June 19th: Return from Volunteer visit

Paraguay has been very interesting and challenging while still being very entertaining and very tranquilopa. I have been living with a family for the last two weeks in a small compania called Las Piedras. My Papa and Mama are Don Miguel and Dona Catalina. She runs a carniceria and he is a vegatable farmer. They live with their 5 year old granddaughter Najali who is very cute and is at a similar point in Spanish as I am (because almost everyone starts out learning Guarani). The town is small but there is a lot going on and I am there with 6 other volunteers. There is a snack bar, copetin, where we get empanadas and beers. There is a soccer field where the semi-professional team plays on Sundays where the games are often followed by fireworks and fights between the opposing fans. I have also been invited to several lunchs, dinner, a wedding, and other festivals (last Tuesday we had off to celebrate the end of the Chaco War). During training (which we are in for the next 8 weeks) they keep us very busy with 4 hours of language class in the morning and 4 hours of technical training in the afternoon. We do though get time off and have been able to go to Asuncion and to other places. I have been to Ita, and am in Ita now actually, Itagua, Caaguazu, Guarambare, J.A. Saldivar, and Juan Manuel Frutos. And I just returned from my visit with a current Volunteer which lasted for 4 days. He worked in a town called Pastoreo which was large compared to the training site. We went to a festival for the town´s patron Saint and then the next night had a barbeque for some of the people he knew in town.


And I should have included this in my first post, but my views are mine alone and do not represent the views of the Peace Corps of the United States Government