After a year plus of applications and now about nine weeks of training, i FINALLY know where i´m going to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer. The town is called Limpio, more specifically Barrio Villa Madrid. It is about an hour north of Asuncion and I will be the third volunteer to serve there. There seems like there is a whole lot going on-newly formed library, community center, soccer, youth groups etc so its seeming like bored i will NOT be. I am going to visit for the first time tomorrow to meet the family I´m going to be staying with for the first three months as well as check out the current volunteers house which i will hopefully be able to move right into after that. Top to bottom I am super excited, more to come next week when i get back!
Un beso guazu a todos!
jaim
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
All Down Hill From Here
This week flew by for sure, and we all have the “it’s all downhill from here” feeling after getting back from long field. Everyone is pretty restless and language classes seem to get longer and longer but we are in the home stretch-site assignments in two days!!!
Monday we had our last model lesson in the schools, gracias a dios. The kids are really exhausting although totally adorable for the most part. It’s nice to see them outside of school because they get super excited and yell “JIMMIE!!” (They don’t quite grasp the “jai” sound in Spanish) from wherever they are. If being in the schools has taught me anything it’s that winning over the kids is the key to community integration.
The rest of the week went by pretty status quo. Thursday we learned a lot about nutrition and dental education which is for sure something I will be working on because if I see another meal cooked in an inch of oil I may vomit or scream. Friday was a technical field trip and we went to visit a couple really guapo (Paraguayans use guapo to mean hardworking, common source of confusion among Spanish speakers from other places) teachers who are doing awesome things in their schools and all I can say is I reallllllllllly hope there is someone like that in my school system. One woman came into the talk to us and she had twins two weeks ago. Super guapa for sure. It was a long day but luckily we stopped at a really delicious bakery and I had the loveliest peach tart to end my week.
Tuesday was Diedy’s sixteenth birthday so a bunch of her friends and her boyfriend came over after school to celebrate with her. We got mini empanadas and sandwiches and a big ol’ cake and blasted music to the whole neighborhood like any good Paraguayan does on their birthday. Compared to last year, for her quince, this was a very low key event but she was happy and her boyfriend gave her a really nice ring I’m totally jealous of.
We had our final interviews with the APCD (assistant Peace Corps director) about our site placements this week as well, but I got no indication as to where she is thinking about sending me so I’m still totally in the dark about the news I’m going to get Tuesday. I’m surprisingly pretty not anxious about it. They told us last week that all the sites have electricity and running water is a decent possibility and really after those two comforts it’s all pretty minor. After living in Guaramabare and doing both of my site visits to super rural sites, I feel like I’ll be able to find the beauty in whatever situation. Although I did make sure to mention that having a supermarket within reasonable distance would be sweet.
Some of the basketball players/fans in the group have a sweet 16 bracket going and I decided to join because well, 100 mil (20 bucks) is a lot of money to me right now. Also, I won the guess how many jelly beans in the jar game yesterday so I’ve been feeling lucky as of late. I really didn’t have a lot of intelligent choices because I haven’t watched any games this season but I picked the Butler/Wisconsin upset and I have UCONN winning it all, mostly just because I like the UCONN women but whatever.
In other sporting news, the day we find out our sites also is the day that the Paraguayan National Soccer Team and the United States National Soccer team are playing, in Nashville, Tennessee of all places. So, March 29th is turning out to be a very exciting day in the lives of the Peace Corps trainees of Guarambare.
Carly and Jeff discovered that there is in fact a basketball court in Guarambare so instead of taking the bus, we all played basketball right in town. We played some more 3 v 3 but eventually the sun got the better of us so we didn’t play for too long. The principal of the school was super excited we wanted to play though so we can go back whenever we want which is awesome.
We had our fourth week of rugby/UNO/whatever we feel like playing camp this week and it was SO hot but about 15 kids still showed up which was cool. Carly taught them memory which was confusing to them at first but eventually they started loving. They didn’t quite grasp the concept of “red light green light” but considering I’ve seen less than a handful of stoplights in this country I guess we can’t really blame them. Juancito, my favorite little rugger, couldn’t come because his aunt died yesterday morning. He walked past the field on his way to buy Coca-Cola and stopped to tell me about what had happened and was crying and it was easily the saddest moment I’ve had here. It was really great to see how kind and compassionate his friends were to him though, they all came over to give him a hug and ask how he was, something I for sure wasn’t expecting from a group in which the oldest member is about 13. The social dynamics of the group have been interesting to observe. On one hand, they can all be really brutal and don’t think twice about hauling off and smacking one another if they’re upset or even just playing around. However, there even seem to be some social norms that govern that type of thing. Last week an older kid cheap shotted a little kid and he fell and started to cry and Juancito first went to the younger kid to console him and rub his back and then yelled at the older kid and chased him to the other side of the field. Even in what seems to be a really lawless and careless social context, they really do have a lot of compassion for one another. My host father grew up in a neighborhood very similar to the one we go and play in and last week he was talking to me about it and kept saying how different it was then because “la gente se queria”-people loved one another. At the time I was thinking he was expressing a more or less typical generational discomfort with change that the older generation worldwide has in common, but observing and thinking about these kids have made me wonder. It’s a cliché to say that it comes down to the fact that materialism is empty and that money can’t buy happiness etc. etc. but I think it does have a lot to do with the fact that “la genter se queria” because la gente’s time is not consumed with a lot of the other things that people’s lives are consumed with, their time is spent with each other.
