tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26051811923452479242024-03-05T07:25:28.263-06:00La vida es una aventuraThe story of what a young woman discovered when she left the comforts of the United States to volunteer for the Peace Corps. (Not an offical Peace Corps page. Independent opinions.)Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854778237102528962noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2605181192345247924.post-57230374470325683022012-09-30T13:03:00.002-05:002012-09-30T13:03:23.685-05:00Follow the Link to See the Pics<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Below I have put a link that should go to the Facebook album that I created of my mural project! I would post the pictures, but it takes a really long time to download them...</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101029749969695.2747829.9431995&type=1" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Proyecto de Murales. Jovenes Encarnacenos.</span></a><br />
Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854778237102528962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2605181192345247924.post-1708243831944045852012-09-24T10:43:00.000-05:002013-03-13T10:16:44.701-05:00City-Wide Mural Project<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This past summer the city of
Encarnación finished its <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">costanera</i>
"riverside walkway" and river beach front just in time for the city's
big tourist event of carnival. People from all over Paraguay and other nations
flocked to the city to see the parades and enjoy the local sites. All of this
movement got me thinking about potential projects that could be based on
Encarnación’s newest hot topic: tourism. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What do tourists want in a city? While
good food and interesting activities are among the most commonly thought-of
tourists wants, the attractiveness of the city and feeling of security are
equally as important. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With a background in public relations,
I know that with any new idea knowing how to “sell” it to those that may not
yet understand its full value is extremely important. After speaking to the
president of a local university, I began to plan of how I would teach the
students of its public relations department to sell my idea to the public and
municipality of Encarnación. And so, the mural project began.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Although it is not a new project to
other cities and countries around the world, my mural project was the first of
its kind here in Encarnación, Paraguay. After taking numerous pictures of walls
with graffiti and others with nothing at all, I laid out a plan to brighten the
atmosphere of the city, to involve local citizens in the process as volunteers
and to show how the project could help with local tourism. To me painting
colorful murals featuring the past and present of Encarnación could only lead
to positive results. The young people of Encarnación would have the chance to
show their skills and talents; local volunteers would have the opportunity to
give back to their community; and citizens and tourists alike would have a
cleaner and more enjoyable environment.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After getting “the go” signal from the
municipality, the university students and I started making noise about the
project. Together we went to speak to high school and university students about
the two principle parts of the project: the competition and volunteerism. Those
who wanted could design and submit a potential mural were presented with the
four project themes: the Jesuit ruins, carnival, the lower zone (a former part
of the city that was destroyed with the construction of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">costanera</i>) and the Paraguayan train. We
explained that five designs would be selected to paint on walls that were on
heavily-trafficked streets in the downtown area. Additionally, those students
who were not interested in designing a mural, but did want to get involved were
told that artistic abilities were not a requirement to participate in the
painting of the murals, and each received a volunteer form to turn-in at a
later date.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now that the designs had been chosen
and volunteers recruited, what was next step? Permissions. Property owners were
presented with information packets and asked to sign agreements to show their
support of the project and to give permission to paint on their walls and/or
buildings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The weeks passed and the weekend of
the event arrived. With funds from the municipality and the help of more than
60 individuals (students, local artists, professionals, Peace Corps
volunteers), the five murals were successfully painted during the allotted time
period. Although the temperature was in the 90s, the volunteers drank their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">terere </i>and worked cheerfully throughout
the entire weekend. The end results were overwhelming. Each mural featured a
unique artistic style and told a different story of Encarnación and its people.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The week following the event the
pictures of the completed murals began to appear on Facebook. A story featuring
the project was printed in one of Paraguay’s most circulated, national
newspapers, and video clips of the event were played on a local news station.
It is my hope that the excitement continues, that tourists for years to come
will take pictures of themselves in front of the murals and that others will
ask them, “Where did you take that picture?” And that they will reply, “The
beautiful city of Encarnación.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lastly, what was the most rewarding
part of the project? I would have to say it was the reply that I received from
one of the young people whose design was chosen. Trembling with excitement,
after receiving the news that his design would be painted near the city plaza,
the 15 year-old boy told me “Esto es mi sueño.” This is my dream.</span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854778237102528962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2605181192345247924.post-62865649749681024782012-04-07T09:27:00.000-05:002012-04-07T09:27:19.549-05:00Pascua Celebration Pics<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpxt2sA6I5Gh1-BriCXHSmXdyECr_YCMbKSwshjRF3qlzVnFSxWZMm2_G0DPyWh-qJV6DdZTc7pV8houeO_YC7axeZDwKrEprgHYJrrfTWkrMh8SiGey7PeC6ToHhr6j0VVVmPBmBK7Po/s1600/100_1573.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpxt2sA6I5Gh1-BriCXHSmXdyECr_YCMbKSwshjRF3qlzVnFSxWZMm2_G0DPyWh-qJV6DdZTc7pV8houeO_YC7axeZDwKrEprgHYJrrfTWkrMh8SiGey7PeC6ToHhr6j0VVVmPBmBK7Po/s400/100_1573.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAck7GAqnS6HAiE6JICxro3OMuIGlcmYyk_9yiFGHUxAg0JqwbjhGOHCbOXqNrB2PQIHW0dMhF_nLrqKH99Cn26YbNdY2sL3e4aHDYLzxxMzb0GxJOH3aGkbRU_LySDKaR3jtdB9Yz9U/s1600/100_1571.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAck7GAqnS6HAiE6JICxro3OMuIGlcmYyk_9yiFGHUxAg0JqwbjhGOHCbOXqNrB2PQIHW0dMhF_nLrqKH99Cn26YbNdY2sL3e4aHDYLzxxMzb0GxJOH3aGkbRU_LySDKaR3jtdB9Yz9U/s400/100_1571.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghGlf34uh_okxUT3HRF6m9ZSxu9XRPQD6nAfiUUQqZuZBj2h0FkEcD5DaGdgGgimOyTBN77uMBdjl01gqfI0rc1waSwDUeFBAjYGL2lVqSTq40bx_QTF90ztKBxwmFTP7c68LD5jzv6Cg/s1600/100_1565.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghGlf34uh_okxUT3HRF6m9ZSxu9XRPQD6nAfiUUQqZuZBj2h0FkEcD5DaGdgGgimOyTBN77uMBdjl01gqfI0rc1waSwDUeFBAjYGL2lVqSTq40bx_QTF90ztKBxwmFTP7c68LD5jzv6Cg/s400/100_1565.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWYhejwKQ_PEGwcUVyqad2JEqpq4s6_kYNMEoHlcG80dgNUi5CgZuObSYVwUaYCGhe-fjDVnNGUnveHw44FHDzpUtvuhvtS_8MGnjAeZH91mmgASfEX6Gdz36nrP5DwGmtYAjI63KFeSM/s1600/100_1596.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWYhejwKQ_PEGwcUVyqad2JEqpq4s6_kYNMEoHlcG80dgNUi5CgZuObSYVwUaYCGhe-fjDVnNGUnveHw44FHDzpUtvuhvtS_8MGnjAeZH91mmgASfEX6Gdz36nrP5DwGmtYAjI63KFeSM/s400/100_1596.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854778237102528962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2605181192345247924.post-15965351438388538132012-04-06T21:20:00.001-05:002013-03-13T10:19:35.887-05:00Pascua, Tormenta y una Falta de Agua<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In honor of Easter I decided to share some of my favorite Easter activities with the girls at the orphanage yesterday (Thursday, April 5). Seeing as the school week consisted of only Monday and Tuesday, I had Wednesday to make all of the preparations. After my German class (yes, I am now taking a German class once a week on Wednesdays thanks to Pop and Mom), I went to the grocery store to buy food coloring and 30 eggs. While I boiled 22 of the eggs, I watched my favorite telanovelas (Spanish soap operas) and sorted through a huge bag of candy that Mom and Pop had brought to Paraguay in December. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With a full backpack I set out to the orphanage the next morning with Nicole. It was a tricky bus ride because Nicole was holding the bowl of 22 eggs, and I was trying to hold onto her because the bus was so full that there wasn’t anywhere to hold onto to brace ourselves for the evitable jolts and quick stops. When we got to the orphanage around 8 am everyone was up and running around while the t<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">í</span>a was mopping the floors. We headed upstairs to do 45 minutes of creative writing (they are each writing their own story and drawing the illustrations), but of course everyone wanted to know why we had a mixing bowl full of eggs, so around 9 am I decided that it was time to change activities. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ok, so I definitely checked for the recipe online, and I had everything that it required, but for some reason the dye would not take to the egg shells. I explained to them what the purpose of the water, vinegar and food coloring was supposed to be for, but that we would just have to try it some other time. Good news is that they really weren’t that disappointed because they loved cracking, peeling and eating the eggs. Go figure. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While they were eating, Nancy (one of the older girls) and I headed down stairs to hide the candy all over the back patio and in the vegetable garden. When we called everyone downstairs and explained the activity, they went crazy running around looking for the candy. It was more than a success.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Little did I know that the morning hours wouldn’t be the only exciting events of the day…</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When Nicole and I were packing up my things, Nancy announces that “the storm” is coming, and she began to close all of the windows. “What storm?” I thought. I looked outside and to my surprise the sky to the south was dark red. Then I noticed that the red sky was coming towards us at an alarmingly fast speed. “Qu<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">é</span> es eso?” I asked Nancy. “Polvo.” She replied. Dirt. Or dust. It was a dust storm. Within a minute of noticing its approach, it hit. We watched from the inside as wind blew clouds of red dust past the orphanage. After a few minutes I realized that even though the storm had not passed that Nicole and I had to go because we needed to go to the grocery store before the last buses left to go to our barrios (neighborhoods). </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*Side note: During Semana Santa (Holy Week) everything shuts down on Thursday at about 12 pm until Saturday and just every other Paraguayan week, nothing and I mean nothing is open on Sunday.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We put our sunglasses on (not for the sun, seeing as there wasn’t any at this point, but so that the dust wouldn’t get in our eyes) and ventured up the street toward the grocery store. Within minutes of being inside, a downpour of rain started. After we purchased our food and supplies, we rain to the bus stop one block down from the store. Mine arrived first so I said good-bye to Nicole and got onto another very crowded colectivo (bus). Once I got home from walking the 7 blocks from the ruta, I was soaked. All I could think about was a hot shower. Naturally, the first thing that I noticed when I stepped inside my house was that all of the electricity had cut out. So, you know what that means. No electricity. No hot shower. I have an electric head on my shower that heats the water as it goes through it. No, you can’t touch it because yes, you can get an electric shock. “Ok, ok.” I told myself. “I will dry off and lay down in my bed for a little bit to warm-up, and then maybe the electricity will come back on so that I can make lunch.” Thirty minutes later I got a phone call. Nicole’s bus never came and seeing as she lives around 7 – 8 miles from the ruta, she could not walk home in the storm. So, I told her not to worry and that I would make us lunch because the electricity had just came on. The moment I hung up the phone the electricity went off again. I decided that I might as well go back out to the ruta to get her with an umbrella because I knew that she had to be just as soaked as I had been. When we got back to my house 20 minutes later, the electricity was back on. I was so relieved until I realized that now the water had gone out. And that is how it stayed for the next 8 hours (until around 9 pm). </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thankfully today the electricity and water stayed on all day. It was a Good Friday miracle.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Feliz Pascua! Happy Easter!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(Photos coming soon)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854778237102528962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2605181192345247924.post-70694973440503171962012-03-30T14:05:00.001-05:002012-04-07T08:06:53.945-05:00Programa de Apoyo<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Every Tuesday and Thursday I work with small groups of 2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> and 3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup> graders in order to help them with their reading and writing skills. We play games, do activities and read books. I began the apoyo (support) program at the beginning of March and plan to continue until the end of April. My hope is that I can help the students to catch up to the level of their classmates. </span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The morning students and the afternoon 3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup> graders are easier to work with because for the most part they behave well and know how to share. The afternoon students in the 2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> grade though are another story. For example, when we play with the letters that I made on pieces of cardboard, they cannot share. When I say, “Who can spell “todo”? The child that has the “t” cannot share with the child that has the “d”. Also, they consistently hit each other and fight. I have tried everything. Giving praises. Awarding prizes. Separating rowdy children. Sending misbehavior-ers back to the classroom. Basically, nothing is working with this group. Seeing as the children only go to school for 4 ½ hours a day, I cannot take them out of their normal class time if they cannot work together, share, following instructions, etc. </span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Two things that I really appreciate now more than ever are rules and organization. Even if I set rules in my class, it will not work because no other classrooms have enforced rules, so children are not accustomed to having a concrete set of rules. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, I am going to try again next week, but I can’t turn miracles. I will help the students that I can!</span></div>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854778237102528962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2605181192345247924.post-71039164741891935562012-03-25T08:03:00.001-05:002012-04-07T08:06:24.791-05:00Getting the Word Out About Didactic Materials and Non-Formal Education<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">An interesting opportunity arose a few weeks ago during one of the workshops that my co-volunteer (Nicole) and I put on with the Board of Education. One of the attendees (a teacher) is also a co-host of a Saturday evening cable program in Encarnaci<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ó</span>n. She approached me at the end of the workshop to see if we would be interested in talking about didactic materials, life in Paraguay (as a foreigner) and what we do here in Paraguay in general. Needlesstosay, we knew it would be a great chance to reach other people about non-formal education styles. </span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At about 5 pm yesterday we entered into the studio and watched them as they taped the first part of the show, which was about the history of Encarnaci<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ó</span>n (yesterday was Encarn’s foundation day). When our time came to go on air, we arranged the materials that I had brought with me on a table. It was truly a success because we were asked to go over how to make and use each of the materials and then the lady (Marisol) talked about the workshop and encouraged parents to make the materials out of recyclable items. </span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I would have to say that my favorite part was how she repeated something I said during the workshop. At the end of the workshop I had told the teachers that if copying from the board was not necessary that they should try to implement more hands-on learning activities in their classrooms. I brought to their attention that we (the teachers and the workshop instructors) knew that the “copy-everything-from-the-board method” was not longer working and that in order to seguir adelante (continue forward) it was the time to try new teaching techniques. I stated that in Paraguay playing games in school may not be seen as learning, but only because this would be a new technique, and that in fact, many countries use games and activities to teach new information and skills.</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Over all it was a success. Although there is not a way to measure and evaluate the outcomes and impact of the show, it at least gave viewers a glimpse of what Nicole and I hope will be the future of elementary education learning here in Paraguay.</span></div>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854778237102528962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2605181192345247924.post-19245452233341388572012-03-17T15:06:00.000-05:002012-03-17T15:06:36.426-05:00Lo que está pasando acá en Paraguay<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I can tell fall is coming because the daily heat seems to be less and less extreme…and for that I am thankful. Today I started off the day by putting some dirty clothes into my washing machine that the house’s owner left behind when she went to Buenos Aires to work. After a couple of bangs on the old thing, it kicked to life and so began another slow weekend day in Paraguay.</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Seeing as the school year began about three weeks ago, my week days are now full of running from one place to the other. After leading an extra-help program in the 2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> and 3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup> grade at Escuela Basica Dr. Francia, holding “Present and Future” classes at a center of technology, doing model lessons at two other primary schools, workshops with the Board of Education and working at the orphanage, my Monday – Fridays are teeming with activities, yet my weekends seem to get the better of me because they are so uneventful. </span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After reading two books last weekend and one this weekend, I am desperately trying to think of new things to do to keep myself from getting bored. I think to myself that it is ok to not do anything…that working so much during the week merits a peaceful weekend, but alas it is not in my natural to sit still. </span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Topic Change:</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For Christmas my Aunt Cindy sent me a very interesting present. She sent me a box of note cards that each holds a date. A card for each day of the year of 2012. According to her instructions, I am to write something every day. Whether it be a quote, passing thought or event, I have tried my best to write something to record this eventful year of my life. A Peace Corps year.</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I would like to share some of the things that I have written.</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">January 3, 2012</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Went to the Plaza de Mayo (Buenos Aires) and saw where the Madres of the disappeared from the 1970s still protest for justice. I thought I was going to start crying. Tears swelled up in my eyes. Inspiring area. May I always fight for what I believe in like these women.</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">January 4, 2012</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>More walking around Buenos Aires. Went to La Boca (a colorful neighborhood that was previously settled my Italian immigrants) and a Beatles’ museum. I think that was Pop’s favorite thing in B.A.</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">January 6, 2012</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Went to the glacier. When the ice broke off it was so loud. Pop made an interesting observation…you could see the ice break off and hit the water before you could hear it (sound travelling slower than what you see, which I have not thought about in years)…the wonders of science and the atmosphere are so beyond me. Amazing day. I was glad Mom, Pop and Carrie were there to share it with me.</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">January 10, 2012 </span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Did a kid seriously puke 20 minutes after we (Pop, Mom, Carrie and I) left Encarnaci<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ó</span>n? Yes. Did the bus driver stop and clean it up? No. Went to the “Hippie Market”, swam at the Alpes Hotel and ate pizza.</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">January 13, 2012</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Slept late…then read Trueblood all day. Lazy, I know. Talked to Katie Hunt for the first time since I’ve been here. I miss her. I miss my friends and the people that I trust. Sometimes I want to talk to someone, and I literally just come to the same conclusion…I have no one here I really want to talk to.</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">January 15, 2012</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Today I felt the overwhelming relief that I did not have any obligations. Free. Peace, inside and out…for the 3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup> or 4<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> day in a row actually. So, I was back to the Trueblood series. Seeing as I finished the last paper copy (4<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> book) yesterday, I began to pick up on the PDF of the 5<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> book that I started last night. I’m officially cross-eyed<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>from reading from the computer from 10 am – 6:30 pm. I cannot fathom that Eric and Sookie aren’t real people. I swear that I think I am Sookie. Is it because the books are staged in the South? When am I going to find my Eric?</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">January 17, 2012</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Another day lacking activities and the outdoors…read the remainder of the 6<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> Trueblood book and made myself rice and chorizo for lunch. It was a really hot day, so I thought about going to the river for about ½ of a second. Sadly, going alone isn’t fun, so I stayed indoors. I know that I am hiding from the world in this house. School will start again soon, and I’ll have to get back to being proactive and productive. At least that is what I am telling myself…</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">January 20, 2012</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>VAC meeting today. Ate at Hiroshima. Then went to Aldito to buy boy’s jeans to master the boyfriend jean look. Tonight Natalie, Nicole and I watched YouTube videos and had cheap box wine. My fan conveniently broke again, so looks like I’ll be taking to get it fixed tomorrow. Today is Carrie’s 22<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> birthday.</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">January 23, 2012</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Went to Nicole’s community. She organized the kids in three groups, and we worked on literacy. It rained off and on. Nicole’s community is really pretty. It is about 45 minutes from where I live. It is about 30 minutes done a dirt road. No wonder Nicole’s feet are always red. From the red dirt. The dirt is different here. What is the mineral?</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">January 28, 2012</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Went to Carnival in Encarnaci<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ó</span>n. Encarnaci<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ó</span>n is supposedly the host to the biggest and best celebration of Carnival. It consisted of a neat/sexy/colorful parade of barely dressed women and children/adults spraying foam in my face. And in two weeks, I am going back for more…haha</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">March 1, 2012</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Today it rained!! Yeaaaaa! It hasn’t rained that much lately, and no rain really affects people here. Some people don’t have running water for days/weeks until the next rain comes. Natalie, Nicole and I had a great day of lying around watching telanovelas and playing Clue. Days like these are the ones that get me through. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">March 5, 2012</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Nicole and I went to the Board of Education in Encarnaci<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ó</span>n today to talk about doing didactic material workshops at schools outside of the centro. I thought the supervisor was resisting our idea, but Nicole said that she thinks that he’s thinking it over. Thanks to Nicole I made my first homemade pita bread tonight. It was really good and definitely health. I really want to start cooking new things and eating better…I also went by the gym to make sure the prices and times had not changed. We will see whether I can get the fuerza to go three times a week like I am planning to do. </span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">March 6, 2012</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Busy, Busy, Busy day. And it was 114.8 degrees! Good and bad things happened today. I did two classes with the young kids (12-30) at the University of Leonardo Di Vinci. The university has a center with specialized classes like computer skills, etc. In the 2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> group the oldest student (around 30) broke down into tears when she was supposed to answer the 3 things that she was good at question from the activity we are doing and talked about how she was abused by her father as a child. I did my best to help calm her down. Then I went to the Formaci<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ó</span>n Docente and despite the Ministry of Education’s ruling they are still training primary school teachers…Yay! We can teach our didactic materials course! Then to my school (Dr. Francia) were we cut out working with the 1<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup> grade in my extra-help program and added one day with Jardin (grade before kindergarten). Lastly, had a meeting with the PR teachers at UNAE (university). </span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">March 7, 2012</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>I had my first German lesson today! The teacher went over the pronunciation of some of the letters and talked about some general rules. I am really excited and hope that I will work hard and not get too frustrated with German. I am going to look for index cards to start making flashcards tomorrow and poco a poco. Aprender<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">é</span> m<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">á</span>s y m<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">á</span>s. There are so many things I want to learn and do in life. I am glad that I have this kind of want and drive. I am so busy this week. I have so much going on and it is so hot outside so that is adding to my exhaustion. It is a good tired though. I love the U.S. and want to go home, but it is hard to imagine my life one year from now</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">March 12, 2012</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>After a quick 40 minute lesson today at Escuela Basica Dolores Cu<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ñ</span>a, I came home and spent the day reading and reading. I finished the 2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> book to the Hunger Games series. I feel guilty because I didn’t exercise again today. I am going to try to go to the gym on Wednesday and Thursday. Ideally I should go Friday, but I don’t have any commitments in the centro, so I know that I won’t go. It is just so hot outside. It is hard to get motivated to do anything, but sit and drink loads of water. Tomorrow I have a packed day. Sadly, I have to leave the house by 6:30 am…wahhh. I keep seeing where everyone is getting engaged and/or married on FB. I have always gone my own path.</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">March 13, 2012</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Started the apoyo (extra-help) program today. The most I had in one group was 6 and the least was 2. The 2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> graders in the afternoon are going to need a lot of help. I always wonder what happens to the children that don’t learn how to read…? Why do teachers here just give up so easily on children? I think about the U.S. and how I want to get involved with literacy in the schools in my community. As technology continues to grow, children become more and more disconnected with books. What a different world you can experience with books…I don’t want other children to lose out on this valuable part of their imaginations and educations. What a beautiful thing it is to read. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">March 14, 2012</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Two 4-hour workshops with Nicole and the women in charge of the 1<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup> ciclo pedagogica (1, 2, 3 grades) in the Board of Education. The first had 8 teachers and 21 in the 2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup>. We talked about didactic materials (my favorite topic). After the taller, one of the teachers asked me and Nicole if we could come to talk on her TV show on Canal 15 in two weeks. She wants us to talk about what we work in and why we are in Paraguay. I am so tired. Getting up a 5:30 am, me cuesta mucho! Tomorrow is my second day of the apoyo program. </span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I will truly try to blog more and to keep everyone more up-to-date about lo que est<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">á</span> pasando ac<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">á</span> en Paraguay!</span></div>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854778237102528962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2605181192345247924.post-14690406063642833292011-10-01T14:40:00.000-05:002011-10-01T14:40:29.443-05:00Rainy Days<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";">Rainy days exciting in Paraguay? Hardly. Seeing as a left my sombrilla (umbrella) at Jamiee's house almost 2 months ago venturing out into the unknown is a little difficult. (Yes, I realize that I should invest the $5 it takes to get a new umbrella, but if you were only paid $14 a day, you would think twice before purchases.) </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";">So, what has been happening?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";">Did I fall off the face of the planet?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";">Yes and No.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";">Out with the winter and in with springtime in Paraguay! When you think of spring, what do you think about? Blooming flowers? Light rains? Mild climate? Here in PY we have the blooming flowers and rain (whether you can say "light rain" is up in the air), but the mild climate is something that is lacking...yes, in a matter of days we went from 50 degrees to pushing 100. I believe that PY's climate skips that in-between stage...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";">As for projects, I have just recently finished the mural project. No, the money did not come from the city hall like we had hoped, but the House of English (where environmental volunteer Jessica and I both teach) did fund the project. The kids enjoyed drawing and later painting the mural, but probably their favorite part was the fact the Directora (principal) let them work on it during school hours. Now I did not necessarily support the kids missing class to work on the project, but the good thing about school in Paraguay is missing a day just means copying exactly what your classmate wrote from that day. It is not exactly hard to make-up for lost time, which can be seen in both positive and negative lights. Positive: If you are sick, you do not have to stress-out about missing school! Negative: If you are completely healthy, you do not have to stress-out about missing school!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";">As for other news, there is a big possibility that I will be moving out of the downtown area. Do not get me wrong. I will still be working in the same organizations and school, but I may have the opportunity to live in a barrio (neighborhood) on the outside of Encarnación. After listening to countless Peace Corps volunteers talk about their neighbors and local canchas (soccer fields), I realized that there is a reason that for my loneliness. My site does not have the sense of community like other PC volunteer sites. Obviously I had already realized that, but I did not realize how much I wanted that too until I visited another PC volunteer's site. I would like to have neighbors who know me and who seek me out to talk or invite me to dinner. I would like to walk down the street and see children from my school playing at the cancha. I would like to have things to do...on rainy days. So that was that. I spoke to my boss and expressed my desire to live where the children of my school live... He agreed that moving outside of the city made a lot of sense. Do the majority of my students live in downtown Encarnación? No, they do not. I know that this is generalizing the city's population, but the majority of those who live in downtown Encarnación are "better-off". The students at my school are not a part of that demographic and even the teachers of my school live in other areas and commute to school each day! So, why did the PC put a volunteer downtown where she could only get to know people from a work perspective? I do not know, but now I may have the opportunity to have a more personal PC experience here in PY.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";">What now?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";">Over the next month, I will visit surrounding barrios with my students and teachers to get to know people in those communities in order to choose the safest and best place to live during the remainder of my service. This will obviously not be an easy task seeing as it will not be a PC developed site, but I plan to take my time and do a fair amount of research. I am really excited (those words do not do my emotions justice) about developing closer relationships and living around the people that I came to work with here in Paraguay. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";">Hey, maybe now I can have summer camps! Eeeekkk!</span>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854778237102528962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2605181192345247924.post-44103295506228680712011-07-19T19:55:00.000-05:002011-07-19T19:55:13.279-05:00Proyectos Lindos (Pretty Projects)<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">If there is one thing that all PC Paraguay volunteers can agree on it’s that all Paraguayans want to do a project that sounds “lindo” (pretty). Por ejemplo:</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Reading books to the class = not so lindo</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Painting murals in front of the school = Soooo lindo</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So, what to do, what to do…? Obviously teaching the value of books is important, but if I ever want to get to the point of convincing my school to do a big project with books, I must do something lindo first.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">For my first very lindo project, I have decided to collaborate with another Encarnaci<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ó</span>n volunteer (Jessica) to paint murals in celebration of “El D<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">í</span>a de la Juventud” (The Day of the Youth). My school (Dr. Francia) and another school, which I plan to begin working at in the near future, have both expressed interest in participating. We are also planning on asking another school in the area and perhaps the youth group of the Baptist Church (yes, there is a Baptist Church in Encarnaci<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ó</span>n). I would have liked to have painted a mural with the girls at the orphanage, but the orphanage director insisted that they didn’t have a “lindo” place to paint one. I was and still am disappointed about that because the orphanage has the most space of all of the potentially interested organizations to paint a mural. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Where to begin??</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jessica and I have met a few times in order to go over the details of the project. We have identified the whos, whats, whens, wheres and hows of the project. Check it out:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Who: Any school or organization in Encarnaci<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ó</span>n that has youth from the ages of 13 – 18.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">What: Each organization will choose a theme (friendship, environment, values, etc.) and then ask its jovenes (youth) to draw potential designs for a mural. The leaders of the organization will then choose a few of the drawings to use. In addition to painting murals, the project will also promote teamwork, creativity, civic service (making your community beautiful), responsibility, self-esteem and pride in one’s work, school, community and self. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">When: Late August – September 2011</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Where: Schools, organizations, youth groups</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">How: Schools and organizations will provide ladders, buckets, cloths, paint brushes and paint thinner. We are in the process of writing a “pedido” (request) to City Hall for the money to buy the paint, which is the most expensive supply.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After checking around on prices, I discovered that paint brushes and paint thinner are very inexpensive, and I am assuming that the majority of the organizations already have ladders and buckets.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I drew up the letter for the City Hall this week, and we plan to meet with the principals of the schools and whoever else late next week to get their signatures showing their involvement. Then the letter will be off to City Hall and hopefully, APPROVED! Fingers crossed!</span></div>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854778237102528962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2605181192345247924.post-6632961449154349672011-07-14T14:20:00.000-05:002011-07-14T14:20:05.289-05:00Updates and New Perspectives.<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">When I meet new people they never fail to ask me the infamous question “Why did you join the Peace Corps?” And in all honesty, I do not blame them for asking. I think that each PC volunteer joins for different reasons. Maybe at first many of us have a few common goals such as helping people, giving back, seeking adventure and/or breaking-out of the norm, but after a few months in, I believe that the answer to the question changes. Clearly you join because of one reason, but you decide to stay based on so many others. So, why did I join the Peace Corps? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I joined the Peace Corps because </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Volunteering has always been a part of my life. </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>I have always enjoyed traveling.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>I find foreign languages intriguing.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Helping others is one of the best feelings in the world.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Now that that is clear, let us move on to the next hanging question…Once PC volunteers actually arrive in their assigned country, and they may discover that their job is not at all glamorous, life will be lonely at times, difficulties will be more frequent than expected, etc., por qu<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">é</span> se continuan a trabajar para el Cuerpo de Paz (why do they continue to work for the Peace Corps)? I cannot answer for anyone else but myself. Why am I still a Peace Corps volunteer?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I am still a Peace Corps volunteer because</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>I am a problem-solver. I believe that I have always had a knack for identifying problems and leading the way to finding a solution. PC volunteers encounter problematic situations everyday which they might be asked to help solucionar (to solve). I find this part of the job very rewarding. Most people my age in Paraguay are in a different stage of their lives. They are either in college or they are raising a family. Most are not already professionals in their fields of study at age 23, so if I want respect I must demand it. When I bring a solution to the table, I can feel the respect and admiration of my peers.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>I want to help open the minds of others. Whenever I see an opportunity to throw in a lesson on negative stereotypes, taking care of the world, working towards your dreams, sharing and helping others, etc.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> I. Do. It. </i>You do not have to wait for a formal classroom lecture to teach others life lessons. As soon as I see something happen, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">i.e. a student throws his/her trash on the ground</i>, I jump right in not to give a lecture, but to help he/she discover a new outlook on the current situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>I like seeing my students ENJOY school. When I walk into the classrooms the students get excited. They all know that for the next 40 minutes or so that they will not have to copy from the board. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Next a few updates.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We are currently on “winter break” here until the end of next week. Interestingly enough, the actual cold weather has seemed to disappear and in its place we are experiencing warm, pleasant days. Trust me, I am not complaining. When you live in a concrete block building, you cannot wait for the days of primavera (spring). Sadly, it is rumored that the cold weather will resurface, but I am going to keep my fingers crossed that it doesn’t. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So, no classes for two weeks, but I am still relatively busy going to the orphanage, making materials, planning for future projects and visiting my newest workplace <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Color de Esperanza</i>. For the purposes of this blog, I will refer to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Color de Esperanza</i> as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">CE</i>. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">CE</i> is an organization that was created with the help of the city hall to keep children off the streets of Encarnaci<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ó</span>n. The organization is housed in a small building with two classrooms, bathrooms, kitchen and office. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Color de Esperanza</i> is similar to a “comedor”, which is a place where children can go eat for free; however, unlike a “comedor”, it has other services as well. In addition to eating, children can also bathe, wash their clothing and participate in classroom activities. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Seems like a pretty good organization right? Yes, it is; however, the children are a handful. Before going to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">CE</i>, I had spoken to another PC volunteer that had previously worked there giving charlas (talks) on health and playing with the children. She told me that she stopped going because of the lack of respect from both the adults and the children at the program. I try to not let other volunteers’ experiences shape my attitude, but I definitely know to what she was referring. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Let me give a few examples from today’s session as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">CE</i>: </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Almost of the children cheated in the game we played together even though I asked them over and over not too.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>There were multiple boxing matches between children.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>No one wanted to share.