This first full week of language and training has been exhuauuussttinggg. BUT, it seems that we are now getting into more of the meat and potatoes of technical training, rather than just hearing about the things we can and can’t do and getting a lot of shots and paperwork so that is awesome news. Yesterday several current education volunteers came to training to show us a bunch of the different things that they do in their schools and communities so that was really interesting. Also, we got to make sweet frames out of recycled magazines and cardboard AND plant some basil that hopefully I won’t kill. We also got our first major assignment: start a community group doing whatever type of activity you want. So naturally, I am planning on converting all the little soccer players in my neighborhood to ruggers. And trust me, this will be nothing short of a religious intervention-I am considering asking the two Mormon missionaries next door for strategy advice. I’m going to spend this weekend/week talking to kids in the neighborhood about it and hopefully next Saturday we can have our first practica. I only have one ball but I figure they’re won’t be too many kids and I’m also going to ask Riso, a guy in the rural health group who played rugby for Vassar (go figure) for some help. Joanna, another girl in my group, wants to start an ultimate Frisbee club so we were thinking that maybe we could combine forces their too.

I spent a lot of time after school with my sibs this week. We went to a seven year olds birthday party where everyone was trying to hook me up with the policeman who lives next door and there was no beer because the party was for a seven year old-so that was awesomely awkward. However the good thing was I met a lot of people in the neighborhood so I recognize a lot more of the faces I see around every day which is nice. My sibs and I have also been doing a lot of music sharing-they are SO into lady gaga which is amazing. They also like to serenade me-see below por favor. They are very Paraguayan in their sense of personal space-which is that they don’t have one. They are always in my room and on my bed and asking me what I am doing so sometimes I have to just lie and say I am going to sleep so I can have a second of silence; most of the time I really enjoy their company, though. They also are very Paraguayan in the sense that they love to gossip. One of our directors told us the first day that chisme (gossip) is the national sport and futbol is the national religion. Well he nailed that one on the head. The amount of gossip that flies around my house in any given day is enough for three telenovelas- who’s cheating on who, who died, who had a baby, who used to be cheating on who, who’s hair salon is the best, anything is fair game. And since my madre is a door to door clothing merchant gathering the chisme from all over town is just another day’s work. It’s a very funny and entertaining part of the culture for sure.

My sister got her laptop that she won in the princess contest fixed so she’s been glued to that for a couple days now. They keep saying something about wifi-but I see nada of this so far. It’s ok though, people are getting really internet crazy because it’s so easily accessible but I’m trying to make the break clean and early just in case I get sent to the campo and don’t see a computer for the next two years. Also it costs money that I will probably soon run out of.

The money is still a bit of a mystery to me because everything has so many zeros on it. 1 US dollar=5000 Guaranis (or Gs, which is the abbreviation they put on everything-another very funny thing about Paraguay). So, in smaller, even amounts it’s easy to divide but once they start getting up there I get a little confused. There are also coins that the bank discontinued but are still in circulation and I always forget which ones they are so that sucks because I’m sure someone has given them back to me as change figuring I wouldn’t notice but oh well. All the volunteers say to just stop thinking and dollars and I’m probably going to have to give up soon but I just want to make sure I don’t run out of money the first two weeks. There are a lot of other funny things about Paraguay other than the money, mostly surrounding food such as: if you put lime on your food, it will kill some of the calories (HOORAY! IT’S A MIRACLE!) also, you cannot eat a mango after you drink milk or you WILL explode-my neighbor trainee friend Ian found this out the hard way. In addition-watermelon and terere is under no circumstances allowed for fear of the same consequences. I also cannot seem to convince them that mcdonalds is bad for you-my older brother who works in Asuncion eats his “cuarto libra con queso” every day after work, but tells me he is so skinny that it must not be bad for him. I want to find Super Size Me in Spanish so bad.

Tonight is the Valentines Day themed Carnival-so naturally Dede is doing my nails and we’re going to get our hair and fake eye lashes done. I’m nervous but I’m going to embrace it because I think my family thinks I’m kind of a tom boy-surprise surprise. A lot of the people from the group of trainees are going and also Barbara, the volunteer who came back to train us and is staying in my neighbor’s house. This is going to be my first real cultural experience with the jovenes so it should be very exciting and interesting. Dede just told me she doesn’t want to go now because it rained last night and there is too much mud in the streets-I’m sure she’ll come around once she starts doing my nails though.

I really am going to try to put up pictures soon but I feel a little weird walking around with my camera out taking pictures of things these people see every day. I also recently found out that the three guys who sit outside and drink across the street from me all day are professional thieves so I’m not sure I want to be flaunting my electronics, although we do have the policia right next door gracias a dios. I promise pictures are coming though. I am going into Asuncion next Thursday for the first time to see the Peace Corp Office in the embassy (yay!) and do a little scavenger hunt to get to know the city so I will be sure to take some photos of the sights then.

Carnival was a lot of fun and craziness. It was an outdoor club called urbana and there was a DJ and foam and strippers and all kind of crazy things. We didn’t stay too late- apparently the party goes to sun rise. All in all it was a good first night out in Guarambare.

Tuesday is Matias’s, the little boy down the street who lives in Ian’s house birthday so we all went to the soccer field to watch the kids play soccer and have a barbeque. A huge hunk of beef, a whole chicken or two and a bunch of chicken sausages made up the meal along with bread, mandiocha (starchy potato like vegetable that goes with most every meal here) and some beer and whiskey. The boys played and played and played and myself, Ian, Barbara who is still visiting, and a couple other volunteers soaked up some asada (bbq) culture and even jumped in the game a little ourselves. Alberto, Matias’s father, manned the grill and served the drinks. He is quite the party man. Later some of the older men played and my host brother Luisito came down to show off his much advertised skills as well. On the way home we stopped for some really good ice cream around the corner. All in all a lovely Paraguayan day-and I didn’t even get that sunburned!

Attention friends who want to come to South America to see me: we got our lecture about vacation time and stuff this week so I just wanted to keep you updated. First of all they told us that we need a visa that is kind of expensive if we want to go to Brazil (Trev-what do you know of these things?) Also, it seems like it’s a bit more expensive than I was anticipating to get out of Paraguay SO-if you could coordinate your trips that would be muy bien for me and also probably more fun for us as well. Oh yea and I lied, you can come as of July not September sorry I can’t count. Cannot wait to see you all- you would all love this!

Lovin you all big,
Jaimala q.




and now for your viewing pleasure: Arielito y Diedi