Noticias

felices/happy






Gracias al juez/thanks to the judge




y el anillo/and the ring





"accepto"/ "I do"

el momento/the moment

esperando todavia/still waiting

esperando el juez/waiting on the judge

Noticias, Saludos a todos!  Espero que este correo les encuentre bien! Les escribo desde Springfield, Missouri. Muchos de ustedes ya saben que vivo aquí. Después de una dura búsqueda, he conseguido un trabajo federal con el Departamento de Labor. Tengo un mes viviendo aquí y poco a poco me estoy acostumbrando a Springfield. Nunca veía a Oklahoma City como una ciudad diversa, sin embargo, dado que a Springfield le falta diversidad me costará un poco en acostumbrarme a esta ciudad.  Pero no les escribo para hablar de mi traslado a Springfield. Les escribo con mucha felicidad. Les escribo para anunciar que hace una semana Karla y yo nos unimos en matrimonio! La semana pasada no casamos por el civil y para el año que viene haremos la ceremonia religiosa. Tenemos planes de hacer una ceremonia sencilla e intima con nuestras familias. Estoy sumamente feliz. Ya nos mudamos a Springfield y estamos buscando empleo para Karla. El último mes se nos ha pasado como maravilla y al mismo tiempo ha sido un mes lleno de estrés a causa del cambio de lugar, trabajo nuevo y planes de matrimonio. Pero aunque haya sido medio difícil, estoy muy feliz y no hubiera preferido pasar por esta etapa con alguien menos mi querida Karla. Con el departamento de Labor, estaré trabajando como investigador en la división de Horas y Salarios (Wage and Hour Division). La división de Horas y Salarios establece normas de salario mínimo, pago de sobretiempo, contabilidad de horas y pagos, además de hacer cumplir normas para el empleo de menores.  Este trabajo requiere que investigue negocios para confirmar que están conforme a las leyes federales. En la solicitación de empleo, encontré que buscaba alguien que hablara español y sentía que esta carrera me convendría. Así que, aquí me encuentro trabajando duro y estudiando todas las regulaciones federales de empleo. Durante este periodo de capacitación he estado saturado de trabajo. Les agradezco por mucho por sus oraciones y su apoyo durante este tiempo difícil. Me estoy estableciendo en una ciudad nueva en una carrera nueva y con mi esposa querida. Para ustedes en Paraguay, les quiero agradecer especialmente. Mi tiempo ahí con ustedes cambio me manera de ser, mi perspectiva hacia mí fe y me ayudó a desarrollar un fervor renovado hacia la vida. Siempre guardaré un espacio muy cercano a mi corazón. Gracias y que Dios les bendiga a todos. Próximamente estaré actualizando mi sitio de web con fotos del casamiento civil. Favor de revisarlas cuando haya tiempo. www.markinparaguay.blogspot.com   Mark Allan Carter

Training....

First, I want to start with the obvious. Now that I'm back in the states, and not in Paraguay, I'm not quite sure what purpose this blog serves for me. Therefore, I ask that you bear with me while I figure out what to do with it. I suspect that I will be posting rather random tidbits of what I find interesting. With that said, let's talk about "TRAINING"

This past week was my first week on the job. I didn't' actually work, but I spent the whole week in Kansas City doing all of the preliminary paperwork and introductory preparation for the job. The week went smoothly and without many problems. The people were friendly and willing to make me feel comfortable. The Kansas City office is the district office. I will not be working in this particularly office (I'll be in Springfield, MO), but I will be in contact with the people there often.

Throughout the week I was handed what seemed like endless forms to sign and endless booklets and packets of information to read. I thought I would drown in information until the Friday, the last day. The last day I was handed 3 gargantous Field Operation Handbooks. Honestly, each one was about the size of a phone book. Worse still was that it requires an index in order to find anything in either of the books. Lastly, I was give still another huge book of Labor regulations! I guess I'll have to learn it, but it sure does not look promising :)

Wish me luck as I dig in to all of this starting tomorrow!

Employment……finally!

Hello everyone! I hope this correspondence finds you doing well. My last posting was a cry for help. I first want to thank everyone who contacted me with advice, a comforting word or a job posting. I also want to give thanks to our Lord and heavenly father for helping find employment, especially given our economic situation here in the States. I have been offered and have accepted a federal position with the Department of Labor in Springfield, Missouri. I will be working as a Wage and Hour investigator. In a nutshell and investigator seeks to make sure businesses are in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Acts.

The Labor Department was seeking an investigator who spoke Spanish to work with the Latino community. When I saw the posting for the position I thought to myself "Hey, I could do that!" For those of you who have known me for many years, I'm sure can remember all the long summer hours at our neighborhood McDonalds' restaurant here on Rockwell next to P.C. North. At the time I was there, I didn't think that working at McDonald's would do too much for me. I realize now that our Lord must have been working behind the scenes. I realize now that working there has played a critical role in my decision to major in Spanish, to serve in the Peace Corps, my choice of a fiancé, and now employment with the Labor Department.

Again, thanks to all of you for your help and prayers. God bless and please keep in touch. Thanks again.

I continue....

I've been home for a while now. But I still find it difficult to put it all into words. A little less than 60 days ago, I was in a country that was proud to no longer rank in the top 3 most impoverished countries in the Western hemisphere, a country that is also proud to NO LONGER be ranked in the top 5 most corrupt countries in the world. Paraguay has changed a lot over the last decade. Nevertheless, I was born in the U.S. and any comparison another country is shocking to say the least. Though I go through the motions, know how to behave socially and based upon all appearances look "normal", I think I am anything but normal. I don't know if I will ever be the same again. It's a good feeling and at times a painful feeling. I am sometimes filled with pride to be in my country of birth and see the great and wonderful things that have been accomplished. I am filled with pride to see the good things that our country does across the world. In the same moment, I am sometimes pained to see how short sighted we (I) as Americans can be. This has nothing and everything to do with our political and economic situation. I'm not attempting to describe any one particular issue or person. If I could sum it up in one illustration, it would be that I am sometimes saddened how our culture and society (individuals, politicians and parents) will choose expediency over what is the obvious good for our country. I love my country and would trade it for no other. I guess, it is the deep love for my country that allows me to care as much as I do.

On a lighter note, I continue looking for employment and am open to any ideas that you may have. This weekend I took sometime off from my job search and enjoyed a wonderful Easter Sunday. Below you will see a picture of Karla and I before heading to church. God bless and may he keep you in his love and guidance.

