Hola a todos!
Yes, finally some new updates on my life here in Paraguay. Sorry for the long hiatus from writing. I know its been about a year since I last posted pictures and stuff. That's pretty unacceptable..I know, and I sincerely apologize. Time has passed quickly. I can't believe I'm already over a year into my service!
Surprisingly, I've been busy working. Something I had not expected. I came here thinking that I would have lots of free time to write letters, read several books a week and develop new hobbies and skills. While life really is like that for many of my fellow Peace Corps friends. I, on the other hand, have been completely swamped with work. Living in a city, especially one like Pilar, can be a bit overwhelming. There is always AND I really do mean ALWAYS something to see and do.
Pilar is a mid-size city of 35,000 residents with a small town charm. It is nestled in the southwestern corner of Paraguay, bordering Argentina. Due to its close proximity to Argentina and its relative isolation from the rest of Paraguay, Pilar has a culture that is more Argentinian than Paraguayan. My PCV friends who have kindly set aside time to make the long journey to visit me (its one of the more isolated communities), often tell me that my site doesn't feel like Paraguay. The architecture is more colorful and colonial. There are other sports besides the usual soccer and volleyball like basketball, handball, swimming, ping pong and even chess. Tall, African American guys from Chicago and Florida are paid to play basketball here. Many girls actually play sports. There are city wide dance and sports tournaments that involve both elementary and secondary schools. The national harp and dance competitions are held here. Sculpture, wood carving and painting courses are offered. The existence of so many different activities sets this place apart from the rest of slow-paced, sleepy Paraguay. Fortunately, life has become a bit more tranquilo...for now. I promised myself and a few of you that I would lock myself down and start writing.
To begin, here is a quick recap of my crazy year here in Paraguay:
June - August, 2008: freezing cold winter! i remember vividly shivering every night as i fell asleep and waking up dreading to change my clothes. 10 weeks of highly structured and EXHAUSTING language and technical training in Guarambare, my training community. our days were jam packed with icebreakers, language instruction, community projects, presentations, fun fieldtrips and many silly, awkward moments with our peers, trainers and host family members. we were all super relieved that training was over and real peace corps life was about to begin.
August - December, 2008: arrived to my new site, Pilar. loved it from the very beginning. lived with a new host family. warmly welcomed by the mayor and goverment workers at the municipality. immediately assigned to work in the department of youth services, education and public relations. my primary project was and still is working with youth, between the ages of 12 and 25. conducted surveys at all 8 high schools in the city and formed partnerships with ASB-like student groups on campus and other youth serving organizations in the community. september 21st marks the first day of spring and also youth day, one of the biggest days of the year. all high schools close and each throw a huge dance party. went high school dance hopping to get to know the youth culture. oh I also went home for 10 days in november to see you all...
January - March, 2009: my first oppressively hot summer. moved out of my host family's place and into my first apartment with some looney neighbors who were also the landlords. summer camp extravaganza! leadership-literacy-and environmental education camps--oh my! had my first big project: a week-long youth leadership camp with 50 teens that culminated into a big excursion to Itaipu, the world's largest and most politically controversial electric dam located in eastern Paraguay. also an environmentally themed camp with 20 kids about ecosystems, trash, water, etc. then finally, a literacy camp with rural kids that included making books, painting faces and singing songs in guarani. started my bi monthly literacy teacher workshops with books generously donated by some great friends at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Garden Grove--thanks so much Susan and Alexis!!
April - May, 2009: got kicked out of my apartment by the looney landlords...big surprise. however, moved into a really cute, cozy home with a HUGE backyard. plus my landlords are sweet and sincere. my boyfriend, Miguel visited for 3 months! as an aspiring photographer, he went on a shooting spree and took 30,000 photos of Paraguay--most of which were hundreds of exotic birds. he adopted the life of a Peace Corps volunteer, working alongside me and other volunteers on our projects during his photography adventures. we also spent some relaxing time in Brazil on secluded islands, sandy beaches and also in Curitiba, the world's most eco-friendly city. oh on our way to Brazil, we swung by Iguazu Falls, the world's largest waterfalls. an absolute beauty and definitely worth seeing at some point in your life.
July - September, 2009: farewell to Miguel. Peace Corps sent a new group of fresh trainees to my site for a week of training in July. bird flu scare! there were 2 deaths in my community. everyone was terrified and locked themselves in their homes. the streets were eerily empty and quiet. very little activity. as a result, the trainees had a pretty uneventful training in my site. in september, i started my hiv/aids project and another literacy program at a new school.
October - now, 2009: began my first English language course for teens and adults at the beginning of October. have a consistent attendance of 20 students. lots of fun and brings back many great memories of my old job at REACH. currently working with a few other PCVs to organize one of the first national youth leadership camps on civic engagement. it's a lot of work that requires a lot of funds. as one of our fundraising projects, we threw a fun 80s halloween party and raised about $200 US dollars! we've also applied for a USAID grant of $500 and if secured, we'll only need about $300 more. we're all super excited. í'm head of curriculum development, in charge of developing fun interactive activities on democracy, corruption, youth participation, government institutions, community projects and other leadershipy-civic ed topics. we finally came up with a catchy new camp name too: Ñande Ha'e Tenonderã: Cambiando el Futuro con la Fuerza Juvenil. Ñande Ha'e Tenonderã means We are the Future and Cambiando el Futuro con la Fuerza Juvenil means Changing the Future through the Strength of Youth.
At this very moment, rain is pouring and thunder is roaring. We're in the middle of an extremely hot and wet spring here. Consecutive days of intense humid heat, reaching as high as 115 degrees, and then sudden torrential rainstorms in between. It is a strange combination. Paraguayans keep commenting on how "loco" the weather is and they definitely attribute it to climate change. Living the simple "tranquilo" life in rural Paraguay allows you to see and feel the direct results of even the slightest changes in the climate.
This past winter we witnessed one of the worst droughts in history in my department (the equivalent of a state in our country) of Neembucu. Neembucu is a region of wetlands. It is marked by a labryinth of marshes, big blue lagoons, dry grasslands and hundreds of exotic birds. Winter was painfully cold and dry. Hundreds of cows died. Families suffered without water. A state of emergency was declared. Luckily living in the city spared you from the brutal effects.
Despite the unusual weather, spring time in Paraguay is absolutely beautiful. The cities and countrysides are filled with sweet fragrances from hundreds of species of flowers. Flowers bloom everywhere--on trees, vines, swamps and even in the air. My favorite is the lapacho, the national tree of Paraguay. Legend says that the Guarani Indians used these gorgeous trees to mark their territories. These trees are teeming with flowers that come in 3 colors: pink (most common), yellow and white (most rare...they say 1 in 50,000 are white). To accompany this blog entry, I've uploaded pictures of these stunning blossoms.
So that's my life thus far in a nutshell. A whirlwind of memories. And many more to come. This Thanksgiving, some girlfriends and I are going to trek in one of the last remnants of the extremely endangered Interior Atlantic Forest. Next to the Amazon, this is one of the most important bioregions in South America with a high concentration of endemic species. Due to severe logging and soy production, about 95% of the original forest in Paraguay has been completely destroyed and continues to be as we speak.
For Christmas, Miguel is coming back again! We're going to spend a week in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Christmas with some friends in Montevideo, Uruguay!
Stay tuned for more photos and stories about my future travels throughout Paraguay and beyond! I'll be sure to include some pictures of my pad and organic veggie garden next time!
Jajotopata...which means Hasta Luego in Guarani...
No comments:
Post a Comment