hey there hope everyone thing is going well up there in the northern hemisphere. Its wintery here, and cold, sorta. I went to a sortija last night, which i would most closely associate with a rodeo except the people just ride around in circles and crack their whips for no apparent reason. Basically its just an excuse for guys to get drunk and watch girls. I went with a few friends and met up with other people there, and after the horses stoped circling the band cycled up and people started dancing. There was polka and cachaca, paraguayan and columbian? music respectivly. The dances are kinda specific depending on the kind of music, so i spent about a half hour or so watching and drinking more cheep beer. I was told later by my friends from the collegio that i am a good dancer, but they were pretty sloshed so who knows if they were actually seeing strait anyway. Got to dance with a good many girls so i would consider the night a success.
Two days ago was paraguay independence day, and all the people from the companias came into tobati for a parade. All the kids from all the schools were dressed up in various uniforms quasi-marching down the street. All the girls from the collegios had 4-5 inch platform books and miniskirts, as well as some heavyduty makeup. This is not to say that im complaining, but it certainly was amusing watching them try to march to a beat in those big boots.
So another one of my shirts was consumed by a cow. Well more precisely it was riped up into little pieces. Therefore i have a shirt request from threadless; maybe someone could send it over to me? Heres the link:
http://www.threadless.com/product/1219/My_Fantasy_World
Work is moving along, im just not quite sure in what direction. Im kinda at an impase with the collegios students and their planting trees at their houses, so ill have to come up with something new pretty soon here to keep them occupied. Thinking of doing the same project with the students in costa alegre, so ill see how that goes.
I received three packages in the mail while i was visiting asuncion. Two of them had the books in spanish for the kids at my host fams house and the other one had the design books. I gave the kids the books and they imediatly started reading them and seemed to be enjoying them. And then the next day they got a computer game for their dads computer and started playing that instead. Reminds me of the states. Im starting to make my way through the design books and they´ve got a lot of good case studies and pictures if the people here ever wrap their heads around getting the school project going.
Well thats all for now, be back later.
May 16, 2008
May 8, 2008
well well, i suppose i should really give some kind of update seeing as it has been a month without any additions to the blog. Where to start...ok. After much heeing and hawing i have finally moved into my new house. Ive moved over the hill to a different community that i was officially placed in by peace corps. I was kinda nervous about telling the family that id been staying with for the last four months that I was moving, but it turned out now to be much of a problem at all. I am kinda sad that im not living there anymore - i miss the company and being able to ask people questions about things that i dont understand at all hours of the day. But on the plus side i dont have to listen to little kids crying, people yelling at little kids, or mass amounts of chickens crowing at 4 in the morning. The day i was supposed to move there happened to be no but, so my contact stoped a carreta passing by and i threw nearly all of my plants, bags and tools on board. Granted an ox cart is not the fastest mode of transportation, but when the roads are esentially mud you take what you can get. I then had lunch with the host fam and followed the cart on my bike.
So the basic story since then has been a problem of utilities. Water and electricity in specific. My electricity didnt work for nights in a row and then mysteriously started working again. Around the same time the water shut off and remained off for about a week. Luckily i have a gas stove so i can heat up water to do a bucket bath, but man it is a pain in the ass without a running water source. I had to haul it all about a hundred meters to my house, then decided to filter what i was going to be drinking. I normamly wouldnt do this, but the neighbor who owns the well isnt the cleanest person, and im almost sure hes got worms or some kind of parasite. Therefore, i filtered my water so as to aviod a similar predicament.
Ive been working in the school garden at the escuela basica in costa alegre, my former town of residence. Ive been stressing experimentation with all of my projects, in the hopes that the kids will become a little more curious about things and start to make purposeful explorations. We did a natural pesticide demo and then applied them to the tomato plants that are being eaten. Weve also done a planting experiment with different concentrations of manure and soil to see which mix best supports health plant growth. At the collegio in ensenada, my present community, ive been visiting each students home in the final grade and helping them to plant trees. There are twenty seven of them so its been a challenge just finding everyone let alone helping them plant their trees correctly. So far ive visited 20 of them, and am hitting up the last 7 tomorrow mnorning.
The preliminary design explorations ive been working on for the new costa alegre collegio have kinda stalled, mainly owing to me working on getting my house in order. Im hopping to start to design a plan for participatory design in guarani so the students can make their own decisions about the layout of the grounds, what facilities theyd like and so on. Im still considering whether or not to include the teachers in the same groups as the students - they might take over, or more likely the students would just copy whatever the teachers do - but ill still have to wait for at least a few more months to get that project rolling.
Presently I am collecting data about the students to support a petition to the municipality for some funding for the new school. I figure if i can show that most of the students want to continue learning, but it will be difficult for them in their present situation i may be able to leaverage something. Also still need to contact different organizations in the states who might be interested in getting on board.
Anyone know a person, group, or organization that wants to help fund the construction of a new school down here?
Presently feeling nearly competent in speaking with people. Still lose most of the nuances of conversation, but i can respond and have general dialogue pretty well.
