The BIG Storm

Well this past week was full of classes getting us ready for the next few weeks.  In technical class we learned about environmental holidays and environmental camps we can hold with our community.  We also prepared and gave another lesson in the schools to 4-6 grades on camouflage and how animals can use it to both hide from predators as well as hide from their prey. Overall we had a great time and played the game camouflage which was fun because the student went and hid while one student (the predator) had to try and find them from the center of the field.  It was amazing to hear the amazing animal sound some of these kids can make and how creative they were with their hiding places.  This was the last time we are going to work in the schools during training so it was a great way to end the school work.  On Friday we also had to take our technical test (since we are already done with our of our technical lessons) with about half the questions being about trees of Paraguay and agroforestry systems and the entire group passed which was very exciting. 

This week we also had a lot of language class as we only have a few left in training.  They have mainly been getting us ready to visit our site and advancing our Spanish as much as possible as well as basic Guarani.  All of the volunteers that I have talked to have said that each community speaks a slightly different dialect so once we get out to site on our own (no longer having the option to speak English with our friends) we will pick it up very quickly.   I am really looking forward to this aspect because the best to learn the language is just complete immersion. 

On Friday we had a major storm system roll through town.  Luckily they let us of class early because we walk about 30 minutes down a dirt road to catch the public bus out on the main road and they wanted to make sure we got home before the storm hit.  All of Friday was about 105° (which is slowly becoming “normal”) and the humidity was through the roof so you can just image the storm building. Luckily I arrive home right before it began to rain.  I decided to just sit out on the covered porch with my mom and watch the storm come in (like I used to do with my dad growing up) and we watched the storm come in.  I was so excited because I love storms and I was telling my mom how I used to watch storms growing up but my mom, like many other Paraguayans, are scared of storms.  I have attached a video that you can see part of the storm with the high winds, hail, and thunder/ lighting. 

One thing I have learn about Paraguay is they have enormous electrical storms and the lighting here is like nothing we ever had in Missouri, it for sure makes your hair stand up on the back of your neck even if you are inside, sadly a lot of people here die every year due to lightning strikes (mainly people working out in the fields).  As the storm began full force my mom was just freaking out and I finally realized that she was just so worried about her children who were just getting out of work and Cesar (her son) drives a motorcycle and she was so worried about him trying to get home and her daughter Marcia getting home from her job on the bus.  By the time it was all said and done they both arrived home fine just a few hours late.  She was also so worried because 2 years ago they had a huge hail storm come through that destroyed the clay roofing tiles, and she was worried about that.  Also every room in our house leaks and I think that night I was the only one with a dry bed but we had pots and pans sat out everywhere.  As soon as the storm hit we lost electricity which was normal (it usually occurs on a daily basis) but we also lost water.  The storm lasted for a good couple of hours and many trees and branches came down.  Luckily I had my headlamp and that we have a gas stove so my mom just made a bunch of popcorn and tortillas for us to eat for dinner.  The storm was good because it all brought us together outside under the cover of the porch and we just talk for hours.  The electricity came on about 1 am the next morning and then we unfortunately didn’t get water back on until about 5 pm yesterday so we were without water for about 24 hours but we managed and it was kind of fun.  Now I realize that I can’t mess around with the storms here and just at the smallest bit of rain coming I better get to a house of some sort!  I hope you enjoy the video, it almost seemed like a hurricane (I have never been in a hurricane but that’s just what it reminded me of). 

The next couple of weeks are going to be very important weeks. On Wednesday we find out where we will be working and living for the next two years and then Friday we actually travel out to our site until the following Wednesday so we will arrive back just in time for Thanksgiving.  In order to get us excited about our site placement ceremony Wednesday in the morning we are going on a cultural excursion and my group is going to see a women’s artist group, the historical train museum (first train in South America) as well as a historical church.  So it should be a great time and we get back midafternoon just in time for our site placement ceremony.  So I will try and keep you all posted as much as possible since the next few weeks will be a very exciting time!

I have also posted pictures of my mom and the cake that she made for a little girl in the family celebrating her first communion.  My mom is evidently a major cake baker to help make a little extra money on the side and it was so fun to help her with it this time.  I have also uploaded pictures of us at the party.  One is with me and my host sister and friend Jennifer, the other is with my host mom, and Jennifer’s host sister and mom.