Last night we had a big celebration at Carly’s sister’s copetin for all the March birthdays since there have been so many but we’ve been so busy. The health kids trekked in from the campo and we made burgers the American way and had guacamole and cheese and crackers and Brahma and it was wonderful. Ellie, Charly, and I almost had to walk in the monsoon of the century with all the food in the total dark because all the lights in town had gone out but luckily Carly’s host sister and her pick-up truck saved the day. I got to wear the new dress I got made at the seamstress with was verrrry exciting, and Deidy even straightened my hair-it was top to bottom quite the event.
That’s all for now, stayed tuned for site assignment details in a few!!
Love always,
Jaim
Monday we had our last model lesson in the schools, gracias a dios. The kids are really exhausting although totally adorable for the most part. It’s nice to see them outside of school because they get super excited and yell “JIMMIE!!” (They don’t quite grasp the “jai” sound in Spanish) from wherever they are. If being in the schools has taught me anything it’s that winning over the kids is the key to community integration.
The rest of the week went by pretty status quo. Thursday we learned a lot about nutrition and dental education which is for sure something I will be working on because if I see another meal cooked in an inch of oil I may vomit or scream. Friday was a technical field trip and we went to visit a couple really guapo (Paraguayans use guapo to mean hardworking, common source of confusion among Spanish speakers from other places) teachers who are doing awesome things in their schools and all I can say is I reallllllllllly hope there is someone like that in my school system. One woman came into the talk to us and she had twins two weeks ago. Super guapa for sure. It was a long day but luckily we stopped at a really delicious bakery and I had the loveliest peach tart to end my week.
Tuesday was Diedy’s sixteenth birthday so a bunch of her friends and her boyfriend came over after school to celebrate with her. We got mini empanadas and sandwiches and a big ol’ cake and blasted music to the whole neighborhood like any good Paraguayan does on their birthday. Compared to last year, for her quince, this was a very low key event but she was happy and her boyfriend gave her a really nice ring I’m totally jealous of.
We had our final interviews with the APCD (assistant Peace Corps director) about our site placements this week as well, but I got no indication as to where she is thinking about sending me so I’m still totally in the dark about the news I’m going to get Tuesday. I’m surprisingly pretty not anxious about it. They told us last week that all the sites have electricity and running water is a decent possibility and really after those two comforts it’s all pretty minor. After living in Guaramabare and doing both of my site visits to super rural sites, I feel like I’ll be able to find the beauty in whatever situation. Although I did make sure to mention that having a supermarket within reasonable distance would be sweet.
Some of the basketball players/fans in the group have a sweet 16 bracket going and I decided to join because well, 100 mil (20 bucks) is a lot of money to me right now. Also, I won the guess how many jelly beans in the jar game yesterday so I’ve been feeling lucky as of late. I really didn’t have a lot of intelligent choices because I haven’t watched any games this season but I picked the Butler/Wisconsin upset and I have UCONN winning it all, mostly just because I like the UCONN women but whatever.
In other sporting news, the day we find out our sites also is the day that the Paraguayan National Soccer Team and the United States National Soccer team are playing, in Nashville, Tennessee of all places. So, March 29th is turning out to be a very exciting day in the lives of the Peace Corps trainees of Guarambare.
Carly and Jeff discovered that there is in fact a basketball court in Guarambare so instead of taking the bus, we all played basketball right in town. We played some more 3 v 3 but eventually the sun got the better of us so we didn’t play for too long. The principal of the school was super excited we wanted to play though so we can go back whenever we want which is awesome.
We had our fourth week of rugby/UNO/whatever we feel like playing camp this week and it was SO hot but about 15 kids still showed up which was cool. Carly taught them memory which was confusing to them at first but eventually they started loving. They didn’t quite grasp the concept of “red light green light” but considering I’ve seen less than a handful of stoplights in this country I guess we can’t really blame them. Juancito, my favorite little rugger, couldn’t come because his aunt died yesterday morning. He walked past the field on his way to buy Coca-Cola and stopped to tell me about what had happened and was crying and it was easily the saddest moment I’ve had here. It was really great to see how kind and compassionate his friends were to him though, they all came over to give him a hug and ask how he was, something I for sure wasn’t expecting from a group in which the oldest member is about 13. The social dynamics of the group have been interesting to observe. On one hand, they can all be really brutal and don’t think twice about hauling off and smacking one another if they’re upset or even just playing around. However, there even seem to be some social norms that govern that type of thing. Last week an older kid cheap shotted a little kid and he fell and started to cry and Juancito first went to the younger kid to console him and rub his back and then yelled at the older kid and chased him to the other side of the field. Even in what seems to be a really lawless and careless social context, they really do have a lot of compassion for one another. My host father grew up in a neighborhood very similar to the one we go and play in and last week he was talking to me about it and kept saying how different it was then because “la gente se queria”-people loved one another. At the time I was thinking he was expressing a more or less typical generational discomfort with change that the older generation worldwide has in common, but observing and thinking about these kids have made me wonder. It’s a cliché to say that it comes down to the fact that materialism is empty and that money can’t buy happiness etc. etc. but I think it does have a lot to do with the fact that “la genter se queria” because la gente’s time is not consumed with a lot of the other things that people’s lives are consumed with, their time is spent with each other.
Last night we had a big celebration at Carly’s sister’s copetin for all the March birthdays since there have been so many but we’ve been so busy. The health kids trekked in from the campo and we made burgers the American way and had guacamole and cheese and crackers and Brahma and it was wonderful. Ellie, Charly, and I almost had to walk in the monsoon of the century with all the food in the total dark because all the lights in town had gone out but luckily Carly’s host sister and her pick-up truck saved the day. I got to wear the new dress I got made at the seamstress with was verrrry exciting, and Deidy even straightened my hair-it was top to bottom quite the event.
