Volunteer Visit

So I just finished up week three of training and I cannot believe how quickly it is going. I spent Monday through Thursday with a current PCV named Kendall at her site and it was awesome.  I finally did not have to sit through boring power points (which I understand are necessary) and I was able to learn what an actual volunteer does.  What I came to realize is that Peace Corps is all about integration.  We went over to her neighbors and drank terere; it is a tea type drink that is cold and is passed around in circles.  Terere is really a time to be social.  Most of the women I drank with wanted to talk about how ‘linda’ my skin is, ask if I was aware of the dangers of the sun, find out if I had a boyfriend, ask if I wanted to meet someone Paraguayan, and comment on the weather.  Honestly though, Paraguayans are some of the nicest people I have ever met.  They find out you are visiting and immediately invite you into their home and offer you food.  They are all just very curious about what we are doing here.  They are also some of the most honest people I have ever met.  For example, when I was riding back from Kendall’s I ended up taking the bus with my friend.  An old man approached us as we were drinking a beer outside of a restaurant near our bus stop and asked if we spoke any Guarani (the local language), I responded with my standard ‘michi mi’ which means a little. Generally people laugh at this and understand that I really do not speak any so they continue in Spanish.  This man decided he wanted to teach us some more words so he taught us the Guarani word for big (of course I have already forgotten it).  He then used the word in a sentence.  His first sentence basically translated as “You are big” he then explained, “vos sos alta” or you are tall while he pointed at me.  The next sentence he directed at my friend saying “You are big” but then he said in Spanish “vos sos gorda” which means you are fat.  He then starts laughing about how big can mean so many different things.  He had no idea that what he just said was considered extremely rude by American standards.  Paraguayans will be the first ones to tell you if you have gained weight or describe you by your physical features.  One girl in the group is known as “la china” because she is Chinese.  I am known in my town as “la alta” if they do not remember my name.

Okay so back to my visit with Kendall, after we met with the neighbors and discussed my lack of love life (I have a lot of Paraguayans that are trying to fix me up on dates with random people in the community, super awkward and funny) we suited up in some bee gear and went out into the fields.  After my first experience at a beehive I can honestly say that bees are terrifying.  Basically you are in a white suit that is protecting you from hundreds of pissed off bees that want to sting you.  They zip around your face and dive-bomb into your mask.  Kendall actually got stung in the face, but she handled it like a champion and we put the hive back together and got out of there. The next day I went to a different volunteer’s community and watched her and Kendall give a “charla”, or lecture, on HIV awareness.  It was very informative watching how two volunteers worked together and filled in gaps in each other’s Spanish to give this talk to a bunch of high school students.  It was also good to see that the country was teaching about proper condom use since it is 90% Catholic here and I think even the school might have been Catholic. 

On this visit I also ate more vegetables than the entire time I have spent in Paraguay and it was GLORIOUS.  Kendall said that during her PCV visit when she was a trainee all she wanted to do was nap and eat vegetables; so that is what she planned for me.  She also had a shower heater so I took slightly warm showers for a few days! 

When I got back to training I was in for a rude awakening because most of the other volunteers had very different experiences, by that I mean they were bucket bathing and using latrines. I find out in about 4 weeks what my real site will be like so fingers crossed that I get electricity! Also if I have to bucket bathe I think I will build a structure to hide behind while I do it since most of the volunteers just stood naked behind their houses to bathe.  I might want a little bit of privacy for that. 

Also a few people have asked some questions about my birthday and the package situation down here.  I have been told that packages do make it down here and generally they are not tampered with; however, they take much longer that the post office says.  Apparently they can get here after 2 weeks or maybe 3 months.  That being said I love getting mail so if you want to send me anything feel free! My address is:

Maggie Flinn PCT

Cuerpo de Paz

Chaco Boreal 162 casi Mariscal. López

Asunción 1580, PARAGUAY

Currently I am craving peanut butter of any variety (send me your favorite kind!) or almond butter, I love Halloween candy (let’s be real I love all candy), and Starbucks instant coffee.  Also if you are super tech savvy and know how to put movies on flashdrives or dvds I would love any random movies or tv shows! I also love surprises and stupid things so you could send me silly putty and legos and I would be thrilled! I also would love to have pen pals so feel free to just write a letter! I think the postage on a letter is a little under $1 so not too bad.  There are other ways to send packages that would be faster but I am pretty sure the price is ridiculous and not worth it. 

It is starting to get a little hotter in Paraguay but it is pretty similar to Georgia so I am doing okay.  I am a little bit terrified about the winters since the houses do not have any insulation.  Apparently work in the campo sort of comes to a halt in summer and winter and people spend their days trying to figure out how to cool off or warm up. My volunteer gave me a lot of good advice on this topic; she said if you need some R&R take it.  You do not do your site any good hanging out being miserable so take a day or two and visit a friend.  It was good learning how the current volunteers dealt with issues. 

Alright that is all I have for now! This week is going to be a TECH based week so hopefully I will learn some really awesome skills that I can explain.  I also found out that in about 6 weeks I will have the opportunity to kill and pluck a chicken.  The bad thing is that we have been raising these chickens for the past few weeks and I might already be too attached to do the job.  If this is the case though I can give my chicken to my homestay mom (who I love) and let her do the dirty work! I hope everyone is doing well and I miss you guys!