So, just thought I would update everyone. To some of your relief´s I´m sure, I just wanted to inform everyone that Jorge and I have come to an end.
Yeah, I know we were really thinking marriage, but as we got further into the relationship it we began to realize that it would be a lot of work for both of us to come to terms with the numerous cultural differences that began to plauge our relationship.
The love was there, but we could not do the other things that show love to each other´s liking.
There were big differences in the way we communicate, negotiate, love, and respect one another and our expectations for one another were just different, and I don´t believe that either one of us were living up to the other´s expectations.
We took a good look at where we are, and where we wanted to go, and what it would take to get there. We had to come to terms with the fact that it looked like we really just weren´t going to see eye-to-eye on various aspects of life and be on the same page, or in other words, in the lingo of martial negotiation, dealbreakers.
We came to a mutual decision, no tears, no yelling, no blaming, nothing. Anti-climatic really, decision that it´s best if we just go our separate ways.
I still am planning on trying to extend in the area of HIV-AIDS work with a branch of the Paraguayan government, is I came here to work in the first place, not get married! And the job really sounds interesting, and I am looking forward to it.
I hope I can count an all your support as we all know the worst time to go through a break is the Holidays. I believe worse than Valentines because thats just one day, this is a whole SEASON. Blah!
Much love to all,
Felices Fiestas
So, here's a photo of me finally... it's been awhile, because my camera broke a while ago. You will note the reached the 35lb. mark weight loss... this is taken in our office, in the computer lab, with the camera of a random trainee (not yet a volunteer).... so that you all could see, I'm alive, and well, and 35lbs lighter.
I have tons of stuff going on as the school year ends here for summer, yes, summer vacation. Doing a career/college fair full of scholarship info, vocational programs info, etc. for all my highschool students. Then, we have a plans for camps, etc in the summer...camps, tournaments of volleyball, etc.
And somewhere in there I am trying to fit in my wedding! But, I have also just really recently been toying with the idea of extending my service. I need to look more into who all is applying to exteand to see if I have a lot of comptetion or not, but I am thinking that no there is not a lot of competition. Having talked to people at home, the job market is just so down right now. And it's just such a scary time to come back..... as a social worker. With an immigrant! My old boss pretty much told me, "If you can stay abroad, do!" So, if I extended, it would give Jorge and I a chance to save our money a bit more... and just have more time together without having to rush the wedding, rush the VISA, rush back to the States, etc. But, this is just an idea I had, um, today. So, we will see.
So, here's the deal. I am a little sleepy, so this might not be the best time to focus on trying to write a reality check of me getting married, but well, I'll give it my best shot.
So, here's the deal. I know I've all told you how wonderful, great, kind, patient, tranquilo, hard-working, and genuine that Jorge is. But, in the end, let me make something very clear: HE'S PARAGUAYAN!
What does that mean to you (family member or friend)? If we come back in 6 months:
1) He's not going to know English. Maybe not at all, maybe not very well. Honestly, I don't really want to be the one to teach him. I don't mind practicing, but I am not an Certified English teacher! I will if it comes down to it, and I feel that he really needs some language training, but in a perfect world he will be able to study in Buenos Aires a few weeks before we head back. He will at least get the basics down that way, and will at least break out of the shyness of when really trying to speak a new language. In order to speak a new language, you have to get over feeling like an idiot. You are going to mess up. You are going to say stuff wrong. You may confuse the word "pear" and make it sound like "beer" (as my little sister who is studying english did this week). I was in the same boat about a year and half ago... working with the basics of a language, and just trying to communicate. Sometimes, you are trying so hard to get a point across... but you just can't... you so want for someone to understand you, and then you say one little word wrong and everyone laughs and you lose your whole momentum! Aye! Very frusturating! So..... please be patient, be kind, and remember, I was in his same situation not long ago, and Paraguayans never turned their nose up at me for not knowing their (2!) languages!
2) He's used to a much slower pace of life. Many people of asked me if he is a good dancer. While I must admit, he is a rarity in that his Latino hips were not programmed to shimy and shake like Ricky Martin's, I contribute to this lack of rythem of him really not going out and dancing often. The boy is from Yegros, Caazapa. Or let me write that in terms you can understand - Nowheresville. He lived in the capital Asuncion, and then in Capiata where we met, but he didn't change dramatically in the big cities, and turn in to someone who goes out to trendy clubs. Quite frankly, even if he had wanted to, he wouldn't been able to because going out is expensive, and a luxury of the rich, one thing he's never been. Most teenagers in the cities do go out, about once every 2 months they may spend the equivalent of $10 US dollars maximum! That's going out somewhere kind of fancy and having a few drinks, but if you are younger and only drink a soda, maybe just $3-$5.
Okay, to sum this all up. I know that the first thing we will want to do with him, is go out to a nice meal. Show him something cool, get a drink. But doing too much in one day, and too much stuff out will probably put him on overload. I know I felt overloaded in the States, but I could handle it. More family meals in, barbeques, and less running around would be nice. You are talking about someone who is able to spend hours a day with his family, staring at a road while drinking terere (communal tea drink) or listening to a radio program at night with his Mom. (Yes! Listening to the radio, just like when good ole' FDR did his little fireside chats back in the day!). They have a TV, but radio is still viable entertainment! Soooooo.....Just tranquilo people... we will play it all by ear, and see how he's doing to figure out our plans.
3) He may dress a little funny....at least on first impression until we can get him to a Marshall's and get him a few new digs. Let me tell you about the jeans here. They are all the cheap thin kind with weird details, like random zippers, fake pockets, zig zag white lines for no reason, lots of ugly details. It's also better to buy them kind of short, as the red mud will stain the bottem of them, so you usually just keep your jeans rolled up a bit so they won't stain. OR, you can just buy them kind of short (think high waters) and avoid that problem all together! So, all his pants are a little short, and a little tight! Beyond that, he's pretty normal, you know, he's pretty conservative in his "style" (he has none basically because he's just basic). Thought he does like to walk around without a shirt, which is completley accepted in Paraguay as it is a lot more casual and did I mention it gets HOT here? But, I will be sure to let him know, you can't normally enter businesses without a shirt AND shoes (also not a necessary clothing item here in PY).
Other than that, I can't really think of any things that will strike you as terribly odd about him.... you will learn to like him a lot once you guys speak the same language!
He will be coming back from Buenos Aires early, just in time to celebrate his first T-day with a group of friends and I. So, I am very excited. We figure for the last part of the money that he needs to make, he can just find jobs around here to do it. I've decided that beyond just missing him, I really need him here. To be here, to be together, to have more time together, to go pre-martial counseling together, to church together, to spend time with my friends and paraguayan families together... and if he had stayed the last month he would have missed Christmas with his family :( !!!
Why might you ask is he in Buenos Aires? Well, he's been working and Western Union-ing me money every month to help pay for VISA costs. It's like $1200 to take somebody home! But, after this, he will be allowed to become a citizen after 2 years. So, we are doing half and half. I am saving up my measley Guaranis (national money) and taking an advance out of my $6,000 while he is working for the other half! So, we'll be fine! But, just in case you were wondering what he was doing there!
