My Paraguayan Family

I realized something the other day. I mention all these peoples’ names, talk about their families, share my good times with them; but you all will likely never meet them. And seeing as they have become such an important part of my life, I have decided to take the time to describe to you some of my closest friends and family in site.

Silvia – easily my bestie in site. 16 years old, but very mature. It took us a while to get beyond the ‘let’s drink terere and have small stalk’ stage, but now I find that it is her that I go to with my stresses, exciting news, and miscellaneous commentaries. We hang out daily. Maybe I am helping her with her English homework, drinking terere, playing pool, cooking up something delicious, attempting to dance zumba along with my workout video, gossiping about boys and our neighbors, going to the town parties, whatever. She is who I most look forward to seeing on a daily basis.

Esperanza – my neighbor, but really my second mom. She gives me advice, puts up with my terrible Guaraní, invites me over for meals weekly, and I know she thinks of me as her daughter. An excellent example of how you don’t need much to be happy, just your family and friends by your side.

Esperanza, Dulci, Me, Armin, and Mom!

Sixta – my community work contact and favorite mother to visit. There is always something happening at her house, and I have yet to have a dull moment with her family. She is incredibly hard working, and is always coming up with new ideas of things I can do in the community and ways to help. Every volunteer’s community contact dream!

You never know what you'll find at Sixta's...

Fatima – Esperanza’s daughter, and was my first friend my age in site. She was there for me when my dogs died, laughs at me when I butcher my guarani, and respects the work I do in the community. Also, she is superb at painting nails! Oh yea, and most important – she is pregnant and I am going to be the baby’s godmother!!!

Auxi & Erika – These guys were my first friends. They are smart, beautiful, curious, and patient. They come to absolutely everything I plan and have enthusiasm that is contagious.

Auxi (left) and Erika (right)

Ña Eli, Dana, Vanesa – These are Silvia’s mom and two sisters. I think the reason I love the whole family so much is because they remind me of my McWilliams cousins. A family full of girls, there is never a dull moment! Every time I go there it turns into a big singing/dancing/laughter fest. We make fun of each other all the time, a sign of true comfort with one another.

Ña Eli, Silvia, Dana, y Vanesa

Thiago – Knows English from Dora the Explorer, shouts my name across fields when he sees me, and gives me running hugs. ‘Nuff said. (Oh and he is definitely the best high-fiver in site)

Now, I realize that for a typical 23 year old girl this is not your normal group of friends, but this is my life, and I wouldn't change it. These people, along with many others, make life here in Paraguay worthwhile on a daily basis. I feel so fortunate to be a part of their lives, and am so grateful they have taken me in as one of their own.

My Biggest Frustration

I actually wrote a similar blog post one time when I was really frustrated about a year ago, then decided not to post it. But after over a year working here in site, the frustration remains, and thus, the blog post has been revived.

I would like to take you all back to my 4^th grade classroom. My teacher was Mrs. Jackowitz, and she was amazing. We dissected owl pellets, built parachutes and launched them, learned through competitions and games, and I walked into a classroom covered in color and interesting information to look at. Then there was freshman year of high school where my biology teacher made me excited about photosynthesis, my math teacher stayed late to help me when I struggled with algebraic proofs, and my photography teacher taught me that a photo really is worth a thousand words. I was so incredibly fortunate to be raised in a town with a great education system that helped to prepare me to take on the world as an adult.

And then there is the school system I have come to know here in Paraguay. The 4^th grade classroom’s walls are bare, the teacher arrives late, and they spend the entire morning copying from the chalk board. Or the 9^th grade students, who spend half the class texting on their phone because the teacher doesn’t bother to tell them not to. The students are typically at a much lower reading level than they should be, and kids are continuously slipping through the cracks.

These differences are for many reasons, and cannot be pin pointed on a single one. Some parents in site claim it’s the lack of motivation and preparation in the teachers. Some say they are doing the best they can with what is available. Some say it’s the kids who aren’t interested. Some say it’s because the classroom isn’t provided with all the books and materials they should have access to. Some say it’s the short school day (students from K-12 go to school for 4 hours a day here). I say it’s all the above. I have seen several really great teachers who do their best to motivate the kids, but they are limited by funds. And how can I fault the teacher for asking the kids to simply copy from the chalk board all class when there aren't enough supplies to provide all the kids with books?

Working in the schools is what I was most looking forward to in joining the Peace Corps. I get along great with kids, and knew my energy and activities would excite them. But it’s hard to succeed as a volunteer when you don’t necessarily have the support of the teachers or your charlas keep getting post-poned due to holidays/rain/strikes. I am a third time volunteer, and just about all the options have been exhausted. There have been workshops for teachers to make didactic materials, but very few used what they learned. There are workshops for the students to become leaders in the community, but unless pushed by myself or the previous volunteers they fail to use what they learned.

