Holidays in Paraguay, Part I.

The end of the school year here in late November makes for a seamless segue into the holiday spirit! This first December in Paraguay included my first American visitor, and the chance to explore the country beyond the bus routes I'm usually limited to. Our initial foray with the rental car, to drive the roughly 100 miles to my site from Asuncion, usually a 3-4 journey by bus, took us a delightful 10 hours as we stopped umpteen times to take in many places I'd only seen on a map or wanted to see, intrigued by roadside signs while on moving buses! This day trip coincided with the eve of Paraguay's #1 religious celebration, the Virgen of Caacupe (Dec 8 is also the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on the Catholic calendar). Many Paraguayans make a pilgrimage to the town of Caacupe, the spiritual capital of Paraguay located on a major highway, the same road we needed to take to reach my new home. For a good description of this devotion and ritual, see

http://www.guidetoparaguay.com/blog.html#5086068459308273680

We passed a lot of pilgrims on the move, both west and east of Caacupe. The Virgen of Caacupe and her devout followers reminds me of the fervor the Virgen of Guadalupe receives from many Mexicans, and Mexican-Americans.

As long as I've already led you to the guidetoparaguay.com blog in this post, I'd like to reference this well-done blog once again, particularly to the Christmas entry,

http://www.guidetoparaguay.com/blog.html

for the author has captured the spirit of the 12 days of Christmas Paraguayan-style. Actually, many of the 12 images shared here can be experienced year-round in Paraguay.

12 chiperas selling--definitely an omnipresent, ubiquitous occurrence here, for "chipa" is the national carbohydrate of choice, a fusion of corn flour, cheese, anis...not as chewy as a bagel, and definitely better when consumed fresh from the oven. The chipa sellers board most long-distance buses at different points along the national routes, and it does not matter if a bus is already filled to beyond capacity, beyond standing-room-only. Paraguayans always find a way for the chiperas to board with their bountiful baskets of the fresh bread.

11 hammocks swinging--don't let one of my blog pics sway you into believing I have much contact with these here! In fact, I have yet to sway in one here, truly!

10 harpists playing--yes, isn't that beautiful? The harp is a central instrument to much traditional Paraguayan music. I get to sing right next to one when I join our local church choir in song, for our group includes a harpist...just love it!

9 yuyeros mashing---mashing herbs to incorporate into mixes of mate and/or terere drink, the national beverage.

8 fritters frying--have indeed consumed my fair share of these, yummy!

7 mitos haunting--I *think* I've seen this specific place, but can't place it right now. "Mito" means "myth," and the Guarani component of Paraguay keeps many Guarani mythology figures alive and well in the Paraguayan psyche.

6 oxen pulling--one of my favorite things to see in movement here. A cart or two pass my house every morning, and then again in the late afternoon. One of these days I will ride along, something on my Paraguayan "bucket list."

5 Fiiiiiiive kambuchiiiiii (full of clerico)--kambuchi is the ceramic piece; clerico is the wonderful liquid refreshment it contains. While I've not yet imbibed kambuchi-kept clerico, I've certainly enjoyed more than 5 glasses of this Christmas-time treat, a mix of diced fruits and either sparkling cider or red wine (or strawberry soda for kids). Interesting, they don't usually add watermelon to the mix, altho that fruit is in great abundance this time of year. Actually, I would include it in my own list of 12 Days here, but I'm guessing the author didn't since she paid tribute to this Christmay fruit in a separate entry, the one published just prior to 12 days, titled "Tis the Season for Watermelon."

4 kiddie pools--popular ware on street corners these summer days. I actually saw this specific display in Asuncion earlier this week!

3 tatakuas--wood oven. Need a lot here to make all the chipa, among other things!

2 flor de cocos--coconut flower, a part of most Paraguayans' nativity scenes, and one of the most pervasive Christmas-time aromas here. For more info, see yet another interesting post, http://www.guidetoparaguay.com/labels/Flora.html

1 a monkey up in a tree--well, I haven't seen one here yet, but I did see several when we visited the Iguazu Falls earlier this month, on the Argentinian side. In fact, we saw ONE MONKEY UP IN A TREE take a high, flying leap from the very edge of one tree's limb to another tree on the other side of a small river--a magical moment!

May your 2010 be full of many magical moments, wherever you may have the privilege to be living YOUR NEXT NEW YEAR! Happy new decade, full of blessings and good stories!

