Christmas - PY Style

So Christmas this year was less than exciting. Being away from family and friends for the first time made it challenging, along with all of the cultural adjustments I am going through during my first two weeks in site.
All that to say, for as unexciting as Paraguayan Christmas is, the simplicity to it was something that isn't present in Christmas in the U.S. The advent spirit was something that I was also missing, not being able to be amongst a community of believers to encourage this and draw this out in my. So let me tell you about Christmas in PY.
During the weeks leading up to Christmas there are prayer meetings every night. They are called something like "reso de la familia" or a family prayer service. The community (the attendees change each night) meet at a different house each night around sunset, say their normal prayers, read a passage from the bible, and discuss the passage in relation to a topic. I appreciated being amongst people who desired to discuss the word of God, even if I couldn't get much out of the conversation because of language difference. There is a final closing prayer service at the prayer chapel in the village a couple of days before Christmas.
Christmas Eve is a day of preparation. The pig is cooked, Sopa Paraguaya is made, fruit is cut for the Clerico, and the Pecebro (or Creche) is set up. Then comes the waiting, until midnight of Christmas eve, but once it comes there is a celebration, and families visit eachother and kisses are passed around and Clerico is drunk.
While this is about all that happens on Christmas, I appreciated the imagery of waiting, which is what Advent really means. But it is waiting with expectation and preparation amidst the wait.


This is the Pecebro, or the Creche that was made in preparation

To celebrate in a little more of a manner more comfortable to my cultural norms on Christmas morning I walked 20 minutes to the volunteer closest to me's house and we shared a pancake breakfast and a pizza lunch together!
Merry Christmas to all!

An official volunteer...What?

Ladies and gentleman, my training is over, but my life as a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay has just begun. On Thursday of this week I said farewell to my host family in my training community and boarded a van full of other trainees dressed in their best clothes and headed to the United States Embassy to swear-in as Peace Corp volunteers. I dressed in my new Aopo'i shirt, a typical shirt that is made to be "fresco." Paraguayans love ceremony, and this was a great Paraguayan ceremony with the Minister of Tourism and the Director of WWF (World Wildlife Fund) attending and speaking at the ceremony, as well as the ceremony being completely in Spanish for the first time.
Afterwards was a time of celebration. We ate a delicious cake that volunteers get when they swear-in and when at close of service. Mmmmm, it was delicious. We then took the walk from the U.S. embassy back to the Peace Corps office, which was a walk that, to me, signified the change that I had just gone through. No longer will I be driven around Paraguay in 4x4 vehicles. No longer will my schedule be made for me. No longer will my housing be automatically arranged for me. In some ways it is scary, but I appreciate the freedom as well.
Swear-in weekend is a fun weekend for the new volunteers to hang out and meet the "seasoned" volunteers. We also spend time getting to know Asuncion. This morning we swam in the pool at the embassy.
On Tuesday I will journey out to my site. It sits about 3 hours directly East of Asuncion about 3K from the main road. My emotions are a mixture of excitement and fear, and a lot of unknowns. My life will completely change...again!