Greetings from the real dirty South! (Formerly, I just considered South Carolin the dirty South but then I started to live in a country without santiation systems and I quickly changed my mind!)
Tomorrow is 4 months at site and I can hardly believe it. My time here is going so quickly and so slow at the same time. Luckily, that´s pretty normal for a volunteer that is the first in a community like myself.
My house is SOOO close to being complete that I think about it all the time. Today I´m supposed to get the doors and electricity, so hopefully they´ll actually show up! They were supposed to come everyday for the past week, but I´m feeling optomistic! My bathroom was completed in a record 5 days and its beautiful. Its green and white and I can´t wait to blow the Paraguayan mind by keeping it clean with the one product they fear most: BLEACH!! I purchased all of my furniture (a bed, mattress, bedside table, dinner table for 6, 4 chairs, and a wardrobe for my clothes) for a whopping 800.000 Gs ($160!) I´m got my kitchen furniture unfinished so I can exercise a little creative energy in my kitchen. I´m currently toying with a Jackson Pollock inspired motif with black, yellow and white. Maybe even a little bit of his famous drip method as well! I have a ton of time to work it out, so no rushes on buying paint just yet. Also, I recently had my roof fixed and it wasn´t done well. After the first rain in 3 months I went to inspect and there was water all over the kitchen floor. Great!
Daily life is painfully slow at times, but if I learn new words in Spanish or Guarani, then I consider it a success. As the mission of the PC, 2/3 is just sharing cultures so even if I´m not doing anything directly for the COOP yet, I´m still accomplishing 60% of my goals! My host mom and I talk A LOT. She likes to sit in my room sometimes and listen to me talk on the phone in English, which at first made me uncomfortable, but now I´m used to it. I think she´s a little jealous that I´m not much younger than she (she´s 30) and I´m living a completely different, more worldly lifestyle. She´s great though and I introduced her to tuna and what the nutritional value info on packages means, so that´s helpful to expand her horizons!
And now its time for a Guarani lesson:
Che róga (my house)
Cherera Beva (my name is Beva)
Che peteĩ voluntaria Cuerpo de Pazpegua (I´m a volunteer of Peace Corps)
Amba´apohina Cooperativa ndive (I´m working with the coop)
Aiko familia Bogado ndive koaĝa (I live with the Bogado family now)
Don´t you feel a little more cultured already??
I had my official site presentation last Wednesday. It was great to see my boss, Rubén, because he´s a great guy to work with. He basically just went over the no motorcycle and no drugs policy. He also went over my resume (that I translated to Spanish a few months ago) so they knew a little bit of my history working with businesses. They had time to ask questions, and of course 40 men only had one question: is it permitted for her to get a Paraguayan boyfriend? The good news, is that we had almost 100% participation at the meeting and Rubén said that was the most people he´s seen this year in giving this presentations. They clearly want me here and I can´t wait until I can speak Guarani and actually get to work with them! Rubén also brought all of my bags up, so its really nice to have my entire ¨life¨ back. My little sister sat next me while I went through it and was mesmerized but all the ¨exotic¨ things I have like a spray that makes ironing unnecessary, and reuseable batteries.
This week or next week, I´ll be living another family just to get to know another area of our campo and another family. There area a lot of decisions going on with my house, which is why I may delay, but we´ll see.
Well, that´s about it from down here. Keep the emails coming and send care packages if you want! I could use a little pop culture!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
2 down, 102 to go...
Two weeks completed at site, so that means its time to update! Internet is about a 45 minute bus ride away, but when I do come I usually spend a few hours to get updated on everything, so be sure to keep the emails coming! (betsy.curry@yahoo.com)
I´m living with the Bogado family for a few weeks. They´re super great to me and I´m really happy. My area is VERY poor but they have money due to excellent farming practices, so their house is brick and they have two bathrooms. Most houses around me are wooden with dirt floors and a hole and the backyard. Romina (8) is the cute daughter of the house and very overdramatic gripping her chest and gasping as we go through photos in my español National Geographics. Yony (3, pronounced Jonny) loves to speak through screaming at the top of his lungs and he pissed on my foot the other day because he thought it was funny. Raquel (30) is the mom and my only friend. We´ve been getting up at 5am everyday so I can teach her pilates. Pablino (35) is the dad and VERY hardworking. He´s always out in their fields, but is always ready to explain something to me when I need it.
In a few months I´ll move into the house next to theirs. I need to put a lot of expenses into it, so donations to my house fund can be sent to my parents! :) I live so far out that I´m going to make sure I´m comfortable with my surrounds. The good news is that I don´t have to pay rent after I get it the way I want it, so that´s comforting! My coop is great though and has offered to pay for a little bit of the place. I was told that I was going to help them so they wanted to help me too. What a great community to be in!
My area has a school so once I can speak the language (Guarani, no spanish here!) then I want to start a monthly class on cultures around the world. They get zero of that here, so I´d like to introduce them to all of the reasons why I love to travel and explore this great earth! I may need help from some of you out there, so I´ll let you know as that develops over the next few months. I´ve always been in touch with 2 volunteers near me and I think we´re going to start a radio show. We´re all in different fields (health, education and business) so I think we have a lot to share with the people of Guayaibi!
My former language partner, Brennan, and I have started a weight loss challenge! Three months of now we have a mandatory reconnect with our group members, and that´s when we weigh in. The 5am pilates definitely sets me ahead of him, but we´ll see! My host mom wanted to weigh herself the other day so I imagined we´d use some kind of scale used for cattle. NOPE! There was a crazy contraption that you hooked into a tree and tied a rope around literally holding yourself and sitting in the rope at the same time. What a trip!
Paging Dr. Beva! Somehow my family inferred that I know everything about health since I was almost a health volunteer in Morocco. Um, NO! They took me over to the grandmother´s house and continued to reference an ¨operation¨ that I knew everything about. I mean, i say ¨sí¨ a lot when I don´t know whats going on... so I could only imagine what this meant! They ended up getting out a stehascope and blood pressure cuff. I don´t know how that works! I debated 100 things in my head. Do I admit I don´t know what to do? Do I call Cathy and quickly get it explained? Do I just lie? For reasons unknown to me, I was really calm with the idea of just winging it. I mean, I´ve seen it done... how hard can this be? Luckily, the cuff was about 50 years old and broken so I didn´t have to go through with my massive lie but what an experience! I ended up just going through her most recent blood tests and some old xrays and pointing out things that weren´t there or saying things that I can´t verify are true about the blood. Good times!!
