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Saturday, April 30, 2011

Bienvenidos al Campo!


Texts from Paraguay
                After we swore in as official volunteers, we all received cell phones.  I thought I’d share some tidbits of my everyday texting conversations…

Sol: “I’M ABOUT TO EAT MONO” (Mono=monkey)
Sol: “Welcome to my life.  I just got real close to a poop pants situation.  Also I caught a fish!  What a day.”
Sol: “I’m waking up at 5 so I can walk 10k.  What is my life coming to?”
Sol: “It’s 8:30 and I’m in bed.  Does that make me elderly?”
Estella: “There is a brand of diapers in our dispensa called pupy.  Gotta call it what it is I guess
Estella: “I ate pig guts and it got stuck in my teeth!”
Sol: In response to some embarrassing thing I did…”hahahaha yes, that’s even better than your underwear falling out of your pants.”

Semana Santa/Pascua
                I arrived in my site the week of Semana Santa.  Semana Santa is Holy Week…the week leading up to Easter Sunday.  Paraguay is a primarily Catholic country so they celebrate Catholic Holidays.  Here, the main event during Semana Santa is Chipa making!  The most delicious bread made with: cheese, eggs, corn flour, butter/pig fat, wrapped in a leaf of anis and baked in the brick oven.  Families all come together to make ridiculous amounts of chipa on Wednesday, and they eat Chipa for the rest of the week.  Zoe, one of my friends from training, and I decided to have a chipa eating contest.  I won (Words of wisdom...never agree to an eating contest against a fat girl!  Poor Zoe, didn’t know about my days in Rome and the Giganti Gelato) My prize?  She has to come visit me first.
                Lucilla, the senora I met on the bus, invited me to come to her house for Easter Lunch.  I absolutely adore her and her family.  They are all super friendly.   We had hen and pasta followed by duck and rice (and of course a side of mandioca).  It was pretty darn delicious.  After lunch, I wandered back to the other side of the neighborhood for the horse races.  I still can’t get over the fact that I live in a community that has horse races…who needs the Kentucky Derby when you can walk less than a mile to see horse races for free?  There’s no mint julips (or whatever they’re called), but there’s boxed wine and coke.

Latrinas
                I’ve been in Paraguay for 3 months now, and I finally had my first latrine experience.  I was visiting one of my favorite families for lunch, and I drank a ton of terere with the senora of the household.  Terere is a major diuretic so I had to pee shortly after.  Naturally, I held my pee as long as possible hoping that I could just sweat everything out or at least last long enough to use a modern bathroom.  No such luck.  I finally excused myself to go to the bathroom.  I walked into the outdoor wooden box to find a showerhead and no hole in the ground over which to squat.  This must be the shower and the shower only, I concluded.  I made my way back to everyone and said…ughh where’s the bathroom.  They all laughed at me and then pointed me to a wooden box behind all the trees and bushes…ahh yes privacy.  I walked in to find this:
A wooden rectangle seat, with a carved out oval, and the actual hole in the ground.  I was confused and wasn’t sure exactly which way to squat so I just tried to position my butt closest to the hole in the ground; unfortunately, I did not succeed.  When your pee misses the hole in the ground, you end up standing in a puddle of your own piss, and that’s exactly what I did.  Oooops…Bienvenidos al Campo!

Reasons Why a Latrine Isn’t So Bad!
                I was talking to Zoe one day, recounting my afternoon of coming dangerously close to pooping my pants when she told me about the “Reasons Why a Latrine Isn’t So Bad” list she’d compiled.  I thought it was very funny and very accurate so I’m going to do my best to reproduce/embellish it here:
            1. It can’t smell any worse than it already does, so you don’t have to worry about stinking up the             bathroom/people knowing you just made a big doo doo.
2)     2. It’s impossible to clog the toilet.
3)      3. You can throw your toilet paper in the hole! (In modern bathrooms here, you can’t flush TP.  You have to throw your TP in a trash can next to the toilet).
4)      4. You don’t have to clean it because it’s never going to be anything less than filthy.
5)    5.   It’s a mini adventure every time you have to use the bathroom…and its especially fun at night when you have to use your headlamp to get to the bathroom!
6)    6.  You’re VERY close to nature when nature calls.
7)    7.   If you’re really lucky you might even get to experience a fecal dunk tank depending on the stability of your losa!

