“Here you go kyryry,” Jason says as
he kicks over a treat. I feel no pity for the exoskeletoned critter,
since normally on nights like this one its kin would be flying into
my face or into the wall, repeatedly, as if drunk on the night air.
I sit and watch as the kyryry makes
no delay to devour the food in a single gulp, after a single leap.
From my chair I can see Jason, our newly adopted dog, and our
neighbor's cat. Finally, after a very long day, the four of us our
reunited. Nothing dramatic, let me note, only that our new dog ran
back home, and by home I mean section of street where our neighbors
found our homeless friend over a month ago. It had also been
24-hours since we saw our cat – I mean she practically is our cat,
I wake up every day to her in our house, she eats our food, and she
clearly loves us more, probably because I tocar* the
hell out of her. Both of our animals are white all over, except when
the red, sandy dirt mosaics around their bodies, and neither
presently have names.
On this night Jason
and I are relaxing on our new porch. Finally, after 6-weeks of being
in site we are moved into our new house. It's large and has lots of
space for gardens and animals. Our closest PCV came to visit and he
called our digs chuchi, and I'm inclined to agree. For ag and
environmental volunteers, we probably live in one of the nicest
houses. Tile, running water, walls made of plaster instead of wooden
slats, these are luxuries.
Jason and I working
on a variety of “projects” right now; meeting new people,
visiting families we haven't seen in over a month, starting
seedlings, preparing the garden, getting internet, etc. This brings
me to –
Current
excitements: Cooking with seasonal vegetables and fruits.
Right now only onions are grown in my community, but in the pueblo
we can buy parsley, squash, garlic, and cabbage. I suspect that
they are being shipped in from other communities, or maybe even
Argentina. Getting our garden started. There have already
been a lot of hurtles thus far, but hopefully we can get through them
in time for the growing season. Meeting new families and
maintaining relationships with ones we've already met. I think
that Jason and I have not been so guapo lately and we need to
step up our game. The heat, as well as some other obstacles, have
really slowed down our getting to know the community. Also, I've
been visiting my host family a lot. I suppose because they seem
familiar and safe (and I enjoy their company of course), and they are
the closest thing that Jason and I have to family here in Itapua.
With that said, I look forward to getting out there again, meeting
new folks, and revisiting the ones we haven't seen in a long time.
Hanging out with my dog and cat. Again, not really our cat,
but she spends most of her day in our presence. Animals fill a space
in my heart and I already feel so much healthier having them in my
life. I suspect that our dog has been abused, but she is utterly
sweet and she loves following us on walks around the community.
Current
frustrations: The heat. Damn you sun and your strength! Gender
stuff. This is a beautiful country with beautiful people, and I'm
amazed at how practically everyone in my site is so guapo and
kind. But it is what's called a machismo culture and there are
clear, gender roles that make me a bit peeved at times. The other
day my guapo husband was washing his clothes (by hand) and
some of the workers from next store were laughing at his for it. Men
cheating is openly discussed by both genders, mostly in joking form.
Men and women cannot be friends, it will automatically be interpreted
as a sexual relationship by everyone, including the relative man or
woman in the friendship. I'm not saying anyone is right or wrong,
I'm just saying that these actions annoy me. Lack of internet. I
know a lot of people came into this experience wanting to be
completely cut off from society, but not me. I miss talking to my
friends and family back home and I man-o-man do I miss NPR. Also,
preparing my thesis proposal has been somewhat difficult. I just want
to know what is going on outside of my little bubble, and I want to
know more about the world than Paul Walker and Phillip Seymore
Hoffman dying.
Current
personal status: I'm trying to get my head back in the game. I think
Jason and I had a great start here in site, but we maybe fell off
wagon for the last couple of weeks, for various reasons. This is
hard, as we've been told many times that it would be. This is the
hardest job that you'll ever love. Repeating that over and over
again in my mind and holding on tight to that mantra is probably a
good idea. I'm trying to get myself pumped up again and trying to
find a new routine. Waking up at 6am, working out, washing clothes
and cleaning, and working on household projects; these are the
activities I hope to fill my mornings. Hanging out with the
community the entire ka'aru; I can totally make this happen.
Reading, laughing and talking with Jason, and watching anything Star
Trek,: these are the activities I want to fill my February nights.
Things
coming up in February: School starts. Jason and I have our site
presentation, which means that our bosses will come out and formally
introduce us at a community meeting.
*Sometimes Jason and I (and other
PCVs too) use random Spanish or Guarani words when we speak English.
Sometimes we don't conjugate; it's just funnier that way...at least
to us :)
My host father and host uncle, playing their usual game with a Spanish deck of cards..
My host mom and their helper taking off kernels of corn from the cob. This corn will be used to feed the chickens or to make any number of the Paraguayan dishes that require corn.
A closeup view. I think with this particular batch our family's helper ended up grinding some of the kernels to make corn meal, to ultimately make a traditional dish called vori vori.
Our community hosted a torin, or bull fight. Paraguayan bullfighting is more like dancing with the bull and does not involve injury to the animal, aside from maybe frustrating it.
Another shot, also not so good. Next year I'll get a better spot.
This young boy was mimicking his father, who was playing with a band at the torin. Most likely they were playing the Paraguayan polka.
A shot of the campo portion of our community.
A shirtless, skinny Jason.
A sweaty me.
Jason shirtless again, this time accompanied by our neighbor's cat and sitting on our new front porch.
A view of the back of our house.
A group shot of the Itapua VAC. A VAC is a group of volunteers from a particular area. Our VAC meets every month to answer questions from Peace Corps staff and to run project ideas by the group.
My surprise birthday celebration, hosted by my host family and neighbors.
Mmmm...birthday cake! Happy 30s to me!
