mark in paraguay

Noticias

2009-08-08T19:49:00.004-05:00

felices/happy

Gracias al juez/thanks to the judge

y el anillo/and the ring

"accepto"/ "I do"

el momento/the moment

esperando todavia/still waiting

esperando el juez/waiting on the judge

2009-08-08T19:47:00.001-05:00

Noticias,

Saludos a todos! Espero que este correo les encuentre bien! Les escribo desde Springfield, Missouri. Muchos de ustedes ya saben que vivo aquí. Después de una dura búsqueda, he conseguido un trabajo federal con el Departamento de Labor. Tengo un mes viviendo aquí y poco a poco me estoy acostumbrando a Springfield. Nunca veía a Oklahoma City como una ciudad diversa, sin embargo, dado que a Springfield le falta diversidad me costará un poco en acostumbrarme a esta ciudad. Pero no les escribo para hablar de mi traslado a Springfield.

Les escribo con mucha felicidad. Les escribo para anunciar que hace una semana Karla y yo nos unimos en matrimonio! La semana pasada no casamos por el civil y para el año que viene haremos la ceremonia religiosa. Tenemos planes de hacer una ceremonia sencilla e intima con nuestras familias. Estoy sumamente feliz. Ya nos mudamos a Springfield y estamos buscando empleo para Karla. El último mes se nos ha pasado como maravilla y al mismo tiempo ha sido un mes lleno de estrés a causa del cambio de lugar, trabajo nuevo y planes de matrimonio. Pero aunque haya sido medio difícil, estoy muy feliz y no hubiera preferido pasar por esta etapa con alguien menos mi querida Karla.

Con el departamento de Labor, estaré trabajando como investigador en la división de Horas y Salarios (Wage and Hour Division). La división de Horas y Salarios establece normas de salario mínimo, pago de sobretiempo, contabilidad de horas y pagos, además de hacer cumplir normas para el empleo de menores. Este trabajo requiere que investigue negocios para confirmar que están conforme a las leyes federales. En la solicitación de empleo, encontré que buscaba alguien que hablara español y sentía que esta carrera me convendría. Así que, aquí me encuentro trabajando duro y estudiando todas las regulaciones federales de empleo. Durante este periodo de capacitación he estado saturado de trabajo.

Les agradezco por mucho por sus oraciones y su apoyo durante este tiempo difícil. Me estoy estableciendo en una ciudad nueva en una carrera nueva y con mi esposa querida. Para ustedes en Paraguay, les quiero agradecer especialmente. Mi tiempo ahí con ustedes cambio me manera de ser, mi perspectiva hacia mí fe y me ayudó a desarrollar un fervor renovado hacia la vida. Siempre guardaré un espacio muy cercano a mi corazón. Gracias y que Dios les bendiga a todos.

Próximamente estaré actualizando mi sitio de web con fotos del casamiento civil. Favor de revisarlas cuando haya tiempo.

www.markinparaguay.blogspot.com

Mark Allan Carter

Training....

2009-07-12T21:43:00.003-05:00

First, I want to start with the obvious. Now that I'm back in the states, and not in Paraguay, I'm not quite sure what purpose this blog serves for me. Therefore, I ask that you bear with me while I figure out what to do with it. I suspect that I will be posting rather random tidbits of what I find interesting. With that said, let's talk about "TRAINING"

This past week was my first week on the job. I didn't' actually work, but I spent the whole week in Kansas City doing all of the preliminary paperwork and introductory preparation for the job. The week went smoothly and without many problems. The people were friendly and willing to make me feel comfortable. The Kansas City office is the district office. I will not be working in this particularly office (I'll be in Springfield, MO), but I will be in contact with the people there often.

Throughout the week I was handed what seemed like endless forms to sign and endless booklets and packets of information to read. I thought I would drown in information until the Friday, the last day. The last day I was handed 3 gargantous Field Operation Handbooks. Honestly, each one was about the size of a phone book. Worse still was that it requires an index in order to find anything in either of the books. Lastly, I was give still another huge book of Labor regulations! I guess I'll have to learn it, but it sure does not look promising :)

Wish me luck as I dig in to all of this starting tomorrow!

Employment……finally!

2009-06-02T09:57:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone! I hope this correspondence finds you doing well. My last posting was a cry for help. I first want to thank everyone who contacted me with advice, a comforting word or a job posting. I also want to give thanks to our Lord and heavenly father for helping find employment, especially given our economic situation here in the States. I have been offered and have accepted a federal position with the Department of Labor in Springfield, Missouri. I will be working as a Wage and Hour investigator. In a nutshell and investigator seeks to make sure businesses are in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Acts.

The Labor Department was seeking an investigator who spoke Spanish to work with the Latino community. When I saw the posting for the position I thought to myself "Hey, I could do that!" For those of you who have known me for many years, I'm sure can remember all the long summer hours at our neighborhood McDonalds' restaurant here on Rockwell next to P.C. North. At the time I was there, I didn't think that working at McDonald's would do too much for me. I realize now that our Lord must have been working behind the scenes. I realize now that working there has played a critical role in my decision to major in Spanish, to serve in the Peace Corps, my choice of a fiancé, and now employment with the Labor Department.

Again, thanks to all of you for your help and prayers. God bless and please keep in touch. Thanks again.

I continue....

2009-04-16T08:38:00.004-05:00

I've been home for a while now. But I still find it difficult to put it all into words. A little less than 60 days ago, I was in a country that was proud to no longer rank in the top 3 most impoverished countries in the Western hemisphere, a country that is also proud to NO LONGER be ranked in the top 5 most corrupt countries in the world. Paraguay has changed a lot over the last decade. Nevertheless, I was born in the U.S. and any comparison another country is shocking to say the least. Though I go through the motions, know how to behave socially and based upon all appearances look "normal", I think I am anything but normal. I don't know if I will ever be the same again. It's a good feeling and at times a painful feeling. I am sometimes filled with pride to be in my country of birth and see the great and wonderful things that have been accomplished. I am filled with pride to see the good things that our country does across the world. In the same moment, I am sometimes pained to see how short sighted we (I) as Americans can be. This has nothing and everything to do with our political and economic situation. I'm not attempting to describe any one particular issue or person. If I could sum it up in one illustration, it would be that I am sometimes saddened how our culture and society (individuals, politicians and parents) will choose expediency over what is the obvious good for our country. I love my country and would trade it for no other. I guess, it is the deep love for my country that allows me to care as much as I do.

On a lighter note, I continue looking for employment and am open to any ideas that you may have. This weekend I took sometime off from my job search and enjoyed a wonderful Easter Sunday. Below you will see a picture of Karla and I before heading to church. God bless and may he keep you in his love and guidance.

A New Beginning …

2009-03-31T14:31:00.001-05:00

As I look back, I find that it has been a while since I've updated my blog here. One may assume that there has not been too much going on or one may assume that perhaps I've been so busy I haven't had time to update you all on what's been going on lately. I guess I should say that It's been a little of both. I am here in the states and will not be returning to Paraguay. I first want to say that Paraguay is an unforgettable place. Even more difficult to forget will be the friends and families that I met while there. In short, the time spent in Paraguay changed my life. I think it would be unfair to ask me to explain exactly how Paraguay has changed my life. This is something that I think those of you who know me well, will see during interaction with me and will hear about over time. I think the best start would be reading my blog, reading the feelings and thoughts expressed as each event occurred. I guess what you are wondering is "why" is it that I will not be returning to Paraguay. Well, I'm human. I enjoyed the work. I enjoyed the people. I enjoyed the experiences and I enjoyed the Paraguayan culture. Honestly, I think of very little that I disliked about Paraguay. What I did not enjoy was the distance between my girlfriend and me. We've had plans to take our relationship to the next level for a while now. However, being so far away pulled at the very essence of my relationship in a way I didn't think was possible. So what does this mean for Peace Corps. Well, it means that I won't be going back. Though I miss Paraguay, fellow volunteers, my site San Juan Bautista, the friends and families met and though I feel that I have let many people down (here in the U.S and back in Paraguay), I am certain that I will not regret the decision made. My girlfriend Karla means the world to me and finishing my service in the Peace Corps and whatever benefits would come with completion would me nothing if she was not by my side. I appreciate all of the words of support already received from many friends and family. I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Thanks for all of your support.

So now, I'm faced with a new beginning- a new beginning at one of the most difficult times in our country's history. I NEED TO FIND EMPLOYMENT. So this post also serves as a S.O.S. I have returned from Peace Corps in one of the most difficult job markets ever. I have been doing some searching and have yet to land a job. While this post is read by many people, I hope it reaches you in a personal manner. If you know of positions available (or soon to be available) in your company (or perhaps you have your own business), please contact me ASAP at mark4298@yahoo.com . Thanks in advance for all of your help!

Last, I don't know what the future of the blog will be, but hopefully I can turn it into something worth reading. Stay tuned for more information.

God Bless you all and thanks for you help.

The Top 10 Most unsanitary practices in Paraguay….

2009-02-25T11:24:00.001-06:00

....of which we do on almost a daily basis

1) Sharing the same guampa and bombilla (drinking cup/bottle and metal straw when drinking Terere). In other words drinking after others using the same straw.

2) Being served and huge central trough of food among many people, and all sharing one set of silverware.

3) Being served a plate of food on a plate recently used by someone else, and not yet cleaned.

4) Being expected to use the tablecloth as your napkin, that is, grabbing the table cloth and wiping your mouth and hands on it. (I have yet to adopt this practice).

5) Sharing a glass with any acquaintance remotely known, when drinking almost any beverage.

6) Eating meat that was just recently sitting on the counter (hanging in the open air or in a bin unrefrigerated).

7) Watching just about everyone go to the restroom and continue cooking without washing their hands

8) The absence of soap in almost all public and private restrooms

9) Nose picking in public (this apparently is not seen as something gross here)

10) Continuing to consume food after finding a bug or insect in it.

Happy Birthday Karla (slide show)

2008-12-15T10:07:00.001-06:00

This here is a slide show of various pictures of the party and also other pictures that I think you will like. Happy Birthday. I love you.

Happy Birthday Karla ( The Movie)

2008-12-15T10:05:00.001-06:00

Because I couldn´t be at home to celbrate your birthday, I decided to celebrate your birthday here. I invited my families and friends to your birthday party and celbrated. We had cake, pizza, ice cream and champagne. I hope you enjoy your video. Happy Birthday. I love you.

Karla como no pude estar ahi, por tu cumpleanos, invite a mi familia y mis amigos y te festejamos en casa. Comimos muy rico y celebramos tu cumpleanos. Feliz Cumpleanos. Te amo.

My House #2

2008-11-27T14:29:00.001-06:00

Continuation of the previous video
En continuacion del video previo

My House #1

2008-11-27T14:25:00.001-06:00

This is the house where I am currently living. Im in the process of acquiring the things I still needs, so please excuse the mess!

Aqui esta la casa donde vivo ahora y vivire los proximos dos anos. Como estoy en el proceso de conseguir las cosas basicas mi casa es un poquito desordenanda. Disculpame!

(Chuchi in Villa Florida)Visiting Jesus# 2

2008-11-22T18:44:00.001-06:00

A continuation of the previous video.

(Chuchi in Villa Florida)Visiting Jesus #1

2008-11-22T18:42:00.001-06:00

I've mentioned to you that the way peace corps volunteers live runs the gamut. I recently went to a rural volunteers house and saw that he was living in a house that had about 5 holes in the roof, the floor was completely dirt, the bathroom was a hole in the ground outside and the place was full of rats and roaches. While this may sound really bad there are places that are worse. In the case of the that I visited, he was happy to be moving to this new place because his previous one was that bad. Seeing how most of my group is Municipal Volunteers, many of us live pretty "upscale" compared to all other volunteers. In this video you will see one of my good Jesus's house. Take a peek.

Cemetery on Day of the Dead in Paraguay.AVI

2008-11-22T17:39:00.001-06:00

This is a celebration of the Day of the Dead. People go to the cemetary and visit their ancestors. The kids like it because they get lots of candy. Supposedly the candy that the eat is given to them by their deceased ancestor.

*OJO* SORRY FOR THE CHEST SHOT...THIS WAS DONE BY ACCIDENT, I GREETED HER AND POINTED MY CAMERA DOWN!!

Making Huevos Rancheros.AVI

2008-11-22T17:35:00.001-06:00

Here I am at Jesus's House in Villa Florida. We are making Huevos Rancheros. I miss Karla's mexican eggs so I did my best to make some at my friends house. They didn't turn out as well though. If you look closely you'll see that we are really infusing some culture in this video. Jesus is making some Batidas (blended fruit drink popular in the Carribean) since he's from Puerto Rico, we are listening to Salsa music and we are about to eat Huevos Rancheros (mexican style eggs) and we are both in Paraguay. INteresting huh.

Graduation Speech.

2008-11-22T15:32:00.001-06:00

Those of you who have been following my blog will remember my posting about our graduation—that is our graduation from Peace Corps trainees to Peace Corps Volunteers. Well this event (held at the Embassy) was a great of event. Since formally becoming a Peace Corps volunteer I have been thinking of a way to try and describe how I felt at that moment, how it feels to be a Peace Corps volunteer and how my feelings change on a daily bases. Well, a fellow volunteer (Paulette, who also graduated with us) wrote a speech and presented at the graduation. I thought Paulette did superb job with her speech. Here I would like to post it here. Read along and I believe her words will give you a small bit of insight to my feelings when beginning and during my service as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

Training Graduation Speech:

(References - *Jason is a mystery guy who was supposed to come but just never showed up. *Also, our director gave us this speech where he said we should think about the movies we had in our head about our service and be our own protagonist.)