Everything asks when I´m getting a boyfriend. No time soon is always my response! The language, my coop, my house and then I´ll think about the other aspects to life. But in reality, I´m 99.9% I couldn´t date a Paraguayan. They legitimately believe mayo is a flavor (not a condiment) and that Christianity is the only religion in the world. No thanks boys!
So my house will have an extra bedroom, so have November I´m open for business! I would seriously love for anyone to visit, just let me know when!
Also, I´ve discovered that I LOVE getting mail! Please send anything! A letter, pictures of the states, things to decorate my new house since I have nothing, candy... whatever! Mail makes me think people have actually noticed I´m gone!
My address is
Betsy Curry, PCV
Cuerpo de Paz
162 Chaco Boreal c/Mcal. López
Asuncsión 1580, Paraguay
South America
OH! And MOST importantly I FINALLY added a few photos!
Paraguay Uno
Check them out and you´ll have a tiny taste of life here
I´m living with the Bogado family for a few weeks. They´re super great to me and I´m really happy. My area is VERY poor but they have money due to excellent farming practices, so their house is brick and they have two bathrooms. Most houses around me are wooden with dirt floors and a hole and the backyard. Romina (8) is the cute daughter of the house and very overdramatic gripping her chest and gasping as we go through photos in my español National Geographics. Yony (3, pronounced Jonny) loves to speak through screaming at the top of his lungs and he pissed on my foot the other day because he thought it was funny. Raquel (30) is the mom and my only friend. We´ve been getting up at 5am everyday so I can teach her pilates. Pablino (35) is the dad and VERY hardworking. He´s always out in their fields, but is always ready to explain something to me when I need it.
In a few months I´ll move into the house next to theirs. I need to put a lot of expenses into it, so donations to my house fund can be sent to my parents! :) I live so far out that I´m going to make sure I´m comfortable with my surrounds. The good news is that I don´t have to pay rent after I get it the way I want it, so that´s comforting! My coop is great though and has offered to pay for a little bit of the place. I was told that I was going to help them so they wanted to help me too. What a great community to be in!
My area has a school so once I can speak the language (Guarani, no spanish here!) then I want to start a monthly class on cultures around the world. They get zero of that here, so I´d like to introduce them to all of the reasons why I love to travel and explore this great earth! I may need help from some of you out there, so I´ll let you know as that develops over the next few months. I´ve always been in touch with 2 volunteers near me and I think we´re going to start a radio show. We´re all in different fields (health, education and business) so I think we have a lot to share with the people of Guayaibi!
My former language partner, Brennan, and I have started a weight loss challenge! Three months of now we have a mandatory reconnect with our group members, and that´s when we weigh in. The 5am pilates definitely sets me ahead of him, but we´ll see! My host mom wanted to weigh herself the other day so I imagined we´d use some kind of scale used for cattle. NOPE! There was a crazy contraption that you hooked into a tree and tied a rope around literally holding yourself and sitting in the rope at the same time. What a trip!
Paging Dr. Beva! Somehow my family inferred that I know everything about health since I was almost a health volunteer in Morocco. Um, NO! They took me over to the grandmother´s house and continued to reference an ¨operation¨ that I knew everything about. I mean, i say ¨sí¨ a lot when I don´t know whats going on... so I could only imagine what this meant! They ended up getting out a stehascope and blood pressure cuff. I don´t know how that works! I debated 100 things in my head. Do I admit I don´t know what to do? Do I call Cathy and quickly get it explained? Do I just lie? For reasons unknown to me, I was really calm with the idea of just winging it. I mean, I´ve seen it done... how hard can this be? Luckily, the cuff was about 50 years old and broken so I didn´t have to go through with my massive lie but what an experience! I ended up just going through her most recent blood tests and some old xrays and pointing out things that weren´t there or saying things that I can´t verify are true about the blood. Good times!!
Everything asks when I´m getting a boyfriend. No time soon is always my response! The language, my coop, my house and then I´ll think about the other aspects to life. But in reality, I´m 99.9% I couldn´t date a Paraguayan. They legitimately believe mayo is a flavor (not a condiment) and that Christianity is the only religion in the world. No thanks boys!
So my house will have an extra bedroom, so have November I´m open for business! I would seriously love for anyone to visit, just let me know when!
Also, I´ve discovered that I LOVE getting mail! Please send anything! A letter, pictures of the states, things to decorate my new house since I have nothing, candy... whatever! Mail makes me think people have actually noticed I´m gone!
My address is
Betsy Curry, PCV
Cuerpo de Paz
162 Chaco Boreal c/Mcal. López
Asuncsión 1580, Paraguay
South America
OH! And MOST importantly I FINALLY added a few photos!
Paraguay Uno
Check them out and you´ll have a tiny taste of life here
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
the beginning has come...
So its been quite a couple of days in Asuncion!
Our swearing-in ceremony was Friday morning and pretty quick. Since its the 40th anniversary of PC PY, the national director came down from Washington. He gave a nice little speach, our PY country director spoke, the embassador swore us in all at the same time, and we were out of there! They had a GREAT cake at the reception, and knowing me I'll probably remember that over the years over the actual ceremony!
The rest of our nights here were left to being out on the town. Its hard to remember that I'm in a third wold country/the Peace Corps when I can go to a movie theater and see Transformers in English TWO DAYS IN ROW! I mean, if you haven't seen that movie... its totally worth it. Best $2 movie EVER! Call me Jarrod Curry, but it was spectacular! We also ate at a fantastic Mexican place on Friday night and a charasceria last night. Basically, its a giant buffet where guys just walk around with swords of different kinds of meat. Its sooo delicious too!! We all broke a cardinal rule though. We ate sushi and steak tar tar in a land locked country. I'm still standing though!
EARLY Monday morning was the 40th anniversary celebration. Not extremely exciting either, but my group makes everything fun. Today is the first day that I leave to live in Guayaivi permanently, and its going to be so hard to stay away from my friends. We've had some unbelieveable moments in training and this past weekend in Asuncion gave us a few more classic memories. As I've said, there are 16 of us but there is a group of about 8-10 people that continually entertain one another. I've already had to say goodbye to a few, and although we're in the same country and we'll see each other once every two months or so... its still tough to know that life is changing SO drastically.
As for communication, I know have a cell phone and my area has great service so PLEASE call... speaking English will become very rare starting tonight. Also, I spoke with a volunteer that lives near me and she was giving me the low down on the computer situation. Turns out I'll have to take the 5:30am bus to a town that's about 30 minutes away. Then I'll have to wait around until a ciber opens and get everything done and back into town by noon. Good times! So the moral of the story? Emails are going to be less frequent, but please call!!
