So life has been busy here! Last Wednesday we visited Asuncion, which is the capital of Paraguay, for the first time. That was an adventure and fun! We had a task to complete in pairs, and mine was meeting with a man that runs a company called CAPYME. We were given zero directions and just told what business to report to. We asked around our community and found out what buses to take where, and after walking quite a bit we found it. The guy was AMAZGING! He spoke English (which is almost unheard of here!) and his company helps small or medium sized businesses throughout the country. He wants a volunteer to work at one of his more rural businesses, but apparently the PC hasn´t agreed to that yet. He was really interesting though!
The capital is pretty dirty, just like the rest of the country. Actually, while at lunch an older man stopped me and said I was in the newspaper. He was from FL and said he never forgot a face. I hate to break it to you folks, but I am not famous in Paraguay (yet). It was some other PC volunteer, but apparently the main PC office is doing a lot of advertising for the giant 40th anniversary celebration in August. My swearing in actually! The president of PC will be coming down and its going to be a REALLY big deal!
Over the weekend, I was given the name of a volunteer and where she lived. Again, no real directions, just to find your way to the main bus terminal in Asucion and make it there SOLO. Made it there and got in my 5 hour ride to this volunteer I have never spoken to. Luckily, she was great! It was sooo refreshing to see the actual life of a volunteer. She had a really modest house... only two rooms, no fridge, no running water, a well that we couldn´t drink, and a latrine that was so far away we peed in a bucket at night. And you know what, I LOVED IT! You are one your own, you are doing good work, its just fantastic! I am really looking forward to having that freedom in a few months.
I lived with the volunteer from Saturday until Tuesday, and for Dia de Padre (Fathers Day), we went to a neighbors for asado which is BBQ essential. It was TASTY! Political talk started coming out though and although we all know I´m not a fan of our current administration, we have it way better off than most. W is a complete idiot, but Paraguayans lived under a dictator for 40 years. Strossner taught them to rely on others and never trust the government or any hierarchy of power. If people met in groups of 4 people, the police would come and break them up. This was only ended less than 20 years ago! So the older generations still talk about it, and although I do not think dictatorships are the answer to anything, a lot of people here liked it better. They felt safer in their communities and had a better economy, and thats all they recognize. The corruption is still prevelant here, but its just a lot to understand. It really affects the way I will need to observe others and motivate others, because honestly they are just unaware of all they can do.
This weekend is my first Paraguayan wedding and next weekend is the big 4th of July party at the Embassy! Its a pretty chuchi place, so we are all looking forward to exploring. Apparently the Marines are UBER competitive at volleyball at this party, so we have already signed ourselves up to complete. THEY ARE GOING DOWN!!!
More to come in the future! Also, if you email me and I don´t respond... do not worry! I am loving the updates but finding the time to write back to everyone is really tough! Keep them coming though! They keep me sane and you are all in my thoughts frequently!!
Friday, June 22, 2007
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
What´s new in the campo?
Its a holiday for Paraguayans, so we don´t have class. Its a short week too because tomorrow we´re spending the day exploring Ascuncion (the capital) and then on Saturday we leave (SOLO!) to live with another volunteer for a few days. I have no idea where I´ll be sent in the country or what project I´ll be doing with what type of volunteer, but I´m definitely excited!
A group of us traveled to Ita today, which is the closest "city" to our campo of Las Piedras. Its about a 20 minute bus ride. The Cyber wasn´t open yet so we explored. We ended up grabbing a morning snack for 3.000 Guaranis which is equivalent to about 60 cents. And that was for all 4 of us! Everything is so cheap here. Its amazing!
Saturday I was taking my regular siesta and my friend Andrew walked into my room. He was bored so we decided to go on a walk to the local town to see our friends in the Municipal group. As we were meeting up with them we saw a 3 firetrucks. I thought it was a parade! Oh naive Betsy... a 12 year old was thrown 5 yards off his moto and was in the middle of the road. I kid you not, everyone in the city was crowded around him watching. No barriers at all! Motorcycle accidents happen all the time, but I´m so glad it´s a PC rule that we´re not even allowed near them.
Its a month of celebrating San Juan, which I really don´t comprehend. All I know is there are parties every weekend in our campo! Saturday was the first one. Only myself and 2 other guys went, but it was intersting. About 75 dudes ranging from 13-25 years old and only about 20 girls. All of the guys are obsessed with meeting girls! I thought them claiming I was their girlfriend would save me from pushy Parguayans, but it actually does the opposite! I save them!! My friend Andrew was harassed all night by guys trying to hook him up with girls. It was pretty classic!