That’s all for now, stayed tuned for site assignment details in a few!!
Love always,
Jaim
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Villa Oliva
This week we all went on what is called “Long Field Practice”, basically another chance to see the life of a PCV and to do some practice out in the real world. My language class and I went out to the campo to see Carolina in Villa Oliva, a small town on the river bordering Argentina which was sweet because I’ve now at least SEEN Argentina. Baby steps. The ride there was bumpy and dusty because the pavement weirdly stops about 45 minutes into the drive, but we all survived and thanked above that we didn’t have to get there in a public bus. Villa Oliva is super tiny, about 1000 year round residents, but it was very tranquil and beautiful and safe. The house I stayed at was more or less a fruit farm with about 50 fruit trees in the yard filled with grapefruits, limes, avocados, mangoes, etc. Also, there were THE most adorable baby bunnies that I spent almost all my time playing with while I was there. Back to the fruit trees: since the Paraguayan population has somehow missed the guacamole train the rest of us have been riding for a while now, I decided to make some guacamole one night while Carolina made some Mexican style tortillas. To say it was a hit would be stretching it, but Carolina and I chowed down that’s for sure. As we’ve been learning in training, behavior changes take time so I’m sure guacamole will make its mark sooner or later.
We spent our days working at the school and painting the world map that’s in progress at the high school and eating ice cream and we even got to play some volleyball with some kids. Somewhere along the way I either got attacked by ants or had an allergic reaction to some grass but either way my feet are a lovely shade of red and itchy-thank god for the Peace Corps Med kit is all I have to say. We arrived back in Guarambare exhausted on Thursday but somehow Nana and I mustered up enough strength to walk across town to the cheese lady. Muenster and garlic cheese with some salty salty crackers-excellent way to end a long week.
We are finding out our sites in less than 10 days from now so its mas o menos all we’re talking about. It’s on my calendar in my room in all caps with big stars around it just to make sure I’m not thinking about it too much. I’m hoping for medium sized and somewhere in the vicinity of a decent grocery store and that’s about it. Some sort of body of water would be amazing as well but I’m not gonna hold my breath. I’ve only seen really rural sites on my visits, both of which I liked but I also very much like the size and energy of a place like Guarambare so I more or less feel like I’ll figure it out wherever I end up. Still, being on the river would be SO money.
Yesterday morning we went to the next town over to play some basketball! We took the bus to the next town over where they had a sweet court (ok, it wasn’t really that sweet but half of it was usable so it was sweet). Some of the health kids ran in from their communities to play with us too and we balled for a while until it got hot again. Then I ran home and ate lunch and then went right back to meet Carly for day three of rugby/volleyball/uno camp. Ariel decided to come again this week which I was excited about, but first of course we had to stop for some ice cream. There were a few less kids this time because a lot of the older kids were cleaning up the soccer field for the big inauguration today but it was still fun. Juancito, my favorite new rugby prospect, was there and showing everyone up again and even some of the littler kids were getting rowdy this week during the game. It really been interesting to watch the social hierarchy that exists in this group of kids, its very lord of the flies. It’s also an interesting study in personality types since you can’t understand everything they’re saying because they speak in guarani most of the time, but their personalities are very clear and you can see the clearly defined roles they have in their basically parentless society/social circle in this barrio.
Until next time,
Jaim
We spent our days working at the school and painting the world map that’s in progress at the high school and eating ice cream and we even got to play some volleyball with some kids. Somewhere along the way I either got attacked by ants or had an allergic reaction to some grass but either way my feet are a lovely shade of red and itchy-thank god for the Peace Corps Med kit is all I have to say. We arrived back in Guarambare exhausted on Thursday but somehow Nana and I mustered up enough strength to walk across town to the cheese lady. Muenster and garlic cheese with some salty salty crackers-excellent way to end a long week.
We are finding out our sites in less than 10 days from now so its mas o menos all we’re talking about. It’s on my calendar in my room in all caps with big stars around it just to make sure I’m not thinking about it too much. I’m hoping for medium sized and somewhere in the vicinity of a decent grocery store and that’s about it. Some sort of body of water would be amazing as well but I’m not gonna hold my breath. I’ve only seen really rural sites on my visits, both of which I liked but I also very much like the size and energy of a place like Guarambare so I more or less feel like I’ll figure it out wherever I end up. Still, being on the river would be SO money.
Yesterday morning we went to the next town over to play some basketball! We took the bus to the next town over where they had a sweet court (ok, it wasn’t really that sweet but half of it was usable so it was sweet). Some of the health kids ran in from their communities to play with us too and we balled for a while until it got hot again. Then I ran home and ate lunch and then went right back to meet Carly for day three of rugby/volleyball/uno camp. Ariel decided to come again this week which I was excited about, but first of course we had to stop for some ice cream. There were a few less kids this time because a lot of the older kids were cleaning up the soccer field for the big inauguration today but it was still fun. Juancito, my favorite new rugby prospect, was there and showing everyone up again and even some of the littler kids were getting rowdy this week during the game. It really been interesting to watch the social hierarchy that exists in this group of kids, its very lord of the flies. It’s also an interesting study in personality types since you can’t understand everything they’re saying because they speak in guarani most of the time, but their personalities are very clear and you can see the clearly defined roles they have in their basically parentless society/social circle in this barrio.
