Haku'iterei!

Before I translate the title of my blog, I want to acknowledge the death of a fellow volunteer here in Paraguay. As many of you may not have heard, I didn’t want this to alarm you. The death was due to a severe car accident. It doesn’t make it any easier to take or make it better understood, but it was an accident, and accidents can happen whether you’re here in Paraguay or the United States or any other place in the world for that matter, obviously.

Emily Balog, a volunteer in my sector that had been in Paraguay for a little over a year, died in a car accident on November 27^th, 2011. Why am I just writing about this now? Well, I guess I was just putting off; not because I didn’t want to or didn’t care, but because I couldn’t get myself to write about it and time passes quickly and I find myself now on the day before Christmas Eve not having written about it yet…until now.

The following Tuesday after the accident, most volunteers in Paraguay, myself included, went to the Peace Corps office in Asuncion for an event meant to celebrate her life. It was a beautiful event and many volunteers, each affected in different ways, pulled together and put together a nice but rightfully doleful celebration. I didn't know her very well, but Peace Corps volunteers are quite the family so t doesn't matter if you know the person well because I sense we all have a connection. It will take time I’m sure for many volunteers to jump right back in to work especially those closest to in her group (G33), but all volunteers here that I’ve met have struck me to be very strong, resilient people. For that, I hope that all can remember her in their own way and be able to carry her legacy on through their own service. I plan to do just that.

So the title. It means “It’s really hot” in Guaraní. During the past week, it has been over 100 degrees here every day. I don’t believe I have ever known the combination of intensely hot air and hot sun like those that I’ve felt here. If that is exaggerated, the amount that I have sweated here in the past week is not. Between it being so hot, walking around a lot, fixing up the house where I’m going to live, and eating little because all I want to do is drink water, I think I have lost some weight. I have no way of verifying that as I do not have a scale here to weigh myself, but I feel scrawny.

In other news, people have been busying themselves here in preparation for Christmas and New Year’s. As in the states, it is tradition for families to celebrate the two holidays together typically with a dinner of some sorts. For Christmas, many families stay up until midnight and then either go to sleep or go to a party or, more realistically, the plaza and get drunk and belligerent there. We’ll see what my first Christmas abroad has in store for me. I plan to spend it with my host family, which should be very nice.

In terms of work here during the summer vacation, I will continue work with the youth group, I plan to work with 2 schools in organizing their libraries and in requesting more book, I would like to do a summer camp with elementary school kids touching on various areas, I have a leadership camp to attend with a few youth from my community, and I have to finish my community study, which is a comprehensive report on the town, its history, conditions and resources, strengths and weaknesses, and possibilities for the future. I’m sure other things will present themselves, or rather, I will have to go present myself to things, which doesn’t bother me.

So as to not go on to long, I will stop and wish you all a very happy holiday, whatever the holidays may mean to you. Christmas will be a bit strange being in 100 degree weather in the middle of South America, far from family and American friends, but I have a very  warm family and some good friends in my town with whom to pass the holiday. It certainly is no replacement, but know that I’m well and happy. I wish the same for you all, and I’ll try to update in blog more often since I’ve done a miserable job of it thus far. Also, I’ll try to make the updates a little bit more interesting since life here, in its own unique way, is interesting and I should do a better job of sharing it than just writing about tragic events or very general, nondescript items.

Sending love and wishing you all the best in the year to come!

A Closer Look Into Black Water

So where was I for over the past 2 months and what have I been doing? Maybe I'll get to that. First, I'd like to invite you on a little virtual tour of my town. I hope that through my words, since pictures are tough to load with the connection here, you all can imagine the place that I currently call home as if you were actually here experiencing what I experience each day... It is much the same as any other place on Earth...Though now I'd like to explain why it is a special place, disregarding any particular judgment of good or bad things, to yhuenses and why it has grown to be a special place to me in such short time.