For the PC we´re required to give a "charla," which is essentially a chat about a business topic. They have to be prepared in a manner that those that can´t read could understand and its supposed to be in Spanish. Pretty much everyone is going in July but I´ve been asked to go THIS Friday! Luckily, I get to speak in English. Its about marketing and needs based assessments, so I should be ok. I´m glad to get it over with though!
Today is the anniversary of my host grandmother´s death. I have no idea when she passed away or how. This morning I was trying to get info out of my little bro about it. To confirm my suspisions that she was dead, I asked "where is you´re grandmother?" And so matter of factly my bro responded "in the cemetary Betsy!" He´s a character but can be a little brat. The boys are waited on by their mothers all their lives, so he´s already experiencing that and loving it.
Not much else to report! As we all know, Teale got engaged so congrats! Kel moves to DC Friday and Kyle´s moving to FL on Monday. So excited for you all!
Are there any questions that you guys have about Paraguay´? I´m running out of material folks!
A group of us traveled to Ita today, which is the closest "city" to our campo of Las Piedras. Its about a 20 minute bus ride. The Cyber wasn´t open yet so we explored. We ended up grabbing a morning snack for 3.000 Guaranis which is equivalent to about 60 cents. And that was for all 4 of us! Everything is so cheap here. Its amazing!
Saturday I was taking my regular siesta and my friend Andrew walked into my room. He was bored so we decided to go on a walk to the local town to see our friends in the Municipal group. As we were meeting up with them we saw a 3 firetrucks. I thought it was a parade! Oh naive Betsy... a 12 year old was thrown 5 yards off his moto and was in the middle of the road. I kid you not, everyone in the city was crowded around him watching. No barriers at all! Motorcycle accidents happen all the time, but I´m so glad it´s a PC rule that we´re not even allowed near them.
Its a month of celebrating San Juan, which I really don´t comprehend. All I know is there are parties every weekend in our campo! Saturday was the first one. Only myself and 2 other guys went, but it was intersting. About 75 dudes ranging from 13-25 years old and only about 20 girls. All of the guys are obsessed with meeting girls! I thought them claiming I was their girlfriend would save me from pushy Parguayans, but it actually does the opposite! I save them!! My friend Andrew was harassed all night by guys trying to hook him up with girls. It was pretty classic!
For the PC we´re required to give a "charla," which is essentially a chat about a business topic. They have to be prepared in a manner that those that can´t read could understand and its supposed to be in Spanish. Pretty much everyone is going in July but I´ve been asked to go THIS Friday! Luckily, I get to speak in English. Its about marketing and needs based assessments, so I should be ok. I´m glad to get it over with though!
Today is the anniversary of my host grandmother´s death. I have no idea when she passed away or how. This morning I was trying to get info out of my little bro about it. To confirm my suspisions that she was dead, I asked "where is you´re grandmother?" And so matter of factly my bro responded "in the cemetary Betsy!" He´s a character but can be a little brat. The boys are waited on by their mothers all their lives, so he´s already experiencing that and loving it.
Not much else to report! As we all know, Teale got engaged so congrats! Kel moves to DC Friday and Kyle´s moving to FL on Monday. So excited for you all!
Are there any questions that you guys have about Paraguay´? I´m running out of material folks!
Saturday, June 9, 2007
down on the farm...
Today we were supposed to have a lesson on Parguayan history, but the professor didn´t show we have a rare Saturday to ourselves. I used the morning hours to make a few phone calls on Skype, so if I random number is on your caller ID... ANSWER IT! Talked to Dad, Carolyn and Taylor and it was great to hear all of your voices!!
The food here is pretty nuts. A favorite drink is a mix of wine, Coke and ice. YUM-Y! Everything we consume is meat based or white... white rice, mandioc (which is a starch relative of the potato) and bread, hard or soft. GREAT! There are also ZERO condiments other than salt and oil. I don´t want to offend my mom too much, but we´re quickly approaching a conversation about the foods she´s pumping into my blood stream. The thing to do is drink mate. Its sort of like green tea but they add different herbs for different problems. there is even one for PMS, although I haven´t tested it yet! When I upload pictures I´ll include ones of us drinking the mate.
My average day is as follows...