River Clean Up- We Have Now Reached 42°C 

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)!

 

Long Field Practice (LFP)- Caaguazu

This past week (Nov. 4-8) I traveled to Caaguazu for our LFP.  I went and visited another PCV at her more urban site.  I went with one of our language teachers and three other PCT’s.  Caaguazu is located about 3-4 hours from our current training community.  We started out early on Monday morning and at first we thought we were just going to have a food tour for the day because the bus driver and language teachers kept telling us that this place had the best empanadas, others chipa, and then finally ice cream and bread.  So of course we all had to try and compare! 

The landscape on our drive to Caaguazu was just beautiful with lush green hills and cattle ranching as far as the eye could see.  It was just amazing the large expanse of cattle ranching and I was just trying to imagine how truly wild this place would have been before they took away all of the trees, but regardless it was still beautiful.  It still just amazes me that we can go from a very urban area and drive less than 5 minutes and see beautiful countryside.  So by the time we had stopped along the way and tried all of the wonderful food we arrived midafternoon.  Caaguazu is actually the wood capital of the country so there were countless sawmills as well as every single wooden item you could imagine for sale along the road my favorite were all of the toys for kids mostly painted with different Disney characters.  I would have loved to been able to look at all of the beautiful furniture and other items but we didn’t stop there. 

The PCV I visited lives on the outskirts of town, and currently works with 7 different schools.  She mostly works on the 3 R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle), school gardens, and other trash management solutions.  She spends just about every day in the schools, which sounds like fun to her but I would just like to occasionally work in schools.  During the week we were there we had language class (Guarani) 2 hours+ per day and then the rest of the day we worked on various other projects.  We helped her with her garden, make and presented a lecture to 6^th graders about composting and then helped them actually build a compost pile.  We also spent a lot of time just quizzing her brain about what it is like being a volunteer (especially in a city) because most are not placed in a city. 

One of the afternoons we walked to a community center where they are sponsored from an international organization and provide a preschool for the community with a wonderful teacher who somehow manages 30 different children every morning and afternoon.  Also one day a week they open up a soup kitchen for children and also have women groups that meet weekly talking about nutrition and how skills to make them more marketable in the workforce.  They also have a huge garden that we worked in and we also planted trees around where the children play.  They also recently received a grant for computers so they have a handful of computers so the PCV teaches basic computer skills there on Saturday morning.  

We also did a lot of cooking making banana bread, carrot cake, and homemade pizza.  I am quickly learning that many volunteers become great bakers here from scratch (ie not being able to use a cake mix) because you don’t really have a choice and have ample free time.  The volunteer I stayed with is known by her community for her chocolate chip cookies and cakes because Paraguayans don’t often have these things.  Also I am quickly learning that you can get by without many things like when we went to the community member’s home to make carrot cake she didn’t believe in spoons to stir up the batter so I was able to get my fingers nice and dirty.

So with that said I would like recipes from different people to make cakes, cookies, breads, and any other foods that can be simply made from scratch.  Also please remember that I have a more limited ingredient selection so please keep it simple.  Please feel free to email them to me or post on my blog! 

Below you should be able to see pictures from our 4 day trip.

On Friday we all traveled into Asuncion for committee meetings.  PC Paraguay seems to have a committee for just about anything and they took us in to attend so we could start meeting many of the other volunteers serving in Paraguay many of which are in different sectors (Community and Economic Development and Community Health).  We also were able to start learning more about other events that PC hosts in Paraguay like a camp for children to attend that is called PY Verde which is about conservation topics.  There is also a seed bank in the office where we can check in and out seeds on a small scale as well as a vermiculture (worm bed) and compost piles.  I was also able to go to a meeting about the biodigestors they use here in PCPY and the design and meet the people who are on the team with the hope that I might be able to work on this in the future.  Also I forgot to mention that I had a HUGE pile of letter arrive today that were all stamped the same date (evidently the government shut down affected international letters) so I now have about 20 different letters that I will be opening over the next few days so a big thanks to everyone who sent me a letter! 