To my fellow G-27ers,

Do you ever wonder where Jason is, our mystery 19th volunteer. I wonder if he's working some 9 to 5 somewhere, thinking about that time he almost joined the Peace Corps. We'll never know what actually happened to him, but I wonder if he just wussed out? I wonder if he packed his bags, said his goodbyes. I wonder if he went to the airport. I wonder -- At what point did he turn back?

I almost backed out a million times. I laid in bed, obsessing, needing to know exactly what my life would be like. I made lists of pros and cons, thinking I could quantify the decision. I sought advice from everyone. I even asked my four-year-old nephew if I should join the Peace Corps, and he said, "Sure."

But I still couldn't decide. Then one day I realized, I was afraid to fail. That's when I decided I at least had to try.

There were still plenty of moments of doubt. But, like you, and unlike so many other people, I got through every one of them. I think that's the biggest thing we should really be celebrating today.

Yay for us, that we'll never have to be the people who say, "Peace Corps, huh? I always wanted to do that."

Let's celebrate that we are not of the people who maybe sent out for the packet, but never filled it out. Maybe they filled it out but never found the guts to mail it.

Let's celebrate that we are not of the class of people who have been duped by advertisers into thinking that they should be spending their youths trying to look more youthful, spending thier money to be thinner, using their time to get more things.

Yay for us that we didn't listen to those who said you're going to work your job and go home to your couch and watch your tv and eat your fast food. This is how things are done around here.

We heard another voice, just a whisper, that brought us here. And we did all that paperwork and dismantled our lives and got on the plane.

And we had that movie in our head, the one that Michael Eschleman told us about.

But then we got to our sites, and, for some of us, it felt like we walked into the wrong theater. The set was all wrong. The cast was not following our script. We brought all the wrong props. And we're back to being scared.

This is because we mistook ourselves for the screenwriters. We are just the characters. And the characters never get to choose their challenges, only how they will act in the face of those challenges.

Maybe you saw yourself being Campo Cowboy, with bragging rights that you walk 10 miles to your latrine, uphill both ways, but you ended up chuchi.

Or you were hoping for chuchi, and now will find yourself with a lot of time to think, while squatting, about just how long two years is going to be. And you're wondering again - Can I do this?

When that fear starts to creep in, try to find that voice, that whisper, that you listened to in the months before you stepped on the plane. It's a humble voice, that didn't bring you here for the sweet Facebook photos or the captivating blog material. It's something that tells us that there's more to life that what we've found in our own little fishbowl.

And if we stay to find out how our movie turns out, we'll leave with benefits too numerable to list, the least of which is being able to say, "Peace Corps, huh? I did that once."

“home”coming…

2008-11-22T15:03:00.001-06:00

In the previous post I announced Re-connect. Basically this is a time for us to go back to our training center and do a "check-up" on how we are doing in our sites. This is a good opportunity for many reason, but most of all it gives us an opportunity to find out if our frustrations are shared by the rest of our counterparts or are individual frustrations. Anyway, this post has nothing to do with re-connect, but instead, with arriving "home".

The site of our training center is in a city called Guarambare. This is where we spent the first 3 months in Paraguay. For many of us coming back to this place is like a mini homecoming. We come back to what is familiar to us, families that have always treated us well, and more than anything, the town is accustomed to having Peace Corps volunteers in the town and don't seem to be too surprised when a foreigner is seen walking down the street. The only difference is that Paraguay is not accustomed to having black people walk down the streets. In most cases a black person is a Brazilian campesino (farmer) who is coming to take land. Well when I arrived last night (Wednesday) all of the good feelings about Guarambare went out the window. I am no longer known in the town of Guarambare. One would think that a tall black guy (Brazilian as far as they are concerned) who speaks weird Spanish who lived in a small town for 3 months would be easy to recognize—uhm, not exactly.

Wednesday night I arrived in Guarambare at about 9pm at night. As always the town was lively with people walking to and fro, the normal hustle in bustle in the plaza near the church. I arrived with Jesus who is also about my stature and same complexion (now we have 2 Brazilians walking down the street). When we got off the bus two blocks away from our house (the normal stop as usual) we proceeded to our houses via the normal route. The normal route takes us by the plaza, the church and the comisaria (police station). Lucky for me my family's house is located less than 10 meters from the church and about 30 meters from the police station. In other words this means that I was almost home. Once we arrived to my house I said goodbye to Jesus (as his house is one block further past mine) and approached the main door. To my surprise the door was locked. This is somewhat normal given the fact that I arrived semi-late and my the people in my family are not night owls. Nevertheless, I knew they were awake and had simply planned on waiting for them to hear the dog and come and see who was at the door (a total time frame that would normally take 1.5 minutes). Well as soon as I arrived and noticed the door was locked I heard someone behind me, I turned around to see 2 policemen. As soon as I saw them I became somewhat nervous. I begin thinking of the dictatorship that Paraguay lived under 35 years. These 2 policemen that I was looking at (and were looking at me) were the same police force that was used under the dictatorship to brutalize the people and force them into submission of the dictator, the same police force that tortured people….in other words the same policemen that were staring me down. Finally, I said hello to them ("Muy Buenas Noches!!). There was not response from the stoic policeman and he commenced to asking me questions—"De Donde venís? (Where are you coming from?) questioned the police officer. Me, not knowing how I should respond (I'm from the U.S., I from San Juan Bautista, I live here) stammered out a "huh", in English. Realizing that he didn't understand me and I hadn't comprehended what he said, he repeated the question "De donde venis?" This time I was ready, and I told him that I lived at this house "Vivo aqui." In disbelief he responded "VOS, vivís aquí?" (YOU, live here?) I assured him that I lived at this house and once he understood exactly what I was saying both policemen looked at each other as if to say, "does this guy think we are crazy? I know this family and he does NOT live here". At this moment my host mom opened the door and greeted the policeman. They asked her in disbelief if this guy lived at the house. She assured them that I did and told them that I was an American who lived here in Paraguay and visited them from time to time. The two policemen respectfully excused themselves and bade us good night.

After speaking with my host mom about the incident she told me that a week ago someone had been assaulted in at their home (this does not happen much in Guarambare at all) and the police were watching very closely everyone in town. For this when they saw me (an outsider) they became concerned. So, in my opinion the police did a good job. I think they are very vigilantly to protect their town citizens. I just wish they didn't have to do it in such a scary manner.

Reconnect

2008-11-18T17:10:00.001-06:00

I have been in Paraguay now for almost 6 months and have been in my site of San Juan Bautista, Misiones for over 3 months now. At this stage of my time here we have what is called re-connect. Many of the individuals that I spent my training period with I have not seen since I left the American Embassy after swearing in. The training period is a time where very strong bonds between volunteers are made. After three months, reconnect is a time when we all go back to our training city and stay with our original host families. This is a time when we go back to our training center and discuss all that we have been doing over the last 3 months. This is usually scheduled at this time because most volunteers that terminate their service early do it within the first three months. The goal is to give the volunteers and opportunity to get all of their frustrations off their chests and discuss the difficulties of service so far. Tomorrow I'll head back to good 'ole Guarambare to see how my fellow volunteers are doing. I'll keep you posted on how it goes. I'll write soon!

Varios Pictures

2008-11-15T13:15:00.006-06:00

Here you will find various pictures of kids of the different members of the family I lived with since arriving to San Juan Bautista.

From (l-R) Moises, Chucha, Maria Asuncion (China), and Miguelito (being held)

Maria Asuncion and Miguelito

Maria Asuncion (after stealing my Coca-Cola!)

Justina, eating stolen fruit and being stubborn

Moises in the corner, Justin eating fruit and Maria Asuncion finishing off my Coke that she stole from me.

Sick in Paraguay

2008-11-15T13:04:00.001-06:00

Being sick in Paraguay is an interesting experience. I guess being sick is always an interesting experience, as one never knows what to expect or when he/she will begin to feel better. All last week I was sicker than I have been in a very long time—the cultural differences, being in a semi-rural site and having a caring family made for a very interesting experience.

If you have been keeping up with my postings you will recall the posting titled " The King", in this posting I described how many of the people and families that I know have always treated me wonderfully—in fact they have always treated me like a king. Well, during the time I was sick I really wished that I was a peon—or at least I wished they would have treated me like one. On Monday of last week I awakened at 5am with every symptom you can imagine: My whole body ached like one feels with they are about to come down with the flu, I had a pretty high fever, my sinuses felt like they were about to explode, I had a massive stomach ache, I felt as I would pass out when I stood up and worst of all, I could not stop trembling. To add to all of this, I had to get up every 30 minutes and run to the bathroom with reoccurring diarrhea. I crawled to my handy-dandy-super-duper Peace Corps health kit and begin taking some of the drugs found there. Noticing that I did not get up, the young girl from the store next door (owned by my family) came to check on me. Not being terribly concerned at first, she simply prepared some tea for me and left me to rest. By about Noon I decided to try and get up and go to the bank. I made it to the bank and was strong enough to make it to the clerk. However, just before I was tended to by the clerk I felt an unbearable rumbling in my stomach and lightheaded and I left the bank running home. It was too hot and I couldn't make it. I stopped at a gas station and fearing using the restroom there, I purchased some bottled water and sat down at a table. In no time I found myself asleep at the table. An hour went by and I slowly pulled myself back together and made my way back home. Upon arrival I went straight back to bed.

By 8pm that night (not having left the bed or eaten anything…this last fact seemed to alarm my family) the young girl from the store became scared and called Dr.Miguel (a family member of mine here in Paraguay who is a bone and joint doctor—Don't ask me to remember what a bone doctor is called in English) who quickly came to see me. I was awakened when he removed the blankets from over my head. I noticed that behind him and standing over me was Cirila (the girl from the store) Marite (my host mom that lives next door), Justina (a 10 yr old that lives with the owner of my house) and Juanho (Marite's grandson) who just wants to see what's going on. Dr Miguel began poking around on my stomach and back, took my temperature and promptly prescribed something, quickly sending Cirila to the "farmacia" to purchase the drug. After coming back with the pain killers and detailed instructions on how to take them, I was eager for everyone to vacate the room so as to escape the reality of being sick by once again falling asleep. Little did I know, I was in for the worst.

Upon the Dr. Miguel's exit my symptoms took a turn for the worst. I began trembling uncontrollably and broke out into a very cold sweat. Don't ask me why but I assumed that, like many other bugs that one catches, all of this would pass by morning and I would be able to go back to work. Consequently, I didn't call the Peace Corps doctor in the capital. In my vain attempt to fall asleep again, I was bombarded by text messages from each and every family member and relative asking about how I was feeling and if I was feeling better. My initial notion was to turn off the phone. However, after rethinking this, I decided not to as my family may think that I had gone into a comatose stage or died and would have came running to my room. Needless to say I didn't rest the whole night.

When Tuesday morning finally arrived, along with it came an army of people (my family) to check on me and see if I was okay. Cirila (who is studying to be a nurse) came in with recommendations of what to take, Karina (who studied medicine but never graduated) came with her suggestions, Marite (the senora who claims to have experience because she's older than the rest) came in with a glass of carrot juice, swearing that it would make me feel better, Dr. Miguel (the bone doctor) called with another prescription of what to take. Fatima (Cirila's best friend) shows up to "see what's going on" and Felitsa (Marite's empleada) comes into to chat with me. If you can imagine all of these people in my room all telling me what I should be taking, you can get a glimpse of the chaos. What made matters worse is that each one was arguing with one of the others about why the other was right about what to take and what to do.

If that wasn't enough, each time someone left my room and was gone for longer than 30min to an hour they would feel the need to text me or call me to see how I was feeling. If I didn't answer their phone call or text them back, I would get and good scolding when they came back to my room an hour later. To top everything off, my room became the place to hang out. Of course, the excuse is that everyone wanted to be "available" in case I "needed" anything. I found myself listening to chit-chat and local gossip as everyone carried on with their personal conversations in my room—the new lounge. This continued most of the day until about 8pm.

When the last person left the room I was excited about trying to get some rest and managed to get a bit of rest until about 9:30pm that night, when I heard a knock (not a knock of request of entrance, but a knock of warning that someone was coming in.) at the door, and in came walking in Karina. Karina's sister, on her way to visit her mother, dropped Karina off to check on me. Knowing that I had not eaten at this point for 57 hours, she brought me 2 pears and more medicine that she suggested I take for my stomach. My guess is that Karina planned on staying for a few moments to check in on me and that was it. However, when Karina spoke with her sister at 10pm about her whereabouts she responded saying that she was watching a good movie with her mom and would be by to pick up Karina shortly. After enduring 2 and half hours of falling asleep and being woken up by a "Hey, Hey Marcos….." only to continue with whatever nonsense story she was telling me, Karina's sister finally arrived at about 12:30am and I was able to get a bit of rest—as much as one can with the symptoms described above.

At 6:30am on Wednesday morning (still feeling horrible) I decided that I needed to go into the capital, Asunción, to see the Peace Corps doctor. After speaking with my friend Jesus, another PC volunteer, he decided that he would go to Asuncion with me. Jesus arrived after walking a mile from the bus stop in a downpour. Upon entering my room Jesus was taken aback by the number of people hanging out in "the lounge" (my room). After deciding to go to Asuncion we had to call the bus try to convince the driver to deviate from the usual route (a few blocks) to come and pick me up. Although willing, because of the rain, this particular bus line was not running. Having a nice family, Don Mario agreed to drive Jesus and me the one mile to the main road to catch the bus. Jesus and I boarded the old car of Don Mario and headed down the road toward the main road, when suddenly the car began jerking and lurching back and forth finally coming to a dead stop in the middle of the road. Don Mario exited the vehicle with a can of gas and added less than a quart of gasoline to the tank, all the while explaining that if he added too much it would all leak out of the tank. He turned the key and the car started up once again. This time we made it less than a block and the car stopped again. This time no fiddling, or tinkering would get the car to start again. Though in the middle of the rain, Jesus and I thanked Don Mario for the effort and exited the car to begin the long walk to the main road. As Jesus tried to walk as quickly as possible in order to make it to the road before missing the bus and also trying not to leave me far behind in case I passed out, I dizzily followed along. Thankfully we finally made it to the main road and boarded the bus.