Today I started a new program with the high school that I am really looking forward to. It is called ‘Como Planear mi Vida’, or “How to Plan my Life”. I’m excited to work with 10^th and 11^th graders, and hope that they find the information I teach useful. The topics covered will ideally help the students prepare for their future - be it university, work or family. I hope that we get great conversations going, and I can engage the kids. This is likely my last attempt to work extensively with the schools, so I really hope it goes well… wish me luck!

Long Weekend Getaway

Once I found out I was coming to Paraguay, Chile immediately jumped to the top of my vacation wish-list. I went to Santiago 5 years ago for my cousin Peter and Sandra’s wedding, and haven’t really seen or stayed in touch with them since. This weekend became a great opportunity to get to know Peter and Sandra better, and meet their kid, Michael!

I arrived in Chile last Thursday (after an overnight in the airport, my favorite, of course). I got in around noon, headed to their place, cleaned up, and then we were off! First stop was a delicious lunch at a Peruvian restaurant, where I tried ceviche (and liked it!) for the first time! Then I headed with Peter to Michael’s day care to pick him up. Not gonna lie, that is one cute kid! It took a while for him to warm up to me, but by the end we were high fiving maniacs!

Michael looking sharp is his new Ao Po'i!

Friday we had a lazy morning, and then headed out for a tour of the Chilean markets. One of Peter and Sandra’s friends is a tour guide there (www.foodychile.com), and we went with him. We saw a flower market, veggie market, fish market, and tried some local cuisine and drinks along the way. That night, I went with Peter to a MICROBREWERY! It had been a loooooong time since I enjoyed delicious beer, and we ran into a guy there who lived in Paraguay for a while and spoke a little Guarani!

Sandra, Peter and I

Terremoto. Why Chileans thought combining Fernet and ice cream would be a good idea baffles me...

Saturday and Sunday were more relaxed days. Highlights include WASHING MY CLOTHES WITH A WASHER, a fun and yummy lunch with Peter and Michael, enjoying delicious red wine, escaping a small mall fire (yea, that happened), drinking coffee & eating too much dessert, and lots of laughs.

Happiness in a machine.

In all honesty, it felt like it was the same as a long weekend getaway in the States. We kept the tourism low key, and it was the company I surrounded myself with that made the trip. Some friends asked me if it was awkward that I didn’t know them very well beforehand, and I thought about it… For many people the trip could have been really awkward! I grew up far away from Peter in the states and we are over 10 years apart, so had nothing in common with each other growing up. I am extremely lucky, however, to have amazing cousins who live interesting lives and are simply easy to be around. Hopefully they felt the same about having me visit!

I will leave you with this quote from Sunday just before leaving:

Me: Michael is being such a good boy right now!

Peter: Yeah, that’s because he’s busy sticking play-doh in his ears…

Little troublemaker...

Ahecha Paraguay

In Guarani, ahecha means I see. As a part of Peace Corps Paraguay, there is a volunteer organized club that lends out cameras for two months at a time to a community. In the kit there are 5 digital cameras and a training manual with how to use it in your site. I signed up months ago, and wrapped up the project last week! I had 12 kids sign up, 10 showed up to the first meeting, and I had 5 who came on a regular basis. At first I was disappointed by the number drop, but it actually worked out better this way since no one had to share their camera.

We had class once a week and an additional one-on-one session every other week where I reviewed the photos with the students. I planned each week with a general theme such as landscapes, portraits, lighting, Paraguayan culture, etc. Sometimes the kids came back with exactly what I wanted, while other times I got pictures of pigs when I asked for landscapes… but hey, better than nothing, I guess! It was great to see the kids get creative, and I think that the regulars really enjoyed the class.

At the end of the 8-week course, we selected the 25 best pictures (5 from each student) to be submitted to Asuncion, where there is an exhibition amongst all the volunteers’ photos. Also, I got those 25 photos printed so I was able to put on a smaller exhibition here in site. We invited family and friends of the students, and I talked about the class and then each student presented their photos, picked their favorite, and said why they liked it. The family and friends liked the pics, and not gonna lie, I was pretty proud of my kids!

Here are my favorite pictures taken by each student:

'Atardecer' by Silvia (16)

'Chulina' by Ramona (16)

'El Rayo del Sol' by Dulcina (12)

'La Rosa Rosada' by Auxi (12)

'Sandra' by Mica (12)

4 of my students after the exhibition with their favorite pictures

1.5 years and 15 countries later...

My brother and I reunited!

Just got back from a quick week-long break, thus, time for an update!