Well, my 30 minutes on the PC library computer is up. I hope you're all doing well and enjoying life as much as I am!
Our swearing-in ceremony was Friday morning and pretty quick. Since its the 40th anniversary of PC PY, the national director came down from Washington. He gave a nice little speach, our PY country director spoke, the embassador swore us in all at the same time, and we were out of there! They had a GREAT cake at the reception, and knowing me I'll probably remember that over the years over the actual ceremony!
The rest of our nights here were left to being out on the town. Its hard to remember that I'm in a third wold country/the Peace Corps when I can go to a movie theater and see Transformers in English TWO DAYS IN ROW! I mean, if you haven't seen that movie... its totally worth it. Best $2 movie EVER! Call me Jarrod Curry, but it was spectacular! We also ate at a fantastic Mexican place on Friday night and a charasceria last night. Basically, its a giant buffet where guys just walk around with swords of different kinds of meat. Its sooo delicious too!! We all broke a cardinal rule though. We ate sushi and steak tar tar in a land locked country. I'm still standing though!
EARLY Monday morning was the 40th anniversary celebration. Not extremely exciting either, but my group makes everything fun. Today is the first day that I leave to live in Guayaivi permanently, and its going to be so hard to stay away from my friends. We've had some unbelieveable moments in training and this past weekend in Asuncion gave us a few more classic memories. As I've said, there are 16 of us but there is a group of about 8-10 people that continually entertain one another. I've already had to say goodbye to a few, and although we're in the same country and we'll see each other once every two months or so... its still tough to know that life is changing SO drastically.
As for communication, I know have a cell phone and my area has great service so PLEASE call... speaking English will become very rare starting tonight. Also, I spoke with a volunteer that lives near me and she was giving me the low down on the computer situation. Turns out I'll have to take the 5:30am bus to a town that's about 30 minutes away. Then I'll have to wait around until a ciber opens and get everything done and back into town by noon. Good times! So the moral of the story? Emails are going to be less frequent, but please call!!
Well, my 30 minutes on the PC library computer is up. I hope you're all doing well and enjoying life as much as I am!
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
details of my new universe
Ok! What a great couple of days its been! Here´s the latest...
The ¨retreat¨ with our contacts went well. Alfredo showed up from Guayaivi and he´s the ingenero, which basically means he does the technical side of the coop instead of the labor side. He actually lives in the capital, Asunción, and commutes the 3.5 hours to work there during the week. His brother is actually the mayor of Guayaivi, so I´m sure it will be good to keep up with the two of them! Although my official contact is the President of the coop, I think I´ll be working more closely with Alfredo since he knows all of the logistics including commercialization, communication with the members, financial info and exporting details. The retreat was a lot of fun to interact with excited Paraguayans anxious to get a volunteer of their own. And the best part? During a rousing frisbee game a managed to RIP my only pair of khaki pants right down the butt! Luckily only my American friends saw and, oddly enough, I was the third of our group of trainees to split pants during random activites like frisbee!!
Last Wednesday morning Alfredo and I headed off to Guayaivi. The bus ride was cramped, as usual, because the drivers literally pack passengers in like sardines. In fact, on my ride back this morning, I actually stood in the isle for 2 hours of the trip! As we got to the town, we walked a few yards down a street made of rocks and stopped at the house of Alfredo´s brother for a quick terere (the green tea-ish beverage that will be mentioned a lot throughout the next 2 years!) break while we waited for our ride. His brother´s house is huge and modern and I started to think, this is going to be a lot more chu-chi than I had anticipated! However, when our ride came and we started the 15km trek into my real home base reality set back in. Its all dirt, BUMPY and open. All of the houses have a lot of land, and although I am used to seeing brick homes... almost all in this compañia are wood.
After about 15 minutes in a truck, we finally hit the ¨compound¨ of the Bogado family. Behind a sturdy 5 foot wall is a set of 4 houses. This was the first time I had ever seen a wall like this considering 99% of all other homes in this country just have a fence if they´re lucky, and mostly just a giant yard. The homes belong to my new hosts (Raquel and Pablino), Paublino´s parents and two homes that are empty. His sister is living in Argentina and I´ve been told I´m going to be given her house. Sweet!! Paublino´s house is SUPER nice though, which was somewhat of a relief. He´s the treasurer of the coop and knows his farming business! Its sometimes difficult to convince farmers to invest in fertilizers because they don´t believe the investment will improve the quality of their product that much. Pablino definitely understands though and has stacks of fertilizer bags all around and his increased economic status is apparent too!
First thing is first though with a guest in Paraguay...what´s for dinner? Raquel decided chicken would be ideal, so we headed to her backyard. I was super excited because their yard is filled with all of the fruit trees I´ve come to love here... passion fruit, oranges, lemons, grapefruit and mangos. What tasty real estate! She grabbed a chicken and asked me to do the honors. I didn´t know what do to!! Luckily, I can still play the dumb card on that one because I haven´t killed a chicken yet. She laughed and gave me a lesson and made me promise the next time would be me doing the work! And, as is custom, the guest gets the best part. For me, it was a part I didn´t even know people ate... her sack of eggs. I choked it down, but all I could think was someone eating MY eggs! Random connection, I know... but what a welcome!
We also OFFICIALLY changed my name for the LAST time (I promise!) My other PC trainees and I had been joking about Beva since we liked Eva but should keep the B. I kid you not, the first thing I asked my new hosts was to give suggestions and the FIRST name out sans my suggestions was Beva!! So... Beva it is!
The only bathroom in the house is through Raquel´s and Pablino´s bedroom. My bladder could tell I was worried about this and of course, needed relief around 4am. I spotted a latrine outside during daylight hours so I found my only source of light (my travel alarm clock!) and made me way outside. The next morning, Raquel said she heard me get up and that it was silly. I should just walk through their room! But also, I needn´t worry because her husband was out that minute buying supplies for a bathroom. Yep, they´re building me my own bathroom! How crazy! They have two great kids... Romina (8) and Yony (3), pronounced Jonny in español. Romina immediately fell in love with me and holds my hand everywhere we go. She´s very intelligent so I can tell we´re going to have a great relationship over the next 2 years!