So, the new peace corps volunteer for tobati has arrived. We have lunch plans at my place next week, and she said she wants to go cut down a tree. I mentioned that I have friends with chainsaws who we could go cuting with, and i gathered from her face that that wasnt what she was imagining. She seems pretty nice, and once she gets her feet under her in terms of language im pretty sure we´ll be able to work together.
Im off to asuncion this weekend for a meeting with the country director to talk about work stuff and then im going to have a delicious, inexpensive dinner and drink beer. Yep. I miss everyone back home, and will call next time im sitting at a computer that has a decent connection. Bye!
So the basic story since then has been a problem of utilities. Water and electricity in specific. My electricity didnt work for nights in a row and then mysteriously started working again. Around the same time the water shut off and remained off for about a week. Luckily i have a gas stove so i can heat up water to do a bucket bath, but man it is a pain in the ass without a running water source. I had to haul it all about a hundred meters to my house, then decided to filter what i was going to be drinking. I normamly wouldnt do this, but the neighbor who owns the well isnt the cleanest person, and im almost sure hes got worms or some kind of parasite. Therefore, i filtered my water so as to aviod a similar predicament.
Ive been working in the school garden at the escuela basica in costa alegre, my former town of residence. Ive been stressing experimentation with all of my projects, in the hopes that the kids will become a little more curious about things and start to make purposeful explorations. We did a natural pesticide demo and then applied them to the tomato plants that are being eaten. Weve also done a planting experiment with different concentrations of manure and soil to see which mix best supports health plant growth. At the collegio in ensenada, my present community, ive been visiting each students home in the final grade and helping them to plant trees. There are twenty seven of them so its been a challenge just finding everyone let alone helping them plant their trees correctly. So far ive visited 20 of them, and am hitting up the last 7 tomorrow mnorning.
The preliminary design explorations ive been working on for the new costa alegre collegio have kinda stalled, mainly owing to me working on getting my house in order. Im hopping to start to design a plan for participatory design in guarani so the students can make their own decisions about the layout of the grounds, what facilities theyd like and so on. Im still considering whether or not to include the teachers in the same groups as the students - they might take over, or more likely the students would just copy whatever the teachers do - but ill still have to wait for at least a few more months to get that project rolling.
Presently I am collecting data about the students to support a petition to the municipality for some funding for the new school. I figure if i can show that most of the students want to continue learning, but it will be difficult for them in their present situation i may be able to leaverage something. Also still need to contact different organizations in the states who might be interested in getting on board.
Anyone know a person, group, or organization that wants to help fund the construction of a new school down here?
Presently feeling nearly competent in speaking with people. Still lose most of the nuances of conversation, but i can respond and have general dialogue pretty well.
So, the new peace corps volunteer for tobati has arrived. We have lunch plans at my place next week, and she said she wants to go cut down a tree. I mentioned that I have friends with chainsaws who we could go cuting with, and i gathered from her face that that wasnt what she was imagining. She seems pretty nice, and once she gets her feet under her in terms of language im pretty sure we´ll be able to work together.
Im off to asuncion this weekend for a meeting with the country director to talk about work stuff and then im going to have a delicious, inexpensive dinner and drink beer. Yep. I miss everyone back home, and will call next time im sitting at a computer that has a decent connection. Bye!
March 30, 2008
Happy birthday hilary! I tried to call again, but then my phone ran out of money =/
Back for another instalment of everything thats been going on for about the last month or so. Its been pretty darn busy over here, so its been nice to have a free weekend in the city to unwind. The down side is that ive blown most of my money for the month. Oh well, its not really my money anyway. Thank you taxpayers!
Anyway, to begin ive been working at two schools in the area around where im living. The teachers are nice, and seem to be interested in anything that i think up for the students to work on. Last week i did a demonstration on composting and we set up a compost pile for the students to use when they clean all the weeds out of the garden for the year. A few of the students actually seemed to be genuinly interested and the rest of them seemed like they could care less. But this is the same case in the states right? Im planning on doing tree planting with the students next week when they bring in the trees ive assigned them to collect. The crazy thing about the students here is that they all know how to ID trees and what theyre good to be used for. Even the little kids know, its just part of the culture. I think about asking a 9 year old in the states to identify 10 trees by their leaves or berries and i think id be hard pressed to find one that could actually do it.
Going two weeks back from now, a group of american high school students came to visit from the states. This was strange to me, seeing as I had no idea that anyone from the states knew enough about paraguay to end up in tobati, fairly far away from the capital. Well, this group of students isnt just a little group. They were 145 students harvard medical school doctors and i think a dentist from a private, east coast highschool. Seems most of the students are well enough off that they can pay for the 3000 dollar trip from their pockets without having to do any fundraising. One laughed when i asked if they sold candy bars or something to finance the trip.
So anyway, they brought about 100,000 dollars to fund projects over the week they were there, which i see as good and bad. Good because the municipalidad is corrupt as all hell and money for any significant project tends to dissapear via graft, and bad because of the precedent it reinforces for the paraguayans in terms of depending on the handouts of external entities instead of being self sufficient. I dont deny that they have good intentions toward the paraguayans, and that its a great experience for students in the US to experience a different culture/country. I just question how their work is serving to empower the paraguayans to become better citizens, to empower them or to create the begining of good social change. They are also connected to a private school that is funded in part or totally by the macchi family, a influntial family in tobati, which serves to give a select group of needy paraguayan students free, high quality education and daily meals.