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Now that I have had a few minutes to reflect, I have been able to draw a few conclusions from today. </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>I do not work at the school of these children, so they did not know me prior to today. It is harder for them to see me as their teacher because they do not see me in a formal classroom setting.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>These children have extremely rough home lives. If no one is monitoring whether or not they are eating or bathing, then I guess I can understand why they are a little rough around the edges.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>They do not have any of the games that I brought and/or any game at all, so naturally “sharing” is not the first thing that comes to mind.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Entonces, what do I plan to do?</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>I am going to set rules in place and enforce them. Although I mentioned today that those who didn’t behave well would not play with the group in the future, I do not believe that anyone took me seriously.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>I may seek out the school that the children of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">CE</i> attend to see if I can get some face time there. The girls at the orphanage behave so well because I teach in their classes. They see me as their authority figure and friend. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Try, try and try again.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And now the phrase that can be used in almost all contexts: Vamos a ver…verdad?</span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854778237102528962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2605181192345247924.post-43774966673527662612011-06-27T19:13:00.000-05:002011-06-27T19:13:26.116-05:00Oops.<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Wow, has a month really passed since my previous post? Things have been busy, yet I guess nothing too newsworthy has occurred. Poco-a-poco, I am developing my ideas and potential strategies on how to go about making the most affective action plan for my community, entonces <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>just want to let you know that I haven’t forgot about this blog.</span></div>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854778237102528962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2605181192345247924.post-87314237347360292011-05-30T21:12:00.001-05:002011-05-31T09:07:19.657-05:00Un Techo Para Mi Pais.<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A few weeks ago I read an article in Ultima Hora (a Paraguayan newspaper) about an organization called Un Techo Para Mi Pais. I learned from the article that Un Techo Para Mi Pais is an organization that recruits volunteers to build houses for families-in-need around the nation. Sound familiar? Yes, it is the Latin American version of Habitat for Humanity. The families are chosen based on who has the greatest need and who can complete the requirements. The families must complete a course - financial maybe? It didn't say.. - and contribute 300,000 Guaranis (about $75 US Dollars) to their new home.</span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">If you have worked with Habitat before you will know that before the volunteers begin with the construction the foundation is set-down and then a team of people trained in electricity and other areas and volunteers set to work (generally for about a week). In Habitat, the team builds the house, puts in counters and cabinets, completes a bathroom, paints each room, etc. It is quite the production. In Un Techo, the houses are much more basic. When I say basic, I mean we used pre-fabricated walls that had holes in them, wood posts and rocks for the foundation and sheets of metal for the roof. </span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Both organizations are based on giving families-in-need a basic and a humane place to live. Humane is different from country-to-country. Because the standard of living is lower in Paraguay, the homes that the organization builds are not the same as they would be in the U.S. Still it is amazing to see the reaction of the people that receive this humble home. The family (of 6 people) for who we built the house was living in a "house" that had plastic covering holes in the ceiling and walls. The floors were dirt. The first room had a stove and a cabinets and the second room had three beds. </span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I would have to say that I was not surprised by the poverty. I had previously seen homes in these conditions in Costa Rica and Panama. However, even before I saw those homes, I knew that this kind of poverty existed in the world. The other volunteers that I worked with were local Paraguayan university students. Obviously, they were from a different financial situation than their fellow Paraguayans. AND even though we live 20 minutes from this area, many of these Paraguayans did not know that poverty like this existed in their area. </span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So my question is...how can you get through high school and years of college and not know that extreme poverty exists? That it exists in your area? Although I know that I am being hard on them, I was completely annoyed when a few people cried and said they did not know that people lived that way...How can you be in your late-teens or early 20s and not know that? Por lo menos (at least) they now better understand the realities of the world, but understanding is not enough. If we all truly believe that poverty is a cruel thing, then we must do something more to combat it. Building a few houses and then leaving the community will not solve the bigger problems. Yes, it is great that 20 families in the state of Itapua received better homes this weekend, but what are we doing to make sure that others do not fall into this same type of situation. I hope to help others realize that one weekend's worth of work is not enough. I want to encourage more young Paraguayans to get involved in the lives of other Paraguayans to help them better develop and live better lives. The reality of it all is that I will have two years to do all that I can, but in the end, it is up to Paraguayans to change Paraguay. </span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I know that the majority of my work in the Peace Corps must be done in my personal community, but I plan to return to that community as well to do whatever little that I can...Camps for children? Talks on health? Workshops with teachers? We will see.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0zZReGEXWh2dZvwSWd5DeEQZLDiHBduRWGNljdl7q9LLwMCBAYB1i-WXV3dEXMTisCzb1YJO6n1eNIUfbnQOslSfnJRhc7xYdjYdJYRujzKJcVHZn3i8TOH0rWTEAl0knFYqwN0BtMRc/s1600/100_0769.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0zZReGEXWh2dZvwSWd5DeEQZLDiHBduRWGNljdl7q9LLwMCBAYB1i-WXV3dEXMTisCzb1YJO6n1eNIUfbnQOslSfnJRhc7xYdjYdJYRujzKJcVHZn3i8TOH0rWTEAl0knFYqwN0BtMRc/s400/100_0769.JPG" t8="true" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Volunteers carrying supplies to their worksites. We only had two guys in our group so I had to partake in the heavy lifting. And you better believe that I feel it today.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZVS43uqNe9VgckpQbNngnHuJmvBhTZ53IaeA1GbCl7RXaJ-I0RXb2Ej-eMnzRcMSdz56oIVUIUCVY-aAprgPj0z73TS3iJyPYsS0d-_gy91nGaLdfWXqVHp5hyXpqxetXe5v7WAKRqSU/s1600/100_0771.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZVS43uqNe9VgckpQbNngnHuJmvBhTZ53IaeA1GbCl7RXaJ-I0RXb2Ej-eMnzRcMSdz56oIVUIUCVY-aAprgPj0z73TS3iJyPYsS0d-_gy91nGaLdfWXqVHp5hyXpqxetXe5v7WAKRqSU/s400/100_0771.JPG" t8="true" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The then current home of our family.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMLkfpY2ZCXrbIliEWZd9RVaf_xXRP4yQI_EUi_vzgLmV8-iPXFZH9Q97PMCtyizow4HVbKNbSkvDUuxYV28c0ES6EktBhMXlqlT5-eiLMvQJ3JO7Clxcqz4hqHdiE6UgevAzvJ-wz0WA/s1600/100_0772.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMLkfpY2ZCXrbIliEWZd9RVaf_xXRP4yQI_EUi_vzgLmV8-iPXFZH9Q97PMCtyizow4HVbKNbSkvDUuxYV28c0ES6EktBhMXlqlT5-eiLMvQJ3JO7Clxcqz4hqHdiE6UgevAzvJ-wz0WA/s400/100_0772.JPG" t8="true" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The bathroom. It actually has a flushing toliet, but there is no ceiling. Also, there is a pipe for a shower in this area. There is no floor so they put down a piece of wood to stand on while they shower. </span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8UINUEvsuhKgEXHVHvW7gUqHQUl1UhcxZEzIijPnxtQSlGnTAleQsCPV92iPC6H00pmFrT5vNluHyroU_2jzs33BdzYL1aMHhh15gd4hhum2V_-vl-734rdAo16kmldJgx-52ANqY9fQ/s1600/100_0775.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8UINUEvsuhKgEXHVHvW7gUqHQUl1UhcxZEzIijPnxtQSlGnTAleQsCPV92iPC6H00pmFrT5vNluHyroU_2jzs33BdzYL1aMHhh15gd4hhum2V_-vl-734rdAo16kmldJgx-52ANqY9fQ/s400/100_0775.JPG" t8="true" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Unloading the wood that we used as the foundation.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1QfWKDhFx0DrCpxFd_Zel5Wyz5H-S1xkGz6qc_V7eIS_IqkAwGx-eBudNN3vd3JBqICn0v_UVQNO8qTRZOkcamHZ5uavxm6PvA37gcylx7f-x9HLBvq73bpS8gPT3rP8FT9aMZZCNXrc/s1600/100_0776.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1QfWKDhFx0DrCpxFd_Zel5Wyz5H-S1xkGz6qc_V7eIS_IqkAwGx-eBudNN3vd3JBqICn0v_UVQNO8qTRZOkcamHZ5uavxm6PvA37gcylx7f-x9HLBvq73bpS8gPT3rP8FT9aMZZCNXrc/s400/100_0776.JPG" t8="true" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Digging the holes for the posts. The ground was so hard.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOgHULSFqUTKHgfJYuOBqcyVsb4KhGYVgNuroXzAedEfg1uj4NWUhZLTgW2EtPlvwDIX2_xDgNT5LBwh5kYxJe0HJWjZpXMQ5djaRnyf-JgsX5Nkkkqx8E5dHogkWFmNkeVmlCaXOD4Y8/s1600/100_0778.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOgHULSFqUTKHgfJYuOBqcyVsb4KhGYVgNuroXzAedEfg1uj4NWUhZLTgW2EtPlvwDIX2_xDgNT5LBwh5kYxJe0HJWjZpXMQ5djaRnyf-JgsX5Nkkkqx8E5dHogkWFmNkeVmlCaXOD4Y8/s400/100_0778.JPG" t8="true" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I crushed rocks with Melissa and her brother for 3 hours. They loved wearing our work gloves!</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs3GYtcT7kSJ80sbqwGxGJNpFTav8c-Eny4dkoAOb_xY3mHB6rMDtnuDarlUMVjnTF2KWcBQq7jjeGUwk0eIh86Hv6LEXvykJCZ49NGNCFR5qsbvqjzS1nf8NDitKZPHs_ZbA2H5r1fGE/s1600/100_0779.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs3GYtcT7kSJ80sbqwGxGJNpFTav8c-Eny4dkoAOb_xY3mHB6rMDtnuDarlUMVjnTF2KWcBQq7jjeGUwk0eIh86Hv6LEXvykJCZ49NGNCFR5qsbvqjzS1nf8NDitKZPHs_ZbA2H5r1fGE/s400/100_0779.JPG" t8="true" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This is where the mother of the house washes the family's clothes.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiViQ3TW3WVhEli5-9T3k49J_wYCMqeOI47i2KrL7WXFkAKRTtfhloH90bDXaEyHfWTU3O3HkSidylAt6raM71AvCzZtECEi8d-PfFDUEjULQZRfc3XZBSztdAVr81klSEMgNYkqSFn4Rc/s1600/100_0780.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiViQ3TW3WVhEli5-9T3k49J_wYCMqeOI47i2KrL7WXFkAKRTtfhloH90bDXaEyHfWTU3O3HkSidylAt6raM71AvCzZtECEi8d-PfFDUEjULQZRfc3XZBSztdAVr81klSEMgNYkqSFn4Rc/s400/100_0780.JPG" t8="true" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The black on the posts is oil. It is supposed to help preserve the wood.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFpSjd51fFuhnWK4tubwB4AJr9CwABrZXrMZleqlftZ5M3upU47u-x6pHpCzZ32UcRXwg-20zp6mx7oSjLX1Q7hkpSmQR_pqkKPAOLJtfwMU0CiVoCcEUWRJm-Th4Xc-8Em3ho1y5wOfc/s1600/100_0782.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFpSjd51fFuhnWK4tubwB4AJr9CwABrZXrMZleqlftZ5M3upU47u-x6pHpCzZ32UcRXwg-20zp6mx7oSjLX1Q7hkpSmQR_pqkKPAOLJtfwMU0CiVoCcEUWRJm-Th4Xc-8Em3ho1y5wOfc/s400/100_0782.JPG" t8="true" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The end of our first day of work.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifJLf9mWOxyEiJh4ttQjX05y8aGdXn3kLyvv-BDJ1ef3J0-Xw6dc35gf5UQwo8k04UdDGr6MseLfYskN7vRqUj0mZs_pOCCw7FGeTD5O7_EEiJgizqfXCjRdvf_LOu30E073vljq5iErU/s1600/100_0787.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifJLf9mWOxyEiJh4ttQjX05y8aGdXn3kLyvv-BDJ1ef3J0-Xw6dc35gf5UQwo8k04UdDGr6MseLfYskN7vRqUj0mZs_pOCCw7FGeTD5O7_EEiJgizqfXCjRdvf_LOu30E073vljq5iErU/s400/100_0787.JPG" t8="true" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Melissa wanted to take a picture of me. </span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfKm0W0WrhSShWoCQJsE8E1XK31KqksJq-JxHnH9HJegnztN5QewvdofQimNpTZlh1ZMcz7zzGjnEIWwHxKVDy3MYQsNfumG-POlBDkDwT7rMaKRl6K1DKEpvCeUIF0dJac9CBKymZ_64/s1600/100_0790.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfKm0W0WrhSShWoCQJsE8E1XK31KqksJq-JxHnH9HJegnztN5QewvdofQimNpTZlh1ZMcz7zzGjnEIWwHxKVDy3MYQsNfumG-POlBDkDwT7rMaKRl6K1DKEpvCeUIF0dJac9CBKymZ_64/s400/100_0790.JPG" t8="true" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Day 2. FINALLY the floor is down! The foundation was the hardest part.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpzcQMIJ2h0vmASTLeA9y080HEE8ZwOToZMGZlrphcl69hqqeDZmQIfFbuwQmMr4x5ampEpg0VrJqDq1YVrwNHfrUV2_OUf-t7rUIXdzc99vXw1mErVsqwGGIFTtW92leK2qrOKoeTXls/s1600/100_0791.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpzcQMIJ2h0vmASTLeA9y080HEE8ZwOToZMGZlrphcl69hqqeDZmQIfFbuwQmMr4x5ampEpg0VrJqDq1YVrwNHfrUV2_OUf-t7rUIXdzc99vXw1mErVsqwGGIFTtW92leK2qrOKoeTXls/s400/100_0791.JPG" t8="true" width="300" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8NyL5YhdTXsKDRBVlXs0O4eFMrSzzzDFPun9KmnVu7VfQ8UVJVVxgPTPg6KmGAwWFqRYsbzY8cD4s6aLBfnxZyJlMQENdNv80npAHIC8Ak9ZqJYU6OG9flEY4468w8T8vicrbi_oiDk4/s1600/100_0794.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8NyL5YhdTXsKDRBVlXs0O4eFMrSzzzDFPun9KmnVu7VfQ8UVJVVxgPTPg6KmGAwWFqRYsbzY8cD4s6aLBfnxZyJlMQENdNv80npAHIC8Ak9ZqJYU6OG9flEY4468w8T8vicrbi_oiDk4/s400/100_0794.JPG" t8="true" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> I held up the wall as another volunteer hammered.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4DIzB09yqr9-JxprJuC4oLmK18KIRK8tyY_m4tVzoINR1QFD2wB3GW4ikkoBIKRvMyE-2a6kgywz4KyVJUjP6bo8BUu-XZbHfKLMUKLI5NvfXk9ky31qkHI0cXVQ-vXnR2qpNc3NqAAY/s1600/100_0793.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4DIzB09yqr9-JxprJuC4oLmK18KIRK8tyY_m4tVzoINR1QFD2wB3GW4ikkoBIKRvMyE-2a6kgywz4KyVJUjP6bo8BUu-XZbHfKLMUKLI5NvfXk9ky31qkHI0cXVQ-vXnR2qpNc3NqAAY/s400/100_0793.JPG" t8="true" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Nailing the walls together was probably the fastest part.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6mGSEcTBtSS4Nh7pMMhAxcCRjtSiIK7FshL7QwA3fFJykgGP3X3wDcZNGKeuQHFHzgr1qNqs9AnDhFg2dgpU_nDnbTEP9issMe-Qn5AMBIRko1c9kZ2hpkMMTps9HIgtpamJfVyX9u_Q/s1600/100_0795.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6mGSEcTBtSS4Nh7pMMhAxcCRjtSiIK7FshL7QwA3fFJykgGP3X3wDcZNGKeuQHFHzgr1qNqs9AnDhFg2dgpU_nDnbTEP9issMe-Qn5AMBIRko1c9kZ2hpkMMTps9HIgtpamJfVyX9u_Q/s400/100_0795.JPG" t8="true" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioGLBoNjUILrCcscrbkC7cuwOZf_sn22jXGdI1_ty_V3gEHw_3Pzq2kLG9G5rRXq4Tn0MjXAua_U4oDa38OyKGyj-SvQVfiYYCwzuP_D5Sd6Zj3F-c_wwhB-ZD_av1SYo2BclP9M7aza4/s1600/100_0806.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioGLBoNjUILrCcscrbkC7cuwOZf_sn22jXGdI1_ty_V3gEHw_3Pzq2kLG9G5rRXq4Tn0MjXAua_U4oDa38OyKGyj-SvQVfiYYCwzuP_D5Sd6Zj3F-c_wwhB-ZD_av1SYo2BclP9M7aza4/s400/100_0806.JPG" t8="true" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The mother of the house! Almost done!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3f-njkiEDJgF-89YFBlUpcXnsTIlOnztzL3WR1NKrSeJZU9IQtpX_Avd6FgzjpGSb0y9Gelo6kbRvPJnCFpu8a3U0TTvfcpwS_7eJPjgt70G7FJ-1MPMlrez1ur-Iwg6qBnCVDZj8Yds/s1600/100_0796.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3f-njkiEDJgF-89YFBlUpcXnsTIlOnztzL3WR1NKrSeJZU9IQtpX_Avd6FgzjpGSb0y9Gelo6kbRvPJnCFpu8a3U0TTvfcpwS_7eJPjgt70G7FJ-1MPMlrez1ur-Iwg6qBnCVDZj8Yds/s400/100_0796.JPG" t8="true" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Putting the insulation.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSJ5yS9GA8fB2wFUR9w3X6k4Kqmku9L1uYkZETM3X1PJsi4yziM71DAELN6SskYKKNvyqQOenH9iM5Y0YQmliO7T_4RdidRg28I8CrX-ncCfjLKTYScQGUu-qLH7vG8mbcWcOeNrHxAwM/s1600/100_0805.