6:30am: get up and shower
7:00: drink cafe con leche (but its mostly just sugar) and some hard bread
7:45-11:30: language training, and my language partner Brennan and I pracitcing sarcasm in spanish
11:30-1pm: my favorite time of day... SIESTA!!! (and lunch)
1-5pm: technical training about how to do development and work with groups
5-8: practicing spanish with my fam and playing more Uno than should be legal
8-9 or 10: study Spanish and Guarani, and reading up on developement
I guess this is what I would call living the dream? Ha! Its fun though and I´m still on a high, but they promise a bad day is just around the corner.
This weekend will have more volleyball or soccer and an American dance party. Should be fun! A fellow trainee´s bro is getting married in two weeks, and this morning I got the official invite! I´m PUMPED! Only 3 of us are invited so far... so we´re a pretty big deal! There is also a dude that lives in my community that is Japanese, which is rare. He´s really helped the community a lot and the local school is named after him! He´s in the process of building a pagota on top of a giant hill... so I´m hoping today we can explore it. I´ll let you know!
Keep the emails coming. I love hearing what everyone is doing!
The food here is pretty nuts. A favorite drink is a mix of wine, Coke and ice. YUM-Y! Everything we consume is meat based or white... white rice, mandioc (which is a starch relative of the potato) and bread, hard or soft. GREAT! There are also ZERO condiments other than salt and oil. I don´t want to offend my mom too much, but we´re quickly approaching a conversation about the foods she´s pumping into my blood stream. The thing to do is drink mate. Its sort of like green tea but they add different herbs for different problems. there is even one for PMS, although I haven´t tested it yet! When I upload pictures I´ll include ones of us drinking the mate.
My average day is as follows...
6:30am: get up and shower
7:00: drink cafe con leche (but its mostly just sugar) and some hard bread
7:45-11:30: language training, and my language partner Brennan and I pracitcing sarcasm in spanish
11:30-1pm: my favorite time of day... SIESTA!!! (and lunch)
1-5pm: technical training about how to do development and work with groups
5-8: practicing spanish with my fam and playing more Uno than should be legal
8-9 or 10: study Spanish and Guarani, and reading up on developement
I guess this is what I would call living the dream? Ha! Its fun though and I´m still on a high, but they promise a bad day is just around the corner.
This weekend will have more volleyball or soccer and an American dance party. Should be fun! A fellow trainee´s bro is getting married in two weeks, and this morning I got the official invite! I´m PUMPED! Only 3 of us are invited so far... so we´re a pretty big deal! There is also a dude that lives in my community that is Japanese, which is rare. He´s really helped the community a lot and the local school is named after him! He´s in the process of building a pagota on top of a giant hill... so I´m hoping today we can explore it. I´ll let you know!
Keep the emails coming. I love hearing what everyone is doing!
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
INFO OVERLOAD!
So the language training is super intense... our session today was all on contracting AIDS (which isn´t common here. YES!) and our potential roles in our communities when we´re solo. I found out that the whole "cotton farming assigment" is totally an example and they don´t even do much cotton farming here anymore. Great! As we´ve been told a million times since arrival... BE FLEXIBLE! Nothing is as it seems and you´ll never do what you think you´ll be doing. I´m trying to just keep an open mind, which isn´t hard since the local motto is tranquillo!
I´m making some great friends which is good and bad because in 3 months I´ll be at least an hour, if not a day, from each of them! We are in class 6 days a week so the learning is coming in full force. I just want to be able to speak Spanish, and that will make life much easier at home and traveling!
I taught my little brother Gabriel to play Uno the other night. He kicks my butt now, so maybe that wasn´t a good idea :) My mom doesn´t cook much on her own which is weird because everyone else´s mom packs them full of food. My mom gets someone else to make the empanadas which is what we eat a TON of! (Its meat, eggs, and rice in a deep fried casing). We have a orange tree, a few banana trees and yes... FIVE PIGS! I´m kind of getting used to the latrine too. Its not so bad until I get stomach problems which we are assured will come. GREAT!
Next week we get a treasure hunt with another volunteer in the capital. That will be a task and fun! I´m looking forward to exploring the city though, because we haven´t seen it at all yet. And then next weekend we´re sent out ON OUR OWN to visit another volunteer in the field. That will be rough too but I´m excited to see how its really done. I´m leaning more towards assingments with entreprenuerial women and youth, so hopefully I´ll get to experience that next weekend. Again, it could be ANYTHING!
