me building a wellllll on my tech excursion!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
pic captions!
the first pic is me and my favorite paraguayan baby. his name is lexi and he is so fat! they call him gordi, which means fatty.
2nd pic is my host mom, Maria, feeding the cat and dog in our backyard. she´s a doll.
3rd= Eligo, my dad on his moto. he´s hilarious and we joke around constantly about how fat he is.
4th pic is my house!!!! we have 2 bedrooms, and a tiny little room this counts as their little store with some food, beer, and soap!
next is me holding the eel i caught! ignore the hair, ive been having a lot of bad hair days lately
and lastly, is my health training group living in guasucora. they are the best people ever and im so happy to be experiencing this with them!!
2nd pic is my host mom, Maria, feeding the cat and dog in our backyard. she´s a doll.
3rd= Eligo, my dad on his moto. he´s hilarious and we joke around constantly about how fat he is.
4th pic is my house!!!! we have 2 bedrooms, and a tiny little room this counts as their little store with some food, beer, and soap!
next is me holding the eel i caught! ignore the hair, ive been having a lot of bad hair days lately
and lastly, is my health training group living in guasucora. they are the best people ever and im so happy to be experiencing this with them!!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
sorry for the million updates, but ill post more pics later!! the first one is of my neighbors and one of the other volunteers named nicole. paraguay by far has the most beautiful sunsets!! the seconf pic is of my fellow guasucora people walking home from class, and the third is of my neighbor (who has the mosst energy in the world). enjoy!!
an update por finnn
Feb 10, 2010
This has been my first chance to write. I’ve either been unbelievably tired, super busy schmoozing with the other volunteers, or in meetings/orientations to get ourselves ready for service. I’ll start from the beginning. Expect a long one!
The last time I wrote, I was in Miami. Staging went smoothly and I had the opportunity to meet many of the other 48 volunteers headed to Paraguay. There are 3 different programs. One is Rural Health and Sanitation (me me! with 24 people), Urban Youth Development, and Early Elementary Education Advisors. Everyone has very cool backgrounds and have pretty much traveled the world when combined. Levels of Spanish are all over the place. I feel pretty confident, but Guarani sounds very intimidating.
At staging, we had meetings in the hotel about safety and security, health, expectations, and logistics. Then, we got busses to our flight, passed a few hours in the airport by having a few beers and a celebratory shot of tequila, then flew the 8 hours to Brazil. In Sao Paulo, we “snazzified” in order to meet our host families upon arrival in Paraguay. After the 3 hour flight, PC staff met us at the airport, got us through customs, and got us on a bus to our training center in Guarambare, about 35 km from the capital. There, we met our program and language professors, had a family placement interview, got our first week’s allowance (140,000 guarani or about $4/day) , received language dictionaries, and got pictures taken for our identity cards. WHEW! Finally, we found out who our family is and I have been gladly placed with Maria and Eligo, an older married couple. The 12 RHS volunteers in my site hopped on a van and were delivered to an awaiting group of Paraguayan women waiting to meet their “hijos” (sons/daughters). They clapped when we pulled up and it really was a moment that will be forever ingrained in my brain.
Maria and I got back to the house and I met Eligo for the first time. Their house is nice, yet very simple. They have an outhouse with a flushing toilet (I know many of you were worried) and a cold water shower in the same area. I also have electricity which is always a plus!! Maria showed me my room which is much larger than I expected. I have a pretty big bed, a cabinet for my clothes and other items, and a table for studying—basically everything I need!! I talked with them outside and enjoyed the view around me. It is very green here and very RED! Red dirt roads take over the campo. Houses are close together and most of my neighbors are family. Four of the other volunteers live very close to my house… I went over to the neighbor’s tonight and taught them how to play Go Fish with Nicole! Her host mom’s grandson (15 yr old Marcos) was over as well as many other neighbors (my favorites being Javi, age 12, and Dina, age 4). If we can teach them to play go fish, heck we can do anything.. right!!
I had bought a mug with a painted picture of Philadelphia on it for my host family; however, it broke during travel. Que lastima! But my host mom said she will try to glue it back together when she has time tomorrow!
Things seem to be going great here! Obviously it is a huge adjustment, but nothing that I can’t ease into. For me, the hardest thing will be the language. We have a language interview tomorrow, so we’ll see how that goes.