Its easy to say, "Its better if we focus on the tangible." Its good for PR, people like getting free stuff and giving to the "poor" might even aleviate some personal guilt over being financially very well-off by world standards. I dont really know. But as I was watching the buses and flat bed trucks pull up to the central plaza in tobati, with hundreds of screaming kids, baloons, and blaring music, i couldnt help but wonder why. Why this reaction. Why. If you took away the project money, how would the reaction change? Are the people really excited because they know american students are coming who want to work, to learn and teach and share? Or are they happy that they´re getting a new building at their school? I call what team tobati is doing development work, but whats it developing?
And what did the US students really get out of it? Yes, now they see that there are poor people in the world who dont just live in africa, ate some good food and got rid of that pesky required community service requirement. They now know how to toss bricks, shovel dirt, and say a few more words in spanish maybe. But to be quite honest, the 140 students that came could put their services to much better use interacting with the people here, learning what they can and teaching in return. Its almost insulting to see these kids who I know are very smart, creative people come here where creativity is in short supply and toss bricks. Two paraguayans could do the work of 12 students for 7 dollars a day and get it done faster and better, leaving the students to put their unique skills to use. I would challenge the students of team tobati to reconsider their role as development workers in paraguay, how they might come to work on some of the less visible problems inherant to the country. But how does one find out what these problems are? You ask, and then you learn, and then you act. Sounds much more fulfilling to me than shoveling soil.
As i told most of the people who came to costa alegre, I am willing and able to help in any way I can to make their experience of coming to work in paraguay more fulfilling for everyone involved. Im hoping some of them take me up on it. If theres one thing i could say to the teachers or people in charge of the team tobati exerience, its that your program is good, but you have the power to make it even better if you choose to do so. Nothing is ever stagnant and its always worthwhile learning from succeses and mistakes, right?
For people interested in sustainable development work, i emplore you to read "Two ears of Corn" by Roland Bunch. Its about agricultural development, but is broad enough that it can enlighten any development program. Its amazing and not to be missed for anyone involved with team tobati.
Also found out this weekend that a new urban youth volunteer is going to be placed in tobati in one week. This means that im going to have a very close new neighbor, and that they will be in the thick of the tobati situation in ways that i can not even imagine. I wish them good luck.
Moving into my own house in about a week, yay! Ill update more about that when it happens. Till next time then!
Back for another instalment of everything thats been going on for about the last month or so. Its been pretty darn busy over here, so its been nice to have a free weekend in the city to unwind. The down side is that ive blown most of my money for the month. Oh well, its not really my money anyway. Thank you taxpayers!
Anyway, to begin ive been working at two schools in the area around where im living. The teachers are nice, and seem to be interested in anything that i think up for the students to work on. Last week i did a demonstration on composting and we set up a compost pile for the students to use when they clean all the weeds out of the garden for the year. A few of the students actually seemed to be genuinly interested and the rest of them seemed like they could care less. But this is the same case in the states right? Im planning on doing tree planting with the students next week when they bring in the trees ive assigned them to collect. The crazy thing about the students here is that they all know how to ID trees and what theyre good to be used for. Even the little kids know, its just part of the culture. I think about asking a 9 year old in the states to identify 10 trees by their leaves or berries and i think id be hard pressed to find one that could actually do it.
Going two weeks back from now, a group of american high school students came to visit from the states. This was strange to me, seeing as I had no idea that anyone from the states knew enough about paraguay to end up in tobati, fairly far away from the capital. Well, this group of students isnt just a little group. They were 145 students harvard medical school doctors and i think a dentist from a private, east coast highschool. Seems most of the students are well enough off that they can pay for the 3000 dollar trip from their pockets without having to do any fundraising. One laughed when i asked if they sold candy bars or something to finance the trip.
So anyway, they brought about 100,000 dollars to fund projects over the week they were there, which i see as good and bad. Good because the municipalidad is corrupt as all hell and money for any significant project tends to dissapear via graft, and bad because of the precedent it reinforces for the paraguayans in terms of depending on the handouts of external entities instead of being self sufficient. I dont deny that they have good intentions toward the paraguayans, and that its a great experience for students in the US to experience a different culture/country. I just question how their work is serving to empower the paraguayans to become better citizens, to empower them or to create the begining of good social change. They are also connected to a private school that is funded in part or totally by the macchi family, a influntial family in tobati, which serves to give a select group of needy paraguayan students free, high quality education and daily meals.
Its easy to say, "Its better if we focus on the tangible." Its good for PR, people like getting free stuff and giving to the "poor" might even aleviate some personal guilt over being financially very well-off by world standards. I dont really know. But as I was watching the buses and flat bed trucks pull up to the central plaza in tobati, with hundreds of screaming kids, baloons, and blaring music, i couldnt help but wonder why. Why this reaction. Why. If you took away the project money, how would the reaction change? Are the people really excited because they know american students are coming who want to work, to learn and teach and share? Or are they happy that they´re getting a new building at their school? I call what team tobati is doing development work, but whats it developing?