 

 

Field Trip to the Botanical Garden and Zoo

On Saturday we had a much needed break and went into Asuncion and saw the beautiful botanical garden, natural history museum, and zoo.  We first started out at the botanical garden which is owned by the city of Asuncion and grows all of the plants and trees that they plant all around the city and in the parks.  The cool thing about the garden was that they put it “inside” of a forest so instead of clearing all of the trees (which is normal here in Paraguay) they just cleared the ones the needed to and the rest are providing shade to the seedlings and plants.  Another interesting thing was that they grow all of their own seed crops so the tree seeds are collected from the property, planted, and cared for until they are ready to be transplanted into their new homes.  They also use and make all of their own compost for the beds and bags they plant into.  The nursery was so beautiful with all of the different trees and beautiful flowers.  I think it would be great if some cities do this in the US because it is a great way to provide all of the aesthetic beauty for a much lower cost than buying everything individually.  The also had a huge medicinal garden but unfortunately it was closed since it was Saturday.

                The next stop was to the natural history museum.  The museum was very similar to the one that I had already visited but this one had a little bit more money because things were actually slightly organized and behind glass so we saw many animal specimens and learned a little bit more about some of the archeological facts and I am slowly beginning to pick up reading in Spanish which is great!  At this point in the field trip it began to rain but we still decided to go to the zoo because it was just sprinkling.  We went to the zoo which cost 5 mil Guaranis which is about $1.10.  The zoo itself was a rather large space but was sad because it didn’t seem like they had a lot of money for anything really.  We first started out down the “path” and saw things like chickens, goats, etc and were getting worried about the “zoo” before we started seeing other more “zoo-like” animals.  The zoo had many beautiful animals ranging from Paraguayan bird species to many different monkeys, cats, jaguars, and evidently had a snake exhibit.  The sad thing was that many of the cages were just concrete and way too small for all the animals and they didn’t really even have any materials for them to play with and use.  Many of the larger cats were just pacing back and forth and you could just tell they were so stressed out which was really sad.  Many of the animals also seemed sick and some even had physical injuries and were limping around.  Also there wasn’t very much signage in front of the animals to learn about them so you really didn’t know what anything was.  Also it started POURING about half way through the zoo and we all got soaked (thank goodness for a waterproof camera!) so we had to cut our tour short.  I think overall we had a great time but just wished the zoo had more money to take better care of the animals and we thought it would be nice if they had some help making some educational material.  Below you should see some pictures of the zoo and botanical garden.

Also one of the current PCV in Paraguay had a baby fox brought to her house because they had killed the mom that was eating their chickens and they thought she would be able to take care of it so she met us and brought it to the zoo.  You should be able to see some pictures of the beautiful baby fox!  (zoro!)

Week 5

This past week as been insanely busy, which I’m sure I have said about many of the other weeks.  It seems like we have class every day from 7:45-5 but it seems like we spend so much more time especially now studying 2 languages at one time.  I have now had one week of Guarani and I am starting to learn a lot but still have a lot more to learn.  I am able to introduce myself and say basic facts like where I’m from, where I live here and a bit about my family, as well as basic greetings.  Now we are learning all of the verbs in Guarani and trying to learn the sentence structure which just seems so backwards to me but I will get it down eventually.  I have also learned that I can no longer think in English for language but have to think in Spanish and Guarani which is a lot easier said than done but I just need more practice.  If I try to translate from English to Guarani it just doesn’t make any sense at all.  The language teachers here are just so amazing, I only have 2 other people in my class and they are very patient and helpful with our language.  I just never realized how much brain “power” it takes to learn a new language, mch less two so I have been trying to go to bed early to try and get some additional rest.  We had our mid training language test today so I guess I will find out tomorrow how that went.  Below is just a basic introduction and for your benefit and for mine trying to type it I have left out all of the ^, and ~ signs.

Cher era Kaitlyn.CheaspiranteCuerpo de Pazpegua.Che Estado Unidogua.  Cheestadohera Missouri.  Cheamabaapota Conservation Ambientalpe.He’eaby’aParaguapie.Areko 23 ano.CheaikoTacurutype.CheaikofamiliaGomezndive.Chesyhera Elva, ha’eTakuratupe.  Cheruhera Vicente, ha’eTakuratupeavei.  Arekomokoiermano, cheermano mayor hera Cesar, ha’eoreko 25 ano. Cheermanamenorhera Marcia, ha’eoreko 19 ano. 

