Well August absolutely flew by. At the beginning of August, my group (G-32) had our 3-month Reconnect. We had some more language classes and boring stuff like that during they day. It was really nice to go back and stay with my host family from training. I feel like I've progressed a lot in my language since training and I was actually able to sit down and have a long conversation with them.
I also turned 22 in August. My birthday, to be completely honest, sucked. The only people who knew it was my birthday also knew that some other volunteer friends were coming to visit that weekend so they didn't make a big deal out of it. They all said "felicidades" and gave me the double-cheek kiss but that was about it. Oh, and my neighbors and I built a shelf for my house. My birthday also happened to be on the same day as a senora's birthday in the community so that night everyone went over to celebrate with her while I stayed at home alone. That was no doubt one of my lowest times here in Paraguay. But I can't really blame anyone here, I mean, they've known that women for probably most of their lives and I just showed up. Next year is bound to be better. Anyway, that weekend was great. Several of my friends came to visit and we hung out, ate delicious food (I finally opened my bbq sauce from Kansas City) and had a good time.
August was the month of burning. Farmers burning their fields before planting, people burning their trash (they always do that but it's worse in August) and wild fires from the previous two. Because of this, the moon was an eerie orange most nights, if you could see it at all through the smog. If you look up the weather online, the forecast all over Paraguay is for "smoke"; that's how bad it is. It got hot very quickly but just when I thought winter was over, September brought back the rain and cold. Luckily, the forecast says it's supposed to get up to 100 Fahrenheit by next week. Such is the weather in Paraguay.
Yesterday I got running water at my house! It's just a spout out back but it makes washing dishes and clothes so much easier. No more lugging buckets of water over from the neighbors house. I washed all my clothes by hand in under and hour today!
I am buying a piglet from my neighbors soon. They have 12 piglets that will be weaned from their mother by this next week and I'm going to claim one. A baby animal is surprisingly cheap here. The price goes up the longer you wait to buy it though, since the owner has to continue feeding it. I have no idea how to take care of a pig but a number of people have offered to help me. I'm going to raise it for food, not as a pet so don't worry mom and dad, I won't be bringing a pig home in 2 years.
This month is looking to be very busy. I'm hoping to get a community garden started up in a little barrio of Guaica. It's government housing and while many people there want a garden, they simply don't have the space. Luckily there is a huge plot of land very close to them that we're hoping to get our hands on. I also just discovered that my back yard is a lot bigger than I thought. I know, that sounds dumb but there's a face back there. I only just found out that the area behind the fence is also mine. So, I'll also be starting my own garden soon!
That's about all that's going on here. I'll be posting more pictures soon hopefully. Miss you all!
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