A New Beginning …

As I look back, I find that it has been a while since I've updated my blog here. One may assume that there has not been too much going on or one may assume that perhaps I've been so busy I haven't had time to update you all on what's been going on lately. I guess I should say that It's been a little of both. I am here in the states and will not be returning to Paraguay. I first want to say that Paraguay is an unforgettable place. Even more difficult to forget will be the friends and families that I met while there. In short, the time spent in Paraguay changed my life. I think it would be unfair to ask me to explain exactly how Paraguay has changed my life. This is something that I think those of you who know me well, will see during interaction with me and will hear about over time. I think the best start would be reading my blog, reading the feelings and thoughts expressed as each event occurred. I guess what you are wondering is "why" is it that I will not be returning to Paraguay. Well, I'm human. I enjoyed the work. I enjoyed the people. I enjoyed the experiences and I enjoyed the Paraguayan culture. Honestly, I think of very little that I disliked about Paraguay. What I did not enjoy was the distance between my girlfriend and me. We've had plans to take our relationship to the next level for a while now. However, being so far away pulled at the very essence of my relationship in a way I didn't think was possible. So what does this mean for Peace Corps. Well, it means that I won't be going back. Though I miss Paraguay, fellow volunteers, my site San Juan Bautista, the friends and families met and though I feel that I have let many people down (here in the U.S and back in Paraguay), I am certain that I will not regret the decision made. My girlfriend Karla means the world to me and finishing my service in the Peace Corps and whatever benefits would come with completion would me nothing if she was not by my side. I appreciate all of the words of support already received from many friends and family. I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Thanks for all of your support.

So now, I'm faced with a new beginning- a new beginning at one of the most difficult times in our country's history. I NEED TO FIND EMPLOYMENT. So this post also serves as a S.O.S. I have returned from Peace Corps in one of the most difficult job markets ever. I have been doing some searching and have yet to land a job. While this post is read by many people, I hope it reaches you in a personal manner. If you know of positions available (or soon to be available) in your company (or perhaps you have your own business), please contact me ASAP at mark4298@yahoo.com . Thanks in advance for all of your help!

 

Last, I don't know what the future of the blog will be, but hopefully I can turn it into something worth reading. Stay tuned for more information.

 

God Bless you all and thanks for you help.

The Top 10 Most unsanitary practices in Paraguay….

....of which we do on almost a daily basis

1) Sharing the same guampa and bombilla (drinking cup/bottle and metal straw when drinking Terere). In other words drinking after others using the same straw.

2) Being served and huge central trough of food among many people, and all sharing one set of silverware.

3) Being served a plate of food on a plate recently used by someone else, and not yet cleaned.

4) Being expected to use the tablecloth as your napkin, that is, grabbing the table cloth and wiping your mouth and hands on it. (I have yet to adopt this practice).

5) Sharing a glass with any acquaintance remotely known, when drinking almost any beverage.

6) Eating meat that was just recently sitting on the counter (hanging in the open air or in a bin unrefrigerated).

7) Watching just about everyone go to the restroom and continue cooking without washing their hands

8) The absence of soap in almost all public and private restrooms

9) Nose picking in public (this apparently is not seen as something gross here)

10) Continuing to consume food after finding a bug or insect in it.

Happy Birthday Karla (slide show)

This here is a slide show of various pictures of the party and also other pictures that I think you will like. Happy Birthday. I love you.

Happy Birthday Karla ( The Movie)

Because I couldn´t be at home to celbrate your birthday, I decided to celebrate your birthday here. I invited my families and friends to your birthday party and celbrated. We had cake, pizza, ice cream and champagne. I hope you enjoy your video. Happy Birthday. I love you.

Karla como no pude estar ahi, por tu cumpleanos, invite a mi familia y mis amigos y te festejamos en casa. Comimos muy rico y celebramos tu cumpleanos. Feliz Cumpleanos. Te amo.

My House #2

Continuation of the previous video
En continuacion del video previo

My House #1

This is the house where I am currently living. Im in the process of acquiring the things I still needs, so please excuse the mess!

Aqui esta la casa donde vivo ahora y vivire los proximos dos anos. Como estoy en el proceso de conseguir las cosas basicas mi casa es un poquito desordenanda. Disculpame!

(Chuchi in Villa Florida)Visiting Jesus# 2

A continuation of the previous video.

(Chuchi in Villa Florida)Visiting Jesus #1

I've mentioned to you that the way peace corps volunteers live runs the gamut. I recently went to a rural volunteers house and saw that he was living in a house that had about 5 holes in the roof, the floor was completely dirt, the bathroom was a hole in the ground outside and the place was full of rats and roaches. While this may sound really bad there are places that are worse. In the case of the that I visited, he was happy to be moving to this new place because his previous one was that bad. Seeing how most of my group is Municipal Volunteers, many of us live pretty "upscale" compared to all other volunteers. In this video you will see one of my good Jesus's house. Take a peek.

Cemetery on Day of the Dead in Paraguay.AVI

This is a celebration of the Day of the Dead. People go to the cemetary and visit their ancestors. The kids like it because they get lots of candy. Supposedly the candy that the eat is given to them by their deceased ancestor.

*OJO* SORRY FOR THE CHEST SHOT...THIS WAS DONE BY ACCIDENT, I GREETED HER AND POINTED MY CAMERA DOWN!!

Making Huevos Rancheros.AVI

Here I am at Jesus's House in Villa Florida. We are making Huevos Rancheros. I miss Karla's mexican eggs so I did my best to make some at my friends house. They didn't turn out as well though. If you look closely you'll see that we are really infusing some culture in this video. Jesus is making some Batidas (blended fruit drink popular in the Carribean) since he's from Puerto Rico, we are listening to Salsa music and we are about to eat Huevos Rancheros (mexican style eggs) and we are both in Paraguay. INteresting huh.

Graduation Speech.

Those of you who have been following my blog will remember my posting about our graduation—that is our graduation from Peace Corps trainees to Peace Corps Volunteers. Well this event (held at the Embassy) was a great of event. Since formally becoming a Peace Corps volunteer I have been thinking of a way to try and describe how I felt at that moment, how it feels to be a Peace Corps volunteer and how my feelings change on a daily bases. Well, a fellow volunteer (Paulette, who also graduated with us) wrote a speech and presented at the graduation. I thought Paulette did superb job with her speech. Here I would like to post it here. Read along and I believe her words will give you a small bit of insight to my feelings when beginning and during my service as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

 

Training Graduation Speech:

 

(References - *Jason is a mystery guy who was supposed to come but just never showed up. *Also, our director gave us this speech where he said we should think about the movies we had in our head about our service and be our own protagonist.)

 

To my fellow G-27ers,

Do you ever wonder where Jason is, our mystery 19th volunteer. I wonder if he's working some 9 to 5 somewhere, thinking about that time he almost joined the Peace Corps. We'll never know what actually happened to him, but I wonder if he just wussed out? I wonder if he packed his bags, said his goodbyes. I wonder if he went to the airport. I wonder -- At what point did he turn back?

