Well I have been writing on my laptop from my host home, but the files are not transfering to this computer at an internet cafe. I have a bunch of info that I will try to upload next week or so. Sorry I have not posted anything lately. I really only have a few minutes every wednesday to use the internet.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Computers
Monday, October 15, 2007
My host family and some of their cousins drinking mate (tea that everyone here drinks). This is the portch where I am living for 3 months
When you are living on a three dollar per day budget money does not last long. I really have to start learning to live off of no money, because that is about the payment we are going to get for the rest of the time. Everything is very inexpensive here though. We walked around Asuncion and found a nonprofit organization and a couple of other sites, then talked about what we saw with the rest of the group at the main peace corps office. The main office is really nice. They have a pool, library, computers with Internet, and a phone line that is cheap to use for US calls. We can only use that phone after business hours though. Anyway, I am off to visit another volunteer tomorrow and excited to see a different part of the country. I am not going to be very far outside of the capital, but I think it will be very removed and old fashioned. I think they only speak Guarani at the site I am going to, so I am a little worried about communicating with people, but atleast a volunteer will be there. (He has been there for two years now).
Today we had our normal language class in the morning, lunch, then had a guest volunteer speaker talk to the group after lunch. She works a lot in the school system in her site which is interesting, but I am a little worried that I don’t really want to work that much with the school system, but they might expect me to. Afterwards we all got together and played soccer for half hour or so until it got dark. It is nice not having anything to read or do tonight so I watched TV for a while with my host family. They watch these crappie Brazilian soap operas all the time. I saw Al Gore on the news, but could not understand what they were talking about.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Oct 11 - Living situation
I have a small room (but I guess a little bigger than my last one in Boulder) with a double bed, two tables and two small book stands. The floor is concrete; I have a single uncovered light bulb hanging from the ceiling, a mosquito net (that is too small for the bed), a clock, and a window without a screen. The stuff I brought from home is on top of the chairs and tables with nothing on the floor (so creepy crawlers don’t get into them). My average meal is pasta or rice with beef or pork in a broth and a simple salad. It tastes pretty good, but I know I will like more variety before the training is over. Sometimes we eat empanadas that are great. I have been craving cheese and chocolate lately (neither of which we eat in the house...not sure why).
Just about every night I have a homework assignment for Guarani class that my host-family helps me with. They always laugh at the goofy way I pronounce words (like neko’e which means morning). Tomorrow another trainee and myself are going into Asuncion by ourselves on a project to find a nonprofit organization and interview one of the leaders of the organization. Neither of us have been to Asuncion before and part of the reason the Peace Corps is doing this activity is so that we will get to know the bus systems and get to know the city. On Saturday each trainee is going out to a different rural area to stay with a volunteer for 4 days. I do not know which area of Paraguay I am going yet, but am sure that it will not have Internet or international phones. It may not even have electricity, but I am looking foreword to seeing another part of the country and likely more like what my permanent living situation will be for two years.
Just about every night I have a homework assignment for Guarani class that my host-family helps me with. They always laugh at the goofy way I pronounce words (like neko’e which means morning). Tomorrow another trainee and myself are going into Asuncion by ourselves on a project to find a nonprofit organization and interview one of the leaders of the organization. Neither of us have been to Asuncion before and part of the reason the Peace Corps is doing this activity is so that we will get to know the bus systems and get to know the city. On Saturday each trainee is going out to a different rural area to stay with a volunteer for 4 days. I do not know which area of Paraguay I am going yet, but am sure that it will not have Internet or international phones. It may not even have electricity, but I am looking foreword to seeing another part of the country and likely more like what my permanent living situation will be for two years.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Oct 5 - General Paraguay Info and Training
baby goat that was born next door to my house yesterday. It is adorable!
Well for those of you who do not know much about Paraguay that is understandable, I did not either. It is not exactly the first place people look at on a map. So first of all, it declared itself a bilingual country and almost everyone speaks either Spanish or Guarani or a combination of the two. Guarani was the language the native Paraguayans used before the Spanish moved in. Now there is no separation between the Spaniards, and natives...everyone is just Paraguayan. Though there are some German influenced towns, and some Asian communities...oh yeah and Mennonite communities also. Many Germans moved here after WW2, some were Nazis who wanted to excape punishment.
Paraguay is a very interesting place. It is hot now, and will be incredibly so in a couple of months. The small town I live and am training in is called Nueva Espiranza and is an adjacent community to a larger town called Guarambare. Guarambare is about 1 hours drive from the capital city Ascuncion. Guarambare has a couple of main paved roads, but the community I live in is all dirt roads. It takes about an hour to get to Guarambare from my house, either by walking or taking two buses.
