Photo Update as promised :)

As I promised in my earlier post...here are some more photo updates of my life. Sorry I haven't been updating so much lately. I have lost internet in site and I am currently spending my Christmas with some other volunteers in Uruguay & Buenos Aires. Miss you all so much and I hope you all are spending the holidays in a wonderful winter wonderland!!! Loveamor <3

My Youth Group workin' hard!

Kindergarden Graduation.

Giving out the certificates :)

They're excited. Don't let the blank face fool you. Smile's are hard to get in photos with Paraguayans.

Proud students & teachers.

The mountain of food I was offered

Bestie Yessica enjoying some cake!

Na Denia & I enjoying the night

Necessities Prioritization @ PC Project Management & Design Workshop

The girls @ PDM

Foolin' around after a long day of training

High School Graduation 

Where I am at NOW for Christmas!!!!!!!

Enjoy & more to come soon!

Photo Updates...more to come later

Good ole Paraguayan Chacra (cornfield)

Kuna Aty (United Women) Women's Committee

Bad picture but My 6th Graders & I foolin' around

Everybody jump jump!

My friend Maida helping out with kids w/out shoes :)

My baby Princesa all grown up

Dia de los Jovenes Celebracion

Day at the Torin 

My girls Maida & Juliana :)

Paraguayan Rodeo

My 6th Grader Girls :)

Curious 1st Graders :)

Mi Casa

My Bathroom/Kitchen/Office :) 

My night visitor. He likes my bathroom floor....

My friend Yessica's Quincinera :)

Toughest job you'll ever love

"It's the toughest job you'll ever love..."

After arriving in Miami for Peace Corps Staging I heard it for the first time. In training I heard it about a thousand times, but I don't think I've really quite understood its' wide range of meanings until now. Yep! My 8th month in Paraguay has just passed. It's a little crazy to think about because there are definitely times where I feel like the time has just flown right by but then I stop and realize my timeline here. I only have 19 more left! Seems like nothing and so much at the same time! That might seem weird to say but I guess you'll have to join the Peace Corps to understand. Anyways! Back to the quote...When I heard it first, and honestly during all of training, I thought "yeah I it's going to be a tough job and I'll have a lot of battles along the way but I'll see results and it will all be better and totally worth it...if I just work hard enough I'll see those results!" However, the biggest misconception of all that is that you don't realize how to interpret your results or really what results are as a Peace Corps volunteer until you do. It takes time and practice just like everything.

I can't begin to explain how many times I have felt like a complete failure over the last couple of months. I try putting my best effort into my presentations, classes, and projects with the school and the people of my community, but the reality it that sometimes it just isn't meant to be. For example, I have been trying to get across to the middle school/high school kids by entering the classroom and presenting about topics there and trying to teach english. The second I had my first class with 7th grade I quickly realized that a large group of these kids are there to fool around. Just to be there. A chance to interact with friends and play futbol. They could give a rats ass about my presence (excuse my bluntness). At first, I was really angry and I felt rejected. I was asked to come by the teachers to help teach and I come with fun, interactive, and didactic materials, why wouldn't they want to learn? After a while I began to realize that there are a few from every class that are really interested in absorbing anything I throw at them but are just too verguenza (embarrassed) to show it. At this age, kids begin to think they are "too cool for school" and I think being the one who isn't and actually cares to educate themselves suffer because they don't want to become the outcasts. Now this is just a generalization and a small example of my school, so I don't want to make any conclusions here. Yet, I do want to mention that I think it had also taught me to compromise my expectations for my own mental well-being. At the end of the day I am only one person who is  completely challenged by language, cultural, and social differences at every moment. At first I guess it's depressing to realize you can't help everyone, but then you also realize that the reason you are here is too focus on the ones your CAN help. Even if that may be one or two people in one classroom. I now realize that if I can get across to those people I will create models for the rest of the community. Once other people realize too that learning new things can be fun and interesting, more will eventually follow. 

For this very reason I decided to hold a meeting for a Youth Group. I want to create an atmosphere that promotes free thinking and leadership among people who have the motivation to do so OUTSIDE of the classroom and away from distractions that are unfortunately common there.  In this atmosphere I want to teach and work with these youths about my Peace Corps Rural Health & Sanitation goals and of course fun things too like camps and excursions. I'm hoping it will be an easier approach to creating behavioral change among the youth here in my community compared to forcing it down the throats of every child in the schools (even if they aren't interested). Basically, I want to work with people who want to work with me, which is actually our first goal as Peace Corps Volunteers. 

Goal #1: "Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their needs for trained men and women." I know it says interested countries, but I like to think it can also mean individual interested persons too. 

In retrospect, I think getting to this point and realizing that I need to focus my audience to be more successful among youth is the tough part of this job that I love. 

