A short update!

Hello friends and family!!

First of all, I would like to apologize for the sloppiness of the last post. I wrote it quickly on my laptop and on “notepad.”

Thank you all for commenting on the last post. I enjoy hearing from you and my family here always wants to know what my friends and family are writing to me. I haven´t figured out how to respond to the comments yet...so Lo Siento! Below is my address for those of you asking  :o)

Emily Teachout (PCT)
Cuerpo de Paz
162 Chaco Boreal c/Mcal. Lopez
Asuncion 1580, Paraguay
South America

(SN: if you are sending me anything, be advised that I may not get it for a couple of months... mail that comes to me has to be inspected by the US embassy, which can sometimes take a while. Also, I dont know why this would apply but please dont write the value of the package as more than 100 dollars. If you do, I have to pay A LOT of taxes on it and pay to have it inspected) Pero, gracias in advance!

Okay, so now for the fun part: my weeks so far (well part of them.)

So, I found out the hard (fun) way that Sunday is not the day of rest here. Haha. So, I woke up on my first Monday here for school and could not move!! LOL! We had SO much fun!!  SO we woke up Sunday and went to play some soccer (which is called futbol here.) After this we went swimming down the street in the hole in the ground (???) LOL it is kind of like a pond but just a big  hole in the ground basically! It was SOOOO much fun!! The kids and I were having a great time. They thought it was the greatest thing that little minnows will nibble at your hands if you hold them really still.

After our swimming experience we took showers and went to the neighbor´s house.  She has a rather large house with a lot of different fruit trees. My friend brought me what he called an Manzanita (small apple.) It really did look like an apple but it was the size of a nickel! Craziness… I didn´t believe him at first but it really is. It doesn´t taste like an apple…more like a nectarine and it is delicious!!

So let me give you a down low of my daily routine here in PY:
Wake up around 6am and have warm milk and break for breakfast with my sister here ( I have gotten slick though and bought some instant coffee to add to my warm mile and sugar)
Leave for school at 730 and begin Clase de Espanol. Spanish class lasts until 1130, when we all leave to have lunch with our families. Lunch is the most important meal of the day here!
After, we wither go to technical training in a bigger city or in our neighboring barrio (where the other health group lives. SN: We are split into 4 groups living in different places. There are two health groups and 2 education groups. Each group is about 12 people.
When we return, we do various things but usually, we start cooking dinner with the family and drink terere.

      On Tuesday we had quite an adventure, as we were paired into groups of two and had to find our way to the Capital of Paraguay, Asuncion. We were given very little directions and were expected to find our own way there by means of buses and asking people (in Spanish, of course.) I was paired with a really great girl and we had no problems, just a lot of fun. It was similar to a scavenger hunt in which we had to find different places and ask certain people for things like school supplies and such. We also checked out their train Museum which is SUPER cool! The best part was definitely lunch, though. I had French fries… and they were delicious!!

                We spend about 4 hours every day in language training and are learning about health problems in PY and things like gardening and nutrition. I learned how to make soy empanadas last week and soy milk. Tomorrow we are making our own soap in class! I am pretty excited. On Sunday, my sister´s friend is going to teach me how to stitch a special way that they do in Paraguay… so many cool things to learn!

                On Monday I will be visiting another volunteer at their site in the Campo (the very rural outskirts.) I will be spending 3 days with her learning about what she does and what life is like in the Campo. I am pretty excited!!

Good News: my Spanish is definitely improving!!! 

Funny things not to say in Spanish (learned all of these from saying them):

-Nos Comemos … I will not explain this one since my family is reading, but some of you can figure it out
-Concha (very similar to Cancha which is soccer field but concha  means vagina…so if you can imagine you wouldn´t want to ask anyone if they want to go play in the concha)
- Do not try to literally translate hotdog… literally translated would be perro caliente …which basically means you want to have sex with the dog) The correct term here is Pancho.
… I have more because they happen every day but I will stop here haha! My professor is constantly giving me the same look of “wow, did you just say that?!” It is funny when she has to correct me… and it happens at least once a day!

All in all, I am very happy. My family here is wonderful! We all have such a good time with each other and they all have such a great sense of humor!
I miss you guys a lot!! Love you all!

-Em

Hola!! My first week...