I also found out a lot more about my assignment! It is definitely a bit intimidating. We’re given a list of competencies that we are expected to have completed successfully by the end of the 11 weeks of training. Those include things such as cooking my host family 3 nutritional meals and explaining their pros and cons, building a latrine with a cement floor, constructing a brick oven, and learning and presenting about parasites, nutrition, dental health, and HIV/AIDS prevention. There are also numerous more, but these I find to be the most important. WISH ME LUCK! Love you all back home!
PS- It’s hot here. “Haku” in guarani.
February 17, 2010
It’s been a week since I’ve written and much has happened! First off, I’ve attained a million bug bites. Just as I wrote that, a mosquito flocked to my computer screen… how appropriate. I’ve been trying not to let it get the best of me, but it’s more annoying than anything having to itch a whole slew of big bites… on all parts of my body. I have also been sweating profusely since I’ve gotten here. I can’t imagine there being tons of snow at home. It seems like a world away.
MY GOD I just spend the past 30 minutes debugging my room. I’ve never had to do this before, but dude there were a million tiny mosquitoes infesting my bed.
February 21, 2010
Sorry my last entry ended abruptly. The mosquitoes won our little war and I had to shut off the lights and go to bed. Anyway, things have been pretty spectacular here! We’ve been having some intense training every day. My guarani is getting better and better. I finally understand the flow of it and how to make a decently long sentence. So far, I can introduce myself and all my personal info, talk about my family and friends, and I know a whole bunch of greetings! It is definitely a start!! In tech training, we’ve been making losas, the bottom that holds the cement for a latrine, as well as trash pits made with bamboo fences. Yes, I have used a machete! WOOOO. The tech part of training has been a bit more challenging for me. I obviously don’t have much experience doing construction and working with tools, so it has been quite the learning experience! Another hands-on project that we’ll be doing is building fogones (brick ovens). We’ve had several current volunteers come to site and give us lessons on how to teach about parasites and dental hygiene. I’ve learned all about hookworm, roundworm, pinworm, and girardia. Hookworm is one of the most popular parasites because none of the kids here wear shoes while outside playing in the dirt. The worm enters into your foot and lays eggs in your intestines. Yum. Roundworm comes from fecal matter that is spread through not washing hands, using/protecting latrines, or protecting food. Of course there’s pinworm which comes come out your butt. Many volunteers get worms while they’re here, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I get one in the next two years. Something to look forward to! We learned a few worm songs to sing in classrooms and some activities that can be used while working with children in the schools. Yesterday, we ran a “summer camp” at our training site to teach about 14 kids in my neighborhood about dental health. We did a little skit, played games, and sang songs to educate them on brushing their teeth. It was super fun, and I think the kids had a good time as well. The kids in this community are so amazing.
Last night we went to a carnival celebration in a nearby neighborhood. There was a parade of people in skimpy costumes and a small shaving cream fight! Then, we went to our first Paraguayan club. It was super fun and a really sweet experience. We also had a woman soccer game… peace corps vs. Paraguayan women. Needless to say, we lost both games, but we held our own! It was close and we agreed to play them again in 2 weeks. It was nice to run around and play soccer again. Today, I was learning how to play volleyball. It’ll take me a while to learn, but I’ll leave here as a pro!
My host dad had a birthday party on the 16th and all of our neighbors/relatives came! It was interesting and there was a lot of good food. The Americans started the dance party, of course. They celebrate by having “asado” or steak. Each invitee brings a dish of food and everyone sits around chatting and drinking.
Everyone here is really cool. We all come from extremely different backgrounds so it has been fun getting to know everyone’s story. There are 12 health volunteers that live in my neighborhood and 12 that live in the community that is about 6km from us.
On Wednesday, we go to Asuncion for the first time. We’re matched with one other person and it’s our job to get there by ourselves. It will be our chance to figure out the bus system and all sorts of travel information. On Saturday, we go visit another volunteer in his/her site to see what it’ll be like to be a volunteer. I’m very excited and am looking forward to it.
Also... update: my host mom took the time to glue together every single piece of the broken mug I gave her (TONS of pieces). She keeps it right in the kitchen so it reminds me every day how hard-working and compassionate these people are. It was a super nice gesture.
How’s everything back in the states?