Yhú is a small city (they do consider it a city here although to me it's a very small town) that is located almost directly north 50 kilometers from the city of Caaguazú which lies on the main route 7. Between Yhú and Caaguazú, there is no established town along the route, and the sides of the road are bare for the most of the trip giving a glimpse of a pretty beautiful, rolling countryside used for cattle grazing and crops. The city can be reached from Caaguazú by a dirt route that becomes impossible to use when there is heavy rain. A few buses come from and leave to Caaguazú each day. There is also another route that arrives to the city coming from the west that is more reliable because it is made of cobblestone. The downside is that one's entire body experiences a tremor for several hours once the route becomes cobblestone and there is only one bus each day that uses this access route. One might say that it couldn't it be such a happening place due to its isolation and infrequent bus service; however, before 1945 it was the capital of its state. The town is of Spanish origin having been founded in 1904 by Daniel Garcia. The land of the town, like much of its surrounding area and throughout the entire country, is of a reddish and sandy soil. There are many parts, including in the streets, where I could mistake myself for being at the beach!

Upon arriving at the town from the south, one will see a stream which is the fluvial body for which the town is named. Still haven't gotten to the bottom of why exactly it is called 'black water." I'm beginning to believe that no one is quite sure. In the town, there are a few parts of streets that are cobblestone although the vast majority of streets are of the sandy soil that I mentioned earlier that are not too easy to walk on but I'm sure are quite nice if one were to fall off his or her motorcycle, since the motorcycle is the most economical, and therefore prevalent, mode of transportation in the town. There are few vehicles in proportion to the amount of people in the town. You can also just get around by walking, which many other people, including myself, take full advantage of. It is surely a great way to lose some weight since it is quite hot here most days here including throughout the winter months.

In the town, there are several public and educational institutions including a quaint town-hall or mayor's office, a school supervision, a health center, two elementary schools, one high school, a small locale where a few university courses are offered, a few soccer fields, a designated area for sports and recreational events, and a church. A plaza is located in the middle of town and from there it branches out giving to several small residential neighborhoods throughout the rest of town. There is a typical style of home here that has either a tin or a Spanish style roof with either material or wooden structure, most being of the latter style of roof. Most, but not all, of the homes have electricity and running water. I'm told that the families that do not have either share with others that do or access water from public spouts. Many homes have modern style bathrooms though this once again is a luxury that not all have.

From the south of the town, the land rises up a bit and flattens out once again giving to a vast countryside. Once reaching the north-side of town, which is really only 15 or so blocks from the south-side of town, two cell phone towers overlook the town giving its residence decent cell service but absolutely miserable internet connection since the towers are not made for such use. I guess it's not such a big deal since most do not have computers and the few that do aren't assured to have an internet air card. In terms of water and electricity services, the town is in decent shape. There are times, though infrequent, when the water runs low or out, and usually the electricity only goes out when it rains, is very stormy, or an unforeseen problem occurs such as the burning out of transformers which is what happened about a month ago.

The town is quite tranquil, except for those more rare than frequent occasions during which there are parties or some type of event near the plaza or a rodeo by the straight-lined, multiple lane horse track. I currently live on the main road in town a block away from the plaza. This means that during such occasions I can hear the "hustle and bustle" in and around the plaza, and during any particular day or night, I have the pleasure of hearing all the load motorcycles that whiz past my room. I will be moving within a month or so. Yes, I know I'm just throwing that little snippet of information now! I will be moving to a little home with a yard a little over a block away from the plaza as well, but I little more away from the noise of the plaza, a detail for which I'm very glad since I would like to live with less motorcycle noise and general movement outside my door. I promise i will try to take pictures soon of the house, though I will be doing some work on it so maybe I can do a before and after, though it probably won't look strikingly different.

So I guess I'll add a little bit of what I've actually been doing these past 2 months that for me have flown by pretty fast. Much of my work is with the youth group here, involving the planning of meetings, educational activities and community events, permission writing and presentation, and getting to know the youth and their interests. I'm also working on projects with information technology since there is a lack of basic knowledge of computer use. I have gotten to know and work with several leaders and organizations in town to facilitate many of my activities, and I visit the schools, public institutions, and local businesses to initiate relationships with proactive people in the community. Events that stick out in the pat 2 months are an environmental education festival, public movie projection in cultural house, breaking ground for group garden, trip to nearby town with youth group, aiding in English classes here, and giving educational talks on leadership, self-esteem and communication.

