Birthdays and Mayonnaise

I had the busiest of days yet yesterday. Well as busy as a peace corps volunteer can get. I think I was with at least one Paraguayan from 10am - 9:30pm. Thats a lot of Paraguayan time and a lot of spanish, but I honestly didn’t mind it and was thankful for the day. I thought it would make for a nice blog post, I little insight to my daily routine... mas o menos! 

I some how invited my contacts daughters over for lunch after school. So I picked them up from school and we walked back to my house. They love coming over to my house, they know where everything is, they help me clean and answer questions I have about random things. I always enjoy their company and they are very easy to be with. I decided to cook the only some what Paraguayan meal I knew how to cook. Pork with rice and a sauce made of tomatoes. They said that was fine and they liked that. I am allergic to the pork here so I made a salad for myself of carrots, cucumber and tomatoes. Once the meal was ready they first asked me for bread. Paraguayans LOVE bread, more then myself which is a lot. They eat these huge, white dry rolls. They are not good but they eat them with every meal and I do as well when I eat with them. But I don’t keep them in my house all I had was whole wheat sandwich bread. So I gave that to them....Then I watched as they picked away all the tomatoes and pork. Then they asked for mayonnaise, then they made rice and mayonnaise sandwiches... We sat together at my table while I ate my vegetables and they had 3 rice and mayonnaise sandwiches and they were so happy with the meal! It was an interesting experience, as a health volunteer it looks like I have some work to do! 

The girls stayed the rest of the afternoon, we cuddled in my bed for an afternoon siesta, did some yoga, played cards listened to music and danced. They also helped me clean up lunch and then helped me bake a birthday cake for my friend Romina! I love having those girls over, but I was very tired mentally and physically after! They asked if they could come back everyday, how sweet. I had to say no, just every other day! 

Later that night I went over to my friend Romina’s for her birthday dinner! We had a big steak and potato salad with manioca, just another form of potato! I made a vanilla cake with caramel and cream cheese frosting with coconut sprinkled on top! It was delicious and she loved it. We had such a nice time. I am over their house with her family almost every day and am getting very close to them. Romina is pregnant and has asked me to be the babies aunt! I cannot wait for this baby I will defiantly be spoiling her. Romina is probably one of my best friends here that is Paraguayan, I am very grateful for her and her family! I had such a nice time celebrating her and this life I get to live with her for the next 2 years! 

She posted this on the photo below of us- “Mi mejor amiga.....gracias por compartir estos momentos importantes de mi vida” My best friend, thank you for sharing those important moments in my life. 

Romina and I on her Birthday!

One of her brothers, she has 2 others! They are like my brothers too! 

How precious is this face? I'm in love! 

Oe of the houses in my community on laundry day

Exciting Times!

First I will start with my big, exciting news... I’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS! Yes, I will say it again because it is so so so exciting!!!!! I will be home for Christmas and New Years and a very important bridal shower and my sisters birthday and home home home!!! I cannot wait, my sister has already started a countdown! It is fun to think about all the fun American things I will get to do over 15 days but really I just want to hang out with my family!!! And yes I will be home for 15 days! Did I say i’m excited???

Everything else is still very exciting on the home front down here... It’s been raining a lot and I haven’t been able to do all the work I’d like to do but everything always still works out! Last week I had a fellow volunteer visit my site and we had a great time. It was nice to just relax and talk to someone in English for an extended period of time. We also went on a horse cart ride, I didn’t say carriage because it was no carriage just a cart. It was so peaceful, very slow but very peaceful! We went to the next town over to pick up cake and icing scraps to feed their pigs. I kid you not we picked up 50lbs of cake, and yes I sat there and ate that cake like a little piggie! It was delicious! The senor that took us goes every Saturday and has invited me to go with him whenever... I will have to stop eating the cake if I continue going... 

Two nights ago I was on a walk with my contact, Diosnico and his family. It was a chilly evening and we were all bundled up. My contact has 2 little girls Faviola and Rocio( whom I spend most of my time with) and a son, Walter and a wife, Marie. They have opened up their hearts and home to me and last night showed me just how much they love me and consider me a part of their family... On our walk while drinking delicious hot tea ( from a metal straw) we met some of their friends. When my contact introduced me he said “ This is my daughter Roniann.” My heart stopped a little, and I got that really warm feeling when you know things are right how they are supposed to be! This family is awesome, I go over to their home almost everyday and their daughters and I are very close, they are all very special to me. It is so comforting and assuring to know there is a family here that you can call your own when mine is so far away. 

Last night I had my Paraguayan friend over for an “american dinner.” She has been asking me to cook for her so she can try our type of food! It actually turned out to be a delicious dinner and she ate it and LOVED it! I made rosemary roasted chicken with roasted potatoes and carrots and we had a salad and cheesy rice with it! It was so nice having someone over for dinner and sharing a healthy meal with a Paraguayan.. nothing was fried, that is a huge step! We plan on cooking together once a week! 

Lots of other little things going on, I played some street soccer with some kids yesterday. I got my hair braided like a paraguayan princess and loved it! The cats and I are starting to get along better, they know their boundaries now. I’m getting really great at using the busses here and not getting lost or left behind ( A very big accomplishment for PCV’s). I bought my first piece of furniture for the house.... a dresser! It is beautiful and it was a bargain, I got lucky!! I am cooking a lot and enjoying all the new recipes I’m trying.. never thought I would enjoy a carrot cake so much and peanut butter french toast! I got my first tomato from my garden and it is beautiful! Its fall here now so I have been drinking lots of hot tea and trying to remember all my favorite fall things.. My spanish is getting a lot better and I am enjoying talking and spending my time talking with the Paraguayans! Makes for a good time down here, a simple time and that is just want I wanted something simple. I have a thankful heart!  