Moving Day
                 I’ve moved in with another host family-a family I was already spending a lot of time with…I mentioned them in my last blog, Don Hugo and family.  I’ve only been here for one day, but I feel 1000x better.
                It took two trips to walk all my stuff over.  It was the first time I’ve ever moved without some type of motorized vehicle.  I felt super foolish walking through the community with my giant backpacking bag, sleeping bag and various other bags and boxes…Bailey strutting next to me.  I arrived this morning, and I’m all unpacked and settled and life is good!

For once in my life I managed to keep something (relatively) short!  A lot has been happening, and things are just going to keep getting busier!  I’m still doing my best to learn the language(s) and get to know the community.

I miss you all more than you can imagine.  It’s a strange feeling really.  I can’t say that I feel lonely because I’m constantly surrounded by people; however, I’m constantly surrounded by strangers that I can’t communicate with effectively.  Yeah, I can get my point across when I have something to say, but the small talk, the humor, the familiarity, the understanding is lost in translation and across cultures.

I’ve been feeling bad lately because I feel like all I talk about is me and what I’m doing, but the truth is, I really enjoy hearing from everyone, how you’re doing, and what you’re up to because you’re all my friends and family and I love all of you, and I think you’re all amazing and fascinating!   Can you say run-on sentence?

Thursday, April 21, 2011

I'm officially...

Engaged! Bahhh that'll be the day...I'm officially a VOLUNTEER!  G-35 (aka "The Hot G" not self named) has graduated from trainees to volunteers hooray!


If you’d like to send me a package here’s some stuff I’ve been craving…
·         Chocolate almond butter
·         Swedish fish
·         Mike n Ikes
·         Flavor blasted goldfish (xtra cheddar)
·         Almonds…I’d just like some nuts in general (no pun intended)
·         Pop tarts-Brown Sugar and Cinnamon flavored (The best kind)
·         Black Amethyst body spray from Bath and Body Works (Don’t worry I don’t want to eat this)
·         Anti-wrinkle cream…I’m seriously aging fast
·         But honestly, anything you send with love, I’ll enjoy!

And if you do send packages…words of wisdom…don’t declare anything over $100 dollars…I’m not expecting expensive things from people, but it’s not uncommon to up the declaration for insurance purposes…but this results in me having to pay RIDICULOUS fines to get my package of peanut butter…and slows down the process immensely because it will go through customs.

Random Stories
                Paraguayan men have the best/worst pick up lines, and I am constantly entertained by them.  My favorite goes a little something like this...  I was riding in the back of the van listening to my ipod on the way home from Asuncion one day.  We were stuck in traffic and the window washing guys were weaving between cars trying to make a buck or two.  One of the guys tried to wash the PC van window, but our driver waved him off.  As he was walking away he caught a glimpse of me, walked over to my back window drew a heart with his squeegee pointed at me through the middle of the heart and winked.  We all about died laughing in the car.
                We had our third round of language interviews at the end of training.  I had to do a Guarani interview and a Spanish interview.  They brought in an outside person to conduct the Spanish interview.  I received an advanced low in Spanish (advanced mid is considered fluent) and an intermediate mid in Guarani…Pabla must have enjoyed my descriptions of heta animalkuera.
                On the last day of language class our wonderful Profesoras put together some special treats for us.  Ramona handed out a helpful page of Spanish texting slang…and Delfina taught us all the bad words in Guarani.  Oh, how I love the Delf.  I had asked her a few days before when we were learning the best words and she laughed and pretended she wasn’t going to teach us so I told her to go peel her penis (the only Guarani slang I knew).  Some of the translations were just to die for.  i.e. “Go jerk off on a cactus,”  “Did you get your belly buttons together (?) (Missionary Position)”, and “you (bust) swell my balls.”

