Guest Blog Author!

This blog entry has a combination of authors... myself and Cathy Gable, my best friend who is now a nurse in Pittsburgh, PA. Let's start with her view of Paraguay and our vacation...

My arrival to Paraguay was uneventful, a few wrongs turns but I made it to PY about 18 hours after leaving the states WITH my luggage! B met me at the gate, and it was so amazing to see her after 18 LONG months! We explored some of Asunción, which in itself is bustling. I discovered that Paraguayans drive around like maniacs, the buses are insanely crowded, and little kids try to trick you into buying their items. I was introduced to terere, a culture tea-esque drink, at the Peace Corps office. I was worried, it certainly looked similar to pond water and B mentioned that I may think it tastes like grass. Yet, it was delicious! I was able to watch it be prepared when we bought some from a vendor in the street. By vendor I mean 2 young children with a bag of herbs, ice, water from a sketchy bucket and guampas (that's what you drink it out of). Our trip back to B's campo required a 3 hour bus ride on a "luxury bus." I quickly learned that Paraguayans have no regard for personal space. Our next bus was packed like sardines. I did notice that the men of this country are gracious only in regards to giving up their seat on the bus for a woman. That was much appreciated.

We met B's friend Julio (the ONE taxi driver in town) who drove us the remainder of the dusty road to her house. Everyone in PY drives a moto (motorcycle) like they have a death sentence, with no helmets no doubt! I stand out everywhere, being a light skinned girl with light eyes..I guess a boring Caucasian can be exotic somewhere!

B's house..I can describe it as tranquilo. The surroundings are so peaceful; the most beautiful sunsets and starry nights. Imagine no lights and no pollution to block your view! Everyone here lives such a simple life. I met B's host family.. Pablino and Raquel and their children, Romina and Yony (the spoiled man of the house). I always thought B was exaggerating how horrible Yony was..but it's all true. Before I left I wanted to spank him. It is so evident here that men and woman are in no way equal. I took a tour of the bananas and pineapple fields the next day. I tasted the most amazing pineapple- core and all, it was white and delicious! It's nothing like what we eat in America...I don't know what "pineapples" I have been eating, but it's apparent I have been tricked.

I thought the language barrier would be much harder to handle. I have minimal Spanish skills. But I was surprised how much I understood through context, hand gestures and commonalities to Italian and French which I have a much better grasp. When that failed, B was always around to translate. But that doesn't mean I wasn't frustrated! It's so hard when you can't fully communicate and I hated feeling like the arrogant American who only knows English.

Friday night Romina had a celebration for her 4th grade graduation. We helped Raquel cook traditional Paraguayan food, which was entertaining. I learned that I have a special skill for deep frying. Empanadas were my favorite treat. As a nurse and understanding nutrition, the Paraguayans are severely lacking. Everything is deep fried, filled with salt and fat and any veggies are lost of all their nutritional value. I would be 300 pound if I lived there, easily. At Romina's graduation I had my first taste of the jealously of the Paraguayan women. Pablino asked me what I thought of Paraguay and Betsy was translating. We probably had a 30 second conversation, and from that Raquel was convinced that everyone was "staring" and talking about us. I didn't know any of this until after the fact. But Betsy seemed to know. She said that we should sit on the side the same side of the table as Raquel, because we are going to cause problems. Again..the genders are NOT equal. So frustrating!! I had a small taste of the drama that B battles on a daily basis.

On Sunday we left riding in Juan's truck filled with bananas for the market in Asunsion. We probably drove 15 miles an hour..it took us 5 hours to get to the capital (should only take 3). Sunday night we met up with some other Peace Corps volunteers for drinks and food. It was nice to have some English speakers around.

Monday we flew out to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where we stayed in a really awesome hostel in a great location..and it had a rooftop bar, always a plus!

Tuesday we did some exploring of BA, it had the most beautiful architecture. We spent most of the day shopping on Florida St. We boycotted the custom of eating at 11 or midnight and had an amazing meal of pizza and wine.

Wednesday we visited the Recoletta area, and the cemetery where Eva Perone is buried. Don't cry for me Argentina..anyone? The mausoleums are beautifully constructed, but a little morbid to be surrounded by miles of death. We were propositioned to enter a mausoleum by a man who was cleaning, it's ridiculous how large they are inside. But I could see my life flash before me. The last thing I plan to do is die or be trapped in someone else's grave. So we politely declined that offer. That night we had a hostel BBQ which was a great place to meet people. We ended up going out to a pretty ridiculous club with a few fellow travelers. We learned first hand the advances of the Argentinean men.

On Thursday we went shopping again..everything is so cheap in American dollars, it's hard to resist! We ate at this notoriously tourist establishment (can't remember the name) (Betsy comment: Desnivel... GO THERE!) which was famous for their meats and fried provolone. Let me talk about fried provolone for a hot minute..one of my favorite finds from South America! It's delicious; we all know my love for cheese! I ordered a meal that came with a fried banana..also surprisingly amazing. Who knew? We also experience some authentic Tango dancing that night at Cafe Tortoni, a short walk from our hostel on Mayo Avenue.

Friday we left BA for Colonia via Buquebus which is similar to airplane but on water. Traveling on the Buquebus was interesting..no assigned seats? That would never fly in America. We had a few hours to kill in Colonia before we had to leave for Montevideo. Colonia is a quaint little town, had a delightful lunch of wine and pasta. We then ventured to Motevideo to visit Mary Kinsler. In Montevideo we walked around, there are about a million plazas, B treated Mary and I to a nice dinner with amazing fondu!

On Saturday we left Montevideo to Punta Del Diablo (Devil's Point in English) on another bus. Punta Del Diablo is my favorite from our trip, absolutely breathtaking! We spent a few hours on the beach and ended up sunburned. We ate at the local bar/restaurant where B and I ended up sampling almost every dessert available, our favorite was chocolate mousse. We also ventured to that bar later that night for a live band, too much wine, and unwanted advances from a few Uruguayan gentlemen. (Betsy comment: ALL South American men wanted some Cathy in their lives, it's true!)