Thats all I can manage to write about him in one day without making myself sick of being so in love with him, and missing him a great deal! Ha, ha, ha... I do miss him, but I have a lot of work to keep myself busy, I just find that I talk about him... A LOT! To the point where I have to catch myself and be like, OK, that's enough for today! Ha, ha, ha! Say "hello" to my future husband!
Sorry all for the lull in interesting tidbits from down South, but the reality of the situation is that I kinda of just live here, so all the wonderous insights that you usually gather from traveling have kind of slowed, and pretty much come to a stop somewhere around the year and half mark.
This it pretty much, you realize during your first few months, "Wow! Paraguayan culture is soo different!" Then next 3-6 months you gain more perspective on WHY it's so different, then you spend the next 3-6 months realizing all the nuiances of the culture. Around that time, you pretty much get the things that are different, and you yourself have adapted the best you can to all the differences, and you find a rythem in your work (I personally teach 8 times a week) and in your life (running 3-5 a week, washing clothes every couple of days, cleaning house, cooking, yoga, my Mexican Soap Opera or telenovela ETC) And that's just the way things are.
I recently organized a Leadership workshop for the kids of my neighborhood, had about 25 participants so that was a good number I feel. We did activities relating to thinking about their futures, making important decisions, communication skills, and volunteer service. Next time I plan on doing a workshop about employment, how to make a resume, how to look for a job, etc.
I think I will start an study group of English again, seeing as how the kids are always bugging me to teach them English. (I did that already, started with 60 students and ended with 10 - they all "say" they want to learn English, but when they realize that they still have to study/do homework and practice that just because I know English doesn't mean that I can magically just put it in their brains, they tend to loose interest!) So, I hope to form a smaller more serious group of students.
I hope to pull from this group of students kids who might want to wrok with me at the small/free school where they are just putting in a library, and maybe do teenagers reading to little kids time, and the kids can accredit "community service" hours to put on their resume. Unfortunatley, community service in all it's officialness is kind of a new concept to Paraguay. People do community service, like helping someone out, but it's not official. So, this concept of going somewhere to give your time freely (when they live so poorly already) isn't really fleshed out just yet, and sadly not all employers will really give a damn whether you did any community service or not... so we'll see if they go for it.
That's all my short-term work plans for now... like I said, the rest of my life is pretty tame.... day in/day out. Have to run now though, treating myself to a movie, something we don't get to do very often, but Sex and the City isn't often playing either! So, much love to all!!
BESOS!!! (Go look that one up!)
Chau-chau,
Lauren
So, I am here (the United States of America), and have been here for at least 72 hours or so now. It's been a quite busy 72 hours. I have done more "things" such as going out to eat, going shopping, watching a movie (just at home) on tv, playing game stations (is that they are even called these days) and using the internet like I am right now, and being in a car, more than I have in the past few days than I usually do in a whole month in Paraguay. It's been a bit overwhelming. I mean I can handle it, it's fine, but I note that at all feels very fast to me. I went and ate my breakfast outside this morning. I stared at their back pond in silence for 10 minutes. I watched rings in the water and wondered where they came from. I wondered if there's fish. I watched birds fly over, just skimming the top of the water (Maybe looking for fish?). I watched a wasp on light pole. I watched a humming bird zoom by. That's more about my pace these days. Staring at things and thinking is my most ample and available entertainment no matter where I am. And the best part is, it's free, unlike the game stations, the HDTV's and whatever else it is people seem to be occupying themselves with. Too much for me, it's too much.
Don't get me wrong, I am still enjoying the lap of luxury that is the USA. I have taken advantage of it and bought myself an ipod classic. Fun! But, on the flip side this has been a purchase I have been thinking about for MONTHS, and music is one of my passions. It's one of the things that can get me through a day down there. If I have to pick TV, ipod or game station, I would pick ipod. I have a tv in Paraguay, thanks to the family I live with. But, I don't really watch all that much. They have America's Next Top Model in Spanish on it now, I watch that and the news sometimes. That's about it. And I am really going to appreciate this little gadget. It's not like I'll just toss and get a new one when something "better" comes out or something. And it's my only gadget. Everything is OK in moderation theory I believe applies to this situation.
All right, enough ranting about all that. Let me tell you about my trip. I notice such change in the way I travel now. I used to be bothered by small talk and talking to strangers. I would prefer to talk on my cell phone on a plane before take off. Up to the minute that they allow you to use them. That way I could be entertained without having to actually speak to any of the people around me. Then, I would prefer to settle in a book, magazine, or an in-flight movie. Again, avoiding that annoying person to my right or left, or maybe on both sides, who is taking up the space near me. A quick smile, or nod "hello" is all I might throw someone who happened to be sharing my row, then burying my face in some sort of book/magazine/television screen, so that they get the point, "Don't talk to me".
Now, I feel like I want to get to know everyone. And I did. Life is better, when you recognize that the people around you, even those strangers you pass on the street, are a lot like you. They all have a family, people they love and care about, and problems. Just like me, just like you.
First, I met a young looking 28 year old Paraguayan wife and mother of 3, leaving Asuncion on our way to connecting flights in Buenos Aires. Like many Paraguayans she was on her way to Spain, to work, as there are just NO JOBS in Paraguay. 1/6 of the population lives in either Buenos Aires, Spain or the US working and supporting families back home in Paraguay. Her story was just like the thousands who have gone before her, and thousands after her. She has a cousin who can get her a job at her beauty parlor, she'll be living with her cousin and 3 other Paraguayan girlfriends who are all working as maids in people's homes, or in beauty parlor (doing nails, hair). She hopes to make some fast cash (Euros are worth quite a bit these days!), raise her flight home money, and head back, using that money that she makes to open her own beauty shop, as she is a hair sylist by trade. She hopes to be back in 3 months. I hope she can do it. But, unfortunatley many times people get over there, and things don't work out the way they want. She left behind her 3 children. It's easy to judge and say how could a Mom leave her kids, but you also don't know the daily struggles of feeding them. And hopefully a 3 to 6 month stint in Spain could help them get just enough extra money, to start a business and bring more money home, greatly increasing the quality of life for the children. It's more hard on the Mom than it is the kids. Her mother who had been living with them anyways before, will care for the children, with the help of the mother in law who lives right down the street. So, they'll be fine, with a team of 2 grandmas and Dad to take care of them. I sat and listened to her plans, we looked through photos of her family together. We traded seats so she could watch the take off and look out the window, as this was her first flight. We exchanged hugs on way out, and wished each other luck, we lamented that we would not have each other to chat with on the next looong flight!