And what did the US students really get out of it? Yes, now they see that there are poor people in the world who dont just live in africa, ate some good food and got rid of that pesky required community service requirement. They now know how to toss bricks, shovel dirt, and say a few more words in spanish maybe. But to be quite honest, the 140 students that came could put their services to much better use interacting with the people here, learning what they can and teaching in return. Its almost insulting to see these kids who I know are very smart, creative people come here where creativity is in short supply and toss bricks. Two paraguayans could do the work of 12 students for 7 dollars a day and get it done faster and better, leaving the students to put their unique skills to use. I would challenge the students of team tobati to reconsider their role as development workers in paraguay, how they might come to work on some of the less visible problems inherant to the country. But how does one find out what these problems are? You ask, and then you learn, and then you act. Sounds much more fulfilling to me than shoveling soil.
As i told most of the people who came to costa alegre, I am willing and able to help in any way I can to make their experience of coming to work in paraguay more fulfilling for everyone involved. Im hoping some of them take me up on it. If theres one thing i could say to the teachers or people in charge of the team tobati exerience, its that your program is good, but you have the power to make it even better if you choose to do so. Nothing is ever stagnant and its always worthwhile learning from succeses and mistakes, right?
For people interested in sustainable development work, i emplore you to read "Two ears of Corn" by Roland Bunch. Its about agricultural development, but is broad enough that it can enlighten any development program. Its amazing and not to be missed for anyone involved with team tobati.
Also found out this weekend that a new urban youth volunteer is going to be placed in tobati in one week. This means that im going to have a very close new neighbor, and that they will be in the thick of the tobati situation in ways that i can not even imagine. I wish them good luck.
Moving into my own house in about a week, yay! Ill update more about that when it happens. Till next time then!
February 17, 2008
alright so im back in the city at the office with a bit of information to update about. Things are going well in site i suppose. I dont really have any thing to gauge my progress by since each site has its own unique qualities that determine if a volunteer is being succesful. BUT still, ive been working in a farmers field with a machette cutting corn down thats ready to be harvested, cleaning around mandioca plants with machette, as well as shucking corn and breaking bean pods. Working in the fields certainly makes me feel accomplished for a day, like I've actually done real work. And its a good work out, and makes people think i actually DO know how to work on things and have a work ethic.
Ive also bought a bee hive in a neighboring town and started to try workikng my own bees. Me and one of the people that I work with split open a palm tree trunk and took out this wild hive, transfered the comb to the box and tried to get as many of the other bees in there asd we could. We were both covered in bees, and there were thousands and thousands of them flying around everywhere. I work with a veil and gloves, but other than that i just wear a long sleve shirt, shoes and my hiking pants. I didnt get stung once, even though i was moving hand fulls of bees out of this trunk into the box. Its pretty fun.
School starts on the 25th and im going to start out by working in a collegio and escuela basica with a few of the teachers in their tech, science, and practical project classes. Im looking forward to it, and actually getting to know the ins and outs of the school system and the process of working with the teahers.
Its been a fun time in the city with lots of beer drinking, kareoke and dancing. We were at a club last night that had a foam bubble shower that was pouring from a cauldron in the middle of the dance floor. It made the whole place into a giant soapy foam soup with strobe lights and bumping music. It was a good time, one which i will likely repeat next time im in the city.
I received just about everything in the mail that people have sent me at one point or another. Ive got journals galore, letters, new books, tools. Its good. Thanks for the gifts!! Well, im gonna go get some mexican feed at the local chuchi mall, so perhaps ill update more later. Ciao!
Ive also bought a bee hive in a neighboring town and started to try workikng my own bees. Me and one of the people that I work with split open a palm tree trunk and took out this wild hive, transfered the comb to the box and tried to get as many of the other bees in there asd we could. We were both covered in bees, and there were thousands and thousands of them flying around everywhere. I work with a veil and gloves, but other than that i just wear a long sleve shirt, shoes and my hiking pants. I didnt get stung once, even though i was moving hand fulls of bees out of this trunk into the box. Its pretty fun.
School starts on the 25th and im going to start out by working in a collegio and escuela basica with a few of the teachers in their tech, science, and practical project classes. Im looking forward to it, and actually getting to know the ins and outs of the school system and the process of working with the teahers.
Its been a fun time in the city with lots of beer drinking, kareoke and dancing. We were at a club last night that had a foam bubble shower that was pouring from a cauldron in the middle of the dance floor. It made the whole place into a giant soapy foam soup with strobe lights and bumping music. It was a good time, one which i will likely repeat next time im in the city.
I received just about everything in the mail that people have sent me at one point or another. Ive got journals galore, letters, new books, tools. Its good. Thanks for the gifts!! Well, im gonna go get some mexican feed at the local chuchi mall, so perhaps ill update more later. Ciao!