We spent most of Sunday hanging around the hostel, it was a little overcast and I had a little wine hangover. On Monday we returned to BA with a 5 hour bus ride AND first class on the Boquebus..free champagne and all. We also went back for round two of smoked provolone. Yes, it's that amazing!

Tuesday we did some last minute shopping with some jewelry vendors and hit up Florida Street once again. Then B left for her 18 hour bus ride back to Paraguay in the afternoon. I hung around my hostel with a few guys from London who were also waiting for their flights and I flew out from BA at almost midnight.

My trip in itself was incredible. I was eager to see how Betsy lived, and have the opportunity to experience a small piece of her life. Now that I have lived with her for a few days, I have a much better understanding of her everyday life and frustrations. Our vacation was also amazing. My only issue was returning to American where I missed my connecting flight home due to our tight security. But I eventually made it home, all limbs and organs intact..with some great memories of a wonderful time down South with my best friend.

Thanks again for writing that Cathy and I agree... GREAT VACATION! I had only really traveled with my parents since I've been down here, so it was a change to spend my days with my BFF. We're already planning another trip back to Punta del Diablo, so let us know if you're interested!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years to all! I made it through Christmas just fine but got a little sad new years eve day. Here its all about family and I'm so far away from mine! Also, the only family that was coming over to my host family's house belong to my host dad's side and I don't like any of them. They are the WORST about being completely judgmental to everything I do and wear. I'm also completely bored with the food and music and just couldn't get myself excited to pass new years here with them. I got over it eventually, avoided all the people I didn't like, and went to bed early so it wasn't that bad.

Yesterday afternoon we went to a balneario, which is an area by a stream where someone has set up volleyball courts. People just hang out, drink beer if you're of age, "swim" in the water that is only about 5 ft deep and play volleyball. I had been to one other, but where we went yesterday was much more quaint. We went with a few different couples and it was fine until we played volleyball. I've had issues playing with them before, but I knew it was going to be a repeat of those days. Because of cultural differences, in my opinion, the men completely talk down to the women. It happens all day long but I don't really realize it because no one talks down to me... until we play volleyball. Every time I make one little mistake, Juan comments on it. I'm sure in his head, his little comments are positive but to me they are only condescending. He doesn't play perfectly and I don't say a word if it goes out of bounds or he's too slow to get to a pass. But, every 5 seconds he feels the need to correct everything I do. So, after an hour of this I usually explode. And, although I'm embarrassed to admit it, the same thing happened yesterday. I completely cussed him out in English and he knew exactly what I was saying. Its just NOT FUN for me when he does it and its just another thing between our cultures that I can't accept or deny. Shortly after i apologized and we all agreed to do more swimming, but I think I just need to stop playing with him. Its all fun until we start to lose and he points he finger only at me when its his fault 50% of the time too. Stupid boys!!!

It hasn't rained for about 2 months but it start to sprinkle yesterday. It stopped for a few hours and picked up again this morning, but I'm hoping for more. We really need a few good days of rain to bring all the crops back up to speed.

I did post some pictures of vacation and some other ones from around the house, so feel free to check them out with this link:

by paraguaysmellslikecurry

Look for a post about the hand-sewn shirts my ladies are doing too. I'm meeting with the president of a bank this week to figure out how to accept credit card payments online. If you know of anyone that has ideas or can help with website design, please have them email me at betsy.curry@yahoo.com because that's what we need and something I've never really had a hand in.

I love and miss you all and hope all of you enjoyed the holiday season.

Harry Potter style dark arts... friends or foe?

I know I’m a naughty girl because I haven’t written in over a month and a half, but things have been wild around here! I’ll update on the happenings in a minute, but first I want to share the theme of my Tuesday: black magic.

Do people practice it? Are there conventions? I would say “sí” to both of those questions if we were in America, and now I can agree that its prevalent down here in Paraguay too. My host mom’s family thinks people in their house are acting extra weird these days. One brother (who is mentally challenged) was talking “crazy” as he would describe his dreams to leave home and pursue a career as a professional mariachi singer. Another sister (who, pardon my French, is kind of a wench) was being a wench to everyone all the time. Another sister, who is 20 and completely in love with her boyfriend, is thinking about getting hitched this spring and won’t let anything or anyone stand in her way. Clearly, all of these elements only lead to one conclusion: SOMEONE PUT A CURSE ON THE HOUSE AND ITS INHABITANTS!

So they called in what I would call a witch doctor. She only works with natural remedies and her favorite pastime is looking at picturess and saying something creepy/harmful/mean about that person. (p.s. she hasn’t inspected my picture… who knows the combination of adjectives she’d use!!) So this woman came over Saturday and succeeded in freaking out everyone in the family. Between two mattresses she found a skeleton doll with a black sash around it and a little piece of paper that named the husband and wife of the house (yes, their real names were on it apparently) and said that they will die. The woman dug up out of the broken concrete floor in another room a little man and woman hugging (with black sashes of course) and a candle in the middle. She cracked open the base of the candle and found another little piece of paper that said everyone in the house that marries should never be happy with their partners. Then, on top of the giant meat freezer… lots of little papers with bad wishes written on them.

So my host mom’s family doesn’t know what to think. Did someone put a hex on the house and the people that live there? And by putting said hex little weird trophies all of the sudden appeared? In my opinion, hell no but what do you say? I told my host mom… Toti (her mentally retarded brother) had parasites (fact) that were cutting off oxygen to the brain. Nuni is a wench, has been and will continue to be. And Lamia is crazy in love and people do and say silly things when they’re that passionate for someone. No little dolly will change who these people are or how they treat others. On top of that, their mom died just a few months ago. Everyone is trying to figure out how to live his or her lives without that very important person in it.

But it gets better… My host mom claims that her mother-in-law (my extremely evil, rumor spreading neighbor) has a big old book on black magic that she’s studied. This book even convinced her to try to kill her own father and her kids found out and stopped her. Who even knows if that one’s true or just her mother-in-law lying like she always does.

In summary, black magic is a friend to some (i.e. me) because it can give a little humor to sometimes dull/slow life out here.