I almost backed out a million times. I laid in bed, obsessing, needing to know exactly what my life would be like. I made lists of pros and cons, thinking I could quantify the decision. I sought advice from everyone. I even asked my four-year-old nephew if I should join the Peace Corps, and he said, "Sure."

But I still couldn't decide. Then one day I realized, I was afraid to fail. That's when I decided I at least had to try.

There were still plenty of moments of doubt. But, like you, and unlike so many other people, I got through every one of them. I think that's the biggest thing we should really be celebrating today.

Yay for us, that we'll never have to be the people who say, "Peace Corps, huh? I always wanted to do that."

Let's celebrate that we are not of the people who maybe sent out for the packet, but never filled it out. Maybe they filled it out but never found the guts to mail it.

Let's celebrate that we are not of the class of people who have been duped by advertisers into thinking that they should be spending their youths trying to look more youthful, spending thier money to be thinner, using their time to get more things.

Yay for us that we didn't listen to those who said you're going to work your job and go home to your couch and watch your tv and eat your fast food. This is how things are done around here.

We heard another voice, just a whisper, that brought us here. And we did all that paperwork and dismantled our lives and got on the plane.

And we had that movie in our head, the one that Michael Eschleman told us about.

But then we got to our sites, and, for some of us, it felt like we walked into the wrong theater. The set was all wrong. The cast was not following our script. We brought all the wrong props. And we're back to being scared.

This is because we mistook ourselves for the screenwriters. We are just the characters. And the characters never get to choose their challenges, only how they will act in the face of those challenges.

Maybe you saw yourself being Campo Cowboy, with bragging rights that you walk 10 miles to your latrine, uphill both ways, but you ended up chuchi.

Or you were hoping for chuchi, and now will find yourself with a lot of time to think, while squatting, about just how long two years is going to be. And you're wondering again - Can I do this?

When that fear starts to creep in, try to find that voice, that whisper, that you listened to in the months before you stepped on the plane. It's a humble voice, that didn't bring you here for the sweet Facebook photos or the captivating blog material. It's something that tells us that there's more to life that what we've found in our own little fishbowl.

And if we stay to find out how our movie turns out, we'll leave with benefits too numerable to list, the least of which is being able to say, "Peace Corps, huh? I did that once."

“home”coming…

In the previous post I announced Re-connect. Basically this is a time for us to go back to our training center and do a "check-up" on how we are doing in our sites. This is a good opportunity for many reason, but most of all it gives us an opportunity to find out if our frustrations are shared by the rest of our counterparts or are individual frustrations. Anyway, this post has nothing to do with re-connect, but instead, with arriving "home".

The site of our training center is in a city called Guarambare. This is where we spent the first 3 months in Paraguay. For many of us coming back to this place is like a mini homecoming. We come back to what is familiar to us, families that have always treated us well, and more than anything, the town is accustomed to having Peace Corps volunteers in the town and don't seem to be too surprised when a foreigner is seen walking down the street. The only difference is that Paraguay is not accustomed to having black people walk down the streets. In most cases a black person is a Brazilian campesino (farmer) who is coming to take land. Well when I arrived last night (Wednesday) all of the good feelings about Guarambare went out the window. I am no longer known in the town of Guarambare. One would think that a tall black guy (Brazilian as far as they are concerned) who speaks weird Spanish who lived in a small town for 3 months would be easy to recognize—uhm, not exactly.

Wednesday night I arrived in Guarambare at about 9pm at night. As always the town was lively with people walking to and fro, the normal hustle in bustle in the plaza near the church. I arrived with Jesus who is also about my stature and same complexion (now we have 2 Brazilians walking down the street). When we got off the bus two blocks away from our house (the normal stop as usual) we proceeded to our houses via the normal route. The normal route takes us by the plaza, the church and the comisaria (police station). Lucky for me my family's house is located less than 10 meters from the church and about 30 meters from the police station. In other words this means that I was almost home. Once we arrived to my house I said goodbye to Jesus (as his house is one block further past mine) and approached the main door. To my surprise the door was locked. This is somewhat normal given the fact that I arrived semi-late and my the people in my family are not night owls. Nevertheless, I knew they were awake and had simply planned on waiting for them to hear the dog and come and see who was at the door (a total time frame that would normally take 1.5 minutes). Well as soon as I arrived and noticed the door was locked I heard someone behind me, I turned around to see 2 policemen. As soon as I saw them I became somewhat nervous. I begin thinking of the dictatorship that Paraguay lived under 35 years. These 2 policemen that I was looking at (and were looking at me) were the same police force that was used under the dictatorship to brutalize the people and force them into submission of the dictator, the same police force that tortured people….in other words the same policemen that were staring me down. Finally, I said hello to them ("Muy Buenas Noches!!). There was not response from the stoic policeman and he commenced to asking me questions—"De Donde venís? (Where are you coming from?) questioned the police officer. Me, not knowing how I should respond (I'm from the U.S., I from San Juan Bautista, I live here) stammered out a "huh", in English. Realizing that he didn't understand me and I hadn't comprehended what he said, he repeated the question "De donde venis?" This time I was ready, and I told him that I lived at this house "Vivo aqui." In disbelief he responded "VOS, vivís aquí?" (YOU, live here?) I assured him that I lived at this house and once he understood exactly what I was saying both policemen looked at each other as if to say, "does this guy think we are crazy? I know this family and he does NOT live here". At this moment my host mom opened the door and greeted the policeman. They asked her in disbelief if this guy lived at the house. She assured them that I did and told them that I was an American who lived here in Paraguay and visited them from time to time. The two policemen respectfully excused themselves and bade us good night.

After speaking with my host mom about the incident she told me that a week ago someone had been assaulted in at their home (this does not happen much in Guarambare at all) and the police were watching very closely everyone in town. For this when they saw me (an outsider) they became concerned. So, in my opinion the police did a good job. I think they are very vigilantly to protect their town citizens. I just wish they didn't have to do it in such a scary manner.

Reconnect

I have been in Paraguay now for almost 6 months and have been in my site of San Juan Bautista, Misiones for over 3 months now. At this stage of my time here we have what is called re-connect. Many of the individuals that I spent my training period with I have not seen since I left the American Embassy after swearing in. The training period is a time where very strong bonds between volunteers are made. After three months, reconnect is a time when we all go back to our training city and stay with our original host families. This is a time when we go back to our training center and discuss all that we have been doing over the last 3 months. This is usually scheduled at this time because most volunteers that terminate their service early do it within the first three months. The goal is to give the volunteers and opportunity to get all of their frustrations off their chests and discuss the difficulties of service so far.   Tomorrow I'll head back to good 'ole Guarambare to see how my fellow volunteers are doing. I'll keep you posted on how it goes. I'll write soon!