"Schoooo-l´s OUT"...FOR...THE...SUM-MER!!!

Si, senores y senoras, as of Monday, Nov. 30, 2009 the 2009 Paraguayan school year draws officially to a close across the entire Republic, as decreed by law...that is, by the book, whereas the reality is that actual classes began to end almost a month ago. The exam period is very drawn out here, coupled with an extremely tedious and almost painful-to-watch process of data gathering as teachers submit their grades. Graduation events are in full-force, with invitations coming my way from all directions. Last week was the first, the official graduation of students from the "initial cycle," aka the pre-school and kindergarten classes. Evidently it´s quite the tradition here, with each family bringing its own cake to the ceremony. I was asked to present the "diplomas," together with the mayor, the superintendent and the principal. The next school year begins in late February.

This past weekend Paraguay`s President, Fernando Lugo, descended upon Troche. It was fun to watch the local children get so excited as his helicopter approached. He came to celebrate the end of the sugar cane harvest at the state-run alcohol factory, which had a record-breaking production year. I attended the event, and was amazed at the low-key security level!

I`ll be on vacation for about a week in December (no, not until late February!...much prep work to be done for next school year, plus offering a summer camp or two) with my first US visitor, hooray! Together we´ll visit the Iguazu Falls shared by Argentina and Brazil, (seen in the 1986 movie "The Mission") and the Jesuit missions in southern Paraguay. So, the next post will have to include a synopsis of these side sojourns!

Meanwhile, I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving, and enjoys a happy holiday season. It´s hard to remember that it´s "that time of year" without as many temperature or visual cues, although they do put up quite a few lights around here!

On the move in October!

Yes, a new home was found shortly after posting my previous entry (thanks for sending along those positive housing vibes!). I´m now living with three generations of a family, and the house is located right between the City Hall and my main school, the two places where I spend most of my time. The town plaza is just a block away. My "pieza" (aka room) is more like two, for it once housed a family business attached to the house. Just love my new set up; I feel so very lucky that everything has worked out so well!

"On the move in October" included more than the usual number of trips to Villarrica, the largest city in our state of Guaira. Just as I was in the midst of my house move, I received a call from the Peace Corps office in Asuncion to let me know the US Ambassador to Paraguay would be visiting Villarrica, and that I was invited to attend some of the events. Her itinerary included the presentation of a large book donation to the Centro Cultural Paraguayo-Americano (CCPA), where I´ve been volunteering a couple times a month. It was great to see her again, and to meet several members of the Embassy staff, including its new director of the Information Resource Center. Several other PCVs in the area were able to attend too, and we all held new books in front of us as we posed for a picture with the Ambassador. The cultural center´s library received the donation with the understanding that it would convert its collection into a circulating one, since all the materials must still be used in situ. I´ll be helping to make this change happen for the CCPA-Villarrica´s library.

My monthly trip to Asuncion was extra interesting this round for it coincided with the national conference for libraries and librarians. ABIGRAP (the Paraguayan equivalent of ALA) doesn´t hold a conference every year, so I lucked out that one was held now, to coincide with the National Day of the Librarian on October 16. I stayed with one of the LIS professors who helped organize the conference, and met some really neat folks, many of whom I´m sure I´ll be writing about in future posts as I hope to follow-up with them during my work here.

September sneaking by too...Happy Spring/Fall!

Yes, amidst much change and movement! Shortly upon my return from the lightning-quick trip to the US, my host sister Stela told me she´d moved her wedding date up from December to October 31. Looking forward to my first Paraguayan wedding on Halloween!
The not-so-happy flipside is that one of the consequences of the imminent union is that I must find a new place to live, since I´ve been living in Stela´s daughter´s room. Finding a new venue has proven to be much more difficult than I anticipated, for three weeks after Stela gave me the news I´m still looking...meanwhile, as of today I´m moving in with some great neighbors on a temporary basis while I continue the search for something in the nearby pueblo. (Moving from the rural village of Itacurubi to the nearly town of M.J. Troche since most of my work is with the local area Superintendent`s office, which is housed in ¨Troche.¨ It´s a challenge to work at ¨full¨ while housing is in limbo, but I know things will work out soon. Hopefully my October post will include details on mi nueva casa...send good housing vibes my way!