While waiting for my next flight, I met a woman I had seen on our plane. It was hard not to see her, she was a very German looking woman, with a big chubby baby with blonde hair and blue eyes, very rare in Paraguay. There are German descendents in Paraguay (many Germans fled to Paraguay after WWII to avoid being trialed for war crimes, including that doctor who did all the most weird and inhumane experiments and surgeries and stuff, can't remember is name, his house is in the middle of nowhere, Paraguay, and passed away a long time ago.) We were looking for connecting flight information and ended up taking a seat in front of one of the screens and waited for the information to be updated. It was still pretty early, so we had time to kill before our connecting flights. Turns out she's from German descent, but was born in Paraguay and raised there until 18 or so, and now is married and living in Canada. She had been in Paraguay for her sister's (a sister who has decided to stay in PY) wedding. She was not dressed extravgantley nice, or with a lot of bells and whistles as most people from money do in PY, she seemed like a nice normal woman, but she has the ability to travel frequently to and from Paraguay, Germany and Canada, so she must have some money. The nice thing about her, is she didn't act like she was rich, even if she was (like a lot of people do!). She probably wasn't rich to us, more like comfortable middle class, but put her in PY and that's rich. Her baby was one of the cutest little chubby things ever, and it was fun to act silly to try to make him smile. He was our main topic of conversation. A lot of people would stop and oodle at him as he was special with that blonde hair and blue eyes! At one point, this group of men were sitting behind us. This older man, with a big bushy mustache began to do the typical baby sounds and silliness involved in attempts to get the baby to smile or laugh. I thought about how funny it is that we will turn ourselves in to such idiots just to get a little thing to smile for half a second. Turns out this man and his friends were from Turkey. They work on big barges sailing internationally, and he has been all around the world. They were on their way back from a job now as we met them. They spoke a bit of English, and as he explained, they work 6 months on, then 2 or 3 months off, then another 6 months at sea, and 2 months off, etc. He's been doing that schedule with the sea since he was 16. He has 3 children, but everytime he's home, he's missed 6 months of their lives. He saw them grow up, but from baby to toddler overnight, then little girl to young woman, overnight. His life is the sea, but if he could change anything about his life it would be the time he missed with his children. I kid you not, he said all of this in broken english. So, he was enamored with this woman's baby. And went as far to pick it up out of her arms. He had been playing with it awhile, in it's face doing silly faces, letting him pull his mustache. But, he then proceeded to put his arms around the baby and take it out of it's mother's arms. This put the woman and I on edge, but we didn't freak out externally. We just positioned our bodies ready to tackle him if he started to walk off. In Canada and here, you don't really let strangers touch and/or hold your baby. We are very much against that in these cultures. But, we both now how it is Paraguay, where you would pass off your baby to any stranger on the street if you needed to bend down and tie your shoe. So, perhaps the rules were different in Turkey, too. Or, perhaps all that time at sea has affected his social rules, and he doesn't actually know that it is inappropriate to pick up other people's children. He was nice man, but, hello a sailer and his friends all looked like a rough bunch. They were watching and laughing at his antics, has he proceeded to blow on the baby's (not his baby again!) belly. We were ready to attack, but our instincts told us he was harmless and just wanted to hold a cute baby for a minute. He eventually handed him back. The sailors went in search of a smoking lounge, and we went in search of my gate (and to get away from them). The man had come over to the baby about 7 times before he picked him up and his constant interaction with him was a little unsettling.
An hour before the departure my flight was already boarding in Buenos Aires! In Paraguay, it was like, just show up 15 minutes before the plane takes off and you're good, and here it was an HOUR before! Crazy, I realized I was coming back to a world that runs things on a little bit different schedule, or a schedule at all. On that plane I chatted with two young pretty Portenas (or girls who are from and live in Buenos Aires). They work at the Hyatt there (NICE HOTEL) and were taking a 9 day vacation to Cancun, Mexico. Good for them.
On my final flight, I didn't meet anyone. I sat next to a couple, probably in their mid-60's. They were Americans. But, that's all I know.
They barely shot me a glance before they each dove into a book, and the flight was a long 4 hour silence between us.
Dammit.
Jajaja! No, it's really true everything they say about it. Like, I never believed the whole after a workout you feel great, you'll find you have more energy. I always felt tired for the rest of the day after exercising, and then sore! I always thought it was a load of crap. But, once you get over the first initial weeks of being sore, or tired feeling, you actually find you have more energy. You will randomly find yourself dancing around the house, or jumping off the bus early because you think it would be fun to walk a little ways, or whatever you normally wouldn't find yourself doing, and thus actually burning more calories. And yes, feeling very accomplished and satisfied after completing a challenging day of a run, which boosts your self-esteem, which then makes you feel good, thus the dancing around, feeling more positive. And relieving pent up stress! And seeing results is really fun, too!
It's true, nothing changes for the first month, you might start to notice differences in the second month, but other people start noticing that you've been working out in the third month. One aspect of Paraguayan culture, that can be negative, is that they just love stating the obvious when it comes to physical appearances. There is no shame to say, "You know my friend, Janice, you know she's really fat and has bad skin, well, she....". Or even to your face, Paraguayans will say, "What's that? That's so ugly! Oh, it's a zit! Gross." Or, "My, you've put on some weight latley, haven't you?" It all sounds so mean and offensive to us, but really, they are just a country full of Captain Obviouses, and it's not that they are trying to be mean, it's just a cultural habit. And putting on weight is also related to happiness, so sometimes, you might not have gained a pound but a Senora might tell you you're chubbier, just becasue you've been acting happier, like you're starting to get used to living here, and you're getting along better. They don't mean it to be offensive. Just like your physical appearance, it just is what it is. But, the great thing about this habit is just about EVERY Paraguayan I know keeps telling me "Que flaca estas!" "How skinny you are now!" I mean, people I hardly talk to, and actually a few people I don't even know, but know me, by staring at me as I walk by their house, have stopped me on the street, and just been like, "Look at you! You are so skinny!" I am still not what I would define as "skinny" but it's awesome to hear with such frecuency that the workouts are well, working!
In comparison, only 2 of my American friends have mentioned that I am looking better lately. When you're losing weight, the Paraguayan custom rocks!! It's when you're gaining weight (as a lot of volunteers do when you switch to the fatty, oily, fried foods of this country) that its hard to hear!
I make sure to tell every Paraguayan I am only eating more fruits and vegetables and exercising. A lot of people want to believe in pills, special diets, girdles, and massages that make fat "disappear", but it's just not so.
I am doing well, but getting better at running is slow. Especially when I keep getting diahearrea about once a week, once every two weeks, that makes me sooo weak that it knocks me off schedule for a day or two, which is really frusturating. Sorry, to tell you all about my stomach issues, but sadly this is pretty common for volunteers, and well, we're all kind of known for not being shy for talking about such things, when you live in a country of worms, gardia, parasites and contaminated water, diaherrea and other intestinal problems just become a part of daily conversation. I hope to talk to the doctor about rehydration today. I feel like no matter how much water I drink I can't get rehydrated, and keep having pains, I believe I from being dehydrated (because I run in the am with nothing on my stomach, and it's not a stitch kind of pain, just a dull pain, my friend says it dehydration) And I wake up every morning thirsty. If you're thirsty, you're already a few ounces under what you should be. I should be drinking gatorade or something after a run, but at almost 6000 Guaranis a tiny bottle, that would be a 40000 a week habit! I am going to buy the powder in the States. If you have any adivice on this, holler! Because it's the one thing I think holding me back from advancing a little faster! I am still at maximum 35 minutes. This week my schedule calls for a 40 minute run, and I am scared I am not going to make it!!! We will see and I will let ya'll know!