February 24, 2010
I just got back from my “mission” in Asuncion. My partner was St. John, another health volunteer from the neighboring community. I woke up at 5, walked an hour to the bus stop, caught the bus to guarambare, then got on linea 32 to Asuncion. Our first destination was the store that sells the ingredients to make soap. We had to find out the prices of the soap making kit. Next, we hopped on another bus and went to a “chuchi” (high-class) park. They had a basketball court, tennis court, and soccer fields. It was a really nice stroll. Then, we got on another bus and went to the hotel that offers peace corps volunteers discount. They charge 90 mil guaraini per night which turns out to be about $18. We had a cup of coffee and then went to eat at the restaurant that is known for their American hamburgers and Italian ice cream. It felt like I was right back in the states! We made it to the Peace Corps office with plenty of time to spare! We did logistical things at the office all afternoon and then received our volunteer visit assignments! I will be visiting a volunteer in Caazapa. I think it’s about 4 hours from Asuncion. I’ll be going with another trainee named Carrol. We leave Saturday morning and will return by Tuesday night. Can’t wait!!
Things have been super duper busy here. I haven’t has much time to myself lately which is probably a good thing. I’ve been hanging out with my host parents a lot and a lot of our neighbors and other trainees. We play a lot of volleyball, soccer, and cards! I played cards with Diego (the 6 yr old that lives behind me) for 3 hours! He taught me how to play “casitas robadas” and it’s actually my favorite card game thus far. Tonight, my host mom gave me a beautiful pair of earrings. Paraguayans will do anything for you… seriously, some of the nicest people I have met!
Que mas?? Hm, nothing much else here is going on. It’s very difficult to explain everything that I’m experiencing. I think you’ll understand it best through pictures, so hopefully I’ll get those up and running shortly! Keep on checking!!! Love/miss ya!
March 2, 2010
IT’S MARCH! Which means state patty’s day! I’ll be thinking of you all! And THON?! How was it?
I just got back from visiting another volunteer! I left early Saturday morning and just got back around 7pm tonight. My host mom walked me the hour to the bus stop at 5am in the pouring rain! my partner and i caught the bus and got to caazapa about 8 hours later! the volunteer i visited was super guapa (hardworking) and we had a great time! we went fishinggg (i caught an eel), went to a quarry to go swimming, and cooked a ton of super yummy food. i successfully used my first latrine and bucket bathed! i also got sick for my first time.. i was waiting and waiting for it to happen, and it finally did. not to worry though, im pretty sure i´m over it already. Anne has a paraguayan boyfriend and he was super nice. she speaks mostly all guarani which was a huge motivator for me. we met 2 other volunteers near her site also who were also really cool and interesting. i went to church with the rest of her community... pretty similar to church in the states. played some volleyball, did some food shopping, trekked through some mud, dug out my own worms for fishing... a whole bunch of cool new things!! overall, a very eye opening and exciting weekend!!
This has been my first chance to write. I’ve either been unbelievably tired, super busy schmoozing with the other volunteers, or in meetings/orientations to get ourselves ready for service. I’ll start from the beginning. Expect a long one!
The last time I wrote, I was in Miami. Staging went smoothly and I had the opportunity to meet many of the other 48 volunteers headed to Paraguay. There are 3 different programs. One is Rural Health and Sanitation (me me! with 24 people), Urban Youth Development, and Early Elementary Education Advisors. Everyone has very cool backgrounds and have pretty much traveled the world when combined. Levels of Spanish are all over the place. I feel pretty confident, but Guarani sounds very intimidating.
At staging, we had meetings in the hotel about safety and security, health, expectations, and logistics. Then, we got busses to our flight, passed a few hours in the airport by having a few beers and a celebratory shot of tequila, then flew the 8 hours to Brazil. In Sao Paulo, we “snazzified” in order to meet our host families upon arrival in Paraguay. After the 3 hour flight, PC staff met us at the airport, got us through customs, and got us on a bus to our training center in Guarambare, about 35 km from the capital. There, we met our program and language professors, had a family placement interview, got our first week’s allowance (140,000 guarani or about $4/day) , received language dictionaries, and got pictures taken for our identity cards. WHEW! Finally, we found out who our family is and I have been gladly placed with Maria and Eligo, an older married couple. The 12 RHS volunteers in my site hopped on a van and were delivered to an awaiting group of Paraguayan women waiting to meet their “hijos” (sons/daughters). They clapped when we pulled up and it really was a moment that will be forever ingrained in my brain.