January 17, 2008
back again. Iv´e got a sunburn and a headache right now so im not feeling so great (I am however feeling hot, very hot). Last night i put aloe lotion on my back and then tried to sleep - i couldnt do it. I woke up in the middle of the night literally sleeping in a pool of sweat. I got up to go to the bathroom, and when i came back the side that I´d been sleeping on felt like someone had dumped a half liter of water on the mattress. Im not joking, its that hot even with my big fan going full blast. I bought a sweet new pillow today so maybe now i can get some restful sleep instead of tossing and turning on a lumpy foam bag. I´ve written out a few entries in my analog journal about my feeling like somewhat of a cultural castaway (beware, #1 is about poop and mildly graphic) in that the cultural nuances of this place are finnaly starting to sink in. So here they are:
1. We are connected to our feces
No one really drops rose-scented packages off in the porcelin throne, but here in paraguay there´s really no denying it: we shit shit. Every trip to the pooper is a surprise of consistency, textture and color. This is owing to the fact that flushing the papél sanitario is a no-no for fear of filling up the septic hole-in-the-ground faster than neccesary. Thus, each wipe lands you face to face with the remains of yesterdays dinner or lunch which may or may not be a pleasant sight depending on your predisposition to poop and the quality of said meal. I have certainly viewed enough earthen hues to satisfy the pallate of any begining landscape painter.
Given another site w/ less developed waste desposal systems, i would likely be doing my buisness in a letrine. Letrine is a pretty broad term here in paraguay. It could be a hole in the ground with a few boards over it to a detached room resembling a modern lavatory except for the flushing bit. Typical wiping material may include TP, leaves, or the ever popular corn-cob. Remember, front to back.
2. People make funny noises
Each domesticated animal in paraguay has a different sound associated with it depending if youd like to summon to shoo the beastie:
- dogs: make a sound like you´re kissing something the size of a pea, real high pitched, if you want them to leave you along or get out of your presence. This sound is usually followed by a rock if they dont listen, so most smart dogs will scatter. No one really calls dogs to come.
- cats: Cats dont really listen that well to commands, so most people here just throw something at them to get them to move along. Most cats are called by saying "michi!" in a really high pitched voice.
- cows: put your lips together and buzz them. Now make it a really high pitched buzz. Now make it really short and repeat. This is how to tell cows that they should move or you´re going to hit them with a stick or sandal.
- Pigs: "ushie, ushie!" to shoo usually followed by a sandal.
- Chickens: "ish ish ish!" while swinging a towel at them to get them to disperse. "cheep cheep cheep" to summon.
- Ducks: "pato pato pato" really fast. Ducks dont seem to be too smart here and usually just stand there wagging their rears staring at you. Then they waddle off.
- Children: "Ush!", if they´re doing something bad. Usually only for small children.
3. The freedom to eat freely
It´s not like I wasn´t forced to consume my share of fishsticks and unidentifiable casseroles as a child. I remember hiding peas in my mouth/napkin/pockets while waiting for the opportune moment to sneak the offending legumes off to the bathroom for a quick disposal.
Here in paraguay, it´s as if ive been transported back to those childhood days of figuring out ways to dispose of unpallatatable dishes. How about a delicious plate of battered and fried pig lard, just a big plate of it sitting there slowly pulsating. Do I usually try to eat it? Yeah, but that doesnt mean that I like it.
If you thinhk about american eating habits, self-serve is a very american way to enjoy a meal. Its as if you´re saying, as someone serving to the eater, " I know you can gauge your stomach better than me, so please take whatever serving size of rice with sour cheese that you´d like." But what really gets me here is that little of the food ive eaten here has been consumed of my own free will. I mean, ok, i put the fork with the food on it in my mouth. But its the social pressure that makes eating feel compulsory. I didn´t really want to injest a medio kilo of red bean salad with mayonase sauce, or soup with cow stomach as its defining flavor. So why´d i do it? Because here in paraguay, everything is doled out before it hits the table. Large servings. Don´t like the taste? Too bad; eat up. Thus i typically swallow my pride and dig in.
***************
I don´t mean to sound overly negative, its just that im starting to really understand the culture a bit better so its interesting to think about it a bit. I also woke up at 4:00am to catch a bus this mornning so im feeling cranky. I´m heading off to asuncion next weekend, so ill make a more proper entry then. Suffice to say that everything is moving along in terms of getting stuff for my new house, and that ill be moving in in about a month from now. Still need to pick up a new matress, a fridge (expensive) and a new fan. And then, after the neccesities, ill need to get a blender and maybe a hammock. I do have to take siestas right? Might as well be in a hammock. Oh, I also saw a brand of paper products in the supermarket today called "snob". It was hilarious so I bought a pack of napkins. Over and out.
1. We are connected to our feces
No one really drops rose-scented packages off in the porcelin throne, but here in paraguay there´s really no denying it: we shit shit. Every trip to the pooper is a surprise of consistency, textture and color. This is owing to the fact that flushing the papél sanitario is a no-no for fear of filling up the septic hole-in-the-ground faster than neccesary. Thus, each wipe lands you face to face with the remains of yesterdays dinner or lunch which may or may not be a pleasant sight depending on your predisposition to poop and the quality of said meal. I have certainly viewed enough earthen hues to satisfy the pallate of any begining landscape painter.