Once on the bus I was able to get some rest…don't give a sigh of relief yet, my phone continued buzzing as my family wanted to check in on me and every member felt it necessary to try and get a hold of me. I kept my phone on in case the Peace Corps doctor wanted to get in touch with me for whatever reason. Once arriving in Asuncion and making my way to the Peace Corps office I was finally able to get some good drugs to knock out the pain and get an idea of why I was so sick. According to the doctor I had come in contact with some type of stubborn stomach bacteria.

Once I made it to the hotel it was like heaven to be able to rest and turn off my phone for 2 days. Though I didn't do much, I was able to watch the first game of the World Series and watch some classic American movies (Top Gun). This was enough to make me feel (for a short time) like I was back in the states.

The Long Absence.... La Ausencia Larga

2008-11-14T08:24:00.003-06:00

First and foremost I would like to ask that you excuse me long absence from the blog. As you will read in later posts, I have been sick, moving and working a lot. During the last few weeks I simply have not had enough time or have been so sick, the writing was the last thing on my mind. But I want to thank you for following my Peace Corps experience here in Paraguay. Check back soon for updates! Thanks again.

De ante mano les quiero pedir discuplas por no escribir por mucho tiempo. Como veran en las proximas actualizaciones, he estado enfermo, mudandome a otra casa y trabajando mucho. Durante las ultimas semana simplemente no he tenido tiemp o he estado tan enfermo que al pensar en actualizar mi blog solo causaba más pena. Más que nada, les quiero agradecer por seguir mi experiencia del Cuerpo de Paz en Paraguay. Proximamente habran noticias nuevas.

Mark

A LONG WAY FROM HOME.....

2008-10-01T11:34:00.000-05:00

So today is September 29th and that means I have been in Paraguay for 4 months and in my site for about 2 months. When my group and I first arrived to Paraguay all of us were really excited to be here and see what Paraguay was all about. Added to this excitement was the task that each of us had, that is the task of getting to know the other Americans with whom we would spend the next 2 years with. Although I say task, this turned out to be much easier and much more pleasurable then initially anticipated. I think I speak for most volunteers when I say; we volunteers have become a family. We complain to each other about other volunteers, we argue, we hang out and we confide in each other. The initial adjustment to Paraguay required that we volunteers support each other and listen to each other, as we had no other person here who could empathize with our emotional rollercoaster and experiences here in Paraguay.
Again, today completes 4 months in country and about 2 months in site. It rained two days ago and when it rains in Paraguay this means nothing opens for business, no one leaves the house and no one visits friends or families, the whole town shuts down. This can be very depressing. In fact it is very depressing. Sometimes it’s hard to get out bed. Why? When I leave the house I have to be Paraguayan Mark, and that’s not easy. I’ve only been here a short time and have not yet allowed Paraguay to change Mark into a Mark that embodies both the good from Paraguay and the good from the U.S. Again, it’s a hard process and very depressing at times. If you go back and read above you’ll see that I wrote it rained 2 days ago…..it’s sunny out right now, but I don’t want to go out. I think the rain here depresses one, but the effects last longer than the rain. The other night I had a dream that I walked into my house (in the States) and my dog Plocky ran up to greet me, half barking and half whimpering from my absence, jumping up and down begging for me to pick her up. When I reached to pick her up I realized that it was my alarm clock barking…or buzzing.
Shifting gears slightly, my family and those of you who know me very well personally, know how important music is to me. Then night before I left the states, I stayed up until 6 am trying to upload all of my music (50,000 tracks or 300GB) to my external hard drive to bring with me to Paraguay. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time and had to leave to catch my plane. Thanks to my parents they were able to overnight my hard drive to me in Miami before leaving U.S. soil. Boy, was I thankful to receive my music. My music repertoire is very diverse and serves many different purposes depending on how I’m feeling. In it you’ll find the common genres such has: Hip hop, R&B, Country, Classic Rock, Oldies, Rap and Pop. However, you will also find: Salsa, Merengue, Tango, Ranchera, Mariachi, Bolero, Cumbia, Villera, Guarania, Vallenato, Bachata, Sertanejo, Samba, Son, Pakastani, French, Swedish and Tanzanian Rap, among many others. Why am I focusing so much on music? Because for me, like many others, music has always mentally taken me where I want to go, and allows me to remember the pleasant times and pleasant thoughts of things in the past. Like my faith, it has never abandoned me. When combined with my faith it’s such a powerful force that I feel like I can endure anything. However, being here in Paraguay the experience is different. Here my music has betrayed me. Here my music is painful. The music brings back good memories, but it’s a constant reminder of how far away I am from home, my girlfriend, my family and friends.
I think I’m going through much of what the Peace Corps has already explained to us. The first two months of training did not allow me to get accustomed to Paraguay, but instead helped me to get used to Paraguayan life as a Peace corps trainee. However, now I am having to get used to life as a volunteer. Life as a volunteer does not include: 17 other Americans, a Paraguayan family that has hosted numerous Americans in the past, a training team that can answer just about every question one may have, someone to cook and clean for you, nor does it give you an opportunity to blow off steam with other people who are probably experiencing the same thing. Life as a Peace Corps volunteer is sometimes the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done and at other times the most depressing experience of my life.
All of this combined with what I’ve written in my previous posts make for a hellish experience. Thank God I still have my faith to count on.

I would be interested in reading all of your comments, especially those of you who have served in PC or in Paraguay.

BLING-BLING

2008-09-30T10:31:00.001-05:00

BLING…BLING

For those of you who are up to date on you hip-hop lingo will understand what "bling-bling" means/is. For those of you who are not, "Bling-bling" refers to what bright shiny jewelry does when light is reflected from it. Another explanation may be that "bling-bling" might be the imagined sound effect if one were to stumble upon a heap of fine jewels, diamonds and rubies. Make sense? So why am I writing about "bling-bling"?

Since I came to my site here in the state of Misiones, I have been working to try and find some interesting projects to work on. The municipal building is a pretty well organized entity, at least compared to others. Because there is a lot going on and my site has more organization and infrastructure than most the challenge is finding something to work on. So far I have handed in 2 project ideas. Unfortunately, it seems that the people with whom I work are not really interested in any of my work. Nevertheless, I am always invited to every public event, every event that includes the press, and from time to time I'm invited to the radio station. I spoke with another volunteer about his phenomenon and she explained to me what I have termed "the bling-bling syndrome". In short, we think that many of the city leaders are interested in having an American Peace Corps volunteer around them like an expensive accessory or jewelry. Given that the U.S. is the bastion of democracy, when the public/community sees an American Peace Corps Volunteer involved in anything they assume that the matter is being done correctly, honestly, democratically and fairly. She explained that for this reason many of the city officials invite me to everything. In other words, I'm there expensive accessory, that which they try and show off in order to promote their activity their political agenda. Obviously this is not Peace Corps purpose and we as volunteers have the freedom to attend or not, and determine how involved we want to be in a certain activity if we perceive that we are pushing a political agenda.

On a good note, back in April Paraguay held their local elections and because of the work of Peace Corps volunteers the event was executed successfully. Never in Paraguayan history has there been a smooth exchange of governmental power from one person to the next. Local government is usually plagued by the same tendencies. In most cases, the community complains of corruption, mistrust, nepotism and manipulation. However, back in April two peace corps volunteers organized the voting poll at the local church and facilitated the voting process throughout the day. They simply handed out the ballot made sure each person was not bothered during the voting process and walked each person to the ballot box as they placed their vote inside. When the results were announced, no one in the community complained. The assumption was that because "the Americans" organized the voting process, it was done correctly and honestly. As it was explained to me, since then the community leaders like to Peace Corps Volunteers to show up at all the events as much as possible.

THE HEAT IS COMING

2008-09-30T10:29:00.001-05:00

THE HEAT IS COMING….

As many of you may know, I'm from Oklahoma. Summers in Oklahoma are atrocious. I'm sure everyone feels that summers are horrendous wherever they're from too. However, I would bet that Oklahoma heat probably has your town beat. Not only does the temperature reach 103-107 degrees outside, but at night we do not have a cool breeze like many other places. Therefore, it's nothing to walk outside on a July night in Oklahoma and find that at 1am the temperature is hovering around 98 degrees. Since I arrived here in Paraguay (during the onset of winter) I've been told about how horribly hot the summers are. When Paraguayans would tell me this, I would think to myself, "yeah right, I'm from Oklahoma…I know about heat……"

It's not summer yet here in South America, here we are just entering spring time and I've gotten a taste of the heat the last few days…it's already becoming unbearable. Friday, I went hammock shopping with some friends in a nearby town called Carapegua. They have nice open air markets and so we walked around for a few hours. Once I arrived home (now evening) I was beat, the sun had drained me of all my energy. After showering, I lied down to rest. In a matter of no time, I was sweating again. I looked at the thermometer (is that what it's called?…I'm forgetting all my English…) and it read 88 degrees..inside the house. At this point it dawned on me. In Oklahoma, sure, the heat beats down on your head and fries the back of your neck like an egg…BUT one can then enter an air conditioned house that comfortably maintains a 72-74 degree temperature. Here in Paraguay-inside or outside of the house- one is always subject to the elements. Most houses are made of cement or brick and therefore are not insulated. So, as I lied there sweating in my bed (under a ceiling fan that blew hot air on me) I realized that I might be in for it when summer finally arrives.

word on the street....Las ultimas noticias

2008-09-18T12:28:00.001-05:00

Word on the street is that the volunteers in Bolivia are being evacuated for political reasons. This means that they will be coming to Paraguay. This could be an interesting event, or maybe each of us will get some help in our sites. Who knows, I´ll keep you posted.

Las ultimas noticas son que los voluntarios en Boliva se estan evacuando por la situacion politica. Dicen que es probable que ellos llegan a Paraguay y terminan su servicio aqui. Vamos a ver que pasa. Puede ser muy pesado aqui o un apoyo necesitado aqui en Paraguay.

Mark

A BIG THANKS....

2008-09-13T14:55:00.002-05:00

I JUST WANT TO SEND OUT A BIG THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO READ MY BLOG, ESPECIALLY TO THOSE OF YOU WHO LEAVE COMMENTS. OF COURSE, I CAN´T RESPOND TO ALL OF YOUR COMMENTS, BUT I READ EACH AND EVERYONE ONE.

Thanks for following my Paraguayan experience. It means a lot to know that your keeping up. God Bless

Mark Carter

THE KING...

2008-09-12T12:59:00.002-05:00

THE KING…
The King always sits at the head of his table, right? The King is always the one in charge, right? The King is the one that gives all the directions, right? Well since I have arrived in Paraguay, this has been the case exactly, but with just one small change: I’m not a King. During training we were told that Paraguayans are known for treating guests very well. Initially I thought to myself “O Yeah? What’ makes Paraguay so different? All Latin American countries are known for being very hospitable to guests. In fact most people (no matter where you go) treat guests well, what makes Paraguay so different? ” Well, I have changed my mind. As I have mentioned in some of my previous posts, a unique characteristic of Paraguayan culture is the manner in which they receive guests (or outsiders).

To be brief, the Guarani Indians were nomadic and peaceful people. As the group traveled, the always were kind to everyone they came in contact with and all new comers. Part of this was because they are peaceful people and part of it was because they understood that being a nomadic group they would come into contact with the same groups again, for these reasons (among many others) they treated outsiders very kindly (this my own brief summary of some of my readings). This aspect of the Guarani culture has carried over to today. In case you didn’t know, Paraguay is one of the only (if not the only) country in Latin America where most of the population speaks Guarani (more or less) and Spanish. So what does this have to do with being treated like a king? I have noticed that each time I go and visit a family or meet someone, I am given the choicest cut of meats, the best seats, the last morsel, the most beer (against my will), allowed to eat first, in many cases I decide what the family is going to eat, on many occasions I’m forced to sit at the head of the table.

The manner in which I’ve been treated does not just involve food but many other things. In some of the rural parts of Paraguay a cold shower is common. Many rural houses now have an electric overhead apparatus that heats the water as it comes out of the spigot. This is not very reliable and sometimes goes on the blink. Well in most homes, I’m given first opportunity to shower (given=forced) before the apparatus goes on the blink. To use the system you simply flip a switch as the water runs through the overhead apparatus and it heats the water. On one occasion, I turned the switch off (as I always do) when I completed my shower, when my host dad went in the bathroom after me, he noticed that the switch was off and he thought that I had taken a cold shower. He thought that my host brother, Cesar (who showered before me on this occasion) had turned off the switch, resulting in my cold shower. My host dad came and apologized and was about to get onto Cesar until I told him that I had in fact turned it off. My current living situation is a bit different. I have a separate room that is apart from the family next door. Knowing that I live alone, the family next door frequently brings food over whenever they eat.

The way Paraguayans treat me always makes me feel weird. I have not learned to let Paraguayan be nice to me. I try and tell them “no Thank you” and “ Don’t bother, I can ….” But it has not worked yet. So, although I’m not a king, I’m treated this way on many occasions. I’m still not sure I like it though.

