Fuimos a otros Ciudades!

The headline simply translates as we went to other cities! Which is going to be the main point of this blog post!

I know it's been awhile, but seriously it is difficult to find time to blog, email, facebook, etc., especially when we have so much to do! Even now as I sit here my homework is being neglected! But on to more adventurous talk!
This past weekend we had our first opportunity to venture out into the actual country of Paraguay, leaving our little host family bubble. Our adventures took us to various cities ranging from 1 hour to 6 hours away by bus. Our sole purpose was to visit volunteers in their sites and try to get a better understanding of what it is volunteers do!

Our day started, as I have a feeling many will, with getting lost in Asunción. Okay, not Asunción exactly, but a small suburb called San Lorenzo. We arrived by bus from Villeta and walked around looking for the bus terminal where we could buy tickets for slightly larger busses that would take us into the countryside. Except for in San Lorenzo, there is no main bus terminal. There are several small businesses in competition, all in a row down one street, looking like an assortment of shops. They all sell various services, and depending on your destination there are a half dozen companies with busses that go in that direction. So we finally figured out what bus we were supposed to take, which was very chuchi! (meaning fancy or stuck up) and we climbed aboard, continuing our adventure.

My site was in a town called Campo 9, which is about 3 hours east of Asunción on Ruta 2, heading in the direction of Ciudad del Este and the border with Brazil. On the bus there were lots of crazy thigns going on, like people getting on and off the bus to sell chipa (kinda like warm cheezy bagels), candy, soda, pirated dvds, whatever! It was definitely an interesting experience.

Every so often one of the bus workers would walk by and yell the name of an upcoming stop, and you had to hope you understood him in order to get off in the right place. Luckily I was sitting near the door when he yelled, and managed to get off in the right place. My volunteer Lyn was waiting at the bus terminal (yes in Campo 9 they actually have a bus terminal) and we headed off to her house. I actually really liked her house (she lives on her own and rents from a family, whose house is connected); she has all the modern ammenities like electricity, running water, a stove and refrigerator. She said that these ammenities are fairly common and most volunteers have them.

We spent most of the weekend just hanging out, meeting and talking to locals, and drinking térere (integral to living in Paraguay). In addition to this, Lyn also spends her time working with the Municipal government (her contact is in the environmental department), brainstorming projects for local community development and opportunities for increasing economic activity, and teaching a class on small business practices. Because I was visiting I actually got to help her and teach part of the lecture (oh yea! In Spanish!). I found this to be a very rewarding experience and I hope it is a project that I can impliment in my future site. All in all it was a great weekend, and it left everyone with a very positive outlook. As trainees we are eager to finish training and actually get to work helping with tangible activities!

This week has been equally eventful, given that it is the Festival de San Juan. Each city in Paraguay has a patron saint (and in fact each neighborhood of each city has a patron saint), and San Juan is a very common neighborhood name (and common patron saint). As a result there have been a lot of fiestas this week. It seems like every night there is some sort of celebration with typical Paraguayan food, games, and drinks. The festival of San Juan is centered around fire, so everything is on fire. I'm talking dummies of bad people (like the mayor if they don't like him), soccer balls, flagpoles (which they like to grease up and attempt to climb), everything! Also with the recent sucess of Paraguay in the world cup, there have been lots of fireworks going off and people drinking and celebrating in the streets! We as trainees have just been trying not to get in the way of festivities.

Every week we are here (more than three weeks now, sheesh!) we are more and more integrated into the community, language, and culture. I feel like living with a host family is the most effective method of doing this; we are constantly challenged in our language skills and also our cultural sensitivity. We are learning and growing in ways that we never really knew we could. It is an incredible experience and I look forward to whatever comes next. Until the next post!