Other happenings…

CATHERINE LYNN GABLE WILL BE HERE IN 2 DAYS!! She, at this moment in time, hasn’t received her visa to actually enter Paraguay but those of the consulate swear it will get there before her evening flight tomorrow. Let’s hope that’s true! We’ll be spending 4 days here in Paraguay, a couple days in Argentina and then some more beach time in Uruguay. It’s basically the only thing that I’ve been looking forward to for about 3 months, so I’m ready to go!!

Over the weekend (when I sadly missed the black magic scavenger hunt) I want down south to Encarnación, Paraguay for our annual Thanksgiving weekend of mayhem. Its basically the one time of year when the majority of the volunteers (180 in the country and about 150 attended) can get to know one another, share a drink or two, and do what a lot of us don’t get to do enough of: RELAX. Volunteers cook the Friday night Thanksgiving meal so we had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie and even cranberry sauce. I’m not sure how they get the ingredients down here for some of it, but all that matters is we all love eating it! We have an Olympics among the different groups of volunteers and even a talent show. Needless to say its like I’m back at West Virginia Association of Student Councils conference so I’m happy as a clam.

Around here, projects are numerous and time consuming. I’m currently drawing/painting a 2m x 4m (6.5 ft x 13ft) map of the world at the school, writing a grant for $5,000 for my handmade clothing group so they can build a space to work, teach and grow in, (They’re doing great by the way and look for a website about them soon!) continuing to loathe the women’s committee (but luckily we’re taking a month hiatus for the holidays), and still teaching computer classes 10 hours a week. Some days I can’t sleep because there is so much I still want to do and fitting it in seems nearly impossible at times. But again, I’m happy to busy rather than bored.

In personal news, I finally dropped the lbs that I put on during training. As Juan kindly (he’s really not mean… he claimed later that I say that so he thought he could say that and not offend me. Little does he understand how complicated our statements regarding weight are!) told me yesterday “Realmente estuviste gigante cuando llegaste.” Which roughly translates to “when you got here you were massively overweight like a beached whale.” I had to laugh, and then punch him of course. Also, my hair is really long. You all wouldn’t even recognize me! I must admit that I miss the bob-ish style I’ve always kept but letting the hair grow is like a little experiment. We’ll see how long I can hold out before chopping it all off.

In Peace Corps news I was invited to go on an overnight trip with our Director to check out a project with the American-Paraguayan Chamber of Commerce and figure out how and when PC can be incorporated. The project is teaching groups of men and women to read and I really enjoyed myself, plus I got to see a little more of the country! The ladies we were with are half-European and half-Paraguayan and totally loaded. We spent the night on the 7,700 hectare (19,000+ acre) ranch of one of the ladies and I was so star struck. I just haven’t been in contact with Paraguayans that are filthy rich like that. She even called her brother, and he flew in on their personal plane!! They do mostly cattle and reforestation (which if you have patience, like 15 years, you can make a fortune on) and on top of that, they have 4 other ridiculously impressive ranches in Paraguay. Totally not what I thought I’d ever experience in Peace Corps!

I was also the only volunteer from my sector to participate in interviews for our new boss. We interviewed 6 extremely impressive people on paper, but in the end I only liked 1. We should have a new Director of my sector by January. Then I can start my campaign for another year in the Peace Corps Asunción office. We’ll see how that one works out.

What all is going on there? Congrats to all the democrats out there because now I don’t have to fear returning to the states (whenever that time comes), but I do continue to worry about (one day) getting a job. What is UP with the economy? A happy belated Thanksgiving to all friends and family, and an advanced Merry Christmas as well. I think of you all often and look forward to hearing updates from everyone.

P.S. I FINALLY have Internet at the coop and its wireless so as the queen of all things technology related in these parts, I also have access to it at home. Hopefully that will make blog writing more frequent and it will definitely make email writing more rapid.

Harry Potter style dark arts... friends or foe?

I know I’m a naughty girl because I haven’t written in over a month and a half, but things have been wild around here! I’ll update on the happenings in a minute, but first I want to share the theme of my Tuesday: black magic.

Do people practice it? Are there conventions? I would say “sí” to both of those questions if we were in America, and now I can agree that its prevalent down here in Paraguay too. My host mom’s family thinks people in their house are acting extra weird these days. One brother (who is mentally challenged) was talking “crazy” as he would describe his dreams to leave home and pursue a career as a professional mariachi singer. Another sister (who, pardon my French, is kind of a wench) was being a wench to everyone all the time. Another sister, who is 20 and completely in love with her boyfriend, is thinking about getting hitched this spring and won’t let anything or anyone stand in her way. Clearly, all of these elements only lead to one conclusion: SOMEONE PUT A CURSE ON THE HOUSE AND ITS INHABITANTS!

So they called in what I would call a witch doctor. She only works with natural remedies and her favorite pastime is looking at picturess and saying something creepy/harmful/mean about that person. (p.s. she hasn’t inspected my picture… who knows the combination of adjectives she’d use!!) So this woman came over Saturday and succeeded in freaking out everyone in the family. Between two mattresses she found a skeleton doll with a black sash around it and a little piece of paper that named the husband and wife of the house (yes, their real names were on it apparently) and said that they will die. The woman dug up out of the broken concrete floor in another room a little man and woman hugging (with black sashes of course) and a candle in the middle. She cracked open the base of the candle and found another little piece of paper that said everyone in the house that marries should never be happy with their partners. Then, on top of the giant meat freezer… lots of little papers with bad wishes written on them.

So my host mom’s family doesn’t know what to think. Did someone put a hex on the house and the people that live there? And by putting said hex little weird trophies all of the sudden appeared? In my opinion, hell no but what do you say? I told my host mom… Toti (her mentally retarded brother) had parasites (fact) that were cutting off oxygen to the brain. Nuni is a wench, has been and will continue to be. And Lamia is crazy in love and people do and say silly things when they’re that passionate for someone. No little dolly will change who these people are or how they treat others. On top of that, their mom died just a few months ago. Everyone is trying to figure out how to live his or her lives without that very important person in it.