Delicious

2008-09-12T12:56:00.002-05:00

I guess I don´t need to write about how good the food was. So, I´ll leave it that. Those of you who have tasted Paraguayan food, I´ll just say it doesn´t get any better than the food that comes out of Margarita Perez´s kitchen. It was delectable!!

Hot, hot....

2008-09-12T12:34:00.001-05:00

Listen to the food sizzlin´

Oops, we don´t want to eat that.....

2008-09-12T12:30:00.001-05:00

Okay great, lets get the bread in the over....huh? What´s that? You don´t want hair in your bread? Oh, let´s get that out.

Sopa Paraguaya

2008-09-12T12:28:00.001-05:00

While the fire is still getting warmed up and the chickens are set aside, lets start preparing the Sopa Paraguaya. This is a great tasting bread that is found only here in Paraguay. Not, it´s not sopa (soup) but bread.

Still cooking....

2008-09-12T12:24:00.001-05:00

Wow this is turning out to be a lot of food. Let´s check on the pork that´s on the other grill....

While the fire is burning....

2008-09-12T12:22:00.001-05:00

While the fire is burning let´s prepare the chickens. We won´t mention that the chicken is being prepared on a unsanitized wooden table that is kept outside all the time. We´ll just be thankful for hot fires that kill any germs or insects that might decide to get inside the chickens. :)

BIG FIRE

2008-09-12T12:16:00.001-05:00

Gotta get the fire burning in. This type of ove is called a Tata´kua. It´s wonderfully designed oven for cooking. It hold heat very well and cooks to perfection. Most families have one.

Cookin´it up

2008-09-12T12:13:00.001-05:00

First you gotta get the fire started....

Cookin´it up...

2008-09-12T12:11:00.000-05:00

Cookin’ it up…

This past weekend I went to visit my family in Guarambare for the celebration of their Patron Saint there. It was a really big celebration. Most of the volunteers who came to Paraguay with me also came back to visit their families and check out the celebration. The celebration attracted people from many small towns around Guarambare. The Plaza was full of different kiosks and stand selling good food and different arts and crafts. However, what I enjoyed the most was helping my family to prepare all the food that we ate. Here you will see all the food that we prepared. I guess I should say, you will see the preparation process. I tried to film as much as I could, but helping and filming at the same time does not allow me to get everything so the videos may be may be a bit out of sync.

The Muni 3

2008-09-12T12:05:00.001-05:00

This is the third of 3 videos on the municipality.

The Muni 2

2008-09-12T12:03:00.001-05:00

This is the second of 3 videos taken at the municipal building.

The Muni 1

2008-09-12T12:02:00.001-05:00

This is a video of the municipal building and a few of my co-workers. Please excuse the video quality. I did the video pretty quickly.

The Municipality

2008-09-11T14:33:00.002-05:00

The Municipality…

Sorry it’s been so long since my last posting. Here I have posted a brief video of some of the people that work in the Municipality. I apologize before hand for the low quality of the video. It was taken very quickly. This is mostly due to the fact that most of my acquaintances at the municipality do not want to be filmed so, I had to do it quick in order to get them on the video. Anyway, here you can get a quick view of them and the municipality.

Perdon por tardarme en actualizar mi web. Este video breve es de la municipalidad donde trabajo en algunas personas ahí. De ante mano te pido perdón por la baja calidad. La mayoría de mis compañeros de trabajo no quisieron que le filmara, asi que lo hice con prisa y por eso el video me salió tan mal. Espero que disfrutes.

My Place

2008-09-03T12:00:00.001-05:00

Okay,so for those of you who have not been keeping up, I have finally moved to my site where I will be working for the next 2 years. This is a video of where I am staying right now. I live in a one room building that is relatively comfortable for a Peace Corps volunteer. Although I will probably one be here for 3 months, it´s nice enough to stay here permanetly. I will see how it goes before deciding on where I will stay for good.

The Youth Group from Santa Rosa

2008-08-30T12:11:00.009-05:00

This is a picture of a few guys from the Santa Rosa youth group. Again, this is not my site, but there is another volunteer in Santa Rosa that I visit from time to time. This is photo of the guys who refused to let me carry by backpack. They decided that they had to carry it for me to the bus stop. Great group of guys.

Family in Santa Rosa

2008-08-29T14:24:00.003-05:00

This past weekend I went to visit my host family in Santa. I went to Santa Rosa about a month and half ago to vist a volunteer. This was part of our training: to go spend a week with a volunteer and observe his work. I stayed with a awesome family that was very kind and took me in as one of their own. This past weekend I went back to visit them see how they were doing. See the picture below.

Update on my living situation…

2008-08-16T12:31:00.001-05:00

Well, I have been here in Misiones for about a week. When I arrived planned on finding a family pretty quick. Unfortunately, it has not worked out as planned. I am still renting a room from a nice lady. I have spoken with a number of families and most of them wanted to charge extremely high prices. The Peace Corps is one of a few humanitarian groups in Paraguay. There is Japanese group that is similar to the Peace Corps and also a German group. However, these groups are paid a whole lot more than the Peace Corps pays us. Many of the other groups do not integrate into the community like the Peace Corps does. For this reason they live in the nicer places and rent large homes that house a number of people. For this reason, the peace Corps volunteers like myself sometimes have trouble finding reasonably price housing, given the fact that many people expect us to be walking banks. This is not the case. So continue to pray that I will find a family that will take me in. If not, I will continue to live on my own, but this will make my work a lot more difficult

Where am I from? (I think I have forgotten)

2008-08-16T12:27:00.000-05:00

Recently, I was sitting in the plaza enjoying the day and eating some ice cream. My friend Jesus, also another volunteer, was in the plaza as well. Because tall fair complexioned people with coarse hair are not a common sight here in Paraguay, our presence always turns a lot of heads. Well recently, I had a lady approach me and begin to discuss (even argue with me) about where I was from. She asked me where I was from and I asked her to guess. She ran down the list of places where I “had” do be from. This list included Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, Cuba and the Dominican Republic and finally Africa (yes, the country of Africa). When she got tired I told her I was from the U.S. and she responded, “No puede ser” (that can’t be true). I asked her why and she responded that they don’t look like me. I asked her when was the last time she went to the U.S. to see what they are “supposed” to look like. She said never, but ‘’you know, they all have blue eyes, with blond hair”. So I had to explain to her where I was from and the diversity that exists in the U.S. The lady didn’t believe me, so I just talked to her in English. Finally she just walked off. This was an unusual event in that the lady didn’t believe me, but it is very common (at least 2 or 3 times a day) that people ask me where I’m from or yell something at me. So far, it has not bothered me too much, but when they want to tell me what the people look like in the U.S, that does kind of bother me. In fact I think it’s funny. I’ll have more later.

Chill-laxin`

2008-08-09T16:31:00.003-05:00

Since wednesday we have kind of been on a break before gong to our sites. We have been using this time to purchase whatever odds and ends are only available in the capital. So I have been spending lots of my time Chill-laxin' (Chillin and Relaxing). But when saturday comes I will have to head to my site and will not be back for the next 3 months.

Swearing In…No longer a Peace Corps trainees,

2008-08-09T16:07:00.002-05:00

Last Wednesday (august 6th) We were finally sworn is as Peace Corps volunteers, and are no longer trainees. This event took place at the embassy and once again I was impressed by the embassy. I guess one is surprised by the stark differences between what’s outside and the embassy grounds. The event took place under a covered patio outside. We don’t have an ambassador at the moment and the Peace Corps country director is on vacation. So the assistant country director presided over the event. The event was pretty simple, nothing too fancy, but still a big moment. I really can’t explain why it was a big moment, but I guess it has to do with the extremely lengthy process to become a Peace Corps Volunteer.

When you sign up to become a volunteer you first have to fill out a very lengthy application. Second, you are called in for an interview. If the interview goes well, then you are nominated to be a volunteer. These first three step can take 6 to 8 months. Then you have to wait another 2 to 3 months to find out where in the world you are going to be nominated for. Fourth, you receive your invitation to serve. Once you agree to the invitation, you are still not a volunteer yet. Technically, you are agreeing to participate in the “training”. Once you arrive at staging (the U.S. city you fly to immediately before departing to country of service) the Peace Corps begins preparing you for what you will see and do immediately after arriving in the country of service. Fifth, you arrive in country. This seems great because your surroundings are new and exciting. Yet at the same time, you don’t know what to expect. At this point the Peace Corps informs you that, still you are not volunteers. We are Peace Corps aspirants in training. From the time you turn in your application to his point, can sometimes be as long as 2 years. This is the only explanation I can give for the grandeur of the swearing in ceremony. It just amazing how simple the ceremony is but also how a wave of emotions hit you at the same time. So anyway, we swore our allegiance to the U.S. and then were allowed to enjoy the food. Most of the volunteers decided to spend the last few days in the capital before going to their site for the next few months.

While in Asunción I decided I was going to have a BIG FAT HAMBURGER from BURGER KING (burger KANG, as Steve and I would say it). So I walked to 25 blocks and found Burger King. I went inside and ordered a double whopper and the biggest French fries I could get. I didn’t finish either one, but boy was in heaven for the short time I was stuffing that hamburger in.
Anyway, below I have attached some pictures of the swearing in ceremony.

Despedida… Saying goodbye…

2008-08-09T16:02:00.001-05:00

Despedida is the Spanish word for goodbye. At this point in our training most of the volunteers feel very comfortable with their families and hate the thought of changing to a new environment. I think I fit in the category as well. I’ve been treated very well by the Perez-Aguayo family. I’ve mentioned to them on many occasions that I wish I could stay here in Guarambare. I know that it’s impossible, but I think I would I enjoy the most is the simple fact that I have a routine, I have become comfortable with it and I know what to expect from the routine. The mere thought of changing routines and beginning this process again is rather daunting. Moreover, to have to do this alone without a peace corps trainer, or language teacher to help me is kind of scary. To be honest, I have not required any help from the Peace corps trainers nor the language teachers, but simply knowing that my safety blanket is being removed is enough to make me nervous. It’s like the little boy who has been riding his bike for the last 6 months with training wheels, but has not needed the training wheels the last 5 months. When Daddy approaches his son and the bicycle with the wrench to remove the training wheels, Daddy had bettered be prepared for a vicious fight to the end from his son. Not because the son can’t ride a bike, but because the training wheels have always provided the little youngster with the security to answer to question of “what if…….”. Again, I have never required the assistance of the trainer nor the language teacher, but now that my blanket is being removed, I’m like a babying coming out of the womb, “put me back in….it was warm inside there!”

So back to the Despedida, the last few days here have been filled with these formal goodbyes. We have been invited to many goodbye parties by different families. My family did not do one for me. Little do they know, but I’m thankful that they didn’t. To me it seems bassackwards. Maybe I’m the one who is confused, but I think the volunteers living in the families homes need to be throwing the party for the families in a way of saying thanks. If I were to be walking in downtown Oklahoma City and picked up homeless child and took him home, cleaned him up, fed him and taught him all sorts of things, I think it would weird for me to throw him a party when leaving (still not knowing much about the culture he’s about to enter). The best way the young child could repay me would be to keep in touch and keep me informed about how his life is going.
Here in Paraguay, the Perez-Aguayo family has accepted a stranger into their home. They have opened up every nook and cranny of their home to a stranger. The Peace Corps has not done a mental evaluation on me, and this family has no idea if I’m crazy, going to rob them or hurt them. What assurance do they have? They have provided me with a room and a key to my room and allow me to go into my room and close the door (which I would never do). To me it seems that the family needs to be given a party, not me. Without, the family most of us volunteers would be found in the street crying because we don’t know how to buy and hot dog. For this reason I’m glad that they did not throw me a party. I have told them on many occasions, I think the Lord provided this family and I’m thankful for them. Don Eddie likes to drink coffee (actually tea) in the morning, and although it does not compare to having coffee with my Dad in the U.S., it helps to facilitate a good relationship with my host dad here in Paraguay. My host mom here is retired but still works at the school as the director and is out of the house a lot. Like my mom at home in the U.S., when my host mom comes home she make sure to express to you personally how happy she is to see you. My host sister Gladys (actually the maid that works here, but is just like family) has a good attitude about working around the house. Given her job as a house assistant here in Paraguay, this means that she is probably from a family of severely limited economic means. Despite this she is diligent in her work and appears to enjoy her work (I don’t know if she really does though). The family treats her as a daughter and helps her by paying for her schooling in exchange for her working at the house. In a strange way, her position, socially and economically, inspires me to be a better Peace Corps volunteer. According to the Peace Corps, the generation of Gladys (and especially the generation younger than hers) is the first to grow up in Paraguay without a dictator. Gladys’ effort to overcome her position without expecting someone else to take care of her is something new here in Paraguay. This attitude is a very North American attitude, but not so common here in Paraguay. This is another reason why the Peace Corps work can be very effective here in Paraguay. Many of the people are mentally ripe for the planting of new ideas. I just hope the ideas that will be planted will be good seeds.

For all of these reasons and more, I’m thankful to my Paraguayan family for helping me to learn all of this. This will help me in my work. This is why I think they deserve a party, not me.

DJ Markoss...

