Site Presentation

Last week on the 22^nd I had my site presentation.  This involved my bosses coming to my site from Asuncion to explain to my community what PC is, what my role as a volunteer is, as well as talked about what they should expect of me, as well as what is expected of them. My boss did a great job just explaining to them that Paraguay is a completely different culture than I come from in the US and to be patient with me with language but at the same time to treat me as they would any member of the community.  It was a great hour and a half presentation with many members of my community and I had twenty five different community members showed up which I was very pleased with.  I visited and hand delivered about 50 invitations to every house in my community but I was extremely pleased with my turnout! 

Everyone was very interested in learning more about me, as well as PC, and many are very excited about the next two years.  Many people are just so shocked that I am going to be here for two years and they don’t understand how I can leave my family and friends in the US to come here.   I explained that it is very hard but that my community here is my new group of friends and I still do have everyone back home supporting me and that I do talk to my family about once a week.  Also I was very lucky and had two current PCV’s also speak at my site presentation and just talked about the projects they have worked on.  I served juice and cookies/ candy when the site presentation was done and everyone LOVED that, so I told them that at all of my events I will have some sort of snack, so hopefully I can incise them to come to my events with food!

Once the presentation was over we went to my old host family’s home for a wonderful lunch and then PC looked at my two different housing options in my community.  Unfortunately they didn’t approve the house that I really wanted but I understand their reasoning mostly because since I am the first volunteer in the community and a female safety and security is their number one concern, which is should be.  The house I really liked was great but unfortunately the closest neighbor was across a corn field and wasn’t visible from my house.  So the house that I did get approved is right next to my first host families house and is a beautiful small but nice house.  It is also a pink house which I am just trying to forget about, I don’t think they will let me paint it though so I guess I will just get used to it.  So over the next week or so my bosses will be working out the fine details (rent costs, responsibilities, etc.) so when I find out more I can let you all know.  It sounds like I will be trying to move in the first part of March so I will be sure to take some pictures as soon as I can. 

The new host family that I am staying with through Feb. 10^th has been so amazing; I for sure prefer a 6 year old girl and 2 year old boy any day over 3 tween females!  They have brought a lot of laughter to my life and I am learning that it doesn’t matter that I don’t speak the language the best because they don’t either but we can still have a wonderful time playing together.  So I have included some of the pictures I took of them so far.  This weekend I also attended a 6 year olds birthday party so I have some pictures of that below. 

I have now been in Paraguay for 4 months now and honestly the time has flown by.  I am having a wonderful time down here and it just seems to be getting better and better as I get to know my community more and feel more comfortable with my language skills.  Over the next couple of weeks I will be finishing up and starting to conduct my community needs assessment which is just a long series of questions that I have written up to see what projects and information my community is interested in.   

This is one of my two bosses explaining the technical aspect of things.

This is my wonderful boss Eli who is Paraguayan herself explaining more about PC and cultural differences.

Above is a picture of Nari who is also an environmental conservation and education volunteer in Caaguzau (the largest closest city to me) sharing her experiences.  She has been here one year already and will be leaving this December.  Below is Ted who is currently the closest volunteer to me about 5 km away but he has been here 2+ years and is actually leaving in late February.

This is the pet parrot at my new house who loves to eat little candies every afternoon.

One of the two adorable kittens that always amazes me that they are comfortable enough to sleep like that. 

The two year old little boy named Junior drinking terere.  He is just always full of energy and can always bring a smile to my face.

This is a normal afternoon for us.  Nika is my host mom and the two children are her grandchildren. 

This is the six year old girl Rosie with one of her two kittens who are her favorite activity and best friends.  She has such an imagination and is constantly talking to the kittens and other animals like they are her best friends.  Also she grew up in Argentina so she speaks very good Spanish so I can easily communicate with her since the others speak Guarani.   

 

Below and above is some pictures of the birthday party.  As normal with PY culture the top pictures is with the boys at the party and below the separate pictures with the girls.  Also the last picture is the normal food for a birthday party which is two hot dogs with mayo on top and soda.  I just explained to my host family that I don't even eat hot dogs in the US and I don't here either, luckily there are always hungry dogs around to take care of them for me!

