I just got back from my visit to what will be my home for the next 2 years and I loved it! I didn't want to leave and come back to training but alas, we have 3 more weeks before we are official Peace Corps volunteers. My town is smaller than I imagined and extremely tranquilo. I spent pretty much every day sitting in the shade, drinking tereré, talking with different people and just enjoying the day and enjoying being with other people. Everyone spoke Guarani so I just zoned out, fully aware that I was the topic of discussion quite often. I would catch a word or two here and there and then suddenly someone would direct a question at me in Spanish and I'd have to start paying attention again.
Guaicá supposedly has 150 houses but I didn't see nearly that many. That may include the surrounding barrios too. Everyone there has electricity and running water most of the time. There is a barrio I visited not too far away (about a 40 minute walk) that doesn't have running water. My site also has a nice looking church (bright green!) and a school. I met the director and some of the profes at that school and the one in the other community. I would like to work in both schools but will probably focus on the one in Guaicá.
The site is a lot more developed than I thought it would be. So right now I'm not sure exactly what I'll be doing. There really isn't a need for a modern bathroom or fogón project. But during the first 3 months we have to complete a census of our community to discovery the needs of the people and the resources available so that will definitely be helpful.
This visit really made it real that I am actually in Peace Corps. I mean, I've been here for almost 3 months but it's all been very structured and with other Americans. This past week I spent time in a community where most people had only seen one other American in their lives (the education volunteer that I'm following-up). I had to explain multiple times that although I'm a Health volunteer, I am not a nurse. I also tried to get the point across that even though the most complicated thing I can say in Guarani is “my house is near the church” I do, in fact, have a college degree. That one was a little more frustrating but it'll come with time. I did make some friends my own age already, which is awesome.
Overall it was a great visit and I can't wait to get back and start working. It's going to be a great 2 years!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Semana Santa and Site!!
Happy Easter everyone!
I had a nice tranquilo week here in Paraguay this past week. Semana Santa (Holy Week) is a much bigger deal here than it is in the US. We had a half day of stuff going on in Guarambaré on Wednesday afternoon through Sunday off, which was very nice. On Wednesday I made chipa with my family. It looks kind of like a bagel and I really like it but a lot of people don't. After a day it's really hard and dry and kind of hard to eat but I still like it. Everyone makes a lot of it on Wednesday and Thursday because no one is supposed to eat meat on Friday, just chipa and sopa. On Thursday we had a huge lunch of chicken and sopa. It was delicious. Sopa paraguaya is pig fat, corn meal, cheese, milk and other stuff. It reminds me a lot of corn bread. Anyway, I was stuffed and of course got another huge chicken thigh for dinner.
Friday there was no music playing, which was really weird. I don't think Santo Domingo is ever that quiet. I had gone to church with my family Thursday night where they did a short service with 15 candlelit “stations” around the lawn of the chapel and they read a part of the Easter story at each one then sang. Then they did some other stuff that I didn't really understand.
Sunday we went to a fútbol game, that was fun. 8 de Diciembre, our team, won all their games. Yay! It was a pretty intense game. Overall, Semana Santa was really good. I spent a lot of time hanging out at home, which was nice. It was a good taste of what it will be like for the first few months in site when we are just hanging out getting to know people.
And speaking of my site...I will be going to the department of San Pedro, near San Estanislao. It seems really nice, I am going to visit in the next few days. Yay!! Just over 3 weeks until I am a real volunteer!!
I had a nice tranquilo week here in Paraguay this past week. Semana Santa (Holy Week) is a much bigger deal here than it is in the US. We had a half day of stuff going on in Guarambaré on Wednesday afternoon through Sunday off, which was very nice. On Wednesday I made chipa with my family. It looks kind of like a bagel and I really like it but a lot of people don't. After a day it's really hard and dry and kind of hard to eat but I still like it. Everyone makes a lot of it on Wednesday and Thursday because no one is supposed to eat meat on Friday, just chipa and sopa. On Thursday we had a huge lunch of chicken and sopa. It was delicious. Sopa paraguaya is pig fat, corn meal, cheese, milk and other stuff. It reminds me a lot of corn bread. Anyway, I was stuffed and of course got another huge chicken thigh for dinner.
Friday there was no music playing, which was really weird. I don't think Santo Domingo is ever that quiet. I had gone to church with my family Thursday night where they did a short service with 15 candlelit “stations” around the lawn of the chapel and they read a part of the Easter story at each one then sang. Then they did some other stuff that I didn't really understand.
Sunday we went to a fútbol game, that was fun. 8 de Diciembre, our team, won all their games. Yay! It was a pretty intense game. Overall, Semana Santa was really good. I spent a lot of time hanging out at home, which was nice. It was a good taste of what it will be like for the first few months in site when we are just hanging out getting to know people.
And speaking of my site...I will be going to the department of San Pedro, near San Estanislao. It seems really nice, I am going to visit in the next few days. Yay!! Just over 3 weeks until I am a real volunteer!!
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