Last saturday I held my first meeting for my Youth Group ages 13-18. I had about 28 show up out of the first 50 who originally signed up. That may seem like a huge downgrade but it is more than likely that number is a reflection of what I just mentioned above. It is even better for myself personally because I can start out with smaller numbers and improve myself as a better teacher simultaneously. At the end of the meeting we came to the conclusion that almost everyone is interested in learning english and all of them want  to start raising money for trips and camps for their summer vacation. Our first attack at fundraising will be Noche de Cine (Movie Nights) at the high school every friday. We are planning to charge a small fare for entrance and will have snacks and refreshments for sale as well. After the meeting I personally felt so refreshed and we all seemed to be really excited for all of our plans. I think I've tapped into something good here :) Let's see shall we!

Overall, I think what I've learned from this is that you have to find the right people and direct your energy there. After a while you begin to realize that improvements, progress, and successes are going to look and feel much different than what was originally expected. I needed to change my point of view, just like they do to understand me and what I'm doing here. Also realizing that it can be tough to love this job. Not everything I'm supposed to be doing here is going to be successful or fun and even getting to the point where I can find out how to be successful will be hard too. Yet, little moments like a smooth responsive Youth Group meeting is so worth it. 

Let's Talk About Teeth! :)

Hello all! Sorry it’s been awhile since I’ve updated a little. Work has been catching up with me! My newest project has been giving dental health presentations to the whole elementary school and I really love it! Honestly, I don’t think I ever pictured myself talking to children about the importance of having good dental hygiene but it’s funny how things work out! The topic of dental hygiene itself is so neglected that as a first time volunteer (the town has never had a Health Volunteer to talk about this topic), it’s difficult to not focus on it. To put it into perspective, most of the children here have NEVER seen a doctor, let alone a toothbrush and toothpaste. Dental problems are just as common as the flu.

With that in mind, I decided to start preventative dental care presentations as my first project in the school. I just started last week and I will have a series of about 4-5 weeks. All grades PE (preschool)-6 will be reached. In total it’s about 145 kids, half in the morning and the other half after lunch. I’m really glad I finally started with these since it took so long for me to prepare because I was so worried about having engaging material and exciting activities that would change the everyday Paraguayan school day. For example, I had checked out the big teeth from the Peace Corps office. They are these big plastic teeth and brush that volunteers use to have an up close view of how to take care of your teeth. I know this may not be the coolest or newest thing we in the States have heard up but let’s be real, anything different from having to copy what’s written on the board is new and exciting to them.

It’s really crazy how held back kids are here. From what I’ve seen, it’s a behavioral result of the Paraguayan culture. Their way of being suffocates individuality to the point where children are afraid to speak in class for fear of standing out in the quiet crowd. It could be a result of the long Strossner dictatorship in which he demanded complete compliance and solidarity; or maybe just a lack of demanding educational requirements. For any reason, creativity and discourse are cruelly punished in this sense. In school, teachers write on the board and students copy. One of the only golden eggs received from school is the gift to someday have good handwriting. It seems like nothing else is really a priority. There are little if any use of didactic materials and definitely no classroom discussion between teachers and students, unless it’s to silence a student. In my case, and that of every volunteer, it’s really hard to calculate behavioral change, which is pertinent to displaying or recording our work progress here. When I enter a classroom here, I desperately fight the awkward, long, and silent response to any of my attempts to engage discourse. Basically, what I’m trying to say is that they loved the big plastic teeth and all the activities we got to do during my presentations on dental health.  At the end of each charla (presentation) we go outside to brush our teeth. Currently, the director of the school has found the funds to buy toothpaste for each class but I’m still trying to find a way for all kids to get toothbrushes free of charge. I’m thinking about involving the parent’s commission but I haven’t met them yet. Hopefully, the dental goodie bags sent from a local Medfordian dentist will arrive soon! Thanks by the way! J More on that later…

The wondrous and sometimes not so wondrous life of a PCV

Wow...okay, I feel like I finally have a few peaceful and uninterrupted moments to spare so I can update my life here. It's somewhat of a mess so for simplicity's sake, I'm going to break down this post into 3 parts. 

PART 1 *IST* - Three weeks ago I left site for my 3 month In-Service Training (G-38 Reconnect) in Guarambare and stayed with my very first host family I had during training. First of all, it was extremely weird being back with my first host family and living so close to all my friends from training. Being there again made me feel like I had been gone for so long and honestly how great we all had it during training. I take back everything I said about those first 3 months because it's the Hilton compared to the situation I have now. NOT that I'm complaining because I love it and I'm totally accustomed to my campo life! Anyway, training was okay besides the 5 hour Guarani language sessions we had the first 3 days. I also realized that the transition from FULL scheduled days to campo tranquilo life was really different. Explanation for my stir-craziness for the first month here. The second part of IST was held in Asuncion which was great because we all got reimbursed for all being together again in the capital to blow off some steam. The last day of IST we spent pretty much the entire day chatting with our sister G-35 (Rural Health and Sanitation Training Class who came here a year before us) about the projects they have been up to. Personally, it was really helpful to hear about some of the actual real life projects that real volunteers are doing. Since the end training it has been hard to really foresee the development and creation of my goals in my community. Furthermore, we are given the RHS project plan which lists and describes 5 goals of our sector, but until now I haven't really been able to mentally grasp how to take those goals written on paper and turn them into a reality. Overall, IST was very helpful but tiring. Let's just say I was excited to get back to the campo and get started on some new projects. 

