Saturday, July 22, 2006

long field practice

so this past week i visited itacuribi del rosario with kyle, mateo, kevin and my profesora sylvia. so we had this long field practice basically so we could experience what another volunteer is doing in their community and also to get a little bit away from las piedras...haha....

so we visited sandra´s site and overall i would say it was a good week.....there were ups and downs....but i definitely learned a lot....we got to visit quite a few farms and learn more about agriculture and crops....and of course crop rotation and abonos verdes....so that was good....

we also gave 2 charlas (presentations) the first one went a lot better than the 2nd one.....the unfortunate part is that without guarani, we are pretty much useless.....mis companeros and i explained in spanish and then sandra would translate everything in guarani....and for the first charla we made a couple of mistakes and its not like you realize that you are making a mistake in that instance, not until later when it hits you...are you like oh crap!!! that first charla was about productions costs....and our teacher sylvia and sandra said that we did an awesome job....

as for the 2nd one, it was a bit tougher because there was a lot of politics involve in the asociacion that they were not really paying attention to us....we had each person write down their idea on a piece of paper--1 thing that their organization did right in the last year and 1 thing that they think can improve....so yeah it was really hard to read their writing.....so lesson learned---dont have people write down their own ideas....or actually individually go to each one and you write down what they have to say....

so yeah we stayed for a bit longer after our presentation just to listen in on their meeting...and it was a bit heated...and not until after did we realize all the corruption and screwed up things taking place in the asociacion....very disheartening....and i also have to seriously think about how i am going to deal with machismo in the future....many men were talking about me and my body parts in guarani...saying really inappropriate things.....so its frustrating to think...how the fuck am i going to deal with that if it comes up in my site....so yeah...for now i dunno what to do.... :(

this friday we find out where we will be living for the next 2 yrs, im a bit nervous about that....but then again we pretty much have no choice as to where we will be sent....so kinda up to the higher powers....

the family that i stayed with for the past week was nice....well the mom was nice and quiet...we got along great...the dad on the other hand was a bit of a jerk....he said that peace corps volunteers dont come to help people, all they do is come learn about paraguay....because we have no experience with agriculture or guarani....so we dont really have anything to offer them....i tried to explain to him that we do offer other things, like a business background to help organize their coop/asociacion....and that many people want to help, but paraguayan culture is all about taking it slow...making friends first...being nice...and then slowly getting things done...so thats an obstacle in and of itself....i dont think he really understood my point because he didnt bother to talk to me the rest of the week....haha oh well his loss....

and finally before i take off...my sympathies to my buddy kyle for having the worst case of chivivi (diarrhea) and vomiting...poor thing felt awful for pretty much the whole trip and not until the end was he finally ok....so yup

i kinda thought that my buddies would drive me a bit crazy by the end of the trip, but on the contrary they definitely grew on me :) hehe

ok well i need to be off....sorry for not proofreading, no time

take cares
hugs and kisses :)

Sunday, July 16, 2006

so updating you guys on what´s going on over here with me.....

so last weekend the red group got to visit acahay...its actually a very nice quaint city....we visited a member from the cooperative--who had his own farm....it was amazingly cool because we got to learn about the different abonos(fertilizers) that he uses in order to prepare the land to have vegetables and fruits....also he brought out some bees in a box and showed us how they were making honey....very awesome and luckily they dont sting..... otherwise i would not have gone near them....jejeje
afterwards we got to go to a park and see a small waterfall...damn the water was freezing, but it was sooo much fun to able to get wet and just relax for a bit.....and of course the group of people i was with are just soooo amazing that it was tons of fun because of them :)

so i watched the worldcup at brad´s house with his family....we were divided--some rooting for italia y otros rooting for francia....i actually wanted italia to win so i was very happy with the outcome...jeje....

so language class is now more stressful than ever because we changed groups and now i really have to study since the 2 new people in my class (jen and kyle) are actually awesome with guarani.....damnit!!! sucks!! pero le estoy hechando ganas por lo menos....

so yesterday our red group went to an expo....it was ok and very chill since we got to see animales, different stands, and there was delicious food....i had a lomito arabe (wrap made from pita bread) yummy!! also in our community there were 3 different birthdays....one was eloy´s a 12 year old boy who use to have a crush on me, but now ignores me....jaja....my nephew also turned 1 year old....they had a huge celebration for him....but damn the kids got to be sooo out of control throwing things and just a huge mayhem...jeje....finally it was celeste´s birthday too she turned 14....i actually had a bit of a headache with her because she was mad at me because i told my friend brad to not spread rumors about me and another volunteer because people will start to believe it...so she got mad at me because he got mad at her for telling me that he was spreading rumors...jaja such a mess but in the end i told brad to just flirt with her and talk to her and everything turned out ok....ayaya teenagers!!!

so yup friday nite a whole bunch of us got together and drank at mateo´s house...it was tons of fun since we tried giving a charla on how to make babies....lol...while of course most of us were buzzed or drunk.....and yeah we woke up some poor guy to sell us more beers because we wanted to drink more.....jaja so yup i am definitely drinking more here in paraguay.....

yesterday at my brother´s house i danced my butt off...jaja just because i felt like it....but it was fun since at least its some form of exercise and people complimented me on my dancing which i think is funny because as many of you know---im a horrible dancer....jaja

anyways i am actually leaving for a week to another city called itacuribi del rosario....its about 4 or 5hours away and my group will give 2 charlas so im a bit nervous about that....but hopefully they will turn out ok....

ok well i have to run off....

but individually i send you guys tons of hugs.....and hope that you guys are doing well and are at least happy wherever you find yourself :)

Sunday, July 02, 2006

hello everybody

so this is going to be quick----wanted to wish you guys a good 4th of july!!! i spent part of it at the embassy yesterday...they had a bbq with hamburgers and hot dogs and ice cream---YUMMY!!!! also this weekend i spent it in asuncion (the capital city) and unfortunately i had a bit too much to drink last nite and missed out on tons of fun (it was also one of my friends--kyle's bday) yup i was vomiting the whole nite...YUCK!!! i am barely starting to recover rite now....scandalous....jeje

rite now i have to go back to my city and prepare for a presentation....sigh work!!! but aside from that everything else is ok.....

there was a get together at my house on friday nite--i made salsa!!!! my mom made chips from potatoes, and my friend made some delicious guacamole :) luckily my salsa turned out ok...jeje and some paraguayans actually liked it which is surprising considering the culture does not like spicy things....i have no idea why....we also drank a bit and hung out, which was fun.....

ok so i hope everyone is well....tons of hugs and kisses and i will hopefully have more to say soon....

:)