Yony´s a character and his relationship with Romina reminded me of the spats Jarrod and I used to have. He actually did a pretty Jarrod-esque move the other day too. In the middle of an open field where his mom and I were digging up mandioca (the potato family staple here), he just started pushing me. I looked down and couldn´t really figure out what he was doing as he was screaming MOVE BEVA MOVE! Then he said the only words you need to hear from a 3 year old... peepee!! Surrounded by nothingness I was forced to relocate to he could relieve himself where he wished. Oh the graces of being recently pottytrained!
My days were spent talking with the Bogado family and meeting other members of the coop. We´ve agreed that my first month, more or less, will be spent with their family. After that, I´ll rotate for a few weeks just to get to know some of the other members and their families. The VP actually asked me over for lunch on Sunday, and he and I had an at length conversation about exporting situations, communications woes, and how quality means everything when selling fruits. He´s a talker but he has a lot of passion when he speaks, so I´m gonig to enjoy his company a lot.
My outlying street of Guayaivi is pretty much what I expected. Two buses come in a day (5am and 11am) and the nearest place to buy and resemblence of groceries is a solid 20 minute walk. There is, however, a health volunteer about 7km on the road out to the Ruta. She wasn´t in but I´m excited to talk to her too and do a lot of collaborating since originally I wanted to be a health volunteer. There is a school very close to mine so I´m already beginning to entertain the idea of having cultural classes. There is so much these people are cut off from, so I´d like to bring it to them with a monthly lesson about a specific country including music, dance, and of course food! I may be calling on some of you to contribute info, but that´s a ways off. First I need to speak better Guarani!
So what´s next? Not much actually. Two weeks of sparse classes and excursions, then its swearing in on the 17th. Its the 40th Year Anniversary of PC volunteers in PY, so the Chair of PC is coming down from Washington and all the PY dignitaries are supposed to show some face too. Should be VERY memorable! After that, my friends and I will spend 4 wild nights in the capital city indulging in all that we can. I heard a rumor that the food I´m missing most is available, so I will be on the hunt for hummus! There is also a zoo that is apparently similar to stepping into the wild and a few movie theaters too. We´ll be doing it all before all we have to connect our lives is a text message.
I´m loving this but I´m still missing all of you! Please email if you can and continue to enjoy this great world of ours!
The ¨retreat¨ with our contacts went well. Alfredo showed up from Guayaivi and he´s the ingenero, which basically means he does the technical side of the coop instead of the labor side. He actually lives in the capital, Asunción, and commutes the 3.5 hours to work there during the week. His brother is actually the mayor of Guayaivi, so I´m sure it will be good to keep up with the two of them! Although my official contact is the President of the coop, I think I´ll be working more closely with Alfredo since he knows all of the logistics including commercialization, communication with the members, financial info and exporting details. The retreat was a lot of fun to interact with excited Paraguayans anxious to get a volunteer of their own. And the best part? During a rousing frisbee game a managed to RIP my only pair of khaki pants right down the butt! Luckily only my American friends saw and, oddly enough, I was the third of our group of trainees to split pants during random activites like frisbee!!
Last Wednesday morning Alfredo and I headed off to Guayaivi. The bus ride was cramped, as usual, because the drivers literally pack passengers in like sardines. In fact, on my ride back this morning, I actually stood in the isle for 2 hours of the trip! As we got to the town, we walked a few yards down a street made of rocks and stopped at the house of Alfredo´s brother for a quick terere (the green tea-ish beverage that will be mentioned a lot throughout the next 2 years!) break while we waited for our ride. His brother´s house is huge and modern and I started to think, this is going to be a lot more chu-chi than I had anticipated! However, when our ride came and we started the 15km trek into my real home base reality set back in. Its all dirt, BUMPY and open. All of the houses have a lot of land, and although I am used to seeing brick homes... almost all in this compañia are wood.
After about 15 minutes in a truck, we finally hit the ¨compound¨ of the Bogado family. Behind a sturdy 5 foot wall is a set of 4 houses. This was the first time I had ever seen a wall like this considering 99% of all other homes in this country just have a fence if they´re lucky, and mostly just a giant yard. The homes belong to my new hosts (Raquel and Pablino), Paublino´s parents and two homes that are empty. His sister is living in Argentina and I´ve been told I´m going to be given her house. Sweet!! Paublino´s house is SUPER nice though, which was somewhat of a relief. He´s the treasurer of the coop and knows his farming business! Its sometimes difficult to convince farmers to invest in fertilizers because they don´t believe the investment will improve the quality of their product that much. Pablino definitely understands though and has stacks of fertilizer bags all around and his increased economic status is apparent too!
First thing is first though with a guest in Paraguay...what´s for dinner? Raquel decided chicken would be ideal, so we headed to her backyard. I was super excited because their yard is filled with all of the fruit trees I´ve come to love here... passion fruit, oranges, lemons, grapefruit and mangos. What tasty real estate! She grabbed a chicken and asked me to do the honors. I didn´t know what do to!! Luckily, I can still play the dumb card on that one because I haven´t killed a chicken yet. She laughed and gave me a lesson and made me promise the next time would be me doing the work! And, as is custom, the guest gets the best part. For me, it was a part I didn´t even know people ate... her sack of eggs. I choked it down, but all I could think was someone eating MY eggs! Random connection, I know... but what a welcome!
We also OFFICIALLY changed my name for the LAST time (I promise!) My other PC trainees and I had been joking about Beva since we liked Eva but should keep the B. I kid you not, the first thing I asked my new hosts was to give suggestions and the FIRST name out sans my suggestions was Beva!! So... Beva it is!
The only bathroom in the house is through Raquel´s and Pablino´s bedroom. My bladder could tell I was worried about this and of course, needed relief around 4am. I spotted a latrine outside during daylight hours so I found my only source of light (my travel alarm clock!) and made me way outside. The next morning, Raquel said she heard me get up and that it was silly. I should just walk through their room! But also, I needn´t worry because her husband was out that minute buying supplies for a bathroom. Yep, they´re building me my own bathroom! How crazy! They have two great kids... Romina (8) and Yony (3), pronounced Jonny in español. Romina immediately fell in love with me and holds my hand everywhere we go. She´s very intelligent so I can tell we´re going to have a great relationship over the next 2 years!
Yony´s a character and his relationship with Romina reminded me of the spats Jarrod and I used to have. He actually did a pretty Jarrod-esque move the other day too. In the middle of an open field where his mom and I were digging up mandioca (the potato family staple here), he just started pushing me. I looked down and couldn´t really figure out what he was doing as he was screaming MOVE BEVA MOVE! Then he said the only words you need to hear from a 3 year old... peepee!! Surrounded by nothingness I was forced to relocate to he could relieve himself where he wished. Oh the graces of being recently pottytrained!