PART 2 *COMING BACK* - On my way back to site I had my friend Kalena accompany me. Since the Ahendu festival (Peace Corps Paraguay Committee) was the following weekend and she lives so far away from Asuncion, she decided to come stay with me so we could hang out and head back together. Besides, I also broke my phone and the phone Peace Corps gave me didn't work (my luck) so I was lucky to have someone else PC connected with me. Little did I know that our cosy little 5 day stay at my new house would be rudely interrupted/changed. For starters, my last campo bus never showed up to take us back to the entrance of my site so I paid for a 50,000 mil cab ride then had to have someone pick us up and take me the 4k in. Once I arrived, all the times I kept saying: "what else could happen" cliche-a-ly nipped me in the butt because I was about to realize what trusting random Paraguayans was about to cost me. After turning on the lights to my house I realized that my electric oven was gone. I went around to my neighbors wondering if maybe they had decided to borrow it (thinking they might have an extra key) but they were just as shocked as I was. After my neighbors assured me of who the "ladron/a sin verguenza" was even though I knew I couldn't trust the random finger-pointing, I took a homemade cocktail and delicious mexican food for remedy.

 Although I was extremely angry and hurt I realized that I literally could not do anything except tell every person I knew by using their infamous radio so'o (gossip in guarani) to my own advantage hoping that one day word would get around who did it and maybe even a confession. At least that was the advice given by our Safety & Security director who also drove into my site to come help me out.  Once he took me to the police station (10k away) and told me that I would most likely get reimbursed for my oven I rethought the question he had been asking me all day: "Are you sure that's the only thing they took from your house?" Honestly I hadn't really taken a clean look since I decided to move into the house behind my neighbor's (they began fixing it for me over the week). Sure enough I realized they also took my new Kindle Fire and the $80 I had been saving for vacation. SWEET! I thought. More depressed and more vulnerable. I couldn't help but think do I have ANY kind of security of my things or was I stupid to think I could bring anything of value down here. After some quiet sulking I finally realized the only thing I could take away from this is to be a little more conservative about my things because no matter how much you think your friends with someone or how much you think you can trust someone, there will always be people out there that will steal. Oh well lesson learned I guess. The upside, I had another excuse to get out of site and blow off some more steam, which takes me to...

PART 3 *AHENDU* - Every three months the Peace Corps Paraguay committee Ahendu ("I hear" in Guarani) puts on a concert to help support their cause. It's always really fun and it raises a lot of money especially the HIV/AIDS Date Auction. Most of the time volunteers will preform so it's a great time to see and hang out with all of our friends. So clearly we all try to make it in to Asuncion and see it. I'm super glad I took another trip back even though it was so quick after Reconnect. I REALLY needed it. I got a lot of needed shopping done and even bought some amaranth and brown rice so I'm excited to eat that :) I'm in serious withdrawals of nutritious grains. The only thing I can get regularly here is bleached white rice. Although it was really hard to find and super expensive it is SO worth it! We also went a little crazy and went dancing so that was fun too! On my way back to site I decided to go and help my friend Karen move into her new house who lives about 2 hours away. It was really nice to have help with both of my houses lol so I thought she could use it and plus I wanted to see someone else's site! Also totally worth it :) Here's some pictures of the good weekend that picked up my spirits :)

Gettin' our dancin on @ Ahendu

Karen & I @ her Site!

Emily, Jamin & I @ Ahendu

David, Brice, Kalena, Emily and I @ Ahendu w/ our friend Beer Tower :)

Karen & I

Yihanna & I

A Breath of Fresh Air

Amongst all the wind blowing in my face I finally got a breath of fresh air, metaphorically speaking of course. However, it's the only way I can really express the feeling I experience this past Sunday. For the last month I have struggled between two modes of interaction with my committee: over-involvement and passive oversight. On the one hand, I should take control and be a model for hard-working behavior so that one day the members will receive health and sanitation improvements to their homes. Yet, on the other, I must remember that successful work here depends on enabling the community in a self-sufficent manner. In other words they need to learn how to accomplish things on their own and understand the what it takes to do so, which means I need to stay back on the sidelines and coach (even if it would normally be done more efficient and quicker if I were to step in). That also involves watching them fail and not doing anything so that they learn from their mistakes. This is harder than it sounds. Until this Sunday, our group was lacking full attendance, participation, and punctuality. Our president was quiet and laid back; the speaker was doing the secretary's job and the men didn't think they needed to help out with the cooking for the food sales. Finally after reiterating the responsibilities of each position in the committee and importance of doing the previously mentioned, I had a full house promptly arrive at 3:00pm Sunday afternoon. Ready to get down to business! It was one of the best meetings we've ever had. We planned another event, talked about new interesting activities, and set out a date to send the recognition papers to now the state government office (since we are already recognized by the municipality). I then gave a requested presentation on treatment and prevention of the cold and flu, which they really appreciated and surprisingly learned a lot. Finally a very organized step in the right direction :) VERY PROUD. Also makes me feel like they are actually listening to me and it feels great! I even took a picture...take a look at my super guapo committee!

