Tanto Tiempo

Hello!!  Tanto tiempo…I know I know, It’s been a long time since my last update, but to be fair you all are way worse at updating me on your lives…

First things first…I moved.  There were a lot of motivations and conversations behind the move, but I’m going to leave out the politics, the drama and therefore the entire story and just let you all know, I’m in a new site.  I moved this past weekend and I’m LOVING it so far.  I live in a city now.  It’s a big city for Paraguayan standards…about 10,000 people (I think).  I’m renting a little house in a neighborhood very close to the center of the city.  I have a modern bathroom and a super sweet VERY hot water shower that I have fallen in love with…which are both out back behind my house.  I didn’t think I would mind having the bathroom outside until I woke up in the middle of the night my second night here about to pee my pants during a giant rain storm.  I just opened my back door and stared at the rain for about 10 seconds while my urge to urinate kept growing and then I just ran for it, slipped in the mud and almost took a mud bath…luckily my cat like reflexes (that normally don’t exist) saved me.  Anywho, the owner of my house lives right next door to me and we share the backyard; however, she goes to visit and stay with her daughter and grandson for large chunks of time so I haven’t seen her since the day I moved in and she won’t be back until the end of June.  I have a bunch of fruit trees outback; grapefruits, papayas, and I believe a pear tree, and I dug and planted a small garden.  I don’t know too many people yet, but I’ve been meeting more and more every day, and everyone seems super nice so far.  I live about a block away from a bicycle repair shop so I took my bike over there yesterday to introduce myself and to have them fix my tires.  I made friends with the family that owns one of the hardware stores nearby.  It’s a cute old man, his wife, and their son.  I’ve been in a few times already and they have been super nice and super helpful.  I live really close to the best vegetable shop in town (they have the biggest selection)…I’ve already been there three times.  I think I’m going to be good friends with the girl one day soon.  I haven’t met too many of my neighbors yet.  I’ve been trying to drink terere outside during the day and leave my doors and windows open while I’m home with the hopes that people will come over and talk to me; however, the only luck I’ve had so far is have a poor man almost walk into my house last night asking me for money to buy kabure (I’ll explain what that is in a minute).  Luckily, he was very friendly and I had some friends over for dinner so it was not anything scary, but I won’t be keeping my doors open after dark anymore.  My neighbors two doors down from me have a little despensa and sell kabure (I’m probably not spelling that right at all) and asaditos every night.  Kabure is the same thing as chipa (a traditional type of bread made from corn flour, cheese, eggs, mandioca flour and milk here) except for instead of baking it in an oven, you put it on the end of a stick and roast it…like a marshmallow!  And asaditos are basically beef kabobs…just little chunks of meat on a stick grilled on a BBQ.  Last night while I was waiting for my friends to come over for dinner, I walked over and asked if I could make a kabure.  The lady handed me an already made piece…and I clarified again…No, no I want to MAKE one…well if you are okay with that.  She just laughed at me and said of course you can make one.  I’m trying to get to know people, and I knew if I sat down and roasted a kabure I’d have to sit there and talk with them for a good 20 minutes…and what do you know…before I left she said we’d have to cook together sometime soon!  I also got the scoop on the rotisserie chickens that our other neighbor makes…Saturday nights and Sunday days…so I think I now have plans for Saturday night!

                Last night was a very fun, non-traditional night.  My friend, aka my Peace Corps wife, Lyn also lives in the same town as me.  She was hosting a Belgian couch-surfing couple so they all came over for dinner last night.  We made potato and squash soup and played Uno and Hearts for a few hours.

                Annnnd work life.  I’m still getting settled and having a lot of meetings, making plans, making schedules at this point, but here are a few things I’ve got on the books.  I’m going to be doing most of my work with the District Hospital doing educational charlas and workshops for the staff in the hospital as well as charlas and workshops with the staff in schools, high schools, and universities around town.  Everything is super chaotic at this point.  My contact and I were making plans for dental health education, HIV/AIDS workshops, working with the Diabetes patients, working with a Mother’s Club, doing radio shows etc. etc.  But, like I said, I just got here this weekend and at this point my work is all talk, but I’ll be sure to fill you all in on what I actually do!