My days were spent talking with the Bogado family and meeting other members of the coop. We´ve agreed that my first month, more or less, will be spent with their family. After that, I´ll rotate for a few weeks just to get to know some of the other members and their families. The VP actually asked me over for lunch on Sunday, and he and I had an at length conversation about exporting situations, communications woes, and how quality means everything when selling fruits. He´s a talker but he has a lot of passion when he speaks, so I´m gonig to enjoy his company a lot.
My outlying street of Guayaivi is pretty much what I expected. Two buses come in a day (5am and 11am) and the nearest place to buy and resemblence of groceries is a solid 20 minute walk. There is, however, a health volunteer about 7km on the road out to the Ruta. She wasn´t in but I´m excited to talk to her too and do a lot of collaborating since originally I wanted to be a health volunteer. There is a school very close to mine so I´m already beginning to entertain the idea of having cultural classes. There is so much these people are cut off from, so I´d like to bring it to them with a monthly lesson about a specific country including music, dance, and of course food! I may be calling on some of you to contribute info, but that´s a ways off. First I need to speak better Guarani!
So what´s next? Not much actually. Two weeks of sparse classes and excursions, then its swearing in on the 17th. Its the 40th Year Anniversary of PC volunteers in PY, so the Chair of PC is coming down from Washington and all the PY dignitaries are supposed to show some face too. Should be VERY memorable! After that, my friends and I will spend 4 wild nights in the capital city indulging in all that we can. I heard a rumor that the food I´m missing most is available, so I will be on the hunt for hummus! There is also a zoo that is apparently similar to stepping into the wild and a few movie theaters too. We´ll be doing it all before all we have to connect our lives is a text message.
I´m loving this but I´m still missing all of you! Please email if you can and continue to enjoy this great world of ours!
Saturday, July 28, 2007
I have a home!!!
Its been an really eventful complete of days! Yesterday the language staff took us on all day field trips to keep our minds off of our super important afternoon tell-all. It didn´t really work as my 15 passenger van of trainees sat in silence most of the day. Luckily, 3pm finally rolled around. They normally bring in the kid that cried the year before to talk about how their expectations weren´t met but now they love it. Apparently, 4 girls cried last year but they all early terminated within a few months, so that´s kind of funny! The volunteer was super nice though and wait it all boils down to is that our assignment is still just a bunch of words on some paper. We´ll get there and things may change or contacts may change. As usual, just go with the flow and be FLEXIBLE!
With that said, I didn´t cry but they´ll probably have me giving that speech next year. I´m not disappointed by any means, my assignment just isn´t what I had imagined at all. I´m the newest resident of Calle 2.000 Xaxi, Guayaibí (pronounced gua-ja-i-vi), which is in the department of San Pedro. San Pedro is the poorest department, so I´m glad I can help somewhere that really needs it! I´ll be working with a coopertive, Coopertiva Guayaibí Unidos, that is an agriculture coop with 80 members--VERY small. They produce mostly bananas and pineapples in the region and do some exporting to Argentina. As of now, I am told that want a volunteer because they´re interesting in improving farming productivity, exporting efficiency, and beginning to export tomatos. And the icing on the cake, I´m the most campo out of the 16 people in my training group!! That means that I´m living in the most remote area which I didn´t expect but I´m totally up for the challenge! My ¨city¨ has 400 people... so I´m sure they´re all going to know me! The second smallest site of the group has 2,000. Your pay is determined by how large your site is, and only 3 of us are at the rock bottom pay, which is 1.200.000 Gs a month. Its going to take a while to get over the novelty of being paid over 1.000.000 a month!! Also, I´m pretty excited because with a site so small I´ll be fluent in Guarani. I´ve kind of been holding off because a lot of people never even speak it, but it will be my form of contact I´m sure! I´ll try to throw in a Guarani lesson each time I write. Here´s today´s: Mba´eichapa is how you say ¨how are you¨ and the typical response is Ipora, which means good/well. Also, throw in a thumbs up too with it. They love the thumbs up here!!
Of the other 15 trainees, everyone is close to someone else other than myself and two others. Thats probably a good thing though because I really love some of the people in my group, and it will be better for us to be away from each other just for intergration purposes. And I´ll stay out of trouble too! :)
Other than that, we did some bee keeping this week and that was interesting. I´m not sure if I will have any of that in my site, but its definitely a trip! Even in full gear, which can be seen on Facebook, I still can´t get over the annoying sound of a ton of bees buzzing around my face! Ick!
This morning we had a a really early start. There have been bets floating around about a friend of mine sucking on cow teet. 5:30am was the magic hour apparently! I finally accomplished a life long dream of learning how to milk a cow (its sooo hard and I was horrible! Milk ALL over my feet... the squirt power is outrageously strong and unpreditable for amatures!) And my friend will put mouth to udder. The best part, our friend´s mom didn´t even think it was weird. Will said ¨and now like a baby cow?¨ in Guarani and she didn´t think twice. There were four of us there and we were crying we were laughing so hard. His payment for the best, another trainee, Andrew, has to kick 9 chickens. Kind of a random currency but should be entertaining too! Tons of great pictures that will have to be uploaded another day!!
So this week I´ll visit Guayaibí. We meet our contacts on Tuesday and have an overnight retreat with them at a center near here. Mine is the president of the coop and hopefully has patience since my Guarani SUCKS right now! Then Wednesday morning its off to our new homes for 5 days. I´ll get living arrangements together as well. We have to live with a family for the first 3 months and I´m planning on rotating houses every 2 weeks so I can get to know as many people as possible. We swear in on 17August and will spend 4 wild nights in Asunción before getting to our real jobs 21August. Wish me luck and keep the emails coming!
Oh, and one more note, although Ana was working for a while I´m doing yet another name change. Turns out Aña means devil in Guaurani. The Paraguayos don´t have a problem with Ana, but I do! Its Eva now... still sweet and simple (just like me! ha!)