"Guavira Unido"

Oh Dave, you always know.

So today I was rockin' out to my Itunes while cleaning up and this little gem of a song came up. Decided it described my life perfectly right now.   

To change the world,

Start with one step.

However small,

The first step is hardest of all.

***

If you give, you, you begin to live.

If you give, you begin to live.

You begin, you get the world.

If you give, you begin to give

You get the world, you get the world.

If you give, you begin to live.

-Dave Matthews Band "You might die trying"

I think this song explains the life of a Peace Corps Paraguay volunteer almost too perfectly. One of the first things you notice about Paraguayan culture is how extremely interconnected all relationships are, whether it be business or socially related. One obvious reason being that they are possibly related within at least four degrees of separation. Additionally, it is because almost everything develops from well recognized relationships. People do not interact unless a strong friendship or association bonds trust between them. Unlike in the states, where professional reputations are always relied upon, Paraguayan culture depends on who you know well to make sure something gets done. That's where our hard work begins; creating a trustful relationship with the people in our community. Just like Dave says...the first step is hardest of all. Fortunately, I think I'm finally getting there with many of the people in my community. However, there's been a few hiccups recently. Most are directly related to the incessant gossip that partially defines their culture. Let me explain. As you may already know there was a Women's Committee previously formed to my arrival. To my knowledge these are the women who can be somewhat credited for my presence. At first, they were very helpful and had a very organized plan for my first three months here. Once I expressed that I was no longer interested in moving families every week (because for some reason they thought that I needed to live with each family in the committee before living alone and there are at least 30 of them) I asked to stay longer and the current host mother that I was staying with was not okay with that. She asked me if I could move to another house. That week I went to the meeting and asked the women who I could stay with next and not one hand went up. After being assured that they were only too nervous to host a vegetarian, I went elsewhere (to families outside of the committee) to find housing. A lovely mother warmly offered her house to me. I immediately felt at home and decided that I did not want to move until I would find permanent living after 3 months. I then learned later on that these women became jealous that I was enjoying my time with someone outside of the committee and spread gossipy lies about how "she stole me away from the house I was living in and forced me to stay in her house". Not only was this incorrect but it really hurt the feelings of my new host mother. And this is just a small blog-appropriate example of their gossip. 

Second hiccup. After a month or so in this house a senora came and offered me a house down the street for the duration of my stay. Since this house had all the furniture I needed I moved in. She seemed to be really accommodating and helpful. I got caught up in the "tranquilo" Paraguayan attitude and forgot to sign a lease with her. To my surprise her son came back and wants to move back in at the end of November. Without a signed contract I have found myself out of luck. The really awful part is that I've spent most of the settling-in money Peace Corps gave me on building a garden, a compost fence, fixing up the house and new cooking appliances. Even worse, I was told by the son that his mother told him that she was only going to rent to me for two months. Basically, she lied to me and now I'm out of enough money to buy the essentials to occupy an empty house. By the way, I found out about this through my neighbor and her other daughter, she has yet to confront me and tell me any of this information. Typical non-confrontational Paraguayan problem-solving skills. 

In general, I have discovered that I will have to somehow deal with how jealous, gossipy, timid, and non-confrontational my new friends will be. Just goes to show that being a Peace Corps Volunteer is every bit of the 24/7 responsibility required of you. 

Understanding the real process and benefits of being a Peace Corps Volunteer is again melodically revealed in the second part of my lyric. We are here to GIVE ourselves to a cause. We give our time, patience, compassion, and focus but in time we begin to live a whole other life that gives us a chance to look at the world differently or understand it in ALL of its complexities. I open up, become vulnerable, study people, wonder, and level. I hit a fews rocks and have a few hiccups but I'm beginning to learn the variability of the world. 

That's my Deep for ya.

Parties & Committees

Once again I have drifted from the consistency of a good blogger so I apologize! BUT that just means I have a bunch to tell! :) First of all I just came back from a weekend in Asuncion but before I get into that craziness I want to touch on the few days before that. Last wednesday my friend Karen came to visit me in my site before we headed out to our nearest big town. We joined about six other volunteers who were all interested in helping out another american organization called Amigos de America. It's a program that sends mostly high school students to Latin America for about six weeks so they can work in the schools and do small projects with the locals, specifically in the department that I live in. For the last couple of years the Amigos Paraguay director has teamed up with a RHS Volunteer in the area to organize their introduction on how to build a fogon. Since I had special interest in the area I decided to go and help out. On that Friday Karen and I built a fogon together with six of the 50 kids that came to Paraguay this summer. They were all really great and ready to work the whole 9 hours it took to finish it that day. Since the PCV that has organized this activity for the last two years is leaving soon, Karen and I opted to co-direct that program next winter! So were excited about that! Anyway, after an entire day of dirty work, Karen and I hopped on the three hour bus to Asuncion for the weekend. By the time we got to our hostel everyone was well-prepared for the night :) Let's just say we had a pretty great night! The next day was the 4th of July celebration at the Embassy which really was the real reason we all came. It was SO much fun and the place is huge! There could have been like twelve different desserts that were all served and voted on! So amazing! Here are a few pictures of the weekend!