                And a random Paraguay story…A couple weekends ago I randomly started feeling stomach sick.  I didn’t really think anything of it because I usually get random vomiting or diarrhea about every 2 weeks…it’s proven as a very effective weight loss method.  Healthy? Not so much.  Effective? Yes.  Very .  Anyway one night the random vomiting started and so did the diarrhea…and I just thought FML.   Then the next morning the owner of my house (when I was still living in the campo) knocks on my door and wakes me up and exclaims we came to work on your house.  FML squared.  So I went and slept at my neighbor’s house all day.  A few days later I’m feeling better, and I went to Villa Florida for a meeting with the other volunteers close by.  My friend asked me to share a pizza, and I was so hungry from not eating hardly anything for several days, I said sure, why not.  I ate a piece and a half of pizza and my stomach bloated out like a pregnant woman and I started cramping real bad almost immediately.  Well this is fun.  So we finished the meeting and Lyn and I went to catch a bus back to her house.  We had an hour long bus ride back to town, and I was having intense waves of pain every 2-3 minutes.  I was just sitting on the bus sweating, hoping to make it back to Lyn’s so I could just crash.  And then the waves of nausea started accompanying the waves of pain.  Ohhh Lord.  So I stuck my head out the window to try to get some fresh air and a few minutes later I started puking out the bus window while we’re driving along the high way.  Love my life. So we finally get to town and some girl gets in between Lyn and I when we start making our way to the front of the bus.  Lyn gets off and the stupid girl won’t get out of my way so the bus starts driving again and I’m yelling at the bus driver to stop and let me off all while I’m hunched over because I can’t stand up straight and I’m just trying not to vomit on people.  So he finally stops and I hopped off.  We had a good 30 minute walk to Lyn’s house and I knew I was not up for that so we called our friend Luis to drive us home.  I’m sitting in the back of the truck and he’s driving in the middle of the road with all these motos on the side of us.  I could feel the vomit coming again, and I just remember thinking…you gotta make it passed the motos Casey, you can’t puke on the people who are riding motos.  And I also kept thinking…and you can’t diarrhea in your pants because you have to wear these in your meeting with your boss tomorrow.  And luckily, for them, I just made it past them and started projectile vomiting and yelling at Luis to pull over.  I was child locked inside the back of the truck hanging out the window puking in front of a local university while ALL the students were arriving to class.  When I was finally able to manage a few words I just grumbled “Que Verguenza” (how embarrassing) and Luis just said…No, don’t worry this happens to all of us.  Rightttt, Luis. Anyway, we finally made it back to Lyn’s and I called into the medical office and immediately started taking medications, and the puking and diarrhea are gone…for now.

                I also had a potential Sugar Daddy for a tiempito.  I gifted him with my presence for one dinner. But I just couldn’t do it.

Texts From Paraguay!

I don’t have that many this time, but the ones I do have are worth noting I believe…I will keep them all anonymous.

           1)      “I’m getting a bit tired of this guy insulting me.  At least he is cooking lunch.”

           2)      “Couch surfer is in my bathroom.  I had to take an emergency dump in my front yard.”

           3)      “Made a kid cry big time 2day. I rock!  He was being a total shit.  I feel no guilt”

My address is the same…I do ask that you advise me if you send me a package because sometimes the packages get stuck in package jail in the capital and in order to get it out I have to take the package code to the mail man here in town and he tracks it down and gets it sent here.  A major headache, yes, but worth the American goodies!  Oh and also, the last package I received from my mother had a random jacket stuffed inside that she swears she didn’t send me.  Weird.

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

And since my birthday is approaching (August 4) I’m sure some of you want to send me packages so here is my birthday list…

Bare Minerals make-up foundation (whatever it’s called)  Color: Fair

Mascara. Black.

Swedish red fish

Deodorant (Secret shower fresh)

Lotion (Olay)

Bath & Body works spray: black amethyst

Flavor blasted goldfish: Xtra Cheddar

Peanut Butter

Ranch

Surprises are always good.