The more I´m learning about development though, the more I´m loving it. I´m reading all the material I can so maybe this will be yet another career option? Who knows!
As for the phones, there are a few places (not where i live though) where international calls can be made. I´m going to try to figure it out ASAP so I can let mom and dad know I´m ok. Its expensive though so the calls will be quick! Also, they´ve told us that training is the toughest time to keep in touch. We are constantly in class which is away from communication. I´m shooting for once a week!
I love and miss you all... and please keep up the emails! Its great to hear whats going on. Mad props to Meghan and Carolyn for writing... MOM, DAD, Taylor, Kyle, Em, Cathy?? WTF?? :)
I´m making some great friends which is good and bad because in 3 months I´ll be at least an hour, if not a day, from each of them! We are in class 6 days a week so the learning is coming in full force. I just want to be able to speak Spanish, and that will make life much easier at home and traveling!
I taught my little brother Gabriel to play Uno the other night. He kicks my butt now, so maybe that wasn´t a good idea :) My mom doesn´t cook much on her own which is weird because everyone else´s mom packs them full of food. My mom gets someone else to make the empanadas which is what we eat a TON of! (Its meat, eggs, and rice in a deep fried casing). We have a orange tree, a few banana trees and yes... FIVE PIGS! I´m kind of getting used to the latrine too. Its not so bad until I get stomach problems which we are assured will come. GREAT!
Next week we get a treasure hunt with another volunteer in the capital. That will be a task and fun! I´m looking forward to exploring the city though, because we haven´t seen it at all yet. And then next weekend we´re sent out ON OUR OWN to visit another volunteer in the field. That will be rough too but I´m excited to see how its really done. I´m leaning more towards assingments with entreprenuerial women and youth, so hopefully I´ll get to experience that next weekend. Again, it could be ANYTHING!
The more I´m learning about development though, the more I´m loving it. I´m reading all the material I can so maybe this will be yet another career option? Who knows!
As for the phones, there are a few places (not where i live though) where international calls can be made. I´m going to try to figure it out ASAP so I can let mom and dad know I´m ok. Its expensive though so the calls will be quick! Also, they´ve told us that training is the toughest time to keep in touch. We are constantly in class which is away from communication. I´m shooting for once a week!
I love and miss you all... and please keep up the emails! Its great to hear whats going on. Mad props to Meghan and Carolyn for writing... MOM, DAD, Taylor, Kyle, Em, Cathy?? WTF?? :)
Friday, June 1, 2007
FINALLY HERE!
So please stick with me as Paraguay isn´t great on technology. Internet just hit a few years ago and cell phones are the latest rage for those that can afford it. I´ll try to give a recap of my new life...
Miami was short and sweet. I´m in a group of 16, 7 of us (Brennan, Andrew, Stuart, Dave, Will, Mary) though are my core group. I see the other 9 when we´re in our main training station in Guarambare which is just outisde the capital of Asuncion. We come from very diverse backgrounds. Everything form former music compsition major and masters to all-American lacrosse player, business owners and lawyers. I´m the definite baby of the group the. Another guy is 22 but will turn 23 in the Fall.
My group is pretty great! Five boys and two girls, so that is somewhat rare. The guys are all really specactular though and have taken me under their wings. I´ve always been better friends with boys anyway!
We flew from Miami to Buenos Aires and then to Paraguay. A few delays but nothing major. We arrived at the aiport and apparently I won the "Welcome to the Peace Corps Prize!" because BOTH of my pieces of luggage didn´t make it. Luckily I know how to pack so I had some clean underwear for overnight! We were transported to our main training center in Guarambare which is about 45 minutes from the capital. Introductions and then we were out meeting our families.
My family lives in a tiny campo called Las Piedras. My mama is 38 and her name is Esperanza. She lives with her son Gabriel (8) and father Quintino (70). Gabriel can help me with Spanish and Quintino will be a great resource for Guarani, which is the local language. I´m rusty on Spanish and have learned a few Guarani words, but basically my evening consisted of me going through my Spanish dictionary pointing out words. They have a nice house as well. Its about5 rooms all connected via an outdoor walkway. Esperanza manages a tienda (store) out of her home during the days and her father farms nearby.
As I was getting a tour, I also got yet another gold star for having one of two houses (out of all 16 of us!) with an OUTHOUSE! I guess this just points me back to my real WV roots! Its not too bad, although I´ve only used it once and have yet to venture there at night. There is a shower as well but it doesn´t get hot at all. This is what I signed up for though, so bring it on!
