Hey! here is my new mailing address...I will also update my blog soon! Happy Holidays!
Jessica Wackenhut Lomeli
Correo Central
Encarnacion, Paraguay
South America
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
The long pilgramage to Caacupe...
About a week and a half ago on December 7th, my friends Jessica, Brenda and I decided to go on the pilgramage with Brenda’s family to the Basilica de Caacupe. Caacupe is the most important religious symbol in Paraguay and the dedication to the Virgin de Caacupe resembles that of the Virgin de Guadalupe in Mexico. This is one of the more important days in Paraguay, which is why most people get off work the 7th at mid day and have the 8th off. December 8th is the holiday and when the actual mass is held at the Basilica. However, since this is the beginning of a ridiculously hot summer in Paraguay, everyone begins walking for miles and miles from their towns on the 7th to arrive in Caacupe for the morning mass. We began our journey at 9:30pm on the 7th. Guarambare on a bus to the basilica would probably be about 2.5 hours, but we took a 2 hour bus to a city called Ypycarai which is where most people begin their walk. All of the buses were extremely packed and there was barely room too breath…Soooo happy it wasn’t as hot that night as it had been the previous nights. So we arrived in this town at about 11:15pm and began the long walk.
We started out happy as the streets were completely packed with people, and there was plenty of food to be found along the way as were medical and health checks. Around 2am, we began to get tired from continuing walking and the crazy younger kids who were jumping around with reggaeton blasting and beers in hand. Yes, weird many people were drinking heavily on a pilgrimage to see the virgin. We stopped to rest at a gas station and sat against a gas pump in pure joy to rest our feet. Brenda’s mom saved our lives as we gained much more energy with the Trader Joe’s Energy Trail Mix we brought with us. So we began again, more delirousness as the walk went on…and then we saw a Churro stand….CHURRRROOOOOS IN PARAGUAYYYYY!!!! Never thought that would happen, I thought it was a mirage until the 3 of us ran up to the stand at about 4am and stared at the man selling them to see if they were actually Churros…They were…at this point, I had never been happier. As we indulged in the Mexican goodness in Paraguay, we continued to walk up and down many long hills and begged to rest as Brenda’s Paraguayan family marched on.
They kept telling us we will rest very soon…Yea, we should of known that when a Paraguayan says that, it means 1.5 hours later when our feet are numb from walking. I guess the wait was worth it as we arrived in the city with hundreds of thousands of people at about 5:45am in a park with free bread and cocido. Never have we been happier. After this, we walked into the city to look for a random sidewalk in front of someones house to sleep. It was so random that since there are no hotels, everyone brings a sheet with them to lay on and take naps in front of people’s houses…So there we were, Brenda, Jessica, and me and cuddled to sleep on the sidewalk for about an hour and a half, with many blisters on our feet and tiredness. Never has an one hour nap felt so relieving. People who actually live in the city basically rented out their showers and bathrooms for all the people walking in to use because there are soooo many people there. We didn’t bother getting close to the basilica as it was impossible due to the amount of people who had been there for days, so we began our journey back to Guarambare.
When everyone who walked into one city and then all try to leave the next morning, there is bound to be major bus problems. We waited for about 3 hours after walking to random places, talking more impromptu 5 minute naps on sidewalks in hopes of seeing a bus with space, or just watching people hang out the doors of the buses just to be on…soooo not safe. Out of sheer luck, we finally got on a bus, although we were all basically on random Paraguayan men standing, it didn’t matter as long as we were heading back to Guarambare. After 2 hours packed like sardines in the heat on the bus, we got off to take one last hour ride to our town. Never have I wanted to sit down so bad. When we arrived in our town, we were too tired to walk the 25 minutes home, so we sat in a plaza to rest. We were so happy to be back because we hurt so bad, but it was a great experience to be had as it was amazing to see the sheer amount of people walking such a large distance to this church.
Also, I would like to wish everyone Happy Holidays in the U.S. as Christmas begins, and hopefully a busy tourist season for the sake of jobs in Tahoe. I also want to tell Kelly Wysong, Michelle Aguilar and family, and Bruce Doherty, that I am thinking about all of you a lot and hopefully the new year brings you happiness and health.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
From Jewel of the Sierra to Jewel of the South
For 8 weeks Peace Corps trainees worry on end about where they may reside for the next 2 years as their fate is in the hand of their APCD. As we wonder where we may be placed, we not only wonder about whether or not we will have running water or not, or if we will have a supermercado, but how close we will be to our friends we had become so close to the past 8 weeks. Week 8 arrived with lots of stress and anxiety as we each received our envelopes with our future site information. Breath in, breath out…my site is in ENCARNACION!!!! Yes, I am aware this probably means nothing to anyone who does not know about Paraguay, but it is an amazing city…I believe I am in the most urban area out of everyone in my group.