I keep myself busy. Some days are slower than others. Realistically, life is just slower here in general and much more simple. Everyone knows it in town. People drink terere (a cold tea drink) all day, they like to joke a lot, they like to play or watch soccer, they like to be in the shade at all times on hot days, they're proud of their both indigenous and Spanish tongue and their catholic values, and nobody leaves their house when it rains and life remains at a complete stand-still until the weather improves. That is by no means a comprehensive profile of how people are here and what people are like here, but it is a list of the few aspects of life here that have happened to come to me at the moment of writing this post.

Hope you all enjoyed my rare post. I apologize for not updating more regularly and will make an effort to put myself to write even if I'm tired and don't feel like it as I feel it serves as both a glimpse for you all into my life here and a way of looking back on my time here.

Until next time and sending my love from Yhú to wherever you may all find yourselves!

My first few weeks in site and Jopara explained (according to me)

Hello everyone,

I apologize for the infrequency of my blog posts. The slowness of the internet connection here is painful, and, for that, I often avoid doing too many ambitious things online since it can take sometimes minutes to open an email or sometimes just doesn't work altogether. Nevertheless, I am finally sitting down and writing tonight.

Tomorrow, I will have been in site for three weeks. I'm not sure if I feel that time has gone by fast or slow. I think more fast because I've been busy. Also, I feel very welcomed, comfortable, and happy here. This town is a good fit for me. It's small, tight-knit, but it has enough resources to work with as well. I've met a bunch of great people here as well, including several very impressive, inspiring students that are very dedicated to their studies and the progress of their town. I'm not saying that there aren't many obstacles for me and the people here to overcome, but I have a good support group here starting with the wonderful family with whom I'm staying first and foremost. I'm living close to the center of town in the house of a couple that has one daughter, who stays and studies in a bigger city a few hours away, and one pair of parents. They own a little convenience store out of their home like most store owners here in rural Paraguay. They are all very warm and welcoming and make me feel like family. The grandmother and mother cook very well, and the husband makes a great Brazilian dish of beans and some vegetables with rice called feixão.

I have collaborated often in these past few weeks with a student here. He worked and studied English with two former volunteers that were assigned here. He speaks English quite well (though still he has much to learn just as I have much to learn of Guarani), is a great student and community leader, and has a great spirit and character in general. We are already becoming good friends. He went to the United States through a program of the United States Embassy in Paraguay that provides leadership opportunities for deserved and underprivileged Paraguayan youth. He visited and stayed with a family in Montana for a few weeks, and, now that he is back in Paraguay, he is required to do community projects in his town, projects that he would be involved in whether or not he did this program with the U.S. Embassy.

I have gotten to explore the community a lot as well in the past few weeks. There are quite a few places to play soccer and volleyball in the town, which is quite nice. I've gotten to play with some of the youth here. They're probably surprised that an american can play soccer well. haha. I get along with them. I see some of myself in them, and I think they feel comfortable with me because they feel they can relate to me as I am not yet so old!

In terms of my activities since having moved here, I have been mostly meeting a lot of people, exploring the community by foot, visiting the schools here, working with a youth group focused on environmental issues and youth development, and assisting my friend, and sometimes filling in, with English classes here in the town's small community center. We are doing our first fundraising event this weekend, which will be a movie showing in the community center for the youth in the community. I'll let you all know how it goes. I might also be spearing a pig tomorrow as a past volunteer who lived in a community outside of town has come to visit and, for that reason, they're killing a pig for a nice dinner. I'm not sure why he wants me to do it, but we'll see if it actually happens. other than all this, I have been learning more Guarani, learning more about my community, and planning for projects and possible work for the project. I also went to the high school's olympic day inauguration of sorts. It was an event during which all the classes parade around and present their queens among which one is picked to be the queen of the school. Also recognition is given to outstanding athletes or students. It was an interesting experience to say the least, but I want cry if I don't get to see one for a while. Anyway, to be honest, I've been quite busy. I cannot complain about being bored as of right now because here's always something productive that I can be doing since there is so much to learn, figure out, and plan for. I feel like by the time I leave here, I will still be learning so much about the culture, people, language, and way of life here.