Hablamos!
So the elections just took place in Paraguay last night! (JA JA, did you think I was going to talk about our elections?! Because I´m not! Just Paraguayan elections!)
So, some history. There are two distinct parties in Paraguay: The Colorados and the Liberales. Since Paraguay has been been a "democratic" country after the fall of the long-reigning Dictator Strossener (a short 16 year period), the Colorados have been in charge. Might I add that Colorados have always been in charge, such as Strossener was a Colorado. If you ask any Grandfather around here, they will tell you stories of after the "war" (I´m not sure which one, Wars del Chaco or the one with Brasil&Argentina vs. Paraguay that practically whiped them off the map) but after the ¨war¨ the Colorados went around taking advantage of the unstableness and went around wreaking havoc scaring the people into supporting them, ransacking villages, etc.
The democracy was in quotes above as what Paraguay has been experiencing is nothing what real democracy is. Many older Paraguayans insist that they should go back to a dictatorship because things were better then, there were no children in the streets, people didn´t rob and steal, and the youth didn´t go out drinking until 6 am as they do now. Everything in the past is rose-colored and they don´t think about the fact they didn´t have any personal freedom, and the sure the secret police beat the hell out of anybody that tried to steal, but, hey! It worked as far as they were concerned. And there was still great poverty, you just didn´t see it. Sadly, a lot of Paraguayans will say themselves, ¨We are too poorly-educated to take care of ourselves". When I say poorly educated, I am translating directly.... they don´t mean like they don´t have university degrees etc, they are saying mal-educada, which is more like, they don´t know how to behave themselves, they don´t know how to be good, more or less.... it´s quite sad they would say that. But, you can´t blame them, the older ones, for thinking that things were better, as far as they are concerned it was!
So, this "democracy" that I speak of has actually been a completley corrupt government that totally robs all the money from the country into the pockets of a few. All important jobs are held by Colorado supporters, a huge network of connections. People in postitions at the Municipality of Asuncion that don´t know how to do their actual job, but get paid the big bucks to just sit around, go to events and be important. A LOT of missing money. Basically, what landed Paraguay for a couple of years as the #1 most corrupt country, and in recent years lower as the 3rd or 4th. (Though we are like the 8th or 9th people!).
Sooooo, election year came again. Things proceeded as normal. The Colorados started throwing their parties and buying votes, giving poor farmers a hoe, a shovel, a banner (to put up in their yard), and a pig or something for their vote. Giving out free medicines, making donations, there was even a truck going through my neighborhood offering to repair you roof, thanks to the Colorados! And people in the past said, sure, I´ll take a free roof repair. And then would actually vote Colorado, because they got a roof out of it. Well, apparently this year, the people have had enough!
Well, I don´t doubt they took a lot of free stuff, the people didn´t go to the polls voting Colorado this year. There 4 canidates. Lino-Olveido, and ex-military guy who ran on the Liberale bill, but what he really did a good job of doing was dividing the Colorados for him and Blanca, a female canidate who kept playing up her womanhood as something new for PY (in this totally machista society). Not that because she is woman is why she lost, though. She lost because she would be the new face of corruption, same old same old. As the election time close it was apparent that the Colorados themselves were divided, and that she was going to have an easy win like all the other elections. Lino had a lot of fancy television comercials that showed all the projects he had planned (like buildings and things) but it´s like where was all the money going to come from to do these things? And of course, creating jobs, creating jobs, creating jobs. Then there was Adul or something, and almost no one voted for him, he was young, his party was named El Partido Querido, like the liked Party or something, and his slogan was "Basta Carajo!" Which is kinda of like "Enough (or Stop) the crap!" or maybe "Cut the crap!" it was edgy, and too young and he did not win over hardly anyone. Then, there was Lugo. I need to do a little bit more research on him, but he is a priest. He was almost not allowed to run because how is someone who is supposedly married to God going to be President, too? It´s like a Catholic conflict of interests. He had to get permission from the Catholics to run, does this mean he went to the Vatican? Maybe, I´d have to look that up really....I also know he has either really supported, or just pubicly supported FARC, so that is kind of controversial. And, he was somehow being held in jail for awhile under suspension of being involved in the kidnapping and murder of the ex-vice president´s daughter, back during when he was really vice-president. His how platform was that he has always wanted to help the poor, which is one of the many reasons he became a priest,. But, then he realized that he can only do so much as a priest, to stop the poverty he has to do more, God spoke to him and told him to run. He´s all about cleaning up the corruption and lifting Paraguay up from the low, low place it has fallen. Soooo, yeah, it was an interesting election this year.
And the winner is..........drum roll please.............................LUGO! He spoke last night saying that he hopes this will be the mark of a new day in Paraguay, no more corruption, etc. And hopefully, all the Paraguayans living in New York City, in Spain, in Buenos Aires, will start being able to return home. That the international world will know of Paraguay for more than just their poverty, etc. Aye! Tears welled up in my eyes last night, and as I write this they are again.
I don´t know what´s going to happen really. Does this spiritual leader who wants what´s best for PY really know how to run the country to get it going somewhere better than where it is? I don´t know. Will it just be a new system of corruption, people taking advantage of the change of head of state? I don´t know. But, at least now, there´s hope. And without hope, what do you have?
So, I hope that the next few years will show progress for this little forgotten country of the South. I hope to God that children won´t have to work in the street, doing summer-solts (saults?) in front of cars at red lights for money, shoeless and dirty. I hope children can stop working. Working in the buses selling lottery tickets, selling cakes, selling nothing, only their voice for a song and then going around asking for a donation, with matted hair they scrath probably full of lice. Just like their little swollen tummies, full of worms. I really hope to God.
So, here´s to hope! VIVA PARAGUAY!!
Sidenotes: 1) I should really change the title of my blog from Adventures in South America and Peace Corps, to Daily life in South America and Peace Corps. I was adventurous to come here, but after that, the adventure has certainly stopped, it´s just life, in a different form, that´s all.
2) Don´t you all worry your pretty little heads, tomorrow I am going to ask this lady to make me a terere kit to bring to the states. All you need for terere is a pitcher that you can fill with water and ice. When you are on the go, you can use a thermo. A portable thing to keep water and ice cold in. They sell this thermos that have leather on the outside, you can get your name etched in them, and little drawings of whatever, maybe your favorite sports team (By sports I meant soccer of course, there is no other sport here! jaja) or little drawing of traditional scenes from Paraguay, something with a cow I would think....maybe music things.... you´ll see. Anyhow, I am going to this lady´s house becasue she knows this group of people who do the work from jail. That´s right, they will make my set from jail.
