Presentación a mi Sitio

For something I wasn't looking forward to, how ridiculously exciting it was to have completed my official "Site Presentation"!

It took several days to prepare- finding a location, making invitations, visiting practically every institution in town to deliver invitations, etc. and nearly didn't happen at all due to one of the largest hail/wind storms Paraguay has seen in some time (knocked the power out for over 12 hours and devastated both homes and cities)- but the extra effort on the part of all parties was certainly worth the effort. Around 40-50 people were present for the event representing the various projects that I am currently working on in town as well as the escuelas (primary schools), colegios (high schools), and governmental institutions. My primary contact group the Constructores de la Sociedad brought bocaditos y bebidos (appetizers and drinks) as well as a big "Bienvenidos" ("Welcome!") sign hung on the wall and I whipped up a cake to share around. The Community Economic Development sector APCD Assistant prepared an hour-long description of the history of Peace Corps, the CED sector, contact support, safety/security, etc. and I developed a 5 minute overview of my life in photos and a few words to present. Even after the big storm, even after starting over 45 minutes late waiting for my contact to arrive (la hora Paraguaya)- it was great! People were truly tuned-in to the presentations, sharing thoughts and reflections about our projects so far over appetizers, and even my APCD was impressed as to the massive organization that the community took on to get the whole thing together. I'm soooo proud of my site and my groups!

So now, officially, I have been welcomed to the community. As my boss joked, "Great! Now you can finally start to work!"

NVAC & Asuncion

I officially made it one month in site before my first trip to Asuncion this weekend. As I understand from past volunteers and current friends, this makes me just about insane. And, to be fair, I was feeling a bit on the verge of cracking before the wee descanso. Thank the big man (or woman) up there for NVAC (not actually sure what that stands for now that I think of it... but it's a bit like student government for Peace Corps Volunteers- one rep from each geographical area). For my region in Departamento Caazapa, I am the NVAC representative. Which could sound important, until I say that I'm one of only three people I actually represent. :-P Yep, impressive! (Sense the sarcasm) Actually though, what that does say is that just about nobody is out here- so in a way it is impressive to be one of the few. Hmm... makes me smile inside.

Due to several days of rain prior to my trip, it was a bit difficult to get out of town originally. Luckily one of my closest neighbors to the south and I put our contacts together to find a night bus leaving my town for Asuncion that would get us there just in time to have dinner with our host families in the greater Asuncion area. What luck! If it hadn't of been for that bus we may never have made it at all- apparently all day buses had been cancelled. After a record-setting shortest-trip-I-will-ever-make-to-the-capital, I woke up in the same clothes as the day before at 5am at the terminal just in time to catch the very first bus of the day back out of town. Another 45 minute ride and I made it "home" just in time for breakfast with my host sister before school. It was so nice to go back to a familiar town. I can only hope it feels the same way returning to my site after several months. Nothing overtly special about the experience, just a shared mate, nap, terere, and casual conversation. I don't need much.

The Peace Corps committee meetings kicked off in a hurry at 1pm on Friday. First, the CoCoMu meeting with programs Ahendu (translation- "I hear") an American/Paraguayan concert series and Ahecha (translation- "I see") a photography class and exhibition of youth photos from around the country. If any of you readers ever make your way down here, I hope you have time to check out these super events! Second, popping around running errands such as getting my mail, picking up vitamins at the med office, finally getting my Paraguayan ID, helping out on the new civic ed manual another PCV has been putting together, etc. Third, Library Committee where I got to share my reads for the month (my personal goal is to read at least 2 books a month while I'm here- one for fun and one academically inclined- which may not sound like much, but it helps to keep me on track) and learn all about just how very involved PCVs are in community libraries. If there is one lasting legacy of Peace Corps Paraguay- libraries I feel will definitely be it. My site's library, in fact, was started by a PCV. Case-in-point.

By 6pm I was pretty much dead. Time for a sleep in the hotel- the first time I'd slept alone in my own room for quite some time. There's something to be said for all the personal space we get in the States- you just never realize how nice it is until it's gone.

The big celebration, wine with dinner and the lot, started around 9pm. We found a wonderful bookstore/coffee shop near the hotel to relax and collect our thoughts. I was out cold by 1am- finally a real rest for the weary.

The next day I woke to a stellar continental breakfast- yes a real breakfast with toast and fruit and yogurt and coffee and all the wonderful things breakfast can be. For those of you that know me well, you may be awestruck that I am actually enjoying breakfast here, but I guess I finally decided that I like to eat in the morning. Yes, I'm growing up and out of my adolescence. Por fin! My breakfast binge carried on into my first ever NVAC meeting at 10am with bottomless juice and even a bagel with lochs for brunch. This was indeed the day of food (later on I also had a salad and an amazing veggie fajita plate at the PCV favorite Mexican place) and it was amazing. Anyhow- I learned a ton during the NVAC meeting from the happenings of every committee from the Seed Bank to Gender and Development to Thanksgiving. I also was briefed on security, comings and goings of PC staff, an up-and-coming Peace Corps University for sharing the wealth of resources out there amongst volunteers, and new potential site assignments for G-34. All that knowledge flowing through my veins- how great to feel informed and inspired once again. Everyone says that meetings are quite boring things, but I rarely find that to be the case. There is always something to be gained from throwing around ideas, voting, debating, laughing. I left with so many more ideas and plans then when I came.