Varios Pictures

Here you will find various pictures of kids of the different members of the family I lived with since arriving to San Juan Bautista.



From (l-R) Moises, Chucha, Maria Asuncion (China), and Miguelito (being held)


Maria Asuncion and Miguelito



Maria Asuncion (after stealing my Coca-Cola!)




Justina, eating stolen fruit and being stubborn





Moises in the corner, Justin eating fruit and Maria Asuncion finishing off my Coke that she stole from me.

Sick in Paraguay

Being sick in Paraguay is an interesting experience. I guess being sick is always an interesting experience, as one never knows what to expect or when he/she will begin to feel better.  All last week I was sicker than I have been in a very long time—the cultural differences, being in a semi-rural site and having a caring family made for a very interesting experience. If you have been keeping up with my postings you will recall the posting titled " The King", in this posting I described how many of the people and families that I know have always treated me wonderfully—in fact they have always treated me like a king. Well, during the time I was sick I really wished that I was a peon—or at least I wished they would have treated me like one. On Monday of last week I awakened at 5am with every symptom you can imagine: My whole body ached like one feels with they are about to come down with the flu, I had a pretty high fever, my sinuses felt like they were about to explode, I had a massive stomach ache, I felt as I would pass out when I stood up and worst of all, I could not stop trembling.  To add to all of this, I had to get up every 30 minutes and run to the bathroom with reoccurring diarrhea. I crawled to my handy-dandy-super-duper Peace Corps health kit and begin taking some of the drugs found there. Noticing that I did not get up, the young girl from the store next door (owned by my family) came to check on me. Not being terribly concerned at first, she simply prepared some tea for me and left me to rest.  By about Noon I decided to try and get up and go to the bank. I made it to the bank and was strong enough to make it to the clerk. However, just before I was tended to by the clerk I felt an unbearable rumbling in my stomach and lightheaded and I left the bank running home. It was too hot and I couldn't make it. I stopped at a gas station and fearing using the restroom there, I purchased some bottled water and sat down at a table.  In no time I found myself asleep at the table.  An hour went by and I slowly pulled myself back together and made my way back home. Upon arrival I went straight back to bed. By 8pm that night (not having left the bed or eaten anything…this last fact seemed to alarm my family) the young girl from the store became scared and called Dr.Miguel (a family member of mine here in Paraguay who is a bone and joint doctor—Don't ask me to remember what a bone doctor is called in English) who quickly came to see me. I was awakened when he removed  the blankets from over my head. I noticed that behind him and standing over me was Cirila (the girl from the store) Marite (my host mom that lives next door), Justina (a 10 yr old that lives with the owner of my house) and Juanho (Marite's grandson) who just wants to see what's going on.  Dr Miguel began poking  around on my stomach and back, took my temperature and promptly prescribed something, quickly sending Cirila to the "farmacia"  to purchase the drug. After coming back with the pain killers and detailed instructions on how to take them, I was eager for everyone to vacate the room so as to escape the reality of being sick by once again falling asleep. Little did I know, I was in for the worst. Upon the Dr. Miguel's exit my symptoms took a turn for the worst. I began trembling uncontrollably and broke out into a very cold sweat. Don't ask me why but I assumed that, like many other bugs that one catches, all of this would pass by morning and I would be able to go back to work. Consequently, I didn't call the Peace Corps doctor in the capital.  In my vain attempt to fall asleep again, I was bombarded by text messages from each and every family member and relative asking about how I was feeling and if I was feeling better.  My initial notion was to turn off the phone. However, after rethinking this, I decided not to as my family may think that I had gone into a comatose stage or died and would have came running to my room. Needless to say I didn't rest the whole night. When Tuesday morning finally arrived, along with it came an army of people (my family) to check on me and see if I was okay.  Cirila (who is studying to be a nurse) came in with recommendations of what to take, Karina (who studied medicine but never graduated) came with her suggestions, Marite (the senora who claims to have experience because she's older than the rest) came in with a glass of carrot juice, swearing that it would make me feel better, Dr. Miguel (the bone doctor) called with another prescription of what to take. Fatima (Cirila's best friend) shows up to "see what's going on" and Felitsa (Marite's empleada) comes into to chat with me. If you can imagine all of these people in my room all telling me what I should be taking, you can get a glimpse of the chaos. What made matters worse is that each one was arguing with one of the others about why the other was right about what to take and what to do. If that wasn't enough, each time someone left my room and was gone for longer than 30min to an hour they would feel the need to text me or call me to see how I was feeling. If I didn't answer their phone call or text them back, I would get and good scolding when they came back to my room an hour later. To top everything off, my room became the place to hang out. Of course, the excuse is that everyone wanted to be "available" in case I "needed" anything. I found myself listening to chit-chat and local gossip as everyone carried on with their personal conversations in my room—the new lounge. This continued most of the day until about 8pm.  When the last person left the room I was excited about trying to get some rest and managed to get a bit of rest until about 9:30pm that night, when I heard a knock (not a knock of request of entrance, but a knock of warning that someone was coming in.) at the door, and in came walking in Karina. Karina's sister, on her way to visit her mother, dropped Karina off to check on me. Knowing that I had not eaten at this point for 57 hours, she brought me 2 pears and more medicine that she suggested I take for my stomach. My guess is that Karina planned on staying for a few moments to check in on me and that was it. However, when Karina spoke with her sister at 10pm about her whereabouts she responded saying that she was watching a good movie with her mom and would be by to pick up Karina shortly. After enduring 2 and half hours of falling asleep and being woken up by a "Hey, Hey Marcos….." only to continue with whatever nonsense story she was telling me, Karina's sister finally arrived at about 12:30am and  I was able to get a bit of rest—as much as one can with the symptoms described above. At 6:30am on Wednesday morning (still feeling horrible) I decided that I needed to go into the capital, Asunción, to see the Peace Corps doctor. After speaking with my friend Jesus, another PC volunteer, he decided that he would go to Asuncion with me.  Jesus arrived after walking a mile from the bus stop in a downpour.  Upon entering my room Jesus was taken aback by the number of people hanging out in "the lounge" (my room).  After deciding to go to Asuncion we had to call the bus try to convince the driver to deviate from the usual route (a few blocks) to come and pick me up. Although willing, because of the rain, this particular bus line was not running.  Having a nice family, Don Mario agreed to drive Jesus and me the one mile to the main road to catch the bus.  Jesus and I boarded the old car of Don Mario and headed down the road toward the main road, when suddenly the car began jerking and lurching back and forth finally coming to a dead stop in the middle of the road.  Don Mario exited the vehicle with a can of gas and added less than a quart of gasoline to the tank, all the while explaining that if he added too much it would all leak out of the tank. He turned the key and the car started up once again. This time we made it less than a block and the car stopped again. This time no fiddling, or tinkering would get the car to start again. Though in the middle of the rain, Jesus and I thanked Don Mario for the effort and exited the car to begin the long walk to the main road. As Jesus tried to walk as quickly as possible in order to make it to the road before missing the bus and also trying not to leave me far behind in case I passed out, I dizzily followed along.  Thankfully we finally made it to the main road and boarded the bus. Once on the bus I was able to get some rest…don't give a sigh of relief yet, my phone continued buzzing as my family wanted to check in on me and every member felt it necessary to try and get a hold of me. I kept my phone on in case the Peace Corps doctor wanted to get in touch with me for whatever reason. Once arriving in Asuncion and making my way to the Peace Corps office I was finally able to get some good drugs to knock out the pain and get an idea of why I was so sick. According to the doctor I had come in contact with some type of stubborn stomach bacteria. Once I made it to the hotel it was like heaven to be able to rest and turn off my phone for 2 days. Though I didn't do much, I was able to watch the first game of the World Series and watch some classic American movies (Top Gun). This was enough to make me feel (for a short time) like I was back in the states.