Given another site w/ less developed waste desposal systems, i would likely be doing my buisness in a letrine. Letrine is a pretty broad term here in paraguay. It could be a hole in the ground with a few boards over it to a detached room resembling a modern lavatory except for the flushing bit. Typical wiping material may include TP, leaves, or the ever popular corn-cob. Remember, front to back.
2. People make funny noises
Each domesticated animal in paraguay has a different sound associated with it depending if youd like to summon to shoo the beastie:
- dogs: make a sound like you´re kissing something the size of a pea, real high pitched, if you want them to leave you along or get out of your presence. This sound is usually followed by a rock if they dont listen, so most smart dogs will scatter. No one really calls dogs to come.
- cats: Cats dont really listen that well to commands, so most people here just throw something at them to get them to move along. Most cats are called by saying "michi!" in a really high pitched voice.
- cows: put your lips together and buzz them. Now make it a really high pitched buzz. Now make it really short and repeat. This is how to tell cows that they should move or you´re going to hit them with a stick or sandal.
- Pigs: "ushie, ushie!" to shoo usually followed by a sandal.
- Chickens: "ish ish ish!" while swinging a towel at them to get them to disperse. "cheep cheep cheep" to summon.
- Ducks: "pato pato pato" really fast. Ducks dont seem to be too smart here and usually just stand there wagging their rears staring at you. Then they waddle off.
- Children: "Ush!", if they´re doing something bad. Usually only for small children.
3. The freedom to eat freely
It´s not like I wasn´t forced to consume my share of fishsticks and unidentifiable casseroles as a child. I remember hiding peas in my mouth/napkin/pockets while waiting for the opportune moment to sneak the offending legumes off to the bathroom for a quick disposal.
Here in paraguay, it´s as if ive been transported back to those childhood days of figuring out ways to dispose of unpallatatable dishes. How about a delicious plate of battered and fried pig lard, just a big plate of it sitting there slowly pulsating. Do I usually try to eat it? Yeah, but that doesnt mean that I like it.
If you thinhk about american eating habits, self-serve is a very american way to enjoy a meal. Its as if you´re saying, as someone serving to the eater, " I know you can gauge your stomach better than me, so please take whatever serving size of rice with sour cheese that you´d like." But what really gets me here is that little of the food ive eaten here has been consumed of my own free will. I mean, ok, i put the fork with the food on it in my mouth. But its the social pressure that makes eating feel compulsory. I didn´t really want to injest a medio kilo of red bean salad with mayonase sauce, or soup with cow stomach as its defining flavor. So why´d i do it? Because here in paraguay, everything is doled out before it hits the table. Large servings. Don´t like the taste? Too bad; eat up. Thus i typically swallow my pride and dig in.
***************
I don´t mean to sound overly negative, its just that im starting to really understand the culture a bit better so its interesting to think about it a bit. I also woke up at 4:00am to catch a bus this mornning so im feeling cranky. I´m heading off to asuncion next weekend, so ill make a more proper entry then. Suffice to say that everything is moving along in terms of getting stuff for my new house, and that ill be moving in in about a month from now. Still need to pick up a new matress, a fridge (expensive) and a new fan. And then, after the neccesities, ill need to get a blender and maybe a hammock. I do have to take siestas right? Might as well be in a hammock. Oh, I also saw a brand of paper products in the supermarket today called "snob". It was hilarious so I bought a pack of napkins. Over and out.
January 4, 2008
okay, so ive updated my mailing address to include my mail box number, so now everything is set for me to receive any and all letters/packages. I looked into sending presents back home yesterday for birthdays and christmas, and fed-ex is 50 US dollars to send any kind of box. Super pricey but it gets to the US in 3 days. The regular mail is significantly cheaper, but less reliable and takes about 20 days to a month. Not sure what im going to do yet, but next time im in asuncion ill be mailing out a slew of post cards and packages for people. Stay tuned.
In terms of money for calls, yeah i could use some. There was supposed to be a rebate check that i was going to receive in the mail from CITI for a little over $200 - dad, if you could just follow the email instructions I sent ya and give the check to mom to deposit in my account I could use that money to pay for some calls. $200 also translates to about the price of a refrigerator here, so I may need to use this money for that item, as they are quite expensive. But yes, we shal see.
The person who deals with the mail just walked by and said that I got an envelope. This is good, i hope its the mushroom book! (nope - new yorkers dated the 20th of december...still good though!)
Mom - I believe i heard your voice mail but it was incredibly garbled and i had no idea who it was. ha! Ill be doing some of the work myself, and then hiring my contact who does electrical wiring and plumbing to help me instal everything else. Ill be laying some concrete and for a new path to the bathroom. Ill also hire someone to plaster half the house so as to keep all the bugs and other nasties from burrowing through the walls. The trail is well used, its just that no one would probably have done anything about it untill it became impassible. I just got tired of getting snaged and knocked over as i tried to avoid being skewered by spines and thorns on my bike. I only learned how to crochett a candella, which is just a line of woves thread. Ill probably learn how to make more later as time goes on. How was new years in new york??