That brings me to my next point: Jopara. What is it? Well, that's exactly the issue on which I wish to expound based on my experiences thus far here in Paraguay. Firstly, Paraguay is a very unique country. It is the only Latin American country, as far as I know, where practically all its citizens speak, or at least understand well, the indigenous language that prevailed in the country before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. There is a great sense of solidarity among the Paraguayan people in this respect, and they pride themselves on conserving the Guarani language and culture which I believe is quite a feat given that Native American culture in the United States is more or less unheard of in popular American culture. However, inevitably things change over time. Countries feel forced to move ahead. With the arrival of the Spanish language and new and "advanced" things, There came a necessity to use Spanish to be able to express such things since the indigenous language didn't have use for outside terms until outsiders came in to the picture.

Jopara means "mix" in Guarani. One can say that most people speak Jopara in Paraguay, which is a mix of Spanish and Guarani. I understand it best as Guarani that borrows Spanish words, terms, and expressions to explain things for which there are no equivalents in Guarani, whether it concerns technology, modern day issues, or simply foreign ideas or objects brought here. The amount of Spanish mixed in the Guarani, for me, depends on how much someone grows learning the language and also where they live and their ancestry. I would say that people living in more rural areas, though most of Paraguay is comprised of rural zones, and those that have more pure Guarani lineage, tend to speak more Guarani and mix less with Spanish. I'm told there are still many areas where indigenous peoples still have, and that the people utilize little if any Spanish. However, if one is living in a bigger town or city, it is more likely that they speak a Jopara with a lot of Spanish and Guarani mixed together in, what seems to me at least, a random way that is not really formalized nor abounds of grammar  rules or structure on how the two languages are mixed together, if any at all.

Say what you want, but I think it's pretty impressive that the people are 1) arguably fluent in 2 languages and 2) conscious of the value in conserving the language of the indigenous population to which Paraguay owes so much of its culture. Some Latin Americans scoff at the Spanish that Paraguayans speak claiming that is impure and ugly. While many speak an impure form of Spanish since it is mixed with Guarani, they still speak Spanish well while also knowing another language as well. I think it's ridiculous and shameful that people would speak badly of and minimize a nation's ability to conserve its roots while also adapting to the world that continues to race forward. Pheww. Hope that didn't sound too much like a formal discourse, but I wanted to share with you all that very important aspect of life here. I think I've written enough for now!

Love and, until next time, Peace!

Aikota Yhúme!

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!

Heat in the Dead of Winter

Hello to all and hope all is well wherever you all may be in the world,

I will start this post out by expressing once again my astonishment and, in a way, my comlpaint of how hot it is here. I have been in Paraguay for just a little over a month and a half. It is the dead of winter here, and I certainly didn't expect this heat even though I knew it is generally always warm here all year round. It reached almost 90 degrees everyday this past week. Having said that, the weather here, at least in the winter can be quite bipolar. I'll explain.

2 weeks ago today I left to go on my second long site visit. I stayed in a town in the eastern part of the country about an hour or so from the Brazilian border. The purpose of this second long visit is to have the opportunity to stay with another host family for a few days and to experience the life of a volunteer. Our volunteer was very cool, and it seemed that he was integrating into his community well. I stayed on the outskirts of town in this neat wooden home. The thing about the home was that it was very drafty because the wooden planks that made up the walls of the house weren't always flush next to eachother so as to prevent wind or hot/cold air coming in. This past week was particularly cold, and I think it was probably 40 degrees in the entire house at night so once I got into my sleeping bag at night there was no way I was getting up for anything during the night. Anytime I stuck my head out of my military style sleeping bag that I brought with me to Paraguay, it would feel as if I was sticking my head into a freezer. Despite 3 freezing nights, the trip went really well!

The first day we met the host families with which we would be staying for the duration of the visit. The woman with whom I stayed, Arsenia, is an older mother whose several daughters had already left the house either to look for work in Ciudad del Este or marry and work in their homes. I got along really well with her. She told me a lot about her family and her life. During my stay there we did several activities having to do with self-esteem, working in groups, and communication with several groups of students from the community school. The students responded well to the activities and were enthusiastic to have us there although there were some students that were quite shy perhaps due to the fact that there were so many foreigners around. We also got the chance to visit the municipality, which is basically the town hall where the mayor and all public officials in the community work, and the cooperative, which is a type of credit union for which members pool together financial resources for their mutual benefit. Cooperatives are everywhere here in Paraguay. Banks and other financial institutions are few and far between unless your in the capital. All and all, I had a great time on the long field visit.