2008-08-07T00:04:00.002-05:00

The first day I arrived in San Juan Bautista, I was briefly shown around and then driven to the local radio station to announce my arrival. The previous volunteer that served in SJB left in august of 2007. So most everyone in the town still remembers him very well, in fact some are surprised to find out that he has gone, when I tell them that I am the new volunteer. During my first visit to my site, my main objective was to find a family to live with. This is not an easy task, because few people are eager to let a stranger simply move into their house. So while at the radio station, I decided to take advantage of my time on the air and announce to the community that I was looking for a family to live with. I didn’t think this would be effective and I was right, it didn’t work. However, it did express to the community that I didn’t have a place to live. Many people already recognize the stranger walking around the street. Each time I meet someone new, their first questions is, “Y con quien vivís?” (Who are you living with). Most people have heard me on the radio and are curious to know who I’m living with. This is funny, because although many people know I don’t have a place to stay, none have offered to take me in. This is not abnormal. The way most things are done in Paraguay are by reference from friends. I’m pretty confident that when I arrive on Saturday I will have a place to stay. I talked to the director of a high school and he assured me that we could find something for me among the professors or the families of the students. I have also spoken with some of the previous volunteers in my site and asked them to contact their previous families and see what they can find out. Lastly, I have a friend back in the states whose parents live in Paraguay and they likewise have friends in SJB. As far as I know, I should have a few options of families to choose from once I arrive on Saturday. See the pictures below of DJ Markos.

Villa Florida

2008-08-06T23:34:00.008-05:00

After receiving out site assignments, the next day we were off to visit our sites (a one week site visit). On the way to San Juan Bautista (my site) we had to drive through a number of other sites and drop volunteers off. Once we arrived to the state of Misiones, we passed through Villa Florida. Villa Florida is a touristy site that is very nice and receives many tourists throughout the year. The place is beautiful and well organized. The good thing is that this site is only about 30km north of SJB and one of my good friends was placed in Villa Florida.

This day, the municipality was celebrating the mayor’s birthday. In traditional Paraguayan style and huge asado was prepared (an asado might be compared to a barbecue). I liked seeing the way the meat was cooked and prepared. Though the method might not be exactly sanitary, I guess the heat would kill anything that might harm humans. To cook the meat, an open pit is dug, about 1 ½ -2 feet deep. The pit usually runs a long length (thus creating a shallow trench). The length depends on how much meat is going to be prepared. Next long sticks of wood are driven through the meet and the sticks are stuck in the ground vertically along the trench. The trench is filled with fire wood and charcoal and a fire is started. The meet that runs the length of the trench is and cooked by rotating the stick in the ground every so often, thus turning the meat and evenly cooking it on all sides. The meat is wonderfully calicious (calicous = better than delicious). In fact all the different cuts of meat are good. I don’t know the different parts and types of meat in Spanish, so I have just had to try all the types by trial in error. On more than one occasion, I have eaten blood sausage. As of now, blood sausage has probably been the least desirable, but I’ve managed to eat it without leading on that I really didn’t like it. See the pics below on how the meat is cooked.

My Host site (Missiones)...

2008-08-06T23:15:00.003-05:00

Misiones…..
My new site- San Juan Bautista, Misiones. I spent the last week getting to know my future work site. I walked into the municipality not knowing exactly what to do. After being shown around and introduced to all of the employees (called Funcionarios in Spanish) I learned that there will A LOT of work for me to do. The municipality were I will be working in San Juan is one of the best organized municipality in the country. The town of SJB is very active and involved and participative in the local government. For me, this is good and bad. It’s good because this means that I will many opportunities to work in various areas of the municipality. The bad thing is that I’m concerned that the Peace Corps may expect a lot from me since I am surrounded by great work opportunities. By the previously mentioned concerns are the least of all my concerns. The mayor has asked that I work with comisiones vecinales (neighborhood commissions) and educacion cívica ( civic education). I am glad that he chose these two sectors because I enjoy them. However, the neighborhood commissions, deals with helping people from groups in order to solicit funding for projects. My greatest concern is that in most cases the individuals in the neighborhood commissions speak Guarani, the other official language of Paraguay. Unfortunately, I have not mastered this language. In fact, I know very little.
Last week, while visiting my SJB, part of our homework was to find a family to live with for our first 3 months in site. Well, I gave it my best shot, but unfortunately did not find a place to stay. So as of today (Tuesday) I have no place to stay when I arrive in SJB on Saturday. While in SJB last week, I did make some contacts with people who agreed to try and find a family that I would be comfortable with. I’ll keep you posted on this.
Lastly, before receiving my site I said a prayer to our heavenly father, that I would be placed near some of my fellow volunteers. SJB is located about 30km from Villa Florida. One of my good friends was placed in Villa Florida. Villa Florida is a tourist site and there is a lot to do. This is a good thing because there are numerous buses that run between the two sites. A bus ride from SJB to villa florida is less than 20 minutes. Another good friend of mine is located in the next state over in the city of Pilar. A bus ride to Pilar is roughly an hour and half. Needless to say, the lord came through for me!
Thanks for reading, stay tuned for more updates……

Receiving our Site assignments...

2008-08-06T23:01:00.003-05:00

The day before we went to visit our future working sites, we received notification of where we each of us would be going. If you have seen the video, you will remember that at the training center we have a large map of Paraguay. When our site directors came to the training center they used this map to place our names on, indicating where would be going. Our three site directors each walked in and placed boxes on the ground. These boxes contained our site assignments. After placing the boxes in front of themselves, each one took turns reading the names of the volunteers and their future site. As each director read a name, our technical trainer would walk over the map and place our name in the corresponding place on the map. This was a very tense moment. Everyone’s eyes were glued to the map as we tried to figure out who was next to who and who received the best sites. More than anything, each person was hoping that he/she would not be placed in the CHACO. The Chaco is the western portion of Paraguay that is barely inhabited given super-harsh climate. Lucky for me I was not placed in the Chaco. See the pictures below...

Misiones.....

2008-07-25T20:52:00.001-05:00

Misiones…
Well today was the big day. We received our future work sites. Today was a very stressful. We have been waiting anxiously for the last 9 weeks to find out where we will be working and in what capacity. We have heard all about the different climates and different geographies of Paraguay. This morning seemed to last for an eternity as we did our regular routines in anticipation for our Site Directors to arrive. At about 3pm they arrived. If you have seen the video of our training compound you may remember that there is a very large ground-to-floor map of Paraguay. When the directors arrived, they wrote our names on small pieces of paper and put them on the wall, but not on the map in Paraguay. They places them in a line and had our training coordinator stand next to the list of names as if he was Vanna White. The three site directors had us all take a seat and they stood next to each other with a box of folders that contained all of our site assignments. They then each took an even number of folders out of the box and distributed them among themselves. One by one they then called out our names and announced where we would be going. As they announced our names our training coordinator (Vanna White) placed our names on the map in the corresponding sites. I will be going to the city of San Juan Bautista in the state of Misiones. San Juan Bautista is located in the south of Paraguay close to Argentina. This place is very green and one of the pretty places in Paraguay. The good thing is that all of the southern part of Paraguay is green. So, I feel blessed to have been placed in the site. The work that I will be doing will consist of numerous activities and secondary activities and projects, but I was placed in this site because of my management experience (McDonald’s) and experience teaching and training (McDonald’s). Also my main project will be civic education and working with neighborhood commissions. I am happy to work in these two areas because the civic education will means that I will have to touch the political matters here in Paraguay. Civic education will probably be done in the community, schools, even some of the universities (this location is not terribly likely though). The neighborhood commissions work will consist mainly of helping the people in the community group together into what is called a commision vecinal (neighborhood commsion) in order to get funding to perform local projects. This work is the most interesting because I will have to help the individuals work in groups and following the legal ramifications to have their group recognized by the municipality. This also means that I will be working very closely with the intendente/alcalde (the mayor in English). However, all of this sounds fun and good productive work, but of all of this, the most challenging work will be the group dynamics of getting people to work together that 1) don’t know each other and 2) don’t trust each other. So when working in groups like this and handling money, transparency is critical. Unfortunately for Paraguay, transparency is something that is almost unheard of. This will be a challenge, but I’m excited to working in this area and in this site. To top it off, my Site Director was able to place me close to two of my better friends Jesus and Joan. This was a big deal also because being placed close to your friends almost never happens according to Peace Corps. Lastly, I was placed close enough to Jesus that we will probably be working together in our different projects.

Embarrased to be serving in the Peace Cops...

2008-07-25T20:50:00.001-05:00

Last week I went on what is called Long field. If you don’t remember Long field was our opportunit as trainees to go and visit other volunteers and spend a week observing what they do and learn more techniques. I went to misiones. Santa Rosa, Misiones is a state (here called Departamentos) in the south of Paraguay. My group and I went there to work with a volunteer in Urban Youth Development. We worked with his youth group that recently created a co-ed basketball team. The reason we went was to help them with community service and also participate in a basketball tournament called “Friendship International”. During the week we cleaned the sports complex where they were we played and repainted the lines on the court and also helped generate ideas on how to generate funds for the co-ed basketball team. On top of this we practiced every day. Needless to say, I have not played basketball in over 12 years and after the first day, I was sore up and down my body. I don’t know what happened, because I barely played, but the youth group, the kids that came to watch and the parents all called my Michael Jordon. I don’t know how they could compare me with Mike, but I guess the simple fact they we are both black had something to do with it. I asked one of the kids why they compared me to Michael Jordan when I suck at basketball now. He responded, that because I dribbled behind my back one time (the have never seen this) they thought I was really good.

Anyway, back to the Urban Youth Basketball team. At the end of the week we played in the tournament (three teams) called “Friendship International”. There was a team from a nearby town, the team volunteer’s Urban Youth team and a Peace Corps Team (the one I was on). Our team consisted of three girls and four guys. The three girls were the volunteers that came down with me. Three other Peace Corps volunteers met us there in the town to participate in the tournament. The very first came we had to play a team from the nearby town of San Ignacio. I was expecting some kids who could barely even dribble the basketball. However, all of these guys were taller than I have and knew how to play very well. I knew immediately that we would get beat. However, I didn’t know what was coming next. The tournament had been announced on the radio and most of the town knew that the tournament would take place. Therefore many of the Urban Youth basket ball team’s family came to the event. Of course their brothers and sister also came and brought friends. Many individuals came to the court to watch, in fact many of the children sat on our bench, so much so that we didn’t have any place to sit. So what happened? One of the Peace Corps volunteers that came to play with us begin to act up. During the game the team from San Ignacio begin to play very unfairly, taking cheap shots and smarting off yelling many gesture that were unbecoming. Because of the way this team acted this particular volunteer began to yell and curse at the other team. At one point, all us volunteers felt very embarrassed to be part of the Peace Corps. This particular volunteer begin to curse and insult the other team. Most at the court were taken aback by the volunteers behavior, especially us volunteers. At the end of the game (we lost) one of the players from the other team walked over to our bench (in front of everyone there) and told the Peace Corps volunteer off. He told him that his attitude was completely unacceptable and that as an American should be an example for Paraguay and especially for all the children that had been following us around, and that he should be ashamed of himself. This was done in a screaming fashion and all that were present saw the arguing that was going on. I don’t need to tell you that that was the first time I was completely embarrassed and wished that I could just sink into the floor and disappear. The only thing that I could do was turn to all the children explain to them that the Peace Cops does not condone the type of behavior that the volunteer displayed and that most Americans are not as short tempered as this volunteer. Thankfully, most understood and agreed with me.

5th Dia de Practica...

2008-07-25T20:45:00.001-05:00

Today was our 5th dia de Practica (Day of Practice). This was our last day to practice speaking to groups before going to our future sites to begin working. Once again we went to a school to talk to the students about the environment. We had done this discussion before. The difference today was that our trainers came to observe and grade us on our presentation and language (not only Spanish but also Guarani). Talking to students it is always difficult to break the ice. So I figured what better way to break the ice than to go into the class and immediately start speaking Guarani. Because I don’t speak Guarani, it came out horribly and the whole class busted out laughing. I tried to do my introduction in Guarani, and they understood me, but it came out horribly. This worked and the students loosened up and our presentation went very well. I don’t know what our “grade” was but the professors were very impressed. Take a look at the pictures below.

Cocido (video 2)

2008-07-20T17:50:00.001-05:00

Making Cocido

2008-07-20T17:45:00.001-05:00

If you have never heard of Cocido, Cocido is charred tea and sugar. You blend this together and then add boiling water. It is delicious. I drink it every morning at breakfast. What´s even more fascinating is seeing how it is made. One usually mixes the sugar and tea together dry. Next your drop a flaming piece of charcoal in the dry mix and scoop the tea and sugar over the piece of flaming coal to char the tea and somewhat carmelize the sugar. Once charred really well, you dump this mixture into boiling water. You then remove the charcoal shortly after and drink what´s left.This is calicious.

WHERE I`M FROM

2008-07-13T18:29:00.001-05:00

Since beginning training her in Paraguay, all of the volunteers have become pretty close. We are all experiencing many of the same things and given that we only have each other to talk to about our experiences, it has brought us together like a little family. In an effort to get to know each other better, we decided we would write poems titled ``Where I´m From``. Each of us wrote poems about our home towns, families and other things that are important to us. At the beginning I thought this was one of the most stupid ideas I had ever heard of. When my day finally came to share, I decided to give it my best shot. After receiving ver good feedback from my poem I have decided to post it. Please let me know what you think of it. I didn´t like it a first, but the process was fun. If you liked it let me know and maybe I will continue to write. See Poem below. Unitl Next time!

WHERE I'M FROM

I am not from the mixing bowl, or a place well known.

Many of you have heard of it, but have never visited my home.

I am from prominent and pervasive plains...clean air, lots of space, and we know all of our neighbors by name.

I am from dirt, dust and tractors.

Where I come from the local church, in our lives, is still a major factor.

I am from a family were house rules are not broken and most are simple, mostly based biblical principal.

I am from discipline that might include a switch, hand or belt, but always ends with a kiss a hug and conversations that are memorable and heartfelt.

I am from a family of loud talking, shouting, cooking, dancing and music. Respecting your siblings was expected "Now, now you know the consequences...you choose it."

I am from going grocery shopping at 2am..as a family.

I'm from skating rinks, skating parties and couple skates.