Encarnacion is the 3rd largest city in Paraguay with about 70,000 people long the Rio Parana, only a 10minute bus ride for about 50 cents into the major metropolitan city of Posadas, Argentina. I love my life. This city is in hills, with the centro being on the highest point overlooking the large river to see Argentina and the amazing sunsets. It somewhat reminds me of San Francisco, except for the fact that I am in a developing nation with less accommodations, but nonetheless, SOOO MANY SUPERMARKETSSS!! I even have a delish Japanese restaurant with sushi (yes weird, in a land-locked country), a plaza made to just exercise in (sooo rare in Paraguay), and gyms on end. Side note, my city is also well known for hosting Carnival for various weeks from the end of January to February after the Brazilian Carnival, awesome. I am so in love, but only became more in love after I went off to visit my future site for 5 days.
After a 5 hour asphalted ride on an air-conditioned bus (asphalted rides ARE NOT common in Paraguay), I arrived in the beautiful city of Encarnación. I was greeted by the Vice Principle, Principle, and a few Professoras from the future school I would be working in. They were overwhelmingly welcoming and happy to work with my vegetarian diet…soooo much more accommodating than my previous experience during training.
I will be living in Barrio Buena Vista, just outside the city and my school I will primarily be working in has about 1300 students. What makes my site different is that it is a displaced community as a result of the Yacyreta dam, which is a partnership between Argentina and Paraguay. This dam, just up the river, is causing inundations throughout the city as the low points are being covered and becoming part of the Parana River. The dam has bought land, built basically suburbs and moved the people from the inundated areas into these new developments.
I feel very lucky I got this site chosen for me, and can’t wait to get settled in there despite being far away from my good friends…On a better note, I will be swearing in to become a Peace Corps Volunteer this Friday at the U.S. Embassy, equipped with a gym AND pool we can use…haha, so random.
Until next time when I am in Encarnacion, Chaumante!
Monday, November 16, 2009
My Vans have 4 Wheel Drive...
Sometimes as citizens of the U.S., we understand that there is a deep amount of poverty found throughout the world, especially in what we may refer to as developing nations or the now more politically correct, the Global South. As I venture through my Peace Corps service to live in one of the poorest countries in South America according to GDP (Gross Development Product), I learn more about how poverty affects people throughout the country and how the U.S. defines poverty in comparison to the poverty within that nation. With this said, I will go into my refurbished view of countries that are transitioning from subsistence based living into a capitalist economy and how this effects them and my role in development work.
This past week our Environmental Education group of 12 was split into 3 different groups because we were going on our weeklong Longfield Practice. In this practice, three different volunteer sites were chosen that we could stay in to know another area with different ways of living, and how to work in the schools in another area. As our groups we re predetermined by our tech teacher, I learned that I would be going to the most campo (country/rural) site, where there were no stores, and the closest high school was a 45 minute walk away, and very few families in the town. There were only 2 other trainees in my group because there were not enough families for us to stay with if more people came. I also found out that this town, for the most part, does not have running water and exotic fruits and vegetables are nonexistent except what you have your own garden.
After an hour drive on a paved road, then 30 more minutes on a bumpy dirt road from the nearest pueblo, we had arrived in Tapytangua Guasu. As I arrived at the house I would be staying at, I quickly realized that my family barely spoke Spanish, but always spoke in Guarani. They inhabit a large piece of land with A LOT of cows, ducks, roosters, chickens, pigs, 2 dogs, a cat, many frogs, a variety of tropical fruit trees, and a large garden. Needless to say, they produce most things in their home, creating what North Americans would call a Permaculture home. I basically drank milk straight from their cow everyday in my Cocido (a traditional warm drink of yerba mate, burned sugar, and milk), fresh cheese, acerola jelly, miel negra (made from sugar cane), used a latrine and bucket bathed. Since latrines and the showers don’t have running water, they are outside away from the house and very out in the open, so you feel all wind and if people walk by, they can see all…Needless to say, an interesting experience, nice in the heat, horrid in the rain and cold. With the luck we have, as soon as we arrived in this site, it began down pouring rain with lots of wind everyday. The thing about rain here is that well, everything gets shut down, especially schools. So, basically, environmental education is put at a stand still as it rains. The first day it was sunny so we were walking to a school about 45 minutes away and about 35 minutes into our walk, the weather changed and we were caught in the storm, me in my vans, best shoes ever. After hiding out in a random house for half the day due to the severity of the rain, we walked back through rives and lots of mud…My shoes have done it all and I am proud to say they have 4x4. I really think vans should sponsor me during my Peace Corps service….haha. I wish…