Until next time,
Jaim
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Kitties and Kiddies
I got a kitty! Ellie, Charly, and I were taking a stroll on Tuesday evening and came across a group of four kittens playing in the street. Naturally, we stopped to play with them and then when we saw the man who was living in the house we were in front of we decided we were going to ask if we could buy one. The man was maybe the oldest man I’ve seen in my life and I could barely understand what he was saying but as soon as he figured out that we wanted kittens he quickly and abruptly picked one up and handed it to me, instructing me that it was two months old and it only drinks milk. And this is the story of how I got Paz, my adorable little pure white baby girl! Luckily, my family loved her right away and Ariel helped me bathe her and feed her milk and has started immediate construction on a house for her in the backyard. The first night I had to keep her in my room because the other dog and cat didn’t know her yet. I think I handled my first experience as a new mom pretty well. She cried for a while but then found a comfy spot in my armpit and went to sleep for a while but woke up and diahreahed everywhere (yum) sooooo I changed the sheets and tried to go back to sleep. Same thing happened about three hours later. So this time I decided to try and be creative and find a way of keeping off my bed but since I don’t really have anything in my room except my dresser (which I very seriously considered putting her in and closing the door at one point) I gave her my bed and slept on the couch. I was dragging the next day but Paz was chipper and exploring the house-oh the power of a mothers love. And it turned out to be better anyway that I slept in the living room because my host mom informed me the next day that you can’t sleep with cats in your bed because they’ll make you sterile. Hopefully not too many Paraguayans use this idea as their preferred method of birth control. Anyway she is perfect and I am totally taking her to sight with me to keep me company and kill any and all rats and spiders in the vicinity.
My host dad really got a kick out of Paz too and him and I had a little bonding moment over her so that was nice. Also this week he proudly showed me how good of a cook he was and told me the story about his mother teaching him how to cook when he was little and that’s why he’s such a good husband now.
This week my family started construction on a big building on the side of my house that is going to be a book store/dispensa/cvs ish type of place they said. Hopefully it opens before because it looks like its going to be awesome. It’s interesting because there is literally a dispensa on every corner so you would think that none of them made any money but apparently it’s a very successful means to make a living. However, in choosing a dispensa it’s important to first evaluate the quality of their empanadas. Next you have to see if they have a good cookie selection. And if they have yogurt or diet soda then you are really in the money.
I had my first model lesson this week in the fourth grade. I decided on having them do a personal flag to get a little self-esteem and a little bicentennial education all in one. They seemed to like the idea of getting to draw but they really didn’t understand the thinking creatively bit. For the “what is your favorite food question” it was a 50/50 split between empanadas and asado (bbq) and for the “what do you want to be when you grow up question” all the girls put hairdressers and all the boys put soccer players, except one who wants to be a robber. They were a little wild and crazy towards the end but all in all, I wasn’t completely discouraged.
This weekend we had our second rugby/uno/volleyball mini camp with the kids in the barrio across town. It was for sure one of the hottest days since we’ve been here but we had a pretty good turn out and they all were really attentive and interested in learning something new. I have a small but loyal following of boys who seem into rugby which I am suuuuper psyched about. Riso came in from the campo to help me so we did some passing and tackling and then introduced the idea of passing backwards which I was nervous about but they picked it up right away. There is one kid, Juan, who is so freaking good I swear he could play for MCWR already. (his grease helmet would give you guys a run for your money though) After rugby I came home and Luisito and my host dad and one of the cousins were getting ready to go over to their grandmother’s house to play some futbol so I tagged along figuring it would be mas o menos cultural. Their grandmother lives on a huge piece of land, part of which she made into a soccer field she rents out to a semi pro team in the area. A bunch of guys from the neighborhood came and played for a while. My 53 year old host dad even got in there and banged around with the 20 somethings which was pretty impressive. Afterwards grandma started up the music and brought out buckets of beer for everyone along with her leather whip that apparently is the price you have to pay for using her field. It was really funny to see all five foot nothing of her wobbling around trying to whip grown men. She also insisted on asking me when I was going to get married in Guarani about 12 times even though I told her I didn’t understand until Luisito finally translated for me. Thank dios or I think I would’ve been the whips next victim. All in all I think it’s safe to say grandma knows how to throw a party.
Speaking of dios, Lent started this week so there have been a lot of masses in the big church all week. My family hasn’t gone yet but hopefully they’ll go to watch the people throw money off the church at least. Let me explain: a while back a man had a daughter who was born really sick and the doctors thought she was going to die. So, this man prayed and prayed and his daughter got better so that year at a certain point during lent he went up on the roof of the church and threw off some money to show his gratitude. The idea caught on and now every year if you prayed for something and it happened you have to go hurl some guaranies off the roof.
I think that is all for now. Next week we venture to Villa Oliva for some more hands on practica so I am sure I will have much to report after that!
Como siempre, loving and missing you all!!
My host dad really got a kick out of Paz too and him and I had a little bonding moment over her so that was nice. Also this week he proudly showed me how good of a cook he was and told me the story about his mother teaching him how to cook when he was little and that’s why he’s such a good husband now.
This week my family started construction on a big building on the side of my house that is going to be a book store/dispensa/cvs ish type of place they said. Hopefully it opens before because it looks like its going to be awesome. It’s interesting because there is literally a dispensa on every corner so you would think that none of them made any money but apparently it’s a very successful means to make a living. However, in choosing a dispensa it’s important to first evaluate the quality of their empanadas. Next you have to see if they have a good cookie selection. And if they have yogurt or diet soda then you are really in the money.