Azy! - Happy Birthday!!! You're now...23, ya? Have fun in your new connnndo. You're, like, a real adult now or like, something. hee! Call meeeeee XD.
I consumed pig head, chicken heart, and horse salami over the holidays. Just thought i'd throw that out there.
Well, im not sure when ill be able to update next as the computers near my site arnt really functioning, but hopefully ill be able to work something out somehow in some way. Happy hollidays to everyone, and PLEASE enjoy the cold weather! Ha!
In terms of money for calls, yeah i could use some. There was supposed to be a rebate check that i was going to receive in the mail from CITI for a little over $200 - dad, if you could just follow the email instructions I sent ya and give the check to mom to deposit in my account I could use that money to pay for some calls. $200 also translates to about the price of a refrigerator here, so I may need to use this money for that item, as they are quite expensive. But yes, we shal see.
The person who deals with the mail just walked by and said that I got an envelope. This is good, i hope its the mushroom book! (nope - new yorkers dated the 20th of december...still good though!)
Mom - I believe i heard your voice mail but it was incredibly garbled and i had no idea who it was. ha! Ill be doing some of the work myself, and then hiring my contact who does electrical wiring and plumbing to help me instal everything else. Ill be laying some concrete and for a new path to the bathroom. Ill also hire someone to plaster half the house so as to keep all the bugs and other nasties from burrowing through the walls. The trail is well used, its just that no one would probably have done anything about it untill it became impassible. I just got tired of getting snaged and knocked over as i tried to avoid being skewered by spines and thorns on my bike. I only learned how to crochett a candella, which is just a line of woves thread. Ill probably learn how to make more later as time goes on. How was new years in new york??
Azy! - Happy Birthday!!! You're now...23, ya? Have fun in your new connnndo. You're, like, a real adult now or like, something. hee! Call meeeeee XD.
I consumed pig head, chicken heart, and horse salami over the holidays. Just thought i'd throw that out there.
Well, im not sure when ill be able to update next as the computers near my site arnt really functioning, but hopefully ill be able to work something out somehow in some way. Happy hollidays to everyone, and PLEASE enjoy the cold weather! Ha!
January 3, 2008
Okay. Im in asuncion finnally after riding on the collectivo for about 4.5 hours. My first update after a while so ive got a lot to enter in. The internet place near my site is non functional so for now im going to be relegated to usin the computers in the larger cities. But okay, so:
Got to my site with my huge frikin backpack and walked to my contacts house through the mud for a few k, fell in the mud, and enjoyed my first taste of gettin around. It wasnt too bad, but it certainly wasn't fun with 40 lbs of gear. Im stayin in the same place that i was at for long field so i know the family and everythin is pretty chill. Ive been living in a town thats on the outskirts of the other communities that i need to be workin in so its a bit hard to travel around to the other places. For example it took me about an hour to ride my bike to one of the neighboring towns after getting lost once and riding unneccisarily up a very large hill. But im mean, im not really complaining because when other time am i going to get to be able to ride my bike around in the country all day, talk to people all day and call it work?
I've been hanging out mostly with my site contact for the first two week and his family while also visiting with another teacher in a neighboring town. Its been good, and im getting used to the fact that I have to "make friends" with people before they even want to talk about working on anything. Its really not like the states when people can have professional relationships. I mean, for example, it took me 4 visits to the same teacher talking about whatever, making fruit salad drink for christmas and learning how to crochett before she would even have a converation with me about projects she was interested in for the school. Phew.
I think my second bout of giardia has finnaly dissapated thank god, but i still dont know what the source is, so ill probably end up getting it again...yay. Having giardia makes riding a bike on bumpy trails to places that are far and away slightly unpleasant. Speaking of trails, i cleaned up the trail that i ride my bike on daily so I can actually ride on it instead of getting stuck in thorny vines and falling over into ditches. I also got eaten by mosquitos. Eaten.
I'm making plans to move into my own home in about a month and a half, so im pretty excited. Its a nice place with two rooms and a detached bathroom, but im still going to have to make a number of improvements to get the place in order such as replacing all the lights, new plaster, fans, new sink, refrigerator, stove, matress, etc... this is going to be quite a bit of cash, but its offset by the fact that im not going to have to pay any rent while im here. Or utilities. Which means my most of my paycheck (after im destitute for about 3 months) will be going toward delicious food, yay!
Christmas was very unchristmas like here. I didnt like it very much, despite my best efforts to enjoy myself. Hearing white christmas and rudolfo la rena to an 80's synth beat coupled with pouring rain and nasty humidity made me want to stick my head in the freezer (which i actually did). They don't really do presents here, but they do have lots of family visit during the week of christmas and new years. Joy for me, of course, because i get to deal with more people (drunk) asking me questions to things I wont be able to answer. Whatev.
I went to this horse dancing thing the other week which was kinda fun. My contact brought a bunch of beer, and we watched people do turns in this big field which slightly resembled a stadium. There were about 8 thousand people there, kinda a big deal. But the whole thing didnt resemble dancing very much. But there was beer so it was okay. Then there was dancing to the polka in front of this big stage. This was also "fun" and quite easy, considering that the dance pretty much consists of bouncing your weight twice onto one foot and then twice onto the other. Boing boing. At least i can say that i did it.