Happy Birthday America!

G-38 Tug-O--War Team...failure

American Food! Veggie Burgers for me too :)

Emily, Karen and I  

Venue

*****

As fall turns to winter here in the southern hemisphere, a Peace Corps Paraguay Rural Health Volunteer must begin focusing on specific potential project ideas. Personally I have lightly dipped into a few possible themes to which I can expand on further, like my Fogon and Latrine Committee and teaching English. However, I am now beginning to realize how difficult it is going to be transitioning from the integration period to the project planning and organization phase. I have really enjoyed getting to know my community on a personal and friendly basis, yet I have been really battling with how I can approach my work efficiently and accurate to Peace Corps objectives. I say this only because recently Peace Corps Paraguay has had some recent administrative changes. For example, we have welcomed in a new Country Director and our Program Director will be retiring this coming August. With such movements, many voices specific to the Rural Health and Sanitation sector of Paraguay have declared some concerns pertinent to our project plan and how to fulfill its objectives using sustainable development. Now, for me, this aspect of Peace Corps is one of the most important; it also is a huge reason why I joined Peace Corps. Although I strongly believe that helping people in any way shape or form is what makes a good person, I whole-heartedly trust that the only way that our host country nationals can make an improvement to their own lives in the long-run is solely through the application of sustainable development. Currently, this is where I lie in the process of creating my personal objectives here in my community. According to a memorandum* brought up by a RHS Volunteer who recently COS'ed (Close of Service), many fogon projects in Paraguay (like the one I hope to one day fulfill) have been too heavily focused on the end result and have crutched the communities individuals to foreign aid. For example, some Volunteers have helped their commission/committee members by completing some of the crucial work that is needed in order to receive funding or recognition, including: written requests, trips to the municipality, meetings with other organizations, etc. This inherently excludes the main purpose of a self-sustaining committee/commission and furthermore an attempt to develop work ethic within the community. Consequently, my current problem is how to motivate my committee to one day become a self-sustaining model group. A group of people who, once I'm gone, can continue on independently and serve themselves to solve potential problems. That is the key to honest foreign aid and the path to sustainable development. My conclusion: tiny baby steps; pushing them every meeting to do things for themselves and be more participative. Let's see how it works out!

For anyone who is interested in reading the Memorandum shoot me an email listed on my contact info page!

With every high tide comes a low tide...

Buen dia everyone! Today I woke up without three people in my oversized Paraguayan bed (so lucky I got this) and I'm a little lonely even though the snuggling was a little difficult to say the least! To clear this up a bit lol I had friends from my training group come this past weekend to celebrate my friend Karen's birthday. It was also the first time I spent the night in my new house! Annddd you know what that means! I got to give my new kitchen a big ole spin! Despite the rough cooking standards (as you will see from a crib tour video i'll make later) we all managed to make delicious homemade veggie pizza, chocolate pancakes, Mexican food, pita bread, spicy hummus, huevos rancheros with homemade flour tortillas, and don't forget the desserts: zucchini chocolate cake & chocolate fudge brownies! Let's just say we've been missing GOOD food. I have also come to the decision that any food I make is now considered American food, lol. My fellow G-38 Training class and I refer to these gatherings from here on out as Fat F*** Fest's. You can guess why :) We all got a break from our new tough & isolated lives to hang out, speak english, dance around, laugh, and enjoy being together again. I think one of the hardest thing for me so far during this entire adventure has been the fact that we all were sent to Paraguay in a big group of new awesome people for three months who then became my good friends and then having to be shipped off to distant locations. For example it took just about TEN hours for my friend Emily to get home from my house, which also includes an hour walk out of my site to get to the highway to catch a bus. Unfortunately, with every high tide comes a low one. I'm not going to lie I'm missing home a bit. I guess America overload this weekend made it hard to switch into Peace Corps mode again. However, I'm sure in a fews day's I will be just fine.

Jumping back into the positive side of things again :), I had my second fogon committee meeting and although it began rocky, we got everything smoothed over. To clarify, after the first meeting I was informed by my last host mother and many others from the committee that one of the women was  definitely NOT welcome in our group. That it was us or her. Adding to my disappointments, before our second meeting she approached me at my house to tell me that she knew of the groups' disdain for her. She also told me that she would continue besides it all because she is very poor. Basically, it was her cry for help which for me, as an unbiased Peace Corps Volunteer who's mission is to help the willing, was incredibly difficult to refuse. However, in addition to the groups' "chisme" (gossip) about her  (and in Paraguay it could very well be credible or severely misconstrued babble) I was forced to make a move. At our second meeting, I simply began with "Tenemos un problema". After about 10 minutes of excuses in Guarani I told them that I am not I am not a member of this group. I am solely a facilitator. I will not receive a fogon. In that case, I do not and will not make a decision to remove or refuse membership. Strictly on a basis of Peace Corps objectives, I cannot refuse to help anyone if the ask for it and it is possible. I told them that I want to continue working with them however, I cannot be the one to tell her that she is out of the group since that was the consensus they all came to. Additionally, since we are finalizing the groups' numbers this next week and after that no one is allowed to enter, I want that done immediately. After several excuses, because Paraguayan stereotype includes shyness and timid to confrontation, they finally understood that I can be the one to do it and if it doesn't get done she will continue to bother me at my house. So in that case, they are telling a third party to do it. Haha