I am from parents who lived, saw and experienced brutal race relations, but have encouraged me to express and share love and compassion with other nations.

I am from Oklahoma. I am from the Black side of town. I am from the white side of town. I am from the "no-body-wants-to-go-to-side-of-town" This side is usually full of the other brown people, restaurants, cumbia ranchera and duranguense music. Also on this side of town, some of the most loving, compassionate and caring people can be found.

I am from heartfelt smiles & firm handshakes. I am from Sunday entertainment that includes a drive around the lake.

I am from big sky sunrises and sunsets, slow living that's free from the complex.

I am from a place where a "how are you?" is followed by an "I'm doing fine"... a conversation ensues because we are not as concerned about time.

However, I am also from one of the many places that populate the military and for you, we put our necks on the line.

I am from a place where the list of professional dress items will likely include cowboy boots.

Lastly, I am from the United States. Were many flaws exist. However, given my race, the U.S. has done more for me than any other place.

3 man band

2008-07-13T18:02:00.001-05:00

This is the band that came to serenade my host Dad Don Eddie. If you have been keeping up with he blog you`ll remember a previous post about this group that came to my house for my host dad´s birthday. Though I did not record the song that I liked so much, maybe this one can give you a hint of what it was like.

The Bubble, The 4th of July, Disney, The Embassy and Pigpen (from Peanuts)....

2008-07-08T16:53:00.003-05:00

Today was the 4th of July and the Embassy is always nice enough to invite the Peace Corps to the Embassy to participate in the festivities. Really, the festivities consist of grilling hamburgers and hot dogs with all the fixins. Of course, we played volleyball and basketball, threw the frisbee and enjoyed the scenery of the embassy and listen to music. In other words, a normal 4th of July that many do back in the states. I think the reason I (as well as others in the group) enjoyed the event so much was because the embassy is a bubble of the United States. Don’t get me wrong, I knew it would be, but it’s a different experience when you actually do it. What am I talking about? Okay, for the last 5 weeks we have been learning many different ways to integrate into the culture here in Paraguay. This includes learning the language and practicing the saying “when in Rome, do as the Romans do…” This means that we have been eating a lot of the Paraguayan food and drinking the Paraguayan tea etc. This also means feeling like you are in a doll house. No matter where you go, people stare like at you like you are inside of some department store window or some doll house. Kids will walk within 5 feet of you and just stare at you right in the face. This has never been a problem before, when I travelled other places, but here in Paraguay, given its geographic position (or isolataion), the people rarely see individuals that look different than they do and the staring is so pervasive, so I just smile and wave. On numerous occasions I have been told that I was Brazilian. While I don’t mind this too much, being “on display” does get old after a while. So many times little kids hear you speaking English and walk up to you and say the only English word they know, to see how you react and if you understand. This happens all the time. What’s worse is when the adults do it. The adults don’t walk up to you; instead they constantly scream broken English at you, just to see if you understand. So what do they say? This of the worst curse-words you can think of, and then combine them into some sentence that doesn’t make sense. Something like “eFuck-a-shit-you!!!) There not being mean, but want to practice their American move experience. Anyway, this “being on display” is sometimes scary (especially when on a bus) because you know the people recognize that you appear to have more than they do. So we have to be really careful because some may decide they want to forcefully “borrow” for good, what I have.
Switching back to the atmosphere here in Paraguay, part of the Paraguayan experience also includes dealing with the litter covered streets, the poorly maintained and mistreated trees and foliage. On top of this, the streets are full of motorcycles spewing stomach churning exhaust. This is only topped by the numerous diesel engine trucks and cars that fill the air with such a thick exhaust that you might believe the area you are standing in is on fire. This is the city of Asuncion (don’t get me wrong, it has its nice parts too) and among all of this is where the United States Embassy is located.
As we figured, the embassy would be rather difficult to get inside. High security, many police officers with guns and an expectation of obedience on behalf of those entering the embassy, sets the atmosphere at the entrance. Upon entering the embassy (the bubble) the whole world seemed to change. “Where was the smog, the loud traffic, the ugly trees”, I thought to myself. It was as if the Embassy had hired Disney to create and imaginary bubble. Where were the staring kids? No one looked at us because we spoke English loudly. In fact everyone else also spoke the same infamous language. I wasn’t concerned about anyone cutting me, or having to watch my back. The trees were HUGE and impeccably trimmed. The grasses seemed to be greener than I remember grass back home. I don’t think I’ve ever seen palm trees so tall. Innumerable types of flowers and plants decorated the grounds of the embassy. At this point I had been walking for about 10 minutes in one direction and could not see the end of the embassy grounds. As I continued walking I noticed that water dispensers were set up throughout the grounds also, these are the kind you would see in the offices, with the big blue jug on top (these might have been there because of the 4th of July event, but I’m not sure). Every tree and plant was labeled with a name indicating the kind of plant it was. Also each tree was numbered with a dog-tag-style tag. Although, the temperature didn’t really change, however I couldn’t argue against one who would say that the temperature even seemed to get cooler. I guess I could just sum up the experience by saying that I was very impressed with the size of the embassy and the attention to detail, to make the embassy look impressive. It might help to mention that although we are in the season of winter here, it still gets very warm on some days and then changes to freezing a week later. Today it must have been 80 degrees out. I think by the end of next week it will be in the mid 30’s.
Okay, so why was the embassy so big? The American Embassy in Paraguay is the second largest embassy in the world, after the one in Iraq’s green zone. Why? You history buffs can probably figure it out. Let’s take a trip down history lane (a quick one, I promise). After World War II the cold war begin. You history buffs will remember that Argentina had many dictators in the 1950’s. Chile in the 1960’s and the U.S. over threw Salvador Allende in Chile in the 70’s. In reality, this was the Cold War experience of S. America at the time. Paraguay is at the heart of S. America and has always accepted war criminals. Paraguay was one of countries to allow the most World War II war criminals to seek asylum here. The fallen dictator of Nicaragua (Anastasia Somoza) also lived here in Asuncion. In other words Paraguay is a place where lots of trouble foments, given its geographic isolation. Paraguay had its own dictator (Alfredo Stroessner) from 1954 to 1989 who ruled with a brutal iron fist. So, during the cold war, the U.S. heavily supported Stroessner. The idea behind the control was to allow Stroessner to rule, but the U.S. to a large degree controlled Stroessner by supplying him with whatever he needed to fight communists, and hated communists Stroessner did. So as far as the U.S. was concerned the U.S. had a great thing going. So, basically, the embassy is so large because of the critical role it played in managing the interior and all of South America during the cold war and protecting the world from communists.
Okay, back to the embassy. Well, by now it’s time to leave. As I left the embassy I stopped to pick-up my huge Leatherman pocket knife (the one that almost caused some problems on the way inside). When the security placed the knife in my hand, he gently guided my through the door and outside with his other hand. This was as if he used the knife to “pop” my Embassy-Disney created bubble and reality again hit me in the face. If you remember Charlie Brown’s friend Pigpen for the comic strip Peanut’s, this is how I imagined myself. I said goodbye to the Bubble and walked to down to the street with the smog, the noise, the children and the stares from all the passersby closing in around me once again. Back to reality.

My House (4of4)

2008-07-07T21:18:00.003-05:00

You`ve wanted to see where I live, well here it is. Please excuse the video quality.

My House Video (3of4)

2008-07-07T21:18:00.001-05:00

You`ve wanted to see where I live, well here it is. Please excuse the video quality.

My House (2of4)

2008-07-07T21:16:00.001-05:00

You`ve wanted to see where I live, well here it is. Please excuse the video quality.

My House (1st of 4 videos)

2008-07-07T21:15:00.001-05:00

You`ve wanted to see where I live, well here it is. Please excuse the video quality.

3rd Dia de Practica (3rd day of Practice)...

2008-07-07T20:44:00.003-05:00

3rd Dia de Practica…
Well, today (July 3rd) was our 3rd dia de practica. We decided that since we had interviewed the community, the municipality and the directors of the schools, the next logical step would be to do a focus group with the students at the school. We chose a 6th grade class from a public school and a private school. So today we went to the public school first at 8am. We got there to find out that instead of our requested 9-12 students we would have about 18-20 students. This was not terribly bad, we just didn’t know if we would be able to control the whole group.
For the most part Jesus and I decided that the best method would be to pretend that we had not done any research and simply have a conversation with the children and see where it lead. If you remember our topic is “Basura” (trash). We have been investing why Gurambaré is completely covered with litter and trash. This includes contaminated streams and parks that are full of litter. We have been wondering if the people even see the trash, and if they do, why don’t they clean it up? We used visual prop called “The Arbol del Problem” (The tree of problems), which was basically white construction paper with a tree drawn on it, with the roots at the bottom and a big, full, green tree at the top. The tree was more symbolic than anything else. The goal was to question the students about the causes (roots) of litter and trash in the community, and then discuss the effects (the budding green part of the tree) that the trash can have on the community.
To begin with, we passed out paper and had the children make themselves nametags so that we could call on the children if they didn’t want to speak up. From the start the children we very active and were eager to interact with 2 Brazilians (yes, the initially thought we were from Brazil). To make a long story short, we find out that most of the children’s parents burn their trash each night, instead of paying for the local trash service which takes away the trash.
This school had children that were very active and eager to participate.
At 10am we arrived at the private school with high hopes. When we arrived with checked in with the director and waited for the 6th grade teacher to come down and get us. (so far so good, the public school just allowed us to walk into the school, past hundred of kids, and appeared to not have any means of security to keep the children safe.) The teacher soon arrived and took us to her classroom. On the way to the class we noticed that all of the children had uniforms on (not uncommon at any school) and the school was much better kept. The teacher lead us to her classroom but allowed us to enter first, while she waited outside. Upon entering all of the children stood in unison a practically remained “at attention” until we told them to be seated. Ten seconds later the teacher came in, and again they stood immediately an in unison. With this kind of welcome I was impressed with the children and of course had high hopes about the outcome of the class.
Sadly, I can sum up the whole class period in one word “mudos” (mutes). Jesus and I worked that class, promised dance lesson, promised candy, told jokes, had the kids make a circle, had the kids stand and shake their hands and I even had to break dance in order to show them how loose and relaxed we wanted them to be…….all of this and nothing. The students barely spoke and didn’t want to answer or participate at all. Don’t get me wrong, none of the children were falling asleep or even slouched in their chairs, they just simply did not want to answer any questions.
Upon talking to our trainer, he indicated that many of the private schools may have more resources, but they also have more rigid teachers. In other words he was describing the fact that many of the students in the private schools are more accustomed to taking orders from the “authority” figures, but rarely are the asked to respond to anything or contemplate their thoughts, but instead simply obey.
So in conclusion, the dia de practica went very well. We learned that some of the classes just won’t go as planned and not always will we have what it takes to make the children talk and speak up. All-in-All a productive day. See picture below.

Progress...

2008-07-07T20:36:00.001-05:00

As the saying goes… "Everything changes, the only thing constant is change itself…" While I don't remember who said that, I believe it to be true. In fact, the saying is so true that one does not even need to know the author to recognize the astuteness behind the comment. During my time (5 weeks) here in Paraguay I think I changed tremendously already. I think what scares me the most is that I will be here for 26 more months…what other changes will occur, and to what degree? It does not seem like I have been gone that long but when I think about the other volunteers that I have met, the families that I have met and stayed with, it seems like that I have know them for a lifetime.

Paraguay is a Latin-American country that still practices the siesta or the early afternoon nap. Perhaps maybe not so much in the capital of Asuncion, but even there, one is not surprised to see many businesses closed, or posts unmanned during the siesta hours. Throughout Paraguay (especially in the countryside) the typical business/social hours maybe from 7am to 11:30am. From 11:30 to 1:30 the town is quiet, store doors shut and barred, and families are eating lunch together. At 1:30 people take naps (siestas) until about 4pm. At 4:30pm stores open up once again and business is conducted as usual until about 7:30 pm. Though these hours maybe vary by an hour or so here and there, this schedule is pretty common of all type of businesses. For example, banks are only open from 7am to 1pm. Municipal buildings quite frequently have the same hours. Therefore you can see that most business and services tend to somewhat operate around a schedule that permits people to enjoy the siesta or mid-afternoon nap. Just for a side note, our Peace Corps training is about the only organization that does not adhere to this practice. This is how I know the streets are completely empty at these times. I am the only lunatic out walking the streets during siesta time. State policeman protect co-op locations from riots and manifestations that can get out hand. They normally carry 12-guage shotguns. During siesta hours I have seen them sitting down asleep at the doors of the co-ops.

In the short time that I have been here I have learned that "progress" and "development" look very different depending on where one comes from. I have noticed that many Paraguayans see what other countries (U.S. Western Europe) have an comment on how rich they are. Then they look at themselves that talk about how much they don't have. Strictly looking at material gain, Paraguay does not have anything. I watched a man trim tree branches today, with a machete. He hacked away at it for hours. This would have been much easier had he had a simple chainsaw. Anyway, as I look around myself and at the families that we as volunteers stay with, I have come to the conclusion that the family focus and importance that is seen here in Paraguay could not be transposed to the U.S. nor could the hyperactive, consumption and work focused culture of the U.S. be installed here in Paraguay. The Paraguayan values a tight (sometimes too tight as far as I'm concerned) family unit and time to spend with the individuals. This is seen in the many hours that family and friends spend drinking mate and terere (both herbal drinks) in the morning, afternoon and evening. Seeing it through the eyes of an American, I might think that this "lazy" behavior is exactly why there is so little productivity here. I imagine that a Paraguayan looking at the U.S. would think that we simply don't love our families, after all, they spend so much time working and worrying about work and rarely do they spend time with their families. With all of this said, I have realized that "progress" takes on a different presentation than what I realized. I have come to understand that development of Paraguay will not mean to make the country look more like the U.S. but to instead find out what the people what to achieve and then assist them in being more efficient and productive while preserving their preferences and cultural norms. After all, the Peace Corps was invited here to "help" not invited here to change Paraguay as we see fit, but instead to help them accomplish what they see fit for Paraguay.