What happened to August?

August sneaked by!

Did it ever, without a chance to post my monthly entry! Firstly, MUCHISIMAS GRACIAS to the generous supporters of our LIBRARY WORKSHOP, the focus of July´s post, for the event is now fully funded (hence, the link with its information has already vanished)! I can´t thank you all enough, and I will report on the workshop, now slated for next spring, in this space, so stay tuned!

August "sneaked by" thanks to a couple of Peace Corps multi-day workshops, one focusing on language (aka Guarani in my case, for more about Guarani, see http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/247844/Guarani-language), and the other on Project Design Management. The latter was especially interesting since each volunteer brought along at least one Paraguayan, meaning the total group had more Paraguayans than "nortes." It was really interesting to meet Paraguayans from all parts of the country, and I was delighted to take two women from my host community, Marlene and Simone. Marlene is a teacher who works on project management in the Area Supervisor´s office, and Simone is a young activist in my rural village who has already begun to form a neighborhood association as a result of the workshop. ¡Qué guapa! ("Guapo/a" in Paraguayan Spanish means hard-working.)

The month really sneaked by me tho, when I was able to slip in a quick, surprise getaway to the States, literally surprising my whole family (except one sister) as I arrived for the celebration of my parents´ 50th wedding anniversary. The travel gods were on my side and the trip couldn´t have been better. Even managed to purchase 12 Paraguayan soccer jerseys before take-off, and now have some great pics of my 12 nieces and nephews decked out like an "albirroja" team (Paraguay´s national soccer team, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albirroja). Since the colors are red and white like the Nebraska Cornhuskers, it´s likely more than one of these shirts will make it to Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, NE this fall! The best part was seeing the moving sea of red and white as all 12 played soccer in my parents´ back yard...oh, and the snapshot of all 12 giving the thumbs-up sign, known as the beloved "al pelo" here.

Stay tuned for another entry this month, to make up for the August lapse!
Denise

Library work in Paraguay

Approaching halfyear mark in the Southern Hemisphere!

Yes, it´s hard to believe, but come August 4 I´ll have been in Paraguay half a year already…incredible!

By now I´ve made some library connections in Paraguay. The PC infrastructure here includes a library committee--hooray! I`m currently helping with the revision of a library manual compiled previously by other PCVs, ¨Manual de Bibliotecas en Paraguay¨ as part of the prep for a library workshop to be held this fall, offered to PCVs and their respective Paraguayan community contacts. That is, we HOPE to offer the workshop, if we can raise enough $$$ via the Peace Corps Partnership Program. Please indulge me, dear friends, by taking a couple of extra minutes to read a letter from our committee which I´m taking the liberty to cut and paste here:

Dear Family, Friends, and Generous People who Love Books and Libraries,

A couple interesting facts about Paraguay: books are prohibitively expensive, and libraries are few and far between. Those libraries that do exist often lack staff. Those staff members that do exist often lack knowledge of how effectively to use the libraries.

That’s why we write.

In September 2009, the Peace Corps Paraguay Library Committee hopes to hold a two-day workshop for 30 librarians, teachers, and their Peace Corps volunteer counterparts. The workshop’s theme? How to find library resources and how to use them well once you get them.

We hope that you, Generous Readers, will visit the following link,

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=526-195

for more details about this important project. (Please check out the link!)

We hope that you, Generous Readers, will find the project worthy of your support and donate some small (or large!) amount to making it a reality. Your donations (tax- deductible, of course) will cover food, lodging, and logistical workshop expenses. Participants will work with their communities to raise money for transportation to and from the workshop, held in Asunción.

Thank you so much, everyone, for your time, your consideration, and (we hope) your support.

Sincerely,
Peace Corps Paraguay Library Committee

DENISE here again...THANKS in advance for reading all of this, and consider donating even just $20...like one trip to the movies with snacks! (Or in lieu of sending me a birthday package :)) I can personally attest that $20 goes a LONG way here in Paraguay. I, of course, plan to attend this workshop (assuming we raise enough $$$) and will help assure that we get the most bang possible for your hard-earned bucks!
If you think of it later and don´t have the above link handy, just go to the Peace Corps site, www.peacecorps.gov
You`ll see a "Donate Now" on the left side button. Click, and you`ll find the project by entering the last name DICKINSON to make your contribution.