Saturday night I spent with old and new PCV friends to celebrate the Coordinator for Community Economic Development's birthday. What fun! While I am always partial to the dancing portions of any night out, I had a lovely time talking to volunteers at all stages of their service- on the way out, mid-point, brand-new -it's certainly a ride unlike any other. I've been here for nearly 4 months and yet I feel so very fresh to the experience, not yet hardened by the crusty red mud, a mixture of failure, mis-trust, and loneliness. Will I look and feel the same as them after my first year? The second?

The long bus ride home (during the day this time), I couldn't bring myself to sleep. Flying by town after town, comparing the scenery of one departmento to the next, I wondered what my place is here. Some cities with park benches, sidewalks, and paved roads... others with little more than wooden shacks along the highway. All of it rolling on by. How should I start again in my town? Where to pick up after a weekend such as this? A call from my new host family broke the pensive humming of the micro- I've got dinner tonight with Pa'i and a meeting with the cooperativa tomorrow. So much for the wonder of it all. Back in Caazapa, back online.

Asfalta

As I have mentioned before, my site is pretty well removed from the nearest paved road. Several
hours to the north and south, I am surrounded by a sea of red dirt (or mud when it rains) and expansive grassy fields. However, I recently discovered a 12km stretch of asphalt just south of the city on what will someday be a paved international Ruta 8 through the county connecting Argentina to Bolivia and Brazil. So, why this one stretch of asphalt without any connections to any other paved roads? Although I can't really say at this point one way or the other, it looks like there are 2 predominant theories.

1) Politics- Paraguay does not have the best track record for political transparency. Transparency International ranks Paraguay at 150/180 countries (2.1), and was considered the most corrupt country in South America for several years in the running (2nd in all of the Americas only after Haiti). While things are certainly improving, political corruption continues to be a struggle. Thus Peace Corps' focus on civic education and public participation as part of Community Economic Development. Also explaining the reason why many people in town feel that the small stretch of asphalt south of my site was installed without a connection to any larger town (including my town). Apparently, so says the chisme, it has something to do with a political favor from the past. Who knows?!?!

2) This road has been under construction for at least the last 5 years (I've got Peace Corps Volunteer reports from several years back talking about this process back when they were here on service), and they've decided in that time to have the paved highway go around the city rather than through the city to maintain the tranquilo atmosphere and safety in town. The with start of a new international highway, it could really ruin the environment! So, the pavement stopped to be redirected at some future date. Eventually they'll finish it up, but probably not for another several years.

Long and short of the story, lack of asphalt has been a point of contention in this town for decades and continues to be central to many discussions of development today. The challenge- get the job of development done with or without it.

Fiesta Patronal

Paraguay is a predominately Catholic country with approximately 96% of the population identified as such. That being said, many of the holidays in Paraguay relate to religious events, saints, etc. Fiesta Patronal is celebrated in every city when the day for the city's patron saint comes about. In my site, we've been gearing up for Fiesta Patronal celebrating the Virgen de la Natividad for the last 10 days with misa (mass) every night, cultural celebrations, and the like. Check out the activities I've attended in this last couple of weeks:

Monday-Wednesday- Nightly Misas with Noches Culturales

Saturday- Festejo de Fiesta Patronal

Monday- Visit from various Paraguayan Pa'ikuera

Tuesday- Torin y Massive Concert with Famosas Cachacas!

Wednesday- Procesion de la Virgen

In short an amazing couple of weeks! Lots of singing, dancing, eating, and celebrating. I can only hope that we have more fun times like this in the future!

Humo y Lluvia

It's 2pm in southern Paraguay, but it very much feels like 6pm and nearing dusk anywhere else. The weather forecast for the last week: SMOKE. The weather forecast today: ACID RAIN. The sky outside it eerily orange, the rain awkwardly black. This is my first lesson (of what will likely be many) in Paraguay's struggle with pollution.

For the last week now, throughout the country, Paraguay has been covered in a dusty, smokey haze. On travel to my site from Asuncion, there was no stretch of land without a visible cloudy mixture hanging in the air. Often, especially once south of Villarrica, the culprit fires could be seen off in the distance.

Why? Two reasons:

1) Lack of Waste Management Systems- Most towns in Paraguay do not have organized waste disposal sites if any waste management system at all. Thus, once a family has collected a sufficient amount of trash to warrant action, they will burn the trash right in their back yards or out in the street- food waste, paper, plastic, etc. As one might imagine, the toxins released in such burns are terrible for the environment as well as local health. When I first arrived in Paraguay, I became ill with respiratory infections almost any time I walked by one of these burning trash heaps. Now, after several weeks without rain, all the of smoke is simply hanging in the air- heavy and unmoving.

