Paraguay is Happy!

According to NBC news Paraguay is the World's happiest country! What an exciting thing to read and claim and oh wait I live here too. And I can honestly say most days I believe this to be true. And that most days it is easier to be happy here with its surroundings, culture and beauty.

I have almost never seen my closest friends, family and neighbors get worked up, upset or angry. Honesty I cannot think of one argument I have witnessed. So we are happy people down here and if you need some happy in your life I'd say come on down and see what its all about. In a country where tranquil is the word used to describe everyones state of mind almost all the time unless its cold then your cold and tranquil or if its hot your hot and tranquil but its always tranquil.. or be a local and say tranquilopa

Read the full NBC article here

Semana Santa hasta ahora

Blog, Blog, Blog has been running through my mind recently. Although nothing of great significance has occurred I still want to try and continue blogging about the everyday things, the events of my life and the happenings of a Peace Corps volunteer. So to give you some brief highlights of what I've been up too-

Semana Santa 
This is Holy Week and is bigger then Christmas down here. We celebrate all week and it is one of the biggest traditional things in the Paraguayan culture. This was my second time celebrating Semana Santa here and it was as expected- very fulfilling and filling. literally. The week begins wednesday by making chipa and my host family never does anything small. We made about 15 kilos of chipa. We ate it when it was hot out of the oven and then for snacks the next couple of days. Then on Thursday is the big feast. We had 3 different kinds of meat, lots of typical paraguayan dishes, salads, beer, wine and of course coke. I was stuffed. I remember last year this thursday was the same way. I thought it was just the family I was living with at the time...but now I know it's just a Paraguayan thing. Then friday is spent inside resting or in my case recovering from a giant food coma and eating only chipa. Saturday is a normal day. This year it rained a lot and I spent it indoors trying to keep my house from flooding. Then on Sunday is the actual Easter celebration I went to my original host families house for lunch. It was so nice to see them. I only stayed 1 night and it was too short. All in all it was a good Semana Santa filled with all the Paraguayan traditions possible and chipa, chipa, chipa!  

CHIPA 

Making chipa with my host mom and bestie!

Thursday lunch, notice to addition of deviled eggs?!?

Mid- Service 
April 18 marked my one year since swear in, one year since I moved into my house and one year since I became a volunteer! It was spent at home making a homemade BBQ chicken pizza with a fellow volunteer and drinking cheap wine that was all delicious. I cannot believe it has been a year, a whole stinking year! I celebrated my mid service while a group of volunteers swore out and were welcomed by a new adventure and another group of volunteers swore in as volunteers and are now in the beginning weeks of their service. Before one of my good friends left Paraguay we went out for our last time together in Paraguay as volunteers. It was strange but so fun! I am excited to know that the next time we see each other will be stateside ( I think). Then just last week we had our official Mid Service training with Peace Corps. It was a chance to reflect on this past year and look positively into the upcoming one. I walked across a red line with fellow volunteers marking the crossing into our second year. It was so nice to be with everyone and reflect and get motivated for this last year as a PCV. I have way more reflections on my mid service that will have to come at a different time but for now Congratulations G41 for your Mid Service, Congratulations G38 on your Closing of Service and Congratulations G44 on your Swear in! Lots of good people doing good things!

With those that remain of the group I came to Paraguay with at Mid Service training

One last dinner with Spencer before she left the guayy 

My celebratory BBQ chicken pizza! 

With the one who helps me hold up cups of water! 

The Paraguayan Chaco 
Recently I went on a little trip to the north part of Paraguay. This part of the country is known as the Chaco. It is very dry, hot and desolate. There are some small cities that were founded my a group of Canadian Mennonites that immigrated there in 1926. They have developed the land and have established work there as well. There was also a big war known as the Chaco war that was fought with Bolivia and because of Paraguay winning that war we have a Paraguay! All very fascinating and yet so much more to learn. Most of our tours were done in spanish and I tried to understand as much as I could but that is easier said then done. All in all we had a great time and it was the longest weekend trip I've ever taken. It was about 7 hours by bus from the capitol of Paraguay and its a highway with literally NOTHING for miles and miles and kilometers and kilometers. I was able to sleep for most of it. We also got to visit an indigenous community there and play with some of the kids. These communities developed after the war and these Paraguayans have stayed there ever since their victory.

Visiting a milk factory in the Chaco 

All the PCV's on a bus! 