(Here´s more info, directly from the link, in case you want to know more before clicking the link):

The summary below was provided by the Peace Corps Volunteer and the community administering this project.

The Library Workshop stems from the collective desire of the Peace Corps Volunteer-led Pro-Library Committee to provide a 10-hour capacity-building workshop to 30 librarians and/or teachers from diverse Paraguayan communities, both rural and urban. All participating Peace Corps Volunteers are actively involved in library projects, either working with communities to improve library management and community access to information or create such access. As such, all members of this committee seek to strengthen community institutions and foster responsible project management design.

Due to a scarcity of public libraries and the prohibitively high cost of books, many Paraguayan communities have infrequent access to informational and reading materials. Thus, many librarians in Paraguay do not possess the necessary resources, training, nor contacts to run successfully the community institutions placed in their charge. Often, school libraries exist without pertinent educational materials and/or caretakers or are managed by teachers lacking professional training as librarians.

The two-day library workshop seeks to introduce librarians and educators, and their Peace Corps counterparts, to the basic skills of library management, including book classification and catalogue organization, book maintenance and upkeep, systems of lending, and methods of fundraising. Participants will also learn how to integrate school libraries and story-related activities into daily classroom curriculum, improving language arts in education and fostering a culture of reading among students. The knowledge and skills gained by the librarians and teachers in the workshop will serve, ideally, the entire community, providing greater access to available books, educational resources, and information and expanding opportunities for schools, businesses, and organizations.

Yours in librarianship,
Denise in Paraguay

First winter in June

Yes, still getting used to using the word winter in what would normally be the good ol´ summertime. While I don´t need to bundle up with a heavy winter coat nor gloves, I DO need to dress in layers many days and nights….especially the nights since there´s no heat, combined with minimal insulation….just have to get used to feeling colder inside than outside!

It was a little hotter than a normal winter weekend this past, first winter weekend, due to the popular celebration of San Juan (St. John the Baptist, feast day June 24). Many of the games and traditions that are part of San Juan involve FIRE; yes, a pyromaniac´s dream fiesta!

El dia de San Juan is one of the most widespread festivals anywhere. Probably beginning in pagan times...fires that were lit at the time of the summer solstice(in the northern hemisphere), and in these giant fires, bones were thrown in. And that's where the term bonfire comes in, from this festival. It was perhaps the most widespread, important pagan celebration known. The St. John the Baptist celebrations were very quickly adapted through South America everywhere and integrated into indigenous, native celebrations. In Paraguay, this ranges from highly mobile activities like a tag-like game in which people chase each other with long lit-up reeds...kicking around flaming balls made from rags, and steering clear of the fiery path of a bull-shaped figure whose real bull horns have been set aflame...to more stationary customs like a burning scarecrow-like figure, and stoking the omnipresent bonfires. In my community the local schoolgrounds served as the center for most of this flaming activity!

Speaking of school, it´s nearly the middle of the school year here, since the new academic year begins in February. Starting next week all schools in the country, both public and private, will close for a two-week vacation. I´ve been busy giving reading tests to the kids so I can compile and analyze the results during the school break. (No vacation yet for we new PCVs.)

Meanwhile, many Paraguay PCVs will be heading to Asunción this weekend to celebrate the 4th of July American-style. I´m looking forward to meeting other Americans living here during the celebration at the embassy. VIVA America! (both North Y South!)

