Observations from the Field

I have an incredibly cute little nephew here...not the one that has no discipline but one who has a big crush on me and is 8 years old. My host family, hosts many a grandchild for periods of time, obviously during the summer when there is no school. Most frequently, Ivan and Diego stay at my house and maybe Ill see Ivan´s mom, Olga but I have never seen Blanca who is the eldest of Julia´s children and has the Brazillian husband that refused to learn Guarani.... Ivan, the four year old, acts like he is two and I truly hope that I was never like him as a child but I dont recall those years of my life. Diego is generally very affectionate towards me as well as helpful because he can understand my grasp of spanish mixed with guarani.

Now to my story - While I was washing my clothes one day, Diego comes up to me and asks...´Marcy, have you had any boyfriends¿´Certainly an interesting question for an 8 year old to a 22 year old...he then says, ´I have had four,´ while laughing I try to explain that what i think of as a boyfriend might be quite different then his thoughts...he doesnt under stand. He then stands and stutters for a while and then comes out with, ´I want to ask another question but I think you will get mad....have your boyfriends ever kissed you....right here...´point to his lips. I nearly died laughing at which he proceeded to sulk for the rest of the day.

I went to Asuncion for the second time, with a big slate of activities along with a date for Hooters for the SuperBowl...and interesting experience to say the least...being around 40 other Americans is an overwhelming thing when your contact might be by phone or seeing another volunteer once a week but I did have a lot of fun and thankfully the game was not a blow out...though by the sound of the PC group we probably scared any of the families which had come for a nice quiet meal on a sunday night...at Hooters. I happily recieved those thoughtful packages, Xmas!!, and am under the assumption nothing was missing from them because they looked quite intact...THANK YOU A LOT!! They made my day and with the goodies that I was able to disburse made several other volunteers days as well.

Miss you all heaps,
Marcy

¨For Space Ships Only´

Oh I have the coordinates for my community so if you want them send me an email....super cool google earth!

Life at Site

I am not certain where to pick up or where I left off..and no embarassing stories come to mind to regale you with but I will write some sort of an update...My last internet excursion was to Asuncion and the PC Office, an adventure or time to atleast speak English with people face to face, and somehow I managed to make it a stressful trip. Without the details - it all boils down to not the mini-vacation that I expected but not having money, three hours in the embassy, waiting two hours for my mail and possible the most packed bus ride in exsistance (they stopped picking up passengers...yes that full) it all culminated in me going to bed at 10.30 on New Years Eve.

My daily life is now patterned with a lot of terere and awkward conversations with unknown people and watching the world pass by on their motos...Its summer and life sort of stops here because it is around 90 degrees from 10.30-5.30 with humidity.

Two funny stories to leave you with or interesting since the second is a bit morbid...

I cooked a variation of past one night and Aurtilio, my host dad, reacted in surprise and semi-pain to my hot pepper..I dont know if I actually put to much in...quite possible I could have over-componsated for the lack of spice in my life right now (sort of literal)...or its just PY and inablilty to handle spicey things..

Number 2 - so I am getting used to the catholic tradition of rosary on the anniversary of deaths and such...to be honest in two more months Ill be able to recite it myself in Spanish...but on New Years morning I went to a reso... a little odd because most of them are in the evening...I figured out halfway through that it was not an ordinary reso but actually a funeral, my host sister hadnt forgotten to mention that small fact. I wasent tipped off until I saw through the cluster of people saying their hail marys, a casket...needless to say I felt a bit uncomfortable in my flip-flops, tank top and just awake after a hard day bed head....

Chou Chou and Best Wishes for the upcoming year!
Marcy

I have discovered that I would much prefer to write these entries out before then have to think them up on the spot...so Ill leave you with only a couple of observations.

Christmas - involves everyone just staying up until midnight on the 24th while waiting for the asado to finish (bbq)...possibly drinking this fruit salad mixture with wine except not my family b/c they are evangelical christians. Also if you are Catholic you go to other peoples houses and look at there creches and drink more of that Clerico...(the fruit salad stuff). And at midnight, which caught me off guard, everyone goes around and hugs each other wishing people a merry christmas. And thats nice and all but I didnt know half the people so it was a bit strange for me. Another note - the only thing that they eat is the asado...with maybe some mandioca but really just meat so my diet has been heavy on the protein every since because at this time of year they eat asado a lot.