I had my first model lesson this week in the fourth grade. I decided on having them do a personal flag to get a little self-esteem and a little bicentennial education all in one. They seemed to like the idea of getting to draw but they really didn’t understand the thinking creatively bit. For the “what is your favorite food question” it was a 50/50 split between empanadas and asado (bbq) and for the “what do you want to be when you grow up question” all the girls put hairdressers and all the boys put soccer players, except one who wants to be a robber. They were a little wild and crazy towards the end but all in all, I wasn’t completely discouraged.
This weekend we had our second rugby/uno/volleyball mini camp with the kids in the barrio across town. It was for sure one of the hottest days since we’ve been here but we had a pretty good turn out and they all were really attentive and interested in learning something new. I have a small but loyal following of boys who seem into rugby which I am suuuuper psyched about. Riso came in from the campo to help me so we did some passing and tackling and then introduced the idea of passing backwards which I was nervous about but they picked it up right away. There is one kid, Juan, who is so freaking good I swear he could play for MCWR already. (his grease helmet would give you guys a run for your money though) After rugby I came home and Luisito and my host dad and one of the cousins were getting ready to go over to their grandmother’s house to play some futbol so I tagged along figuring it would be mas o menos cultural. Their grandmother lives on a huge piece of land, part of which she made into a soccer field she rents out to a semi pro team in the area. A bunch of guys from the neighborhood came and played for a while. My 53 year old host dad even got in there and banged around with the 20 somethings which was pretty impressive. Afterwards grandma started up the music and brought out buckets of beer for everyone along with her leather whip that apparently is the price you have to pay for using her field. It was really funny to see all five foot nothing of her wobbling around trying to whip grown men. She also insisted on asking me when I was going to get married in Guarani about 12 times even though I told her I didn’t understand until Luisito finally translated for me. Thank dios or I think I would’ve been the whips next victim. All in all I think it’s safe to say grandma knows how to throw a party.
Speaking of dios, Lent started this week so there have been a lot of masses in the big church all week. My family hasn’t gone yet but hopefully they’ll go to watch the people throw money off the church at least. Let me explain: a while back a man had a daughter who was born really sick and the doctors thought she was going to die. So, this man prayed and prayed and his daughter got better so that year at a certain point during lent he went up on the roof of the church and threw off some money to show his gratitude. The idea caught on and now every year if you prayed for something and it happened you have to go hurl some guaranies off the roof.
I think that is all for now. Next week we venture to Villa Oliva for some more hands on practica so I am sure I will have much to report after that!
Como siempre, loving and missing you all!!
Kitties and Kiddies
I got a kitty! Ellie, Charly, and I were taking a stroll on Tuesday evening and came across a group of four kittens playing in the street. Naturally, we stopped to play with them and then when we saw the man who was living in the house we were in front of we decided we were going to ask if we could buy one. The man was maybe the oldest man I’ve seen in my life and I could barely understand what he was saying but as soon as he figured out that we wanted kittens he quickly and abruptly picked one up and handed it to me, instructing me that it was two months old and it only drinks milk. And this is the story of how I got Paz, my adorable little pure white baby girl! Luckily, my family loved her right away and Ariel helped me bathe her and feed her milk and has started immediate construction on a house for her in the backyard. The first night I had to keep her in my room because the other dog and cat didn’t know her yet. I think I handled my first experience as a new mom pretty well. She cried for a while but then found a comfy spot in my armpit and went to sleep for a while but woke up and diahreahed everywhere (yum) sooooo I changed the sheets and tried to go back to sleep. Same thing happened about three hours later. So this time I decided to try and be creative and find a way of keeping off my bed but since I don’t really have anything in my room except my dresser (which I very seriously considered putting her in and closing the door at one point) I gave her my bed and slept on the couch. I was dragging the next day but Paz was chipper and exploring the house-oh the power of a mothers love. And it turned out to be better anyway that I slept in the living room because my host mom informed me the next day that you can’t sleep with cats in your bed because they’ll make you sterile. Hopefully not too many Paraguayans use this idea as their preferred method of birth control. Anyway she is perfect and I am totally taking her to sight with me to keep me company and kill any and all rats and spiders in the vicinity.
My host dad really got a kick out of Paz too and him and I had a little bonding moment over her so that was nice. Also this week he proudly showed me how good of a cook he was and told me the story about his mother teaching him how to cook when he was little and that’s why he’s such a good husband now.
This week my family started construction on a big building on the side of my house that is going to be a book store/dispensa/cvs ish type of place they said. Hopefully it opens before because it looks like its going to be awesome. It’s interesting because there is literally a dispensa on every corner so you would think that none of them made any money but apparently it’s a very successful means to make a living. However, in choosing a dispensa it’s important to first evaluate the quality of their empanadas. Next you have to see if they have a good cookie selection. And if they have yogurt or diet soda then you are really in the money.
I had my first model lesson this week in the fourth grade. I decided on having them do a personal flag to get a little self-esteem and a little bicentennial education all in one. They seemed to like the idea of getting to draw but they really didn’t understand the thinking creatively bit. For the “what is your favorite food question” it was a 50/50 split between empanadas and asado (bbq) and for the “what do you want to be when you grow up question” all the girls put hairdressers and all the boys put soccer players, except one who wants to be a robber. They were a little wild and crazy towards the end but all in all, I wasn’t completely discouraged.