Anyways, besides that craziness, the meeting continued on perfectly. I created the rules for absence and how we will raise money. Since,  the San Juan Festival (and to this day after several questions to explain its' origin and significance) begins at the end of the month, we decided to have a part in the food preparation and actually host the Despedida de San Juan Party to raise money. I'm so proud of them. They are so quick to get the ball running. I think this group has a lot of potential after we sort out all the insignificant chisme and baloney.

Let's see shall we! :)

1 Month-er!

Hey everybody! I've now been in site for a month and things are REALLY picking up! It's getting pretty overwhelming at times just because our first "3 month" rule kind of focuses on us getting to know our community better and getting to know families while evaluating the community's health and sanitation needs via census. So basically in Paraguayan terms that breaks down into T-reying (drinking terere — cold Yerba Mate) with families while they continually talk about the fact that I need a Paraguayan boyfriend/husband because I will be very, very lonely for two years, how I will learn Guarani very fast, why I don't eat meat because vegetarians will surely starve, and why I'm pretty much here. As much fun as that can be, I find myself drifting off during rapid Guarani discussions (clearly not including me speaking) and stressing myself out about everything I should or could be doing right now. I know I can handle jumping right into big projects like I mentioned previously but I really think the 3 month rule has some significance. I have a lot of pressure from members of my community to start quickly but as a first time volunteer to the area I think I have some more work to do in the confidence-building department. I want to make sure that people see me not just as a co-worker but as a member of the community and even a family member. With more connections like these I believe I will accomplish a lot more meaningful and lasting goals in this community. Although I've already made some amazing connections, I'm going continue on the slow route for a few more weeks. 

(Lucia & Cristina) My first and current host mothers watching the Independence Day Parade with their two girls (Ilse & Sandra) 

However, switching over to the fast lane of my life here, I just recently had my very first informational commission meeting. Since arriving in my site I have found a substantial amount of people who are quite eager to begin working with me on a fogon project. Fogon is the spanish word for wood-burning brick oven and they are useful and economical cooking tools in Paraguay. Unfortunately, even these affordable ovens are too pricey for many families living in the campo, which is why most people organize themselves and raise money communally to pay for them. That's where I come it! My involvement in such a project extends to the organization of this group, helping with official government recognition, finding ways to fundraise and/or request grant money if needed, and teach about the importance of having a fogon and what comes with it. The main reason Peace Corps Paraguay supports and urges fogon projects is because it takes the cooking off the ground to a higher, more contained, and ventilated cooking surface. This evicts many problems Paraguayans face like chronic back pain, respiratory diseases, and malnutrition. For example, people no longer need to bend over for so long to cook meals because their cooking surface is now elevated. Also, with a fogon (as you can see below), the smoke is contained and is then ventilated out of the kitchen. Finally, many of the models used with Peace Corps Paraguay include an oven. Many volunteers stress the importance of an oven in their sites because it helps reduce the oil in cooking. Paraguayan cuisine is loaded with oil and one reason being is that it's easier and quicker to fry things. In this case, using an oven while trying to teach healthier cooking practices is an easy way to reduce oil intake. Back to the results of my meeting! I had 15 members sign up who are all very excited and seem to want to work very hard, so that's a great sign. I explained to them that I am obviously very new to the area but to give me a little bit of patience and things will begin very soon. They all were very nice and helpful. First on the list is to get the papers from the Municipality and get them officially recognized by the government so in the future I can request government funds to help build their fogons. 

Wood-burning Stove/Oven = Fogon

On the more unpleasant side of things lately is the epic failure of bug spray in my life. I’ve yet to get used to the “pinchos” (bugs) here in Paraguay.  Although personally I’ve never been the one to NOT get bit, but it seems to be even worse here even with the excessive use of bug spray. One of the three favorite topics my community enjoys disccusing in reference to me is how badly I get bit by all the bugs. It’s sweet how concerned they are but I always like to joke that “los pinchos aman mi sangre nueva y americana y no saben que ya soy paraguaya” (the bugs love my new American blood and don’t already know that I’m Paraguayan). Jokes aside my legs, ankles, feet, and even butt are definitely taking the heat for it. I have a feeling I will be fighting this battle for some time. Let's be real here, I got bit on my face three times this past weekend, which isn't the best of news considering I was in Asuncion and they are known to be the ones carrying Dengay. Let's see shall we :/

Some exciting news: I got a new puppy! I have decided to name her princesa because sadly, in comparison to most Paraguayan pets, she will definitely be getting much more attention. 