And for those of you who made it all the way to the bottom…Don’t worry I’ve been chronicling the un-censored version of all my stories in my journal J.

Only in Paraguay

Hello! Today’s theme is a compilation of stories, true events, which happened to me here that, would NEVER happen in the states.  Or maybe they would, but I still think they are worth telling…

1)      My volunteer friend Danielle recently married her Paraguayan boyfriend.  I went to the wedding.  And this is the story of how I got there…Originally, I had arranged for my friend to drive me; however, when I arrived at his house at approximately 11:00am he was still drinking from the night before and couldn’t manage to get much out of his mouth except for a bunch of jumbled Guarani…and the only thing I took from that gargle was Che raku (I’m horny). I said Baby, I don’t see anything wrong with your hands, and I started the trek out to the ruta to wait for a bus.  About 10 minutes into my walk a truck pulls up and said “Get in!” Oh, alright if you insist…I will take a ride in your air conditioned lindo truck instead of sweating to death during my hour long walk.  They ask if I don’t mind running a few errands with them and then they would drop me off in San Ignacio.  Dale.  I got all the usual questions…What is your name?  Are you single?  You just watch you are going to take a Paraguayan back with you too.  You know, I knew this American who got married here (they always do) what are you doing here?  Where are you going?  We were driving through all kinds of back roads in my community into other communities then we stopped to pick up another man and were on our way again.  We were drinking terere (drinking terere while driving is my favorite).  We came across this girl walking in the road so we picked her up and took her to her destination as well.  The driver of the vehicle told me he used to be really poor and had to walk 17k to and from school every day and nobody used to pick him up in their autos when they drove by.  That was when he decided he would always offer to drive people when he passed them walking on the road when he had his own car (Que amable!)  So then we stopped at this other house in the middle of nowhere and loaded the entire back of the truck up with giant bags of cotton. And then we were on our way…San Ignacio bound.  The whole time the driver kept telling me he was going to show up at the wedding to be my date…he would bring us a bottle of wine and we would dance.  And I about shit my pants when he actually did show up at the wedding later that night….

2)      So the day after the wedding I woke up at 7am to head to the ruta and wait for a bus back to my site.  I needed to be back early because my commission was throwing a horse race for a fundraiser that afternoon.  I arrived back at my house and passed out until about 12:30 because I was told I needed to be at the horse race at 1:00pm.  I arrived at 1:15pm and everyone else showed up around 4:00pm.  Really guys?  I could have used the extra 3 hours of sleep.  I was sent over to one of the entrances to collect money and I was bored out of my mind because nobody really came in from that entrance.  Around 7pm I wandered over to one of the neighbors’ houses with my friend Teresa.  The family was out back sitting around a fire…well cooking over the fire…but also sitting around it.  Mind you, it’s 110 degrees outside.  So I sit down by the fire and am immediately offered wine.  I said no thanks, I’m still detoxing from last night (and Ffffffff it’s so hot right now).  The father would not take no for an answer with the whole wine thing so I’m sitting around a fire drinking wine when its 110 degrees outside.  Then I’m handed a plate of piping hot fried chicken (and mind you I have NO APPETITE whatsoever at this point); However, it is culturally insensitive to not eat food you are offered in this country, and this family is particularly poor so I felt very honored and thankful that they were offering me all this, but I was seriously struggling and sweating bullets.  And then they all started commenting on how much I was sweating…Hmmm I wonder why? Haha.

