Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Little bit of this, little bit of that...


I currently feel like I am sprinting, full speed ahead down the back of the mountain that is my Peace Corps Service.  I will officially close my Service on November 15, and the new group of Agriculture volunteers arrives in country on September 27.  It is terrifying, exhilarating, nauseating, and confusing.  I am terrified of the unknown that lurks in America.  The changes that have taken place while I spent the last two years bucket bathing and learning how to milk cows seem to be waiting just around the corner.  This blog was meant to be my “So you want to join the Peace Corps” blog but it has morphed into something else so here it is:

I would first like to say that, regardless of whether or not you join the Peace Corps, you should never, ever tell a returned volunteer that you “thought about joining the Peace Corps”.  Just about everyone in the world considered being a marine biologist and a vet at some point in their childhood, but do they tell every vet they meet that they thought about doing it too?  No. This may seem uncaring but I do not care that you considered joining the Peace Corps.  If you don’t do it, that’s fine just keep it to yourself.

When I began applying to the Peace Corps I had no idea what to expect. I had been studying Spanish in college and wanted an opportunity to improve my language.  I was also worried that I would get a job and pick a town and never leave.  Where is the fun in that?  Where is the adventure? I do not consider myself to be a very adventurous person but I knew that I wanted to do something big.  There also was some first world guilt thrown in there.  During my study abroad experience in Argentina I wrote a research paper on a welfare program and was able to visit and interview different families living with essentially nothing.   The biggest money crisis of my life had been my mother forcing me to wear a hand-me-down dress to homecoming, oh the shame! A part of me felt that I did not appreciate everything life had given me, everything my parents have worked to give me, I felt that Peace Corps would teach me to be truly thankful.  

Did I learn what I set out to learn? Am I a Spanish master who can return to America and never again feel guilty swiping a credit card and paying $6 for a coffee? Absolutely not.  

My Spanish is now interlaced with random words of Guarani and typical Paraguayan phrases, such as “un poco” (a little).  Instead of asking someone to “come here”, I now say “come here a little”.  I do not use proper tenses and I make up words or just use my hands to gesture.  I am absolutely effective with my community and received an “advanced high” rating on my language exam but I have lost any semblance of professionalism that my Spanish once held. 

My first world guilt has only risen.  I used to be aware that I had it easy, in the sense that you are aware that it is cold in Alaska.  Two years in Paraguay is like going to Alaska, getting frost bite on your toes and trying to explain the sensation to others.  They nod their head and make the appropriate “ouch” face but they do not get it.  Unless they get frost bite too, they never will.  I find myself listening to friends and family (sorry guys) complain about their lives and I nod my head and respond in the appropriate manner but inside I am screaming “IT DOESN’T MATTER”.  There are bigger issues in the world, your wifi speed is absolutely irrelevant. 

I know that after a few months back home I will return to caring about a lot of these things too but Peace Corps has taught me something invaluable.  I now understand some things just are not important in the grand scheme of things.  I do not have a car when I get back, my neighbor does not have direct access to potable water.  She has to rely on the kindness of another neighbor, who lives a half mile away, to share their well water.  Not only does she have to walk multiple times a day to get water but she also has to worry about maintaining the friendship in order to provide her family with drinking water.  I think I can live without a car. 

This is what Peace Corps has done for me.  It is liberating.  I often find myself stressing out about what awaits me in America and then I stop. I have a place to stay and access to food and water.  I am not naïve in thinking that I am now above having petty problems or that I will live an altruistic life, free of selfish indulgences.  I am fully aware that I will return to America and binge on food and culture until my brain and stomach hurt.  I am just thankful that now when I do allow myself to be bogged down by life’s challenges that I can think back to my little rural Paraguayan town and appreciate how good I really have it.

As you may have noticed, if you read the introduction, this blog did not turn out to be my “so you want to join the Peace Corps” blog. I am not really sure what happened but I’ve gone too far to turn back now and fix it. Here are some site updates:


  •  All 8 chicken coops have been built!!!
  • 200 chicks, 8 bags of feed, and vaccinations will be delivered on October 1.
  • My women’s group is planning on making chipa (cheese bread) to sell and raise money for the group on October 1.
  • Na Eugenia’s bees have officially been moved into their new Kenya Top Bar Hives and a new swarm took over my hive that got eaten by a random wild animal! The new swarm looks really strong so hopefully I can bring some honey home!
New comb from the new bees! They've only been there for 2 or so weeks! Que Guapas!


When we were bee keeping the bees seemed to really want to gather around my crotch.  I have no idea why this happened, and it was a little terrifying.  The only answer I can come up with is that perhaps the queen had flown there and they were gathering around her.  I got stung around 8 times and now, 2 days later, have the itchiest thighs of my life. Bee perks! 

Doesn't normally happen.

Beekini?

Look how big Todd has gotten!
 That's all the updates I have for you now! I hope all is well in the Northern Hemisphere and I miss you all! If any of you are my amazing Peace Corps Partnership Donors please be aware I have not forgotten that I need to properly thank you! I am working on it now!

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

The beginning of the end...


This month I celebrate my two year anniversary with Paraguay. It seems like only last week that I was opening my acceptance letter and panicking about how to make my parents understand that this was something I really wanted to do. That may seem silly to some of you, especially since I was 22 at the time, but 27 months is a long time to be away from home. It has been hard enough for with with the support of my family and I am fairly positive I wouldn't have been able to do it without them. Enough about that, if you know me at all (and hopefully you do since you're reading my blog) then you know I love my family so on to my life in Paraguay! 

My women's group is doing well! I have been thrilled with their work on their chicken coops! 7 out of the 8 have been finished! I gave them 30 days to finish and they still have 10 days left so hopefully the last family can finish this week and we can purchase the chicks. I have not been thrilled with their attitude towards homemade chicken feed. All members agreed to plant crops and make their own feed in order to make the project sustainable; however, due to weather and lack of support from male counterparts we do not have the crops we need. The plan is to use the money we have raised to purchase corn and soy to be supplemented with crops they do have, such as yuka (mandioca) and sweet potato. Here are some photos of the coops that have been built:

Ezekiel showing of ña Marina's chicken coop (now completed but partially done in the photo)

Ña Ramona's chicken coop! 

Copper and I in Lourdes' chicken coop!

Lourdes' again, without copper and I blocking the shot 

Ña Eugenia's chicken coop!
Ña Artemia is converting part if her kitchen into the chicken coop. At 80 she is our oldest member and decided to make a brick floor.

Ña Elisa's sister has a chicken coop that will share a wall with her new coop! 

I also am trying to be realistic about how the project will progress without me. I am requesting a follow up volunteer so that hopefully they can continue to work with the group. Paraguayans generally only give their chickens a few handfuls of corn, this means the chickens lack protein. While talking with the agriculture program specialist I learned about using larvae to supplement the chickens protein supply. The idea is that the women create 3 different spaces, About 1.5m by 2m and 10cm deep. They fill them with green waste and cow poop. The spaces are then covered and watered 2 times a day. The goal is to attract a black fly to lay their eggs. Then 3 or 4 days later you have a great protein source! If you have 3 at once you stagger their development, this ensures that you have fresh larvae to feed the chickens every 2 days. How awesomely gross is that! 

My larvae growing spot! 

These are what I am trying to grow! Let's hope it works out!

I am trying not to think about how rapidly my close of service date is approaching and just enjoy Paraguay. It has been hard since I have come to love Paraguay and the people. I am extremely ready to live in America but I am not ready at all to leave all of these people behind. I am off to a birthday lunch, until next time!