Maria and I got back to the house and I met Eligo for the first time. Their house is nice, yet very simple. They have an outhouse with a flushing toilet (I know many of you were worried) and a cold water shower in the same area. I also have electricity which is always a plus!! Maria showed me my room which is much larger than I expected. I have a pretty big bed, a cabinet for my clothes and other items, and a table for studying—basically everything I need!! I talked with them outside and enjoyed the view around me. It is very green here and very RED! Red dirt roads take over the campo. Houses are close together and most of my neighbors are family. Four of the other volunteers live very close to my house… I went over to the neighbor’s tonight and taught them how to play Go Fish with Nicole! Her host mom’s grandson (15 yr old Marcos) was over as well as many other neighbors (my favorites being Javi, age 12, and Dina, age 4). If we can teach them to play go fish, heck we can do anything.. right!!
I had bought a mug with a painted picture of Philadelphia on it for my host family; however, it broke during travel. Que lastima! But my host mom said she will try to glue it back together when she has time tomorrow!
Things seem to be going great here! Obviously it is a huge adjustment, but nothing that I can’t ease into. For me, the hardest thing will be the language. We have a language interview tomorrow, so we’ll see how that goes.
I also found out a lot more about my assignment! It is definitely a bit intimidating. We’re given a list of competencies that we are expected to have completed successfully by the end of the 11 weeks of training. Those include things such as cooking my host family 3 nutritional meals and explaining their pros and cons, building a latrine with a cement floor, constructing a brick oven, and learning and presenting about parasites, nutrition, dental health, and HIV/AIDS prevention. There are also numerous more, but these I find to be the most important. WISH ME LUCK! Love you all back home!
PS- It’s hot here. “Haku” in guarani.
February 17, 2010
It’s been a week since I’ve written and much has happened! First off, I’ve attained a million bug bites. Just as I wrote that, a mosquito flocked to my computer screen… how appropriate. I’ve been trying not to let it get the best of me, but it’s more annoying than anything having to itch a whole slew of big bites… on all parts of my body. I have also been sweating profusely since I’ve gotten here. I can’t imagine there being tons of snow at home. It seems like a world away.
MY GOD I just spend the past 30 minutes debugging my room. I’ve never had to do this before, but dude there were a million tiny mosquitoes infesting my bed.
February 21, 2010
Sorry my last entry ended abruptly. The mosquitoes won our little war and I had to shut off the lights and go to bed. Anyway, things have been pretty spectacular here! We’ve been having some intense training every day. My guarani is getting better and better. I finally understand the flow of it and how to make a decently long sentence. So far, I can introduce myself and all my personal info, talk about my family and friends, and I know a whole bunch of greetings! It is definitely a start!! In tech training, we’ve been making losas, the bottom that holds the cement for a latrine, as well as trash pits made with bamboo fences. Yes, I have used a machete! WOOOO. The tech part of training has been a bit more challenging for me. I obviously don’t have much experience doing construction and working with tools, so it has been quite the learning experience! Another hands-on project that we’ll be doing is building fogones (brick ovens). We’ve had several current volunteers come to site and give us lessons on how to teach about parasites and dental hygiene. I’ve learned all about hookworm, roundworm, pinworm, and girardia. Hookworm is one of the most popular parasites because none of the kids here wear shoes while outside playing in the dirt. The worm enters into your foot and lays eggs in your intestines. Yum. Roundworm comes from fecal matter that is spread through not washing hands, using/protecting latrines, or protecting food. Of course there’s pinworm which comes come out your butt. Many volunteers get worms while they’re here, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I get one in the next two years. Something to look forward to! We learned a few worm songs to sing in classrooms and some activities that can be used while working with children in the schools. Yesterday, we ran a “summer camp” at our training site to teach about 14 kids in my neighborhood about dental health. We did a little skit, played games, and sang songs to educate them on brushing their teeth. It was super fun, and I think the kids had a good time as well. The kids in this community are so amazing.