My brother has been in South America for the past 6 months or so, and finally we figured out a time to meet up. It had been over a year and half since we saw each other last -- crazy!! I left Sunday the 28th to head to Asuncion, and then left Monday aiming to arrive at Puerto Iguazu Monday night. I ran into a little hiccup, however, when I missed the last bus to Argentina, and ended up stranded in Ciudad del Este. I ended up sleeping on the floor of the bus terminal... Good times!

Anywho... Tuesday morning I made it to Iguazu easily, and the adventure began. I met up with Doug at the Hostel, and we left pretty quickly to see the falls. We hiked for about 4 hours that day, seeing some of the National Parks' best waterfalls. All were impressive, but definitely the most amazing was the Devil's Throat. Seriously incredible stuff! After the hike we went out for a nice dinner and drank some Argentinian wine (thanks M&D!), and passed out fairly early.

Taking in the view

'Garganta del Diablo' or 'Devil's Throat'

Wednesday, we left Iguazu and headed towards Paraguay. We had a couple more travel woes due to Labor Day (no ferry's were running, buses cancelled, long waits in terminals), and eventually at 2:30am arrived in my site. A looooooong day, but we were both glad to have made it home as opposed to been stuck somewhere else for the night.

Paraguay was very tranquilo, as always. We drank terere with my friends and favorite families, visited the high school and elementary school, made chipa and sopa with a family, relaxed in the hammock, and genuinely enjoyed the campo. He could only stay for 2 days, so it was a quick trip! Saturday morning he was off to Brazil again, and that was that.

Making Chipa

Overall a good break! This month is pretty crazy with coming and goings... After Iguazu, I headed into Asuncion for 2 days for G38's Mid-Service Training, and at the end of May I am off to Chile to visit Peter and Sandra. Busy but fun month!

G38!

Until next time...

Counting Down

Whether I intend to or not, I have found myself counting throughout the whole Peace Corps process. At the beginning it was a countdown full of excitement and anticipation - I was counting the days until I heard from placement. Then I had to count down 6 months until I left for Paraguay, 10 weeks until I swore-in as a volunteer, 10 months until I passed a year in country, and most recently, I passed the one-year as a volunteer mark. So what does that mean? It means that rather than counting up, I am now counting down. I have passed the biggest time hurdles the Peace Corps job comes with, and now am on the downward slope. It means that the countdown has changed from excitement to a ticking bomb, moving fast towards the inevitable… I officially have less than a year left here in Paraguay. But, rather than be depressing by talking about all I have left to do and see, I am going to share with you some great moments from the past few months. Moments that make this job worthwhile. Moments that makes the timeline of the Peace Corps not so daunting after all. 

Some of G38 at Ahendu

Sean Paul/Taio Cruz concert in Asuncion!

My pooch

I now take guitar classes...

Best friends :)

Semana Santa

Last week was Semana Santa here, or Holy Week. The celebration begins Wednesday, and then continues throughout the weekend. While I celebrated it last year with my host family in training, I enjoyed this year much more. I visited the families I know the best, and it was a really great week.


On Wednesday, I visited with Na Sixta and her family for the ever-important chipa making! Families all over Paraguay get together this day to make obscene amounts of chipa. Chipa is a bread made of corn flour, cheese, milk, salt, and a little oil. While the women were preparing the dough, the men were prepping the tatakua (wood burning oven) for cooking.

Lili prepping the dough

Tata Kua (or is it one word? not sure...)

My beautiful chipa :)

The finished products!

Also, eating pig is a huge part of Semana Santa. I woke up Wednesday morning to the sounds of pigs dying all over. Literally. Just when I thought it was finished, another neighbor killed their pig. When I got to Sixta’s house, the pig had already been killed (phew), but they were prepping it for eating. That means I got to help cut up pig fat into small cubes and watch them shave the hair off the skin to later be prepped for dinner. Yummy? I did try the pig fat (which is served fried and coated in corn flour), but chose to leave before the main course of pig skin stuffed with meat… I just couldn’t do it… haha

Next year's piggy!

Thursday, I was running all over, visiting 4 families in total. I started the day at 7am back at Sixta’s to drink mate, make more chipa and sopa, and chat with the family. Then I ate lunch with my landlord and her family (where i was sent home with both cow AND sheep meat! lucky me), stopped for a beer stop at Na Albina’s, and then relaxed in the afternoon at Na Esperanza’s. Busy and exhausting day, but fun!

The rest of the week was also lots of fun. It included a relaxing day with my neighboring volunteer, tereré sessions with new friends, Easter party in site, visiting more families, and of course, eating more chipa. Overall, definitely a successful Semana Santa!

Party in site!

My bestie in site, Silvia

On a different note, happy opening day!!! So glad us Cubs fans got to sing today! Go Cubs Go!