We have been having some awesome technical sessions learning about Paraguayan Forests and learning how to make/ start a tree nursery, trash management and recycled art, abonosverdes (green manures), lombricultura (worm farming), and my favorite agroforestry!  It is kind of funny because all of my “classmates” call me the girl obsessed with forestry because I am always so excited about learning about trees and learning the different species here as well as learning everything I can about agroforestry in Paraguay.  During our tech sessions on forestry/ agroforestry I ask about 101 questions and people get so tired of me asking questions but oh well.  I have also been trying to help people learn the identification of trees but I am having to find new words to use to describe trees other than what I learned in dendrology because when I tell people it has compound or bi-penately compound leaves they look at me like I’m crazy but oh well I guess my passion is forestry. 

On Friday we worked in the schools in the morning with recycled art so in a group of three we designed and taught a class on recycled art.  My group made wallets out of the used milk/ wine cartons which was a lot of fun but a little bit difficult to do solely in Spanish so I learned that just showing them even with my limited vocab was enough and each of the kids went home with new wallets which was fun.  Our technical sessions are a lot of fun because we have wonderful, knowledgeable trainers and we always start out in more of a classroom setting learning more about the science and theory behind it and then go out and actually built things like a garden, worm compost, hot compost, and plant abonosverdes.  It is a great way to learn new things. 

The weather here has just been a roller coaster similar to Missouri.  One day it will be about 90 degrees and humid like no other and then it will blow up a storm which will cool things off for a little while until the sun comes out and the humidity goes through the roof.  It seems as if the summer will be like a summer in Missouri but worse with the humidity, temperature, and the fact that I will not be able to “escape” the air conditioning.  So I guess all and all I will never complain about a MO summer day again. 

My host family here is so amazing and I have a wonderful mother, brother, and sister.  We hosted another get together on Saturday night and just had a wonderful time just sitting around and talking.  We have 11 of us in our group and it seems like every day I learn something new about them.  It is crazy because even though I have only known them for about a month it is amazing how quickly friendships develop.  Well I have decided that an easier way to say what I have been up to would work better in a list form so here it goes.

1.       The Paraguayan way to get someone’s attention because they don’t have door bells and the doors are open are to clap your hands which seems very strange and awkward for me but I guess I will get used to it.

2.       The eggs here are extremely thick shelled!  My mom and dad go into Asuncion three times a week to sell milk, cheese, eggs, etc and she just puts them in a plastic bag and none of them ever break, I’m simply amazed.  Talking about chickens though there is a common misconception that they need roosters for eggs which is why they don’t kill the roosters so sadly they crow at all hours of the day and night.  Also instead of a coop since there are no predators they just nest in the tree outside.

3.       I have been eating more “good” veggies here than I ever did at home including: onions, peppers, eggplant, arugla, other misc greens, and squash so I’m sure my mom is so proud.  I have also been receiving a tomato (which here is like a roma) and a half a cucumber with EVERY meal including breakfast which is good but I am eating more veggies/ day than ever before.  I have also been showing my mom how to cook veggies like eggplant because she never had before so it is a new learning experience for all of us. 

4.       Since I have been helping my mom with cooking more because I just told her that I need to learn so when I get to my site I will be able to “survive” even though I know I will be fine.  I have been trying to slowly teach her about healthier cooking because here it seems like everything here is fried including my good fresh eggplant so my first success was convincing my mom that empanadas are better baked than fried so it took making a batch of 20 for the whole family and I still didn’t win over the men of the family but oh well.  My mom has also learned how to make soufflés (egg, veggies, meat, milk, etc) and has proceeded to just about bake anything and everything in those since she just recently saw it on the TV.

5.       The one thing that I have been trying to get over is the standard of clean, especially in the kitchens.  Back at home I kept a clean kitchen but here it is perfectly normal for many different things including: putting raw meat directly in the fridge (without a plate or anything!) or just simply leaving things out all the time.  Also using the counter to use as a butcher block for killing chickens and then just washing with the hose and using the same knife and counter to cut vegetables is perfectly normal.  I have not been sick yet and I guess it is just hard coming from such a “clean” society to down here but I guess if it works it works.  I have just started buying my mom soap so hopefully she will get the hint but we shall see!