Playing with the kids in the Chaco 

Mothers Day 
Today was Paraguay's mothers day. Yes a thursday, and yesterday and today were independence day as well. The holidays here can be oddly placed but they still are celebrated. Last mothers day I was new in site and didn't have any families or "mothers" to celebrate with. But this year was different. I got invited to 4 different houses for lunch. Lunch is a loose term because it was more like a kings feast. I ended up visiting all the families that invited me for lunch in the morning and made cinnamon buns for all the "mothers"of  paraguay that I have. It was a success and they all loved them! Then I went to lunch which consisted of the slaughter of a baby pig plus 15 kilos of beef and sausage. We also made some more chipa and ate way to much food. I had a stomach ache most of the time but I was so happy to be celebrating with my host mom and she was too. She told me all about this day all week and how I couldn't miss it. We went to her mothers to do all the cooking and she kept telling everyone I was her daughter and I could just see the joy in her face as she told everyone about me although she is a mother of 5 an grandmother of 3 I really did feel like one of her own. She sometimes is my reason for waking up, getting out of my house and doing life here in Paraguay. It can be hard but she cares for me, loves me, feds me and entertains me almost all days. For not being able to have my real mother around she is a nice substitute! Happy Mothers day to all you Mothers in the states and especially mine!!!

My host mama and I  and Pauli 

Coming up 
Lots of things coming up. Its like I had a few weeks of lulling and resting and now I feel busier then ever!!! I recently joined a planning community to develop a summer camp for youth with the theme of gender and development. We have lots of planning and fundraising we will be doing in the next few months and the camp will be in december or january. I am also inviting the nurse from my health post to be a part of an HIV/ AIDS workshop on prevention and education. Also at the health post we are working on giving vaccines to all children under 6 years ( i think) and this is a huge task! Then in june I will be having my first U.S.A visitor my friend Maca from college is coming down to Paraguay for a few days and I cannot wait! It will be so special to share some time with here in my new home!!!!! Then I will actually go home for a few weeks for Rachel and Scotts Wedding!! Only 44 more days till I am Annapolis bond! And once I return I will be taken 2 teenage girls to a girl empowering camp and I can't wait for them to have this experience.


So lots of stuff and there is always more I can share. Once I get myself to sit down and type so many more things come to mind, looks like I will need to do another one of these soon! Sending all my love and chipa your way!!

Avocado Salads

There are some moments in Peace Corps that make everything seem worth it. All the frustrations, language barriers, culture gap, sleepless nights and failed projects... to list a few. Yesterday I had one of those moments... well actually I had two, I will get to the second one later. To explain the first I need to give you some background information on my host family here in my site- Costa Salinas, Capiata.

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One of the goals of my service here is to improve eating habits of the Paraguayans in which I serve. You can easily see that nutrition and healthy eating habits are lacking here. Its very common to see a 1 year old child with a bottle full of coke and a family eating fried food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. These are habits that are developed at a young age and therefore we are finding that more and more adults develop diabetes. They start with unhealthy eating habits and grow up to have lasting long term health problems. My host dad is one of those cases. He is in his early 60's and has a serious case of diabetes. He has had to make serious changes in his diet to adjust and essentially save his life. 

One of the problems with Paraguayan eating habits is that they are un educated on how to eat something healthy. They have the right ingredients for a healthy meal but they don't know the proper way to prepare the food. This is something as a health volunteer in rural Paraguay we try to address.As I have learned while working at the grass roots level it is difficult to see a behavioral change in a large group of people. So I have decided to start where I am comfortable, where I am respected and that is with my host family in the kitchen I am usually sharing with them and in this case specifically my host dad. 

We will start with the Avocado Salad. It is avocado season in Paraguay and they have the largest most delicious avocados I have ever seen and they grow off trees... so basically its like money is growing off of trees down here if you want to get literal. When you ask any Paraguayan how they eat an avocado it is with lots of sugar and milk and it is eaten as a sweet. Yes you read that right. And its not like a teaspoon of sugar its like a half a cup or more. They are serious about their sugar intake down here, and that is where the poor eating habits are developed and sustained. 