A Piece of Culture & Something special...

2008-07-07T19:51:00.005-05:00

Today I slept in. Why? Because I think I’ve been exhausted here lately. Not physically, but mentally. I think we have all been here at one time or another. So, today (Sunday July 6th) I woke up about noon and ate lunch with my host mom and my host brother’s girlfriend. I noticed that my host dad wasn’t there and my family told me that some friends had shown up to serenade him for his birthday (3 days before). His friends are from the far parts of Paraguay and rarely make it into town. My host mom suggested that I go in to the living room to listen to them play. Before going in there I had no idea what was in store for me. Three men were in the living room with instruments creating a spellbinding-sound. Two were playing guitars and one gentleman was playing an accordion. My host dad told me that they do not play formally or for money, but because they enjoy playing and love traditional Paraguayan music. Those of you who know my well, also know how special music is to me. It was truly a pleasure to listen to the 3 men sing and play. My host dad told them that I was really fond of Mexico and that I had a Mexican girlfriend. Immediately the commenced to sing a traditional Paraguayan song, but (al estilo Mexicano, hasta el grito hicieron) performed in a Mexican style. The song was absolutely heart wrenchingly beautiful. I didn’t even know what to do, I just felt my face start getting warm and felt my nostrils start to flare, and next thing I knew I was crying. This song was that good. Thinking back, I didn’t know why I cried, but I know now. I’m in Latin America. There are characteristics that run through all of Latinamerica, however, there are characteristics that make each country distinct from any other. In this case, I think the reason I cried was because every where I look around here, I see Mexico. In many ways Paraguay and Mexico are exactly alike, yet at the same time they are completely alien to one another. Specifically, what made me cry was that the song was so beautiful and I know that my girlfriend Karla would have loved the song, but moreover, she would have really appreciated the gesture and effort on the part of the gentleman to make her feel as much at home as possible through their music. I guess what I cried over, was the fact that I was not able to share the moment with her, I know she would have loved it and would have loved to have shared it with her.

I didn’t get to record the song I really liked, but do have a video of a different song. The video is a very large format, so be paciente with me and I will do my best to try and get it posted a.s.ap. Here are some pictures.

San Juanazo

2008-07-07T19:21:00.001-05:00

This is a video of a San Juanazo. To be very brief, a San Juanazo is a Catholic celebration of saint john. The events that take place at a San Juanazo are (or don´t appear) to be at all related to the catholic faith. In this video the children are trying to lick a coin off of the back of a skillet. Yes, that´s right, I said ``lick``. The skillet is hung from a string so this task is rather difficult, not to mention SUPER unsanitary. The children take turn trying to lick it, and the winner gets a good prize. See the video.

Training Compound (Video 2)

2008-07-07T19:16:00.001-05:00

This is a contiuation of the first video.

En Continuacion del primer video.

Training Compound (Video 1)

2008-07-07T19:14:00.001-05:00

This is our training sight. I hope this video works. Please excuse the long delay in correcting these posting. Aqui veras nuestro sitio de capcitacion. Aqui aprendemos lenguaje y cultura.

Other Volunteers

2008-06-29T12:11:00.001-05:00

Here are some of the other volunteers. Here we are at a San Juanazo. This was at the beginnig so we were al about to fall asleep. I´ll have more pictures later.

Terrifying Image....

2008-06-28T17:47:00.005-05:00

Recenlty we went to a San Juanazo. A san Juanazo is an catholic celebration of the death (birth, I don´t know and neither to most people) of Saint John. There is a big festival that has lots of different aspects included that (from my perspective) have nothing to do with catholicism. Anyway, some of the volunteers and I decided to go to the festival in order to learn more about the culture of the place where we are. I and another girl are from African--American decent. The photos seen below did not help my security feeling down here at all. Take a look.

Recientemente fuimos a un San Juanzao. Un San Juanazo es una celebracion catolica del muerto (o nacimiento, parece que nadie sabe) del San Juan. Aqui hacen una fiesta grande, pero el problema (para mi) es que parace que los caracteristicas de la fiesta no tiene nada que ver con catolocismo. Bueno, para aprender mas de la cultura de paraguay, unos voluntarios e yo decidimos irnos a la festival. Otra voluntaria e yo somos de asendencia Afro--Americana. Si te acuerdas de la historia de morenos en EEUU las fotos que aparecen abajo, debe de explicar nuestor temor, y la incomodad tremenda que sentiamos estando en est lugar.

The Muncipality...

2008-06-28T16:51:00.000-05:00

The Municpality...

June 28, 2008.
Today we went to town of Nueva Italia. We went to visit the Municipality there and meet the town mayor. The best way to explain the set up of a Municipality here in Paraguay can be explained as: The Mayor holds basically all the power. The only check on the mayor’s power is the Junta that has to approve all of his work. However, the Junta cannot create any type of project. Their only role is to approve the Mayor’s proposals or reject his proposals. The Junta is usually split between the two national political parties. They junta also usually reflects the political party of the town in which it resides. If the town is split between the two parties, the junta will be split to reflect the representation of the town.

Well today, we went to the Municipality in Nueva Italia. We had the opportunity to listen observe the Junta in session and listen to them discuss the issues of their town. After that, we were allowed to review all of the requests (pedidos) for funds of projects. The way it works, if you want to money for a project you have to gather support by creating a neighborhood commission (comsion vecinal) and formally present all of the details of your project and then you can request the money. There are hundreds of neighborhood commissions and there is never enough money to go around. So today 6 of us reviewed all of the pedidos and we decided which ones would be approved. It was interesting to see what the people were requesting. The sad thing was that rarely anyone request money for capital expenses. All of the money was for immediate benefit or consumption. For example, no one requested money for a tractor in order to be able to farm a piece of land for the next 10 years. Instead, people were request money to pay for a man to come and spray their crops. These kind of projects we didn’t approve. Why? Because next year, they are gonna be looking for this money again. They type of projects we wanted were ones, that might have brought a guy in to teach that area different ways to protect their crops from pests, or teach them how to spray their own crops. Either of these aforementioned ideas would help the group to be better prepared and more independent from help from the outside. It was an interesting day. We learned a lot and I think, our work will be very similar to this when we go out to our sites. Another job we might do at our sites, would be to go out to these specific communities who are requesting money and help teach them on how to prepare and better pedido (request) in order to help them get the funding approved, by helping them to understand that sustainability and independence will help the municipality be more likely to approve their request. The way things are set up now, the people continue to deal with the same problems year after year (like pests eating up all their crops) and the only way they solve it is waiting for the municipality to come and give them some money to spray their crops. On too many occasions there crop harvest is little or nothing because they wait for someone to come and do it for them.

Korean Barbecue...

2008-06-26T17:02:00.004-05:00

Korean Barbecue!!
Korean barbecue is great! When I went to visit my host volunteer in Aregua, we came into Asuncion to have Korean barbecue. It’s even better when shared among friends. So what could make it better? When you get to cook it yourself at your table. Many people have probably visited a restaurant of this type in the states. It’s not a new thing, but for me it is. I get the feeling that the restaurant is really good, because many Koreans frequent the restaurant. My feeling was confirmed when I tasted the food. CALICIOUS!!!! (Delicious x 100= Calicious)

The Cell phone saga....

2008-06-26T16:53:00.002-05:00

The Cell phone. Before I get started I need to explain a bit about how some Peace Corps Volunteers experience Paraguay. Here in Paraguay, many volunteers have experienced outright request for the property by Paraguayan friends and family. From what I’ve heard this is not uncommon. Many Paraguayan adults and children will look at your tennis shoes, being named bran (Nike), and say something like “ Wow, I like those…How much did they cost? Can I have them?” or “Oh my gosh, that’s a nice camera, it takes pictures and films? The pictures look nice, Can I have that camera?” The Peace Corps has told us that this is common and there will be lots of people that ask us for our stuff. They have suggested that we not give it away or they will think that we are a walking bank. On the other hand the Peace Corps also says, that whether or not you give them your stuff, they still think you are a walking bank. In many occasions they believe that an american’s presence can get money to come down easily. So what does all this have to do with a cell phone? Well, my host family knows all of the aforementioned. Furthermore, many of the families make sure that their kids and family member do not ask the Peace Corps volunteers for their stuff. They do this for many reasons, but the main reason is because to flat out ask also implies that the person is needy. In order to save face many Paraguayans with just compliment on what you have hoping that you will give it to them. As I mentioned, most host families know this and won’t behave that way with volunteers. Being that my host mother knows this, here is the story of the Cell Phone.

Upon arriving in Paraguay I realized that my phone did not work here. I also knew that the Peace Corps is going to provide us with phones once we go out to our sites in August. On top of that, I remembered why I got cell phone. I originally got it because Karla went to OU when I went to OSU. When Karla came back to OSU they had changed the phone service whereby was required to choose and pay for a long distance phone plan, no longer could one just have local service in Stillwater. For this reason, I kept my cell phone. If the peace corps is going to give us phones, then I don’t need mine. If I want a cell phone when I come back to the US I will be able to get a free phone when signing the phone contract This was my thinking. Continuing with more background info, here in Paraguay one may get robbed for their cell phone. This is very common because cell phone use, text messages and things of that nature are relatively new and everyone wants to try and get one. For this reason cell phone are really popular and frequently stolen. One night when talking to my family they were explaining to me all the things that we need to be leery of when in the capital city of Asuncion. We have a maid that works here at the house with my host family. She practically lives here and goes home on Saturday afternoons and comes back again on Monday. While telling me this, my host dad mentioned to me that Gladys (the maid) had been robbed a few months back and had her cell phone stolen.
This is where the story begins. One day I gave me cell phone to Gladys. I told her that I didn’t think it would work, but if she could get the phone “unblocked” and hooked up here she could have it. Three days later she goes to Asuncion and comes back chatting away to her friends and boyfriend on the phone. My host mom darn near threw a fit. While I was at school, the host mom bombarded her with questions about where and how she got the phone. My host mom didn’t believe Gladys when she told her that I had given her the phone. When I got home my host mom waited until Gladys was gone to the store and she asked me a number of times if I had given her the phone. I told her “yes” and then my host mom assumed that Gladys had asked me for it. Then my host mom didn’t believe that Gladys had not asked me for the phone. So, I had to pull both my host mom and the maid together and clarify before both of them. “Señora, Gladys did not ask me for the phone. I gave it to her. Gladys, I didn’t tell the Señora that you asked me for the phone.” After that things were fine. But needless to say it caused a big mess, all because they are not accustomed to someone giving away something that they perceive as expensive. I can remember Brett Mardis giving me his old cell phone. But I guess here it’s just unheard of. On top of that, I think my host mom would have been embarrassed for her family, had the maid asked me for the phone. Anyway that is the Cell Phone Saga.

Brrrr......

2008-06-26T16:31:00.003-05:00

Brrrrr…..Cold
Does 37-50 degrees seem cold to you? Well here it is freezing, freezing to the bone. Why? Well here since all of the homes are made of stone or cement, and none of the houses have insulation you are basically sitting in 37-50 degrees all the time. I have to wear a coat all the time, even while inside the house. What´s even worse is that July is the worst. It will be getting colder. The good thing is that it does not get as cold as it does at home. Anyway, my big hat the Karla gave me for Christmas has really come in handy. See below.

Interesting statue...

2008-06-19T19:51:00.001-05:00

In one of the previous postings I told you about my trip to Aregua. I went to visit another volunteer just to get an idea of how a volunteer lives. As I mentioned, the city is really nice and very colonial. Anway, if the front yard of my host volunteer is an interesting statue. He says that it was there when he moved in, but nevertheless, it´s very interesting. I decided to take a picture with it.

El Colectivo - El Bache (Paraguay)

2008-06-17T11:22:00.001-05:00

To get a good look at some of he buses here in Paraguay, take a look at the video here. I don´t know what they look like in other places, but I believe the buses (called colectivos here) are probably some of the most unique. Check them out)

Para ver los autobuses que cubren el pais de Paraguay vea el video. No se como comparan con los del otro paises del latino america pero supongo que los de aqui son muy distintos. Vea el video

Pictures of Areguá...Fotos de Areguá

2008-06-17T10:33:00.002-05:00

Picture of an old train that ran through Aregua, years ago. Now it only runs a few times a month. Foto de un tren que iba desde Asuncion a Aregua hace años. Ahora viene unos veces al mes.

View of the lake at the bottom of the hill in Aregua (contaminated though). Vista del lago al fondo de la loma principal de Aregua. (pero una bella vista no más, el lago esta contaminado)

A cool church at the top of the hill. This church faces the lake with a nice few for the patio seen in this picture. Esta iglesia linda esta encima de la loma que mira hacia el lago abajo. Un vista de maravilla.

Teaching English...Enseñando Inglés

2008-06-16T11:39:00.002-05:00

Teaching...

Okay, I can´t relate to what a teacer goes through, neither teaching older kids in a university setting nor children in low income schools in the inner city. BUT, I can tell you a cool story.

This past weekend and until tuesday I am on a sight visit, visiting another volunteer out in place call Aregua. Aregua is a really pretty area that many of the volunteers fight to get placed at. I will try and post pictures and video soon.