With that said, I didn´t cry but they´ll probably have me giving that speech next year. I´m not disappointed by any means, my assignment just isn´t what I had imagined at all. I´m the newest resident of Calle 2.000 Xaxi, Guayaibí (pronounced gua-ja-i-vi), which is in the department of San Pedro. San Pedro is the poorest department, so I´m glad I can help somewhere that really needs it! I´ll be working with a coopertive, Coopertiva Guayaibí Unidos, that is an agriculture coop with 80 members--VERY small. They produce mostly bananas and pineapples in the region and do some exporting to Argentina. As of now, I am told that want a volunteer because they´re interesting in improving farming productivity, exporting efficiency, and beginning to export tomatos. And the icing on the cake, I´m the most campo out of the 16 people in my training group!! That means that I´m living in the most remote area which I didn´t expect but I´m totally up for the challenge! My ¨city¨ has 400 people... so I´m sure they´re all going to know me! The second smallest site of the group has 2,000. Your pay is determined by how large your site is, and only 3 of us are at the rock bottom pay, which is 1.200.000 Gs a month. Its going to take a while to get over the novelty of being paid over 1.000.000 a month!! Also, I´m pretty excited because with a site so small I´ll be fluent in Guarani. I´ve kind of been holding off because a lot of people never even speak it, but it will be my form of contact I´m sure! I´ll try to throw in a Guarani lesson each time I write. Here´s today´s: Mba´eichapa is how you say ¨how are you¨ and the typical response is Ipora, which means good/well. Also, throw in a thumbs up too with it. They love the thumbs up here!!
Of the other 15 trainees, everyone is close to someone else other than myself and two others. Thats probably a good thing though because I really love some of the people in my group, and it will be better for us to be away from each other just for intergration purposes. And I´ll stay out of trouble too! :)
Other than that, we did some bee keeping this week and that was interesting. I´m not sure if I will have any of that in my site, but its definitely a trip! Even in full gear, which can be seen on Facebook, I still can´t get over the annoying sound of a ton of bees buzzing around my face! Ick!
This morning we had a a really early start. There have been bets floating around about a friend of mine sucking on cow teet. 5:30am was the magic hour apparently! I finally accomplished a life long dream of learning how to milk a cow (its sooo hard and I was horrible! Milk ALL over my feet... the squirt power is outrageously strong and unpreditable for amatures!) And my friend will put mouth to udder. The best part, our friend´s mom didn´t even think it was weird. Will said ¨and now like a baby cow?¨ in Guarani and she didn´t think twice. There were four of us there and we were crying we were laughing so hard. His payment for the best, another trainee, Andrew, has to kick 9 chickens. Kind of a random currency but should be entertaining too! Tons of great pictures that will have to be uploaded another day!!
So this week I´ll visit Guayaibí. We meet our contacts on Tuesday and have an overnight retreat with them at a center near here. Mine is the president of the coop and hopefully has patience since my Guarani SUCKS right now! Then Wednesday morning its off to our new homes for 5 days. I´ll get living arrangements together as well. We have to live with a family for the first 3 months and I´m planning on rotating houses every 2 weeks so I can get to know as many people as possible. We swear in on 17August and will spend 4 wild nights in Asunción before getting to our real jobs 21August. Wish me luck and keep the emails coming!
Oh, and one more note, although Ana was working for a while I´m doing yet another name change. Turns out Aña means devil in Guaurani. The Paraguayos don´t have a problem with Ana, but I do! Its Eva now... still sweet and simple (just like me! ha!)
Saturday, July 21, 2007
mucho información!
First off, I need to appologize for not writing sooner. Its been very busy around here and its tough to find the 20 minutes it takes to write these dialogues. On the up side though, life has been moving along nicely!
Two weeks ago we visited a volunteer in Ybycui which is about 2 hours from here. We just went for an overnight tech excursion to learn about his co-op. It also doesn´t hurt that just up the road from him there is a great national park too! His co-op is mostly working with giving out credits to farmers but he is trying to start a few income generating projects for the group as well, so it was interesting to brainstorm the possibilities and likelihood of each. While in Ybycui, we all witnessed our first cow killing. We got up at 4:30am and it was worth it! Not that I am totally into killing animals or anything, but I realize how important meat is to the families in this country and how many families will benefit from one cow. I couldn´t take pictures but the boys did, so one day I may share. Mary, the only other girl in my training group, also witnessed a pig killing with me with the family we were spending the night with. Two large animals killed in less than 12 hours kind of made us angels of death or something! The park we visted on the way out of town was nice. Reminded me of all of our national parks in WV. There was a waterfall right off the road and we trekked another 1km or so up to a much more exotic one. Very tranquil!
Aside from our classes another trainee and I have been working with a strawberry farmer. This week we´re actually giving him a presenation about how he can improve his business by expanding into jams too. Actually, this afternoon we´re making jam with his wife. She´s super sweet and her daughter is too, so that should be fun!
A family in our pueblo had a Quince last weekend. It was actually fun this time considering I´ve been to one before that was a total drag and a wedding that was equally boring. It was smaller and almost completely comprised of families we are familiar with, so that could have easily made the difference!
I´ve spent the last 5 days in Valenzuela visiting another volunteer for what they call Long Field Practice. We had to prepare mini presentation (refered to as charla here) to the organization that volunteer works for. Four of us were at her site and my topic was financing an internet cafe. It went well and its super easy when you´re giving a charla to a group of grandmas! Might I add, I´m completely coveting the volunteer´s project! She gets to work with a women´s organization 80% of the time and a credit co-op 20% of the time. The women´s organization (AMUR) is completely great! It was like being at camp for a week and I was the best camper! We made recycled paper, soap, and cooked a few traditional Paraguayan dishes too. I loved it!! They also have computer, sewing, and leather working classes as well. In fact, we had aopo´i(s) (a hand-made shirt that is a favorite of the locals) made for 60.000Gs which is roughly $12! I´ve never had anything customized before, so it was a treat! My host family for the week was amazing as well! The mom, Ña Elsa, is probably the best cook in that village. She even made me homemade ice cream! We also visited another one of the org´s members that is really well off... and I mean REALLY! Her house was huge and surrounded by acres and acres and acres of caña dulce, which can be made into sugar, molasses, and liquor. That´s how she and her husband had so much money. In addition to a giant house, TONS of land, a dishwasher, two kitches and their own factories to process the caña, they also had pure bread dogs (which you NEVER see here... muts everywhere!), a POOL and a slew of exotic pets. Everything from an ostrich to bunnies, exotic birds and giant turtles, and even their very own MONKEY! It was completely surreal and I had to ask myself... am I really in the Peace Corps? Apparently there are bubbles like this throughout the country where you just find people with money. Valenzuela is actually socioeconomically well off compared to a lot of other pueblos, but this house really blew my mind. We ended our week by cooking an American breakfast. It was nice to be the host for once because we are always the guests in this country and rarely ever get to cook for others. We made pancakes, bacon and omeletes for our host moms. They couldn´t understand why would ever have a meal without bread or mandioca (the standard potato-esque veggie eaten with all foods here) during a meal.
