Mba´eichapa!

So I am just writing a quick post to tell everyone I have gotten here safely. Internet is real expensive here and also I dont really have a lot of time to get to the internet etc... The PC Group that enters in September 2008 (G28) is all agriculture and environmental volunteers; crop extension, beekeeping, agroforestry and environmental education. There are 28 volunteers in total, we all met in Miami and had some basic training....got on the plane on...Wed night? Im not totally sure, dates and days dont pass in a normal way. We stopped off in the Sao Paulo airport and then got to Paraguay on Friday morning, amazingly we arrived on the same plane as the president, Fernando Lugo, who had just been in NYC for the UN. It was pretty amazing because everyone on the plane was really excited and there was military and bodyguards everywhere. We arrived and it was a whirlwind ... I live in a small community the furthest out from the main training site with a family that has had several volunteers in previous years. I have a brother, Ariel 17 and sister, Alice 7 and of course mother and father and A LOT of family around me. The primary language is Guarani which is an interesting adventure along with all the other trainings that we get... I´ll write more soon! Have a fun winter...its going to get very hot here soon...
Marcy

The Last Best Place

It is 11.15 pm the night before I leave Missoula...I have many feelings running through my mind but those are mostly clouded by denial of stress and the current cold virus that decided to pop up my last couple days in Montana. Leaving for two years plus is a bit stressful, exciting and unimaginable, in many ways it exactly like what many of my friends are experiencing, the first day of school or new jobs etc...but there is that two years in a hut that is possibly the major difference.

I might say that I know very little about Paraguay - I might add that it might not entail me to spend two years in a hut like PC Africa has to look forward too. It definitely will be different from domestic life in Montana or DC but I believe that I certainly will have power and maybe even running water (fingers-crossed for at least a tap). Paraguay is an unknown country to most people and also to the Missoula Public Library -so what I know is from either Wikipedia or the 20-page packet that was sent to me upon my PC invitation. A brief summary of my knowledge:

1. the largest export is hydro-electric power (why I know I will have power)
2. had a very bloody war in 1870 with Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, the War of the Triple Alliance, which resulted in a state (department) named after President Rutherford B. Hayes (Presidente Hayes)...go figure
3. there was a dictator, Alfredo Stroessner, from 1954 to 1989, terrible guy - like Nazi war criminals who then was overthrow, yet his political party still retained power until the most recent election.
4. and the new president is a former bishop, a leftist, Fernando Lugo - who knows what he will be up to because he was only inaugurated in August of 2008.


My preparation for this trip, the only part I had definite information on, was my packing list which I won't burden you with but I will offer a little amusement of my packing situation.

Here is picture of what the living room looked like with all the items I intended to fit into my two bags (80 lbs max) and to be honest ALMOST all of it did fit...who knows if I will actually use all of those items but if not they will find a nice home in Paraguay.

As I conclude this post, I have a couple of thoughts, some more important than others.
1. On behalf of my mother's strong emphasis on grammar - I apologize in advance for the glaring grammatical errors which will certainly occur in the future.
2. I promise to do my best on updating this blog - but there will be unavoidable voids on information and voids in time...who knows what sort of sketchy internet service I will find at my site...
3. If you write either email or snail mail - I will do my best to write back but also there might be unavoidable stretches of response time...who knows what sort of mail services...and yes I will be testing the global mail service and reporting back ie. letters to Thailand and even Europe.
4. Last but not least, I am excited to share my experience with all of you and give you maybe a brief look into a different culture and world...and I am thankful for all of your friendship and support on this new adventure that I am taking and happy that none of you tried to convince me otherwise.

I will miss you but I will see you all again...in two and a half years or when you are lucky enough to visit me...!!!

PS. For the next three months (my training I will probably have weekly email access and feel free to share this blog with anyone who seems interested).
PPS. Make sure to subscribe to this...I will eventually stop emailing to tell people I've posted...or if I can figure it out I might automatically put all of you on this