The Long Absence.... La Ausencia Larga

First and foremost I would like to ask that you excuse me long absence from the blog. As you will read in later posts, I have been sick, moving and working a lot. During the last few weeks I simply have not had enough time or have been so sick, the writing was the last thing on my mind. But I want to thank you for following my Peace Corps experience here in Paraguay. Check back soon for updates! Thanks again.


De ante mano les quiero pedir discuplas por no escribir por mucho tiempo. Como veran en las proximas actualizaciones, he estado enfermo, mudandome a otra casa y trabajando mucho. Durante las ultimas semana simplemente no he tenido tiemp o he estado tan enfermo que al pensar en actualizar mi blog solo causaba más pena. Más que nada, les quiero agradecer por seguir mi experiencia del Cuerpo de Paz en Paraguay. Proximamente habran noticias nuevas.

Mark

A LONG WAY FROM HOME.....

So today is September 29th and that means I have been in Paraguay for 4 months and in my site for about 2 months. When my group and I first arrived to Paraguay all of us were really excited to be here and see what Paraguay was all about. Added to this excitement was the task that each of us had, that is the task of getting to know the other Americans with whom we would spend the next 2 years with. Although I say task, this turned out to be much easier and much more pleasurable then initially anticipated. I think I speak for most volunteers when I say; we volunteers have become a family. We complain to each other about other volunteers, we argue, we hang out and we confide in each other. The initial adjustment to Paraguay required that we volunteers support each other and listen to each other, as we had no other person here who could empathize with our emotional rollercoaster and experiences here in Paraguay.
Again, today completes 4 months in country and about 2 months in site. It rained two days ago and when it rains in Paraguay this means nothing opens for business, no one leaves the house and no one visits friends or families, the whole town shuts down. This can be very depressing. In fact it is very depressing. Sometimes it’s hard to get out bed. Why? When I leave the house I have to be Paraguayan Mark, and that’s not easy. I’ve only been here a short time and have not yet allowed Paraguay to change Mark into a Mark that embodies both the good from Paraguay and the good from the U.S. Again, it’s a hard process and very depressing at times. If you go back and read above you’ll see that I wrote it rained 2 days ago…..it’s sunny out right now, but I don’t want to go out. I think the rain here depresses one, but the effects last longer than the rain. The other night I had a dream that I walked into my house (in the States) and my dog Plocky ran up to greet me, half barking and half whimpering from my absence, jumping up and down begging for me to pick her up. When I reached to pick her up I realized that it was my alarm clock barking…or buzzing.
Shifting gears slightly, my family and those of you who know me very well personally, know how important music is to me. Then night before I left the states, I stayed up until 6 am trying to upload all of my music (50,000 tracks or 300GB) to my external hard drive to bring with me to Paraguay. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time and had to leave to catch my plane. Thanks to my parents they were able to overnight my hard drive to me in Miami before leaving U.S. soil. Boy, was I thankful to receive my music. My music repertoire is very diverse and serves many different purposes depending on how I’m feeling. In it you’ll find the common genres such has: Hip hop, R&B, Country, Classic Rock, Oldies, Rap and Pop. However, you will also find: Salsa, Merengue, Tango, Ranchera, Mariachi, Bolero, Cumbia, Villera, Guarania, Vallenato, Bachata, Sertanejo, Samba, Son, Pakastani, French, Swedish and Tanzanian Rap, among many others. Why am I focusing so much on music? Because for me, like many others, music has always mentally taken me where I want to go, and allows me to remember the pleasant times and pleasant thoughts of things in the past. Like my faith, it has never abandoned me. When combined with my faith it’s such a powerful force that I feel like I can endure anything. However, being here in Paraguay the experience is different. Here my music has betrayed me. Here my music is painful. The music brings back good memories, but it’s a constant reminder of how far away I am from home, my girlfriend, my family and friends.
I think I’m going through much of what the Peace Corps has already explained to us. The first two months of training did not allow me to get accustomed to Paraguay, but instead helped me to get used to Paraguayan life as a Peace corps trainee. However, now I am having to get used to life as a volunteer. Life as a volunteer does not include: 17 other Americans, a Paraguayan family that has hosted numerous Americans in the past, a training team that can answer just about every question one may have, someone to cook and clean for you, nor does it give you an opportunity to blow off steam with other people who are probably experiencing the same thing. Life as a Peace Corps volunteer is sometimes the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done and at other times the most depressing experience of my life.
All of this combined with what I’ve written in my previous posts make for a hellish experience. Thank God I still have my faith to count on.

I would be interested in reading all of your comments, especially those of you who have served in PC or in Paraguay.