My Spanish is coming along nicely, although I still have a lot to learn with Guarani. I can hold down conversations about women in politics, how long it will take to recoup your losses after investing in an internet cafe, domestic violence, and what its like to be from parents that are divorced. Not bad for only 7 weeks here!! I´m learning more and more each day though and there will be no stopping that process for most likely two years!
This Friday (SIX short days!) I learn where my home will be. I´ve requested a larger area, 5 hours or less from the capital and to not replace a current volunteer but we´ll see what kind of curve ball they throw my way. Its a complete gamble, but I´m very excited! I really like it here and to think I could be writing from Morocco!!(which was my original Peace Corps destination!) This country needs a lot of work but the people are so hospitable and kind. Its going to be a good two years! Once we learn our future location and assignment, we have another couple of days of training and then set off on our own to visit for 5 days. I´m sure then it will really set in what kind of adventure I´m really on.
I hope all of you are doing well and please try to email me if you can. Bueno suerte! :) (which means good luck!)
Two weeks ago we visited a volunteer in Ybycui which is about 2 hours from here. We just went for an overnight tech excursion to learn about his co-op. It also doesn´t hurt that just up the road from him there is a great national park too! His co-op is mostly working with giving out credits to farmers but he is trying to start a few income generating projects for the group as well, so it was interesting to brainstorm the possibilities and likelihood of each. While in Ybycui, we all witnessed our first cow killing. We got up at 4:30am and it was worth it! Not that I am totally into killing animals or anything, but I realize how important meat is to the families in this country and how many families will benefit from one cow. I couldn´t take pictures but the boys did, so one day I may share. Mary, the only other girl in my training group, also witnessed a pig killing with me with the family we were spending the night with. Two large animals killed in less than 12 hours kind of made us angels of death or something! The park we visted on the way out of town was nice. Reminded me of all of our national parks in WV. There was a waterfall right off the road and we trekked another 1km or so up to a much more exotic one. Very tranquil!
Aside from our classes another trainee and I have been working with a strawberry farmer. This week we´re actually giving him a presenation about how he can improve his business by expanding into jams too. Actually, this afternoon we´re making jam with his wife. She´s super sweet and her daughter is too, so that should be fun!
A family in our pueblo had a Quince last weekend. It was actually fun this time considering I´ve been to one before that was a total drag and a wedding that was equally boring. It was smaller and almost completely comprised of families we are familiar with, so that could have easily made the difference!
I´ve spent the last 5 days in Valenzuela visiting another volunteer for what they call Long Field Practice. We had to prepare mini presentation (refered to as charla here) to the organization that volunteer works for. Four of us were at her site and my topic was financing an internet cafe. It went well and its super easy when you´re giving a charla to a group of grandmas! Might I add, I´m completely coveting the volunteer´s project! She gets to work with a women´s organization 80% of the time and a credit co-op 20% of the time. The women´s organization (AMUR) is completely great! It was like being at camp for a week and I was the best camper! We made recycled paper, soap, and cooked a few traditional Paraguayan dishes too. I loved it!! They also have computer, sewing, and leather working classes as well. In fact, we had aopo´i(s) (a hand-made shirt that is a favorite of the locals) made for 60.000Gs which is roughly $12! I´ve never had anything customized before, so it was a treat! My host family for the week was amazing as well! The mom, Ña Elsa, is probably the best cook in that village. She even made me homemade ice cream! We also visited another one of the org´s members that is really well off... and I mean REALLY! Her house was huge and surrounded by acres and acres and acres of caña dulce, which can be made into sugar, molasses, and liquor. That´s how she and her husband had so much money. In addition to a giant house, TONS of land, a dishwasher, two kitches and their own factories to process the caña, they also had pure bread dogs (which you NEVER see here... muts everywhere!), a POOL and a slew of exotic pets. Everything from an ostrich to bunnies, exotic birds and giant turtles, and even their very own MONKEY! It was completely surreal and I had to ask myself... am I really in the Peace Corps? Apparently there are bubbles like this throughout the country where you just find people with money. Valenzuela is actually socioeconomically well off compared to a lot of other pueblos, but this house really blew my mind. We ended our week by cooking an American breakfast. It was nice to be the host for once because we are always the guests in this country and rarely ever get to cook for others. We made pancakes, bacon and omeletes for our host moms. They couldn´t understand why would ever have a meal without bread or mandioca (the standard potato-esque veggie eaten with all foods here) during a meal.
My Spanish is coming along nicely, although I still have a lot to learn with Guarani. I can hold down conversations about women in politics, how long it will take to recoup your losses after investing in an internet cafe, domestic violence, and what its like to be from parents that are divorced. Not bad for only 7 weeks here!! I´m learning more and more each day though and there will be no stopping that process for most likely two years!
This Friday (SIX short days!) I learn where my home will be. I´ve requested a larger area, 5 hours or less from the capital and to not replace a current volunteer but we´ll see what kind of curve ball they throw my way. Its a complete gamble, but I´m very excited! I really like it here and to think I could be writing from Morocco!!(which was my original Peace Corps destination!) This country needs a lot of work but the people are so hospitable and kind. Its going to be a good two years! Once we learn our future location and assignment, we have another couple of days of training and then set off on our own to visit for 5 days. I´m sure then it will really set in what kind of adventure I´m really on.
I hope all of you are doing well and please try to email me if you can. Bueno suerte! :) (which means good luck!)
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Mba´éichapa!
Its been a week or so since my last update, and I appologize. Its not always easy to get to a computer, and past that... sometimes there is just nothing new to report!
As you may be able to tell by the title of this entry, I´ve breezed through Spanish classes and as of yesterday I am fully in Guarani territory! Its definitely a very difficult language to say because there are 9 ¨nasal¨ letters that are a terror to pronounce correctly. Past that, many words can have different meetings. Heê means yes, and He´e means rico (rich, as in rich food). Since its an indigenous langauge, they don´t have a complete list of vocab so a few are pulled from Spanish. Its still rough! Luckily, my host grandfather speaks almost no Spanish, so I can practice on him all the time. I´ll keep you posted on my progress!