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSJ5yS9GA8fB2wFUR9w3X6k4Kqmku9L1uYkZETM3X1PJsi4yziM71DAELN6SskYKKNvyqQOenH9iM5Y0YQmliO7T_4RdidRg28I8CrX-ncCfjLKTYScQGUu-qLH7vG8mbcWcOeNrHxAwM/s400/100_0805.JPG" t8="true" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We ate some greaaattt sopa (a type of bread similiar to cornbread) from this oven.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNc0CMC2PS_4WgNhWVObE8EAPgr3L_nntSMubNV-gMfvM_T4CNLhLNp0-RxkZVNIWZZGN-4M1-Y9e8OvyniC2LHAthohZn8hlxgkKRwUYnnUx10VQqsfmRC6AxrxIrrQkg1R4YCa6s1cU/s1600/100_0810.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNc0CMC2PS_4WgNhWVObE8EAPgr3L_nntSMubNV-gMfvM_T4CNLhLNp0-RxkZVNIWZZGN-4M1-Y9e8OvyniC2LHAthohZn8hlxgkKRwUYnnUx10VQqsfmRC6AxrxIrrQkg1R4YCa6s1cU/s400/100_0810.JPG" t8="true" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">La vista (the view) from their new home!</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854778237102528962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2605181192345247924.post-12914009051927726772011-05-16T11:23:00.000-05:002011-05-16T11:23:57.039-05:00Happy 200th Birthday Paraguay.<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This year Paraguay (among other countries in South America) is celebrating 200 years of independence from Spain. It is obvious on every street corner. If there is not a flag, someone is wearing a pin of flag. If there is not an event in the plaza, the school is having a performance. Everyone seems to be very excited about this historical moment, and I hope their excitement continues. I believe that it is an ideal time for a Peace Corps volunteer to be in Paraguay. We should all use this renewed pride to spread ideas such as taking care of the environment, being proud of yourself, doing something to better your community/country, leading others to do positive things, etc. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Today I walked in the <span lang="ES-PY" style="mso-ansi-language: ES-PY;">Bicentenario</span> parade with my school. After practicing for a month, I believe that the students did an excellent job. I was very proud to walk with them.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Et1RYKizqheh4dOKNYcBOWwpDjMJtAP6CBPO2Q6BGdnEBbuYiVZJn6Ykdo3mZsWeIJSK3OWxcmpqCoXvLg6mfR5P-FQhzMxaJRWAAEbmmmjLqkA8vJaktJE38qijDZCYmlPSCPozrFA/s1600/100_0745.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Et1RYKizqheh4dOKNYcBOWwpDjMJtAP6CBPO2Q6BGdnEBbuYiVZJn6Ykdo3mZsWeIJSK3OWxcmpqCoXvLg6mfR5P-FQhzMxaJRWAAEbmmmjLqkA8vJaktJE38qijDZCYmlPSCPozrFA/s400/100_0745.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSCJ6RXbCbzv7G-ruf-mfxun4qylTNpriBdYK4F0w6jCo-mjayLQU9k2_7riEJuCskityEz_jjjd9nwGIuYKxzcyazXEg9GzwFD5BqRHA8DBx4s6hVJ7YheSHl2SqtL3k0fiR47V03wDI/s1600/100_0746.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSCJ6RXbCbzv7G-ruf-mfxun4qylTNpriBdYK4F0w6jCo-mjayLQU9k2_7riEJuCskityEz_jjjd9nwGIuYKxzcyazXEg9GzwFD5BqRHA8DBx4s6hVJ7YheSHl2SqtL3k0fiR47V03wDI/s320/100_0746.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAUxf0xppd16-xTwInMXbbOnTaYvxdUdFyNzbz3gJ5HsRsFpAJcyFYoYEFiSEBjKo2wTvfqhs97RndVZFmZz44XM5Bx6XIiriMXGq0iVBnGzJ3_yJGYnF5JaCYEiW0jXgiWHDigAWbTyY/s1600/100_0749.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAUxf0xppd16-xTwInMXbbOnTaYvxdUdFyNzbz3gJ5HsRsFpAJcyFYoYEFiSEBjKo2wTvfqhs97RndVZFmZz44XM5Bx6XIiriMXGq0iVBnGzJ3_yJGYnF5JaCYEiW0jXgiWHDigAWbTyY/s320/100_0749.JPG" width="298" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCeqiKlXI7yFiQgVRoM6QzCAutNGg3aq7d2iD0V4KR811ZWzxCqM0Z3zHJCioT_D3xRyh6n9t54o3iqjcjotUJsL-8dgetL-VcEHHYoHh11z9SpbRpbINm_QZ9n8x7q2mc9dPneiUcANQ/s1600/100_0751.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCeqiKlXI7yFiQgVRoM6QzCAutNGg3aq7d2iD0V4KR811ZWzxCqM0Z3zHJCioT_D3xRyh6n9t54o3iqjcjotUJsL-8dgetL-VcEHHYoHh11z9SpbRpbINm_QZ9n8x7q2mc9dPneiUcANQ/s400/100_0751.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbPrmNaixdGbh0CjbehcPt4p_NSiAZYABwmhNTb65pu0nEBbkLyp3zo-nYoi0wiexdaPL1irweO_5q5IPQ9ABO-2k32xEfN4UdmAw5jOqjehw6GmNRPAXGNsAHAuwXTfajCE7hUpkMpk/s1600/100_0753.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbPrmNaixdGbh0CjbehcPt4p_NSiAZYABwmhNTb65pu0nEBbkLyp3zo-nYoi0wiexdaPL1irweO_5q5IPQ9ABO-2k32xEfN4UdmAw5jOqjehw6GmNRPAXGNsAHAuwXTfajCE7hUpkMpk/s400/100_0753.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFMuyVM8UUU80Jmvp3G2I2IbGKbK73VdkHupUE1GhMvnIJQ9Zd_xrpZdpkAD3xduXwdLNSvesLfxRSA2OiZtZejMTFn3qsHf8a1MmCnudjcVUMl1QpMXLzkwGiOz06yJEQQQ4-d_wE2Ow/s1600/100_0756.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFMuyVM8UUU80Jmvp3G2I2IbGKbK73VdkHupUE1GhMvnIJQ9Zd_xrpZdpkAD3xduXwdLNSvesLfxRSA2OiZtZejMTFn3qsHf8a1MmCnudjcVUMl1QpMXLzkwGiOz06yJEQQQ4-d_wE2Ow/s400/100_0756.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWskHfiF5FciFyyQ5B1TcKccu6u_NMu5qMl5pbrzEom71lZXqHSPK_k4108y7CrvdFuKpvfYTJ6s5W9Am_hm3-mWSXejnnPSoVLP8Ei-8S44w7lOZin_tw9wX68N-ysI4cdbOTtacHRl4/s1600/100_0757.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWskHfiF5FciFyyQ5B1TcKccu6u_NMu5qMl5pbrzEom71lZXqHSPK_k4108y7CrvdFuKpvfYTJ6s5W9Am_hm3-mWSXejnnPSoVLP8Ei-8S44w7lOZin_tw9wX68N-ysI4cdbOTtacHRl4/s400/100_0757.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Paulita.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTCINVqXE7CPPyzUCRN5-bcI9meQ5sHtgYUauzuGjlSjNNwFCWj4-ykju9wwNV3YyNAhIv2tVpPLKKQmGdHiZH4WVoVOoEG5tylzbH8xC8nOU9X_uY9_kqnhXMoVH6u47MV8PmyD9Y_s8/s1600/100_0758.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTCINVqXE7CPPyzUCRN5-bcI9meQ5sHtgYUauzuGjlSjNNwFCWj4-ykju9wwNV3YyNAhIv2tVpPLKKQmGdHiZH4WVoVOoEG5tylzbH8xC8nOU9X_uY9_kqnhXMoVH6u47MV8PmyD9Y_s8/s400/100_0758.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYUlXga1zX0-JXSeIJWlvEi06kX1N2o1wH5LWPKwWBKBLx42wSMxOdScDmf1vCSsdPKtLd6LZhJ8Eq2oUVJRlR2fn2mHzmpdqNm7RR7W8rfmAr_oEJLO3XZp3dTmz16Eu9Y2QGnmzpIkY/s1600/100_0760.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYUlXga1zX0-JXSeIJWlvEi06kX1N2o1wH5LWPKwWBKBLx42wSMxOdScDmf1vCSsdPKtLd6LZhJ8Eq2oUVJRlR2fn2mHzmpdqNm7RR7W8rfmAr_oEJLO3XZp3dTmz16Eu9Y2QGnmzpIkY/s400/100_0760.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuRbk4eaLjViXC_EXeg-lgQ4cmj55TlR2xf7vrxKfM4yTLiwK4K2KJ4Rop5FE73mica_crIVOYlgP099KaikcbMaUYAFSCEK-x4U2NlStqKugnChJ5YtVJdak-8XJ4877pRaM9IoJ7nvE/s1600/100_0762.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuRbk4eaLjViXC_EXeg-lgQ4cmj55TlR2xf7vrxKfM4yTLiwK4K2KJ4Rop5FE73mica_crIVOYlgP099KaikcbMaUYAFSCEK-x4U2NlStqKugnChJ5YtVJdak-8XJ4877pRaM9IoJ7nvE/s400/100_0762.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Beginning to walk...(after a 2 hour wait).</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPwnItt9oBIj3ougAXnscxjvGWvYRZcL3jV8rOP_-sFjANYVE5c1hqY2Pr5mWSOr9dwNpIuiSlgl7vD9De9KVpkgGnxDoXuh92ML2QfcWpd9fG30qz8BMz1XwAN3RlvJcpYwl1B97UYM0/s1600/100_0763.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPwnItt9oBIj3ougAXnscxjvGWvYRZcL3jV8rOP_-sFjANYVE5c1hqY2Pr5mWSOr9dwNpIuiSlgl7vD9De9KVpkgGnxDoXuh92ML2QfcWpd9fG30qz8BMz1XwAN3RlvJcpYwl1B97UYM0/s400/100_0763.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">My School. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrMAQR2pdUsKTdoA6WcbTmKb-aF1s1ebYdO0QrutfPpk-NQDv5sdjkhbreGvsLhrJ9HFaDd-h3vxnpXtOA9qpAZvCyBfv85jsgltkR0TnEI7bk8tNOzJQezvMqHyHovMBwB8Ogv3YgBGs/s1600/100_0764.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrMAQR2pdUsKTdoA6WcbTmKb-aF1s1ebYdO0QrutfPpk-NQDv5sdjkhbreGvsLhrJ9HFaDd-h3vxnpXtOA9qpAZvCyBfv85jsgltkR0TnEI7bk8tNOzJQezvMqHyHovMBwB8Ogv3YgBGs/s400/100_0764.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Plaza de las Armas.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyZ1I1cS5dgde_H9pUcdW575oM_1Ze4Gep17D4ebsBsRRm1Z1loTACyQbLXUfY3NPRs4pDr0Y6rQK-vfAwp_9_Q7DPYPiUBd5nD1_pHbORA9Xrnow7sbngJOECAbPZB3hM_FVcjyJujSQ/s1600/100_0767.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyZ1I1cS5dgde_H9pUcdW575oM_1Ze4Gep17D4ebsBsRRm1Z1loTACyQbLXUfY3NPRs4pDr0Y6rQK-vfAwp_9_Q7DPYPiUBd5nD1_pHbORA9Xrnow7sbngJOECAbPZB3hM_FVcjyJujSQ/s400/100_0767.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854778237102528962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2605181192345247924.post-35993092843400290242011-04-29T14:55:00.001-05:002011-04-29T14:55:57.927-05:00Taking a Little, Yet Doing A Lot<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Remember those simple card games you loved as a child? The ones you played over and over and over again? Old Maid, Memory, Go Fish...? Today I had the opportunity to introduce 10 little girls to these fun games. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Seeing as school was cancelled today in celebration of "El Dia del Maestro" (The Day of the Teacher), I had some extra time on my hands. I decided that it was a perfect time to make good on my promise, so I returned to the girls' orphanage to pay them a visit. Upon entering into the home, I found the girls doing their homework and/or working on the small crafts that they sell for a little spending money. The orphanage’s Directora told the girls to pack up their notebooks and materials, and we headed upstairs to their "library". As I began to stumble through the games' instructions, I realized that I should have prepared a little bit before coming. I guess I did not think about how I would need to know the verb for "flip over" (dar la vuelta a), "deal" (repartir), etc., but thankfully the girls were very patient and after a few examples, they were playing like pros. We first played Memory all together with the homemade deck of cards that I had made out of cardboard, markers and contact paper. I told them that I was not an artist, so they would have to bear with me on the crazy little pictures that I had drawn. However, we all still had a good laugh over some of the drawings. Afterwards, we split-up into 3 groups and each group played a different game. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">When I was leaving, the Directora of the orphanage asked if we could establish specific times for me to come and play/work with the girls. So, as of now I will be spending Monday afternoons with the girls that go to school during the morning shift, and I will be there on Wednesday mornings to visit with the girls that attend school in the afternoons. (Did I explain this previously? Children only go to school either for 4 hours in the morning or 4 hours in the afternoon.) </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">My current plan is to get to know the girls during the upcoming weeks and then possibly begin to insert self-esteem, health and other lessons into our time together. I have spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about all of the other games I loved as a child and how I cannot wait to share them with my newest friends!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">P.S. Did I mention that they call me Tia (Aunt)??</span>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854778237102528962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2605181192345247924.post-85244900478731823122011-04-28T16:30:00.000-05:002011-04-28T16:30:07.938-05:00Just Call Me the Miracle Worker.<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif";">Today's workload was relatively light. I got up at 8 am (versus 6 am), got ready, had some coffee and walked over to the House of English. There I met with the two owners of the language school, and we came to the agreement that I would teach a group of 5 teenagers on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the afternoon. I returned to my house for a short lunch break and then I downloaded a few free Spanish podcasts on ITunes. At about 2 pm I walked the short two blocks to my school with the intentions of observing a few classes. HOWEVER little did I know, I would be doing much more.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif";">Without revealing too much information, I will recount the afternoon events. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif";">I went into the Directora's office to talk to her about the lesson that we will be co-teaching together on Monday (over parental-roles, costs and work related to having a child, etc). After I brief discussion about other things (getting straight to the point is not a part of the culture), a parent entered the room. I immediately saw from the parent's facial expressions that I did NOT want to be a part of the up-coming conversation. I quickly tried to dismiss myself by saying, "Bueno, nos vemos el lunes", but the Directora was not having it. She politely, yet sternly asked me to stay. I sat. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif";">Let's just say that by the end of the conversation (in which I did not participate), the Directora had promised this parent (actually grandparent acting as parent) that I was a specialist from the United States that would counsel her and her 4 -year-old, violent grandson. When the woman left the room, I was unsure of what I had heard. I thought to myself, “I must of heard wrong. I did not understand the words correctly. I must of spaced-out.” Yet, I had heard correctly. On Monday, I will be acting as guidance counselor. Did they cover that in Public Relations 400? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif";"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif";">On a different note, here is a picture of me before my swear-in ceremony. </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHKdZT_7PF40EXdCbmGyeUQoYPxHP6_04VaBTJ8kO1zwWbsMdZrfafe1GILsDiwUp3qys5aFmaWHnSDbwxY_gPTEJEuvk0-9L3qDF6dEjCNB5FBIOlr3hvvPX7s-eKQZSnOwNPba2Kxtc/s1600/Me+before+my+swear-in+ceremony+April+15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHKdZT_7PF40EXdCbmGyeUQoYPxHP6_04VaBTJ8kO1zwWbsMdZrfafe1GILsDiwUp3qys5aFmaWHnSDbwxY_gPTEJEuvk0-9L3qDF6dEjCNB5FBIOlr3hvvPX7s-eKQZSnOwNPba2Kxtc/s400/Me+before+my+swear-in+ceremony+April+15.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif";">Thanks for the job JFK. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif";">P.S. In general, Paraguays LOVE JFK. There is a neighborhood and a school named after him about 20 minutes from where I live. </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