Swear In Weekend
                Swear in weekend started at 3:00am Friday morning when the MASSIVE thunderstorm woke me up.  Jake was coming to pick us up at 5:00am so I just got up and started getting ready.  We arrived at the Peace Corps office to be wanded down, frisked, shuffled into vans and escorted to the US embassy.  The ceremony was short and sweet (the way everything should be…especially when it’s not in your native language).  Don Pedro was the M.C., Don Clark (the head honcho of PC Paraguay) said some nice words, the Ambassador said a small piece, we took the oath, and then the Paraguayan minister of health said a short speech and then there was cake.  Delicious cake.  We were vanned back to the office to receive our cell phones, internet, and bank cards…and there were a ton of meetings that day…library commission meetings, HIV/AIDS commission meetings etc.  I left around 3 to head to the hotel.
                Baker and I decided to go on an alcohol run shortly after we arrived at the hotel.  We asked the front desk how to get to Whiskey House-the only liquor store in Asuncion-and they gladly gave us directions.  I was in heaven when I walked in.  I had more to choose from than boxed red wine and Brahma beer!  I was making my way up the hotel stairs when one of the workers informed me we were not allowed to have alcohol in our rooms (thank you G-29 for making stupid, drunk decisions at the Chaco Hotel).  I was super pissed that they didn’t tell me we weren’t allowed to have alcohol in our rooms when I was asked the front desk for directions to the liquor store.  Naturally, we snuck the alcohol into our rooms…but we weren’t actually that sneaky and almost got in big time trouble.
                Health all went to dinner together at this restaurant called Bolsi Bar (probably spelled that wrong) and over half of the group got food poisoning.  Whoops.  Luckily, I avoided more worms.  After dinner we went to a place called Gale’s Pub for Ahendu.  Ahendu means I listen in Guarani, and it is an event put on by PC volunteers that is basically an open mic night at this pub.  The pub was packed with Americans and (almost) everyone was just absolutely shitfaced.  I felt like I was in a sloppy, drunken meat market, and I was not a fan.  This was also the night that I officially decided I’m a grandma, and I’m okay with that.  After Ahendu we went to this gay bar called Hollywood, and I decided I’d officially had enough when people started taking their clothes off.
                Saturday was much more my style.  I wandered around Asuncion with some friends.  We looked in some shops, wandered through the Hippie Market, ate some Burger King (which was pretty much to die for) and went to a volunteer fair put on by Peace Corps volunteers.  At the volunteer fair I met up with some more friends and we went on a hunt for some ice cream because I’m clearly not eating enough sugar.  We stumbled across this ice cream shop called Amandau which was the Paraguayan equivalent of Mojo aka heaven in the form of an ice cream shop.  Later that night we sat by the pool on the roof of the hotel and watched the sunset as we listened to some Jack Johnson.  It was so tranquilo and just perfect. 
                I left Sunday to go back to Cumbarity to spend one last night with my host family and pick up my little girl.  Monday morning I decided to go for one last run to the monument.  When I was running back I tripped on a rock and before I knew it, I was sliding along the dirt road on my stomach…WIPEOUT!  I was about to have my first Paraguayan breakdown and start crying, but then I just started busting out laughing instead and decided to walk the rest of the way home.  Everyone I passed was giving me super strange looks if they weren’t asking me if I fell.  Then I encountered the deaf, mute of the community for the first time.  I’d heard of her, but I’d never seen her.  She ran up to me waving her arms and pointing at all the dirt on my body, and I tried to explain I was running and I fell until I realized she was deaf.  So then I did a little re-enactment for her.  She enjoyed it and walked away laughing.
                The cab came to pick me up at my house at 4:00pm to take me to site.  My mom and one of my host sisters rode along with me and Bailey.  Bailey was absolutely wonderful the whole ride.  She climbed up on the back dash and slept the entire way.  We got near my dirt road turnoff around 7:30 pm and it was nearly pitch black outside.  The darkness and the fact that I’d only been to the site once was not a good combination.  Needless to say we got lost (surprise, surprise) but I finally made it.
                I caught the bus into San Ignacio-my pueblo for the next two years-to do some shopping and familiarize myself with the town.  While I was waiting for the bus to go back to my community I introduced myself to a lady I recognized from the bus ride in.  Her name was Lucila, and she turned out to be a sweetheart and invited me over to make some sopa paraguaya (corn bread-ish stuff) the next day.  Later that afternoon I visited another family (the current in-laws of the previous volunteer).  They were super sweet and invited me into their home to make and eat some chipa!  Sooo delicious.  They also invited me over for a delicious lunch of sheep and pig the following day.  The next day I woke up and went for a run sans wipeout.  After I showered I started walking over to Lucila’s house, and I decided to stop at Don Hugo’s house along the way.  He was originally a name on my paperwork as a possible host family so I wanted to meet him.  He and his wife were so amazing.  They were so welcoming, telling me I could come whenever I’d like, and I was already like a daughter to them.  I’m planning on moving in with them shortly, and I’m really excited about it.  I didn’t get to visit with them too much since I was on my way to Lucila’s, but I’m planning on spending a significant amount of time there.  Lucila and her family were also wonderful, and Lucila invited me to live with her as well.  I think I’m going to take her up on her offer…stay a few weeks with Don Hugo and family and then a few more weeks with Lucila before I find a place of my own.  I’ve met a couple of really great families so far, and I’m really excited to get to know these families better and meet the rest of the community!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

NEW ADDRESS!