6.       My mom is horrified by my new “tan lines” because we have been working outside so much I have tan lines form my t-shirts, watch, and sun glasses and she is just completely horrified.  Today my sister was making fun of my sunglass tan and I was trying to explain to them that people back home called it “raccoon eyes” but that was a little hard to explain considering there really isn’t anything close to that here and I couldn’t even begin to think about how to describe it. 

7.       All of the banana trees are becoming ripe all about the same time which is nice because I get fresh bananas whenever I want but there is only so many bananas I can eat in a day I think we need to start using other options (bread, dried, etc.) before we make ourselves completely sick. 

8.       Michi (who I originally thought was a male cat) is having kittens in about a month which I am super excited about and will have to post pictures when the time comes around!!!

Today (Martes- Tuesday) we had a meeting with our APCD’s (Associate Peace Corps Director for the environmental sector).  This was our last meeting with them before we are assigned our sites (less than 3 weeks away!) so they ask a lot of questions about how much “support” we need (location, running water, isolation, internet, etc.) what projects we are interested/ disinterested in and language, and I am one of the only ones in my group of 11 that said I would be happy pretty much in the middle of nowhere that I would hate being put in a city and that I had to have natural surroundings (preferable trees).  They said that many of the agroforestry sites are usually more isolated and far out in the campo which is perfectly fine with me so I guess time (Nov. 20^th to be exact!) will tell where I get put and what my main project will be.  Next Monday we will all be leaving for what they call long field practice (LFP).  This is a time where we are in groups of 3-4 with a language teacher and we go out to live with host families at a volunteer’s site and help them with their projects and then of course have language class every day.  We evidently also will be working on giving a school presentation yet again in the site.  We will be there for four days and will be in Asuncion next Friday for meetings with a river clean up on Saturday which I am looking forward to. 

I hope everyone back at home is doing well.  It is sometimes hard to believe that I have been gone for a month while others feel like I have been gone for years.  On Friday we will be half way done with training and time is just flying by with so much more exciting things to come.  I love hearing from you all at home, I don’t have internet access but about once a week so please be patient.  Also I sent 2 cards today (Thad’s graduation card and Dad’s birthday card) that cost me about 35 mil in Guaranis (~8 US dollars, 2 days salary) so I guess we will see how long it takes to get there!

Pictures from Asuncion Trip (Week 2)

These pictures were taken the day we went into Asuncion and visited the University and natural history museum.  There is also a couple of pictures of recycled art projects.  The picture in the middle is of the seed variation in Paraguay. 

 

The Mosquitoes have Arrived! :-(

It seems like the past few days have once again flown by.  It seems as if they just like to keep us extremely busy so we don’t really have time to slow down, which I guess is good in some ways but bad in others.  This weekend was extremely warm and I am slowly trying to adjust that you can’t just walk into air-conditioning to cool down but rather am learning how to cool down with fans and multiple showers per day.  Luckily the weather seems to warm up for a few days and then cool back down so we our bodies are slowly able to adjust.  We have a lot of people in my group from the Pacific Northwest and other northern states and they are already having a hard time with the heat so I guess I’m luckily to be somewhat used to it.  I’m sure we will all get through the summers here hopefully without complaining too much but I can honestly say I’m not looking forward to the 110-115 degree days so hopefully we have a “mild” summer! 

I have also learned that my mosquito net doesn’t allow any air circulation but rather acts as an oven so sorry to say I took that off my bed.  Unfortunately though the mosquitoes have made their official appearance and you walk outside and there are just swarms of mosquitoes.  Luckily for some reason they haven’t taken up residence in my room I think because I constantly have the fan on so I think being without my net for now will be okay.  The problem is if you walk outside you just get swarmed especially right before a big storm like we had yesterday (Monday) and unfortunately they just came back with a vengeance after the storm.  There seems to be a major problem throughout Paraguay with Dengue Fever and unfortunately one of the other trainees is currently in the hospital with it.  The Peace Corps has been sending out numerous emails about it but there is really only so much you can do.  We have been thoroughly educated about how to reduce our risks but it is very treatable illness even though you have really bad flu like symptoms for a few days and our medical team is awesome and does a good job of taking care of us!  So I will try and keep my fingers crossed and try and use my bug spray and net (on cooler nights!).  Sadly though it sounds like even among the local people just about everyone has had Dengue at some point and it is quickly on the rise throughout the country despite the health warnings and information posted everywhere.  I think the main reason is there is just no way to escape getting mosquito bites, but I guess time will tell. 

