June and July fly by!

June and July…how did they fly by! Missed posting in June, and almost this month, due to VACATION…and when I am on vacation my focus is on real time with the folks around me, not on online time!

Peace Corps grants two days of vacation per month of service, 24 days a year, so I did have a nice chunk of time for holidays. “Back in the day” PC Volunteers could not travel to the States for vacation, a policy no longer in place. I went to the States. First, to Washington, D.C. for the annual conference of the American Library Association, to reconnect with my professional colleagues, and just otherwise enjoy a great time in our nation’s capital. I am so glad I went, for I always relish a trip to D.C., and this time was even better since I’d been out of the country for nearly a year. I never fail to get a “high” when viewing the main Presidential monuments, and flying into National Airport with a clear view of them was a treat. Conference highlights for me included: a lively RPCV luncheon in Chinatown, hearing and seeing Toni Morrison speak during the opening ceremony, a StoryCorps, www.storycorps.org, presentation by its founder Dave Isay, a night at the Newseum, www.newseum.org , the international relations reception in the Great Hall of the Library of Congress, and the “Vote for Libraries!” rally on Capitol Hill, not to mention the delightful encounters, both planned and serendipitous, with library folks from all over the world. I felt reenergized from the reunion with “mi gente,” my professional guild. I also enjoyed how colleagues and friends bought up all 150 of the Paraguayan ñanduti (“spider web lace”) bookmarks I’d brought along. I had them made in Paraguay to help raise money for books for my library. I sold out in two days and could have sold many more if I’d had them. While in town I also stopped by the PC Headquarters, where I had a chance to meet with PC Staff in the ICE department, Information Collection and Exchange.

Nebraska was next on my travel itinerary, and I was surprised at how much water I viewed from the air as we approached Omaha’s Eppley Airfield. I don’t recall ever having seen so much beyond the banks of the Missouri River before. The upside was that I enjoyed an extra lush and verdant Nebraska countryside, and with the exception of just one day, no rain fell during my stay. I rented a car for the first few days, and just loved the chance to drive again, something we can’t do during our PC service (only when on vacation.) Several nights were spent watching nieces play softball, and just taking random drives in both town and country, amidst perfect weather during some of the summer’s longest evenings...ahh, the good ol’ summertime!

While home in Nebraska City, I again spoke to my local Rotary Club, this time to give them a show and tell of this year’s library workshop they helped fund, and to display some other pieces of ñanduti. (I just love the stuff, and even had an outfit made that includes several ñanduti appliqués, which I wore to the meeting.) I also distributed PC bookmarks, brochures and stickers, items I’d picked up in DC from PC’s “Third Goal” office, the department which overseas the PC’s Third Goal. The Peace Corps has three primary goals, copied and pasted here from the PC web site, www.peacecorps.gov :

1. Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.
2. Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
3. Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

So, in speaking to my local Rotary Club, I was carrying out the PC's third goal.

The trip home went way too quickly of course, but I felt blessed to be able to make it both to DC for a professional “fix” and home to “the good life” in Nebraska. Family and friends, thanks for making it such a wonderful trip...it was great to spend REAL time with you face-to-face, and for those of you I did not get a chance to visit with one-on-one, I hope to next time, some time next year. Meanwhile, I thought of all of you yesterday, July 30, while celebrating "Friendship Day" here in Paraguay, a holiday started here in 1958,

http://discoveringparaguay.com/home/ - ¡Feliz Dia de la Amistad!

I’ll be honest, readjustment here has been a challenge, slow...plus the first days I was back in Paraguay were among some of the winter’s coldest and grayest….and it’s raining cats and dogs as I write this. Mind you, the outdoor temps aren’t what we Nebraskans would consider winter cold by any means (approx. 40°F), but when the indoor temp is also in the mid-forties, well, you might as well be camping outside!

School starts up again across the country on Monday, August 2, following a three-week winter vacation.