Oh, and it has a place attached to it to keep your guampa (it´s a special cup used specefically drink out of when drinking terere). So you have this handle, and then you have your termo attached, with a side attachment of the guampa, all made from leather. It will be really nice! So, I am excited to bring you the joy of terere... though most of my friends say their family members tried it once to be polite and then were like, "Wow, that´s interesting, and while they wanted to keep drinking it (You learn to love it, especially when its 100 degrees out and humid, and its right there and ice cold! But really, it´s good!) but everyone else is just, "Yeah, thanks, it was interesting, but......" So, we will see how you like it!
LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!
So the elections just took place in Paraguay last night! (JA JA, did you think I was going to talk about our elections?! Because I´m not! Just Paraguayan elections!)
So, some history. There are two distinct parties in Paraguay: The Colorados and the Liberales. Since Paraguay has been been a "democratic" country after the fall of the long-reigning Dictator Strossener (a short 16 year period), the Colorados have been in charge. Might I add that Colorados have always been in charge, such as Strossener was a Colorado. If you ask any Grandfather around here, they will tell you stories of after the "war" (I´m not sure which one, Wars del Chaco or the one with Brasil&Argentina vs. Paraguay that practically whiped them off the map) but after the ¨war¨ the Colorados went around taking advantage of the unstableness and went around wreaking havoc scaring the people into supporting them, ransacking villages, etc.
The democracy was in quotes above as what Paraguay has been experiencing is nothing what real democracy is. Many older Paraguayans insist that they should go back to a dictatorship because things were better then, there were no children in the streets, people didn´t rob and steal, and the youth didn´t go out drinking until 6 am as they do now. Everything in the past is rose-colored and they don´t think about the fact they didn´t have any personal freedom, and the sure the secret police beat the hell out of anybody that tried to steal, but, hey! It worked as far as they were concerned. And there was still great poverty, you just didn´t see it. Sadly, a lot of Paraguayans will say themselves, ¨We are too poorly-educated to take care of ourselves". When I say poorly educated, I am translating directly.... they don´t mean like they don´t have university degrees etc, they are saying mal-educada, which is more like, they don´t know how to behave themselves, they don´t know how to be good, more or less.... it´s quite sad they would say that. But, you can´t blame them, the older ones, for thinking that things were better, as far as they are concerned it was!
So, this "democracy" that I speak of has actually been a completley corrupt government that totally robs all the money from the country into the pockets of a few. All important jobs are held by Colorado supporters, a huge network of connections. People in postitions at the Municipality of Asuncion that don´t know how to do their actual job, but get paid the big bucks to just sit around, go to events and be important. A LOT of missing money. Basically, what landed Paraguay for a couple of years as the #1 most corrupt country, and in recent years lower as the 3rd or 4th. (Though we are like the 8th or 9th people!).
Sooooo, election year came again. Things proceeded as normal. The Colorados started throwing their parties and buying votes, giving poor farmers a hoe, a shovel, a banner (to put up in their yard), and a pig or something for their vote. Giving out free medicines, making donations, there was even a truck going through my neighborhood offering to repair you roof, thanks to the Colorados! And people in the past said, sure, I´ll take a free roof repair. And then would actually vote Colorado, because they got a roof out of it. Well, apparently this year, the people have had enough!
Well, I don´t doubt they took a lot of free stuff, the people didn´t go to the polls voting Colorado this year. There 4 canidates. Lino-Olveido, and ex-military guy who ran on the Liberale bill, but what he really did a good job of doing was dividing the Colorados for him and Blanca, a female canidate who kept playing up her womanhood as something new for PY (in this totally machista society). Not that because she is woman is why she lost, though. She lost because she would be the new face of corruption, same old same old. As the election time close it was apparent that the Colorados themselves were divided, and that she was going to have an easy win like all the other elections. Lino had a lot of fancy television comercials that showed all the projects he had planned (like buildings and things) but it´s like where was all the money going to come from to do these things? And of course, creating jobs, creating jobs, creating jobs. Then there was Adul or something, and almost no one voted for him, he was young, his party was named El Partido Querido, like the liked Party or something, and his slogan was "Basta Carajo!" Which is kinda of like "Enough (or Stop) the crap!" or maybe "Cut the crap!" it was edgy, and too young and he did not win over hardly anyone. Then, there was Lugo. I need to do a little bit more research on him, but he is a priest. He was almost not allowed to run because how is someone who is supposedly married to God going to be President, too? It´s like a Catholic conflict of interests. He had to get permission from the Catholics to run, does this mean he went to the Vatican? Maybe, I´d have to look that up really....I also know he has either really supported, or just pubicly supported FARC, so that is kind of controversial. And, he was somehow being held in jail for awhile under suspension of being involved in the kidnapping and murder of the ex-vice president´s daughter, back during when he was really vice-president. His how platform was that he has always wanted to help the poor, which is one of the many reasons he became a priest,. But, then he realized that he can only do so much as a priest, to stop the poverty he has to do more, God spoke to him and told him to run. He´s all about cleaning up the corruption and lifting Paraguay up from the low, low place it has fallen. Soooo, yeah, it was an interesting election this year.
And the winner is..........drum roll please.............................LUGO! He spoke last night saying that he hopes this will be the mark of a new day in Paraguay, no more corruption, etc. And hopefully, all the Paraguayans living in New York City, in Spain, in Buenos Aires, will start being able to return home. That the international world will know of Paraguay for more than just their poverty, etc. Aye! Tears welled up in my eyes last night, and as I write this they are again.
I don´t know what´s going to happen really. Does this spiritual leader who wants what´s best for PY really know how to run the country to get it going somewhere better than where it is? I don´t know. Will it just be a new system of corruption, people taking advantage of the change of head of state? I don´t know. But, at least now, there´s hope. And without hope, what do you have?
So, I hope that the next few years will show progress for this little forgotten country of the South. I hope to God that children won´t have to work in the street, doing summer-solts (saults?) in front of cars at red lights for money, shoeless and dirty. I hope children can stop working. Working in the buses selling lottery tickets, selling cakes, selling nothing, only their voice for a song and then going around asking for a donation, with matted hair they scrath probably full of lice. Just like their little swollen tummies, full of worms. I really hope to God.
So, here´s to hope! VIVA PARAGUAY!!
So the elections just took place in Paraguay last night! (JA JA, did you think I was going to talk about our elections?! Because I´m not! Just Paraguayan elections!)
So, some history. There are two distinct parties in Paraguay: The Colorados and the Liberales. Since Paraguay has been been a "democratic" country after the fall of the long-reigning Dictator Strossener (a short 16 year period), the Colorados have been in charge. Might I add that Colorados have always been in charge, such as Strossener was a Colorado. If you ask any Grandfather around here, they will tell you stories of after the "war" (I´m not sure which one, Wars del Chaco or the one with Brasil&Argentina vs. Paraguay that practically whiped them off the map) but after the ¨war¨ the Colorados went around taking advantage of the unstableness and went around wreaking havoc scaring the people into supporting them, ransacking villages, etc.