But it gets better… My host mom claims that her mother-in-law (my extremely evil, rumor spreading neighbor) has a big old book on black magic that she’s studied. This book even convinced her to try to kill her own father and her kids found out and stopped her. Who even knows if that one’s true or just her mother-in-law lying like she always does.

In summary, black magic is a friend to some (i.e. me) because it can give a little humor to sometimes dull/slow life out here.

Other happenings…

CATHERINE LYNN GABLE WILL BE HERE IN 2 DAYS!! She, at this moment in time, hasn’t received her visa to actually enter Paraguay but those of the consulate swear it will get there before her evening flight tomorrow. Let’s hope that’s true! We’ll be spending 4 days here in Paraguay, a couple days in Argentina and then some more beach time in Uruguay. It’s basically the only thing that I’ve been looking forward to for about 3 months, so I’m ready to go!!

Over the weekend (when I sadly missed the black magic scavenger hunt) I want down south to Encarnación, Paraguay for our annual Thanksgiving weekend of mayhem. Its basically the one time of year when the majority of the volunteers (180 in the country and about 150 attended) can get to know one another, share a drink or two, and do what a lot of us don’t get to do enough of: RELAX. Volunteers cook the Friday night Thanksgiving meal so we had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie and even cranberry sauce. I’m not sure how they get the ingredients down here for some of it, but all that matters is we all love eating it! We have an Olympics among the different groups of volunteers and even a talent show. Needless to say its like I’m back at West Virginia Association of Student Councils conference so I’m happy as a clam.

Around here, projects are numerous and time consuming. I’m currently drawing/painting a 2m x 4m (6.5 ft x 13ft) map of the world at the school, writing a grant for $5,000 for my handmade clothing group so they can build a space to work, teach and grow in, (They’re doing great by the way and look for a website about them soon!) continuing to loathe the women’s committee (but luckily we’re taking a month hiatus for the holidays), and still teaching computer classes 10 hours a week. Some days I can’t sleep because there is so much I still want to do and fitting it in seems nearly impossible at times. But again, I’m happy to busy rather than bored.

In personal news, I finally dropped the lbs that I put on during training. As Juan kindly (he’s really not mean… he claimed later that I say that so he thought he could say that and not offend me. Little does he understand how complicated our statements regarding weight are!) told me yesterday “Realmente estuviste gigante cuando llegaste.” Which roughly translates to “when you got here you were massively overweight like a beached whale.” I had to laugh, and then punch him of course. Also, my hair is really long. You all wouldn’t even recognize me! I must admit that I miss the bob-ish style I’ve always kept but letting the hair grow is like a little experiment. We’ll see how long I can hold out before chopping it all off.

In Peace Corps news I was invited to go on an overnight trip with our Director to check out a project with the American-Paraguayan Chamber of Commerce and figure out how and when PC can be incorporated. The project is teaching groups of men and women to read and I really enjoyed myself, plus I got to see a little more of the country! The ladies we were with are half-European and half-Paraguayan and totally loaded. We spent the night on the 7,700 hectare (19,000+ acre) ranch of one of the ladies and I was so star struck. I just haven’t been in contact with Paraguayans that are filthy rich like that. She even called her brother, and he flew in on their personal plane!! They do mostly cattle and reforestation (which if you have patience, like 15 years, you can make a fortune on) and on top of that, they have 4 other ridiculously impressive ranches in Paraguay. Totally not what I thought I’d ever experience in Peace Corps!

I was also the only volunteer from my sector to participate in interviews for our new boss. We interviewed 6 extremely impressive people on paper, but in the end I only liked 1. We should have a new Director of my sector by January. Then I can start my campaign for another year in the Peace Corps Asunción office. We’ll see how that one works out.

What all is going on there? Congrats to all the democrats out there because now I don’t have to fear returning to the states (whenever that time comes), but I do continue to worry about (one day) getting a job. What is UP with the economy? A happy belated Thanksgiving to all friends and family, and an advanced Merry Christmas as well. I think of you all often and look forward to hearing updates from everyone.

P.S. I FINALLY have Internet at the coop and its wireless so as the queen of all things technology related in these parts, I also have access to it at home. Hopefully that will make blog writing more frequent and it will definitely make email writing more rapid.

Harry Potter style dark arts... friends or foe?

I know I’m a naughty girl because I haven’t written in over a month and a half, but things have been wild around here! I’ll update on the happenings in a minute, but first I want to share the theme of my Tuesday: black magic.

Do people practice it? Are there conventions? I would say “sí” to both of those questions if we were in America, and now I can agree that its prevalent down here in Paraguay too. My host mom’s family thinks people in their house are acting extra weird these days. One brother (who is mentally challenged) was talking “crazy” as he would describe his dreams to leave home and pursue a career as a professional mariachi singer. Another sister (who, pardon my French, is kind of a wench) was being a wench to everyone all the time. Another sister, who is 20 and completely in love with her boyfriend, is thinking about getting hitched this spring and won’t let anything or anyone stand in her way. Clearly, all of these elements only lead to one conclusion: SOMEONE PUT A CURSE ON THE HOUSE AND ITS INHABITANTS!

So they called in what I would call a witch doctor. She only works with natural remedies and her favorite pastime is looking at picturess and saying something creepy/harmful/mean about that person. (p.s. she hasn’t inspected my picture… who knows the combination of adjectives she’d use!!) So this woman came over Saturday and succeeded in freaking out everyone in the family. Between two mattresses she found a skeleton doll with a black sash around it and a little piece of paper that named the husband and wife of the house (yes, their real names were on it apparently) and said that they will die. The woman dug up out of the broken concrete floor in another room a little man and woman hugging (with black sashes of course) and a candle in the middle. She cracked open the base of the candle and found another little piece of paper that said everyone in the house that marries should never be happy with their partners. Then, on top of the giant meat freezer… lots of little papers with bad wishes written on them.

