I got my site placement! ...well, quite a bit ago, but I have been bad at blogging and updating you all regularly. The internet here is at times painfully slow, and, thus, I avoid getting in front of the computer. I'll be living in a little town called Yhú! In guarani, it means "black water." Don't ask me why quite yet, but I'm sure I'll muster up the courage to ask a local why it was given such a name in the next 2 years. It is one of the shortest, strangest, and most difficult names to pronounce of the sites that were given to the other volunteers in my group! I'm still questioning how exactly one is supposed to say it after being corrected by several people, but I'll have some time to practice the pronunciation!
We got our site placements not this past Wednesday but the Wednesday before. We volunteers are all spread out around the southern half of Paraguay or, rather, the part of the country that is not the wilderness known as the Chaco. Some volunteers will be located closer to each other than others, though no volunteers are typically placed in the same town as an other. The state, or departamento as they call it here, is called Caaguazu. My town is located 50 km from Route 2 which connects the largest two cities of Paraguay, Asuncion and Ciudad del Este, together. The two cities are on opposite sides of the country, and I'm going to be living in a little town in the middle of the country. On my bus ride back to my training community I was able to see out the window of the gorgeous views since there is very little for miles between my site and the city of Caaguazu apart from a lot of fields and forests. The town has the basics and I like that, but once you step out of town you feel in the middle of nowhere so it is a bit isolated, which probably makes it hard for producers and business people to transport and sell their products elsewhere. The earth there, in Caaguazu in general, is even more red than the typical reddish soil/sand that is found throughout most parts of Paraguay. It is a beautiful and tranquil place that I will call home for the next 2 years!
My main programs in the community will be focused on youth groups and the schools, although I'll also be able to work with the municipality. Although it is quite small, I hope to collaborate with the municipality's public servants as well, notably the mayor, who seems quite nice, rather young, and still idealistic, which makes me hopeful. I met a ton of people during my first visit. First, I met many of the youth that form part of an environmental youth group, and I also met students of an English class, and I presented myself to the high school's students and walked around to the classrooms of the elementary school to meet all the little ones. The director, teachers, and students were all very welcoming. In general, all the people that I've met so far have been very friendly. The town's people seem to have a solidarity all their own since it is a more isolated community. It seems like a very laid back, slow paced town in which life is pretty damn simple so I want to embrace that while also being very proactive in bringing out the initiative of the people to improve the community and, specifically, provide an outlet for activities and personal and professional development for the town's youth.
I promise I will post some pictures once I go back for good. Nobody really has internet in the site so we'll see how easy or difficult it will be to get internet access. Since I've been back, we've had training and Guarani classes as usual, and I've had some time to spend some good times with my host family here and with my fellow volunteers whether it's learning the Paraguayan polka with my mom, hearing and, subsequently, learning all the funny vulgar language in Guarani, laughing how funny some things are here, and also being laughed at for how funny we Americans sometimes seem to Paraguayans. It is all in good fun!
Also, before I sign off, I just want to inform everyone that my group and I will be swearing in this Friday, August 5th! Then, we have to be in our sites by August 9th, so I will be staying in Asuncion for a day or so for swear in then I will return to spend the last day and a half with my extremely loving host family. I will miss them much! And since I have not outright publicized such a sentiment, I will take this opportunity to say how much I miss and love all of you, my family and friends, that mean everything to me. I love you all more than I'm able to express!
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