</span>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854778237102528962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2605181192345247924.post-49410949628651278302011-04-22T23:07:00.002-05:002011-04-23T09:09:40.858-05:00We should set them Free.<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif";">In recent years I have developed a distaste for zoos in general. Animals in cages. Animals in small areas. Animals in tanks. You see where I am going with this? Bueno. When my new host family asked me if I wanted to visit the local zoo, I thought it only polite to accept their invitation. Despite my feelings of resistance and apprehension, this morning we sat off on "Destination Zoo". Upon our arrival, I knew my conscience was in trouble. The animals were kept in small areas that were muddy, dirty and nothing like their actual habitats in the wild. The only green in the entire place was the potted plants that lined the walkways. It only seems natural that monkeys should have room to swing, birds air to fly and jaguars space to run, yet no one seemed to be slightly bothered by the fact that all of this was lacking. I wanted to take a moment to talk to my family about animal rights, but I didn't want to seem unappreciative of the trip there. </span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif";">So, this is defiantly a problem. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOl4m2cKk4z076qd66uaHWf7G-OH0u1eZhNjJ5CgbGxETP3tIgpz2_CZsqO9wW9jFflofla8Y-pMJUGJft58uOs4IYIyvUUZZTAemw5CdjNXpfsUYukvNqxdB3mxZEADpjbv5bu8V3TF8/s1600/100_0686.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOl4m2cKk4z076qd66uaHWf7G-OH0u1eZhNjJ5CgbGxETP3tIgpz2_CZsqO9wW9jFflofla8Y-pMJUGJft58uOs4IYIyvUUZZTAemw5CdjNXpfsUYukvNqxdB3mxZEADpjbv5bu8V3TF8/s400/100_0686.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Monkeys in small cage</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDN8Qr-2QB90BJP96jsJYhhNmqOEUXVXdk8FMHxtBvqxLkyUdepeac9cdpiP8vZ_TFIOfvaQ5Bf6uyDuJGn5FtfNkIxKepzEEZSO-XF0rfYpqTYv7ABuLhz8NJNIamDdfkKvvgsMf0PZI/s1600/100_0687.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDN8Qr-2QB90BJP96jsJYhhNmqOEUXVXdk8FMHxtBvqxLkyUdepeac9cdpiP8vZ_TFIOfvaQ5Bf6uyDuJGn5FtfNkIxKepzEEZSO-XF0rfYpqTYv7ABuLhz8NJNIamDdfkKvvgsMf0PZI/s400/100_0687.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">No water but last night's rainwater for these reptiles to swim in.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDZn26QKaNAWqqkbjW1RSkc1SdoEJ__RAGhGeDlnz1ybQix_aws_jj5MthkEEBA8It6B8EfiFXMxvxbrswxvzW1GhQ18X04xTcOKqRj91tI8C9hFFDb1beM1fVki6zhzvL6axFp7ztVNQ/s1600/100_0689.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDZn26QKaNAWqqkbjW1RSkc1SdoEJ__RAGhGeDlnz1ybQix_aws_jj5MthkEEBA8It6B8EfiFXMxvxbrswxvzW1GhQ18X04xTcOKqRj91tI8C9hFFDb1beM1fVki6zhzvL6axFp7ztVNQ/s400/100_0689.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Puma sitting on top of her closed-in area. Her floor was muddy, concrete tiles.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtM4Ii6Rr3lRg2lH8K-DkACLxS4BM7jYbiMgneB9MmQes0zJxDhq1FeJysPjDuTr0dQt4obAR7nW3FEtA_3AxAYgUSzkXg02ercpqpizeK6VrGViWnoYYstHE9m2X9gyunFtBw84NcSso/s1600/100_0691.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtM4Ii6Rr3lRg2lH8K-DkACLxS4BM7jYbiMgneB9MmQes0zJxDhq1FeJysPjDuTr0dQt4obAR7nW3FEtA_3AxAYgUSzkXg02ercpqpizeK6VrGViWnoYYstHE9m2X9gyunFtBw84NcSso/s400/100_0691.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This animal was in one of the smallest cages. It was missing fur and had open wombs. </span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJr1Api-m8piTbBwj2QxlCm9J8oEfwBMlML1VFTUJxGmoKJyKYvX2OzyuZidYuBc1zSj9rlfyW0j8OSrjPL_eNfTnHQaH2BiflVykDg0VGvmCg2qq-fzgPxiFIQf36TVlHTIwN232cK0E/s1600/100_0694.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJr1Api-m8piTbBwj2QxlCm9J8oEfwBMlML1VFTUJxGmoKJyKYvX2OzyuZidYuBc1zSj9rlfyW0j8OSrjPL_eNfTnHQaH2BiflVykDg0VGvmCg2qq-fzgPxiFIQf36TVlHTIwN232cK0E/s400/100_0694.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">No where to run. No where to hide. No where to go. </span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUY_2F9cHJ4byLJlFu9tQU1ddYtt10YSYe8q14xtUCVe_N6VkrfM_fyYYtApamMU0BzRuDceXo9X0Gw3jgEpXOSFEZsaXDPHBTlZAXdioQPFVHnMc5XbpCtCYNcPP6YnRCl_H5rbs6YBk/s1600/100_0696.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUY_2F9cHJ4byLJlFu9tQU1ddYtt10YSYe8q14xtUCVe_N6VkrfM_fyYYtApamMU0BzRuDceXo9X0Gw3jgEpXOSFEZsaXDPHBTlZAXdioQPFVHnMc5XbpCtCYNcPP6YnRCl_H5rbs6YBk/s400/100_0696.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A chained up fox that walked back and forth and back and forth and back and.....</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrwITHOhK3XwgkW1a31zrmF1w1-mWPYxe0Q6xQh7xWWLCSX2z-KeBXOZl3aG9siqRG6UCWeVescpxbhLUFEUDSVvXQ2l53GatOsdlmikQ_p88RjLZWtZmabBCJ_DhfZqsuyYzblp3fxGE/s1600/100_0698.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrwITHOhK3XwgkW1a31zrmF1w1-mWPYxe0Q6xQh7xWWLCSX2z-KeBXOZl3aG9siqRG6UCWeVescpxbhLUFEUDSVvXQ2l53GatOsdlmikQ_p88RjLZWtZmabBCJ_DhfZqsuyYzblp3fxGE/s400/100_0698.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Is this where the King of the jungle should be?</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiTn2ssRv74jeeUgnYIZ86AGnmky9Qv8cUqbYG15DYzpyZaQR4zBEsV26K_A36V1cvoNkOBSrPqoPBjqlgGrDc_HYjuQTHRilSeaM5AG0idzu0GfayoUrqtB4uJ84mZkrGfE40u-1DUa8/s1600/100_0697.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiTn2ssRv74jeeUgnYIZ86AGnmky9Qv8cUqbYG15DYzpyZaQR4zBEsV26K_A36V1cvoNkOBSrPqoPBjqlgGrDc_HYjuQTHRilSeaM5AG0idzu0GfayoUrqtB4uJ84mZkrGfE40u-1DUa8/s400/100_0697.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And what about her? Does she belong here as well?</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge-KXvcNCIPpICCdEX0zDM50YQCJ9A4T4K4rdRYRbzEHDZF2zo3yQdRl897NVpnUUjuIHGV1PaTnBPDuvZo_Flsg9F77-hdB9EDN_hporcpDPuKOFVhyNfALbklIQJ71pIsaFkYaQ5Wnk/s1600/100_0699.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge-KXvcNCIPpICCdEX0zDM50YQCJ9A4T4K4rdRYRbzEHDZF2zo3yQdRl897NVpnUUjuIHGV1PaTnBPDuvZo_Flsg9F77-hdB9EDN_hporcpDPuKOFVhyNfALbklIQJ71pIsaFkYaQ5Wnk/s400/100_0699.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Sitting instead of swinging.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdzucn0k7ovsSNLsFSrU-a1_PIl6QtWzkOVMZyVLrAMs1C9af2g1eZIQHSB6RFZ4tKiQ-ai8WVGfBnPrxJDx7UsFsisoNJ-UuRO7pThynpPKhjq1H_qA5sCr0ZbPg1xoeVPgtECZwZkKE/s1600/100_0702.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdzucn0k7ovsSNLsFSrU-a1_PIl6QtWzkOVMZyVLrAMs1C9af2g1eZIQHSB6RFZ4tKiQ-ai8WVGfBnPrxJDx7UsFsisoNJ-UuRO7pThynpPKhjq1H_qA5sCr0ZbPg1xoeVPgtECZwZkKE/s400/100_0702.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I am beginning to become speechless...</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr0Cy5lvanwQ8OjZhWrGlVPpZ_30fLjDRcP4eqgbE8BB37ii5KJPp4tgqrjb45145ZSwMih1vHNwgrdRdLmNGivxO28P-3P_AP81AQniVx6zd0YKYUkrsoGrwYSgOW2hHPdTGpytJB44o/s1600/100_0706.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr0Cy5lvanwQ8OjZhWrGlVPpZ_30fLjDRcP4eqgbE8BB37ii5KJPp4tgqrjb45145ZSwMih1vHNwgrdRdLmNGivxO28P-3P_AP81AQniVx6zd0YKYUkrsoGrwYSgOW2hHPdTGpytJB44o/s400/100_0706.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Another small cage for an animal that requires a place to stretch his arms...</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUUkmBZHlb9wdMtenIyVn8dHnCrwEUTZv3NQIWxD2m-hbFjKUdG7IrKeGB-iJwZdtXYGBLVKVAoKZ6CSR5ULRD4DiWf7yclbEJOCSY0qsOxqdMkCS4dJzHJ8vtK71WD62kF98EKlJP6rE/s1600/100_0708.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUUkmBZHlb9wdMtenIyVn8dHnCrwEUTZv3NQIWxD2m-hbFjKUdG7IrKeGB-iJwZdtXYGBLVKVAoKZ6CSR5ULRD4DiWf7yclbEJOCSY0qsOxqdMkCS4dJzHJ8vtK71WD62kF98EKlJP6rE/s400/100_0708.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvwPAlfOXQLmZFx-gSuSsBDhn1MAVrpSwPsLgPIupnWs2XgUzfizXJrl3Jx9beKuQ2NeUfluBA9t7yjI8-YcfK1FSOnYLuxkQDp8VNYYSTjUyYNBt9ySzPhg4fY-gkVcE8wcmQYhSyGuk/s1600/100_0713.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvwPAlfOXQLmZFx-gSuSsBDhn1MAVrpSwPsLgPIupnWs2XgUzfizXJrl3Jx9beKuQ2NeUfluBA9t7yjI8-YcfK1FSOnYLuxkQDp8VNYYSTjUyYNBt9ySzPhg4fY-gkVcE8wcmQYhSyGuk/s400/100_0713.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">You are kidding me...right? </span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs5q2EiMMeOikNc6EEeHHAUkVIBqjDbr1j7QUOGyPmCGTVZFq0xvcysv-I7AmZWfQBvO6HYQuXf7ybYWJZPnVndOU7z4iVXCux9qz_e0_PZJwEY-5CjLL1OvgngaY1kMUYa52gvbHYIkI/s1600/100_0725.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs5q2EiMMeOikNc6EEeHHAUkVIBqjDbr1j7QUOGyPmCGTVZFq0xvcysv-I7AmZWfQBvO6HYQuXf7ybYWJZPnVndOU7z4iVXCux9qz_e0_PZJwEY-5CjLL1OvgngaY1kMUYa52gvbHYIkI/s400/100_0725.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQS2D-m29LKhE286g9s2H-fZX2R1RH55gWu1YRheqAHFERz4-Lfyxvwf0l1IFJI9moFhK2SIRT0YKagpquwZVNQhR8em3a8aZ8bdzCPBcahFT41vfTOl27scxlkMXd2HRe48kX1z1vZhI/s1600/100_0717.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQS2D-m29LKhE286g9s2H-fZX2R1RH55gWu1YRheqAHFERz4-Lfyxvwf0l1IFJI9moFhK2SIRT0YKagpquwZVNQhR8em3a8aZ8bdzCPBcahFT41vfTOl27scxlkMXd2HRe48kX1z1vZhI/s400/100_0717.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I highly doubt that ragged plastic around monkeys is a good idea for ANYONE. </span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihYSb9d2J1_uAiutQ4iNWFoBDquUajn3B01YexX4LnIS-ntr3aelbfIYyowkq6lPaZj_T7OvBjdd2BbbaDvC741cgQ5F9mtVJyxEgjZKMF4MeiUXoPiXRO_2zbQpFOdspL7NChmB2wL9A/s1600/100_0723.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihYSb9d2J1_uAiutQ4iNWFoBDquUajn3B01YexX4LnIS-ntr3aelbfIYyowkq6lPaZj_T7OvBjdd2BbbaDvC741cgQ5F9mtVJyxEgjZKMF4MeiUXoPiXRO_2zbQpFOdspL7NChmB2wL9A/s400/100_0723.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Look at the infrastructure of this cage. Does anything about it say "safe" to you?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">I realize that I am not here to preach on animal rights, but even if I wanted to where would I begin?? If there are not even any [enforced] regulations to protect animals, how will things ever change?? I wish that I could say that leading by example will be enough...and maybe in some cases, it will be. Maybe. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854778237102528962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2605181192345247924.post-64144673544526776942011-04-06T15:23:00.000-05:002011-04-06T15:23:59.995-05:00Birthdays, Work Site and More<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:HyphenationZone>21</w:HyphenationZone> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>ES-TRAD</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267"> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Tabla normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style> <![endif]--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Birthdays. Ok, we all know that birthday celebrations are all in good fun. Sure, I would have to agree that celebrating someone’s birthday generally brings about good times, yet do I find it necessary to celebrate <u>at length</u> the birthdays of every person that I’ve ever met and their extended family? No. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Here in Paraguay birthday celebrations are on the rage. If you aren’t attending multiple birthday parties a week, then you haven’t fully adapted to the culture. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US">This past week the other trainees and I all shipped out on colectivos (buses) to our future sites, which are all across the country (minus the desert part of the country AKA The Chaco). If you haven’t already heard I will be one of the few volunteers of G-35 to be working in a city. Yes, I know what you are thinking. “Isn’t the Peace Corps all about scrubbing your underwear on a rock?” My response is “Yes, in some areas.” But I’ll go into more details about my site and future work in a minute. Ok, back on topic. Where was I? Oh, yes. So I will be working in a city in the southern part of the country. Upon my arrival, I met my soon-to-be host family and got the chance to spend some time with them. Like Hermana 2 in my training town, my new sister (age 21) attends birthday parties like it is her job. She literally attended 3 birthday parties in a span of 2 days AND went out with her friends to celebrate someone else’s birthday. She invited me to tag along to these social gathering, but after I sat through a 5 hour birthday party for a 1 year old with her (that was literally decorated as elaborately as a wedding), I declined the following invites. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Hasn’t anyone heard about “swinging-by” a party? If you are going to attend all birthday extravaganzas, why not cut some of them short? My new host mother said that sadly I would be missing two birthday parties in the coming weeks. I hate to say that I feel slightly relieved. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US">My birthday just recently passed and since I knew that is a nation of over doers on the birthday scene, I politely requested that my current host family keep it low key. I even went as far as to say that I wasn’t big on birthdays, which is partially true. I’m sure that my parents will be happy to hear that no birthday will ever top the ones I spent at home. Something about having your favorite meal cooked and then being chased around to receive birthday spankings is priceless.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US">My site and my work.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US">The Peace Corps has requested that we do not post our exact location on the internet. If you would like to know the name of the city simply email me or ask my family. There are a lot of pictures online of the city and it is worth doing a quick fact check on Wikipedia (this is not a promotion of Wikipedia). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US">So, like I said I will be one of the few people in G-35 working in a city. When I say city, I don’t mean large city. Yes, it is one of the larger ones in <u>Paraguay</u>, but let us keep it in perspective seeing as there are only 6 million people in the country.<span> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Thus far, I have identified 3 organizations that I am interested in working for and I have heard of a few others that I plan to check out. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US">My assigned organization is my school. The school has about 400 students and goes from Pre-Escolar (Kindergarten) – 9<sup>th</sup> grade. There are 2 turnos (shifts). That means that some students come to school for the morning classes (7 am – 11 am/12pm depending on their grade), while others attend in the afternoon (1 pm – 5pm). Students only go to school for 4 hours a day??? Yes. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US">There are many students at the school that have fallen very far behind the others because they cannot read. They either do not have help at home or do not get extra support from their teacher. I hope to work with the teachers to start an apoyo (help/support) program. Together we will identify the students that need extra help in reading and then I will come to the school a few days a week with the sole purpose of tutoring these students. It may not be a sustainable project (meaning after I leave it will probably not continue), but I hope to help the students advance during the time that I have. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US">I was introduced by other volunteer (that lives in a neighborhood outside of the city) to some people that run an English school. They are a relatively new business, but they have already donate resources to other organizations. So, basically if I provide free labor by teaching once a week, I could possibly strike a deal to receive books and/or materials for someone else. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Lastly, I feel like I struck gold when I was introduced the director of a girl’s orphanage.<span> </span>My school has a special population of children that are living in orphanages in the area. I went with the director to the girls’ home (as she calls it) and it is not what we think of as an orphanage. Of course I am sure that there are terrible orphanages out there in the world, but this one was well taken care of and only had 13 girls. I had been introduced at the school the previous day and had observed a few classes, but what came next really surprised me. Although the girls could not have heard my name more than once, when I walked into the building, I was welcomed by 5 girls yelling “ELLIEEEEE!” The director and girls showed me around the building. They were excited to show me their stuffed animals, where they slept, cooked and played. The building has a “library” with many books, but it seems to mainly consist of reference books and small children’s books. I hope to look for resources to obtain books for older ages in the near future. The director explained that the orphanage receives funds from the government, donations and fundraisers. She also told me that the girls do their own separate projects in order to have extra spending money. The girls showed me things they had sewn, beaded, etc. I promised that I would come back to play and work with them in the upcoming weeks. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US">So, what now? A week and a half of training left, our swear-in ceremony and a bus ride out to begin my official work as a Peace Corps Volunteer. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US">P.S. I would post pictures if my camera battery wasn´t shot. Hopefully I will find a replacement soon. </span></div>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854778237102528962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2605181192345247924.post-47638734881627785102011-02-26T11:20:00.002-06:002011-02-26T11:26:37.835-06:00Pictures.