3)      I’m currently taking care of one of my volunteer friend’s dog, and he has several little girlfriends in the community…just like your typical Paraguayan man.  The difference?  Tucker’s neutered and is not producing little bastard children…I mean, there are a handful of quality men in this country.  So one day, one of the novias and my favorite little puppy came to visit me and I was so excited to see her! Then…dun dun dun…Perruna, my neighbors’ dog,…the bitch of the neighborhood comes over.  This dog is such a meany…attacks everything, but she LOVES me; however, she’s super jealous whenever I’m paying attention to anything but her so she starts attacking this darling little puppy.  And I mean biting her neck and whipping and throwing her around…I thought the puppy was going to die.  I’m in my front yard screaming at Perruna throwing my shoes at her and hitting her with my broom (no wonder I’m the main topic of conversation) and she is not stopping so I stepped in between the two and grabbed the puppy and ran inside my house with her and locked Perruna out.  The puppy is freaking out, but I finally got her calmed down and then noticed I had blood running down my arm so I went to the bathroom to wash it off.  Apparently, Perruna got a good bite on me as well because I had three puncture marks on my hand.  Then I walked out of the bathroom to find the little puppy taking a GIANT dump in my living room.  Apparently, Perruna literally scared the shit out of her haha.  I had to take a surprise trip to Asuncion the following day for a precautionary rabies shot.  9 hour round trip for a vaccine.  Love my life.

4)      Monday, February 13, 2012 I went to bed around 11:00pm dreading the next day…Valentine’s Day…My 23^rd Valentine’s Day by myself…spent in a country where the most important thing in life is having your significant other…well this is getting old.  So I’m sleeping when a phone call from one of my friends, Mario, wakes me up at 3:00 am…Hello?  “Hey Casey!  Where’s your house?  I can’t remember…we’re at the police station right now…we’re coming over!”  Well you need to turn around because you already passed my house.  But it’s 3am, I’m sleeping, what’s going on?!  “Come outside we’re coming over!”  The only thing that’s running through my head at this point is…Oh my God, what am I going to do…people are going to see me with this boy at my house at 3am and they are going to say I’m this giant slut, and there are going to be all kinds of (new) rumors about me…OMG!  And then they arrived.  My friend Mario, his brother in law, a girlfriend, and another friend…and they came to Serenade me!  His friend plays the violin so he played me some romantic music for a good half an hour and we all just stood there and listened and drank some beer while all the dogs in the neighborhood went CRAZY!  I’m sure all the neighbors woke up…but then I decided I don’t care because I’m not doing anything wrong, I’m just getting serenaded people, don’t mind me…go back to bed.  Then we all migrated to my porch, drank some more beers, vodka (gotta love the city dwellers…they know about vodka!), sang and danced to some fantastic songs and did a flabongo for good measure.  My best Valentine’s Day yet!

5)      A journal entry: “There’s nothing like writing in my journal by candlelight.  The power’s been out for approximately 6 hours.  Loving life in the campo.”

6)      My next door neighbors are my best friends.  I spend all of my free time over there and they are absolutely amazing to me.  I eat almost every meal over there, I wash my clothes over there (they have a washing machine woo hoo!), and they understand (better than anyone else I’ve encountered) how hard it is to be a foreigner in this country/community.  The parents treat me as their daughter and the daughters treat me as their sister, and I feel like part of the family…it’s amazing.  So Sunday there was another horse race in the community.  I was bored (per usual) so I went to hang out.  I met up with Lorena (one of the neighbor girls).  We bought some wine and coke, planted ourselves on a nice patch of grass and started drinking.  In the words of Lorena, “Vamos a pasar bien… y bien barracha.”  I like the way you think.  Mission Accomplished.  Thankfully, I didn’t make any bets on the race because the pretty Black horse that I wanted to win definitely lost.  We headed back to Lorena’s after the race to hang out.  At one point Lorena said go get your speakers and let’s go to the high school.  We need to clean the boys’ bathroom.  Mmmm alright.  So we show up at the high school around 8pm with our pitcher of wine and coke, jamming to some super sweet Brazilian music (Michel Techo “Ai Se Eu Te Pego” and Gustavo Lima “Balada” seriously look them up) and cleaned the boys’ bathroom.  What is my life? Haha

7)      I’m still working with my bathroom commission and we’re still in limbo waiting for something to happen.  I went to talk to the interventionist a few weeks ago and he said he was going to give us all the materials for inside the bathroom-the toilets, sinks, and showers etc and have them delivered to the community once he received the funds to buy them.   I said SWEET that is fantastic news.  The following day, the president, the treasurer, and a commission member came over yelling at me at how unhappy they were with this news because they wanted money to buy all the materials themselves.  Mba’e.  The only reason I was able to keep my cool is because I don’t know how to go off in Spanish or Guarani (it’s better that way…or else I would have gotten myself in a lot of trouble by now) but beggars can’t be choosers people.  We had a meeting a few days later with the entire commission.  I told them all the news and someone proposed the idea of selling ME to the governor for a weekend (he likes his ladies) so that they could receive the money for their bathrooms.  Mmm I’m a Peace Corps Volunteer not a prostitute, people.