My Paraguayan puppy Princesa :)

Viva la Vida Campo

Hello All! I just wanted to start off by sharing a lovely little gem my friend Kelley Matney made for our training class. Thanks Kel & Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GazPSA8gqhE&feature=player_embedded

All right so I’m finally here now! First few days were sort of a weather shock with cold, rainy, thunder, and lightning nights. Something I had cruelly forgotten about since I came to blisteringly humid and hot Paraguay (being from good ole Oregon). Let’s just say daring to not bringing a sleeping bag was not the best decision I've made. Anyway, my new site is just as quaint as ever, where all the houses are located along one long dirt/rock road. My first host family was a complete turn around from any dynamic I have yet to encounter. For example, there were five kids with ages ranging from one to seven. Lets just say the mother was a little too busy this time around. Besides the constant crying, I did enjoy how easy going they were about my vegetarianism. They were very sweet but typical shy and timid to start conversation. While I was there I taught the mother how to make peanut butter cookies from scratch! Since this very agricultural town has so many peanuts to offer I couldn’t resist :). It is so funny how many delicious things are lacking in a Paraguayan cookbooks simply because they don’t know how to diversify. The motto stick with what's good is pretty standard. Making peanut butter from scratch was difficult and a lot of work but it turned out very tasty for my first time! I was also very relived to finally start talking to her about my objective in Peace Corps Paraguay after about three days. She was very interested in my potential here in her town, and I got the chance to explain Peace Corps three main goals to her and how I will (as a first time volunteer in the site) begin to approach the needs and wants of the people here. 

During my stay with this family I got to accompany her to on of the Women’s Committee meetings, scheduled every Thursday at 2pm. Although I still don’t have a comprehensive grasp on Guarani, I still love to hear these women chat and debate about what they want to achieve. Earlier, during my interviews with my bosses while discussing what kind of site id like, I never would have expected such a wonderfully energized and hardworking group of women when I asked for a strong women’s committee. These women get together every week when most groups I’ve heard about only reunite monthly or even bimonthly. They fund all their expenses directly out of their pocket through fundraising activities like bingo events and raffling, which brings in a small amount with them every meeting. All I can say is I really can’t wait to start working with them closer! Fortunately, in addition to the wonderful group of senoras, my site is also home to some of the nicest families I’ve ever met. I think out of all of them I have only had one hopeless response to my presence, which wasn’t even that bad. They just didn’t really understand why I was here or what I was going to do. They were probably just scared of an outsider, which is totally understandable. I think the hardest part about any Peace Corps Volunteer’s experience in any country is trying to explain to the people why you have left (what they think is) a “perfect” country to come and live where they live. In respect to all the distinct and personal responses out there, I'd like to think we are all here to experience a different perspective on life in addition to giving back. However, explaining that is never the easiest thing to do.

Since being here I have also been discussing with the senoras about my future living situation aka renting a house among the community. I have been introduced to just the cutest house ever! It’s directly in the middle of the entire community and right next to the Health Post and school! It has opens up to a living room and it has one bedroom, a modern bathroom (shower, sink, and toilet J), and a kitchen, all supplied with running water capabilities. However, just recently I was presented with another option which turns out to be just what I need. In the first house I would of had to buy literally everything I needed including a bed and furniture while paying rent. The house I will now be living in soon has everything for me. My soon-to-be neighbor's son was living there and up and left to Argentina so she offered to let me use everything for my stay! Awesome news! Pictures will be coming soon with that one!

I also recently had my Site Presentation Day with my bosses which basically means they come evaluate and talk about how you are doing in site so far and give a presentation to members of the community about What Peace Corps Paraguay does and what our mission is here in the Rural Health & Sanitation Sector. In my case, it did a lot for me and maybe too much lol. What I mean is I now have gone from pretty much leaning the language everyday and meeting new people to full-force project planning. Although, the first three months are pretty much reserved for the former objective, I'm stoked to get started. For example, I have currently finished about 10 censuses with family (to be explained later), began discussing a dental health presentation series in the school, english & computer classes in the colegio, exercise classes with the senoras, Futbol Feminino Torneo, and finally a brick-oven (fogon) commission creation meeting. Overall, it definitely helped my community fully understand why I'm here and how they can get involved. Oh yeah and my boss brought my new bike so that's exciting! The trails here are so beautiful! Take a look!:

Now that I have my internet with me in site I will be updating a lot more frequently but for now I'm going to end it here today and take a little siesta :) Thanks for reading and let me know if your interested in further explanation about anything! Chauu & Besos!

PVC Alex Batzer

Swearing-In Ceremony w/ all us G-38 girls and our wonderful Tech Trainer Hannah!

Oh Hello! I made it :) Yay! Pre-Service Training that is! I'm a real volunteer now. Before coming I never really considered the reality of swearing-in. I kind of brushed it off like "duh...of course I'm gonna swear in". However, training and site presentation was much more than I had in mind and you all will have to excuse my jump start into the blogging process because after a week of being in Paraguay I completely lost all "ganas" (motivation) to stay in the pueblo after 8 hours of training and try to use faulty internet in order to update my life. So now since I will be having A LOT of time on my hand these next three months trying to do my best to integrate into my new and beautiful community, I will try to be much more updated :)

My Spanish/Guarani Class with Aurelio (Best Teacher Ever!)