So beyond this, I had a 16-year-old sister and 17 year old brother here who both went to high school. The difference between a high school student here, and basically one anywhere else, is that these kids walked an hour each way to school everyday to begin class at 7am, so they left the house at 6am. When they came home, they didn’t come to play video games or watch TV, they helped around the house to help cook, clean, or take the cows to graze. A different lifestyle. The way to cook was in an outdoor kitchen with a fire on the ground. The blender goes by turning it, no electricity required. There is literally no trash whatsoever in this area because the little that does come that is packaged is re-used throughout the house in a variety of ways from a roller pin from a glass soda bottle for rolling dough, to plastic soda bottles or old boxes to be used for growing trees or plants. Something really clicked in my mind as I saw how this subsistence family had to integrate into a capitalist system. While many kids aspire to go to college in the U.S. despite your socioeconomic status due to help from the government in the form of loans or scholarships, in Paraguay, this is not the case. My sister and brother really wanted to go to college to continue studying, but my host parents both supporting this decision also were stuck because they barely had money in their living situation, let alone the high cost to send their kids to live in a city for school. This in itself to me represented the struggle in many developing nations in how families in the transition of these different types of economic situations may struggle in many ways if they wish to pursue education. Maybe this is why it is that only about 5% of Paraguayans actually go to college, and most likely a significantly lower portion actually graduates. This realization really struck me hard as I understood the privilege we have in the U.S. and the dualities and hardships that these people face on a daily basis to survive with little to no help from the government. On a brighter note, this week gave me more of a context and understanding of the different ways people live in various regions throughout Paraguay.
This Wednesday, I receive my site assignment for the next 2 yearsssss!!!!
Oh...and I will add my pics soon, once I get the tools to do this...
This past week our Environmental Education group of 12 was split into 3 different groups because we were going on our weeklong Longfield Practice. In this practice, three different volunteer sites were chosen that we could stay in to know another area with different ways of living, and how to work in the schools in another area. As our groups we re predetermined by our tech teacher, I learned that I would be going to the most campo (country/rural) site, where there were no stores, and the closest high school was a 45 minute walk away, and very few families in the town. There were only 2 other trainees in my group because there were not enough families for us to stay with if more people came. I also found out that this town, for the most part, does not have running water and exotic fruits and vegetables are nonexistent except what you have your own garden.
After an hour drive on a paved road, then 30 more minutes on a bumpy dirt road from the nearest pueblo, we had arrived in Tapytangua Guasu. As I arrived at the house I would be staying at, I quickly realized that my family barely spoke Spanish, but always spoke in Guarani. They inhabit a large piece of land with A LOT of cows, ducks, roosters, chickens, pigs, 2 dogs, a cat, many frogs, a variety of tropical fruit trees, and a large garden. Needless to say, they produce most things in their home, creating what North Americans would call a Permaculture home. I basically drank milk straight from their cow everyday in my Cocido (a traditional warm drink of yerba mate, burned sugar, and milk), fresh cheese, acerola jelly, miel negra (made from sugar cane), used a latrine and bucket bathed. Since latrines and the showers don’t have running water, they are outside away from the house and very out in the open, so you feel all wind and if people walk by, they can see all…Needless to say, an interesting experience, nice in the heat, horrid in the rain and cold. With the luck we have, as soon as we arrived in this site, it began down pouring rain with lots of wind everyday. The thing about rain here is that well, everything gets shut down, especially schools. So, basically, environmental education is put at a stand still as it rains. The first day it was sunny so we were walking to a school about 45 minutes away and about 35 minutes into our walk, the weather changed and we were caught in the storm, me in my vans, best shoes ever. After hiding out in a random house for half the day due to the severity of the rain, we walked back through rives and lots of mud…My shoes have done it all and I am proud to say they have 4x4. I really think vans should sponsor me during my Peace Corps service….haha. I wish…
So beyond this, I had a 16-year-old sister and 17 year old brother here who both went to high school. The difference between a high school student here, and basically one anywhere else, is that these kids walked an hour each way to school everyday to begin class at 7am, so they left the house at 6am. When they came home, they didn’t come to play video games or watch TV, they helped around the house to help cook, clean, or take the cows to graze. A different lifestyle. The way to cook was in an outdoor kitchen with a fire on the ground. The blender goes by turning it, no electricity required. There is literally no trash whatsoever in this area because the little that does come that is packaged is re-used throughout the house in a variety of ways from a roller pin from a glass soda bottle for rolling dough, to plastic soda bottles or old boxes to be used for growing trees or plants. Something really clicked in my mind as I saw how this subsistence family had to integrate into a capitalist system. While many kids aspire to go to college in the U.S. despite your socioeconomic status due to help from the government in the form of loans or scholarships, in Paraguay, this is not the case. My sister and brother really wanted to go to college to continue studying, but my host parents both supporting this decision also were stuck because they barely had money in their living situation, let alone the high cost to send their kids to live in a city for school. This in itself to me represented the struggle in many developing nations in how families in the transition of these different types of economic situations may struggle in many ways if they wish to pursue education. Maybe this is why it is that only about 5% of Paraguayans actually go to college, and most likely a significantly lower portion actually graduates. This realization really struck me hard as I understood the privilege we have in the U.S. and the dualities and hardships that these people face on a daily basis to survive with little to no help from the government. On a brighter note, this week gave me more of a context and understanding of the different ways people live in various regions throughout Paraguay.
