especially with three female pre-teens!  I will probably be living with them for three months until I can move out on my own. 

My first few days in site I hung around my host families house a lot and just observed and helped out around the house.  Hugo is a farmer here in the community since school isn’t in session so he leaves usually before I get up and then doesn’t return until dark.  I have really enjoyed watching him working with the oxen that pull the plow as well as a nice wagon, when I look at the agriculture here it seems like I have stepped back in time.  My host mom Mabel just works around the house a lot and every morning she is outside sweeping the dirt all around the house.  The family here just throws everything on the ground so all of the trash gets swept up.  Mabel also is mainly responsible for milking the cows and taking care of them during the day when Hugo is out working in the fields.  The girls are also constantly busy mainly dealing with cleaning up mandio for consumption as well as shucking dried corn for many of the animals around.  Every member of the family has a very important job to do!  But don’t get me wrong there is plenty of time to have fun as well. 

It has been quite hot these last couple of weeks and we have reached a high of 44°C.  It is unlike home in the US where you can just walk into the air conditioning and cool off.  So here I have been relying on cold showers and fans that work.  We do have electricity here in my site but occasionally it decides to not work, but for the most part it does.  Also for some reason our water has been pretty sporadic, so you always get a shower and fill up the water bottle whenever possible.  The last couple of weeks I have been trying to get up early and go and walk around the community before it gets too hot for the day.  I have made a map of my community so far with showing the houses, fields, major trees, etc.  Once I get back from my walk by around 9 am or so it is already scorching hot so the rest of my day is pretty much just sitting around underneath a shade tree drinking Terere and working on my language and technical skills.  It seems like this is going to be pretty common the next few months since it is just such a scorcher outside, but it is kind of a nice slow pace of life.  I have also decided to just take off my watch for a few months and just embrace the Paraguayan culture and life.  

The last few days I have kind of been comparing living here to camping.  Although we do have a house we spend the majority of our time outside.  We sleep inside the house but with the windows open and fans going, wake up and go outside where our “dining room” is, and then spend the rest of the day outside because the house is too hot to go into with the clay tiles.  We take all of our meals outside and the only things really in the house are the beds.  In the afternoon if it is cool enough right after lunch we go in to take a quick nap which is only possible because by about 2 pm it is too hot to sleep because you just wake up drenched in sweat.  I keep telling my host family I need to just move my bed outside but they are worried about all the mosquitos at night.  Also I made the mistake of putting my hammock in long term storage so it will not be here until the end of January but then it is for sure going up outside under the shade tree.  We also have an outdoor kitchen where they cook over a wood fire to try and keep the heat out of the house.  We also have our outdoor “bathroom” (hole in the ground) and shower hut.  I love it so far, it is nice to go outside at night and just look up at the sky which is just so beautiful here without the light pollution, and it is crazy to think that the stars down here are different from those back home, but they are.  Also the sunsets here are spectacular; I just need to start taking some pictures of them. 

My family and community are very active in their local Catholic church and for the ten days leading up until Christmas they have a devotional service for about 30 minutes each night.  It has just given be the opportunity to get to know many people in my community and also try to remember that it is in fact Christmas time.  It just doesn’t feel right but I think that perhaps may make it a little bit easier to take since this is my first holiday season away from home. 

Below you should be able to see a list of some of the things I learned down here so far.

1)      My family has a lot of different animals (puppies, kittens, piglets, chicks, calves, etc.) and I have learned to not become attached to any animal down here.  All of the puppies and kittens have been given away that I had become slightly attached to my first week.  I am trying to decide if I want the responsibility of an animal down here but I think it might be nice to have some company.  Also the other animals are used strictly for food purposes.  My first two days here we killed a chicken and piglet for food, and since then we kill about one chicken per day to eat.  We are also killing a cow for Christmas so that should be a new experience for me!

2)      Time here just slows down and pretty much just revolves around the weather and sun schedule.  Also when it is really hot only the men work in the fields and even they usually come in a couple of hours in the afternoon when it is so hot to water the animals and take a quick nap before they go out for the rest of the day.  Also meal times are quite different, we have breakfast (hot fresh milk, with little stale bread things) at about 6 and then eat lunch around noon (which consists of a hot soup/stew) and then don’t eat dinner until around 9-10.  I have learned that for some reason even though it is so hot outside they still love to eat hot food, which doesn’t make sense to me but I am adjusting.  Also I can honestly say that the milk down here is just wonderful since it is less than hour from the cow, to the stove to boil, and then to me to drink!

3)      Since I have been having so much time to walk around my community I have found many beautiful places, trees, and landscapes.  You should be able to see some pictures below.

4)      In order to deal with the heat, ice is a must!  Also Santa bought me an early Christmas present of a nice thermos so I can make my own ice water in the morning and use it all day.  There is nothing better than iced cold terere and water when it is 44+ degrees C outside.  Also watermelon has also become very popular and can be bought in my community for the equivalent of about one US dollar. I have found out that you can’t terere and eat watermelon at the same time because it is thought that you will explode (which will not actually happen) but they are dead serious about it.  You also can’t eat watermelon and take a shower, among many other things. 