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLym1XqM9uA4HunjHTT47m17j9XeZ4WHp4uGrH2nEhA_SVASw_6_akhVECuZJZpxPcddFvy5KOhnnIYdmZyNpWpT9wa67gsqasR210Ksdg0xBev7mv-KRUFt7nZf-wl8raeap-OQ2mHeM/s1600/Aurora%252C+Me%252C+Sophia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLym1XqM9uA4HunjHTT47m17j9XeZ4WHp4uGrH2nEhA_SVASw_6_akhVECuZJZpxPcddFvy5KOhnnIYdmZyNpWpT9wa67gsqasR210Ksdg0xBev7mv-KRUFt7nZf-wl8raeap-OQ2mHeM/s400/Aurora%252C+Me%252C+Sophia.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>Paraguayan Sisters and I</b></div><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghz706OFB0l0EGoTRW43cvF6FRthjksGZ30GS4urSKbc5vI1fFskHCs_oEflxOMKWvMmevBzVV7CE7kTi1FLUKwPX9sbefrOgES-bobSUr1PzSQWIMlAVSg-K3GgyWKl66WUU9XF7b-PU/s1600/Norma+and+I+in+her+shop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghz706OFB0l0EGoTRW43cvF6FRthjksGZ30GS4urSKbc5vI1fFskHCs_oEflxOMKWvMmevBzVV7CE7kTi1FLUKwPX9sbefrOgES-bobSUr1PzSQWIMlAVSg-K3GgyWKl66WUU9XF7b-PU/s400/Norma+and+I+in+her+shop.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>Mami Paraguay and I in her mini Auto Zone shop.</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- </b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Peace Corps Volunteer Visit Numero 1. Martinez Cue.</b></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIJErgaE7iVbgNEV17XP9klCtA16Fi1IcK6xx5EgYKOy-Aa_AG-REqNJK3qXfvaeG7TMnMFyiTHhGkbY-rcJjDm8Oeefoay_Q1fDDfConAoQ0S9DJ0O2ldgysoIpWDNiGiZDVL68yh1Yw/s1600/PCV+Visit-+in+front+of+the+Martinez+Cue+Welcome+Sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIJErgaE7iVbgNEV17XP9klCtA16Fi1IcK6xx5EgYKOy-Aa_AG-REqNJK3qXfvaeG7TMnMFyiTHhGkbY-rcJjDm8Oeefoay_Q1fDDfConAoQ0S9DJ0O2ldgysoIpWDNiGiZDVL68yh1Yw/s400/PCV+Visit-+in+front+of+the+Martinez+Cue+Welcome+Sign.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqqSnNOTVwfhCJMloSauS93l3q63ZJr4vcq-9mcT0nF3qZGzeMKM4natpxKjsnwhN61_yWeAVtEs-8kDmy-KeKR4OIM-RYvYRLh3TxdBBECcYeikFYjfGsgrdyiQZ3fggXiocbKKQKR4M/s1600/PCV+Visit-+Martinez+Cue+6-+Main+Road.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqqSnNOTVwfhCJMloSauS93l3q63ZJr4vcq-9mcT0nF3qZGzeMKM4natpxKjsnwhN61_yWeAVtEs-8kDmy-KeKR4OIM-RYvYRLh3TxdBBECcYeikFYjfGsgrdyiQZ3fggXiocbKKQKR4M/s400/PCV+Visit-+Martinez+Cue+6-+Main+Road.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJv6x6a0Nv52z2PFhWWkxaDjzT7L3gGyadIQY2c65I6oiyyuRUdmrGUfFKUmE3_S1vNyQEHeXEycHPrSB73otCExYmhJkJ7r0lvTSOPOBhwJcnIwFLEsPcsgpSbETQbRIGaAOftV5x1gg/s1600/PCV+Visit+Marissa-+Martinez+Cue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJv6x6a0Nv52z2PFhWWkxaDjzT7L3gGyadIQY2c65I6oiyyuRUdmrGUfFKUmE3_S1vNyQEHeXEycHPrSB73otCExYmhJkJ7r0lvTSOPOBhwJcnIwFLEsPcsgpSbETQbRIGaAOftV5x1gg/s400/PCV+Visit+Marissa-+Martinez+Cue.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWj1ZB3mT_vuRK7QcqyY-VZkiQIFvThA44XDo5hyphenhyphenXgYl_Jfz1GKv-l2O_ij6z6NYFltgiiy3TbhTgHJAehHVfxpgMsXWUsROen7U10q3P2wuyZefxEC3krxMl-GkFQsXC1611g1WkaIsc/s1600/PCV+Visit-+Martinez+Cue+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWj1ZB3mT_vuRK7QcqyY-VZkiQIFvThA44XDo5hyphenhyphenXgYl_Jfz1GKv-l2O_ij6z6NYFltgiiy3TbhTgHJAehHVfxpgMsXWUsROen7U10q3P2wuyZefxEC3krxMl-GkFQsXC1611g1WkaIsc/s400/PCV+Visit-+Martinez+Cue+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiyhM862go-GiYWhyphenhyphenAbJldaKddoHA3YwZJh-SkfHka2-0Q06CWz9A-IGCue84lG2I9sPbtMTM1JYoW-BzPNRZwY36ZAD7OBz6QTnarQoYUN09Oeu9FMNlKF2T77XzUwt4mdx0PE_s2Kls/s1600/PCV+Visit-+Martinez+Cue+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiyhM862go-GiYWhyphenhyphenAbJldaKddoHA3YwZJh-SkfHka2-0Q06CWz9A-IGCue84lG2I9sPbtMTM1JYoW-BzPNRZwY36ZAD7OBz6QTnarQoYUN09Oeu9FMNlKF2T77XzUwt4mdx0PE_s2Kls/s400/PCV+Visit-+Martinez+Cue+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioGFZtsG0VYZE4eUOk28Kk7G-a5AdDuNMMU7DsbBhPvWuU3RcjktQ8foqQP1cJEpBl9tSRd_Pbqz0il-NxAOVkNBz_vfbUzIPPcm9d_-aXfouBxTyu2MTzJCcnDmAKinUelauQK5DDZhg/s1600/PCV+Visit-+Martinez+Cue+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioGFZtsG0VYZE4eUOk28Kk7G-a5AdDuNMMU7DsbBhPvWuU3RcjktQ8foqQP1cJEpBl9tSRd_Pbqz0il-NxAOVkNBz_vfbUzIPPcm9d_-aXfouBxTyu2MTzJCcnDmAKinUelauQK5DDZhg/s400/PCV+Visit-+Martinez+Cue+4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpKpbm7SnnSIOctaaya6ObM8jFwcJQVc1dmp6k1hzIVSZcQmxLooWkLO4_IclaucDDty_zDHhYg5xWZbMkcEyZZ3JDYpFq2LbViVbEGzP3YH0aTkwVkqGJ4SQKB_b9GdkxKdy6-rJj6Ps/s1600/PCV+Visit-+Martinez+Cue+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpKpbm7SnnSIOctaaya6ObM8jFwcJQVc1dmp6k1hzIVSZcQmxLooWkLO4_IclaucDDty_zDHhYg5xWZbMkcEyZZ3JDYpFq2LbViVbEGzP3YH0aTkwVkqGJ4SQKB_b9GdkxKdy6-rJj6Ps/s400/PCV+Visit-+Martinez+Cue+5.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgilISshlIJNLTgye4_P-XMhJqY0SFKA9SjHZ0obkaJ0TXJaiWHXech9v0Yr834uYmxYwZn9fAH-mVsdkiXjXUv4ldp4Ay4nAlW8H0cfHqOrfQTA-BjYcjeXy4RIuSnZP9LaEs69F2amuQ/s1600/PCV+Visit-+Vine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgilISshlIJNLTgye4_P-XMhJqY0SFKA9SjHZ0obkaJ0TXJaiWHXech9v0Yr834uYmxYwZn9fAH-mVsdkiXjXUv4ldp4Ay4nAlW8H0cfHqOrfQTA-BjYcjeXy4RIuSnZP9LaEs69F2amuQ/s400/PCV+Visit-+Vine.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Another Volunteer´s Home </b></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>(about 3 Km from Martinez Cue). </b></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJfMFVJPpfezhoIMFZLioQoIsBszlBXuU37rPk2h9uDAgEFhz4aig2qMs0BlOuFZGZLxxePrlLGXWf9gFewpGNTppblbBNNX3js9qJYlpHW9cXVgx3Y5GjQuG_nT5IQP1k5qj8oo6BmH4/s1600/PCV+Visit+-+Tes%2527s+House.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJfMFVJPpfezhoIMFZLioQoIsBszlBXuU37rPk2h9uDAgEFhz4aig2qMs0BlOuFZGZLxxePrlLGXWf9gFewpGNTppblbBNNX3js9qJYlpHW9cXVgx3Y5GjQuG_nT5IQP1k5qj8oo6BmH4/s400/PCV+Visit+-+Tes%2527s+House.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXoOxdXwPIrVNdxGIxhZc56tV_2OqqzHqyZrOHVu9pAnNn1WbxRiw_sexHsxnlRZDi0a3I9uUtq4k393ZQhsq7_WUxzIFi_yXd0kTKSpCmO_6ZNVl4mn39qAhFeqztHwcqFiA_xGtfLRE/s1600/PCV+Visit-+Tes%2527s+Bathroom+and+Shower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXoOxdXwPIrVNdxGIxhZc56tV_2OqqzHqyZrOHVu9pAnNn1WbxRiw_sexHsxnlRZDi0a3I9uUtq4k393ZQhsq7_WUxzIFi_yXd0kTKSpCmO_6ZNVl4mn39qAhFeqztHwcqFiA_xGtfLRE/s400/PCV+Visit-+Tes%2527s+Bathroom+and+Shower.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2_ALrRq0TEIJxrzqJEYqv_P2-kPPWFeifEBuKTry3oJol_l5blKM7jfdBpP24LFJ_rwG98VHOjcoyf0Gd0dkqgqJ1P4oXENctnKshO_kIYwfrhLNEaOdVjMbQOWeuu287jJCOY2RIU-A/s1600/PCV+Visit-+Tes%2527s+House%252C+Beekeeper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2_ALrRq0TEIJxrzqJEYqv_P2-kPPWFeifEBuKTry3oJol_l5blKM7jfdBpP24LFJ_rwG98VHOjcoyf0Gd0dkqgqJ1P4oXENctnKshO_kIYwfrhLNEaOdVjMbQOWeuu287jJCOY2RIU-A/s400/PCV+Visit-+Tes%2527s+House%252C+Beekeeper.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh4mgjoXdU0r61xM4YgloCM9gQX-WpnX_BucNtTpy1NaxJhHEshAryerEqrQnAjztTmmGOxwM-H0E5gFhVND1n3kbxnRKAQ3dRK03e97omEIpw-E9PIi7QWmOYzG3LFBh0f3Svf49MPUs/s1600/PCV+Visit-Tes%2527s+Well.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh4mgjoXdU0r61xM4YgloCM9gQX-WpnX_BucNtTpy1NaxJhHEshAryerEqrQnAjztTmmGOxwM-H0E5gFhVND1n3kbxnRKAQ3dRK03e97omEIpw-E9PIi7QWmOYzG3LFBh0f3Svf49MPUs/s400/PCV+Visit-Tes%2527s+Well.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As you can see, the living situation of each volunteer is unique. While some of us will be bathing under a stream of running water, others will be bucket bathing for two years. Some of us will live in towns, while others will live in the ruralest of the rural areas.</div>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854778237102528962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2605181192345247924.post-28782189064222641822011-02-26T10:35:00.001-06:002011-02-26T11:28:04.947-06:00Chisme & Ms. Fix-It<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Chisme</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">They call it “chisme” aka gossip. It is a popular joke to say that chisme is the national sport. Chisme is not always harmful, but it sure does carry fast. Let’s have some examples. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">-During my recovering period (after consuming the bad sandwich), I went to the neighbor’s grocery store. Both owners asked me “Como te sentes vos?” (How do you feel?) One went as far as to add some action to his question by motioning to his stomach. I was thinking “Glad everyone knows.”</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">-One of the volunteer’s asked me if it was true that I eat everything that my mother gives me. I said yes. She said, “Yea, my host mom said, ‘Ellie eats everything that her mother gives her.’” I believe that this comment might have been said in slightly resentful tone, so the volunteer seemed annoyed to know that I truly do eat everything.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">-I told Mami Paraguay that I would like to start running at nights. She said, “The volunteer a few house down wants to start running at nights, too.” When I approached the other volunteer about it, she said, “How did your mom know? I mentioned it to like one person.”</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">-Some afternoons we go to this restaurant to eat empanadas after class. One volunteer told me today that the girlfriend of someone told her host family that the volunteer was in the town center yesterday with a big group of Americans at El Paso. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Yes, these may be minor examples of chisme, but you can see how things get around very quickly in this town. This is one of the most important reasons to be on your best behavior because if you aren’t, your Mami Paraguay and all the other Mamis are going to know. And the wheels of chisme will begin to turn. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Ms. Fix-It</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">To be politically correct, I should write Mr./Ms. Fix-It since there are in men in the Peace Corps too, but we celebrated El Dia de Las Mujeres (The Day of the Women) today in language class, so I think it justifies my title. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As an education advisor, I will be working with teachers and principals in schools. During these sessions, I am supposed to present new ways of presenting lessons to students, help develop classroom materials, set-up new programs for those requiring extra help, etc. That sound great, doesn’t it? Right and Wrong. Right, because obviously it would be great to better the education system of another country. Wrong, because there are many people that don’t think there is a problem. Wrong, because teachers that have been teaching for 23 years, don’t want a 23 year-old to tell them a “better” method of teaching. Wrong, because most people don’t understand what we are even doing in their schools. Wrong, because most people think I am 17. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">There are a lot of challenges to overcome. I am not sure what people think about the Peace Corps in the United States, but I imagine that many people think that we are playing around in another country for two years. SO, for all of those that are unsure about the Peace Corps being put into the “real job” category, let me tell you it is more than a job. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Take a moment and think about a common situation that many PC Volunteers face throughout their service:</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">What if your boss gave you a list of goals and objectives to accomplish in two years and then you went to work every day and your co-workers didn’t understand what you were doing there, didn’t speak the same language as you, didn’t agree with you methods and didn’t find you credible because you weren’t from their 500 people town? Do you think that work might be difficult for you? </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I have discovered that the Peace Corps is not for the weak at heart. In the little time that I have been here, I have already faced challenges that do not make you feel good about yourself. Many people do not realize the following:</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1. I am not 17 years-old.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">2. I am a professional and have a college degree.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">3. I am actually working. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">4. I am not Mormon or of another religious group. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As practice for our future job assignments, we will spend 6 different days working in a local school here in our training town. I went to spend a few minutes at my assigned school the other day. I talked with the teacher – she teaches second grade - that I will be working with about the school and students. I asked her about the different levels of the students in her class, materials that they do and do not have, current school funding, parent involvement, etc. Although the PC has directly told each of the teachers what we will be doing in the schools (observing lessons, presenting alternative ways of teaching and model lessons, making suggestions for programs, etc), at the end of the conversation, the teacher still asked me if my purpose of coming was to play games with the children. Great. She thinks that she has acquired a baby-sitter instead of another co-worker. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">*Keep in mind that <i>all villages, towns, schools, health posts, organizations, groups, etc</i> where you find a PC Volunteer working, <b>REQUESTED</b> help.*</div>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854778237102528962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2605181192345247924.post-12884632058093459662011-02-20T09:21:00.000-06:002011-02-20T09:21:38.329-06:00My Room Number 1.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioDhZts88XVY0N1VfCbHGe90sQDd_2mE9Eo01YR_FX2DLZVF48Aw6h6VfrmJkWCh57bpsFA1K6RxYSJ5G2f_-3t070dJqiDb7zTLD8ZIT9N2WF7OOFOrKvXi_8XzixplcYg4cu1URF3z8/s1600/My+room+in+Guarambare.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioDhZts88XVY0N1VfCbHGe90sQDd_2mE9Eo01YR_FX2DLZVF48Aw6h6VfrmJkWCh57bpsFA1K6RxYSJ5G2f_-3t070dJqiDb7zTLD8ZIT9N2WF7OOFOrKvXi_8XzixplcYg4cu1URF3z8/s320/My+room+in+Guarambare.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGAKlvbo1GYMk3SF4j8u3BfcyqmYX4eNZgLlMM9lebw1vGNz3m2Fe-ErDdn3Or127PYTWnMrBYO6xeCT0O1U5S7w18AyF8BNmQjsbzH9XxexxK7mxXQ4OzsPT32P61gkkgRCWnb8mlLZA/s1600/My+room+in+Guarambare+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGAKlvbo1GYMk3SF4j8u3BfcyqmYX4eNZgLlMM9lebw1vGNz3m2Fe-ErDdn3Or127PYTWnMrBYO6xeCT0O1U5S7w18AyF8BNmQjsbzH9XxexxK7mxXQ4OzsPT32P61gkkgRCWnb8mlLZA/s320/My+room+in+Guarambare+2.jpg" /></a></div>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854778237102528962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2605181192345247924.post-14908585511061799452011-02-19T10:53:00.000-06:002011-02-19T10:53:39.746-06:00Pregunta: Pre-made Deli Sandwich? Si o No? Respuesta: NoThursday began fairly well. The education sector had been divided up into pairs and we were each assigned 2 to 3 places to visit in the capital Asunción and/or the surrounding area. It was a type of a scavenger hunt designed to help us figure out the bus system and find our way around. My partner and I were assigned to going to Parque Ñu Guaza and a book store. At our first destination, we were to observe who was at the park, what they were doing and the infrastructure of the park itself. We also asked someone at the park who was responsible for the construction and maintenance. From there we caught an extremely crowded bus to the street where we found the bookstore. Despite the fact that we received wrong directions from about 5 people, we made it to the bookstore in one piece. Our mission here was to find out if schools received a discount on textbooks and if the store gave donations to schools as well. <br />
<br />
Before we knew it, we arrived at the Peace Corps office (which is about 3 blocks from the U.S. Embassy). When all of the education sector trainees arrived, we split up into small groups again and met with different staff members. <br />