Bridge crossed--over a month in site, in service

Yes, it´s true... I´ve now been in my new home for a month, a month full of holidays here. My first full week in site had back-to-back holidays. April 30 is the national ¨Day of the Teacher" (celebrated in the schools the day before so they can have the 30th off), and Paraguay observes Labor Day, like so many other countries around the world, on May 1. The following week I attended two days of teaching training for the educators in my district, which gave me a chance to meet many of the people with whom I´ll be working during these next two years. Mid-month included my official site presentation, which was replete with dance and musical performances by local school children (YES, I WILL publish some photos one of these days!). This event is/was my formal introduction to the community, and was held in the local city hall, with the mayor and other officials in attendance. It was raining cats and dogs before and during much of the ceremony, but my PC program manager said that the rain portends BONANZA for the future, so that´s good! The presentation was held on the eve of another long holiday weekend, for May 14 is Paraguayan Independence Day (1811, so Bicentennial coming up in 2011), and May 15 is Mother´s Day. (The day of the presentation my PC colleagues brought the rest of my belongings from PC headquarters in Asuncion, including a bike to use while here. It has been great to get back on the two-wheeler after a half-year hiatus. I can easily ride to the pueblo when the weather is good, for there´s only one major hill to climb!) During the next week, classes were suspended nationwide for a teacher´s strike, and another day in my area due to rain. (Think ¨rain days" in lieu of snow days!) The month also included my first "VAC meeting." In PC/Paraguay parlance "VAC" stands for Volunteer Area Cluster(I think!). Anyway, there are approximately a dozen-and-a-half of us in Guaira, the state ("departamento") in which I´m located. We met in Villarrica, which I love, and then several of us attended a free Jazz & Blues concert that evening. Gotta love it--Jazz and Blues performed by native Paraguayans, with the lead performer outlining a history of the latter between songs, including mention of how he became introduced to the blues by a Peace Corps volunteer many years ago--woohoo! (Peace Corps´s had volunteers in Paraguay since 1967, and today is the 2nd largest country corps of all PC countries.)

So, with a month like this, I have yet to establish a "typical day" pattern. The school schedule is 7am-11am and 1-5pm, and children go either in the morning or afternoon, not both. Thus far I´ve divided my time between one focus school in my neighborhood, and the District Supervisor´s office in the City Hall. The District Supervisor is eager to tap my librarian background and to have me circulate through the district to deliver library workshops. Before that can happen tho I have a lot of observing to do, and am also working directly with the librarian at my focus school to reorganize the collection. Meanwhile, not a day goes by that I don´t add yet another raw material to my ¨didactic materials ingredient warehouse¨--nearly every receptacle of everything I consume is cleaned and designated for a new purpose: plastic bottles will be cut and used to store "tapitas" (bottle caps of all colors) to help teach colors and numbers; cereal boxes will be saved to use the carton for flash cards; milk, yogurt and juice cartons will be used in a myriad of ways. Nothing like not having any garbage removal service to make you REALLY proactive about dealing with your carbon footprint!

My neighborhood, I love it! I´m in what´s known as a "compania," a rural village with 300-500 inhabitants, which is located just a few miles from a pueblo that has appromixately 5000 people.
I live on a dirt road on which oxcarts go by every day, including one with the fresh milk peddler. Cows graze in a verdant pasture framed by soft hills across the street, while a paved highway with frequent bus service is just 500 meters away. For my taste, it´s a perfect blend of the bucolic with modern convenience. I have a lot to learn from my neighbors, like next-door neighbor Justina, an 84-year widow who weaves cotton and woolen blankets outside on her hand-made loom most days, and her daughter Martina, one house over, who milks all the cows I view across the road. My host "mom" Estela and her 3-year old daughter Angeles are dynamic and fun, and many members of Estela´s family, e.g. grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, sister, mother, live along the same road. Invitations to stop by for terere http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terer%C3%A9
are plentiful, and it´s essential to share in this activity to get acquainted with the community. I am so very glad to be here...it just feels so right in every way...hasta la proxima!

On the cusp...bridge to SERVICE

Yes, today, April 23, 2009 (International Day of the Book, hooray) was our final day of training. We`ve had a full week (like all weeks of training!), complete with a visit to the Ministry of Education, and the Museo de Las Memorias in Asuncion; a session on bicycle maintenance (many of us will receive bikes from the PC to use in our sites); learning how to cut wine bottles to make glasses and other objects; compost creation, planting a vegetable garden (and trees on Arbor Day!), the requisite group dynamic activities, and more (including language proficiency interviews, both in Spanish and Guarani--ndaipori problema!)...

Our training class, G29, swears in tomorrow, 4-24, at the U.S. Ambassador´s residence in Asuncion. We´re especially thrilled because all 31 of us will become Volunteers, a 100% swearing in rate! The 11 week process has been pretty intense, and we´re all eager to travel to our sites next week. But first, time for some much deserved R&R in Asuncion as we celebrate this milestone.

Happy Spring/Fall--depending where you are!

Happy equinox greetings to all, be it spring or fall!