8)      School started back up again.  I’m co-teaching Monday and Wednesday mornings in the high school.  Mondays I’ll be doing “Como Planear Mi Vida” themes which touch on values and decision making, self esteem issues, how to plan for the future, etc.  And on Wednesdays I’ll be helping out in the English classes.  Yesterday I went to English class for the first time.  The professor had the “Our Father” prayer translated in English on the board for the first lesson of the year.  Interesting.  So we read the prayer and then I taught them the usual greetings and then we went over some common classroom commands and called it a day.  I went to my neighbors for lunch then went to the elementary school in the afternoon.  I’m currently helping the third grade teacher (my good friend/next door neighbor Doris) make some materials for her classroom.  Yesterday, she received a call about 10 minutes into class and abruptly grabbed all her things and left.  I was just sitting at the table finishing up the calendar I was making when the Director walked in to take over teaching and said “Oh good, Casey’s here” and turned around and walked out.  Alright I guess I’m teaching third grade today.  OMG WHAT DO I DO?  I have no lesson plans, I have no materials, text books don’t exist in this country, I have no idea what these kids are supposed to be learning right now, and I’m in charge of a classroom full of 7 year olds for the next 4 hours.  Luckily, I was in their classroom the day before so I went over their homework with them and we played this charades type of game that they had also played the day before.  Then we made BINGO cards and played BINGO with upper and lower case letters because they are still learning their ABCs.  Then we were saved by the bell…RECESS!  Hooray.  Terere break with the teachers.  Doris had to run out because her dad and her little brother got in a moto accident.  Thankfully, they are okay, but her little brother broke both of his arms L.  After recess we played another game to help with communication skills, and then I read them a story (which made me feel slightly mentally challenged because I couldn’t pronounce all the words #Istillstrugglewithspanish) and then we were saved by the bell again!  Phewww….I did it!  I just taught third grade all by myself…and in my 2^nd language!

All in all things are going great!  I’m glad school is starting back up to get me into more of a work groove.  I feel like I’ve been doing A LOT of just hanging out recently, and I’m excited to have busier, work filled days.  I’m heading into town tomorrow to celebrate Carnaval in San Ignacio…I’m super pumped to jam to the songs I mentioned earlier, have foam fights, and hopefully lay my eyes on some pretty Brahma Boys.  Then Saturday I’m heading to visit my host family from training for the weekend.

I hope everyone is doing well…send me your updates!

I'm Backkk

Hello all!  I cannot tell you how many times I've sat down to write this blog just to get back up again in frustration.  Sometimes I feel like I have so much to say, while other times I feel as if I have nothing at all to say.  I went through the last couple months of my journal to see what I've been up to lately only to find a lot of nothing and a couple of ridiculously hilarious stories that are not blog appropriate.  Womp Womp.

So I’ll start with my trip to the States…AMAZING…except for that one night I totaled my mom’s truck.  Sorry mom L.  But it was so so so good to see everyone!  I was a little nervous to come home because I know I’ve changed…I see things differently, and I think about things differently, and I was scared that was going to affect me in my relationships; However, I was able to fall back into place with all my friends and family as if I had never left.  Thank you to everyone for being AWESOME!  I didn’t do anything super exciting.  A lot of hanging out at the house, happy hours, a few stops in at the gym, a couple of Taco Tuesdays, but I just enjoyed being home, speaking English, and spending time with the wonderful people in my life.