Hola mi Familia y mi amigos!!
I have made it safely to Paraguay. I am really enjoying my service thus far. Yesterday was the first time I met my host family. I was really hoping for a large
family with muchos ninos. ANDDDD I definately got what I was hoping for!! There are 10 people in my host family!!! I was worried when they got to my envelope and it had a
 bright orange post-it attached. It was because I have such a large family and my host mother and father are both dissabled (my host father is in a wheel chair and mi madre
is blind.) However, my host sister actsas my host mother. T
She is VERY helpful and understanding of my limited espanol. I was feeling like a dumb-ass since every fifth comment out of my mouth was "no entiendo" but she told me that
I speak/understand more than her last volunteer (she has hosted two others.) She said it is completely normal for me to not be that good yet and that it would come easily.
I showed her my textbook for spanish and told her that the book was "muy importante, si?" and laughed. She laughed and reassured me that she could teach me whatever I
needed to know. My host family is all-around wonderful! There are a lot of kids but I have been spending a lot of time with Fabrizio (he is 2) and Jaquleen (she is 5.)
I like them the most because a.) I am learning a language with Fabrizio and b.) Jaquleen puts up with my lack of language skills because I give her bubbles.
My host sister made pizza...which was probably the best pizza I hvae ever had. I have to say, though, I was not expecting to eat pizza with my host family on the first night.
SIDE NOTE: We spent our first night in Paraguay at a retreat center. At this center they told us to go ahead and drink the water. The next day our nurse practitioner says "how many of you drank
 the water last night?" And goes on to say that most of us would probably be sick. However, I have been drinking it and have been fine. The water here come from an argentenian
 well and is very clean. It is only once we start drinking well water on site that I will need to be careful.
Short story, long, I have not had any gastrointenstinal problems so far :)
All of the staff here are wonderful! I have never experienced language teachers like these!! Haha imagine... a spanish teacher who actually wants me to learn!! crazy.
 The security guy is super awesome, also. He is pretty mello but reminds me of the mobsters who smile and pat you on the back while reminding you that after you screw
 up he will slit your throat. HAHA he was like "I live here with my wife and three daughters
but trust that I will travel the country to make sure you are safe.
All of the other volunteers are equally as awesome! They are all really great people and we are having a fabulous time together!
Let's see....what else should I tell you...
Am I having regrets?
I had a moment today as I was dropped off with a family I did not know and suddenly trying to speak a language I don't know very well/ sign to what I mean, where I thought
seriously for a second "what the hell am I doing here?!"
But rest assured it subsided quickly. I will be fine and I feel better that my host sister is confident that I will be fluent in no time.
 It is difficult since no one speaks english butttt it forces me to figure it out.

Are there pets?
So in addition to my large family...they have a TON of pets!! Which is unusual for Paraguayans, so I struck gold!!
They have atleast 3 cats (but I don't think I have counted them all,) 2 dogs plus all of the neighbor pups that wander through the yard and hang out with me,
1 duck, sseveral chickens, one baby bird who just hangs out on everyone's shoulder, and a VERY LARGE frog that ran into me on the porch.
There is talk of 2 very cool things: 1) that rural healt volunteers will be able to have motor cycles on site soon. AND 2.) that we get to choose to have either
 a horse or a bike as a mode of transportation :)
What's the weather like??
HOTTTTTTTTTTT!!!! HAHA and it isn't even as hot as it will be soon! No A/C. But some very convenient fans in my bedroom.
What is your house like?
My family actually has a muy grande casa. I have my own room with a bed and a dresser, and a table. It is connected to my sister's room,
 which I like. We ALL share a bathroom. There are only 2 rooms closed off... the kitchen, dining and sitting area are outside.
They cook over an open flame (no ovens or stoves.) We spend most of our time drinking the tea here called Terere, which is DELICIOUS!!! Basically they put these plant pieces
(everyone makes it a little differently) in the bottom of one metal cup and they have a thermos full of ice cold water (although you can drink it hot in the morning.) It is
a social thing. You sit in a circle while one person pours the terere. They pour the water into the cup with the plant pieces and you drink the entire thing and pass it back.
Then, they fill it again and pass it to the next person. Oh, ya! I forgot to mention you drink it through a metal straw...which is totally gnarly.
Are there a lot of bugs?
Not more than I'm used to, so far. BUT there are a lot of FROGS!!! And you know how I hate those slimy little creatures!!
What's the dating situation like?
We had a weird day today. They basically told all gay volunteers that it was best not to live openly...which I thought was weird. I understand that the culture doesn't
understand it and it might compromise the mission buttt I felt some kind of way about it.
As in the rest of the world, boys will be boys. There are 4 Paraguyan boys my age living in my housing area. They keep giving me that "what's up girl" smile.
haha and one learned how to say "hello. How are you?" in English for me! haha
What else can I hold your procrastination with....
There is a ton of fruit here!! Everyone has guava, orange, and mango trees in their yard. The climate is very similar to SOuth Florida. I was trying to explain that to my host family and they thought it was the weirded thing ever!
I told them that there are mangos in Florida and they thought that Florida must be another country.
--SOOOO my host sister has internet and a webcam!! Haha.. and a cell phone! I realize that this makes it sound like we must live in a nice house and for Paraguay it is.
However, I am still shocked that for where we are and where they live they have these things!! I said "hola!" to her real hermana en Espana over the webcam and it was
totally crazy!
What else can I bore you with....
I had to sign a waiver today to swim in the U.S. embassy pool. haha I think I am making it bigger than it really is in my head. I am imagining giant water slides and
waterfalls but I have a feeling that the embassy isn't all that wonderful.

All in all, I feel fine. I am constantly realizing just how comfortable I am with change. I love not knowing what is going to happen tomorrow. I LOVE that each day is a new day! And I LOVE
that it is my job right now to just enjoy the compania of otros donde de un differente pais con un differente cutural que me. Oh, look. There goes my Spanglish!! Tomorrow I
get to start learning the Paraguayan equivalent of Spanglish which is Spanish and Guarani. Which, by the way, my family already speaks so I am not understanding a lot.
I am very fortunate to have such a wonderful Paraguayan family! They all seem very happy to have me and are very gracious hosts. I couldn't be more pleased with my experience thus
far, I am confident that it will be a great experience. I know that I will struggke with the language but I feel right at home here. They all have a great sense of humor...
and even though we can't understand eachother a lot, we are constantly laughing together and enjoying one another's compania.
I miss you all dearly and I hope all is well in your lives. Please write me back and let me know what is going on in your lives.
I love you all :) Buenos Noches mi amores.