BLING-BLING

BLING…BLING For those of you who are up to date on you hip-hop lingo will understand what "bling-bling" means/is. For those of you who are not, "Bling-bling" refers to what bright shiny jewelry does when light is reflected from it. Another explanation may be that "bling-bling" might be the imagined sound effect if one were to stumble upon a heap of fine jewels, diamonds and rubies. Make sense? So why am I writing about "bling-bling"? Since I came to my site here in the state of Misiones, I have been working to try and find some interesting projects to work on. The municipal building is a pretty well organized entity, at least compared to others. Because there is a lot going on and my site has more organization and infrastructure than most the challenge is finding something to work on. So far I have handed in 2 project ideas. Unfortunately, it seems that the people with whom I work are not really interested in any of my work.  Nevertheless, I am always invited to every public event, every event that includes the press, and from time to time I'm invited to the radio station. I spoke with another volunteer about his phenomenon and she explained to me what I have termed "the bling-bling syndrome". In short, we think that many of the city leaders are interested in having an American Peace Corps volunteer around them like an expensive accessory or jewelry. Given that the U.S. is the bastion of democracy, when the public/community sees an American Peace Corps Volunteer involved in anything they assume that the matter is being done correctly, honestly, democratically and fairly. She explained that for this reason many of the city officials invite me to everything. In other words, I'm there expensive accessory, that which they try and show off in order to promote their activity their political agenda. Obviously this is not Peace Corps purpose and we as volunteers have the freedom to attend or not, and determine  how involved we want to be in a certain activity if we perceive that we are pushing a political agenda.  On a good note, back in April Paraguay held their local elections and because of the work of Peace Corps volunteers the event was executed successfully. Never in Paraguayan history has there been a smooth exchange of governmental power from one person to the next. Local government is usually plagued by the same tendencies. In most cases, the community complains of corruption, mistrust, nepotism and manipulation. However, back in April two peace corps volunteers organized the voting poll at the local church and facilitated the voting process throughout the day. They simply handed out the ballot made sure each person was not bothered during the voting process and walked each person to the ballot box as they placed their vote inside. When the results were announced, no one in the community complained. The assumption was that because "the Americans" organized the voting process, it was done correctly and honestly. As it was explained to me, since then the community leaders like to Peace Corps Volunteers to show up at all the events as much as possible.

THE HEAT IS COMING

THE HEAT IS COMING…. As many of you may know, I'm from Oklahoma. Summers in Oklahoma are atrocious.  I'm sure everyone feels that summers are horrendous wherever they're from too. However, I would bet that Oklahoma heat probably has your town beat. Not only does the temperature reach 103-107 degrees outside, but at night we do not have a cool breeze like many other places. Therefore, it's nothing to walk outside on a July night in Oklahoma and find that at 1am the temperature is hovering around 98 degrees. Since I arrived here in Paraguay (during the onset of winter) I've been told about how horribly hot the summers are. When Paraguayans would tell me this, I would think to myself, "yeah right, I'm from Oklahoma…I know about heat……" It's not summer yet here in South America, here we are just entering spring time and I've gotten a taste of the heat the last few days…it's already becoming unbearable. Friday, I went hammock shopping with some friends in a nearby town called Carapegua. They have nice open air markets and so we walked around for a few hours. Once I arrived home (now evening) I was beat, the sun had drained me of all my energy. After showering, I lied down to rest. In a matter of no time, I was sweating again. I looked at the thermometer (is that what it's called?…I'm forgetting all my English…) and it read 88 degrees..inside the house. At this point it dawned on me. In Oklahoma, sure, the heat beats down on your head and fries the back of your neck like an egg…BUT one can then enter an air conditioned house that comfortably maintains a 72-74 degree temperature.  Here in Paraguay-inside or outside of the house- one is always subject to the elements. Most houses are made of cement or brick and therefore are not insulated. So, as I lied there sweating in my bed (under a ceiling fan that blew hot air on me) I realized that I might be in for it when summer finally arrives.

word on the street....Las ultimas noticias

Word on the street is that the volunteers in Bolivia are being evacuated for political reasons. This means that they will be coming to Paraguay. This could be an interesting event, or maybe each of us will get some help in our sites.  Who knows, I´ll keep you posted.   Las ultimas noticas son que los voluntarios en Boliva se estan evacuando por la situacion politica. Dicen que es probable que ellos llegan a Paraguay y terminan su servicio aqui. Vamos a ver que pasa. Puede ser muy pesado aqui o un apoyo necesitado aqui en Paraguay.    Mark

A BIG THANKS....

I JUST WANT TO SEND OUT A BIG THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO READ MY BLOG, ESPECIALLY TO THOSE OF YOU WHO LEAVE COMMENTS. OF COURSE, I CAN´T RESPOND TO ALL OF YOUR COMMENTS, BUT I READ EACH AND EVERYONE ONE.

Thanks for following my Paraguayan experience. It means a lot to know that your keeping up. God Bless

Mark Carter

THE KING...

THE KING…
The King always sits at the head of his table, right? The King is always the one in charge, right? The King is the one that gives all the directions, right? Well since I have arrived in Paraguay, this has been the case exactly, but with just one small change: I’m not a King. During training we were told that Paraguayans are known for treating guests very well. Initially I thought to myself “O Yeah? What’ makes Paraguay so different? All Latin American countries are known for being very hospitable to guests. In fact most people (no matter where you go) treat guests well, what makes Paraguay so different? ” Well, I have changed my mind. As I have mentioned in some of my previous posts, a unique characteristic of Paraguayan culture is the manner in which they receive guests (or outsiders).

To be brief, the Guarani Indians were nomadic and peaceful people. As the group traveled, the always were kind to everyone they came in contact with and all new comers. Part of this was because they are peaceful people and part of it was because they understood that being a nomadic group they would come into contact with the same groups again, for these reasons (among many others) they treated outsiders very kindly (this my own brief summary of some of my readings). This aspect of the Guarani culture has carried over to today. In case you didn’t know, Paraguay is one of the only (if not the only) country in Latin America where most of the population speaks Guarani (more or less) and Spanish. So what does this have to do with being treated like a king? I have noticed that each time I go and visit a family or meet someone, I am given the choicest cut of meats, the best seats, the last morsel, the most beer (against my will), allowed to eat first, in many cases I decide what the family is going to eat, on many occasions I’m forced to sit at the head of the table.

The manner in which I’ve been treated does not just involve food but many other things. In some of the rural parts of Paraguay a cold shower is common. Many rural houses now have an electric overhead apparatus that heats the water as it comes out of the spigot. This is not very reliable and sometimes goes on the blink. Well in most homes, I’m given first opportunity to shower (given=forced) before the apparatus goes on the blink. To use the system you simply flip a switch as the water runs through the overhead apparatus and it heats the water. On one occasion, I turned the switch off (as I always do) when I completed my shower, when my host dad went in the bathroom after me, he noticed that the switch was off and he thought that I had taken a cold shower. He thought that my host brother, Cesar (who showered before me on this occasion) had turned off the switch, resulting in my cold shower. My host dad came and apologized and was about to get onto Cesar until I told him that I had in fact turned it off. My current living situation is a bit different. I have a separate room that is apart from the family next door. Knowing that I live alone, the family next door frequently brings food over whenever they eat.

The way Paraguayans treat me always makes me feel weird. I have not learned to let Paraguayan be nice to me. I try and tell them “no Thank you” and “ Don’t bother, I can ….” But it has not worked yet. So, although I’m not a king, I’m treated this way on many occasions. I’m still not sure I like it though.

Delicious

I guess I don´t need to write about how good the food was. So, I´ll leave it that. Those of you who have tasted Paraguayan food, I´ll just say it doesn´t get any better than the food that comes out of Margarita Perez´s kitchen. It was delectable!!