Last night we went to a carnival celebration in a nearby neighborhood. There was a parade of people in skimpy costumes and a small shaving cream fight! Then, we went to our first Paraguayan club. It was super fun and a really sweet experience. We also had a woman soccer game… peace corps vs. Paraguayan women. Needless to say, we lost both games, but we held our own! It was close and we agreed to play them again in 2 weeks. It was nice to run around and play soccer again. Today, I was learning how to play volleyball. It’ll take me a while to learn, but I’ll leave here as a pro!
My host dad had a birthday party on the 16th and all of our neighbors/relatives came! It was interesting and there was a lot of good food. The Americans started the dance party, of course. They celebrate by having “asado” or steak. Each invitee brings a dish of food and everyone sits around chatting and drinking.
Everyone here is really cool. We all come from extremely different backgrounds so it has been fun getting to know everyone’s story. There are 12 health volunteers that live in my neighborhood and 12 that live in the community that is about 6km from us.
On Wednesday, we go to Asuncion for the first time. We’re matched with one other person and it’s our job to get there by ourselves. It will be our chance to figure out the bus system and all sorts of travel information. On Saturday, we go visit another volunteer in his/her site to see what it’ll be like to be a volunteer. I’m very excited and am looking forward to it.
Also... update: my host mom took the time to glue together every single piece of the broken mug I gave her (TONS of pieces). She keeps it right in the kitchen so it reminds me every day how hard-working and compassionate these people are. It was a super nice gesture.
How’s everything back in the states?
February 24, 2010
I just got back from my “mission” in Asuncion. My partner was St. John, another health volunteer from the neighboring community. I woke up at 5, walked an hour to the bus stop, caught the bus to guarambare, then got on linea 32 to Asuncion. Our first destination was the store that sells the ingredients to make soap. We had to find out the prices of the soap making kit. Next, we hopped on another bus and went to a “chuchi” (high-class) park. They had a basketball court, tennis court, and soccer fields. It was a really nice stroll. Then, we got on another bus and went to the hotel that offers peace corps volunteers discount. They charge 90 mil guaraini per night which turns out to be about $18. We had a cup of coffee and then went to eat at the restaurant that is known for their American hamburgers and Italian ice cream. It felt like I was right back in the states! We made it to the Peace Corps office with plenty of time to spare! We did logistical things at the office all afternoon and then received our volunteer visit assignments! I will be visiting a volunteer in Caazapa. I think it’s about 4 hours from Asuncion. I’ll be going with another trainee named Carrol. We leave Saturday morning and will return by Tuesday night. Can’t wait!!
Things have been super duper busy here. I haven’t has much time to myself lately which is probably a good thing. I’ve been hanging out with my host parents a lot and a lot of our neighbors and other trainees. We play a lot of volleyball, soccer, and cards! I played cards with Diego (the 6 yr old that lives behind me) for 3 hours! He taught me how to play “casitas robadas” and it’s actually my favorite card game thus far. Tonight, my host mom gave me a beautiful pair of earrings. Paraguayans will do anything for you… seriously, some of the nicest people I have met!
Que mas?? Hm, nothing much else here is going on. It’s very difficult to explain everything that I’m experiencing. I think you’ll understand it best through pictures, so hopefully I’ll get those up and running shortly! Keep on checking!!! Love/miss ya!
March 2, 2010
IT’S MARCH! Which means state patty’s day! I’ll be thinking of you all! And THON?! How was it?
I just got back from visiting another volunteer! I left early Saturday morning and just got back around 7pm tonight. My host mom walked me the hour to the bus stop at 5am in the pouring rain! my partner and i caught the bus and got to caazapa about 8 hours later! the volunteer i visited was super guapa (hardworking) and we had a great time! we went fishinggg (i caught an eel), went to a quarry to go swimming, and cooked a ton of super yummy food. i successfully used my first latrine and bucket bathed! i also got sick for my first time.. i was waiting and waiting for it to happen, and it finally did. not to worry though, im pretty sure i´m over it already. Anne has a paraguayan boyfriend and he was super nice. she speaks mostly all guarani which was a huge motivator for me. we met 2 other volunteers near her site also who were also really cool and interesting. i went to church with the rest of her community... pretty similar to church in the states. played some volleyball, did some food shopping, trekked through some mud, dug out my own worms for fishing... a whole bunch of cool new things!! overall, a very eye opening and exciting weekend!!
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