So, continuing with teaching, I arrived Saturday morning and walked to the municipality where the other volunteer works on Sats. I get to the Muni. and can´t find the other volunteer. I finally ask someone where the other american is. They take me to the courtyard and at one end of the courtyard I see my other volunteer on the escenario (´´stage´´ I think) with a lot of desks and students sitting in them trying to learn english. I walk up with my big bags and join the group. I look around at about 20 bright eyed little young boys and girls staring up at a Peace Corps volunteer, with good spanish, but a not so good accent, teaching the children english. The kids were attentive and the kids were learning a lot and asking really astute questions. I really wish I would have taken a picture because the picture looked just like what you would see on the Peace Corps mailings, advertisements and propaganda. The Kids sat in a big circle and tried their best to say hi to me in English. I sat there for about 2 hours but during that time period the kids were asking me questions about how to form sentences and all the easy stuff that is usually confusing for first time english learners. Karla, I especially wish that you could have been there to not only answer their questons, but to feel how it feels to be able to answer a simple questions and see the satisfaction that comes over the kids face from feeling like they are learning something REALLY cool and new. Perhaps you have felt that when working witht the interational students on campus. Also, I think you would have enjoyed it because you could have spoken to them in Spanish that they could have better understood.

I think I better understand the challenges a teacher faces. They are some of the greatest, but I also think that the reward a teacher gets from seeing their students grow and learn is one of the greatest also. In other words, big rewards come from great challenges.

Ensenando....

Bueno, no puedo indentificarme con los dificultades que un profesor se tiene que enfrentar en la clase, ni en una situacion universitaria ni una escuela con escasos recursos en la ciudad. Sin embargo les puedo contar un cuento muy lindo.

El fin pasado fue a vistar a otro voluntario en su sitio en un lugar que se llama Areguá. Fui de viaje por autobus de una hora norte de Asuncion. Es un lugar precioso con vistas de maravilla, una iglesia bella que esta ubicada un una loma con bellas vistas sobre un lago lindo.

Bueno, llegue a la municipalidad en busca del otro voluntario. Pregunte al seguridad por el otro americano. Me llevó al jardin principal y al fondo de un lado estvó el otro voluntaro en el esencario con pupitres y unos 20 alumnos de 11 a 14 años enseñando el ingles. Me acerque al esenario y deje mi equipaje a un lado y me senté. En un circulo estaban todo los estudiantes con ojos brillantes fijados en el voluntario del cuerpo de paz, e esuchando al voluntario con español bueno, pero un accento horrible. Los niños le hacia preguntas buenas y bien astutas. Quisieras que hubiera sacado fotos por que la vista y ambiente fue igualito que los que vemos en los folletos de Cuerpo de paz y los video que un apirante ve la propaganda. Estuve yo, unos 2 horas, pero en esas 2 hora me hacian preguntas en como se forma oraciones y conjuga verbos y sustantivos. En tan poco tiempo nos hicimos amiguitos. El dia siguiente casa todo el pueblo de Aregua supo que el Americano (Josh mi compañero) tenia otro amigo visitandole de EEUU. Karla quisiera que estuvieras no solo para contestar los preguntas con mas eficaz que nosotros pero tambien saber como se siente poder contestar las preguntas de los niños y ver la satisfacion en sus ojos al pensar que estan aprendiendo algo importante y tambien ver en los ojos de ellos que se sienten el orgullo de haber aprendido un poco de ingles. Tal vez has sentido es eseñando los alumnos en la unversidad con los estudiantes del extranjero. Tambien te hubiera dado mucho gusto poderles explicado en castellano perfecto.

Creo que ahora entiendo los retos que los profesores tienen que batallar. Son dificilisimo. Pero a la vez la recompensa al ver a un alumno que entienda o que por fin capturo la esencia de tal leccion es un algo que siente muy lindo tambien.

Mark

Hamburgers

2008-06-06T16:25:00.005-05:00

For those of you who have ever eaten street food in Mexico City know that the hamburgers therer are wonderful. Last night I had one that compared. These hamburgers come with, meat, cheese, ham, mayo, ketchup, lettuce, tomatoe, mayo, salt and all made fresh. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, an over easy egg is also added to it.. Peep the pictures.

Para ustedes que han comido comida de la calle en Mexico, saben de las hamburguesas ricas que hay. Ayer en la noched comi uno que comparò con los de mexico. Esta tenia la carne, queso, jamon, ketchup, mostaza, lechuga, jitomate, mayo, sal, y tambien huevo duro. Riquisima fue! Vea las fotos.

El Terere

2008-05-31T16:52:00.003-05:00

Terere is a herbal tea that people drink here. It´s actually kind of good, although it does not have much taste. It kind of tastes like steeped herbs. I guess that´s what tea is supposed to taste like. Not too bad though. However, here el Terere is a national past time. EVERYONE, and yes I mean EVERYONE walk around with their thermos of hot water (or maybe cold) and there little wooden cup (called a guampa pronounce "gwam´pa") and drinks this tea. Old people sit in their window and drink the stuff. Store owner, students, and construction workers and homeless people all do too. Well the interesting part, is how they share it. There are unwritten rules on how one shares their terere. There are unwritten rules on what ones is supposed to do with the metal straw, how to stir the tea, who can stir it etc. It´s kind of cool to watch the "ceremony" when people drink it. So how do they share it? Well they have one wooden cup and a metal straw. Then they pass the cup around so everyone can drink it. Needless to say EVERYONE drinks from the same metal straw. This does not make us too happy because we are not used to this. But I guess it will be something that I have to get used to and take my medicine and Pray that there are no serious risks to drinking the tea this way. Below is a picture.

Everywhere you go people carry these things around. It´s kinda like an country ritual. It´s pretty neat to see.

Terere es un tea medicinal. Me imagino que la mayoria de ustedes ya saben lo que es, asi que aguardense mientras que les aburren con mi explinacion y experiencia. Aqui en Paraguay se toma mucho el terere. Todos cargan su thermos con agua caliente y sus copa de madera (el guampa) La manera en que lo tomen es super interesante. Todoavia no he averiguado la signficancia de las maneras en que toman. Parece un ritual pero es super interesante. Lo mas me hace preocupar es el hecho de que comparten el tea entre mucha gente, todo bebiendo de la misma bombilla (popote, sorbete). Hasta ahora no se me ha emfermado de la gripe pero suspecho que me falta poco para enfermarme. Bueno no les aburro con todo los detalles. Esperen para la proxima actualizacion.

Paraguay

2008-05-31T16:44:00.002-05:00

I have arrived here in Paraguay, and so far things are going well. My host family is wonderful and have taken me in like there own. The food has been good so far and should continue to be. I expect to lose some weight (which I need to do) and I suspect that I will be a bit more healthy. The food here is more natural than the food at home. Language? Uhm, yes the Jopara (Spanish mixed with Guarani) is rather difficult, but my family says that I will learn quickly. I hope I do.

He llegado aqui in Paraguay. Hasta ahora todo me va bien. My familia con quien vivo aqui is fabulosa. Me han brindado todo y haba abierto su casa como si yo fuera uno su hijos. La comida ha sido rica y parece que toda la comida sera media rica. Parece que me voy a bajar de peso ( eso es bueno para mi....el pansón) y creo que sera yo, sano. La comida aqui me parece mas natural que la comida en EEUU. Lenguaje? Ehhh, si, Jopara ( Espanol mezcaldo con el Guarani ) es un poquito dificil, pero me dice mi familia que lo aprendaré rapidisimo. Eso, yo espero.

Points of Departure....Puntos de Partida

2008-05-28T13:46:00.004-05:00

Today we did the final touches of our training. I have been in my graduate program (International Studies) since august of 2006. I have been listening and preparing for this peace corps experience since that time. I don't think more training will fit in my head. Im ready to step foot in Paraguay and begin my work. Currently we are here in Miami waiting for our bus to pick us up for our ride to the Miami International airport. Though sad to leave my family and girlfriend, I think I'm ready....

Hoy terminamos los ultimos puntos de la capicitacion. Desde que emepece mi programa de postrgrado en 2006 he estado aprendiendo y estudiando todo del Cuerpo de Paz. Ya estoy harto de capacitacion y listo para pisar la tierra de Paraguay. Se que ahi me espera mucho mas para aprender. Sin embargo estoy listo. Ahora estamos esperando el autobus para ir al aeropuerto. Aunque me da mucha tristeza dejar mi noiva y mi familia, creo (espero que, ojala que) que estoy listo.....

Pictures of Miami Below

Staging/Orientacion

2008-05-27T22:06:00.002-05:00

I arrived here in Miami yesterday. Staging is not really much of anything other than an orientation before going to the host country. It's been very weird experience. It feels a lot like vaction (the hotel, the luggage, the new scenes), but with the uneasy feeling that it will end like anything other than a vacation. In training today the trainer told us to "look around at all of these people....these people will be your family...." The people look nice enough, but I just can't imagine that for the first few months these people are gonna be my "close" friends. I don't even know any of them yet.... I guess the peace corps knows what they are doing.

Tomorrow evening (wed) we board our flight for Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay. Word has it, that the same day that we arrive (thursday) each of us will each go to stay with our host family. I feel for the volunteers that do not know a word of Spanish.

Llegue aqui in Miami ayer. La orientacion, de verad no es nada. Es mas para ubicarnos y prepararnos para nuestra destinacion in Asuncion. Bueno, eso es orientacion...no? Es una experiencia muy extrano. Es como una vacacion (el hotel, equipaje, ambiente nueva) pero la sensacion extrano es de que este "viaje" sera cualquier otra cosa aparte de un viaje al fin y acabo de todo. En la orientacion, el lider nos dijo que fijaramos muy bien en a la gente en nuestros alrededores, "porque" dijo el senor, "estas personas sera tu familia durante los proximos 27 meses. Ne entiendes mal, la gente me parece buena gente, pero es super dificil imaginar que estas personas seran mis buenos amigos durante el tiempo mas dificil, durante el tiempo de capcitacion--apenas los conoci. Bueno, manana embarcamos para nuestra Asuncion querida! Dicen que ese mismo dia, nos vamos a quedar con nuestras familias. Siento por la gente que ni hablan ninguna palabrita de espanol.

The Next step may prove more difficult./ El proximo paso puede ser lo mas dificil

2008-05-05T01:26:00.001-05:00

Phew!! Now that school is complete I can concentrate on trying to prepare for my tour in the Peace Corps. I honestly thought that once school was complete it would be easier to focus. However, the difficulty now is actually following through with doing this. I thought it would be easy to leave, like any other trip. But of course, this one is much different. 27 months away from my home and my girlfriend is going to be A LOt more difficult than I had orginally anticipated. I try not to let it show, but I think I'm a nervous wreck. This is not good! Or on the other hand, maybe this is normal...who knows....

Ahhhh, Ahora que he terminado con mis estudios puedo concentrarme en la preparacion para mi turno en el Cuerpo de Paz. En veradad, yo pensaba que cuando termine este semestre seria mas facil enfocarme en la preparacion. Sin embargo, la dificultad ahora es seguir con mis planes de ir y cumplir mi acuerdo con el Cuerpo de Paz y fisicamente pisar el avion para comezar mi turno. Pense que seria facil alejarme, como cualquier otro viaje. Pero claro este viaje sera pero muy diferente. 27 meses lejos de mi familia y novia va a ser MUCHO mas dificil que anticipaba antes. Trato de no demostrar el estres de que estoy sufriendo, pero en verdad siento que me estoy volviendo loco emocionalmente. Esto no es bueno....o tal vez es normal.....quien sabe.

Struggling...

2008-02-24T20:58:00.005-06:00

Before recieving my assignment in December, I anticipated receiving it so much that I found it very difficult to focus on my studies. However, now that I have received my assignment I find it more difficult to concentrate on my work. I am working on my creative component as part of the final step in completion of my M.S. I understand the importance of completing the work, but I find myself daydreaming and wasting many hours doing absolutely nothing. Please pray for me as I struggle through this semester. I guess to be specific, pray that I use my time wisely.

Antes de recibir mi invitacion para servir en el Cuerpo de Paz en Diciembre, la anticipaba tanto que no podio concentrar ni hacer mis tareas. Fue muy dificil. Sin embargo, ahora que tengo mi invitacion y mi proyecto, me encuentro desperdiciando mas tiempo que antes. Se que me falta casi dos meses para terminar mi tesis como el ultimo paso para terminar mi maestria, pero lamentablemente diario me encuentro sonando despierto hora tras hora. No sabes lo dificil que es ponerme a atencion y cumplir mis trabajos a tiempo. Favor de orar por mi. O sea ora para que utilize el tiempo que me queda con mas eficaz.

The New Year

2008-01-01T13:15:00.000-06:00

Well, the New Year has arrived. This means that I have roughly five months before my departure to Paraguay. I cannot explain the excitement, the fear, the sadness that I feel. I have yet to leave and already am experiencing mixed emotions about serving in Paraguay.

Pues, el ano nuevo ha llegado. Tengo unos cinco meses antes de irme a Paraguay. No tengo las palabras para expresar el temor, la tristeza y la emocion que traigo. Ni he salido, me quedan cinco meses y estoy inundado con emocion.

Receipt of Invitation. Me llego la invitacion

2007-12-13T00:09:00.000-06:00

Well, I received my invitation about 3 days ago. I am very excited and I don't think it has quite sank in as of yet. Hopefully, by the time I leave in May I will feel more comfortable. This blogging things is something new. I'll learn as I go so I hope you will bear with me.

Pues, recibi mi inivitacion hace uno dias. Estoy muy emocionado pero no creo se me haya caido el veinte. No siento que todo de eso es real. Me queda un semestre todavia, asi que tendre que seguir poco a poco y espero que sienta mas preparado antes del Mayo.