2) Deforestation- Paraguay was once home to a beautiful, tropical forest. However, over the last several decades the trees have been coming down leaving vast, barren stretches of land. Online reports say that Paraguay has now lost 90% of its forests in the last 50 years. In order to clean and maintain the land, campesinos have taken to burning the fields. Sometimes these burns can get a bit out of control, as has been the case in the last week. Without an infrastructure to stop the burns, lack of bomberos, agua, etc. there is little to stop the spread and subsequent pollution.

The result: the recent crazy weather.

What can we do about it? Well, this is the Peace Corps- so I'll keep you updated!

Juramento

Whohooo!!!! This morning at 10am at the US Embassy in Asuncion, Paraguay I took the oath to become an official Peace Corps Volunteer.  Yes this last three months was just a teaser- now for the real thing. 

It's kind of a crazy thing to think about: I am swearing-in as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I have been working towards this so long, but the challenge has yet to begin. On Tuesday, I will arrive at my site and begin working toward the Community Economic Development of a small Latin American pueblo. I don't speak either language (Spanish or Guarani) like it's my own, I don't know anyone there, and I hardly have a clue where I'm going to begin. That being said, this is the life I have signed up for... and despite all the challenges I'm stoked!

So...

I do solemnly affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foriegn and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about the enter.

First Impressions

My first visit and first week at my site in Departmento Caazapa presented many new opportunities and experiences. The most obvious and striking impression when one first arrives, is that I am quite removed in Caazapa. From my town it is 96km to the north (most common route) and 60km to the south (only one bus per day this way) from a paved road. Which translates into a very very long bus ride to the capital- it took me 8.5 hours to get to my training site in the Asuncion area! This makes for quite an adventurous bus ride- tiny bridges of wood over large rivers, skidding buses in the tierra roja, etc. It also means that when it rains, there is no going anywhere due to flooded roads. The landscape in this patch of Paraguay is quite beautiful- large flat valleys with scattered small hills much like the mid-west of the United States or much of England in the UK. The red dirt roads really stick out in contrast to all the green. :-) 

The town has about 5000 people in the center with a total of 35,000 in the surrounding area. It's very clean and quiet for Paraguay... much more so than my training site for sure. Bring so small, it appears to be a pretty tight-knit community. While the primary livelihood is definitely agriculture for the local population, there is also a huge focus on education. Quite unlike other pueblos I’ve visited, they have two universities and a teacher-training institute in town- a lot of education centers per capita. The result is lots and lots of teachers around; for example, my host family members are virtually all profes.

My main project is working with a group called the "Constructores de la Soceidad.” Basically, they want to increase civic participation in the area and help support their fellow neighbors. My group is comprised of about 70-80 members which appear to have joined through the local Catholic church, most from my town but representatives from the compañias also have a strong standing. My main contact is a very influential Catholic priest who has been a key motivator in the creation of the group. They are brand new (started up less than 6 months ago) and still have a lot to organize and consider as a new-formed team. Currently, there are no existing NGOs in my town, so starting this organization for the purpose of general community support is definitely a learning curb. My job, as such, is to help them get organized as a team so that they can start working to achieve their goals. Some projects they are looking into include opening a comedor comunitario (soup kitchen) and developing viviendas economicas (economic housing for the poor and elderly). I’m thrilled to be working with such a motivated and unique group in my community!

Side projects are plentiful, thanks to a long history of Peace Corps volunteers in the area. Some activities that seem to be of interest to the community include basic finance classes at the local cooperativa, presentations or charlas/talleres at the colegios on project management and community integration/civic participation, and English classes at the Instituto de Docentes. Clearly, there is no lack of work for my next 2 years.

All that being said- my first job in site is just getting to know people and making connections. I started the process during my short stay last week, but I have a long way to go. There are many more schools, government organizations, and businesses I have yet to visit and interview for my estudio comunitario required by Peace Corps. Naturally, I also have tons more people to meet and friends to make.

A final and very important lesson I took from my visit is a keen awareness of the language barrier and implications thereof. Although I've been studying Guarani for virtually all of training and practicing Spanish daily with my host family, I still cannot express complex concepts or feelings in Spanish nor can I understand pretty much anything people are saying in Guarani. In large part, this is because the accent is hugely different between the Asuncion area and Caazapa... so I hope that with more adjustment time it will get better. However, I also realized that the Guarani I am learning is professional in training, but the people don't really use professional Guarani where I live. Guarani is a language of complex expression and therefore is used for jokes, stories, songs, and social settings. So, It looks like I’ve got a lot more learning to do in my last 2 weeks of training.

For now, please send me luck and patience! Swear-in is rapidly approaching: August 20^th I will become a REAL Volunteer!