When I first learned this I wanted to introduce the idea of eating and avocado differently. So I started by talking about the different ways to eat an avocado; guacamole, salad, with eggs, on a sandwich, a smoothie or just with some salt and pepper. THEY THOUGHT I WAS CRAZY. Literally laughed in my face, my host family thought it was the stupidest, grosses thing they had ever herd. Good thing I didn't stop there. The next day I showed up with avocados and ate them with some salt in front of them.. they laughed some more and really thought I was crazy. Then I casually just started telling them about how many nutrients are in them and how healthy of a fruit they are... then they started listening but were not hooked yet. Then one night we were watching TV and a weight loss program was doing a special program on avocados... my host mom and dad sate with their eyes glued to the TV in awe that what I had been telling them all along was actually true. They made me watch the program and confirm everything and every recipe. We then discussed how it was time to give this avocado a try. The next day my host dad went out to his avocado tree and gathered a box full of avocados.( I am forever thankful for spanish weight loss TV shows) 

So yesterday for our weekly sunday lunch I prepared and avocado salad. Basically guacamole but I didn't mush everything up. It had tomatoes,avocados, onions, garlic, fresh lime juice and some salt. They watched me make it and continued to laugh but agree to try it. When it was time to sit down I sat next to my host dad and asked him to try it. He was a little hesitant at first but with a little spoon full he tried it and then went back for seconds and thirds until he proclaimed he LOVED it ( all in guarani that is, because thats how Paraguayans express true emotion. ) he ate the whole bowl and didn't let anyone else have it. But I saved a little for my host mom and brother and they tried it and agreed that it indeed was surprising good and wanted to make some more. 

I was in shock and in total awe. It sounds so small and simple but this man for his whole life looked at an avocado as another sweet, fattening unhealthy fruit and now its not. Their eyes and taste buds were opened and I could not be prouder of them for trying this strange foreign salad. After they asked if I could teach them how to make more things.  Of course I will be doing that, thats what I have always wanted to do.. but before they would never dare to try them but now I have a chance. 

So all those laughs, stares, annoying remarks about fancy americans and their avocado salad were worth it... its all worth it to see a Paraguayans mind open up and to see them choosing to make healthy 

decisions about their diet. 

My host dad and I as he digs into the avocado salad!! 

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Now that second thing I talked about was more of a personal thing. As you know I have been chasing a mouse around my house for almost 2 months now. This thing has been driving me insane. Its even escaped its traps 2 times. Recently I found its home in my dresser as he chewed through some of my sweaters to make himself nice and cosy. Last week I  removed all my clothes and am in the process of cleaning them but I was in complete disgust and annoyance. Well I am happy actually ECSTATIC to report that I was able to trap him and kill him last night. I didn't think it was possible to feel so freed and at ease by a little creature the size of my index finger, but I did. With the help of my neighbor I no longer have to share my home with a rodent. I was starting to think of a name for him and was going to add him to the lease... he defiantly over stayed his welcome and ate way to much of my food.  All mice go to heaven right??

My prize! 

My new friend Julio

I remember my first couple months in site and in my house. I was really good at small talking with my neighbors and other paraguayans... as my spanish was limited and I honestly had zero clue what was going on ( a little shot out to G44 you got thiss! ) But I do remember a question that I continually kept asking... monkey's? Does anyone have a monkey? I want a monkey, how can I get a pet monkey?

Well they all assumed I was just crazy and said no no no. I thought for sure in South America there had to be monkeys. If you have known me for any period of time or even when I was a child you know I love monkeys and that it is a dream of mine to have one some day. When I was younger my family had one named Albert and he was such a friend to me. When he died I developed this dream to one day have one.

So fast forward to yesterday. I went to visit a neighbor that lives two houses up from mine for the first time. It sounds crazy but in Paraguay you can meet someone but to visit their house takes some time. Anyways I was about to leave and head home and I heard all the little kids yelling " monito monito " which means "monkey, monkey!" My eyes got big and I got this big grin on my face and sure enough she has a monkey... and he lives in a tree outside her house and his name in Julio and I could watch him for hours. I fed him bananas and oranges and he knew how to peal them correctly. He also held my hand and when I tried to leave he cried... I was in love!

Don't worry I will not get too attached as I know they can be dangerous and can bite and get mean in an instant but for now I will stand back and watch... because he literally makes me feel like I am 7 years old again eating popsicles with Albert.... back when life couldn't get any better! Enjoy some images I got of him and the photo of my brother and sister and I with Albert way back when!

Julio enjoying his afternoon snack! 

Establishing our friendship  

Can you find Albert? or are you too focused on Michaels bowl cut?