This weekend we had our second rugby/uno/volleyball mini camp with the kids in the barrio across town. It was for sure one of the hottest days since we’ve been here but we had a pretty good turn out and they all were really attentive and interested in learning something new. I have a small but loyal following of boys who seem into rugby which I am suuuuper psyched about. Riso came in from the campo to help me so we did some passing and tackling and then introduced the idea of passing backwards which I was nervous about but they picked it up right away. There is one kid, Juan, who is so freaking good I swear he could play for MCWR already. (his grease helmet would give you guys a run for your money though) After rugby I came home and Luisito and my host dad and one of the cousins were getting ready to go over to their grandmother’s house to play some futbol so I tagged along figuring it would be mas o menos cultural. Their grandmother lives on a huge piece of land, part of which she made into a soccer field she rents out to a semi pro team in the area. A bunch of guys from the neighborhood came and played for a while. My 53 year old host dad even got in there and banged around with the 20 somethings which was pretty impressive. Afterwards grandma started up the music and brought out buckets of beer for everyone along with her leather whip that apparently is the price you have to pay for using her field. It was really funny to see all five foot nothing of her wobbling around trying to whip grown men. She also insisted on asking me when I was going to get married in Guarani about 12 times even though I told her I didn’t understand until Luisito finally translated for me. Thank dios or I think I would’ve been the whips next victim. All in all I think it’s safe to say grandma knows how to throw a party.
Speaking of dios, Lent started this week so there have been a lot of masses in the big church all week. My family hasn’t gone yet but hopefully they’ll go to watch the people throw money off the church at least. Let me explain: a while back a man had a daughter who was born really sick and the doctors thought she was going to die. So, this man prayed and prayed and his daughter got better so that year at a certain point during lent he went up on the roof of the church and threw off some money to show his gratitude. The idea caught on and now every year if you prayed for something and it happened you have to go hurl some guaranies off the roof.
I think that is all for now. Next week we venture to Villa Oliva for some more hands on practica so I am sure I will have much to report after that!
Como siempre, loving and missing you all!!
My host dad really got a kick out of Paz too and him and I had a little bonding moment over her so that was nice. Also this week he proudly showed me how good of a cook he was and told me the story about his mother teaching him how to cook when he was little and that’s why he’s such a good husband now.
This week my family started construction on a big building on the side of my house that is going to be a book store/dispensa/cvs ish type of place they said. Hopefully it opens before because it looks like its going to be awesome. It’s interesting because there is literally a dispensa on every corner so you would think that none of them made any money but apparently it’s a very successful means to make a living. However, in choosing a dispensa it’s important to first evaluate the quality of their empanadas. Next you have to see if they have a good cookie selection. And if they have yogurt or diet soda then you are really in the money.
I had my first model lesson this week in the fourth grade. I decided on having them do a personal flag to get a little self-esteem and a little bicentennial education all in one. They seemed to like the idea of getting to draw but they really didn’t understand the thinking creatively bit. For the “what is your favorite food question” it was a 50/50 split between empanadas and asado (bbq) and for the “what do you want to be when you grow up question” all the girls put hairdressers and all the boys put soccer players, except one who wants to be a robber. They were a little wild and crazy towards the end but all in all, I wasn’t completely discouraged.
This weekend we had our second rugby/uno/volleyball mini camp with the kids in the barrio across town. It was for sure one of the hottest days since we’ve been here but we had a pretty good turn out and they all were really attentive and interested in learning something new. I have a small but loyal following of boys who seem into rugby which I am suuuuper psyched about. Riso came in from the campo to help me so we did some passing and tackling and then introduced the idea of passing backwards which I was nervous about but they picked it up right away. There is one kid, Juan, who is so freaking good I swear he could play for MCWR already. (his grease helmet would give you guys a run for your money though) After rugby I came home and Luisito and my host dad and one of the cousins were getting ready to go over to their grandmother’s house to play some futbol so I tagged along figuring it would be mas o menos cultural. Their grandmother lives on a huge piece of land, part of which she made into a soccer field she rents out to a semi pro team in the area. A bunch of guys from the neighborhood came and played for a while. My 53 year old host dad even got in there and banged around with the 20 somethings which was pretty impressive. Afterwards grandma started up the music and brought out buckets of beer for everyone along with her leather whip that apparently is the price you have to pay for using her field. It was really funny to see all five foot nothing of her wobbling around trying to whip grown men. She also insisted on asking me when I was going to get married in Guarani about 12 times even though I told her I didn’t understand until Luisito finally translated for me. Thank dios or I think I would’ve been the whips next victim. All in all I think it’s safe to say grandma knows how to throw a party.
Speaking of dios, Lent started this week so there have been a lot of masses in the big church all week. My family hasn’t gone yet but hopefully they’ll go to watch the people throw money off the church at least. Let me explain: a while back a man had a daughter who was born really sick and the doctors thought she was going to die. So, this man prayed and prayed and his daughter got better so that year at a certain point during lent he went up on the roof of the church and threw off some money to show his gratitude. The idea caught on and now every year if you prayed for something and it happened you have to go hurl some guaranies off the roof.
I think that is all for now. Next week we venture to Villa Oliva for some more hands on practica so I am sure I will have much to report after that!
Como siempre, loving and missing you all!!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
One Month?!
As of Wednesday I have been in Paraguay for exactly a month. Loco. The days have been long but the weeks have definitely flown by. 26 months left? Weird. Anyway, I thankfully have completed another full week of training bliss. Let me fill you in on the highlights
Saturday
Saturday was the big classic soccer game between Cerro and Olympia (which apparently happens like once a month-what good capitalists these Paraguayans are) and I, naturally, was rooting for Cerro. It was an action packed game, everyone was shouting and cheering and arguing every call and every time someone scored fireworks went off all over the neighborhood (fireworks that I later found out were actually guns people were shooting into the ground in their backyards, yikes?) so you could most definitely tell where your neighborhood allegiances lay. I watched the first half of the game with Ellie and her sisters and her sister’s friends at this reallllllly nice house a couple blocks away and then the second half with Ian and his host brother Alberto, my favorite neighbor of all time. So, I got the full range of futbol fanaticism here in Paraguay for sure.
