Mba´eichapa? I made it to Paraguay! What a journey it was to get down here. We had a 15hour layover is Brazil and we finally made it. Sometimes I walk down the street in the town I am staying in and I have to remind myself that I am in Paraguay. It has been easy to pick up my Spanish again. Luckily my family here speaks Castellano (what they call Spanish) but I have started to learn Guarani already. It is a pretty easily constructed langauge but it is hard to remember all these new words.
My life really consists of days filled with taking in new (and some old) information and theories. I moved in with a host family in a small village outside of the capital. The dad is a farmer of mostly vegetables that he sells to the supermarkets. They have 2 young daughters (5 and 2) who are mostly sweet and sometimes annoying when I just want to be alone in my room and even when I close the door they open it without knocking! Talk about different definitions of privacy! But it is fun to have them around. Earlier this week we had a huge storm and the night before the storm the power went out and the water shut off...for different reasons. My house is pretty modern (running water inside, hot showers, electricity, washing machines), so it was definately preparation for the campo.
The training sessions are fairly interactive and I appreciate the Peace Corps training staff. We have gotten to have volunteers come in and do training sessions with us and it has been so helpful to hear about their experiences and imagine what my life might be like in the campo (country). Today we planted out garden. It was fun to learn new things and hear about what other trainees know! We planted beets, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, lettuce, and onions. We also learned how to make compost! I really like the agricultural society and drinking Terere/Mate. This place is tranquilopa.