The democracy was in quotes above as what Paraguay has been experiencing is nothing what real democracy is. Many older Paraguayans insist that they should go back to a dictatorship because things were better then, there were no children in the streets, people didn´t rob and steal, and the youth didn´t go out drinking until 6 am as they do now. Everything in the past is rose-colored and they don´t think about the fact they didn´t have any personal freedom, and the sure the secret police beat the hell out of anybody that tried to steal, but, hey! It worked as far as they were concerned. And there was still great poverty, you just didn´t see it. Sadly, a lot of Paraguayans will say themselves, ¨We are too poorly-educated to take care of ourselves". When I say poorly educated, I am translating directly.... they don´t mean like they don´t have university degrees etc, they are saying mal-educada, which is more like, they don´t know how to behave themselves, they don´t know how to be good, more or less.... it´s quite sad they would say that. But, you can´t blame them, the older ones, for thinking that things were better, as far as they are concerned it was!
So, this "democracy" that I speak of has actually been a completley corrupt government that totally robs all the money from the country into the pockets of a few. All important jobs are held by Colorado supporters, a huge network of connections. People in postitions at the Municipality of Asuncion that don´t know how to do their actual job, but get paid the big bucks to just sit around, go to events and be important. A LOT of missing money. Basically, what landed Paraguay for a couple of years as the #1 most corrupt country, and in recent years lower as the 3rd or 4th. (Though we are like the 8th or 9th people!).
Sooooo, election year came again. Things proceeded as normal. The Colorados started throwing their parties and buying votes, giving poor farmers a hoe, a shovel, a banner (to put up in their yard), and a pig or something for their vote. Giving out free medicines, making donations, there was even a truck going through my neighborhood offering to repair you roof, thanks to the Colorados! And people in the past said, sure, I´ll take a free roof repair. And then would actually vote Colorado, because they got a roof out of it. Well, apparently this year, the people have had enough!
Well, I don´t doubt they took a lot of free stuff, the people didn´t go to the polls voting Colorado this year. There 4 canidates. Lino-Olveido, and ex-military guy who ran on the Liberale bill, but what he really did a good job of doing was dividing the Colorados for him and Blanca, a female canidate who kept playing up her womanhood as something new for PY (in this totally machista society). Not that because she is woman is why she lost, though. She lost because she would be the new face of corruption, same old same old. As the election time close it was apparent that the Colorados themselves were divided, and that she was going to have an easy win like all the other elections. Lino had a lot of fancy television comercials that showed all the projects he had planned (like buildings and things) but it´s like where was all the money going to come from to do these things? And of course, creating jobs, creating jobs, creating jobs. Then there was Adul or something, and almost no one voted for him, he was young, his party was named El Partido Querido, like the liked Party or something, and his slogan was "Basta Carajo!" Which is kinda of like "Enough (or Stop) the crap!" or maybe "Cut the crap!" it was edgy, and too young and he did not win over hardly anyone. Then, there was Lugo. I need to do a little bit more research on him, but he is a priest. He was almost not allowed to run because how is someone who is supposedly married to God going to be President, too? It´s like a Catholic conflict of interests. He had to get permission from the Catholics to run, does this mean he went to the Vatican? Maybe, I´d have to look that up really....I also know he has either really supported, or just pubicly supported FARC, so that is kind of controversial. And, he was somehow being held in jail for awhile under suspension of being involved in the kidnapping and murder of the ex-vice president´s daughter, back during when he was really vice-president. His how platform was that he has always wanted to help the poor, which is one of the many reasons he became a priest,. But, then he realized that he can only do so much as a priest, to stop the poverty he has to do more, God spoke to him and told him to run. He´s all about cleaning up the corruption and lifting Paraguay up from the low, low place it has fallen. Soooo, yeah, it was an interesting election this year.
And the winner is..........drum roll please.............................LUGO! He spoke last night saying that he hopes this will be the mark of a new day in Paraguay, no more corruption, etc. And hopefully, all the Paraguayans living in New York City, in Spain, in Buenos Aires, will start being able to return home. That the international world will know of Paraguay for more than just their poverty, etc. Aye! Tears welled up in my eyes last night, and as I write this they are again.
I don´t know what´s going to happen really. Does this spiritual leader who wants what´s best for PY really know how to run the country to get it going somewhere better than where it is? I don´t know. Will it just be a new system of corruption, people taking advantage of the change of head of state? I don´t know. But, at least now, there´s hope. And without hope, what do you have?
So, I hope that the next few years will show progress for this little forgotten country of the South. I hope to God that children won´t have to work in the street, doing summer-solts (saults?) in front of cars at red lights for money, shoeless and dirty. I hope children can stop working. Working in the buses selling lottery tickets, selling cakes, selling nothing, only their voice for a song and then going around asking for a donation, with matted hair they scrath probably full of lice. Just like their little swollen tummies, full of worms. I really hope to God.
So, here´s to hope! VIVA PARAGUAY!!
So, so sorry people.... Writing in my blog lost the allure that it did oh, about a year ago. In the end of April I will have been in my site, of Campo Verde, Capiata for a year. And well, everything that was once exciting, shiny and new, is just life....
I've realized no matter how many blogs I write, you will never even have a small taste of what this experience is really like.
Sadly, another thing I've realized as reviewing most of my blogs, is I seem to write out my frusturations with the culture a lot, instead of highlighting all the postive things that I find here in Paraguay... So I want to make some amends right now.
No matter what culture you go to, you will find new ideas, concepts and customs that will not fit into what you find as "right" or "normal", but mostly you will just find them "uncomfortable". But, there are also so many different ways of being that are so different that you will learn to appreciate and cherish. Paraguayans have such a mothering sense of wanting to take you in, care for you, feed you and make sure you are comfortable. The number of lunch invitations with generally curious sweet people has more than I can count. Paraguayans will give you their bed, while they sleep on the floor to make sure you are comfortable (no joke, you can try and refuse, they won't hear it). They fill your plate sooo full, and are like Jewish Mom's when it comes to second helpings (which was probably why I gained weight when I first got here!). You rarely see homeless people in Paraguay, not even in the cities. Paraguayans will sleep 10 to a bed instead of one family member sleeping in the streets. It doesn't matter if Unlce Juan is an alcoholic, or Great-Aunt Maria talks to herself all day, or the Grandpa needs to be bathed: they are not put in nursing homes, they are not thrown out on the street. The Paraguayan Family sticks together through everything. That doesn't mean they approve of Uncle Juan's drinking, but the thought of kicking him out over it, would just never crosses their minds. Families stick together. Period. In our society we value independence beyond all. 18 is when you leave the house, and go off to work study, supposedly the first baby steps into becoming a "real", self-supporting adult. The concept of going away like that to "prove" yourself simply doesn't exist here.
You can say it's because of a lack of opportunities. Money plays a huge role, as well. But even so, while I admire and relish and our American Indpendent Spirit, I can also appreciate the pitfalls of this independence now, too, in a way I couldn't before. As well, as I can see all the positive and negatives of the more collectivist, Paraguayan society.
Before we landed in Paraguay, during our "Staging" Event in Miami, the woman who spoke at our event was a former Paraguayan volunteer who told us, "If Paraguayans see the world through red-tinted sunglasses, and we see the world through blue-tinted sunglasses, at the end of this experience you, too will be able to see through the blue-tinted sunglasses, right? Wrong. This experience allows you to see Purple."
