Vacation

It's been pointed out that I haven't updated in a really long time. Sorry about that. To be honest I haven't updated because I haven't felt like I've done anything in a long time. I spent the month of April mostly preparing for my parents arrival on April 30. I tried to look at my house from an American perspective and it freaked me out a little bit that my parents would soon be seeing the way I've been living for the past year. It's not bad or anything, I have electricity and running water, but it's definitely different than what their used to. So I finally put a roof on my latrine and brought a guy in the put hot water in my shower and I think those things helped a lot.

Also in April I went to Asunción for my 1-year medical exams and In-Service Training. All of us were shocked to hear that a year from that day (April 26th) would be our last days as volunteers. The time is flying by so quickly, I still can't quite believe that a year has already passed in my site. We talked about all the things we have accomplished in our sites and all the things we still want to do. There is still much work to be done.

My parents arrived right after that training in April 30. That hour waiting for them in the airport was the most stressful hour of my life. But the minute I saw their faces, the past 15 months apart didn't matter anymore, it's like it never happened. We were together again and it was amazing. I couldn't believe that they were finally here. We spent a few days in Asunción where I was ridiculously restless and ready to get back to site and show them where I live and have them meet everyone.

Once in site they got to meet my neighbors, who let me live with them for 3 months when I first got there and take care of me when I'm sick or have any kind of problem and are there for me whenever I need it. I asked my host mom one morning if she could help me kill my pig and she said, "But you don't know how to kill a pig. Let me talk to my husband and we'll get everything ready." They spent their entire day with my parents and I slaughtering my pig, when they may have had something else planned. We spent a day at my boyfriend's house with his family and ate a delicious meal (thank you for your sacrifice piggy) and just hung out. I'm used to hanging out and not understanding everything that's going on but that's new for my parents. They've told me since then that they miss terere circles and just hanging out with family. It's definitely something that doesn't happen enough in the United States.

After a really long and complicated series of bus rides, we made it to Buenos Aires and our gorgeous apartment. I was expecting to have some culture shock but it wasn't that bad. I was amazed by things like elevators and coffee makers and so many tall, tall buildings but I was surprised at how quickly I got used to it all again. Well sort of. I got used to it, but I still felt separate from it. I used to love to shop. We did a ton of walking in the city and we walked passed so many store windows where before I would have been drawn in, now I hardly gave them a second glance. It helps that I'm living in minimum wage in a developing country but it's not just that. I am surrounded by people everyday that live on next to nothing and they get by and they are happy with what they have. And me, I have boxes and boxes of stuff in the US that my parents are saving for me that I realize now is so unnecessary.

Speeches aside, Buenos Aires was amazing. I allowed myself to take a break from Peace Corps and relax. We ate good food, drank good wine and saw the sites. My boyfriend has family close to the city and I was lucky enough to be able to meet up with them to celebrate his cousin's 30th birthday. I had met some of them when they came to visit Paraguay for New Year's so it was good to see them again. My parents left from Buenos Aires and I got on a bus back to Paraguay.

I'm so glad my parents got the chance to visit. They had never been out of the country and now I think they feel a lot better about their daughter living in Paraguay now that they've seen my home and met the people that I call family down here.

So now it's time to get back into the swing of things. I was really sick this past week with what the first doctor said was stomach flu and what the second said was either parasites or an infection. All I know is, it was not pretty. This past Friday, the volunteers in my department had an event in town for International Environment Day where we put up posters about various environmental issues, handed out fliers and seeds. We didn't have as big of a crowd as we had wanted but it's a learning process and we'll do better next time. This week I'm going in for a meeting with my boss, one we have every 4 months to talk about what I've done in site and what I'm planning to do so hopefully that'll get me out of vacation mode and back into work mode.