Anyways, back to training, since it started about three whole months ago I'll try to sum it up a bit. My training class G-38 of 28 people was split up into two groups; 13 in a small community and the others in another small community. I lived with my sweet host mother and her 16 yr old daughter who actually had her baby girl when I was living with them. So I had baby fever the last three months :) From day one I felt like a part of the family. Always inviting me to parties and introducing me to the large family. The young primos always running around to make sure they gave me their daily saludo "Hola Aleee!" My mother was such an amazing cook and made awesome vegetarian food especially for me :) A part of Paraguayan culture that I definitely will not be taking part in unfortunately. Problem is here when I say I don't eat meat, chicken or hot dogs are served. "Pero, no es carne". Sorry folks not my thing. Yet, my mother caught on almost immediately and was awesome. Even though I technically consider myself vegan I will definitely be compromising that for the time living with families. 

Me and My Host Mother (during Training) making some Chipa

Kelley and I walking home from Training 

Besides my living situation, Pre-Service training was a little overwhelming at times. I will always remember one of the first days our country director warned us to brace ourselves because training was going to be nothing at all like Service (8 hour structured and planned out days). It was all the information we will need for two years basically jam-packed into three months, including two language classes. Direct quote: "Its like taking a drink from a fire hose" and thats exactly was it was. Although I did learn some great things, I'm so stoked to get out there and starting working in my own manner on my soon to be tranquilo but to-be=guapa (hardworking) schedule. 

Some of the Aspirantes and I after Site Presentation Day

No on to my new site! Unfortunately, due to security reasons I cannot disclose publicly my specific location. However, it is about a 4 kilometer walk in from the main Ruta and it has about 770 people living there. There is a school, a colegio, and a health post all within very close proximity. The people mainly speak Guarani, and Spanish is hardly ever used, so I will be studying a lot since my Guarani abilities aren't so great still :/. The town's economy is very much ruled agriculturally and the wealth divide is really polarized which is strange in a rural area. For example, poorer families live closer to the center of the village and more wealthier families live on the outskirts with larger land spreads. More land = more wealth. Furthermore, cows seem to be the dollar signs here as well. My site also has a wonderful and really guapa Senora Committe which I am extremely excited about. Basically everything that happens publicly in Paraguay functions with these "committees and commissions". For example, A group of people from a pueblo or town get together and become recognized by the government through bureaucratic paperwork. From there they begin to "pedido" (request) for set-aside government money to fund projects to improve their livelihood or health. If their request is well-developed and worthy they will most likely receive the money to begin working. Some projects include: building fogones, chicken coops, sanitary latrines, modern bathrooms, etc. Giving money out to groups who end up being very successful is somewhat of a political tool for these politicians. 

My first Host Mother's kitchen during Future Site Visit

My House To Be :) Imagine a huge veggie garden in the back!

The room I stayed in during Future Site Visit

Additionally, more recent news, I am the new main attraction here. During my site visit three weeks ago I stayed with one of the families who share a yard with the combined schools. This translated into anytime there was a recess (which also happens to be all the time) I had a captivated and silent audience staring at my every move. Eating, reading, talking, cooking, running back in a towel from my bucket bath, they would be huddled up whispering and staring at the new "Norte" that would be coming to live here. You might be wondering, oh come on that's not bad! You have new friends and they are all interested in meeting you, however, in a Paraguayan setting, that is not always the case ;) Very interested but quite shy are Paraguayans. A combination of my terrible Guarani, a lack of Spanish speakers, and an enormous amount of hesitation to start up a conversation or even to respond to my attempt at making conversation, I was stuck in one of many awkward encounters soon to come. Another note from Peace Corps we were given during training: "You will all become professional at dealing with awkward". Carpe el awkward! I have also been offered at least three different marriage proposals by some of the senoras. "Oh I have a boyfriend already", "I'm just here to work", "I don't need a boyfriend" = No excuse is worthy of rejecting. In the end, my community was interested in two things = why I don't eat meat and why I don't want to marry all of they're lovely sons. I foresee a lot of effort to convince my community why I'm here yet, I do feel like there is a lot of potential for great projects in the future. Guapo - Guapa Communidad!

As a wrap up to my first of many to come posts, I want to say that I am extremely excited to finally start my two years service, get settled in a new community, and starting working with ambitious members of this community! Anddd although I'm technically supposed to use my first three months to integrate and become closer with the people of my community by living and spending time with families, I will be starting my censuses of about 50 families in order to complete a Community Study/Needs Assessment. I will then use this is narrow down the specific problems or areas of concern, and from there develop ways to improve them sustainably. For more information about my Rural Health Sector, check out the this link to the Peace Corps website:

http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=learn.wherepc.southAmerica&cntry=paraguay

Hasta Luego y Jajotopata! (See you later in Spanish & Guarani)