Hot, hot....

Listen to the food sizzlin´

Oops, we don´t want to eat that.....

Okay great, lets get the bread in the over....huh? What´s that? You don´t want hair in your bread? Oh, let´s get that out.

Sopa Paraguaya

While the fire is still getting warmed up and the chickens are set aside, lets start preparing the Sopa Paraguaya. This is a great tasting bread that is found only here in Paraguay. Not, it´s not sopa (soup) but bread.

Still cooking....

Wow this is turning out to be a lot of food. Let´s check on the pork that´s on the other grill....

While the fire is burning....

While the fire is burning let´s prepare the chickens. We won´t mention that the chicken is being prepared on a unsanitized wooden table that is kept outside all the time. We´ll just be thankful for hot fires that kill any germs or insects that might decide to get inside the chickens. :)

BIG FIRE

Gotta get the fire burning in. This type of ove is called a Tata´kua. It´s wonderfully designed oven for cooking. It hold heat very well and cooks to perfection. Most families have one.

Cookin´it up

First you gotta get the fire started....

Cookin´it up...

Cookin’ it up…

This past weekend I went to visit my family in Guarambare for the celebration of their Patron Saint there. It was a really big celebration. Most of the volunteers who came to Paraguay with me also came back to visit their families and check out the celebration. The celebration attracted people from many small towns around Guarambare. The Plaza was full of different kiosks and stand selling good food and different arts and crafts. However, what I enjoyed the most was helping my family to prepare all the food that we ate. Here you will see all the food that we prepared. I guess I should say, you will see the preparation process. I tried to film as much as I could, but helping and filming at the same time does not allow me to get everything so the videos may be may be a bit out of sync.

The Muni 3

This is the third of 3 videos on the municipality.

The Muni 2

This is the second of 3 videos taken at the municipal building.

The Muni 1

This is a video of the municipal building and a few of my co-workers. Please excuse the video quality. I did the video pretty quickly.

The Municipality

The Municipality…

Sorry it’s been so long since my last posting. Here I have posted a brief video of some of the people that work in the Municipality. I apologize before hand for the low quality of the video. It was taken very quickly. This is mostly due to the fact that most of my acquaintances at the municipality do not want to be filmed so, I had to do it quick in order to get them on the video. Anyway, here you can get a quick view of them and the municipality.

Perdon por tardarme en actualizar mi web. Este video breve es de la municipalidad donde trabajo en algunas personas ahí. De ante mano te pido perdón por la baja calidad. La mayoría de mis compañeros de trabajo no quisieron que le filmara, asi que lo hice con prisa y por eso el video me salió tan mal. Espero que disfrutes.

My Place

Okay,so for those of you who have not been keeping up, I have finally moved to my site where I will be working for the next 2 years. This is a video of where I am staying right now. I live in a one room building that is relatively comfortable for a Peace Corps volunteer. Although I will probably one be here for 3 months, it´s nice enough to stay here permanetly. I will see how it goes before deciding on where I will stay for good.

The Youth Group from Santa Rosa

This is a picture of a few guys from the Santa Rosa youth group. Again, this is not my site, but there is another volunteer in Santa Rosa that I visit from time to time. This is photo of the guys who refused to let me carry by backpack. They decided that they had to carry it for me to the bus stop. Great group of guys.

Family in Santa Rosa

This past weekend I went to visit my host family in Santa. I went to Santa Rosa about a month and half ago to vist a volunteer. This was part of our training: to go spend a week with a volunteer and observe his work. I stayed with a awesome family that was very kind and took me in as one of their own. This past weekend I went back to visit them see how they were doing. See the picture below.

Update on my living situation…

Well, I have been here in Misiones for about a week. When I arrived planned on finding a family pretty quick. Unfortunately, it has not worked out as planned. I am still renting a room from a nice lady. I have spoken with a number of families and most of them wanted to charge extremely high prices. The Peace Corps is one of a few humanitarian groups in Paraguay. There is Japanese group that is similar to the Peace Corps and also a German group. However, these groups are paid a whole lot more than the Peace Corps pays us. Many of the other groups do not integrate into the community like the Peace Corps does. For this reason they live in the nicer places and rent large homes that house a number of people. For this reason, the peace Corps volunteers like myself sometimes have trouble finding reasonably price housing, given the fact that many people expect us to be walking banks. This is not the case. So continue to pray that I will find a family that will take me in. If not, I will continue to live on my own, but this will make my work a lot more difficult

Where am I from? (I think I have forgotten)

Recently, I was sitting in the plaza enjoying the day and eating some ice cream. My friend Jesus, also another volunteer, was in the plaza as well. Because tall fair complexioned people with coarse hair are not a common sight here in Paraguay, our presence always turns a lot of heads. Well recently, I had a lady approach me and begin to discuss (even argue with me) about where I was from. She asked me where I was from and I asked her to guess. She ran down the list of places where I “had” do be from. This list included Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, Cuba and the Dominican Republic and finally Africa (yes, the country of Africa). When she got tired I told her I was from the U.S. and she responded, “No puede ser” (that can’t be true). I asked her why and she responded that they don’t look like me. I asked her when was the last time she went to the U.S. to see what they are “supposed” to look like. She said never, but ‘’you know, they all have blue eyes, with blond hair”. So I had to explain to her where I was from and the diversity that exists in the U.S. The lady didn’t believe me, so I just talked to her in English. Finally she just walked off. This was an unusual event in that the lady didn’t believe me, but it is very common (at least 2 or 3 times a day) that people ask me where I’m from or yell something at me. So far, it has not bothered me too much, but when they want to tell me what the people look like in the U.S, that does kind of bother me. In fact I think it’s funny. I’ll have more later.

Chill-laxin`

Since wednesday we have kind of been on a break before gong to our sites. We have been using this time to purchase whatever odds and ends are only available in the capital. So I have been spending lots of my time Chill-laxin' (Chillin and Relaxing). But when saturday comes I will have to head to my site and will not be back for the next 3 months.

Swearing In…No longer a Peace Corps trainees,

Last Wednesday (august 6th) We were finally sworn is as Peace Corps volunteers, and are no longer trainees. This event took place at the embassy and once again I was impressed by the embassy. I guess one is surprised by the stark differences between what’s outside and the embassy grounds. The event took place under a covered patio outside. We don’t have an ambassador at the moment and the Peace Corps country director is on vacation. So the assistant country director presided over the event. The event was pretty simple, nothing too fancy, but still a big moment. I really can’t explain why it was a big moment, but I guess it has to do with the extremely lengthy process to become a Peace Corps Volunteer.