After our ENTIRE flight was waved freely through customs, I emerged through the doors of the airport to find my host mom and sister from training welcoming me home.  I was very surprised and happy to see them there waiting for me!  They accompanied me to the bus terminal, made sure I was able to get a bus back to town, and we exchanged gifts before they went on their way.  My bus left the capital at about 10:00pm meaning I didn’t arrive in my pueblo until about 3:00am.  While waiting for my friend to come pick me up, a few Paraguayan men decided to strike up some small talk with me… “So are you pregnant?”  Excuse me, what?  “Are you pregnant, or are you just fat?”  Oh Paraguay how I’ve missed you and all your inappropriate comments.  No I’m not pregnant, I’ve just been traveling for close to 48 hours, I’m ridiculously bloated and I haven’t pooped for days…do you have any other questions?  Thank goodness Luis pulled up right at that moment.

One of my friends, Danielle, came to my site last week.  We went to this super sweet natural swimming pool in a nearby community on Sunday.  We swam for a bit, and then shared a few beers and some food with her fiancé and one of my friends from site.  It was a very relaxing Sunday before a week of summer camp with the kiddos!  Summer camp went really well.  There weren’t too many kids that came, but the ones who did enjoyed themselves.  Monday’s theme was trash and recycling so we played a bunch of games, sang some songs and did a few charlas covering these topics.  Tuesday we talked Nutrition, Wednesday we did arts and crafts all day, and Thursday we played games/sports and did an hour of “carnaval” basically just water balloons and slip ‘n slide.

-The super sweet natural swimming pool-





-The cows came to summer camp too-

-Me and the kids on Arts and Crafts day with their masks-

Last week I also started an exercise class.  We’ve been meeting three times a week.  I only have about 5-10 women coming each time.  I’ve heard all kinds of excuses of why the women aren’t showing up.  My favorite so far?  “Casey, I haven’t been coming to your exercise class because I don’t have “lindo” (pretty) tennis shoes.”  I just looked at her and laughed in her face.  I can’t make this stuff up.  Paraguayans are obsessed with Lindo.  Everything has to be lindo so this is an actual concern of theirs that I will just never understand.  However, the most common excuse is that the women want to come, but they are too shy.  Hopefully they will get over their timid-ness and get their booties to the field sometime soon.  I’ve been doing crossfit style workouts…short, but high intensity.  The women keep telling me they’ve never sweat so much in their life, and that their bodies hurt and I just say GOOD…and you’re going to hurt more tomorrow!

I’m still working with my bathroom commission, but we’ve hit a bump in the road.  The governor, who promised us 100 million guaranies (basically the total cost of the project), is apparently being accused of embezzling some ridiculous amount of money (I heard 122 thousand million guaranies…I can’t even fathom that number in my head) and the government is currently undergoing an audit thus freezing ALL funds for three months.  I have no idea what’s going on, if this is true, or what’s going to happen. We’re planning on going to talk to the government sometime next week in order to try to get some answers.  Jahechata.  But…we are currently organizing a horse race for next weekend and a fiesta for Valentine’s Day in order to raise some of our own funds.

And other than that I haven’t been up to too much… We're currently in the middle of summer...which means it’s hot as balls out and not much is going on.  I spend most of my day sweating, swinging in my hammock, writing in my journal, watching movies or TV shows from my hard-drive, sweeping, killing bugs, listening and singing along to my favorite music (I made myself hoarse the other day), and drinking LOTS of terere with my neighbors.

The next training group…our sister G (G-38) will be here in about 2 weeks so that’s super exciting!  If any of you have happened to stumble across my blog feel free to send me any and all questions/concerns you have and I will be happy to do my best to answer your questions.  And, word of advice?  Do not listen to the packing list that Peace Corps sends you.  Bring the things that you use/wear now on a regular basis…that’s what you’ll be wanting and wearing.

The Best and Worst of Peace Corps Paraguay

Hello all!  I'm sorry I have been completely MIA for a while now.  I got caught up in who knows what here in Paraguay and then I went home to the U.S. for a few weeks to spend Christmas and New Years...and now I'm back again.  I am WAY overdue for a real blog update, and I have lots of things to fill everyone in on!  I've been having a rough couple of first days back so I'm going to wait until I'm back on my feet before I write a real update.  Gotta get all the negative out in my journal before I can fill you all in on the positives.  But, I wanted to let you all know, I'm alive and well and chugging away down here...and here's a little Questionnaire I filled out to keep you all entertained in the meantime...Enjoy :)

Moment that made me rethink dairy: Chunky milk.  Stinky cheese. Nuff said.