Big SHOUT OUT to one very special Zachery Scott. He sent a letter weeks ago and it was the first piece of mail I´ve received! Dad sent a letter and a packages ages ago, but they haven´t shown up. Actually, I was notified today that my package is in Asunción, but I have to go through 100 steps to get it. Hopefully I can have it in my posession by next week. The things a PCT has to go through to get some deodorant!
Saturday morning we got up early (we were on the road by 6:30am) to drive to THE Chaco! The Chaco makes up about 80% of the land but only about 5-10% of the population lives there. Its was somewhat barren, but we didn´t go in very deep. About 20km across the ¨border¨ there is an Agricultural School to teach young boys and girl better farming methods. It was the ultimate summer camp location too! They had beautiful yellow dorms dotting the landscape and everything farm related you can think of. We explore fish breeding ponds, every vegetable and fruit on earth, cows, chickens, goats, and much more. However, my favorite (and my mom will be proud!) were the baby PIGS! They are soooo cute, however last night we found one in our neighborhood, and I´m sorry to report the babies squeel just as much as the adults. A real let down! My friend has promised to train a midget pig (but I want it to always be a baby!) to not squeel and then give it to me next year for my birthday. The crazy thing is that is a perfectly normal gift! Actually, its probably too nice of a gift.... we´ll see if he actually comes through next April though.
After our Chaco trip we headed to Ascunción to spend the night. We stayed in a relatively nice two star hotel for 55.000 Gs a night ($11). The PC has a special deal with them always, which is great to know! Normally it would cost 3 times that. I think we all took showers for 20 minutes, 2-3 times while there too. Having the pressure was heaven! We wanted some non-PY food too, so we sought out an all you can eat Chinese restaraunt. We paid almost as much as we did for our room for that one meal, but it was totally worth it to have sweet and sour chicken, dim sum, and veggies!
Sunday was a big Independence Day party at the Embassy. The Embassy is MASSIVE! Its a solid 4 city blocks or more and is apparently the 2nd largest in the world. It was nice to chat with some other volunteers. I must report though that we had our butts kicked in volleyball. Turns out the Marines don´t even play because the Paraguayans murdered them last year. We learned our lesson the hard way. It was embarassing but of cource, FUN! We´ve already begun training so we can regain dignity next year!
This weekend we´re having an overnight at a volunteer´s site to help him with a project then Saturday afternoon we´re going to some great park for a picnic. If its warm, we can even swim! It ill be really nice to get some sun since we´re indoors so much for training. Sunday is my brother´s 9th birthday, but I think I have to miss the celebration because we´re trying our hands at BEEKEEPING! We hear about it a lot since we will most likely be working with farmers or farming families, so I´m really pumped to suit up! The funny thing is though you actually have to make a bee sting you before you can do the work, so apparently its hilarious to watch everyone try to force a bee to sting their arms.
Well, thats about all I have now. Please continue to write and let me know if you have any pressing questions. I´m enjoying myself down here in the sometimes Twilight-esque Zone, and I wish nothing but the best for all of you too!
As you may be able to tell by the title of this entry, I´ve breezed through Spanish classes and as of yesterday I am fully in Guarani territory! Its definitely a very difficult language to say because there are 9 ¨nasal¨ letters that are a terror to pronounce correctly. Past that, many words can have different meetings. Heê means yes, and He´e means rico (rich, as in rich food). Since its an indigenous langauge, they don´t have a complete list of vocab so a few are pulled from Spanish. Its still rough! Luckily, my host grandfather speaks almost no Spanish, so I can practice on him all the time. I´ll keep you posted on my progress!
Big SHOUT OUT to one very special Zachery Scott. He sent a letter weeks ago and it was the first piece of mail I´ve received! Dad sent a letter and a packages ages ago, but they haven´t shown up. Actually, I was notified today that my package is in Asunción, but I have to go through 100 steps to get it. Hopefully I can have it in my posession by next week. The things a PCT has to go through to get some deodorant!
Saturday morning we got up early (we were on the road by 6:30am) to drive to THE Chaco! The Chaco makes up about 80% of the land but only about 5-10% of the population lives there. Its was somewhat barren, but we didn´t go in very deep. About 20km across the ¨border¨ there is an Agricultural School to teach young boys and girl better farming methods. It was the ultimate summer camp location too! They had beautiful yellow dorms dotting the landscape and everything farm related you can think of. We explore fish breeding ponds, every vegetable and fruit on earth, cows, chickens, goats, and much more. However, my favorite (and my mom will be proud!) were the baby PIGS! They are soooo cute, however last night we found one in our neighborhood, and I´m sorry to report the babies squeel just as much as the adults. A real let down! My friend has promised to train a midget pig (but I want it to always be a baby!) to not squeel and then give it to me next year for my birthday. The crazy thing is that is a perfectly normal gift! Actually, its probably too nice of a gift.... we´ll see if he actually comes through next April though.
After our Chaco trip we headed to Ascunción to spend the night. We stayed in a relatively nice two star hotel for 55.000 Gs a night ($11). The PC has a special deal with them always, which is great to know! Normally it would cost 3 times that. I think we all took showers for 20 minutes, 2-3 times while there too. Having the pressure was heaven! We wanted some non-PY food too, so we sought out an all you can eat Chinese restaraunt. We paid almost as much as we did for our room for that one meal, but it was totally worth it to have sweet and sour chicken, dim sum, and veggies!
Sunday was a big Independence Day party at the Embassy. The Embassy is MASSIVE! Its a solid 4 city blocks or more and is apparently the 2nd largest in the world. It was nice to chat with some other volunteers. I must report though that we had our butts kicked in volleyball. Turns out the Marines don´t even play because the Paraguayans murdered them last year. We learned our lesson the hard way. It was embarassing but of cource, FUN! We´ve already begun training so we can regain dignity next year!
This weekend we´re having an overnight at a volunteer´s site to help him with a project then Saturday afternoon we´re going to some great park for a picnic. If its warm, we can even swim! It ill be really nice to get some sun since we´re indoors so much for training. Sunday is my brother´s 9th birthday, but I think I have to miss the celebration because we´re trying our hands at BEEKEEPING! We hear about it a lot since we will most likely be working with farmers or farming families, so I´m really pumped to suit up! The funny thing is though you actually have to make a bee sting you before you can do the work, so apparently its hilarious to watch everyone try to force a bee to sting their arms.
Well, thats about all I have now. Please continue to write and let me know if you have any pressing questions. I´m enjoying myself down here in the sometimes Twilight-esque Zone, and I wish nothing but the best for all of you too!
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