17/8/2010
I just found this saved in “my documents”. My host sister must have done this one time while she was using my laptop. ----
Laura, Ever , Daniela y María Inés siempre serán amigos aunque estén lejos unos de otros, siempre se llevaran en el corazón
Con amor……………
Maria ines
In English: Laura,Ever, Danielle, and Mari Ines will always be friends even though we may be far away from each other; we will always carry each other in our hearts. With love, mari ines
I love these people. They’re so sweet. Another example of Paraguayan love is that I went to the elementary school yesterday to celebrate “Paraguay childrens’ day”. I just played some games with them like duck duck, rooster, red light green light, and a game of soccer… boys vs girls. I brought some chalk (thanks mom) so that they could draw on the concrete outside. I walked over there to see what they had drawn and ALL over the school yard it said “Daniela, te quiero mucho”…. Danielle, I love you so much. How ADORABLE! Then, today, I made some chocolate cake (for dinner, sh don’t judge) and brought some over to my new neighbors. Instead of just accepting it as a small gift, this cute little old lady had to offer me something of hers… 4 home-produced chicken eggs.
This past week, I’ve accomplished A LOT. I wish my busy-ness would be spread out more, because I know in a couple weeks, I’ll be back to not having much to do. But, I had my first brick oven commission meeting on Saturday. I went house to house to personally invite everyone and of course, only 10 people showed up. However, I was content with that because I feel it’ll be better for me to start out small and then later if more people are interested, we can form another commission. So, I presented the benefits of having a fogon, our peace corps model of the fogon, and what we need in order to construct it. Then, we voted on who will be pres, vp, teasurer, and secretary and sat down to write out the Acta that needs to be presented to the mayor in order to be recognized by the government so we can eventually petition for money for the project. WHEW. It was a very productive meeting, and I’m very excited about this project. One dude, named Alder was a god-send at the meeting. He explained everything I wanted to say much better that I could in guarani and patiently explained to the members about my mission, why I am here, and to please make me feel welcome in the community. He works at the municipality and he knew how to write up the official document which was a HUGE help. So, we’re going to wait about a week or so to see if anyone else shows interest, and then we’ll move forward in the very slow process of getting money.
On Monday, I started my nutrition lessons with the high school. There are only 50 or so students in the high school, so we broke them up into 2 groups and I taught both for about 45 minutes. We went over the food pyramid (but in Paraguay, it’s a food cauldron), then we planned a daily nutritious diet based off of a chart I presented them with. At the end of one class, we had a little extra time, so the student I took to the leadership camp in Pilar presented one of the games we played and did a very successful job at taking initiative and explaining the game. Yay! Tomorrow, I’m doing dental health lessons with four classes in the elementary school (wish me luck because pre-school and 1st grade only understand guarani…) and we’re making and selling detergent with one of the high school classes.
Lots of work, but I’m loving it.
On a different note, Briggie and Gabe will be having their baby any day now. I’m thinking about you guys always and GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!! I love you and am so proud and happy for you both
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
proud home-owner :)
11/8/2010
Hello, hello… it’s been a while. The past month has been a whirlwind of housework, terere, and project planning. Biggest news is that I finally moved into my house and I am in fact lying in my very own bed, not feeling bad about using my laptop or the internet because I am completely and totally alone, free of Paraguayans. Not that Paraguayans are bad of course, but it feels awfully nice to be in a place that I can now call home. Tonight will be my first night in Paraguay alone… after 6 whole months! I reached the 6 month marker which is crazy to think I’ve been gone for half a year already. Do you guys miss me yet?
So, I’m really achy. Housework is hard and I’ve been doing it for 2 whole weeks now. It took a lot to get this house “liveable”. It was a mess, but now it is beautiful! I have become a professional painter (I painted my room light purple!), a handy-woman (I brought light into my kitchen!), a gardener (I made my plant beds and started planting all kinds of goodies), annnnnd a cleaning lady (I spent at least a solid week just cleaning). I finished up some last odds and ends in my bedroom and moved all my stuff here. I now have at least double of what I came with thanks to packages from home! Pictures are up, bed is comfy, and everything is in place! I love it. As for the kitchen, eh… it could be better, but I’m waiting for my refrigerator and gas tank. Once those come, I’ll be able to start cooking and then I’ll become a chef as well. While preparing this house, I was frustrated, mad that only Sandra and my 8 yr old buddy were helping me, and tired of killing cockroaches and spiders. But now, after all my hard work, I’m so proud and happy. Obviously this is only my first night and a lot of things could still go wrong, like leaks in the ceiling which I’m pretty sure exist, but for now, I am very content and can definitely see myself living here for two years. I also have a lot of older neighbors who have invited me over for terere, mate, and fruit whenever I want to. They only speak guarani, so it will push me to continue learning even though it would be so easy to quit and give up because it is possible to get by with only Spanish, depending on the person.
So anyway—after a few scrapes, bruises, nasty surprises in dark corners, and paint-stained hands, I am officially a first time house-owner.
Hello, hello… it’s been a while. The past month has been a whirlwind of housework, terere, and project planning. Biggest news is that I finally moved into my house and I am in fact lying in my very own bed, not feeling bad about using my laptop or the internet because I am completely and totally alone, free of Paraguayans. Not that Paraguayans are bad of course, but it feels awfully nice to be in a place that I can now call home. Tonight will be my first night in Paraguay alone… after 6 whole months! I reached the 6 month marker which is crazy to think I’ve been gone for half a year already. Do you guys miss me yet?
So, I’m really achy. Housework is hard and I’ve been doing it for 2 whole weeks now. It took a lot to get this house “liveable”. It was a mess, but now it is beautiful! I have become a professional painter (I painted my room light purple!), a handy-woman (I brought light into my kitchen!), a gardener (I made my plant beds and started planting all kinds of goodies), annnnnd a cleaning lady (I spent at least a solid week just cleaning). I finished up some last odds and ends in my bedroom and moved all my stuff here. I now have at least double of what I came with thanks to packages from home! Pictures are up, bed is comfy, and everything is in place! I love it. As for the kitchen, eh… it could be better, but I’m waiting for my refrigerator and gas tank. Once those come, I’ll be able to start cooking and then I’ll become a chef as well. While preparing this house, I was frustrated, mad that only Sandra and my 8 yr old buddy were helping me, and tired of killing cockroaches and spiders. But now, after all my hard work, I’m so proud and happy. Obviously this is only my first night and a lot of things could still go wrong, like leaks in the ceiling which I’m pretty sure exist, but for now, I am very content and can definitely see myself living here for two years. I also have a lot of older neighbors who have invited me over for terere, mate, and fruit whenever I want to. They only speak guarani, so it will push me to continue learning even though it would be so easy to quit and give up because it is possible to get by with only Spanish, depending on the person.
So anyway—after a few scrapes, bruises, nasty surprises in dark corners, and paint-stained hands, I am officially a first time house-owner.
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