This Wednesday, I receive my site assignment for the next 2 yearsssss!!!!
Oh...and I will add my pics soon, once I get the tools to do this...
Saturday, November 7, 2009
More than halfway through training...
Random facts that I love about Paraguay:
1) Instead of doorbells, you stand at the gate of the door and clap your hands
2) Driving by a random house in the country to see a cow being born…Yes, it is awkward to see two hooves coming out another cows butt.
3) Learning how to make soy milk and soy meat out of soy beans
4) Everyone loves to play not only soccer but volleyball
5) Since my friend has linda blue eyes, our project gets more attention from the local government
6) Beef, fat, noodle, soup. Add obscene amounts of salt and sugar to everything else.
7) Our Peace Corps doctor being in a major soda commercial for Paraguay
8) Hearing Red, Red, Wine on the way to school
9) Watching a family of 5 drive by on a moto
10) Walking around in 100 degree weather zig-zaging back and forth on the street from shade spot to shade spot
Where to start….Training is still going on as we learn more Guarani…Mba’echapa! This language is actually pretty difficult, but the nice part about it is that just about everyone mixes in Spanish words to it so I can understand some of it better. Technical sessions of training are going well as we are learning so many new things everyday from creating didactic materials in schools, to making gardens, to teaching nutrition, to making recycled paper and glasses from old wine bottles. Last Wednesday we went on a technical excursion overnight to another volunteers site to learn more about what they do. It was great to see another place as we met the kids in the school he worked in, equipped with separated trash canisters, and a garden, and got to go to the famous Basillica de Caacupé. Caacupé is the most famous virgin in Paraguay and has a very similar story to that of the Virigin de Guadalupe in Mexico, yet she is celebrated December 8th. The church was very impressive, as were the surroundings.
We met the President of a reforestation NGO and saw his vivero (I guess this translates to a tree nursery) where he grows all his trees and gives them to groups or cities who will plant them. It was beautiful there and he had so many different types of trees. That evening, we all went to separate families to stay the night with. Only in Paraguay would a family randomly allow a stranger into their home for the night and give them food for free…My family was awesome with a ridiculously large 5 month old baby. Random story, I have never witnessed breast feeding in the same way, my host mom for the night just whipped out her boob at the dinner table to breast feed the Michelin baby…nuts. The next morning we all met up once again to go on a fieldtrip to a national park with about 40 high school students on a Saturday. I thought it was amazing that the students were eager to come on a Saturday for Environmental Education….So we went and hiked to see overwhelming views of Paraguay. Apparently this is the only place like this since Paraguay is mostly flat. The secretary of the Environment also went with us to help educated all of us. When we were hiking down, naturally, it started to downpour rain. Well, that made things interesting as a part coming down was a rock straight down where we just had to slip on our butt, but then all the rain water was forming a river down this rock. Fun times. At least when we got to the bottom, and were all completely drenched, we had an hour bus ride back to Guarambare.
Time goes by so quickly, I can not believe we are almost halfway done with training. In about 3 weeks we will be told where our site will be for the next two years which is very exciting.
1) Instead of doorbells, you stand at the gate of the door and clap your hands
2) Driving by a random house in the country to see a cow being born…Yes, it is awkward to see two hooves coming out another cows butt.
3) Learning how to make soy milk and soy meat out of soy beans
4) Everyone loves to play not only soccer but volleyball
5) Since my friend has linda blue eyes, our project gets more attention from the local government
6) Beef, fat, noodle, soup. Add obscene amounts of salt and sugar to everything else.