So my host mom’s family doesn’t know what to think. Did someone put a hex on the house and the people that live there? And by putting said hex little weird trophies all of the sudden appeared? In my opinion, hell no but what do you say? I told my host mom… Toti (her mentally retarded brother) had parasites (fact) that were cutting off oxygen to the brain. Nuni is a wench, has been and will continue to be. And Lamia is crazy in love and people do and say silly things when they’re that passionate for someone. No little dolly will change who these people are or how they treat others. On top of that, their mom died just a few months ago. Everyone is trying to figure out how to live his or her lives without that very important person in it.

But it gets better… My host mom claims that her mother-in-law (my extremely evil, rumor spreading neighbor) has a big old book on black magic that she’s studied. This book even convinced her to try to kill her own father and her kids found out and stopped her. Who even knows if that one’s true or just her mother-in-law lying like she always does.

In summary, black magic is a friend to some (i.e. me) because it can give a little humor to sometimes dull/slow life out here.

Other happenings…

CATHERINE LYNN GABLE WILL BE HERE IN 2 DAYS!! She, at this moment in time, hasn’t received her visa to actually enter Paraguay but those of the consulate swear it will get there before her evening flight tomorrow. Let’s hope that’s true! We’ll be spending 4 days here in Paraguay, a couple days in Argentina and then some more beach time in Uruguay. It’s basically the only thing that I’ve been looking forward to for about 3 months, so I’m ready to go!!

Over the weekend (when I sadly missed the black magic scavenger hunt) I want down south to Encarnación, Paraguay for our annual Thanksgiving weekend of mayhem. Its basically the one time of year when the majority of the volunteers (180 in the country and about 150 attended) can get to know one another, share a drink or two, and do what a lot of us don’t get to do enough of: RELAX. Volunteers cook the Friday night Thanksgiving meal so we had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie and even cranberry sauce. I’m not sure how they get the ingredients down here for some of it, but all that matters is we all love eating it! We have an Olympics among the different groups of volunteers and even a talent show. Needless to say its like I’m back at West Virginia Association of Student Councils conference so I’m happy as a clam.

Around here, projects are numerous and time consuming. I’m currently drawing/painting a 2m x 4m (6.5 ft x 13ft) map of the world at the school, writing a grant for $5,000 for my handmade clothing group so they can build a space to work, teach and grow in, (They’re doing great by the way and look for a website about them soon!) continuing to loathe the women’s committee (but luckily we’re taking a month hiatus for the holidays), and still teaching computer classes 10 hours a week. Some days I can’t sleep because there is so much I still want to do and fitting it in seems nearly impossible at times. But again, I’m happy to busy rather than bored.

In personal news, I finally dropped the lbs that I put on during training. As Juan kindly (he’s really not mean… he claimed later that I say that so he thought he could say that and not offend me. Little does he understand how complicated our statements regarding weight are!) told me yesterday “Realmente estuviste gigante cuando llegaste.” Which roughly translates to “when you got here you were massively overweight like a beached whale.” I had to laugh, and then punch him of course. Also, my hair is really long. You all wouldn’t even recognize me! I must admit that I miss the bob-ish style I’ve always kept but letting the hair grow is like a little experiment. We’ll see how long I can hold out before chopping it all off.

In Peace Corps news I was invited to go on an overnight trip with our Director to check out a project with the American-Paraguayan Chamber of Commerce and figure out how and when PC can be incorporated. The project is teaching groups of men and women to read and I really enjoyed myself, plus I got to see a little more of the country! The ladies we were with are half-European and half-Paraguayan and totally loaded. We spent the night on the 7,700 hectare (19,000+ acre) ranch of one of the ladies and I was so star struck. I just haven’t been in contact with Paraguayans that are filthy rich like that. She even called her brother, and he flew in on their personal plane!! They do mostly cattle and reforestation (which if you have patience, like 15 years, you can make a fortune on) and on top of that, they have 4 other ridiculously impressive ranches in Paraguay. Totally not what I thought I’d ever experience in Peace Corps!

I was also the only volunteer from my sector to participate in interviews for our new boss. We interviewed 6 extremely impressive people on paper, but in the end I only liked 1. We should have a new Director of my sector by January. Then I can start my campaign for another year in the Peace Corps Asunción office. We’ll see how that one works out.

What all is going on there? Congrats to all the democrats out there because now I don’t have to fear returning to the states (whenever that time comes), but I do continue to worry about (one day) getting a job. What is UP with the economy? A happy belated Thanksgiving to all friends and family, and an advanced Merry Christmas as well. I think of you all often and look forward to hearing updates from everyone.

P.S. I FINALLY have Internet at the coop and its wireless so as the queen of all things technology related in these parts, I also have access to it at home. Hopefully that will make blog writing more frequent and it will definitely make email writing more rapid.

October update

So here we are back again at another blog. I’d like to do this more than once a month, but lack of internet has kept me from being an outstanding blogger.

Moving on…

Things are up and down as always. Juan and his family are doing fine, and thank you for everyone’s support and kind words. Hopefully I don’t have to go through all of that again anytime soon. Another 9 days of praying and 1 unnaturally early morning of chipa making is right around the corner though. The two-year anniversary of their sister’s death starts the 21st, but I’ll probably be less involved. Maybe I’ll partake in the chipa production because it’s a great forearm workout, but that’s about it.

The women’s committee is moving along. I completed my project promises, so I’m hoping the rumor spreading ladies will lay low for a while. The project is a 10-page work of art that our local Ministry of Ag director said was more than impressive. Thanks! I also hooked the ladies up with our Governor and they presented it without flaw. He said that he’d give them everything they wanted and more, they just have to wait until January comes and the new fiscal year begins. All good news! I’m sure they’ll find more rumors to spread, but for the time being its ok.

