The Good, The New, The Bad and Unfortunate.

Today I have a lot to catch up and unfortunately not all of it is fun to write or talk about, but that's how time passes...the good and the bad will always accompany each other in the crazy beautiful adventure we call life! However, i'll warm it up with some good news. As you might already know, my year in Paraguay was marked on February 9th and with that our Sister G arrived. 'G' is referred to the training group that you arrive with into host country and it being our 'Sister' means that they are in the same sector, which now has recently had a new name change to "Community Health". My G (G-38) was really excited for our new Sister G to arrive (G-41) and with that comes the chance to meet new people! In Peace Corps Training, at least for Paraguay post, during your 4th week (out of 10) you are sent to spend about 5 days with a volunteer who already has been living in Paraguay for a while to see how they have adapted to the culture, what kind of projects they are doing, and to generally see how a volunteer lives. Luckily, I had the chance to host a wonderful Aspirante (Trainee)! It was a really great experience and she seemed to have a great time in my tranquilo campo site! We also got to celebrate Peace Corps Week together which marks the anniversary of Peace Corps in order to celebrate the Third Goal:

"strengthen Americans' understanding about the world and its


 peoples."

which was really awesome because I got a chance to show a rookie about how important all three goals are. Generally, as a volunteer, we get really caught up in making sure our time is focused primarily on the first goal: 

Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their


need for trained men and women.

and making sure that we are completing as MANY projects as we can. First of all, it is really exhausting because unlike our "work-oholic, always on the GO-GO-GO" mentality in the states, Paraguayans (and lets be real, most of the rest of the world) are more laid back in the completion date and punctuality of their work. In other words, things get done a lot, and I mean A LOT slower than what we are used to. For example, school is universally understood to be cancelled in the case of rain or even the slight possibility of sprinkles. Screws with the consistency and the planning/following-through processes. So what I am lengthly trying to explain is, that as volunteers, we also must focus on these last two goals, which involves minimizing the unfamiliarity of American culture and its diversity with the host country nationals and the first goal I mentioned above. Things like learning how to make Sopa Paraguaya with some senoras and then teaching them how to make pizza American style is just as important to our service as building fogons and teaching health in the schools. During my Trainee visit, we made acrostic poems to describe our home country and some of the girls in my youth group did one of Paraguay as well. They are now hung up in my school here in site. 

My Two Girls, Trainee Carrie and I w/ our Poems

Estados Unidos (United States)

Paraguay :))

During this visit she also got a first look at the beginning stages of my fitness classes I have recently initiated. Paraguayans are EXTREMELY obsessed with weight, and even more, obsessed with pointing it out POINT BLANK! There is no way to get around gaining a few pounds without unwelcome commentary in these parts. It is almost guaranteed that someone will point it out and say it straight to your face even if it is just the way your clothes hang on you that day. I'm not kidding, it's crazy sin verguenza (no shame) here. The funniest part is that most of the time the comments will be made by entirely overweight women and men. So since I have been getting the "first 6 months weight gain" off and been getting comments such as "AYE que mas flaca que sos"(your much skinnier now) instead of the initial "sos un poca gordita siiiii pero muy linda jaja" (your kinda a little chubby aren't you but still pretty!?), I've decided to help the interested individuals in my community to the same and change their lifestyles in order to lose some unnecessary weight. I know how to work out so I decided that would be the best way to begin and get people excited about losing weight. HOWEVER....NOT THAT SIMPLE!!! Who said losing weight was easy???? Because these people have been seriously miseducated about weight-loss beliefs. To them it is obvious that one should begin dieting to lose it. Since I clearly agree with that statement, I am also a firm believer in changing they way you eat and what you put in your mouth instead of the whole quick fix dieting practices that have been insanely developed (and without much of a consciousness for health). For example, I once was asked when I eat. I responded with "When I am hungry". They quickly jumped the conclusion that I was a little fluffy, not because of the greasy/fatty/starchy foods I was constantly putting in my mouth to make sure that they knew I liked their food, but because I ate whenever I wanted. They assured me that dropping my dinner meal would be the best solution to losing weight. OBVIOUSLY, as a little bit of a health freak myself, I had to do something. As much as I can preach about the importance of nutrition in Paraguay there is only so much I can change about their cultural habits. Bottom line is they like what they like and that's it! So on those lines, I decided to attack the problem a little harder with fitness classes. I have had classes planned everyday MON-FRI at nights and have had a small but consistent turnout. I have been alternating with fitness videos, cardio workouts, and beginners yoga. It's so awesome to get the music pumping and see that they have a great time! Makes my job feel good! Although I get a lot of people giving me excuses and such to get out of coming but I believe that if I continue with the few that do come, I will make models out of them to the community and little by little more will come and work-it out with me!!! 

With the good news, comes my unfortunate news. Three days ago, I woke up from my neighbor knocking on my door asking me to come outside and talk to her. The second I saw her face I knew something terrible was wrong. "Tengo que decirte sobre tu princesa...." she said. My little baby doggy Princesa was lying dead on the side of the road. I couldn't get myself to get closer to see her because I knew I would lose it even more than I already was. After many thoughts on what might have happened I figured out from a neighbor that she had been hit by a passing motorcycle at night. Although an accident its hard not to get mad when I know who it was and know that this person always rides super fast and is under age. No business being on a moto. I guess it's just hard to realize she's gone. She had been the best little dog ever. She was small but would have taken any dog on the street to protect me. Had the feisty Batzer spirt. She would have turned 1 in May, but it was her time to go...

Since I first saw you as a lil' pup... 

I fell in love with you and your wonderfully big ears...

Always right by my side...

...A big lover...even of my cat Principe... 

...Whom I will miss...Love you baby...

Sopa Sopa Sopa!

So this is my neighbor and good friend Maida and she is going to make Sopa Paraguaya, which is a very traditional paraguayan dish. It is basically their version of corn bread, only it is made with pig fat instead of butter and they use fresh cheese to make it even more fatty and delicious haha! Sometimes you just gotta turn your head in the other direction, smile, and say YUMMY! I always make it with her and my other neighbor girlfriend! However, to be completely honest, that's what all the volunteers say and feel in the beginning of their service; once they hit that year mark, and I personally can attest to this, we're beggin' for some Sopa! All comes with the lifestyle :) Enjoy! There's also a funny little story behind the reason why Sopa (Paraguayan corn bread) is called sopa because translated it means "soup". Below is taken from Wikipedia, but it explains it pretty good!

A story of the origin of the dish involves Don Carlos Antonio López (the founder of the Paraguayan state and president of the country between 1841 and 1862) and one of his cooks (called machú in the Guarani language). It is said that the great governor, a famously obese man, liked a white soup elaborated with milk, Paraguay cheese (fresh cheese), egg and corn flour. One day the machú mistakenly added too much corn flour to the mixture. Near noon, she found herself with two problems: first, the mixture was too thick for tykuetî; second, she didn't have time to start over the process, or replace the favorite dish with another. So, showing off a decided attitude, a mix of fear and wit, she poured the mixture into an iron container and cooked it in the tatakua ("hole of fire", a rustic Guarani oven made of clay and adobe), from which she obtained a "solid soup". Don Carlos, after tasting it, found it very delicious and immediately named it "sopa paraguaya".