That north wind

As you folk up in the states are getting your first taste of sweet summer time around the corner we are feeling that north wind and the winter months are right around the corner. Although I hate being cold and it getting dark so early I can't help but enjoy hot drinks in the morning, long  sleeve's, socks and not sweating my face off every minute of the day. Plus i know that I'll get my fix of the great American summer this July when I head home for my big sisters wedding... so this breeze is nothing I'll be on the beach soon enough.

So a lot of random things have been happening around here and I'm just going along with it... some days are great and then there's the occasional mental break down but hey thats Peace Corps and I'm rolling with it... or slowly trailing behind it seems some days. Any who thats life!

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Last weekend I was invited to wake up at 5am and go in a car to the religious capital of Paraguay for an outdoor mass. Now I had been wanting to go to this town and see the sites and get the full experience but I wasn't really thinking 5am.. but to Paraguayans thats nothing and I would have been judged if I said no, plus a car ride? I'll take it! So we were off. Mass started at 7am and we arrived just in time. There were hundreds of people and it was really beautiful. We stood under a shaded tree and listened. After people flood the streets to eat delicious fresh chipas and meat. It was 8 in the morning and I was eating two different kinds of sausage with a side of coca-cola.. and it was oh so tasty! 

In the car on the way to mass 

Street Meat! 

Later that day after lunch my host brothers decided to go on another car ride and we headed to the local lake. We all walked around, drank a little and enjoyed the afternoon. They had some horses or pony's that you could pay and ride. My little Valentina wanted to ride but was to scared so I hopped up there with her and we were off. I quickly remembered that I am actually fearful of horses ever since I was bite by one last year.. but everything worked out fine and we had a great time. 

These past two weeks my health post has been busy. We have had a birthdays, radio shows, clinics and just your everyday work. But the most exciting part is that there are 2 new young doctors that are working there for the next 3 months. These doctors also speak english and have become good friends of mine. I have really enjoyed having some english speakers around. They are studying to be able to do their residency in the states. We share our love for micro popcorn, dominos pizza and mumford and suns. 

At the radio station with the 2 new doctors and the nurse from my health post 

This week is Holy Week and I will be spending a lot of time with families these next 4 days. I remember last year I ate the most food ever during these 4 days.. I am trying not to repeat that but Paraguayans have a way of being very convincing. I want to wish you all a happy easter and for some a spring break! 

Current struggle: I have a mouse in the house and he is not relenting. I have bought traps and poison but he is still alive and active. Last night I got creative and made this trap after talking to my brother and hearing his suggestion. It didn't work and the mouse is still on the loose. At this point I am not even freaked out or creeped out or scared I am just annoyed and don't want to find any more of his poop in my house! I am hoping this week is his last. Today I bought new traps and placed them everywhere! Updates to come soon... 

Giving thanks..

I realized it had been awhile since I posted a little list of things I'm thankful for. I know that a few of my last blogs have been a bit heavy and my mood has been a bit funky but I am still very thankful for some things and find that the little joys keep my wings high! So to highlight a few and give you a look into what makes me smile recently ( in no order at all ).

- Continually meeting new, cool and really interesting people including other PC volunteers, paraguayans and any other human being for that matter. I crave new relationships and love getting to know other people. There is something so fun and entertaining about hearing of someone else's passions, seeing what they value in life and being reminded of how unique life can be.

- picking fresh fruit from trees in my yard and making really delicious juices! I try and keep them all natural and you know "sugar free" but whats wrong with a little sweetness ?

- Spending time with PC volunteers and laughing, crying and just being there for people. With the recent passing of a fellow volunteer it has lead me to really notice the relationships I have with my peace corps friends and I've realized that they are freaking wonderful and I love love these people like I grew up with them and they love me and together we are family.

- The occasional gilmore girl marathon, after long days I need to veggg, how doesn't?

- The truth that I will always being exploring, growing and imagining and that this "adventure" were on will always continue if we allow it..

- The late afternoons when the sun is setting and everything is golden

- My girls here that treat me like a princess and beg to hang out with me more and more. Paraguayan kids can really make you feel like a million bucks.

- Having really meaningful, heart felt conversations in spanish, its such a beautiful thing

- Cleaning, its weird but a clean home gives me so much joy and clean dishes.. be still my heart!

Just a few, but its these little things that make the big things happen. Keep loving and looking for your joys and know I will be doing the same with some fresh squeezed juice in hand!