5)      The fruit here is fantastic, in addition to the fresh watermelon mentioned above there is also an abundance of grapes, oranges, grapefruit, bananas, plums, mangos, and many other melons.  So I am for sure getting my fruits every day with all the fresh fruit and fruit juice we make.

6)      My sisters love to paint each other’s toenails and fingernails every Sunday so I had blue toe nails one week which was great but then we went to pink and sparkly (and if you know me both of those things are not be at ALL!) but I guess I can live with them for one week.

7)      The red dirt stains everything, which I’m sure I have mentioned before, but it isn’t a joke.  Everyone walks around in flip flops or just bare foot so I have joined in on the tradition but there is only so much skin you can scrub off your feet before you realize it isn’t coming out.  The first few days I wore tennis shoes but there is no way my socks or shoes will ever be anything but red again, oh well!

8)       Hand washing clothes takes a long time and is very hard on your clothes.  In my last host family house they had a washer of sorts and you just had to rinse them and hang them.  Here we just have a wash station for clothes, one side is a sink and the other is a wash board.  So I am quickly learning you only want to wait like two days maximum to wash clothes unless you want to stand outside in the hot sun for over an hour washing and scrubbing your clothes.  Also many of our fabrics are just not made to withstand a scrub brush.  For my first tutorial on hand washing with my host mom I think she scrubbed a few holes in some of my fabrics trying to get them “clean”.  So after that I told her I can take care of my clothes, although they might not be clean to her inspection they are just fine to me, these clothes have to last me two years so I need to be gentle with them.  I have also found that soaking them for a few hours before washing is nice but then the water gets super-hot in the sun.  

9)      Trying to live with three tween aged girls has been quite the experience, and I am actually glad I guess that I never had to live in a house full of sisters.  They are quite nice when the want to be but man to they fight like cats and dogs, as my mom says.

10)   In my community Paraguayans don’t like to walk, in the past it was the only way to get around but now with motos that is their favorite mode of transportation.  People look at me weird when I am just walking by and everyone is always offering to give me a ride or wants to make sure I have plenty of water since I carry my Nalgene with me at all times.  It is PC policy that we don’t ride motos, which I completely agree with because you have young kids driving, as well as entire families, and everything you can ever imagine going down the dirt roads.  There are also a lot of really bad accidents that occur here, and my host mom was telling me that every year at least one community member is killed on a moto.  Even to go to church which is about an 8 minute walk my family prefers to drive but I walk none the less!  I am trying to get lots of exercise down here and it is so nice to just walk and relax and just take in the beautiful landscapes and noises. 

11)   The roads here consist of the red dirt which quickly turns to rivers during the rainstorms that have become frequent here.  It is also impossible to do anything when they hit and you are pretty much stuck where you are for the time being.  Also the bus doesn’t run in and out of the community if it rains, or even looks like rain, so luckily there are some other PC volunteers in Caaguazu, the closest city where I get groceries so I can stay with them if I get stuck.

12)   I have many new “toys” that I brought that my host family is just amazed by.  My host dad needed a screw driver the other day and couldn’t find one to fix my fan so I pulled out my Leatherman and he was just so impressed.  I think he spent about an hour with it looking at all the other little parts and was just simply amazed.  Also my entire family loves my head lamp because I use it at night to go out and brush my teeth and go to the bathroom and they had never seen anything like it before. 

So I hope you can tell that I am having a wonderful time down here right now, even despite the heat.  I have only been here two weeks but am already feeling like a part of the community and language skills are coming slowly but surely.  I have been in Paraguay for three months on Christmas; the time has just flown by.  I pray that you all have a wonderful Christmas and stay warm.  Just enjoy spending the time surrounded by your family and friends.  I will be surrounded by my new host family and community and will try and post a blog about Christmas from down here in Paraguay! 

Will have to post pictures later, internet isn't working too well, sorry!

Swear In

After ten weeks we made it to searing in day!  Today (Monday) G-43 swore in as new Peace Corps Volunteers here in Paraguay!  All of our hard work, sweat, and tears has finally paid off!  We started out the morning getting picked up in our various training communities with all of our baggage that we are taking to site.  I don’t think any of us realized how much “stuff” we have accumulated over the past ten weeks.  Once we arrived in the training center and unloaded all of the vans we arrived to the municipality office where we were going to have our ceremony.  We had about half an hour so many of us decided to get pictures of many of our new friends since we were all dressed up and looking nice. 

The ceremony started with a wonderful welcome from my APCD- Eli followed by a speech by a representative of the host families.  We then had a speech given by one of our own trainees who did a great job talking about what experiences we have had and what we have to look forward to.  After that there was a speech given by our country director and then we swore in as PC Volunteers!  Following our swear in we were able to give each of our host families wonderful certificates thanking them for hosting us and my mom and dad had come to the ceremony for me.  It was a very emotional experience because I have grown so close to my host mother and she calls me her American daughter and she was just crying the whole time so of course by the end I was in tears as well!  After the ceremony we had a wonderful reception with many traditional Paraguayan foods as well as a large cake.  Below you should be able to see the pictures!