7) Our Peace Corps doctor being in a major soda commercial for Paraguay
8) Hearing Red, Red, Wine on the way to school
9) Watching a family of 5 drive by on a moto
10) Walking around in 100 degree weather zig-zaging back and forth on the street from shade spot to shade spot
Where to start….Training is still going on as we learn more Guarani…Mba’echapa! This language is actually pretty difficult, but the nice part about it is that just about everyone mixes in Spanish words to it so I can understand some of it better. Technical sessions of training are going well as we are learning so many new things everyday from creating didactic materials in schools, to making gardens, to teaching nutrition, to making recycled paper and glasses from old wine bottles. Last Wednesday we went on a technical excursion overnight to another volunteers site to learn more about what they do. It was great to see another place as we met the kids in the school he worked in, equipped with separated trash canisters, and a garden, and got to go to the famous Basillica de Caacupé. Caacupé is the most famous virgin in Paraguay and has a very similar story to that of the Virigin de Guadalupe in Mexico, yet she is celebrated December 8th. The church was very impressive, as were the surroundings.
We met the President of a reforestation NGO and saw his vivero (I guess this translates to a tree nursery) where he grows all his trees and gives them to groups or cities who will plant them. It was beautiful there and he had so many different types of trees. That evening, we all went to separate families to stay the night with. Only in Paraguay would a family randomly allow a stranger into their home for the night and give them food for free…My family was awesome with a ridiculously large 5 month old baby. Random story, I have never witnessed breast feeding in the same way, my host mom for the night just whipped out her boob at the dinner table to breast feed the Michelin baby…nuts. The next morning we all met up once again to go on a fieldtrip to a national park with about 40 high school students on a Saturday. I thought it was amazing that the students were eager to come on a Saturday for Environmental Education….So we went and hiked to see overwhelming views of Paraguay. Apparently this is the only place like this since Paraguay is mostly flat. The secretary of the Environment also went with us to help educated all of us. When we were hiking down, naturally, it started to downpour rain. Well, that made things interesting as a part coming down was a rock straight down where we just had to slip on our butt, but then all the rain water was forming a river down this rock. Fun times. At least when we got to the bottom, and were all completely drenched, we had an hour bus ride back to Guarambare.
Time goes by so quickly, I can not believe we are almost halfway done with training. In about 3 weeks we will be told where our site will be for the next two years which is very exciting.
Friday, October 16, 2009
My mailing address...
Yes, I am aware that I am a slacker, but here is my mailing address while I remain in training. Send me fun stuff like love letters, almond joys, and almonds. Seaweed too so I can make sushi. mmm.
Jessica Wackenhut Lomeli
Cuerpo de Paz, CHP
162 Chaco Boreal c/Mcal. Lopez
Asuncion 1580, Paraguay
South America
Jessica Wackenhut Lomeli
Cuerpo de Paz, CHP
162 Chaco Boreal c/Mcal. Lopez
Asuncion 1580, Paraguay
South America
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Training and Culture.
Training
Training is what I am here in Guarambare for the next 3 months, until I move to my site for the next 2 years. We have it Monday through Friday from 7:45am-5pm with a break at 12pm for lunch everyday as that is the most important meal of the day here in Paraguay. The morning session consists of language training. We were split into groups the first day as the trainers assessed our Spanish language skills. Since I passed out of Spanish, I moved straight into Guarani.
This is another interesting part of Paraguay, it has one of the highest levels of bilingualism in the world, and is only country in the Americas with one of the original indigenous languages as the official language along with Spanish. My family, and about every other person I have met here, is fluent in both, which is amazing. So, needless to say, I am learning it right now, which is no easy task. The best part however, is that there are 4 other people in my group so it is basically 3 hours of private lessons.
The other part of my day is based around a tech session for Environmental Education, my sector of work in Paraguay. The four sectors in our group are Crop Extension, Beekeeping, Agroforestry, and Environmental Ed. In our group, we have learned about different teaching materials to use in schools, structure of Paraguayan schools, making recycled paper, glasses, made gardens, learning to transplant vegestables or trees, and the list shall continue throughout training. We also assess case studies from past PCV (Peace Corps Volunteers) projects and how to create sustainable development. I really like everyone in my sector, which is 12 people, who all come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, which is great to have.
Tapeapovo.
So the site where I live is about 1 hour away from Asuncion. We were paired up and given certain places we needed to go for each pair and find our way by ourselves to Asuncion using the bused with limited help from the training staff. Well, I was instructed to go to the Centro to check out all the Government buildings and more importantly, visit one of the popular newspapers to see how we can get educational materials for free. My partner and I took two buses and arrived safely in the centro with the help of the bus drivers and other random Paraguayans. We then walked around aimlessly in the centro to see Argentina right across the river which was pretty cool. The major governmental buildings were also interesting as one is pepto bismol pink, and the presidential palace has architecture that resembles both Buckingham Palace, the White House, and a few other important buildings in the world.
Beyond the major structural buildings and Argentina, we noticed the great disparity between rich and poor in this city. I heard Asuncion has one of the greatest disparities between rich and poor in the world. We saw a large encampment of shed type, temporary housing, like the shantytowns seen in City of God, or outside Mexico City, all along the river besides the governmental palaces. Very interesting to see.