My March and loving it all

It is hard to believe another month has past... and yet again it went so quickly I can’t seem to match the days up with the weeks. It was a busy month and a blurry month. It was jam- packed and really fun and really hard. I had some really high highs followed by the really low lows. I continually think I have this all figured out-- when my bus will come, the correct change, the right amount of sleep, groceries in the house, how to pass lonely nights, plans with new friends and old but the unexpected lurks and it pops up just when everything expected seems to be flowing in your favor. I am a peace corps volunteer and this is my life, a frustrating one at times but an overly joyous one the next moment later... or 5. 

This month started with ahendu weekend. Ahendu means I listen in guarani and it is a concert showcase of the talented peace corps volunteers we have in country. This happens about every 3 months and it is a blast. We rent our a venue and have the night to ourselves, for one night we all feel like were being normal americans hanging out with our friends.. a night to scrub some of that dirt of your feet ( or not), do your hair and wear something that makes you feel like some kind of attractive human being..for my friends and I at least. Ahendu was fun.. we listened, danced and got to watch some of my friends perform! For one weekend I felt like I was doing normal things with my friends and I didn’t hate speaking english a lot! It was a nice escape and one of my favorite weekends thus far in PC. 

Its hard though because there is a guilt that builds up and I’d being lying if I denied its existence. We are volunteers, we are here to work. And some times we get together and play and do american things and behave like animals ( compared to a Paraguayan standard) but I have learned and still learning that I can work and live with my community and be integrated, but there comes a time, a limit if you will that my sanity needs to be tended to and thank goodness for Ahendu. Because never in my life have I been surrounded by so many like minded people that have just spent 3 months in site, working, enduring and living a paraguayan-american life.. and never have we ever enjoyed a weekend away together so much.. and my sanity lives on.. 

Then it was sunday and the weekend was over.. but it wasn’t the saddest thing ever because I got to hop on a plane and go to america for the week and watch a good friend marry her best friend...and if I didn’t feel guilty before... a week in america will send you on one long guilt trip. But I’m a big girl and sucked it up and enjoyed that week. It was so special and went so fast. I’ve never done that much in one week in a while. After the week was over I swore I had been there for a month... but really it was 7 sweet days. 

So a little escape to america is just what any Peace Corps volunteer needs to question their whole service.. and thats just what I did the whole 24 hours back to Paraguay. Why am I here? Why am I doing this? Does it even matter? Why is everything so easy in america? Why why why??? It only took a week and I was back to loving this place once again. I’m learning how important it is to know and understand that there can be hard, difficult stuff and how you can love a place much more when you know that. I feel like knowing all its darkness and struggle helps me to keep loving Paraguay  and really loving it for what it is as a whole.

I spent the last week getting my plans set up to work in the school. This was a week long task and took almost all I had out of me. Things happen really slow around here, so slow you sometimes forget that they are happening. It was a hard week but reminded me again why I am here and what is means to be working in a developing country, all lessons, all the time. And then mid week to receive that text message with that news that you never want to hear or read or even imagine. 

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There are no words. I hesitate even writing what I am going to because it will do no justice. With that being said and with a heavy, sad and confused heart a fellow Peace Corps Paraguay volunteer pasted away last week. Porter was from Virginia and came down to Paraguay in the group before mine. He was young, a hard worker and completely loved and respected by his Paraguayan community and his Peace Corps community. I wasn’t close with him but some of my friends were, none the less he was a volunteer and we are all a family here and his passing is hard, sad and difficult. 

My thoughts first go to his family, how I could not even imagine how a family could receive such news. Then to him, to his life and how short it was. Then to our lives and our time on this earth and how short and precious it all can be. How quick it can be taken and how quickly Porters was taken. There are a lot of unanswered questions, somethings we may never know or begin to understand...and I keep trying to work through those questions and thoughts...its not easy and if I stay on one thought for too long I start to feel lost. 

This week we as a Peace Corps family we will honor Porter, but even more so after this week will his memory live on. If you would like to read more on Porter and his life please click here - The Peace Corps wrote this beautiful and very honoring press release. 

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So theres my March. It was full and unexpected and difficult. But how much more can we love a place when we know how hard and challenging it can be. For to love something whole we much love all parts of it, we must be all in. It’s hard and sometimes I don’t want to do it but this month taught me to love all parts of my peace corps service, the really ugly, difficult parts along side the beautiful, growing and exciting.