Second I have a joke which was told to me by one of the language teachers right after the election and its in Guarani and then the translation.

Petei kuimba’e Paraguayo onemongetase Presidente de los Estados Unidosndive. Upeicharo Ollama La Roga Moroti ha oporandu ane’e Presidente George W. Bushndive. Katy la secretario one’e, “Nahaniri, Ovama.” (in spanish and guarani the sound of the 'v' is very close to a 'b' sound....

A Paraguayan man wants to have a conversation with the President of the US. So he calls the White House and asks to speak to President George W. Bush. But the secretary there says, “No, he left.”

I am trying to upload some photos and am getting frustrated so I might stop and find a better internet connection...sometime but here is the link to the album.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Marcy.ASL/Paraguay?authkey=QwY5_LzqylU&feat=directlink

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Just a quick note - I hope everyone has a nice cold and white holiday season far far away from the mid 90 temp. that I am at...I am sure to be boiling away on Christmas Day and also super hungery because apparently we wait until midnight of the 24th to eat dinner...I dont really understand. Note the change in address for letters - my mother and I are testing it out to see if I can get packages that way as well...but I am sure to get mail much faster at this address...

Seasons Greetings!

Swearing In...take 2

I just wrote a whole post and then lost it....sad.


A brief description of swearing in - I am now officially a Peace Corp Volunteer, as of December 5th. We had the ceremony at the US Embassy in Asuncion and like all of the US Embassies I have seen it was manicured to perfection - also has a pool that as a Volunteer I can use! The ambassador could not attend due to a meeting in DC apparently but we had a replacement - I am not actually sure of his title. He and our country director spoke both of which were bland and forgettable but a message of, 'this is a great oppurtunity and a great place to be.' Both of which are true but not going to keep us awake in the summer heat. We also had voted for one of the other volunteers to speak, who did keep us awake and amused (Steve is a farmer boy from Ohio with a booming voice.) Then we were let free, not really because we had to get bank cards and phones for PC as well as other errands - but this weekend was the first oppurtunity to really get to know Asuncion. My phone number...country code 595 and then my domestic number 0982600006 - I dont know if you leave the first 0 or take it off when calling but once I find out Ill be sure to tell you...skype you can call me for about 6 cents a minute. 01159598260006 - correct number 0- that is what you need to dial...


We had an article in the local Asuncion paper as well - http://www.abc.com.py/2008-12-06/articulos/476047/nuevos-voluntarios-en-el-cuerp- and make sure to check out the related articles b/c they interviewed two of the beekeepers (yes all in spanish, sorry)


Here is also a picture of the bees - bottom left to right - Lara, Nina, Adam, Mitra and I - top l to r - Justin and our trainer, Jonathan.



I leave for site tomorrow so I am excited for that and ready to get to work or get to start trying to ackwardly socialize and drink terere with hundreds of people.



Merry Christmas - Marcy

Another way to say ´Hello!´

As Justin (one of the bees) always says the Guarani language is really deep - the example is their combinations of words that then later mean another thing. For example - nothing - mba´ve - when broken down means -mba - things - ve - more, so nothing literally means more things. The other words - no where - moo´ve - moo - where + ve ie - more where - and the last example no one - mava´ve - more who...the ancient Guaranis must have been very philosphical. I think it strikes a chord in the PC where having nothing might be very similar to have more. My final language class and interview approach on Wed, and I am amazed at the speed of my language comprehension. I definitely, with a month or two, will speak better Guarani then Spanish, though I will have to improve my Spanish as well. There are very few people in Paraguay that do not understand or speak Guarani. In Asunción, Spanish is more prevalent but since most of the population has moved there from the campo they understand Guarani. In the campo, generally Guarani is spoken but Spanish is widely understood either from school or more likely watching TV. I actually have to at least improve my Spanish as well because one of the beekeepers in my site only speaks Spanish.

Like many languages Guarani is not a written language and has taken many advanced and modern words from Spanish. The ease that Paraguayans can transition between the languages is amazing. At a meeting for example, the conversation is conducted in Guarani but the minutes are written in Spanish without hesitation or thought - in the end with all of my classes - I will write better Guarani then most of the population. Note - I will never speak pure Guarani, since my site is pretty large and semi-urban - my language will be Jópara- the mix of Spanish and Guarani.

I will try to get out an email about my site but I am running out of time right now.

MISS YOU ALL!!!
Marcy