Back to "Normal"

Well as many of you know I had to make a trip into Asuncion for about a week to visit the doctors in Asuncion.  I was only anticipating spending two days out of site but it turned it to a week.  I had been sick for a while on and off since I had first arrived in site but I just contributed it to so many adjustments but then it kept getting worse so I traveled into Asuncion.  We have three doctors on staff with PC and I just have to say they are amazing and took great care of me.  Once I came into the office within a few hours I already had x-rays taken, blood drawn, and they figured out what was wrong with me.  So they were able to start me on medicine right away and decided to hold me in the office where I could rest and enjoy A/C for a few days so I could feel better before I headed back to site.  So in addition to resting for a few days I was also able to get out and explore Asuncion to try and figure out my way around.  By the time the week was done I was able to find and eat at many wonderful restaurants around town, and there were many other PCV in and out of the office all week so I was able to meet some other PCV’s in Paraguay.  By the end of the week I learned that A/C and a good old McDonalds Oreo McFlurry can cure just about anything! J

I was able to travel back to site on the 13^th, luckily it hadn’t rained at my site since I left so I was able to get back into site without any problem.  I have also been having to explain a lot to people in my community that I am not dying because that’s what they all think happened when I left for a week unannounced, but I keep assuring them that I am fine just need to take an easy for awhile.  On the 14^th I moved to live with another host family.  I had decided earlier that I wanted to try and live with different host families for my first three months in site.  This gives me a great way to really get to know different people in my community as well as help with my language, cooking, and culture here in Paraguay.  So now I am living with Senora Nika who is about 60 years old and lives by herself but has three houses very close by where all of her children and their families live so there is never a dull moment here.  So I know have a 2 year old boy and 6 year old girl that I can play with and love to follow me around. 

Also Nika is very active in parts of the community that my other host moms wasn’t involved in, so I have been able to meet and get to know many different people in my community.  I was also able to attend my first women’s committee meeting yesterday so I can’t wait to get to know those women better and work with them.  I am also learning many new skills from Nika such as milking cows and cooking some wonderful food.  She also makes cheese with all of the milk so I am also learning that process, which is actually a lot easier than I though.  Also her kitchen is outside under a roof but is a stove and oven that is heated by wood so I am learning all about cooking over a fire which is very similar to camping but it is good to know.  Still don’t feel comfortable trying to cook a cake in the oven, still working on how to control and keep the temperature constant, but am slowly working on it.  She is also very patient with me and my language and the kids for sure are helping me out because they are always talking about something. 

My favorite conversation I had with Nika’s son last night when we were eating dinner he was asking about what we have/don’t have to eat in the US.  When I explained that we don’t have mandio, chipa, sopa, or drink terere/mate he looked at me like I was crazy and asked well what do you eat and then went on to talk about he doesn’t understand why everyone wants to visit/live in the US if we don’t have those foods.  I tried to explain that we usually eat bread or potatoes instead of mandio but he said he has always wanted to visit the US but after he found out we don’t have mandio he doesn’t want to visit because he thinks he is going to starve.  So I am going to try and cook him some “American” food while I’m here to try and explain that he will not starve without mandio for one meal.  I think I have my work cut out for me.  J

Since I got back I have also been working very hard on getting my invitations out to my community since I lost a week.  So every morning I have been getting up and trying to leave early to visit houses before it gets too hot outside.  I have also learned that some days it doesn’t take long to pass out invitations because some people are just busy so I just stop by and drop them off while others I end up sitting down and talking for a while.  At first it was very awkward to just go to houses that I didn’t know and do the clapping door bell and see who answers, but now I am getting more used to it.  Some people have been inviting me to sit outside in the shade to drink terere which allows for a nice break and to get rehydrated.  Overall everyone I have met seems so nice to me and I know that in two years I will be wonderful friends with many of these people.

So now that I have given out all of my invitations I am the talk of the town and some of the people I got to last wanted to know why I didn’t visit them first, but I guess I can’t please everyone.  I have been walking around with a floppy hat and my water bottle usually in short sleeves and everyone is worried that I am losing my “whiteness” which no one seems to like which just seems so amusing to me.  It is kind of amusing because in the US everyone wants to be tan but here everyone seems to want to be white, because it means you’re not working out in the sun all day, thus have more money, or that seems to be the thinking anyway.  I also carry around my Nalgene everywhere that has a camouflage band of duct tape around it so everyone always asks me about it and wants to know how many liters I drink every day and when I tell them 3-4 per day they think I am crazy and tell me that if I just drink terere that I will be fine.  Now it is a running joke in my host family because they are always checking up on how much water I have drank for the day.  Also everyone is very interested in my camouflage flip flops and sunglasses that I am always wearing.  So at this point I am just really enjoying trying to explain different things to them and everyone can’t believe that I flew on a plane, and that it took over 8 hours to get here.  I am just having a wonderful time answering everyone’s questions and trying to explain different aspects of my culture to them.   

This week is going to be a little busy for me with my site presentation on the 22^nd.  I have visited and given out about 50 different invitations so I can’t wait to see how many people show up.  I am very thankful to be feeling better and back in site with things going back to normal for me and can’t wait to see what the next few weeks bring!

A picture of the piglet trying to stay cool playing in the mud!

Can you find him?  This is the baby bird that I took pictures of in my last blog when it was just a chick but he is growing up fast!

The new kittens at my new house even though it is about 100+ outside they love to sleep on top of one another!

My new room!