My embroidery ladies are learning a lot and I just secured more class time for free. There is a government sponsored (I think) organization that is required to teach technical courses, but they don’t like to leave Asunción. I made my way to their central office twice and we requested 2 weeks of class. When the callback was made to see what they thought, we were totally denied. But within minutes a branch office called our teacher and said there was money available if we worked quickly. So we’re not up for 2 weeks of class, we’re up for 2 MONTHS and the ladies are happy. I also worked it out with the coop that the ladies can join which, if they deicide to become members, will be a win-win situation. The coop is looking for more ladies (they currently only have 3 out of 100 members) and I’ve taken it upon myself to expand their services to include things that would interest women. This embroidery/making clothes thing fits right into the coops goals, so it’s a great match. The women will also have more progression opportunities because their backbone will be a well-known, well-established cooperative. The ladies wanted to take the week to think about it, and I’m a little nervous because the families are so political here. (i.e. there is a guy in our community that I seriously loathe. He causes problems in the coop, school, and even within my women’s committee. But some husbands are buddies with him, and I fear they won’t let their wives enter the coop because he’s currently making waves. Silly because it will lessen the likelihood of my ladies actually making money from these lovely tops/blouses/shirts, but such is life when you live in the Paraguayan campo.)

So the embroidery group has a name. Chachí! (pronounced sha-shI.) It’s the name of our street, a flower that looks more like a small palm tree, and my new homework. As suggested by my dad, I’m going to design a pamphlet of sorts to distribute in the states. Dad suggested trying to sell in Rehobeth Beach, DE so we’ll start there. Also, his secretary mentioned 10,000 Villages which is a non-profit business that sells handicrafts from all over the world with all proceeds going directly back to the producers. There is a store in Columbia and I shopped there a few times. I’ve been in touch with Mrs. USC Mary-David Fox about getting into the international department or, more specifically, the South American Studies department, to see if any avenues are open. They can also sell for individual order and my bff (a.k.a. best friend FOREVER) Cathy is coming in December and can bring said individual orders back with her right in time for Christmas. I’m currently compiling pictures and below is the link to what I have so far. I haven´t finished Dad´s and Carolyns, but that will be added in the next month or so. (Prices vary by style but range anywhere from $25 - $80)



Handmade Clothing

So its time to make my more than one year evaluation so here it goes…

COOP: My coop was kind of a conundrum since day one, and things haven’t become clearer but I guess they are getting better. I’ve designed my own work and purpose, with still very little guidance from the dudes that run it, but they aren’t bad people. If I can get more ladies to join, I will consider it two years of success!

LIFE: I have a great little house and have great neighbors that take care of me. I sometimes wonder if they’ve let me become too involved in their lives, but its better than being lonely I guess. There are many volunteers that don’t have patience for the little Paraguayan quirks, but I’ve learned to brush most of them off. I have Juan too, which has been a MAJOR help with my language skills. In our time together he’s matured a lot and will start studying law in the next couple of months, which will vastly improve his future here.

SCHOOL: Its not a requirement to work in the school, but mine is such a mess that I try to do a little here and there. I’ve done dental health presentations, anti-parasite presentations, and will start painting a giant world map coupled with mini-cultural lessons at the end of the school year (think end of November) so I’m really looking forward to that. I helped them construct and paint a kitchen for the school and also brought in a school garden project from Plan International. Cooking and nutrition classes are on the radar too but will probably have to wait until the school year starts again in February.

OTHER: I started the women’s committee last Feb. and its been more of a headache than anything else, but there is potential still. They’ve managed to present the $60,000 chicken coop project that I wrote, which is what they wanted since our first meeting. We’ll see if they stay together through the long haul though. The embroidery group is great too because in most homes the males make 100% of the income, so this gives the females a chance to make a little cash flow too. I’m helping a fellow volunteer teach her youth group basic accounting and hope to start working one afternoon a week with another women’s committee a few streets down that is growing too quickly to keep track of the business aspects of their organization.

NEW: In an hour or so I have a meeting with fellow volunteers to expand an idea that a Paraguayan gave me and asked me to run with. In general, his idea is that in 2020 Paraguay has a troop of volunteers. To sum it up, Paraguayans don’t do anything without getting paid, ever. In the US we are raised to believe that sometimes knowledge learned is more than money earned (kind of poetic, right? Did I make that up? Somehow I don’t think so.) So to start out, we’re going to try to form an internship program. Young people ages 16-22 are the target market. We’d have to start out with goal/career development because most young people have no idea where to begin, but its as simple as determining likes and dislikes. From there we talk about what it means to be a volunteer and then each Peace Corps volunteer will work out possible internships in our communities or nearby. It will be a 6 months to a year program. We’ll see how the meeting goes, but brainstorming is how everything starts!

SANITY: I’m generally happy, although I feel bi-polar 90% of the time due to extreme good and bad within my community, but this is all totally normal. I’m still considering a 3rd year of work, but only because it won’t be in my community. Staying here for a 3rd year may make me go mad, but in the city I can learn and do a lot more. Peace Corps gives us great support from all sides, although the boss of my sector just left us for another job. If you recall, my boss when I got here was abruptly fired after 20+ years of work. The guy that just left us, Fernando, was with us since January and was fantastic but is friends with people of the political party that just got elected after 60+ years of trying to be elected so he’ll be helping the country in other ways now. So yet again, we are without leadership in my sector but Peace Corps does a really good job of not letting us feel abandoned. So we move on...

BOOKS READ: 20ish

TARANTUALS KILLED: 5

SCORPIONS DISCOVERED IN BATHROOM: 3 (but all the size of my finger nail)

So that is the update. If you guys have any more questions for me, just let me know! Thank you all for your continued support and I hope to be getting lots of requests for new handmade shirts!

Life Lessons

September Blog

Where to start with this entry? I lot has been going on and I’ve learned a lot of cultural lessons, so this will probably be a doozy of a blog!

Wednesday, Sept 3 around 7:30am Juan called to tell me that his mother passed away. She had been in the hospital for over a month and I had visited her right after my vacation in July. She had been in only a week but I still had hope. In late August I visited again and I knew there wasn’t much more time. The loss came as a shock to her family. I immediately went next door to my closest friend (and Juan’s sister) Raquel’s to comfort her. We cried together and she prepared to go to her parent’s house which is about 15km away. It was mid morning and the only bus out is at 5:30am, so it was a little more difficult for me to get out of here to be with her and Juan. I ended up walking in about 85ºF weather for over an hour to another volunteer’s house. I had to take a water break so I hung out with her for another hour before a truck came by to take me the rest of the way.

