Kaitlyn's Paraguay Adventures!: 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!