As the days go flying by here, and my trip back to the States (YAY!) keeps approaching, I wonder what it will be like to try to enter back into my own culture. Will it be like putting on a favorite pair of comfy old jeans? Will it ease back on without any issues? Or will I put them on, and find that I have changed, and they don't fit like they used to?
I know, I am different now, than I was a year ago. How? That is harder to explain. I know better the struggles of people who live without basic rights and power. I know how a good majority of the world lives day to day, so different than how spoiled we are with our washing machines and cars and Starbucks! But, the material things are all adaptable. That is not what this experience is about, learning to live without. I know a different mentality, I different perspective, a different way of viewing the world.... it has negative and postives... just like our North American take on things. Because it is so hard to explain, I will probably just come home with a few choice stories. You will find that I will focus on you, what's going on in YOUR life... I will ask, tell me about you! Because, I find that its just to hard to try to explain about me.
Work Update: Started back teaching in the schools this week :) Believe that I will be entering the highschool next week, 3 more classes for a total of 8 classes a week. A Colgate/PeaceCorps Program of donations of toothbrushes/toothpaste for children and didactic materials for teaching oral hygenie for teachers should be coming up the next 2 weeks or so for my school. I will hopefully be working with the teacher to encourage continued education of oral hygenie and how to use the teaching materials to continue the learning after the donations are received. Whats the point of giving out all that free stuff if the kids don't use it, or continue, is the idea? Sadly, the radio show has been put on hold as the youth I worked with has started a new job working at really big butchering place for more money and will not have time to work at the radio anymore! I need to talk to to the director and other DJ's to see if maybe I could get an hour just to myself... but it's hard to do a radio show by yourself! So, we'll see. Other than that, Red Cross neighborhood clean up projects for Dengue and Yellow Fever are still going on... that's about it!
Life Update: Sooooooooo.... I guess I have a boyfriend, now. Many friends and family members have asked me if I have met up with any Latin lovers. The men in Paraguay aren't normally my cup of tea, seeing as how a grand majority of them are pretty "machismo" and degrading to women, or whatever. But, well, I met this seemingly nice guy last year, before Christmas sometime. We talked, he worked close to my radio (in the electronics section of Supermercado Espana, which is actually a pretty decent job here in PY) and I would visit him at work as I did my grocery shopping. He invited me to visit his family for New Year's Eve, but his real family lives 5 hours away, which is far to go with someone I haven't known very long, in the end he ended up not being able to take the time off work, and didn't go either. But we started talking..... He didn't really start pursuing me pursuing me until January. He now tells me it's because he didn't have time or money, and he didn't want to pursue me without money! So, we started hanging out, meeting for lunch, ice cream, drinking terere. After my birthday party, he asked if I would be his girl friend. We hadn't been hanging out for that long, so I thought it was kind of early, but that just a difference in culture for you. I thought about it for a few days, and said "yes". Then, I went to visit his family, 5 hours away. And of course, hello, I'm a norte, they love me. He has since moved back to his family's house in the state of Caazapa. It's complicated. He WAS supposed to move Buenos Aires, Argentina to work with his sister who owns a pizza parlor there. He was tired of working at Supermercado Espana who were taking advantage of him with long hours, same pay, and had moved stores on him, twice in the past 3 months. Then, he decided he didn't want to go that far away (from me!) and is now cultivating the vast amounts of land his mother has with a super nice garden, small fields and plans to sell vegetables and what not. He came to visit this month. I will go to visit next month, and we will continue like that, until we tire of it. He may move back to Capiata after harvest, 6 months or so. If we are still going strong, maybe we'll live together??????? Big question mark. But, all I have to say about him.... is he is a sweet, honest, hard-working, sincere, humble boy from the rural part of Paraguay. Cross-culutral dating is not easy, but he's just such a good catch. He also cooks, cleans, irons and does his own laundry!! That's super hard to find here in Paraguay! And he's super cute, too!! Ja ja! So, we'll see where it goes. I'll throw you a picture.
That's him cooking for me. He insisted I take a foto of him cooking for me, to show my family he's a good guy. I told him it's not quite as impressive, a man cooking in my culture, but all the same, I took the foto. Ja ja......
PS. I am up to 25-30 minutes of running for those of ya'll who I've told I've been running. I try to go at minumum 3 times a week, maximum 4 or 5. My friend is training for a marathon, she has all her weeks laid out in front of her, I am going to be trying to go with her schedule (It comes from the book Training for a Marathon for dummies) and we're using the Super-New to Running training guide. I don't really have the desire to do the Marathon (maybe a 10K or something, but 26 some miles.... not yet!) but I'm still going to try to keep up with her training. Who knows? I checked with the doctors, I am officially 15 lbs lighter than I was in the USofA. Here is a picutre of me with a Paraguayan youth in the radio, that I think highlights me slimmer face. And you can see my collar bone!! Wow!
OK.
That's all for now, folks.
Love you all,
See you all soon!
This was written by a friend of mine who went on my vacation with me, She wrote about our experience, and seeing as how she had already written in all up and everything, I am just republishing in my blog....ahh, vacation. Even volunteers need vacation every once in awhile. As a peace corps volunteer I acrew 2 vacation days a month. That´s 24 days a year you are thinking, "that is more than i get and I have a real job" But it´s not as many as it sounds. We don´t get weekends as peace corps volunteers, we can´t leave our communities even on sat and sun, and often times most of our work is on the weekends since that´s when people can meet. (doesn´t mean we don´t sneak a few days here and there to save our sanity) Well other than my few days here and there in Asuncion, the capital and visits to other volunteer´s sites my sanity was telling me that I could really use a "real" vacation. So, I counted up my vacation days and decided to take 13 days to leave the country. I filled out my vacation request form, submitted it to Peace Corps, dusted off my South American travel book, got 3 other volunteers on board and started planning "Big Mama goes to the Beach" (The name we gave our vacation. Loren and Rosana-both urban youth volunteers that arrived the same time I did and my gf, Sarah a beekeeping volunteer who lives close to me decided to go to Buenos Aires (BA for short) and Uruguay.
We took an 18 hour bus ride from Asuncion to BA. We were more excited than 4 little girls on their way to Disneyland. We made a rule that we were not allowed to talk about anything related to our Paraguayan Peace Corps lives. We weren´t allowed to discuss sad situations we were dealing with or complain about work stuff. It didn´t take but a couple hours to realize we didn´t have a whole lot to talk about with that rule. Our lives before Peace Corps kind of seem so distant now that it´s hard to keep a conversation going involving things only from more than a year ago or only talking about the future. So we accepted who we are now, people who talk about Paraguay and changed the rule to only being able to talk about happy things about our service.