We ended our journey at the Peace Corps office in Asuncion, which is near the U.S. Embassy, both are like fortresses. The Peace Corps office is amazing because it has so many resources to utilize like a large library with both reading books and resource books on just about everything…
Volunteer Site Visit
A way Peace Corps helps us learn about our job is sending us to visit another PCV already in a site within our sector to see what they do. Interestingly enough, I got sent to closest, about 1 hour away while some of my friends got sent 9 hours away on buses. I went to Aregua, a pueblo on a really nice lake, known for its art. I think the Peace Corps knows me. Even more crazy, was when I arrived at my volunteer’s house and we started chatting, we realized that we both went to UC Santa Cruz and were Environmental Studies majors. More strange, he grew up in Sacramento…It really is a small world.
So the town he lives in is on a beautiful lake, and is known for the best strawberries grown in Paraguay. Good thing I am allergic to strawberries. More awkward, I went the weekend of the strawberry festival. What are the chances…
Other than that, my volunteer has done some amazing work around community environmental education and development. This gave me a lot of ideas and secured my ideas of why I joined the Peace Corps. It was great to see the possibilities of work in my field. He even is teaching hip hop to Paraguayans. The possibilities of my Peace Corps work…
Training is what I am here in Guarambare for the next 3 months, until I move to my site for the next 2 years. We have it Monday through Friday from 7:45am-5pm with a break at 12pm for lunch everyday as that is the most important meal of the day here in Paraguay. The morning session consists of language training. We were split into groups the first day as the trainers assessed our Spanish language skills. Since I passed out of Spanish, I moved straight into Guarani.
This is another interesting part of Paraguay, it has one of the highest levels of bilingualism in the world, and is only country in the Americas with one of the original indigenous languages as the official language along with Spanish. My family, and about every other person I have met here, is fluent in both, which is amazing. So, needless to say, I am learning it right now, which is no easy task. The best part however, is that there are 4 other people in my group so it is basically 3 hours of private lessons.
The other part of my day is based around a tech session for Environmental Education, my sector of work in Paraguay. The four sectors in our group are Crop Extension, Beekeeping, Agroforestry, and Environmental Ed. In our group, we have learned about different teaching materials to use in schools, structure of Paraguayan schools, making recycled paper, glasses, made gardens, learning to transplant vegestables or trees, and the list shall continue throughout training. We also assess case studies from past PCV (Peace Corps Volunteers) projects and how to create sustainable development. I really like everyone in my sector, which is 12 people, who all come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, which is great to have.
Tapeapovo.
So the site where I live is about 1 hour away from Asuncion. We were paired up and given certain places we needed to go for each pair and find our way by ourselves to Asuncion using the bused with limited help from the training staff. Well, I was instructed to go to the Centro to check out all the Government buildings and more importantly, visit one of the popular newspapers to see how we can get educational materials for free. My partner and I took two buses and arrived safely in the centro with the help of the bus drivers and other random Paraguayans. We then walked around aimlessly in the centro to see Argentina right across the river which was pretty cool. The major governmental buildings were also interesting as one is pepto bismol pink, and the presidential palace has architecture that resembles both Buckingham Palace, the White House, and a few other important buildings in the world.
Beyond the major structural buildings and Argentina, we noticed the great disparity between rich and poor in this city. I heard Asuncion has one of the greatest disparities between rich and poor in the world. We saw a large encampment of shed type, temporary housing, like the shantytowns seen in City of God, or outside Mexico City, all along the river besides the governmental palaces. Very interesting to see.
We ended our journey at the Peace Corps office in Asuncion, which is near the U.S. Embassy, both are like fortresses. The Peace Corps office is amazing because it has so many resources to utilize like a large library with both reading books and resource books on just about everything…
Volunteer Site Visit
A way Peace Corps helps us learn about our job is sending us to visit another PCV already in a site within our sector to see what they do. Interestingly enough, I got sent to closest, about 1 hour away while some of my friends got sent 9 hours away on buses. I went to Aregua, a pueblo on a really nice lake, known for its art. I think the Peace Corps knows me. Even more crazy, was when I arrived at my volunteer’s house and we started chatting, we realized that we both went to UC Santa Cruz and were Environmental Studies majors. More strange, he grew up in Sacramento…It really is a small world.
