the paraguayan reverie

well well im back again for another post. At least this time the internet is up and running at full speed so I can actually access all the web pages I want. We´re still doing a lot of busy work in tech training. It´s useful stuff and all but I can´t help but feel a little borred when we could be learning actual practical skills like transplanting trees or soil fertility management for crop production, for example. I mean, classroom dynamics are important too but I can only take so much on one topic.

We´re going on long-field practice next week which means that Ill be leaving for another site with a few other trainees and staying with families while we attempt to work a little bit one on one with teachers in a high school on environmental issues. Im going to be covering health and nutrition, so Ive been doing a fair amount of work thinking up activities for people to work on in the classes that are creative and stimulate their desire to learn. After long field we have a little less than a week untill we find out where we´re going to be placed for the next two years, so people´s stress levels are running a little high right now. Everyone wants to get into a good site, but no one is sure if the opaque entity that is peace corps is going to pull through and actually give us some of the site amenities that we´d like. We do get to fill out a questionaire about our future site and have been interviewed by the higher-ups on our site preference, but no one is really sure whats going to happen untill november 21st.

Tonight im going to a music festival that is going to show case the best paraguayan national music tallent. Im pretty excited, considering that the festival is just 15 minutes away from my house. It costs 10mil to get in, which roughly comes out to about 2 US dollars. Speaking of dollars, it sure has been losing value lately...

I put my mosquito net up for the first time the other day because I was tired of getting eaten by said insects during the night. It has not, however, kept the bed bugs from making a meal of me. yay. Oh, and I also finnaly got a fan in my room so now im no longer sweating bullets at night. I enjoy sleep without waking up drenched at 3 in the morning thank you very much.

Not a whole lot else to report, except that the frisbee that Im "hoping" to receive is indeed one for throwing and catching =]. As you suspected dad, any sporting goods store should have some kind of frisbee that can be used for ultimate frisbee, just be sure to ask the clerk for the right one. Well, time to go to the show. Will return later.