The week that followed was a busy one since, in addition to having class and training from 7 in the morning until 5 at night as usual, a city nearby called Yaguaron was holding its patron saint festival, during which many musical acts come to play on a stage next to the town's municipality. It was always a lot of fun. Orchestras, polka and guarania groups, and traditional dancers came to show off their skills. As you all may not know, polka and guarania are considered the two traditional types of music and dance in Paraguay. Guarania is slower and one doesn't typically dance to it. The polka, on the other hand, is always danced to, and the steps are quite easy that I have already gotten the hang of it through some practice with my host mom since she loves to dance! The festival lasted 6 days from two Saturdays ago until this past Friday.

This past weekend was very eventful as well since the 4 quarterfinals for the Copa America were played, and it was my host mother's birthday on Sunday, and, for that, her eldest son, Federico, cam to visit from Ciudad del Este. On Saturday we watched two games of which one Argentina lost to Uruguay and Peru beat Costa Rica. On Sunday, before the games, many relatives came to out house to celebrate my host mom's birthday. She has a huge family. I have a feeling that most Paraguayan families have big families and maintain well the relationships with their relatives. This makes for big celebrations since so many people get together for family events. After eating a ton, I watched the Paraguay versus Brazil game with all the relatives and, also, my four friends and fellow trainees came over to watch the game as well so there were more than 20 people in front of this small television with so much excitement and nervousness during the entire game since it was hard fought by both teams. The game went to penalty kicks as the game ended in a 0-0 tie after two overtimes.

Not to take anything away from my host mom's birthday, but this day will be remembered as the day when Paraguay beat Brazil in penalties 3-0. Brazil shot miserably, and Paraguay won! Well fought by Paraguay, although I believe that they only lasted because their goalkeeper, Villar, played amazingly, stopping shots that one would think would be definite goals...And so Paraguay goes on to play Wednesday against the winner of the later game, Venezuala. All of Paraguay will be watching. Well those that have access to a television that is! I suppose it was important to make that distinction... As I'm now tired of writing, I will leave you all with the news that I will find out my site on Wednesday. I'm excited, nervous...all of those types of emotions...But I'm calm and ready. We will be then traveling to visit our respective sites from this Coming Saturday until the following Wednesday. I'll update you all as soon as I can once I find out!

Peace and Que Paraguay gane la Copa America!

Happy 4th of July!

Hello everyone,

I have very little time right now because I leave for my long field visit in about 20 minutes. It's about 7:30 in the morning here, but I wanted to at least post a short update, and, most importantly, I wanted to wish my mom and sister a very Happy Birthday yesterday and a very Happy 4th of July to all Americans at home and abroad.

The past week and a half or so We've been very busy with more training and language classes. Our days are always filled to the brim with classes, training, and activities. Luckily, we got yesterday off, and I was able to visit Asuncion with my host mom because she wanted to show me around. We went to the center of the city, near the River Paraguay to see the Palace, Cabildo, Pantheon of the Heroes, and a few other landmarks of historical importance. We also went to this restaurant called Lido Bar, which is right across from the Pantheon of the Heroes. The food was amazing. The empanadas were the biggest ones I've ever eaten!

In a few minutes, I'll be leaving for a long field visit along with the other 4 trainees that are in my Guarani language class. It should be a lot of fun, and it will give us an opportunity to visit the school and municipality in the town that we're visiting. A better post will be coming soon after I get back from the visit so I can elaborate a little more on my activities the past couple weeks. Until then, Hope all are doing well, and I'll post more pictures soon hopefully!

Che ryguata...that means I'm full!

So yesterday was Father's Day...in the States and here in Paraguay! I would like to celebrate all loving fathers, alive and deceased, especially my dad and grandfather who, along with the rest of my close-knit family, mean everything to me.

Yesterday was extremely hot hitting nearly 90 degrees Fahrenheit. We're in winter supposedly so I'm kind of worried about how hot it will be in the summer, which is quite a long season here. My host brother told me it's not uncommon to reach 45 degrees Celsius here in the summer which translates to about 113 degrees Fahrenheit. I've been sweating like a pig to say the least the past few weeks... Anyway, back to Father's Day.