The training pace has really picked up this month, hence fewer posts. Now we´re all about to depart for "Long Field Practice." Next week, in groups of 4-6 trainees plus language teachers and trainers, we´ll travel to various parts of the country. Each group will settle in one community for the whole week to work with a current volunteer in his/her site, and each of us will live with a host family during our visit. I´ll be in a group destined for Yhu (Guarani for "black water" or "black river"), a small town about 230 km from Asuncion (east and north). I´d include a link to the area/town but in the short time I have online I can´t find a good site in English :) We´ll be working at an elementary school and giving presentations on dental health. We´ll also be helping the volunteer introduce the students to the school´s new library (Yaay!), and conduct reading evaluations. More later....and still so far, so good in Paraguay!

MorePeaceCorps - National Day of Action, 3-3-09

This past Sunday, March 1, 2009, was Peace Corps Day. (In addition to Nebraska´s "birthday!) March 1st marks the 1961 anniversary when President Kennedy signed an executive order establishing the Peace Corps. Check out the below site for more info on the Peace Corps.
http://www.morepeacecorps.org/

One of my fellow trainees started a Facebook presence for our training group. Its creation, ("G-29 Paraguay Peace Corps 09-11"--the "G-29" identifies us as the 29th group to be trained for PC Paraguay at the facility located in the town of 'G'uarambare, Paraguay) finally ¨forced¨me to join the masses on Facebook.

I realize I didn´t follow up on my trip to the Chaco mentioned in the previous post. The trip was great, and included watching an Indian celebration of Carnaval in an indigenous village called Santa Teresita. The Indians danced non-stop from the Sunday before Ash Wednesday until Ash Wednesday, amidst ¨mucho calor¨and while covered in various layers of masks. Amazing!

Mission completed in Asuncion/now Chaco bound!

President´s Day - training in Paraguay

Today is the beginning of training week #2 with Peace Corps Paraguay! No holiday for us here!

All Monday morning - language class in Guarani. There are just five of us in this class so we are moving right along. Something else you hear a lot of here is Jopara, which is the fusion of Spanish and Guarani. A lot to learn!

I'm in the EEE section, Early Elementary Education. The new school year begins next week; this week we will make our first visit to a local school with which we'll be working during our training. It's a brand new school so we get to help create classroom display materials for grades K-3. To help us with this work we're taking a field trip into the capital, Asuncion, on Thursday. The eight of us in our section have been divided into pairs, and each pair has to get to Asuncion on our own, and complete a "mission" before meeting up with the rest of our group at the Peace Corps office in the afternoon. Here´s my mission:

Your mission is to go to downtown Asuncion. You are to walk from the Cabildo down to the Recova. Many historical and important buildings such as the Catedral, el Palacio Lopez, and the Congreso are on your walk. Your task is to go to the newspaper, Ultima Hora, (Benjamin Constante 658 c/15 de agosto) and meet with Carolina Cuenca to learn about the educational materials they offer through their newspaper. Give the letter from the Director of Virgen de Carmen [that´s the name of the school with which we´re working] to Carolina Cuenca. Request the requisites for schools to apply for materials. Don´t forget to check out the bay area view and artesania in the Recova. There are plenty of places to eat on Calle Palma. The Lido Bar has great empanadas. Good luck!

Please remember to stay in pairs, and that you need to be at the Peace C orps office by 12:30pm.

Stay tuned for how the mission turns out!

p.s. Our education training today was led by two current PC education volunteers here. One of them hails not only from Nebraska, but she lived in my hometown during her high school years... AND she lived right across the street from my family! Demasiado, verdad?

"In Country, In Training"

First and foremost, a big GRACIAS to my dear friend Maura for creating this blog...just the jumpstart I needed!

This first full week of February 2009 is my first full week in Paraguay for Peace Corps training. I arrived with my group of 30 fellow trainees ("aspirantes" in Spanish) late last week, via Miami and Sao Paolo, Brazil. Upon landing in Paraguay´s capital, Asuncion, we were given a rousing welcome by many PC staff and trainers at the city´s airport. All of our bags were loaded onto one moving truck, and we followed in a convoy of vans and SUVs to Guarambare, a small city about an hour´s drive south of Asuncion. The primary training facility for PC Paraguay is located here. We are all living with host families and learning two languages, Spanish and Guarani. More on the latter later!

Meanwhile, we´re all happily adjusting to the warm temperatures and frequent showers that are part and parcel of this time of year in Paraguay.

Hasta la proxima!
Denise

The adventure begins...

February 3rd. Stay tuned for ...