My girl Rocio! 

The smartest 4th grader I know, Faviola!

How sweet are these sisters?

The horse cart that I rode on! 

My friend Romy with the dinner I cooked last night! 

Randomness

Hola!!! It has been awhile, this post will probably be very random! I’ve been living and learning down here! All is well and going really well. Its been a little cooler here and I have started drinking this hot tea the Paraguayans call Mate, it is perfect for the cold nights! As I’ve settled into my house more I have also found myself missing home more, like the little things- carpet, heat, my family and my t-shirt quilt! But it is healthy and challenging me to focus on being here in Paraguay more. I miss home and all you great people, but I know that this is where I am supposed to be and I am doing what I was made to do...time to start really livin’ here in a present!!!  

So this past week I went to the school a bunch and observed the classes I hope to one day work with. The kids are so sweet and get so excited when I go to their class. As boring as it can be to sit in on a Paraguayan class I know it is what I have to do.(I will save that explanation for another blog, Paraguayan class is very different!) After class all the kids want to take me home with them to meet their parents. It is really sweet. I was able to walk around with the nurses from the health post to give some vaccines as well. What an experience! It was so much different then I thought it would be. We were giving vaccines to little baby’s and they did not like it!!! I did not actually give the vaccines but I did witness the pain of those little baby’s! This was a good way to get to know the community some more. I feel like I am really starting to get to know the families and the way things work around here. It is a good full feeling!   

I got to go into the city over the weekend and hang out with some other volunteers and that was really fun. We got to eat some good food, relaxed and danced a little. One thing that is very different here, well different for me at least is the clubs don’t really open till 1am and then stay open till 6am... needless to say I am still tried from the weekend! I am thankful that I live so close to the city and can see my friends frequently. Also over the weekend I went to the Paraguayan version of a NASCAR race and it was pretty awesome! I felt like I stepped into the Richmond Race Way! The track was mud and cars were sliding everywhere. We had a cook-out and it was a good time! It happens every Sunday and I think I will be going back. I made some cool Paraguayan friends that speak english and we’ve been hanging out. 

This week in Paraguay there are 2 holidays, their independence day and their Mothers day. So naturally there is no school this week for celebrations! I will be spending time with the Paraguayans eating lots of traditional food...including CHIPA!  I am very excited about it. I am starting to crave Paraguayan food more, it is a strange feeling... I have been cooking for myself every night and I have become quiet the chef. Cooking is a good way to pass the time in the evenings and I am joying it! I have also been baking, this usually consist of me craving a certain sweet at night so I cook it and eat it for breakfast then give it to my paraguayan friends to keep me from eating it! It works really well. 

Some of the kids in my community that I get to hang out with!!! 

I would like to Congratulate all my graduated friends and those who are graduating this weekend!! I am so happy for you and this time of your life... You are all rock stars and will do great things! Welcome to the world! I promise you life is still exciting after college! I wish I could see you all walk across that stage but you will just have to take some photos! I am proud of you all!! Also Happy Mothers day to my dear mother!!! I love you so much and thought about you all day on Sunday! I am so thankful for you, thanks for always cheering for me and loving me !!!!  

Three Cups of Tea

There are many things I want to blog about. Now that I am really living the volunteer life I find I have a lot of time on my hands to think, read and write. Creating many blog ideas, I will start with a lesson I am learning that has proven to be most important to me and past volunteers. It is a concept I have read about and thought about in great detail. It is one of those things you read about first and then experience- at least that was the case for me. It starts with a quote from the book I am currently reading, Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. If you have not read it or heard of it, I would highly recommend it as a must read. 

Greg Mortenson is an ordinary man seeking to make a difference in the education of children in the most remote parts of the world. In his work he encounters many struggles and challenges. In one chapter he is reflecting on what he has learned from a man in his village named Haji Ali- 

“ ‘That day Haji Ali taught be the most important lesson I’ve ever learned in my life.’ Mostenson says. ‘ We Americans think you have to accomplish everything quickly. We’re the country of thirty-minute power lunches and two-minute football drills. Our leaders thought their “shock and awe” campaign could end the war in Iraq before it even started. Haji Ali taught me to share three cups of tea, to slow done and make building relationships as important as building projects. He taught me that I had more to learn from the people I work with then I could ever hope to teach them.’ ”

So what does this have to do with me and Paraguay. I have learned quickly in these last 2 weeks from these people that I need to slow down, drink terere and work on building relationships with these people. I will never be able to help these people if I don’t know what they need. Yes, I am a health volunteer and have been trained in different areas but people or different everywhere you go. Unless I slow down and spend time getting to know them and their needs I will never really know how I can help them, or learn how they can help me. 

So that is what I have been doing. The days are slow and sometimes slower then I can handle. But I now understand thats how it needs to be. I need slow down and sit down. Everyday I am talking with more people, drinking more terere and learning more. At first it sounds like I’m doing nothing and I want to go crazy- grab my books and start teaching or grab my shovel and start digging a garden. But I know that what is most important right now is to sit down with these beautiful Paraguayans, and see what I can learn from them and how I can help them. It is way more important to build a relationship right now then a garden.  Because I know once that relationship is built, that garden will be so much more fruitful and fulfilling. 

I don’t think it ever hurt anyone to slow down. It is hard to do that in the United States, we all know that. But I promise you once you spend even the littlest amount of time over seas serving in a developing country you will quickly adjust and realize the importance and the need to just slow down

Disclaimer: Terere is a tea that Paraguayans drink ice cold. They drink it through out the whole day. It is served in a cup called a guampa. It is 100% all natural and 100% delicious. I find myself craving it thought out the day! 

Because pictures are more fun! More to come soon!