So, let’s get to the entire point of this story. After training the majority of our groups wanted to get ice cream, I, however, wanted to get food. I rallied up some of the others and we walked one block to a grocery store. I bought a sandwich from the deli and a pack of Lays chips. Later that night, I realized that I was feeling kind of funny, but I thought that it was probably due to the fact that we were walking in 100 degree weather all day. I. Was. Wrong. <br />
<br />
So apparently Paraguayans don’t each prepared sandwiches from delis because they have the potential of being old. That is what I was told by Mami Paraguay the following day when it was discovered that I had a case of food poisoning. Oh and want to know another plus to yesterday? Oh yea, it was definitely 106 degrees outside and at least 96 degrees in my room where I laid all day trying to force myself not to go to the bathroom again.<br />
<br />
All in all, I still wasn’t able to go to training again today, but I am hoping to recover by tomorrow.Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854778237102528962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2605181192345247924.post-38206220334471456792011-02-13T10:36:00.000-06:002011-02-13T10:36:05.558-06:00The Day After.<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Last night I experienced my first official Paraguayan fiesta. After being dropped off by Mami Paraguay’s boyfriend, Hermana 2 and I purchased tickets (20,000 Guaranis= $4.34) and went into the venue which looked like an outside concert hall surrounded by soccer fields. As the techno version of all currently popular songs thumped loudly, the other PC people and I danced around. I made a few observations that I feel are notable. </span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">People as young as 15 can come to these events. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were people younger than 15 seeing as no one is carded. </span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">Some young girls are accompanied by their mothers. These mothers sit in chairs on the side of the dance floor observing. I was informed by Hermana 2 that if someone wants to dance with her daughter, the poor soul must ask the frowning mother for permission. Those mothers looked ready to kill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">There were no trash cans. When you are done with your drink, you dispose of it by throwing it on the ground. </span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">There was a colorful mini-stage at the side of the large dance floor. I asked Hermana 2 “What is that for?” She responded saying that it was just a part of the venue and didn’t play a role in tonight’s activities. She was wrong seeing as later there was a strip show for all to see on this colorful stage.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">After spending 3 hours there, I was worn-out. Unfortunately the PC trainees’ Paraguayan brothers and sisters did not want to leave. Finally we left and began to long trudge home (40 min). </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Overall= New cultural experience.</span></span></div>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854778237102528962noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2605181192345247924.post-74714240597650425562011-02-08T14:41:00.000-06:002011-02-08T14:41:19.970-06:00Bienvenidos G-35 PC Paraguay.<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Written Feb. 7, 2011</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">After some group ice breakers, a discussion on aspirations and fears and a brief introduction to the Peace Corps, we were off to the <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Miami</place></city> airport in two big buses with our busting bags.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Travelling overnight to <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Paraguay</place></country-region> wasn’t exactly ideal seeing as it was impossible to sleep unless you are one of those people that can sleep with their neck in a broken- like position. Our group of 47 (we actually have 48, but one of us didn’t make it to <city w:st="on">Miami</city> because of snow storms in the Mid-West) arrived in <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Uruguay</place></country-region> at about 11 am (Uruguayan time). Before we knew it we were jumping on another plane and off to our future home, <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Paraguay</place></country-region>. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The first night was a blur. We basically just spilt up into our two sectors (education and health), ate dinner and went to sleep at the “retreat center” that the Peace Corps had rented for the night. I say “retreat center” with quotes because that seems like a luxurious term, but in reality, it was your basic, rustic, hostel-style place. I was very thankful to get a good night’s rest and I know that everyone else was too. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So, from then until now we meet the Peace Corps staff here in the country, received A LOT of information, been split up into groups to study Spanish and Guarani, met our host families (for the next 3 months) and been told a bazillion rules. So, here is my typical day right now:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">7:45 am – 11: 30 am Language training (I am going to be in Spanish classes for the next two weeks and then my group is switching over to Guarani.)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">11:30 am – 1:30 pm Lunch (seems like a long to eat lunch right? Yea, I guess that it may be a little hard to get used to, but people actually sit down eat, ENJOY their food and converse. I think about how I like to eat lunch. Generally, I like to take about 15 minutes to eat and then back to WORK, WORK, WORK. This is not a part of the Paraguayan culture. Although I was already faintly aware of this difference in culture, I hadn’t actually ever practiced the art of slowly eating and enjoying your meal. I guess I have to next two years to taste my food.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">1:30 – 5:30 pm Information sessions with Peace Corps staff. Here we are handed more handbooks to read, informed about cultural differences and told more about our future jobs.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Now about my Paraguayan family:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I live in a nice house with a Paraguayan woman and her two daughters. In order to protect their identities, I will refer to them as Mami Paraguay, Hermana 1 and Hermana 2. Their home is really nice and I feel like I have more than enough. Sure we don’t have internet or clear TV, but I have a great fan and a place to put my stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My new hermanas are soooo sweet. Hermana 1 is 19 and Hermana 2 is 14 years old. They are both very affectionate, but Hermana 2 is especially affectionate. She likes to hug me and walk arm-in-arm down the street. Today at lunch she informed me that she took a picture of me to her first day back at school to show her teachers. I contribute a lot of their excitement to the fact that they haven’t had a Peace Corps person in their house before, but I would like to think that they would be this excited to have me even if I was the 7<sup>th</sup> person. Mami Paraguay runs a mini Auto Zone out of the front of the house and I think she’s probably pretty hard core. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">SO, about the languages…here in Paraguay the people use “vos” instead of “tu” (both the informal way of saying “you”. Now I have to completely switch the way I say verbs in order to fit in language wise. Thankfully, it is only the present tense that changes and not the past and future tenses. Now Guarani is another story. We have been informed that formal Guarani is too difficult, so we will be learning a mix of Spanish and Guarani called Jopara. Take a little looksey for yourself to see what Guarani/Jopara looks like.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Che Cher</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">é</span><span lang="EN-US">ra Ellie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Pronounced Sha (long a) Sha-ray-ra) </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span></span><span lang="EN-US"> My name is Ellie.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="ES-MX" style="mso-ansi-language: ES-MX;">Che aspirante Cuerpo de Pazpegua. </span><span lang="EN-US">(Sha ass-peer-on-tay Cuerpo de Pas-pay-gwah) </span><span lang="ES-MX" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ansi-language: ES-MX; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span></span><span lang="EN-US"> I am a trainee of the Peace Corps.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="ES-MX" style="mso-ansi-language: ES-MX;">Che Estado Unidogua. </span><span lang="EN-US">(Sha Est-ado oo-ee-dough-gwah) </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span></span><span lang="EN-US"> I am from the United States.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="ES-MX" style="mso-ansi-language: ES-MX;">O</span><span lang="ES-MX" style="mso-ansi-language: ES-MX; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">ĩ porã. (hoy-ee pore-ah) </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span></span><span lang="ES-MX" style="mso-ansi-language: ES-MX; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> It’s ok.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="ES-MX" style="mso-ansi-language: ES-MX; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Ndaipori problema (die-pore-ee problema) </span><span lang="ES-MX" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ansi-language: ES-MX; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span></span><span lang="ES-MX" style="mso-ansi-language: ES-MX; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> There isn’t a problem.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Mba’eíchapa (bah-A-sha-pa) </span><span lang="ES-MX" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ansi-language: ES-MX; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> How are you? </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Ok that is enough of that for a while. I am not currently studying Jopara everyday yet, but I will be shortly. Apparently there is a small chance that I will be put in an urban-like area (4,000 – 5,000 people), so there will be people that speak Spanish; however, current volunteers here have expressed the importance of learning Guarani/Jopara because it can better help your integration into the community. Speaking Spanish can be considered as chuchi, which in Spanish is like wealthy. The people of the campo (country) typically do not speak Spanish and those that do are considered to be more educated and perhaps better off than the others. Needlesstosay, I want to fit into my community, so I’ll be putting a lot of my efforts of the next couple of weeks into Jopara. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Last comment of the day, if you thought you understood the true meaning of humidity, take a trip to Paraguay. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Nos hablamos pronto.</span> </span></span></div>Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854778237102528962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2605181192345247924.post-20897315154381401412011-01-31T09:52:00.000-06:002011-01-31T09:52:25.866-06:00"The time has come," the Walrus said....<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">"The time has come," the Walrus said,<br />
"To talk of many things:<br />
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--<br />
Of cabbages--and kings--<br />
And why the sea is boiling hot--<br />
And whether pigs have wings."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Recognize this quote? Yes, Rosie O'Donnell said this in <em>Harriet the Spy </em>when she was leaving Harriet's home. I am not sure why, but this quote always comes to mind when changes come about in my life. In reality, the words aren't about change or moving on or going forward. However, in some small way or another, they make me think of new beginnings.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So, after many classes and countless hours of studying, college is over and somehow I am still not getting a paid for work. This is because I will be serving in the United States Peace Corps for the next 27 months. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">"THE PEACE CORPS? Volunteering? No running water? No electricity?" This is the general reaction that I have received. Everyone has a lot of questions and I have to admit that I understand why they would. It isn't everyday a friend or family member moves to another country to live, work, talk, act and play like the country's natives. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So, now that most of the questions have been asked and answered, I am hours away from departing to "Staging". "Staging" is an orientation-like event that we will be given more information pertaining to Peace Corps work and life. We will also receive last minute vaccinations and fill out any missing paper work. Probably, one of the most interesting things is I will be meeting the people that I will be working with for the next 2 years. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Needlesstosay, I am excited about meeting new people, doing new things and accomplishing new tasks, but it is hard to tell the people and places that you know good-bye. When you say 27 months out loud, maybe it doesn't sound like a lot. At first, it didn't to me either. Then I started measuring it by previous years. For example, I thought "OK two years...so basically like both freshman and sophomore year or like junior and senior year..." Then I began to think about how long those years where. I mean of course in some ways they "flew by", but all of a sudden when I thought about this I began to realize the concept of two years. It is a while. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But when all is said in done, this is what I truly want to do. Contributing in some small way to the lives of others is worth it. So for now, I will close with my job description:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Country: Paraguay</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Program: Integral Education</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Job Title: Education Advisor</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Pre-Service Training : February 4, 2011 - April 22, 2011</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Dates of Service: April 23, 2011 - April 23, 2013</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">"The purpose of the Integral Education project is to work with primary and secondary schools' principals, teachers and students as well as with parents and community leaders to strengthen basic reading and math as well as life skills and community service so that student performance is improved and youth are able to become an active part of community as more empowered citizens...As an Integral Education Volunteer, you will observe teaching practices, present model lessons, team-teach with Paraguayan educators, organize workshops and provide follow-up visits. Also you will work with the Third Cycle of Elementary Education and Secondary Education teachers and students in school and community settings promoting self-esteem building, leadership skills and values for a healthy life style incorporation abilities for a successful integration into the work world and active citizenship practices."</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Departing for Miami in a few hours. Then on to Paraguay tomorrow night at 11 pm. </span><br />
<br />
Nos hablamos pronto.Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854778237102528962noreply@blogger.com0