As my dad told me, I was about to learn how Paraguayans mourn…

Once I got to their house they had cleaned and were waiting around for the body to get there. Even at 11am they hadn’t even taken the body out of her room!! Her body and the family made it around 6pm (coming from Asunción) and my learning began. Most Americans put a lot less emphasis on the body of a person. Their body is just an empty shell because their spirit is gone. To Paraguayans, it’s all about the body. As long as the body is there, it’s like their mom remains on earth. Her daughters kept screaming and yelling through their tears at her to “OPYTATA!!!” (stay!! in Guarani.) Family started showing up long before the body made it and they kept coming all night long so it was very hard to see people that I know so well have to deal with their grief in such a public way. (I really can’t emphasis enough how much screaming and wailing takes place.) We are so much more private about our feelings and with most families having at least 5 kids in Paraguay, there is never privacy. Their mom alone had 16 brothers and sisters and when you add that to all of the cousins and family friends it gets to be overwhelming to me!

One interesting part was that there is no funeral home stuff out in the campo. If you live in the city of Asunción, probably, but out into the country things change a bit. A business called La Jardin de la Paz (The Garden of Peace) basically takes care of it all. They fix up the body (which is nude and covered in a white sheet unlike our tradition where someone is buried in their favorite suit), drive it to your house, set it up in your living room with lights and a throw rug (Paraguayans don’t have carpeting in their homes), and even bring a coffee machine with coffee, sugar, etc. and a lot of 2liters of pop. They come back the next day to seal the coffin (there is a metal lid that they melt, in the living room in front of everyone) and take it to the cemetery.

The youngest daughter had been taking care of their mom forever basically. Her mom had diabetes and one failed kidney. She was blind due to the disease and since her hospital entrance, has been unable to walk and has had chronic diarrhea. Lamia, the youngest daughter, has been their almost every single day to bathe her mother, clean her diaper (her mom refused to let the nurses, who were strangers to her, clean her in any form), and feed her. She had the hardest time dealing with the death. She went into convulsions more than once and had to be taken to the hospital 4 times in 2 days. Again, I have never felt grief like they are experiencing, but if I did it would be alone or with one family member or friend. Not in front of every single person I’ve ever known.

The breakdown is something like this when someone in your family dies…

1. The body arrives and for 24 hours you stay with it. No sleeping. People come in and out all night.
2. Caravan to the cemetery where they take the body to certain part first to get one last look. The coffin has a pane of glass (maybe plastic?) directly above the face and covered by wood that is removable. Keep in mind the daughters and sisters are all screaming at the top of their lungs with pleads to stay with them. It made me so uncomfortable. There was no fainting though, although we had some close calls. At the cemetery she’s slid into a pre-made brick and mortar casing. Everyone is on top of the earth, not in it. More screaming until they seal up the hole and then, like flipping a light switch, everyone stops screaming and leaves within 5 minutes. Literally once the body is out of sight, its over.
3. So the day after the burial starts the rezo. Rezo doesn’t really translate to anything because we don’t do it, but it comes from the word rezar which means to pray. For 9 days they have people come over and pray the Hail Mary. Children of the deceased are supposed to pray on their knees each day, but the brothers refused to do it. At the end of each rezo they give out cookies and candies to everyone present. Why? I have no idea.
4. On day 8 we got up at 2am to start making chipa. In a previous blog I talked about chipa, but it’s a bread-type thing made with cornmeal, cheese, animal fat, anis, eggs, salt and some other stuff. Its all mixed by hand and cooked in a giant outdoor brick oven. They were anticipating a lot of people (the last day of the reso, day 9, people from all over come for chipa) so the final count was over 230kg of ingredients!! (That’s 518lbs for those that don’t get the metric system!) That is a lot of mixing and kneading!! My forearms were sore from all of the work!
5. Day 9 was kind of a bust because I thought more actual family members would come, but that wasn’t the case. It was mostly just neighboring kids and family members that wanted chipa, but that always happens.

So what does all of this mean for their family? Lots of things. For two years they can’t dance or basically show any fun publicly. Their sister passed away in October 2006 so they were planning to return to some fun activities, but mom is gone so the rules are back. They also can’t wear anything but dark colors for 2 years. I doubt the brothers will stick to that but the sisters will. They can’t even wear green!! (They took black or blue permanent markers to all shirts or jackets that had red or pink or green on them.)


As a logical person, I had a lot of questions that they couldn’t give me answers to. Why do the do the rezo for 9 days? Is it believe that she’s in purgatory for 9 days so they have to pray to make sure St. Peter (or San Pedro) opens his gates? No, its just the tradition. Why can’t they wear certain colors? Because it’s the tradition. Why do we make so much chipa? Because it’s the tradition. I think a lot of their said cultural traditions are losing meaning with the younger generations because they are starting to expect an explanation too.

So yeah, its been a weird couple of days. I stayed there for 8 nights and it was almost too much. I was ready to get home. I haven’t lived with more than 4 people all of my life, and even then its been 7 years since Jarrod left for college! I come from a culture of personal space and privacy and Juan has 4 very nosey sisters. On top of that, he has about 10 very nosey aunts and they all wanted to know if Juan’s going to America with me. Really? I’m 23. I’m not ready for marriage nor babysitting a 26-year-old Paraguayan in The United States of America, a country he only knows through movies. My head was about to explode!

So that was my 11 day lesson on death in Paraguay. Hopefully it’s a one time experience.

As for what else is new, I hate my women's committee. That's exciting, right? All they want to do is talk poorly about others and myself and the organization. Its gotten to the point that the good ones are dropping out because the bad ones won't shut up. I've had to play mother hen to these women for the past couple of months asking them to lay of the rumors. There have been a lot of frustrated phone calls to my coordinator and if things don't get better in the next month or two, I'm going to call it quits with them because its affecting my work in other areas. We'll see.