I have a diverse diet of beef, beef and more beef....pretty much for every meal. Actually today was the first day I had another sort of protein (pork), which I woke up to the pig being slaughtered this morning by our neighbors. I then watched them pour hot water over the pig and to clean it and take of the hair. Today (Oct. 4) is a special holiday for the Catholic church (San Francisco) in my community so the whole town had a parade, decorated the town, and attended mass...and of course many families ate the pork from my neighbors recently deceased pig. I thought my host family and I were going to go, but I guess they decided not to because they went the night before.
My host family owns a 6 month old pig, about 13 chickens, 2 hamsters, and a garden. We have electricity and running water (though it is not hot). I am still getting used to taking cold showers every day, but it is pretty refreshing after a hot day. In the morning it is pretty awful. The house has open windows...insects and small frogs come and go as they please.
Though communication is hard between my host family, we usually just end up laughing at each other and joking around. They are all very nice and fun. Benito works as a merchant and construction worker. A couple of days ago he went to Argentina and I think to trade a thick sugar that is made with honey. I think it is often used instead of chocolate in deserts.
If anyone wants my mailing address it is:
Scott Burgess, PCT
Cuerpo de Paz, CHP
162 Chaco Boreal c/Mcal. Lopez
Asuncion 1580, Paraguay (South America)
Mail takes three to four weeks if not more, and about %20 does not make it. Paraguay is rated the third most corrupt country in the world, but people joke that it is really #1, but they lied about it so they would not be #1.
We lost our first volunteer yesterday. She said that she was too homesick and though that she would continue to volunteer in the US where she could still follow her ideals, but also be close to her family and friends. The last class that finished its service had about half of the volunteers leave before their two years was up...though that was an unusually high rate.
Personally I think volunteering is going to be the most influential, hardest, and incredible thing I have ever done. I am excited to go to training every day to learn Guarani and about Environmental Education practices in Paraguay. They are very long and intense training days, but really great information. Today we are talking about previous environmental projects that groups in Paraguay initiated and why they succeded or failed.
Paraguay is a very interesting place. It is hot now, and will be incredibly so in a couple of months. The small town I live and am training in is called Nueva Espiranza and is an adjacent community to a larger town called Guarambare. Guarambare is about 1 hours drive from the capital city Ascuncion. Guarambare has a couple of main paved roads, but the community I live in is all dirt roads. It takes about an hour to get to Guarambare from my house, either by walking or taking two buses.
I have a diverse diet of beef, beef and more beef....pretty much for every meal. Actually today was the first day I had another sort of protein (pork), which I woke up to the pig being slaughtered this morning by our neighbors. I then watched them pour hot water over the pig and to clean it and take of the hair. Today (Oct. 4) is a special holiday for the Catholic church (San Francisco) in my community so the whole town had a parade, decorated the town, and attended mass...and of course many families ate the pork from my neighbors recently deceased pig. I thought my host family and I were going to go, but I guess they decided not to because they went the night before.
My host family owns a 6 month old pig, about 13 chickens, 2 hamsters, and a garden. We have electricity and running water (though it is not hot). I am still getting used to taking cold showers every day, but it is pretty refreshing after a hot day. In the morning it is pretty awful. The house has open windows...insects and small frogs come and go as they please.
Though communication is hard between my host family, we usually just end up laughing at each other and joking around. They are all very nice and fun. Benito works as a merchant and construction worker. A couple of days ago he went to Argentina and I think to trade a thick sugar that is made with honey. I think it is often used instead of chocolate in deserts.
If anyone wants my mailing address it is:
Scott Burgess, PCT
Cuerpo de Paz, CHP
162 Chaco Boreal c/Mcal. Lopez
Asuncion 1580, Paraguay (South America)
Mail takes three to four weeks if not more, and about %20 does not make it. Paraguay is rated the third most corrupt country in the world, but people joke that it is really #1, but they lied about it so they would not be #1.
We lost our first volunteer yesterday. She said that she was too homesick and though that she would continue to volunteer in the US where she could still follow her ideals, but also be close to her family and friends. The last class that finished its service had about half of the volunteers leave before their two years was up...though that was an unusually high rate.
Personally I think volunteering is going to be the most influential, hardest, and incredible thing I have ever done. I am excited to go to training every day to learn Guarani and about Environmental Education practices in Paraguay. They are very long and intense training days, but really great information. Today we are talking about previous environmental projects that groups in Paraguay initiated and why they succeded or failed.
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