Some pictures of another Quinceañera I attended on Saturday night.

It is kind of hard to see but on each table is a big stick of beef, similar to just a big kabob that you all share.

A First Time for Everything

Well I hope that you all had a wonderful New Years.  I also hope that you all are staying warm and have electricity back in the US, I heard many of you had some major winter storms that came through.  So I pray that all of you are staying warm and safe.  These past few weeks have been full of “first times” for many different things and that is what this blog post is about.

The Friday before New Year’s was time for my community to celebrate the kids in my community that had their first communion and confession at the church.  The priest came into town and the services were supposed to start at 2:30 but as I have learned nothing ever starts on time here.  Once the priest arrived he set up two chairs under the shade tree and met with all of the children one at a time that were having either their first communion or confession.  After he was done with about fifteen children it was then the adults turn to have confession if they wanted.  So by the time it was all said and done the service itself didn’t start until around 4.  It wouldn’t have been bad except that it was one of the hottest days we have had so far and the church doesn’t have very much shade on it and only two fans so all of us were sweating and just sitting around drinking terere trying to stay cool.  The service itself only lasted about an hour with each of the kids coming up one at a time.  My host sister Pilar actually had her first communion.  It was just a great experience to be able to share with my community, and a great way to get to know some of the children in my community.

On Friday night my family was invited to help celebrate the 15^th birthday (quinceanera) of a girl in the neighboring community.  This is a HUGE deal down here to turn fifteen and there was an all-out party.  It kind of reminded me of a wedding, except no one was getting married and there was no groom.  The girl showed up wearing a beautiful white dress and she was all decorated up with make-up and her hair was all done up.  There were about 200+ people in attendance with beautifully decorated tables and decorations.  It started out with the girl welcoming everyone one by one and her receiving very elaborate gifts and then she had a first dance with her father.  After that dance she danced with 15 other men in her family before she was then passed off to those that were single.  This is a huge deal here because that signifies that she can then start dating as well as many other more “adult” things.  I was just amazed at how much work went into it with a live band, a sit down dinner, and everything else.  My host sister Maria will be having her big party in March and we have another one this Saturday night.    

The Saturday before New Year’s I was invited to one of my neighbors houses to make chipa which is very similar to bread made with mandio flour.  It is very popular throughout Paraguay and is very common to buy when you’re traveling on the bus, so before this I had only bought it but had no real idea how it was made.  So I arrived to her house early and helped them get everything mixed up and then rolled out the dough.  We shaped them like a donut and then put each on a piece of banana leaf.  While we were doing that the men in the family were working on getting the outdoor oven ready.  The outdoor oven is made of bricks and mortar and they had a big fire going inside of the oven to get all of the bricks hot.  Right before we put the chipa in they cleaned out all of the fire and ash, and the chipa was able to cook with just the heat left in the bricks, and surprisingly it just took about five minutes per batch.  In between each batch they had to get the fire going again.  So it took longer just dealing with the fire than it ever did to make the chipa itself.  It will make more sense with the pictures I took. The key (at least I think) is to have chipa that is hard on the outside but nice and chewy on the inside, but fully cooked.   It was a great time because I was able to get to know another family in my community and learn how to make this wonderful Paraguayan food.  The lady I worked with is the president of the women’s committee in my community and they make chipa a lot to sell to the community as a fundraiser, so it sounds like I will be a chipa expert soon.  By the end of the morning we had made 75 pieces of chipa.  Most of which was going to be sold for the ladies personal income, with of course myself going home with a half a dozen which I ate for breakfast and shared with my host family.  I am learning that chipa is best when it is freshly made and not so much a couple of days later. 

The last few weeks all of the watermelon in my community has become ripe.  Sadly it is very late compared to the rest of the country, so the farmers are not able to sell the watermelon because the market is just saturated.  At the beginning of watermelon season watermelons cost 40 mil and since then the price has dropped and now in the closest town to be they are 3 for 10 mil (~$2).  Here in my community though since they can’t sell them because it would cost more to transport them than they would make money they are just sitting in huge piles.  So here they are free you just have to a pile, find one you like, and then carry it home.  Sadly though there just isn’t any way my community can eat all of the watermelon so most of it is just going bad, there is just so much watermelon you can eat.  It is a nice treat though to put it in the freezer for a few hours when it is so hot outside and then just set it in your lap and start chowing down.  Here watermelon is just eaten with spoons with half a watermelon for everyone so you eat as much as you want and then you put it on the ground.  The chickens like the seeds and the red part and then the piglets come in and eat the rind and then if there is anything left the cows will finish it all off.  So I guess that is nice that every part can be eaten and the cows really like eating so much watermelon.  So all the animals in my community are currently eating watermelon to supplement their diets, could be a lot worse I guess.  Such a wonderful summer time treat!