We went to a relative's house a few kilometers down the road, and I ate a ridiculous amount of asado. Asado, for those who aren't familiar with the term, is pretty much a barbeque with a ton of meat  consisting mostly of beef and pork. Here in Paraguay, they do not waste much in terms of food. They use every part of the animal, even blood, intestines, head, and any other part you can imagine, including ears and bones that serve as food and toys for dogs. I helped the men of the family prepare the meat a bit while the women made side dishes and the little kids played around the house. There were about 25 of us in total so I got to meet more of my extended Paraguayan family. I ate far too much meat. My host mom loves to serve me food. I'm convinced she would like me to become gigantic, that is, in a horizontal manner! The guarani phrase "Che ryguata" has proved to be very handy, though I still find it hard to eat a healthy amount of food here. After we got back, I fell into a food coma. Now on to other more important matters.

This past week was our first of 3 volunteer site visits. Some trainees stayed in pairs for the visit and a few went alone. I was one of the ones that went alone, though my commute wasn't bad as I only had to take one bus that only took 3 hours. I stayed in a tiny town in the south central part of the country. It had it's own municipality, school, a few tiny food markets, and, of course, several soccer fields. Everywhere I seem to find more soccer fields than anything else which I guess is great if you like soccer, as I do, but not so great if you want businesses and other activities that help the community. I actually got to play the second day. The other players were good, so it was a competitive game. I'm beginning to see that it quite common here to smoke cigarettes while playing here. I find this pretty hilarious and strange at the same time. I had to pay 2 thousand guaranis, which is the equivalent of 50 american cents to play. It seemed strange as it was only a pick-up game between friends. Little did I know, they bet on the games, and as my team won both games, each player on my team got 4 thousand guaranis so I made a 100% return. Haha. Peace Corps says we can't earn money during our service, but as I didn't know about the bet and as I would be using it to celebrate the win anyway, I don't think it was a big deal. 

The town in which I stayed is quite small, though the area in which my volunteer often worked is a much smaller, rural village called Potrerito Yvaty. I will put some pictures up of my visit at the bottom of the post to give you all an idea. My volunteer worked with the municipality a bit earlier in his service, but is now working more in the school in this rural area. I was able to go to the school with him, talk to some of the students and professors, sit in on a class, and, also, help him give a class. 

The volunteer was well known is his community. Everyone we passed would always greet us and often talk to us at length. It was pretty cool to see how he integrated into his community and how well he got to know everyone. He also spoke guarani well, proven by the fact that he would often converse with the locals in a language that I could barely understand, even though I could recognize that it was, in fact, guarani. One of the projects on which he will be working on shortly is a photography class for the students of this village. It will be an opportunity for the kids to learn basic function and use of the camera along with learning techniques and styles of photo taking. It sounded great so we talked about the program a bit and gave out permission slips to be signed and returned.

Apart from that, I was able to meet several people in the community, and everyone was very welcoming. Come to think of it, so far all Paraguayans I've met seem to be very friendly and generous even to the extent that people, in San Patricio and Postrerito, who especially don't have much would always offer me terere, food and their warm company. And by much, I am only comparing material possessions that a typical American family would have and that which a typical Paraguayan family has. This comparison, of course, is only based upon the little time I've spent here so far. Though, it reminds me how important relationships are and how unimportant material possessions are when it comes down to what truly makes a person happy. I like to think that I realized this before I came here, but I know that this experience of both being away from loved ones for so long and having to make another, new family here in Paraguay makes it much more real. My happiness and success here depends on the love from everyone at home and the relationships I build here.

Now I will put up some photos, which is probably what you've all been waiting for while working your way through my rambling. So here are some photos of my site visit. Enjoy! Perhaps, in my next blog I will explain and teach some of the Guarani language, gastronomy, and culture of which I've been learning so much these past few weeks. Until then, Peace everyone!

The main road in Potrerito with school on right

Some kids playing soccer!

Just before sunset

The Mighty Paraguayan Sun!

This is what we would call a "ñandu guasu" in guarani, otherwise known as the tarantula. They're quite popular in the Paraguayan countryside!