On Saturday night I had all of the trainees in my community (11 of us left) over to my house for a small get together to help unwind and we ended up having a wonderful time playing UNO and my mom was so nice because even though I told her not to she made many little finger foods for us.  We ended up staying up way later than we should have but we had a great time just getting to know each other better outside of classes and we had a lot of fun playing UNO.  It was also nice because I was able to sleep in on Sunday.  One of my friends here Jennifer (from Oregon) lives close to me and on the weekends we have been walking around the “community” which basically just means down the mud roads into the countryside with many cows and sugar cane.  We have fun just talking and trying to unwind from the week plus get a lot of great exercise!  Around noon my family and I left the house and we went over to my grandparents’ house (my mom’s parents) for a small celebration. 

One of the big cultural events here is anniversaries of family members death’s so evidently one of their family members died a year ago so we had a small celebration of their life.  It really just involved about a twenty minute prayer recitation and then we just had a big BBQ with the entire family so I was overwhelmed meeting all of my “new” family and my grandparents, especially my grandfather were trying to ask me so many questions.  I was not able to participate in the prayer recitation but rather was put on animal duty to keep all of the chickens, dogs, cats, flies, and any other animal away from the food while they had their ceremony, which was a TON of work in and of itself.  Sadly the chickens are very persistent and managed to get some Sopa Paraguaya (this is one of my favorite dishes here so far, it’s like corn bread with fresh corn and cheese that my mom makes).  I also learned that my host brother has a one year old daughter so he brought her to the picnic so I was able to play with her a little bit.  It was a warm afternoon but we had plenty of shade and cold Terere to drink all afternoon.  We stayed until midafternoon and then I was able to come back and get some homework done. 

At this point we have a huge stack of reading the want us to start doing in our “free time” which we don’t really have any between class and family activities so I have been trying to get ahead on our technical reading on the weekends which is a lot easier than my language lessons mostly because technical skills are taught in English.  I am learning a lot of technical information mainly on organic gardening, environmental education in the schools, agroforestry, as well as history of natural resource management in Paraguay.  It seems like the majority of my work in my community should revolve around agroforestry since there are only 2 people “trained” in forestry.  I am really looking forward to this because this is something that can be incorporated into nearly anything with a positive result.  My task now is to just try and learn about all of the important trees here in Paraguay and what is normally used in different agroforestry practices.  I am also trying to express to my teachers an interest in biodigestors so hopefully I can be on the “PC Paraguay Biodigestor Team” who is only a select few from each group.  They are able to travel throughout Paraguay to install and inform the people about biodigestors and this is something that I studied/worked on in Costa Rica and what I worked on a little bit with Porter. 

At this point I have moved from Spanish to my Guarani classes and I am quickly learning that the pronunciation is key in communication because there are many words that are spelt the same way but depending on where you accent or influx your voice it can mean a lot of different things (most of which are bad).  I will try and post some examples of Guarani when I have time!  My host mom is so awesome because she sits down with me for a couple of hours every day to help me with my homework because she wants me to do well in class so I can be good in my future community.  She is also so nice because she is always telling me how good I’m doing and how much improvement I have made even though I can’t see it.  She has also started introducing me as her daughter which means so much to me to be an official part of the family now! 

It seems like the next week I will not be able to post for a while because we will mostly be in our training communities and not at the training center where we have intermittent internet access.  Over the next week we will be focusing our technical training on agroforestry which I am so excited about.  We also have our second language proficiency interview next week and our second interviews with our environmental coordinators, who are the people are placing us in our future community, so a lot of important meetings over the next week.  I was able to talk to my dad, mom, and Thad back in the states this week which always just makes my week so much better.  I was able to get caught up on what’s going on back at home and the news as well as just such great encouragement.  I have also been getting a lot of really wonderful emails so please keep them coming as they truly help make my day.  I have also been copying the emails into word so on days when I don’t have internet I can still read all of the amazing encouragement. 

Also today I planted my first tree in Paraguay!  I will try to post pictures soon.