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! :)