We arrived in Buenos Aires and immediately recognized why Argentina is a developed country and Paraguay is not. We rode nice, clean buses that had handicap access and didn´t break down all the time. Every street was paved, i had forgotten what that looked like! We were so content to eat in restaurants and shop in cute stores, see book stores and book stands everywhere because people actually read and could see all the culture and museums and parks and people with healthy, fat dogs being walked on leashes! Then somebody said "hey you guys...it´s been 2 hours we´ve been walking around I am not sweating and my feet are still clean" For about 2 hours all we did was talk about these differences and then we were adjusted and started to forget what it was like in Paraguay....we were in vacation mode.
We stayed 2 days and 2 nights in BA and did a whirlwind tour of the city. We saw tango shows in the streets, drank wine and ate cheese in the parks, visited the famous Recoletta cemetary and saw Evita´s tomb, went to ourdoor markets, saw the famous plazas and congress buildings and enjoyed good food. Buenos Aires is known to be the "Paris of South America" and it really is. I enjoyed it more than i enjoyed Madrid, Spain.
On day 3 we took a ferry from BA to Uruguay. This trip only takes an hour if you are on a fast boat but our ferry was more of a mini cruise, complete with cafeteria, bar, and a Latin dance show. We enjoyed this very much and became very excited about being on the water and so close to our beach part of the vacation. When we arrived in Uruguay, we spent a few hours tootling around the quaint town of Colonia which is kind of known for being a cute, little town Argentinian couples for for a weekend gettaway. Then we took a bus to the capital, Montevideo. We spent 2 days in Montevideo, walking around the city, sitting at the rocky coastline, and once again eating good food. Our favorite was the mozzarella pizza in Uruguay because it was much more like real pizza than the Pizza in Paraguay.
On day 5 we traveled by bus to Punta del Este, the most famous tourist spot in Uruguay and becoming one of the most famous tourist spots in South America. Many Hollywood movie stars have homes there and now i know why. It is a small penninsula filled with designer stores, expensive restaurants, nice beaches and a nightlife that has a great reputation. This isn´t excatly my scene but we wanted to at least see what this place was all about. Everything was out of our price range and when Sarah didn´t even get served right away at the McDonald´s because she was undressed we realized we weren´t in our kind of place. I had heard the surf was supposed to be really good and even that didn´t seem to be as great as i hoped. There was a lot of onshore winds and whitecaps so the surf was blown out. I rented a board anyway and they gave me a free wetsuit to use. I thought "hey great, a free wetsuit" but when i put it on i realized why it was free. THe entire back part of it was torn open, exposing most of my back. I decided it was still better than nothing and wore it anyway in front of some of the richest people on the continent. I surfed for a few hours then laid on the beach for another 9 hours. even though my friends were telling me i should not stay out so long i couldn´t help it. this was what i missed most and what relaxed me the most....laying on sand, hearing the waves, feeling the ocean breeze. What i wasn´t thinking about was the effect of the sun. "I´m Paraguayan now, i get worse exposure in Paraguay, i can take this" I was wrong. On the first day in Punta del Este I got a bad case of sun poisening.
I had sun poisening once before, when i was in France. That time it lasted only a day or so. Apparently the 2nd time you get it, it´s a lot worse. I was in bed for 4 days after that with a 102 fever, vomiting,chills, exhaustion, diahrehea, and of course a lot of sun blisters. Stupid me. The good news is that I didn´t really miss much, i saw Punta del Este on my first day and didn´t miss hanging out with the rich kids in our hostel, hearing about how they had been traveling around the world for the past 4 months on mom and dad´s money or how they graduated college 3 months ago and looking for a job was such hard work that they´re parents agreed they "needed a break." (these are real stories that my friends got to hear) But when people asked what we they were doing, they enjoyed saying "we´ve been living in Paraguay doing development work for the past year" My friends spent more time on the beach and took good care of me. They say it´s good to travel with someone you´re dating to see if you can stand each other, and we discovered we could stand each other and I realized what a great nurse she is and that she doesn´t even get grossed out hearing me talk about my diahrehea nonstop and doesn´t mind me vomiting in her presence. :) I fully recovered and they said i looked better than all of them with my new tan and my amazing stomach after loosing 10 pounds and my crash diet. Rosana our mexican american friend kept saying "i want sun poisening so i can loose weight but i won´t get it, i´ll just turn black"
On day 8 we left the ritzy life of Punta for a more relaxing, mellow, normal person beach town called La Paloma in Costa Azul. We rented a beach house for 3 nights and immediately decided we should have rented it for a week instead because it was perfect. There were two rooms, a kitchen to cook in, a nice living room area with cable TV, a yard with equipment to barbeque and it was one block from the beach. I felt well enought to play in the water some more before we left but the surf was still bad.
ON day 11 we traveled back to Buenos Aires on a fast boat that only took an hour, but there were no Latin dancers. WE stayed two more nights in Buenos Aires before taking a 22 hour bus ride back to Paraguay on day 13. It should have been 18 hours but we spent 4 hours at the border waiting to cross. The waiting gave us a good opportunity to get back into the habit of the slow pace of life in Paraguay.
Uruguay was more similar to Paraguay than Argentina but it was still much more developed. Before vacation Paraguay seemed to me to be very isolated and after this vacation i have realized how isolated it is. There are no natural resources here I am sure that has a lot to do with it´s lagging behind. The countrysides of Urguay and Argentina are still very vast and open but the land just seemed richer. The crops looked better, there were plantations of trees and evidence of real farm equipment like tractors and irrigation systems. Roads were better, there were street signs, there was not nearly as much poverty. As depressing as it was to see all of this and realize how bad off Paraguay really is, it was refreshing to see that Paraguay´s neighbors are doing better and that hopefully this is influencing them in a positive way. Paraguay has been through a lot and had a rough history, development is slow and i have faith one day it won´t be so isolated. And maybe one day a traveler will want to take a bus to Paraguay from Buenos Aires to see what an interesting place it is.
I am happy to be back in site, and I do feel refreshed and re-motivated for another year of service.Paraguayans have a much different culture and blunt way of saying things so people keep telling me how skinny i am now (actually I just weigh what i used to weigh before eating all their fatty fried food) and my host mom even went so far as to say i looked like i was pregnant before so i must have had my baby and left it in Uruguay! Haha, that´s a compliment and i´ve been here long enough to recognize it as one! I have only put a dent in my vacation days and although i´m glad to be where I am I already can´t wait to plan my next vacation. This week marks excatly one year in country for me. I arrived on Feb 8th of last year. This doesn´t mean i am excatly half way done though. Our 3 months of training doesn´t count in our 2 years of service so I will actually be halfway through service at the end of April. Then the 12 month countdown will begin and I am told it goes fast!
Although I used my vacation time to travel in South America instead of flying home, i do feel a little more connected with the 1st world again. The American girls we met in hostels gave us updates on what celebrity broke up with who and informed us Heath Leger died, what kind of Ipod is out now, what movies are playing, etc. It was entertaining and fun to get our heads out of the 3rd world for awhile. I find myself enjoying that kind of news more than i ever have in my life. It keeps me balanced i think. So keep me updated on what´s going on in the 2008 elections, who is turning up dead and being found by the maid, what diet is popular and keep reading my blog to hear about my next adventure or day to day life!
Jajotopata! (we shall find each other)
