It's SPRING time in October!!!

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnd so it continues; this crazy, fun, difficult, adventurous, challenging, laid-back, spontaneous thing that they call the life of a Peace Corps Volunteer.

These last 6 weeks being back in Paraguay have FLOWN by! I can’t even imagine how fast the next year  and a half is going to fly!! While I do have my down-days… especially when I’m missing my family and my friends who are basically my family, I am very happy here. I just wish I could transplant you all here! They really do have it right. People just live. They enjoy each other. Time is not the most important. It is the “who” in their lives rather than the “what.” The first questions we ask in the states are about “what do you do?” That question is rather strange here. People work to live rather than live to work. One of the first questions you’ll get here is about your family... “how many brothers and sisters do you have? DO you miss them?” … I have 4 and I miss them SO much!

When I left off, I said I was going to the river… And I DID!

I got right to work when I returned from the U.S. We dove right in to our cooking and nutrition classes. I teach 3 classes a week. I teach once a week in each community. The course is 8 weeks long and the idea is that the women have to complete this course in order to receive a “Healthy Chef” certificate. This certificate is their ticket to participate in a fogon project next year (along with having a garden and planting ten trees.) I have about ninety students. They are mostly adult women but we have a few men and teenage girls, as well. There are 6 main topics that we are covering (cooking healthier sweets, homemade breads, cooking with soy, cooking meat in an oven, dairy, and fruit/vegetables), an introductory class, and a final class where they will have to pass an exam.


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The first class, I made everyone participate in an ice breaker to get comfortable with each other. I drew a giant cow on a piece of paper and had everyone in the circle go around and kiss the part of the cow from where they like to eat. Some people kissed the leg, some people kissed the head (they LOVE to eat cow head here,) some kissed the back, and some kissed the utters (they like milk.)

After everyone has kissed the cow, I now explain that they will now kiss the person to their right in the same place they kissed the cow. The ladies DIED in laughter. I LOVE THIS GAME. It was great except I soon realized that the one lady who kissed the utters (the boobs) of the cow was standing to my left. I was worried… and then SUDDENLY right when it was her turn to kiss my boobs, another lady walked in late and happened to stand right next to cow-boob-lady. Mind you, this lady has no idea what we are doing. Cow-boob-lady takes it upon her self to pull down this other lady’s v-neck blouse completely… nipple and everything. She then proceeds to SUCKLE FROM THIS LADIES TEET!!!! I DIED!! … DIED!!!! On the ground, crying laughing.

Well… no one will show up late to class anymore. An hour and a half later, this lady shows me her boob. It was still red from where her friend suckled. She said “good thing my husband is at work or he might have some questions!”

Today we cooked with dehydrated, texturized soy! We made soy empanadas, tacos, and stuffed bell peppers.

On Sundays we have started a culture and language club. I have about 40 members… they range from 9-24. It is mostly an English class but we also explore culture. This past week we played charades and they had to look at an English personality description and act it out. Their team had to practice the use of the verb “to be” and conjugate it to say “You are ___________? ”

Additionally, a group of 5 young adults come over to my house on Wednesday nights to practice their pronunciation in English and also have conversations. We spend the first hour practicing English and the Second hour they teach me Guarani.

I have been working in the two schools here quite a bit. We have covered dental  health, parasite prevention, and this week we completed hand washing.

For the dental workshops, I taught them songs, we played games with food cards and the kids had to put the “good food” in the healthy mouth and the “bad food” in the ugly mouth with cavities. We also played a game called “I can see your teeth.” I altered this game from something I learned as a volunteer camp counselor. We sat in a circle and the kids had to go around the circle and introduce themselves and say their favorite food… without using their teeth!! If they can see the teeth of a classmate, they have to slap their knees and yell “I can see your teeth!!” … but, again, without using their teeth! I think we all laughed equally as hard!

This week we made hand washing stations out of plastic 2-liter bottles. I had the kids paint them a week before and returned this week to finish the projects.  A lot of the kids do not have sinks in their houses and have not been taught proper hand washing techniques. Since 80% of the kids in Rural Paraguay have parasites, hand washing is an important thing for us to teach. How might one make a hand washing station, you might ask? :

1.)    Cut the bottom off the bottle

2.)    Paint the bottle

3.)    Attach fishing line to the bottom part of the bottle

4.)    Add water to the inside

5.)    Turn the cut off part of the bottle upside-down and place on top of the bottom part of the bottle, use as a soap dish

6.)    Attach the string to a tree

7.)    Twist the cap a little to let the water trickle out

8.)    Proceed with the hand washing

I usually spend my Saturday nights with a group about my age. We drink wine, play cards, and cook together. We switch off between American and Paraguayan dishes. Last weekend I taught them how to play poker and the week before that they taught me how to play a Paraguayan card game. We always have a great time. I am really lucky to have them here. Tomorrow we are going to make pretzels! YUM!!

Oh, yes! My birthday was last month… here are some photos from that day. My two best friends in the Peace Corps came to visit me. We spent most of the day picnicking in the woods and enjoying each other’s company. That night, we made Pizza and drank wine and coke with my Paraguayan family and friends….

Last week the kids and  made a Kyte!