I know you are all dying to send me things so here´s my NEW ADDRESS!

Casey Carney PCV
Cuerpo de Paz
San Roque Gonzalez 1164
San Ignacio, Misiones-Paraguay
C.P. 4750

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Parasites and Bull Fights


Parasites
                I got me some Parasites!  I’m glad I can cross that off my list of things to do before I die.  It was very exciting; 10 days of diarrhea, intense stomach pains, and a pregnancy of gas.  I finally went to the Doctor and she said sounds like Giardia and gave me some anti-parasite pills.  Thankfully, they worked quickly.  I was starting to get embarrassed by the explosions in the bathroom.  Oh, and I learned laundry day is the worst day to have diarrhea.  There is a constant flow of traffic in the bathroom filling up buckets of water. 

                If I had to do it over again, I’d prefer to get Sevo’I Pyta  (Round Worm) like one of the other trainees did.  He got to poop out worms.  Well, actually he said it just kind of fell out of his butthole when he was showering one day.  I guess I still have time.

Bailey!
                Bailey is really sick again.  She was doing really well, but took another turn for the worse when I had to leave for a few days.  I think she got another round of the vichos and needs another vaccine.  She went from looking like a plump little pig to an anorexic puppy in 5 days.  Please pray for her again.  I’ve only had her for a short time, but she’s already my sanity here, and I don’t think I can handle losing her.

Future Plans
                I finally got my MCAT scores back.  I did well enough to be a competitive applicant so I’m super stoked that I will not have to endure that torturous study process and test again.  I’m trying to decide if I want to start the application process next June so I can jump right into school after I end my service, or wait until I end my service to start the application process.  I’ve emailed a couple schools asking if they would be willing to do phone interviews because I’m in Paraguay right now.  And by a couple schools, I mean I contacted the Phoenix division of U of A.  Their answer was Nahanari (no).  We’ll see if I can scrounge up some extra money to fly to and around the states for interviews during my service.  Thankfully, I still have time to think about things.  I’m not sure why I just wasted everyone’s time with my thoughts about life, but I promise the rest will be more interesting. 

Dia de Practica
                We had 5 Dias de Practica during training.  Basically it was just 5 days of putting our technical knowledge to use.  We made a losa for the latrine, we built a fogon, etc.  The last day we were supposed to work with someone from the community and come up with our own plan.  Zoe, Jaime, and I decided to work with the staff at the Puesto de Salud.  We dug them a compost pit (which the doctor wanted) then gave them a little charla about how to build and maintain a compost pile. 

                One of the other groups did a “Dia de Comida” for the community.  We were all supposed to prepare a healthy dish with our families and have a pot luck style lunch followed by a charla about nutrition and diabetes.  I made chicken salad which was delicious.  I’m not biased at all.  But, it was a pretty intense process which started with killing the chicken in my backyard.  I didn’t actually kill the chicken, but I saw a group of them being de-feathered and prepared.  It was one of the baby chicks we got when I first arrived.  Everything is made from super scratch here, but I have yet to see a measuring cup.

Site Presentation!
                Site presentation day has finally come and gone!  We started the morning off in our satellite training centers.  I was feeling particularly pregnant with gas (from the Giardia) that day.  I walked home for lunch to be greeted with “Are you getting fatter, Casey?”  I just glared at my sister and continued walking to the bathroom. 

                Anyway, we went to Guarambare in the afternoon.  We walked in and Don Pedro (the Program Director my program) and Hannah (one of his assistants) were finishing up a giant map of Paraguay labeling all of our sites.  We all sat down and they had a manila envelope with all of our pictures inside.  One of the staff members started by picking a photo from the envelope; that person went up first, their program director announced the name of their site, and the trainee received a packet of information, placed his /her photo on the giant map, and picked the next face from the envelope.  I was waiting for what seemed like forever!  I was the 3rd to last person picked, but my site is super sweeeeeet!  The community is San Juan Podrero, in the district of San Ignacio, in the department of Misiones.  There was an education volunteer in the community about 5 years ago.

