Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Life In Paraguay

I have been in Paraguay for just about 20 days now and in some  ways that feels like forever and in others it feels as if I just got here. The training that I have gone through thus far has been  intensive. Everyday has been language training, which for me means learning Guarani. Guarani has been quite interesting, it took me a while to get a grasp of what it was about but I am starting to love how this language is formed and spoken. Most of Paraguayans will speak a mix of Spanish and Guarani called Jopara, however, others out in the campo (countryside) speak almost pure Guarani and many do not even speak Spanish. This past weekend I went for a Volunteer Visit where I went to a site that a volunteer has been working in. In my case it was a volunteer who has just about finished his service (when I swear in he will be swearing out). Anyways, this site is pure campo and while I could speak Spanish to people and they would more or less understand they all used Guarani to communicate. This was my first time seeing the challenge that I have ahead of me. Over the weekend we did a lot and not a lot at the same time. Sunday was a rainy day and here in Paraguay that means that you do nothing and for good reason, the roads all become terrible and it is difficult to walk on them much less drive on them. Yesterday, was a beatiful day and we taught in two different schools to 3 groups of kids. The first session I read a Peter Cottontail in Spanish to some 5th graders while the Volunteer also named Greg asked questions in Guarani. At the second school Greg gave his lecture on Snakes that he has developed as his main project during his service. Essentially it is an interactive talk teaching kids what the dangerous snakes look like and that snakes should not be killed as they are an important part of the ecosytem. It was a great visit all around and I am now reassured that I will want to be placed in the campo in a site not unlike that one.

Living with a Paraguayan family has been extremely rewarding. I have a big family here, my host mom and dad are in their 60´s and they have 8 children with the youngest being a son my age. There are 4 brothers and 1 sister that live at the house with me and one nephew. In our community just about everyone is related which has caused an ongoing joke between some of us aspirantes (What I am until I swear in). It turns out that one of my host brothers has an aspirante and one of the sisters has a aspirante as well which makes me their uncle. Fun stuff...tio Gregorio. The house I live in is unlike anything in the States, it is very much an outdoor lifestyle. The bulidings on the property are simply bedrooms there is no living room, dining room, or kitchen. There are chairs and tables outside and on the porch and the kitchen is attached to the backside of one of the buildings. Everything is cooked with fire and the water come from a well. We have about 8 milk cows, 2 horses, more chickens than I can count, and no more pigs as both have been slaughtered since I have been down here. The brothers are mostly brickmakers, so there is a big oven on the property that cooks the bricks that the form themselves. The rest of the property is a garden that will soon be planted with corn. In order to get to my training center I have to walk for about an hour (3 miles?) to the nearest big town which also happens to be the same place that I need to go to use the internet. This is essentially what my life looks like right now, and as we go into November we are hitting summer here where it will start to approach 100 degrees. I will try to get some picture in the near future to put up and show you all what I am seeing.