So the town he lives in is on a beautiful lake, and is known for the best strawberries grown in Paraguay. Good thing I am allergic to strawberries. More awkward, I went the weekend of the strawberry festival. What are the chances…
Other than that, my volunteer has done some amazing work around community environmental education and development. This gave me a lot of ideas and secured my ideas of why I joined the Peace Corps. It was great to see the possibilities of work in my field. He even is teaching hip hop to Paraguayans. The possibilities of my Peace Corps work…
Paraguay...The Journey Begins
I started my journey after Staging in Miami with a lot of questions and confusion to what I had actually signed up for. After a full day of introduction to Peace Corps Paraguay, the 42 people in my group were left to explore Miami for lunch until we were going to the Miami Airport later that afternoon for our departure. Being in Miami, of course we had delicious Cuban food…Then the journey began as all of us filed through the airport and got special treatment to cut certain lines because we are government employees. As we waited in Miami, we all dispersed to talk to our loved ones, the last time for awhile. Eight hours later, we landed in Sao Paulo, Brazil and another two hours later, we were in Asuncion, capital of Paraguay. All of us were groggy from our all night lack of sleep on the plane flight, but we were greeted with enthusiasm by Peace Corps Paraguay staff. We then headed to Guarambare, the site we would be living in for the next three months with our trainers. We were greeted in our training center, most humorously named, “Center for Human Potential.” Well, I am definitely coming back with a t-shirt saying that…haha. After about 3 hours of welcoming, each of us were sent to our respective communities to meet our host families. We were all nervous and hearing our names called to meet our families was tremendously awkward. I was greeted by my mother, Idalina, who is a housewife and about 54 years old, and the grandchild, Bianca, who is 10. I soon learned that she looks a lot younger because she was born after 5 months. My father, Christino, also met us to drive our luggage to the house. He used to work at the sugar factory in town, but is now retired.
Other important part of arriving at the CHP training center in Guarambare. Apparently I am very famous…The staff as we arrived were all asking who Jessica Wackenhut was because well, the security apparently for the Peace Corps in Paraguay and most U.S. embassies around the world is Wackenhut Security. I was immediately asked if I was related. So I am pretty famous upon my arrival here…
Integration into the Community
The main consistency of integrating into the community is through joining a terrere circle. Terrere is basically what Starbucks is to some people in the U.S….You don’t leave home without it, and there are groups of people gathered chatting over terrere. This drink is made of Yerba Mate, but is cold due to the heat here. It is often paired with jujos (herbs) to refresh or basically a different type of herb to cure any type of problem you may have. Overall, this is what has satisfied me on the days of heat as the summer is only beginning right now…
Food
So, if you have seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding, well the part where he tries to explain what a vegetarian is…well, that’s how I feel everytime I say I am a vegetarian. People say oh, no meat, so you want pork? Hmm. Interesting. Well after 7 years of being vegetarian and the amount that meat consumes the culture here, I decided I would be too stressed out not trying to eat it.
Meal one of my house, beef. I think my host family noticed the sweat building on my forehead as I stared at the meat and poked it with my fork. Or maybe it was the fact that o they were talking to me, and they heard me choked up with tears in my eyes as I tried to chew the flesh in my mouth and swallow it. I tried to explain that I don’t eat meat because in the U.S., the meat isn’t fresh. Well, the next day to prove how fresh the meat is, my house mom was excited to proudly take out like half a cow out of the fridge with blood on it, to show me how fresh it was…uhm.
Step 2, I tried tell them that I don’t eat meat because it makes me feel sick. Hmm, that seemed like a great idea at the time until I told them. They just told me, oh, the jujos in terrere make it so you don’t get sick.
Mission failed.
Step 3. I just told them I am not used to eating meat because I don’t like it and avoided the meat on my plate. I think they now understand as I saw how rica the comida is when there is no meat in it and it has lots of vegetables.
I think I also get a little sad everytime I eat meat because it probably is one of the animals that was once our pet in the backyard…It doesn’t get more local than that…
Beyond this major difference to my diet, the food is rather different here. A major part of the diet is around manioca and fried things. Manioca is a tuber vegetable similar to potatoes, and is in every meal like how the tortilla is to a Mexican meal. They also eat tortillas, which is usually deep fried vegetables, sometimes with meat, or Empanadas, also filled with meat…and eggs. Other than that, mango, papaya, guava, watermelon, and avocado season is coming up so I think I can live off of that alone. Yesssss.
Exercise
Well I think I will leave this part blank….
Ok, exercising is not a part of the culture, you really need to seek a gym out, but most are in Asuncion. I went running and got an abundance of stare downs like what is she running from? I think I just will try to ignore the massive stare downs as the pueblo has accepted that Americans are weird because they go running…
However, I will say that Volleyball and Soccer are big parts of the culture as well which I am sure to try to be involved in.