                The packet they handed us had a ton of information in it.  I’m pretty much a first time volunteer.  There was an education volunteer there about 5 years ago.  Apparently she married a man from the community. Hmmmmm.  But some of the things my site wants help with include: dental health and parasite prevention (I obviously know what to do in order to avoid parasites…oooops )  in the schools, nutrition and cooking classes with women, vegetable garden promotion with individual families and in the school, working with youth (como planear mi vida), reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, maternal/infant survival, and Latrine construction.

Evaluations
                We’ve had 2 evaluations so far.  We have to fill out self evaluation forms, then the profesoras and technical trainers get together to evaluate us as well.  Finally, the profesoras talk with us about our evaluations.  My first evaluation was nothing special…Ramona agreed with me that I met expectations for everything and sent me on my way.  My second evaluation was awesome.  Mariela said the nicest things to me.  The written comments said I needed to work on pronunciation more for both Guarani and Spanish (I need to try to cut the white girl a bit haha).  She suggested I work more with kids to gain more confidence and vocab.  They written comments also said I was integrating into the community and culture well.  Then when she was actually talking to me she kept saying that she thought I was going to make a great volunteer because I had a really great attitude.  She also said a lot of times blondes are a lot more serious than I am, but I’m always laughing and my community will appreciate my laughter.  Hopefully, my community doesn’t mind my frequent, spontaneous, uncontrollable spurts of nervous, awkward laughter because they happen often.  Then she said she had been kind of nervous when I mentioned something about the little misunderstanding with my brother (probably didn’t write about that, but its not important).  She thought I might shut down or be less productive/happy because that’s the way other girls have been in the past, but she was impressed with how I handled it and was glad to see I didn’t let it bother me.  So basically she thinks I’m awesome…at least that’s how I translated everything in my head…and I’ll let you all in on a little secret...everything is always better (in some way, shape or form) in the translations in my head.

My Package Fiasco
                I finally received the package momma bear sent me.  Thank-you so much to those of you who contributed movies to my package!  I really appreciate it.  It was a pretty good sized box weighing 13 lbs, and it was quite the chore getting my box home.  I already had a large bag filled with notebooks, my lunchbox, a giant water bottle, shoes and gym clothes…I had ambitions of going to the gym in Guarambare that day, but chose to eat an entire bag of cookies instead.  I make good life choices.  Anyway, we flagged the bus down, and it was packed (like usual).  I got on behind Zoe who was having issues finding money to pay her fare.  I was standing on the stairs, and Jaime was standing on the stair below me.  The bus takes off while I’m still standing on the stairs holding a giant bag on my shoulder and a giant box in front of me.  I finally get up the stairs and pay and try to maneuver my way somewhere to stand.  The bus turns a corner, and I fell backward, screaming and sitting on some man’s face.  I’m saying ahh I’m sorry, I’m sorry only to realize nobody can understand English so I switch to Spanish and everyone is just staring at me.  After a few seconds I was able to pull myself off the man only to realize he was blind.  Poor guy had no idea what hit him.  Begin nervous, uncontrollable laughter NOW.

Site Visit
                The weekend after we received our sites we went on a little trip to visit our future sites.  We were split into two groups and sent to two different cities to meet our contacts.  I went to San Ignacio (super close to my site).  My contact’s name was/is Lourdes.  She is super pregnant…due May 5…and super cute.  She was wearing a nametag that said Lourdes next to a picture of my face…slightly creepy Peace Corps haha.  I thought Peace Corps did a really nice job of planning a day with us and our contacts.  They explained the goals of a health volunteer, and they spent a lot of time talking about the challenges we as volunteers are facing.  We had some snacks and lunch and were on our way to our sites shortly after lunch.  Lourdes had a car so we drove to San Juan Potrero…we also stalled 4x just trying to get out of the “parking lot” so I was kind of nervous for the drive…but we made it, and all in one piece!

                The community is really pretty!  I stayed with Lourdes and her family which consists of: her, her mom, her sister and her sister’s boyfriend.  There are also 2 other sisters, but they don’t live in the house.  And her dad works in Asuncion and comes home once a month I think she said.  Also, Lourdes boyfriend spends a lot of time at the house.  The house is across the street from the elementary school which sits next to the high school which sits next to the puesto de salud.  On the other side of the elementary school is the police station for the community.  The house was pretty sweet.  I got my own room which was nice.  There was also a modern bathroom-which I hear is kind of rare in the community.  The power went out twice during my visit…both times while I was showering.  Nice warm water turns freezing cold fast when the power goes out.  The outside of the house has trees everywhere!  There were mango trees, banana trees, avocado trees, pear trees, orange trees, and lime trees!  Oh, and there is a grape vine too!