Our days will be filled with training. Right now I am in Guarambare, but soon I will only be here once a week. The other 5 days of weekly training (the only day we have off is Sunday) I will be in my campo which has no phone service or Internet Cafe. I´m SLOWLY relearning the Spanish I learned in junior high and high school, and starting to learn other skills as well. Many other trainees are already fluent and so I have had to rely on them a little to explain things. I can understand it far better than I can speak it. I guess the evenings are for studying!
Home life is interesting too. They are really into soap operas! I´m in a rural area as well, so that means lots of roosters (or I call them alL GAMECOCKS!) and cows walking around on the roads and dogs that aren´t pets. The farmers get up around 2am to start their days, so its very noisy all morning. Again, this is what I signed up for! The only things I could really talk to my host family about was my family, a little bit of food talk and where things are. Esperanza said "tu madre es linda!!" which means your mom is pretty, which only makes since considering her given name is Bonita! They also asked if Kyle was my boyfriend and when I said no they said Ben O´Dell was lindo (attractive) and simpactico. Get it Ben!
Anyhoo, please continue to send me emails if you can! If you reply to the email I send you after my blog is updated, it reaches all of us! Just type in betsy.curry@yahoo.com and write me! Hasta Luego!
Miami was short and sweet. I´m in a group of 16, 7 of us (Brennan, Andrew, Stuart, Dave, Will, Mary) though are my core group. I see the other 9 when we´re in our main training station in Guarambare which is just outisde the capital of Asuncion. We come from very diverse backgrounds. Everything form former music compsition major and masters to all-American lacrosse player, business owners and lawyers. I´m the definite baby of the group the. Another guy is 22 but will turn 23 in the Fall.
My group is pretty great! Five boys and two girls, so that is somewhat rare. The guys are all really specactular though and have taken me under their wings. I´ve always been better friends with boys anyway!
We flew from Miami to Buenos Aires and then to Paraguay. A few delays but nothing major. We arrived at the aiport and apparently I won the "Welcome to the Peace Corps Prize!" because BOTH of my pieces of luggage didn´t make it. Luckily I know how to pack so I had some clean underwear for overnight! We were transported to our main training center in Guarambare which is about 45 minutes from the capital. Introductions and then we were out meeting our families.
My family lives in a tiny campo called Las Piedras. My mama is 38 and her name is Esperanza. She lives with her son Gabriel (8) and father Quintino (70). Gabriel can help me with Spanish and Quintino will be a great resource for Guarani, which is the local language. I´m rusty on Spanish and have learned a few Guarani words, but basically my evening consisted of me going through my Spanish dictionary pointing out words. They have a nice house as well. Its about5 rooms all connected via an outdoor walkway. Esperanza manages a tienda (store) out of her home during the days and her father farms nearby.
As I was getting a tour, I also got yet another gold star for having one of two houses (out of all 16 of us!) with an OUTHOUSE! I guess this just points me back to my real WV roots! Its not too bad, although I´ve only used it once and have yet to venture there at night. There is a shower as well but it doesn´t get hot at all. This is what I signed up for though, so bring it on!
Our days will be filled with training. Right now I am in Guarambare, but soon I will only be here once a week. The other 5 days of weekly training (the only day we have off is Sunday) I will be in my campo which has no phone service or Internet Cafe. I´m SLOWLY relearning the Spanish I learned in junior high and high school, and starting to learn other skills as well. Many other trainees are already fluent and so I have had to rely on them a little to explain things. I can understand it far better than I can speak it. I guess the evenings are for studying!
Home life is interesting too. They are really into soap operas! I´m in a rural area as well, so that means lots of roosters (or I call them alL GAMECOCKS!) and cows walking around on the roads and dogs that aren´t pets. The farmers get up around 2am to start their days, so its very noisy all morning. Again, this is what I signed up for! The only things I could really talk to my host family about was my family, a little bit of food talk and where things are. Esperanza said "tu madre es linda!!" which means your mom is pretty, which only makes since considering her given name is Bonita! They also asked if Kyle was my boyfriend and when I said no they said Ben O´Dell was lindo (attractive) and simpactico. Get it Ben!
Anyhoo, please continue to send me emails if you can! If you reply to the email I send you after my blog is updated, it reaches all of us! Just type in betsy.curry@yahoo.com and write me! Hasta Luego!
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