For New Years I traveled with my host family about three hours back towards Asuncion (west) to stay with Mabel’s parents and family.  We showed up on the 30^th and spent the day just sitting around and visiting with all of the family.  Families here are very large, I think with the large Catholic influence, so there was plenty of family to meet.  On the 31^st we spent most of the day getting food ready for the evening.  Sadly my host dad killed another one of our piglets that they sliced in half and cooked over an open pit fire all afternoon.  The ladies made a bunch of chipa, chipa guasu, and sopa paraguaya.  The set up was very similar to Christmas that we ate around 10 pm and then some of us took a nap and then woke up at midnight to wish everyone a happy New Year’s and then went back to bed.  On the 1^st I went with some of my cousins on a hike through the cow pastures to see these amazing rock formations and scenic views.  It reminded me of many of the places that I have visited in Missouri down in the Ozarks.  I was just amazed at the completely different ecosystem there with it being so dry almost like a brushy desert.  All of the trees were no taller than about 20 feet and there were just cacti everywhere, but the views were spectacular.  After we got back from our hike we all loaded up in the vehicles and went to the river, which was a lot better than the one we visited for Christmas.  There were actually trees everywhere providing great shade and the water was nice and refreshing.  That afternoon after lunch we headed back to my community. 

Many of you have been asking what I have been doing as far as “work” goes.  The Peace Corps considers us to be working 24 hours a day 7 days a week.  So I don’t really work from 8-5 but rather my work consists of working on my language, visiting my community, and currently looking for housing.  The last month I have just been visiting different people in my community and just really getting to know my community.  I have drawn a community map with the houses, fields, and other natural resources.  The first three months in site my “job” description is to just get to know my community and integrate as much as possible.  After the first three months I can begin to start projects.  Also since I am the first volunteer (in the PC cycle of three volunteers) I have spent a lot of time just explaining who we are and what we do.  So although I don’t have a lot to show for it, like you would a normal job, I am working everyday on my language skills and integrating into my community. 

My other big project right now is trying to find a place to live for the next two years.  I have to live with a host family for three months and then after that I can move into independent housing.  There isn’t really a lot of options when it comes to empty houses here but so far I have found two different options.  So right now I am exploring those options and then will be making a final decision on the 22^nd when my bosses come for my site presentation.  I have a huge safety/security checklist that my house has to pass in order for me to be approved to live there.  I am also trying to find a house with a more modern bathroom/ shower because although I don’t mind a latrine I don’t really want one for the next two years, especially when I have other options available.  As I have been visiting other houses in my community I have learned that only a few houses (including the one I am currently living in with my host family) has latrines, most actually have a more modern bathroom.  Also both of the houses that I am looking at has wonderful yard spaces with abundant fruit trees and grape vines.  So now I am just working on negotiating for what I will pay for rent and other logistical things. 

The last week or so I have been working on invitations for my site presentation which will be on the 22^nd of this month.  This is when my bosses will come visit my site and just explain to my community what the PC is and what my role in the community will be as a development worker.  There are a lot of misconceptions about PC and many people just assume that I come of a short period of time, have outside funding for different big projects, and then just leave, because that is what a lot of other organizations have done in the past.  I can honestly say it is hard to compete with some of these other organizations because they come in, spend a bunch of money for something, and then leave.  Sadly though, at least around of here, many of those projects have just stopped or are completely run down because there was no training of the local on how to problem shoot or fix the problems.  PC has a very different philosophy because I will actually be living here for two years (which just blows their mind) and ideally all of my projects will be self-sustainable using the resources available in my community.  When I leave my community ideally the projects I begin will be able to continue with local leaders and will not require much (if any) outside funding.  So now I am just trying to get my community excited about my site presentation so that they will actually come and learn about PC and what I will be doing. 

We had a three day break from the heat after New Year’s with a series of storm systems that rolled through the area.  It was a very nice and needed break from the heat but it has come back with a vengeance.  So I hope you enjoyed the post, it will be interesting to see what else new will come about in two years, will try and keep you posted!

This little neon green caterpillar looks great until he stabs your pinky finger when you are getting your dried clothes off the line.  I lost feeling in my for most of the day but finally it went away.  So now I make sure and shake out my clothes when I take each piece off the line.

First communion (my host sister is second in line)

Making chipa with the fire with the man putting in in the oven with a big paddle and the lady loading it up again. 

Our finished product.

Getting the fire ready for round 2.

The chipa cooking on the banana leaves.

One of the many HUGE piles of watermelon ready to go.

Some views from the overlook and some cacti.

The nice river we swam in on New Years Day.

This is a picture I took from the car ride home that is along the main routa.  This is pretty typical, what used to be huge expanses of forest are now cattle pastures with a few trees here and there.

The cats for some reason really love my computer, I think because it is warm but I don't know how they can be cold when its 100+ outside but whatever, perhaps maybe they just like the penguin folder!