                I went to see a possible future house for me.  It’s really sweet.  It’s the meeting place for Red Cross in the community and they are building a nice, big vegetable garden outside.  It has a bedroom, a kitchen, a modern bathroom, and a GINORMOUS living room.  I mean I’m going to have the party house and 50 people can sleep in my living room.  And, it’s already furnished.  There is a bed, a rompero (closet/dresser thing), a refrigerator, a cabinet in the kitchen, and an oven/stove thingy.  It’s filthy so it definitely needs to be cleaned and fixed up a bit, but it has major potential.  Oh, and all I have to pay for is electricity every month.  Hopefully it works out because it’s a pretty sweet deal.

                The next day, I went to a youth group meeting at the church and had no idea what went on.  They spoke Guarani the whole time so I just sat there and stared in to space.  I was walking back to my house alone when I encountered 2 cowboys on horseback pulling a bull behind them on a leash.  The bull stopped in his tracks when he saw me.  I decided to play it cool and keep walking, mainly because I didn’t really have another choice.  There was only one road, fenced on both sides, and we were walking on it.  I looked at the bull; he put his head down, swiped his front foot across the dirt a couple times, and took off toward me.  I turned around and ran as fast as I could/up the side embankment.  About .5 seconds later the bull whizzed past me, missing me by about 6 inches.  If I hadn’t already pooped that morning, I would have shit my pants.  I almost had a heart attack.

                The next day, momma bear (I think I’m on to momma bear 4 now), asked if I’d like to visit a sick man with her.  I said sure so we took off walking.  The man was super sick.  Apparently he had throat and stomach cancer.  He found out 2 months ago, but was not doing well at all.  He was only 40 something years old.  He was lying in bed, he was super thin, and he couldn’t do much besides groan in pain.  He seemed to be in so much pain, I felt so bad for him.  Apparently he smoked a lot, drank a lot, and didn’t eat very much.  He died 2 days later so we returned for the wake.  They had him open casket on a table on the patio.  I walked up to give the two kiss cheek greet to his mom, and I almost started crying (which is a lot for me).  I felt so bad for her.  All I could think of to say was Lo siento.

                I also spent some time talking, and a lot of time terere-ing, with the director the school and the director of the high school.  I really like the director of the high school we had a pretty good chat about a lot of different topics.  Every time I was talking to a new person while he was around he told them I was going to marry a Paraguayan just like Jennie, the previous volunteer.  I went to the health post one day and talked a little with the nurse.  She is the only one that works in the health post and she only works in the morning.  She didn’t seem very interested in me, or interested in working with me or helping me, but I might give her another shot.  I played soccer with some of the high school girls during recess, and I talked with some of the teachers.  I talked to the president of the community soccer club and kind of joined the team, but got too intimidated to actually try to play.  I sat and watch a soccer practice one afternoon and was invited to hang out with all the boys after.  I like hanging out with the boys.  I feel more comfortable around the boys; I’m not sure why…for the infiniti-eth time in my life…I wish I was a boy.  They have more fun…not to mention less feelings (usually). 

                There are also TONS of horses in my site, and horse races are a common occurrence.  There was one while I was there.  There’s a track made out of the grace with a barbed wire/wood fence in the middle dividing it into two lanes.  There were 3 races one day.  All the men bet on the horses and drink beer.  The women just watch.

                I had a really nice visit in my future community, and I am really excited to get to know more people and start working.  Everyone in the community kept telling me I reminded them of Jennie, the previous volunteer, and asking if I was going to marry a Paraguayan also.  I always replied with it’s possible and a big smile.  That response seemed to go over well.  It was crazy the emotional roller coaster I was feeling while I was there.  I would be perfectly content one minute visualizing myself in San Juan Potrero for 2 years, and not long after be wondering what the hell I was doing there, if I was doing the right thing etc.  For the most part I’m really excited, but I also have uncertainty.  I think most of my uncertainty stems from my frustration with the language.  Everyone in the community speaks Guarani, and I feel like I’m starting over.  The only time Spanish is spoken is in the school.  Also, the community seems to have a lot of expectations from me, and I don’t want to let them down.