Other important part of arriving at the CHP training center in Guarambare. Apparently I am very famous…The staff as we arrived were all asking who Jessica Wackenhut was because well, the security apparently for the Peace Corps in Paraguay and most U.S. embassies around the world is Wackenhut Security. I was immediately asked if I was related. So I am pretty famous upon my arrival here…
Integration into the Community
The main consistency of integrating into the community is through joining a terrere circle. Terrere is basically what Starbucks is to some people in the U.S….You don’t leave home without it, and there are groups of people gathered chatting over terrere. This drink is made of Yerba Mate, but is cold due to the heat here. It is often paired with jujos (herbs) to refresh or basically a different type of herb to cure any type of problem you may have. Overall, this is what has satisfied me on the days of heat as the summer is only beginning right now…
Food
So, if you have seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding, well the part where he tries to explain what a vegetarian is…well, that’s how I feel everytime I say I am a vegetarian. People say oh, no meat, so you want pork? Hmm. Interesting. Well after 7 years of being vegetarian and the amount that meat consumes the culture here, I decided I would be too stressed out not trying to eat it.
Meal one of my house, beef. I think my host family noticed the sweat building on my forehead as I stared at the meat and poked it with my fork. Or maybe it was the fact that o they were talking to me, and they heard me choked up with tears in my eyes as I tried to chew the flesh in my mouth and swallow it. I tried to explain that I don’t eat meat because in the U.S., the meat isn’t fresh. Well, the next day to prove how fresh the meat is, my house mom was excited to proudly take out like half a cow out of the fridge with blood on it, to show me how fresh it was…uhm.
Step 2, I tried tell them that I don’t eat meat because it makes me feel sick. Hmm, that seemed like a great idea at the time until I told them. They just told me, oh, the jujos in terrere make it so you don’t get sick.
Mission failed.
Step 3. I just told them I am not used to eating meat because I don’t like it and avoided the meat on my plate. I think they now understand as I saw how rica the comida is when there is no meat in it and it has lots of vegetables.
I think I also get a little sad everytime I eat meat because it probably is one of the animals that was once our pet in the backyard…It doesn’t get more local than that…
Beyond this major difference to my diet, the food is rather different here. A major part of the diet is around manioca and fried things. Manioca is a tuber vegetable similar to potatoes, and is in every meal like how the tortilla is to a Mexican meal. They also eat tortillas, which is usually deep fried vegetables, sometimes with meat, or Empanadas, also filled with meat…and eggs. Other than that, mango, papaya, guava, watermelon, and avocado season is coming up so I think I can live off of that alone. Yesssss.
Exercise
Well I think I will leave this part blank….
Ok, exercising is not a part of the culture, you really need to seek a gym out, but most are in Asuncion. I went running and got an abundance of stare downs like what is she running from? I think I just will try to ignore the massive stare downs as the pueblo has accepted that Americans are weird because they go running…
However, I will say that Volleyball and Soccer are big parts of the culture as well which I am sure to try to be involved in.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
The start of a new journey...
Today at 4:30am I embarked on my upcoming new journey in life. My parents drove me to Reno airport so my flight left at 6am to LAX. After a rushed goodbye and tears from my parents, I boarded the plane. After I arrived, I had a hectic run around to find my gate to depart to Miami at 9:15 because the people in Reno gave me the wrong gate. So I arrived to the real gate at last call to board my 5 hour nonstop flight to Miami which is where my staging is taking place. Staging is basically an orientation to the Peace Corps for all the volunteers going to the same country right before you actually depart so you meet one another. So I arrived in Miami greeted by the sounds of Cuban music, spanish spoken everywhere, and the uncomfortable, hot, humidity. But so pretty. I arrived at airport where we are to stay and turned in forms and met other volunteers. All of them seem awesome and we shared our anxieties. One girl has even lived in North Lake Tahoe the past three years...what are the chances?
So....I am here in Miami, probably last luxury hotel with air conditioning in awhile. Tomorrow we will have orientation from 8am-3pm then depart to Miami International for our 8 hour flight to Sao Paolo, Brazil, followed by a 2 hour flight to Asuncion, Paraguay. I know that I will miss my family and friends dearly in the states, but I am anxious for this upcoming journey with my new friends, working as an environmental educator...
Until my next update in Paraguay, nos vemos...
ps. my email is: jwacky@gmail.com
So....I am here in Miami, probably last luxury hotel with air conditioning in awhile. Tomorrow we will have orientation from 8am-3pm then depart to Miami International for our 8 hour flight to Sao Paolo, Brazil, followed by a 2 hour flight to Asuncion, Paraguay. I know that I will miss my family and friends dearly in the states, but I am anxious for this upcoming journey with my new friends, working as an environmental educator...
Until my next update in Paraguay, nos vemos...
ps. my email is: jwacky@gmail.com
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