However, my embroidery committee is going great! I'm working on getting national funding for our teacher which will results in certificates (which are very valued in PY) for their completed work. I myself have made about 3.5 shirts (I say .5 because Juan's is green and I stopped working on it because his sisters told him he can't wear green for 2 years. He'll wear it before I leave or ELSE!) I've been snapping photos of the finished product and hope to upload those pics pretty soon.

Please let me know what is going on in America! Is all of this crap about Palin really true? She seems SO unqualified. I hope the ladies of our country realize that yes, she may have out genetic make-up but that doesn't make her Hilary or make her even ready to run a McDonald's let alone one of the most important nations in the world! Obama '08! (p.s. Jarrod says that even if Mom votes for McCain he's never talking to her again. Oh Jarrod!)

Tsk Tsk Beva!

Shame on me for not updating my blog for a month, but its not easy! Yes, I have my computer now and a computer center with 4 machines to use but it’s the getting to the internet part that has been a little rough. My apologies 1000 times over!!

I’ve had a few interesting experiences these past few weeks. First, lets talk about the fun stuff. VACATION! Dad, Carolyn, Nanny and I met up in Costa Rica in mid-June. It was a really great get away. Costa Rica is gorgeous and even though we were there during the rainy season (which lasts about 8 months out of the year) we still got to do and see a lot. Its all “eco-tourism” so most activities are outside or on the water. The best tour was a zipline in the rainforest. We were going from tree to tree suspended in the air like pros! The only real dud of a tour was our monkey tour which was apparently famous because we see so many monkeys and they do such kooky things but it will remain famous in our minds for coming up short. It was after a morning rain and we couldn’t get a single monkey to come to our boat. I guess we’ll just have to try again some other time!

Before I left I organized a class for the women in my community to study traditional Paraguayan embroidery. I love it! Myself, and other volunteer, and 12 moms and young ladies from my community worked at it for a week. There are some people that just can’t do it. It’s a lot about mathematics, symmetry, and creativity. Right up my ally! The teacher loved me so she also left me a sample fabric to practice while on vacation. I would probably say I’ve done about 50 or so different styles and we’re having more classes at the end of this month. If you want a shirt, let me know! Send me an email (betsy.curry@yahoo.com) and we can start personalizing size, color and design. Once I get some completed pieces, I’ll take pictures and post them on-line so you can all see the awesome-ness of it!

I came back to find the mother of my boyfriend in the hospital. She’s been in and out over the past couple of years and even in my time here I’ve seen her go through some rough times. She has diabetes which has lead her to blindness, a kidney that doesn’t work and another that is barely holding on, and gull stones. I went with Juan to the hospital to stay for a couple of days and take care of her. What a difference as compared to the hospitals I’ve seen in the states. This place is dirty, there are 3 people to a very small room and no dividers or privacy. A bathroom is attached to all rooms but it’s the responsibility of the families to clean the bathroom (which was nasty) and rooms. The families buy every little medicine and syringe the nurses need to give her, and the pharmacies aren’t even on-site. They’re about a 15 minute walk from the hospital. But what I think disgusted me the most was watching the nurses administer the drugs. If there was a syringe full of whatever and it had a little bit left, THEY JUST SQUIRTED IT ON THE FLOOR! The floors were covered and weird colors and spots and I could hardly watch them. As of now his mom has been in the hospital for over a month. I donated blood so she could continue her dialysis, which she just started recently. There is a major shortage of blood donors and basically people only give when someone in their family is sick. Even then, if 2 people donate 1 goes to the person requested and 1 goes into the blood bank. It all reminded me of my days in the auxiliary gym at Parkersburg High doing Red Cross blood drives!

Last Thursday was another strange experience. We had a freak hailstorm that may have ruined a lot of income for my farming community. The weird thing was that it hit only on certain streets and areas. It completely bore holes through a lot of fiberglass roofing (which almost every family has) and destroyed a lot of banana and pineapple. Normally exporting banana would go through October but this is the last week because very few have the quality needed to export. My host dad’s field wasn’t hit too badly so I think he should still be able to sell in-country, but a lot of farmers are devastated. And if there is banana to sell, there is no money, and that means I’m worried a lot of my computer class students will have to drop out. A mother asked me about credit but these people are so deep in debt for other things, I can’t allow myself to give them more. On top of that, I don’t want to leave my coop worse-off financially than when I came. We’ll see how all of this plays out. Pineapple season isn’t until November or December, so only time will tell how those damaged fields hold up.

Now onto what’s coming up… I will start an 8 week nutrition program in September at my school. My school is basically a mess so the plan is to do that but we’ll see what barriers present themselves. I’m also doing anti-parasite presentations starting next week. Maybe only 1-2 hours of teaching, but its so common here that its necessary. The women’s committee is on its way to having 35 chicken coops! I’m responsible for writing the project request (with their help of course!) and its almost done. All in all it’s a very expensive project that honestly isn’t sustainable but its what all the ladies want so I’m going for it with them. I have constant problems with the ladies because they just love rumors and actually spent an entire meeting talking me and rumors that are made up. I put an end to that quickly but there are about 10 that I really like and wish we could just drop the other 25 and move on. Being a part of this committee reminded my why I never lasted in sorority life!! I’m still not doing much outside of computer classes for the coop. My contact also just left to take a new job so I worry that I’ll be doing even less than before. Its been over a year in my site though (can you believe it!?!?!) so at least I’m not as green as I was and I know the people I need to know to get things accomplished.

Reflecting at my one year in-site mark and I’m pretty pleased. Most days aren’t simple and easy, but that keeps me on my toes. I’m learning more and more about myself daily, which is an important bonus to life thousands of miles away from friends and family. I miss you all and I’m looking forward to visits from many of you. Please keep in touch with all you’re doing as well!!

Oh! And I need to give two shout outs! Congrats to Nicole Modeen for her wedding to Adam Hark and another congrats to Angela Brunicardi that just go engaged to her boyfriend and best friend Brandon Doss! Hopefully I’ll be able to make it to that throw down… I’m already imagining the menu!

I’ve also updated my pictures. I’ll try to update a vacation one sometime soon. Check it out! Just click the pic or the link below where is says paraguaysmellslikecurry


by paraguaysmellslikecurry