Sunday
Sunday was for sleeping, a failed attempt at a run because Deide and Ariel decided they HAD to come with me even though they could only run three blocks at a time, and some more sleeping/reading/in my bed activities. Nothing loco.
Monday
Today we really got into the nitty gritty of Guarani in language class. No bueno. The basic grammar is pretty simple but the other stuff is a little more involved and I’m way out of my academic mode so studying is going to be rough. In the afternoon I went on my second school visit with Profesora Carmen, fourth grade teacher at Defensores del Chaco, Basic School #261. After being warned by our trainers of the huge differences between Paraguayan and American schools I was preparing for chaos but was pleasantly surprised to find that Carmen had a pretty strong hold on her classroom management skills for the most part. She was very nice and interested in talking with me about things and even chatted with me about her upcoming diet plans. The kids slowly warmed up to me and by the end of the day were swarmed around my desk asking my name and where I was from and if there are schools “alla” (there) which is how most Paraguayans refer to the US, in this very never never land kind of way which cracks me up sometimes. One of the boys didn’t believe I spoke English and another one of them was very curious as to whether I had children “alla” or not. Thanks fourth grader. I need to start up a “Kids Say the Darndest Things-Paraguayan Edition” I think. Also, I think I’m getting tan because one kid asked if I had Brazilian cousins and here they think all Brazilians are black. Or maybe he was calling me ugly because they don’t think Brazilians are pretty here. Oh well. Interestingly, in my class of 24 there were only seven girls, including a set of twins. They all sat in a row all the way over to the side and didn’t do much in the way of participation so I think I see where I am going to begin when we can start doing some activities with the kids. Friday we are going back to do a diagnostic reading test on our classes.
I’ve started up my yoga-ing finally. And by that I mean I put my yoga mat down in my room and stretch and listen to calming music but oh well, it’s the best I can do until the humidity drops below 85%. Anyone know of any sweet pod casts or something like that I can download for yoga? I’ve also been reading like a mad woman so you literary amigos of mine start sending me some suggestions!
We found out where we’re going in a couple weeks for our “Long Field Practice” this week-very exciting. I’m going with my language class to a community called Villa Oliva and I don’t know too much about it except it said on our schedule that we have a chance to go fishing. So, I’m pumped.
Friday
Friday was our third practice day in the classroom and we got to start getting our hands dirty a little bit. I did the clothing relay with the kids which was hilarious and then did the diagnostic reading test which was depressing to say the least but at least now I know where to start for my model lesson. There was such a huge range that I think I’m going to stick to something outside the literacy realm. My teacher showed me pictures of her new nephew told me about her family. Her husband studied English in Georgia, and worked for Peace Corps here for a short time so that’s cool and gives me a little more confidence that she actually understands what I am there to do because Ellie’s teacher still thinks she is there to play games I’m pretty sure so that’s encouraging. NOT. I have to do a model lesson next week. Yikes. However, I did get some more practice in front of the class because my teacher made me stand up and explain how all black people don’t come from Brazil and that there are black people in America and a lot of other places too. So I felt pretty good about that and I was feeling all teachable momenty and then my teacher told the kids that all black people used to be slaves. Clearly, this is going to be a process. The kids are adorable though and they are much less shy this time too but they totally chisme about me in Guarani when they don’t want me to understand. Not cool.
Saturday
Saturday we all dragged our sorry asses to the big centro for a Paraguayan history lesson by this Paraguayan lawyer/professor who spoke better English than I do. It was really interesting and got pretty political at a certain point which is always fun too. We talked a lot about human rights things and the psychology of Paraguayans in regards to progress and free thought which is actually really fascinating to think about and really has so much to do with us being successful in our jobs. It also made me really love my freedom of speech/thought/assembly. For all its faults, America got that one right for sure. Although Paraguayans have all those things now, under the various dictators they had, especially Stroessner, they didn’t and it’s very apparent to see that psychologically and sociologically they have not recovered from that type of oppression yet.
After some intenseness we all naturally needed ice cream so we all bummed around Guarambare and caught up with the Health kids. I got some really awesome fabric for sooooo cheap and my host mom is going to take me to a lady who makes clothes tomorrow to get measured so that’s exciting.
After some good old fashioned skype-ing in the cyber I hustled home and rounded up my brother and a couple other kids to come play rugby. We went to the other side of town with Carly and her nephew and there was a gaggle of little kids waiting to play so we did a couple water balloon games and I made up a very basic version of rugby which translated to mas o menos kill the man with the ball. They were surprisingly good and you could for sure see the kids who were athletic taking off with it. I couldn’t get any of them to admit it was more fun than soccer though, just wait until they find out they can throw people in the air-adios futbol.
Today I plan to sit in my bed and try to stop wishing I could go get a bacon egg and cheese because well, they don’t exist here which I find totally bizarre but asi es la vida. I finally received and got to send some letters this week so all y’all start looking out sometime around St Patrick’s Day for them hopefully. Also, I finally figured out where the post office is in town so I won’t have to wait for the post ladies to come to me to mail things now although it is ridiculously expensive to send letters so emails and blogs are going to have to suffice for the most part.
Lovin and missin you all!
Jaim.