New years was basically a continuation of christmas with more family arriving and more bbq and beer drinking. At least there were bottle rockets and firecrackers. I was supposed to go to another sortija (horse dance) but i decided to pass, given that the other one was supposidly the best. This whole season has left me feeling kinda worn out and disconnected. Im irritated that the phone thing hasnt been working out, ive been wantin to talk with people and hope to have it work better in the future. Ive been feeling a bit worn down by all these people incesently questioning me, so im actually pretty glad i had an excuse to get into the city.
School starts around my site at the end of february so im attempting to have something in the works so i can try to be helpful with the teachers that im getting to know right now, but i guess ill see how that works out. Im okay with just meeting people and having rudimentary conversation, but id like to be active doing something else as well. Ive still not received anything in the mail in terms of packages, so hopefully they'll come sometime in the near future. Im going to go shopping today for crafty items in the market, so hopefully ill find some good stuff to send home.
Alright! So for now, that's all ive got. But ill try to think up some more stuff to add for tomorrow. Ciao!
Got to my site with my huge frikin backpack and walked to my contacts house through the mud for a few k, fell in the mud, and enjoyed my first taste of gettin around. It wasnt too bad, but it certainly wasn't fun with 40 lbs of gear. Im stayin in the same place that i was at for long field so i know the family and everythin is pretty chill. Ive been living in a town thats on the outskirts of the other communities that i need to be workin in so its a bit hard to travel around to the other places. For example it took me about an hour to ride my bike to one of the neighboring towns after getting lost once and riding unneccisarily up a very large hill. But im mean, im not really complaining because when other time am i going to get to be able to ride my bike around in the country all day, talk to people all day and call it work?
I've been hanging out mostly with my site contact for the first two week and his family while also visiting with another teacher in a neighboring town. Its been good, and im getting used to the fact that I have to "make friends" with people before they even want to talk about working on anything. Its really not like the states when people can have professional relationships. I mean, for example, it took me 4 visits to the same teacher talking about whatever, making fruit salad drink for christmas and learning how to crochett before she would even have a converation with me about projects she was interested in for the school. Phew.
I think my second bout of giardia has finnaly dissapated thank god, but i still dont know what the source is, so ill probably end up getting it again...yay. Having giardia makes riding a bike on bumpy trails to places that are far and away slightly unpleasant. Speaking of trails, i cleaned up the trail that i ride my bike on daily so I can actually ride on it instead of getting stuck in thorny vines and falling over into ditches. I also got eaten by mosquitos. Eaten.
I'm making plans to move into my own home in about a month and a half, so im pretty excited. Its a nice place with two rooms and a detached bathroom, but im still going to have to make a number of improvements to get the place in order such as replacing all the lights, new plaster, fans, new sink, refrigerator, stove, matress, etc... this is going to be quite a bit of cash, but its offset by the fact that im not going to have to pay any rent while im here. Or utilities. Which means my most of my paycheck (after im destitute for about 3 months) will be going toward delicious food, yay!
Christmas was very unchristmas like here. I didnt like it very much, despite my best efforts to enjoy myself. Hearing white christmas and rudolfo la rena to an 80's synth beat coupled with pouring rain and nasty humidity made me want to stick my head in the freezer (which i actually did). They don't really do presents here, but they do have lots of family visit during the week of christmas and new years. Joy for me, of course, because i get to deal with more people (drunk) asking me questions to things I wont be able to answer. Whatev.
I went to this horse dancing thing the other week which was kinda fun. My contact brought a bunch of beer, and we watched people do turns in this big field which slightly resembled a stadium. There were about 8 thousand people there, kinda a big deal. But the whole thing didnt resemble dancing very much. But there was beer so it was okay. Then there was dancing to the polka in front of this big stage. This was also "fun" and quite easy, considering that the dance pretty much consists of bouncing your weight twice onto one foot and then twice onto the other. Boing boing. At least i can say that i did it.
New years was basically a continuation of christmas with more family arriving and more bbq and beer drinking. At least there were bottle rockets and firecrackers. I was supposed to go to another sortija (horse dance) but i decided to pass, given that the other one was supposidly the best. This whole season has left me feeling kinda worn out and disconnected. Im irritated that the phone thing hasnt been working out, ive been wantin to talk with people and hope to have it work better in the future. Ive been feeling a bit worn down by all these people incesently questioning me, so im actually pretty glad i had an excuse to get into the city.
School starts around my site at the end of february so im attempting to have something in the works so i can try to be helpful with the teachers that im getting to know right now, but i guess ill see how that works out. Im okay with just meeting people and having rudimentary conversation, but id like to be active doing something else as well. Ive still not received anything in the mail in terms of packages, so hopefully they'll come sometime in the near future. Im going to go shopping today for crafty items in the market, so hopefully ill find some good stuff to send home.
Alright! So for now, that's all ive got. But ill try to think up some more stuff to add for tomorrow. Ciao!
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