What reminded me most that I’m in Paraguay: The beautiful red dirt roads, and the fact that I only know what is happening/being said about 5% of the time.

Most surprisingly tasty food: Milanesa de cocodrillo mmmmm mmmm so tasty.  Fried crocodile.

Favorite thing to find being recycled by other volunteers who have recently returned from The States or had a friend come visit: Well I’m bringing some pretty sweet stuff from the states for myself.

Most entertaining adventure: There are so many!  There’s the time when I was going for a stroll and catching up with Stacy when the chiv cramps overtook me and I had to relieve my bowels on the side of the road.  There were the Eco Reserve-hanging bridges, zip lining, and propelling adventure.  There was the time I took the wrong bus and ended up in some weird neighborhood outside of the capital.  It took me approximately 4 hours to get home instead of 1.  There was the time I got woken up at 5am with a message to go watch a cow slaughter.  And there are MANY more that are not blog appropriate J

Moment that made me realize no bug experience could ever get much worse: The day I woke up with 163 bug bites on my legs during training.  The worst part was the walk home…it was so hot and I was sweating so much I was stomping during our walk home in an attempt to relieve the itch without scratching…and I may or may not have started crying. Haha.  Or perhaps when I tried to engage war against the ants, moved everything in my entire house was spraying them to death, powdering them to death and running outside gagging and gasping for breath only for there to still be ants and their eggs falling on my bed.

Favorite thing to do on vacation: Sit in climate controlled areas.  Workout at a gym.  Understand what is going on around me.  Appreciate time with my family and friends.

Moment that made me stop and say, “Where am I?”: During my first week in site where I attended my first horse race…about a 5 minute walk from my house.  So awesome.

Most shocking information I have given to a Paraguayan:  The fact that I think black people are beautiful.   They didn’t understand.  And I don’t understand how you cannot think they are beautiful.

Most entertaining question asked by a Paraguayan: Hmmm…I’m so immune to the strange questions now that I can’t think of a good one!  The geography questions are pretty good… “The United States is right next to Japan, right?” And, one time I was talking to a nursing student about the healthiness of vegetables to which he responded “Who says?”

Something I would never have done if I were not living here: Pooped in a bucket in my living room.  The cement in my bathroom was drying and I didn’t have access to a latrine.  What would you have done?

Favorite new culinary technique: Homemade pizza.

Funniest Guarani word learned: We’ve been over this before…because of its translation Ejapiro…peel your penis.

Most uncomfortable charla moment: Before I gave my breastfeeding charlas...whenever someone asked me what the topic was I would automatically grab my boobs and say breastfeeding!

Favorite American topic that Paraguayans like to talk to me about: How rich we ALL are.  Righttt.

Longest running joke in my host-family: “Casey Crazy”  my nickname.  Or, the fact that I like large mandioca (penises)…hooray for language mishaps during lunchtime.

Moment that almost gave me a heart attack: When I got charged by a bull during my future site visit.  I literally thought I was going to die at that day.

Strangest thing I have seen being sold on a city bus: Oh you can buy anything on the buses.  You need oil, apples, oranges, pineapples, DVD's, weight loss supplements, chains, watches, wallets, belts...you name it and your neighborhood bus will most likely pick up a vendor selling it.

Hottest day: I try not to look at the temperature because I don’t even want to know.

Thing that makes me feel like a lot tougher than I am: Dealing with all of the “creatures” that live with me.

Favorite book read in site: “Shantaram.” Gregory David Roberts

Most unusual injury sustained when considering I am a Peace Corps volunteer: Thankfully, I haven’t had any major injuries…but I did have infected/inflamed hair follicles on my scalp at one point.  How does that happen?

Funniest cultural thing in general: How indirect the people are about most things…but yet ridiculously, rudely (interpreted by someone from the U.S.) direct about other things.  Strange.