Saturday
Saturday was the big classic soccer game between Cerro and Olympia (which apparently happens like once a month-what good capitalists these Paraguayans are) and I, naturally, was rooting for Cerro. It was an action packed game, everyone was shouting and cheering and arguing every call and every time someone scored fireworks went off all over the neighborhood (fireworks that I later found out were actually guns people were shooting into the ground in their backyards, yikes?) so you could most definitely tell where your neighborhood allegiances lay. I watched the first half of the game with Ellie and her sisters and her sister’s friends at this reallllllly nice house a couple blocks away and then the second half with Ian and his host brother Alberto, my favorite neighbor of all time. So, I got the full range of futbol fanaticism here in Paraguay for sure.
Sunday
Sunday was for sleeping, a failed attempt at a run because Deide and Ariel decided they HAD to come with me even though they could only run three blocks at a time, and some more sleeping/reading/in my bed activities. Nothing loco.
Monday
Today we really got into the nitty gritty of Guarani in language class. No bueno. The basic grammar is pretty simple but the other stuff is a little more involved and I’m way out of my academic mode so studying is going to be rough. In the afternoon I went on my second school visit with Profesora Carmen, fourth grade teacher at Defensores del Chaco, Basic School #261. After being warned by our trainers of the huge differences between Paraguayan and American schools I was preparing for chaos but was pleasantly surprised to find that Carmen had a pretty strong hold on her classroom management skills for the most part. She was very nice and interested in talking with me about things and even chatted with me about her upcoming diet plans. The kids slowly warmed up to me and by the end of the day were swarmed around my desk asking my name and where I was from and if there are schools “alla” (there) which is how most Paraguayans refer to the US, in this very never never land kind of way which cracks me up sometimes. One of the boys didn’t believe I spoke English and another one of them was very curious as to whether I had children “alla” or not. Thanks fourth grader. I need to start up a “Kids Say the Darndest Things-Paraguayan Edition” I think. Also, I think I’m getting tan because one kid asked if I had Brazilian cousins and here they think all Brazilians are black. Or maybe he was calling me ugly because they don’t think Brazilians are pretty here. Oh well. Interestingly, in my class of 24 there were only seven girls, including a set of twins. They all sat in a row all the way over to the side and didn’t do much in the way of participation so I think I see where I am going to begin when we can start doing some activities with the kids. Friday we are going back to do a diagnostic reading test on our classes.
I’ve started up my yoga-ing finally. And by that I mean I put my yoga mat down in my room and stretch and listen to calming music but oh well, it’s the best I can do until the humidity drops below 85%. Anyone know of any sweet pod casts or something like that I can download for yoga? I’ve also been reading like a mad woman so you literary amigos of mine start sending me some suggestions!
We found out where we’re going in a couple weeks for our “Long Field Practice” this week-very exciting. I’m going with my language class to a community called Villa Oliva and I don’t know too much about it except it said on our schedule that we have a chance to go fishing. So, I’m pumped.
Friday
Friday was our third practice day in the classroom and we got to start getting our hands dirty a little bit. I did the clothing relay with the kids which was hilarious and then did the diagnostic reading test which was depressing to say the least but at least now I know where to start for my model lesson. There was such a huge range that I think I’m going to stick to something outside the literacy realm. My teacher showed me pictures of her new nephew told me about her family. Her husband studied English in Georgia, and worked for Peace Corps here for a short time so that’s cool and gives me a little more confidence that she actually understands what I am there to do because Ellie’s teacher still thinks she is there to play games I’m pretty sure so that’s encouraging. NOT. I have to do a model lesson next week. Yikes. However, I did get some more practice in front of the class because my teacher made me stand up and explain how all black people don’t come from Brazil and that there are black people in America and a lot of other places too. So I felt pretty good about that and I was feeling all teachable momenty and then my teacher told the kids that all black people used to be slaves. Clearly, this is going to be a process. The kids are adorable though and they are much less shy this time too but they totally chisme about me in Guarani when they don’t want me to understand. Not cool.
Saturday
Saturday we all dragged our sorry asses to the big centro for a Paraguayan history lesson by this Paraguayan lawyer/professor who spoke better English than I do. It was really interesting and got pretty political at a certain point which is always fun too. We talked a lot about human rights things and the psychology of Paraguayans in regards to progress and free thought which is actually really fascinating to think about and really has so much to do with us being successful in our jobs. It also made me really love my freedom of speech/thought/assembly. For all its faults, America got that one right for sure. Although Paraguayans have all those things now, under the various dictators they had, especially Stroessner, they didn’t and it’s very apparent to see that psychologically and sociologically they have not recovered from that type of oppression yet.
After some intenseness we all naturally needed ice cream so we all bummed around Guarambare and caught up with the Health kids. I got some really awesome fabric for sooooo cheap and my host mom is going to take me to a lady who makes clothes tomorrow to get measured so that’s exciting.
After some good old fashioned skype-ing in the cyber I hustled home and rounded up my brother and a couple other kids to come play rugby. We went to the other side of town with Carly and her nephew and there was a gaggle of little kids waiting to play so we did a couple water balloon games and I made up a very basic version of rugby which translated to mas o menos kill the man with the ball. They were surprisingly good and you could for sure see the kids who were athletic taking off with it. I couldn’t get any of them to admit it was more fun than soccer though, just wait until they find out they can throw people in the air-adios futbol.
Today I plan to sit in my bed and try to stop wishing I could go get a bacon egg and cheese because well, they don’t exist here which I find totally bizarre but asi es la vida. I finally received and got to send some letters this week so all y’all start looking out sometime around St Patrick’s Day for them hopefully. Also, I finally figured out where the post office is in town so I won’t have to wait for the post ladies to come to me to mail things now although it is ridiculously expensive to send letters so emails and blogs are going to have to suffice for the most part.
Lovin and missin you all!
Jaim.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)