Announcement

I have a very important announcement to make so listen up! Also, you may want to sit down for this. And make yourself a strong drink.

I'm getting married!! Wait...what? Yes you read correctly. I have met "the one" and we can't wait to spend the rest of our lives together. You're probably wondering why you have heard next to nothing about this guy. Well, I have limited internet time and I like to blog about my work, not my love life. But here is some background:

My fiance's name is Elvio Santander. He is 27 years old and lives on a ranch with his family a few miles outside of my town. It's traditional for children to continue living with their families until they get married, and sometimes afterwards too. Anyway, we met last year at a festival in my community. He had been texting me already and I thought he was a creep like all the other guys that texted me. But unlike other texts I received, which were raunchy and gross, his were sweet. Like "you are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." and "do you like chicken soup? I would love to cook for you sometime.". Haha. I found out later that he was getting advice from his 17-year-old sister on what to say to me because he was terrified. After we met, I mentioned that I was starting a garden and had no idea what I was doing. He came over the next day with his cousin and we spent 2 days setting up my garden. It turned out beautifully and that led to other projects like building my shower room, latrine, pig house and cleaning up my yard. We spent the afternoons drinking terere and getting to know each other.

I spent Christmas and New Years with his family and despite only having known him for a month, I felt accepted and at home with them. I had dengue during that time too and they all pitched in to take care of me and make sure I wasn't too miserable. By that time his family members were already asking us when we were going to get married but I just laughed it off. Over the next couple of months I didn't think it was going to work out, to be completely honest. We had a lot to overcome being from different cultures and both of us not speaking our native language (he prefers speaking Guarani but we speak Spanish to each other). We had several fights that really just came down to miscommunications and cultural differences. But we got through it and we're a stronger couple because of it.

Then my parents came. He and I had already talked about getting married but the problem was that I didn't want to stay here in Paraguay and he said he was scared to go to the United States. He had only ever left Paraguay once to work in Mendoza, Argentina for 3 years with his aunt so being scared is natural. It seemed like marriage wasn't going to be possible but the thought of us breaking up and me leaving was unbearable for both of us too. When my parents came, we spent a day out at his ranch and he got to spend a lot of time with them. They couldn't speak to each other but they figured out ways to communicate. I think he realized then that Americans aren't as scary as he thought. He also got to go to Buenos Aires with us, which was amazing. He had only ever seen the city from a bus window passing through. Seeing him ride an escalator for the first time is something I will never forget :). It was a great opportunity for him to see what else is out there in the world. We also got to meet up with some of his family that lives in Buenos Aires so that was awesome.

After that we began talking seriously about getting married and decided that although it will be hard (any marriage is difficult), it will be so worth it. So here is the plan:

It is a lot easier to get a visa to the US for a spouse than for a fiance so we are going to get married here in Paraguay. In order to do that I have to fill out a bunch of paperwork to send to Peace Corps/Washington and get their OK, which should take 3 months. So our date is set for November 19th, which gives us a little extra time but doesn't get so far into summer that it'll be too hot to think. We are doing a civil ceremony here at his house with his family, some of my volunteer friends and a few people from Peace Corps as witnesses. We're going to try to have someone film it too for everyone back home. Then, once we're back in the States we'll have another ceremony for my family and friends since they won't be able to come here.

Elvio is starting English classes with a volunteer friend of mine this next week. He also got a full-time job last month and we've started saving up money for his passport, visa and plane ticket back to the US (mine is all paid for by Peace Corps thankfully).

I know this probably comes as a shock to a lot of you because I'm not able to keep in touch very well and you all haven't even met this guy. But I have no doubt in my mind that this is right for me. I am so happy and excited and when we're together we keep looking at each and burst out laughing and say "we're getting married!!". And I know that once you meet Elvio you will know what I mean.