Friday, July 24, 2009

Beach in Paraguay?

So today I was walking home from class and as I'm walking down the street to my host family's house I hear this woman, who is sitting outside her house just watching the world go by, sing "Macho, Macho man (please sing this to the tune of ¨Macho, Macho man¨ in your head, otherwise this just isn´t that funny)...." If that doesn't make you miss home, I don't know what does? You would be surprised at how many weird things from the U.S. show up down here in this little country they call Paraguay.

For example, the death of Michael Jackson.... a really big deal here. I not only watched his funeral on cable tv with my sisters (yes, there's cable tv in my host family's house- not something I'm proud of) but I was also recently involved in an impromptu interview about Mr. Jackson during my second volunteer visit last week. Four of the eight of us in my group went to visit a volunteer in a town about 2 1/2 hours from where I'm currently living. We were there all last week and we each had our own host families- I was excited to be in another site and meet some more Paraguayans. Unfortunately my host family experience was hindered a bit by the fact that as I was walking to the house where I was going to be staying, and about two minutes before I actually met the family, the volunteer casually mentions to me that their 20 year old son was killed in a motorcycle accident five months ago. I don't even know what to say to people in the U.S. when they lose a family member, let alone what I'm supposed to say in spanish. In thinking more about that experience now, I realize that Americans are really good at mourning in private. In any case, the death story didn´t come up all week and they never said anything to me about it, which saved me from having to figure out the right thing to say at the right time.

And in staying true to my American roots, I'm just going to continue on in my story here like nothing happened, and go back to talking about myself and Michael Jackson (funny that that´s also related to death, but somehow much easier to talk about). So after the introductions took place with my host family, my host mom and her sister sat me down in the back of the house and began the question and answer period of my visit, which included everything from how much money Michael Jackson had, to how he died and then wandered into why anyone would want to join the Peace Corps, why young people in the U.S. move out of their parents house after high school, and finally, a list of all the people they know that have been to the U.S- (a personal favorite of mine with Paraguayans because they can never remember the state, nor the city where that person went and even if they could, I'm pretty sure I didn't meet them. About half way through the week there, I was talking with the other volunteers and mentioned that it's probably only in the Peace Corps that a group of five people would roll into a town in the middle of a country where some other crazy American is living and stay at some random person's house where they take you in as one of their own. They feed you, worry about you when you don't come home on time, and tell you you're either too fat, too skinny, or some other inappropriate comment about your personal appearance or preferences that they just don't feel bad about saying to your face. The two I get the most are about my short hair and that they think I´m going to die because I don´t eat meat. They tell me that they don´t like when girls have short hair and that they don´t know how I´m still living since I only eat vegetables and beans. Amazing that I´m still alive, I know. Honesty in personal relationships is highly valued here, which I find refreshing....some other volunteers, not so much.

All in all it was a pretty good trip- it was nice to get out of our training community and see some of the country on the drive there, spend some time talking and working with a real live volunteer and getting a better sense of what our lives will be like in another month. We participated in a career fair where there were 12 people who came to talk with young people in the community about their professions, we went out to a neighborhood where the governor was presenting pipes for potable water to the community, we walked in a "Race for Friendship" which was really just a few people walking from where the pipes were presented to the soccer field about three blocks away, but a "race" nonetheless- and the first of its kind in that town. By far, the highlight of the trip for me was when we went to the local radio station to encourage people to come to participate in the career fair and as soon as we were done talking on the radio, the volunteer received a call from a member of the community who asked if we would come over to meet her 12 year old son. Apparently he had heard us talking on the radio and asked his mom to call because he wanted to meet us- this was a big deal because this particular 12 year old boy has a very rare skin disease (one of only two people in Paraguay) which doesn´t allow his skin to grow properly. Because the family doesn't have a lot of money they are unable to take him elsewhere for medical treatment, so all he has to alleviate the itching and pain this disease causes him is a cream which is also very expensive. He can't go to school, leave the house, or play outside because he is so susceptible to infection and the volunteer told us that he typically doesn't like meeting people because he's afraid of what they'll think or say about the way he looks....needless to say, it was a pretty awesome invitation for us and he was such a sweet kid who unfortunately is in a lot of pain and discomfort all day everyday. I think the best part was when his mom said to us, (in front of him), " my son has a little problem that we have to deal with and it's very expensive, but he's absolutely worth it." It brought tears to his eyes and to all of ours....and I think really put things into perspective for all of us...

On a happier note- on our last day at the volunteer's site, we got to go to the only beach in Paraguay. I know that's confusing because you're thinking, "wait, how did they go to the beach, Paraguay is a land-locked country?" (For those of you who still haven't looked at a map of South America to see where I am, this might be news to you). We got lucky, in that, the town we visited happens to have sandbanks beside one of the bigger rivers that runs through the country and they use it as a tourist destination in the summer. Of course it had rained the three weeks before we got there, so the sandy walkway that you normally take to get there was under 1 1/2 feet of water- but don't think that stopped us from enjoying the only beach in Paraguay! We took off our shoes, rolled up our pants and ventured forward. It was well worth the walk and even sunny once we got there- an added bonus.

I was happy to get back to my host family's house in my training community on Friday afternoon and they were happy to see me, which makes a girl feel good. This week is going by particularly slow, I think, due to the fact that we find out our where are sites are going to be this coming Monday and the anticipation is killing me. Just a few more days and I'll finally know where I'll actually be living for my two years of service in Paraguay. I feel like I'm getting my Peace Corps invitation all over again....ugh!

chau for now!

1 comment:

  1. Wow! What an experience! I love reading your blog, Carrie. The beach story was great. Good for you for sticking around after the spidey incident... I would have been so out of there. Looking forward to hearing about your service assignment. Take care, dear and know that you are loved and missed.
    Flour Garden for coffee in 2011?
    Sue

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