When you sign up to become a volunteer you first have to fill out a very lengthy application. Second, you are called in for an interview. If the interview goes well, then you are nominated to be a volunteer. These first three step can take 6 to 8 months. Then you have to wait another 2 to 3 months to find out where in the world you are going to be nominated for. Fourth, you receive your invitation to serve. Once you agree to the invitation, you are still not a volunteer yet. Technically, you are agreeing to participate in the “training”. Once you arrive at staging (the U.S. city you fly to immediately before departing to country of service) the Peace Corps begins preparing you for what you will see and do immediately after arriving in the country of service. Fifth, you arrive in country. This seems great because your surroundings are new and exciting. Yet at the same time, you don’t know what to expect. At this point the Peace Corps informs you that, still you are not volunteers. We are Peace Corps aspirants in training. From the time you turn in your application to his point, can sometimes be as long as 2 years. This is the only explanation I can give for the grandeur of the swearing in ceremony. It just amazing how simple the ceremony is but also how a wave of emotions hit you at the same time. So anyway, we swore our allegiance to the U.S. and then were allowed to enjoy the food. Most of the volunteers decided to spend the last few days in the capital before going to their site for the next few months.

While in Asunción I decided I was going to have a BIG FAT HAMBURGER from BURGER KING (burger KANG, as Steve and I would say it). So I walked to 25 blocks and found Burger King. I went inside and ordered a double whopper and the biggest French fries I could get. I didn’t finish either one, but boy was in heaven for the short time I was stuffing that hamburger in.
Anyway, below I have attached some pictures of the swearing in ceremony.

Despedida… Saying goodbye…

Despedida is the Spanish word for goodbye. At this point in our training most of the volunteers feel very comfortable with their families and hate the thought of changing to a new environment. I think I fit in the category as well. I’ve been treated very well by the Perez-Aguayo family. I’ve mentioned to them on many occasions that I wish I could stay here in Guarambare. I know that it’s impossible, but I think I would I enjoy the most is the simple fact that I have a routine, I have become comfortable with it and I know what to expect from the routine. The mere thought of changing routines and beginning this process again is rather daunting. Moreover, to have to do this alone without a peace corps trainer, or language teacher to help me is kind of scary. To be honest, I have not required any help from the Peace corps trainers nor the language teachers, but simply knowing that my safety blanket is being removed is enough to make me nervous. It’s like the little boy who has been riding his bike for the last 6 months with training wheels, but has not needed the training wheels the last 5 months. When Daddy approaches his son and the bicycle with the wrench to remove the training wheels, Daddy had bettered be prepared for a vicious fight to the end from his son. Not because the son can’t ride a bike, but because the training wheels have always provided the little youngster with the security to answer to question of “what if…….”. Again, I have never required the assistance of the trainer nor the language teacher, but now that my blanket is being removed, I’m like a babying coming out of the womb, “put me back in….it was warm inside there!”

So back to the Despedida, the last few days here have been filled with these formal goodbyes. We have been invited to many goodbye parties by different families. My family did not do one for me. Little do they know, but I’m thankful that they didn’t. To me it seems bassackwards. Maybe I’m the one who is confused, but I think the volunteers living in the families homes need to be throwing the party for the families in a way of saying thanks. If I were to be walking in downtown Oklahoma City and picked up homeless child and took him home, cleaned him up, fed him and taught him all sorts of things, I think it would weird for me to throw him a party when leaving (still not knowing much about the culture he’s about to enter). The best way the young child could repay me would be to keep in touch and keep me informed about how his life is going.
Here in Paraguay, the Perez-Aguayo family has accepted a stranger into their home. They have opened up every nook and cranny of their home to a stranger. The Peace Corps has not done a mental evaluation on me, and this family has no idea if I’m crazy, going to rob them or hurt them. What assurance do they have? They have provided me with a room and a key to my room and allow me to go into my room and close the door (which I would never do). To me it seems that the family needs to be given a party, not me. Without, the family most of us volunteers would be found in the street crying because we don’t know how to buy and hot dog. For this reason I’m glad that they did not throw me a party. I have told them on many occasions, I think the Lord provided this family and I’m thankful for them. Don Eddie likes to drink coffee (actually tea) in the morning, and although it does not compare to having coffee with my Dad in the U.S., it helps to facilitate a good relationship with my host dad here in Paraguay. My host mom here is retired but still works at the school as the director and is out of the house a lot. Like my mom at home in the U.S., when my host mom comes home she make sure to express to you personally how happy she is to see you. My host sister Gladys (actually the maid that works here, but is just like family) has a good attitude about working around the house. Given her job as a house assistant here in Paraguay, this means that she is probably from a family of severely limited economic means. Despite this she is diligent in her work and appears to enjoy her work (I don’t know if she really does though). The family treats her as a daughter and helps her by paying for her schooling in exchange for her working at the house. In a strange way, her position, socially and economically, inspires me to be a better Peace Corps volunteer. According to the Peace Corps, the generation of Gladys (and especially the generation younger than hers) is the first to grow up in Paraguay without a dictator. Gladys’ effort to overcome her position without expecting someone else to take care of her is something new here in Paraguay. This attitude is a very North American attitude, but not so common here in Paraguay. This is another reason why the Peace Corps work can be very effective here in Paraguay. Many of the people are mentally ripe for the planting of new ideas. I just hope the ideas that will be planted will be good seeds.

For all of these reasons and more, I’m thankful to my Paraguayan family for helping me to learn all of this. This will help me in my work. This is why I think they deserve a party, not me.

DJ Markoss...

The first day I arrived in San Juan Bautista, I was briefly shown around and then driven to the local radio station to announce my arrival. The previous volunteer that served in SJB left in august of 2007. So most everyone in the town still remembers him very well, in fact some are surprised to find out that he has gone, when I tell them that I am the new volunteer. During my first visit to my site, my main objective was to find a family to live with. This is not an easy task, because few people are eager to let a stranger simply move into their house. So while at the radio station, I decided to take advantage of my time on the air and announce to the community that I was looking for a family to live with. I didn’t think this would be effective and I was right, it didn’t work. However, it did express to the community that I didn’t have a place to live. Many people already recognize the stranger walking around the street. Each time I meet someone new, their first questions is, “Y con quien vivís?” (Who are you living with). Most people have heard me on the radio and are curious to know who I’m living with. This is funny, because although many people know I don’t have a place to stay, none have offered to take me in. This is not abnormal. The way most things are done in Paraguay are by reference from friends. I’m pretty confident that when I arrive on Saturday I will have a place to stay. I talked to the director of a high school and he assured me that we could find something for me among the professors or the families of the students. I have also spoken with some of the previous volunteers in my site and asked them to contact their previous families and see what they can find out. Lastly, I have a friend back in the states whose parents live in Paraguay and they likewise have friends in SJB. As far as I know, I should have a few options of families to choose from once I arrive on Saturday. See the pictures below of DJ Markos.