Hi everyone!
So, this is my last post as a Peace Corps trainee – tomorrow is the swearing-in ceremony where me and my training class become official Peace Corps Volunteers. I can’t believe how quickly the past 11 weeks have gone by. It’s crazy to think that 11 weeks ago I was just starting training, barely knew anyone, and couldn’t speak any Guarani. It’s amazing how much things change after a mere 11 weeks. Some of the people that I’ve met have become such good friends of mine that I can’t even imagine not having them in my life at this point. Anyways, enough of that…
What have I done since I last blogged? Well, 2 weeks ago Sunday I killed a chicken! Yes, KILLED A CHICKEN WITH MY BARE HANDS! It was a… unique experience to say the least. Then my sister, my mom, and I cleaned, gutted, and cooked it for lunch. It was super tasty and gave me a new appreciation for food, or rather just chicken.
We spent 2 days last week in Asuncion for class. Tuesday we went to the botanical gardens in Asuncion. It was definitely not what I expected. In the afternoon, we were back at the Peace Corps office for a few sessions and then on Wednesday morning, we were back in Asuncion for a full day of sessions and lectures. We had another library visit and mailroom visit and the librarian told us some information about mail here in Paraguay. It takes a while for it to get here, especially packages. If a package arrives within a month from the time it was sent (by USPS) that’s amazing! If it arrives within 2 months, that’s good. Realistically, it takes about 3ish months for a package to arrive, so those of you that have sent me stuff, don’t worry that I haven’t gotten it yet! There’s still a good chance it’ll arrive in the next few months. Just give me a heads up, please, if you sent something.
Last Friday we had an “Auto Planeado” day where we got to design our own schedule for the day based on interests. A good number of us wanted to go to Luque to see the guitars and harps, so we were fortunate enough to get a driver and spend the morning there. In the afternoon, we were back in Guarambare for a session on plumbing and electricity. I figured this was a good session to attend, considering I have neither running water nor electricity in my future house. Overall, it was a pretty awesome day. I found a really nice guitar in Luque that I really want to go back and get. I hope that I can head back there in a few weeks and make my purchase.
This past week has been interesting, since it was our last full week at our training site. On Tuesday we had our last language interviews and our despedida with our families. All of our families came to the school with food and Diosnel (one of my language teachers here), Jotty (another language teacher here), one of the mom’s here at site, Franco, and Lauren all did speeches. I actually teared up when Diosnel and Jotty did theirs. They both talked about how we leave everything that is familiar to us in the states to come to a new country, a new language, a new culture, and new friends, and that our host families are so welcoming, despite not knowing who they’re going to get. They open their doors to us, help us acclimate, assist us with learning the language(s), and are an incredibly source of support during these few months of training. It makes me really sad that I have to leave this wonderful community and my amazing family. I feel so comfortable here and it sort of stinks that I have to go through the awkwardness all over again with meeting people, figuring out the community, and everything… only this time without other Americans. It’s been an interesting couple of weeks since site visit. It’s just been a weird mix of emotions. Part of me is pulling away from the group, since I’m not going to have them at site and need to fend for myself more and adjust to the “I feel alone” factor, but another part of me wants to live in the here-and-now and just enjoy the remaining time I have with them. Granted, tomorrow we swear-in, so there’s really not much time left to spend with them. I’m really excited for Asuncion this weekend after swearing-in. It’ll be nice to all be together for a few days in the city before branching off to the different parts of Paraguay.
Anyways, you’re probably wondering what any of this has to do with the title of this blog entry. Wednesday for language class, we took a trip to Itagua and Aregua. They make this really nice Paraguayan lace (called Ñanduti) and hammocks here. We also got to check out this museum for about 10 minutes before they closed, and then went to watch how people make ceramics. In the afternoon, we were back at our training site with Ricardo. We played some games, including the “Random Pieces of Shennanigans Opera” where you split off into 2 teams and each person on each team is given a random object. As a team you have to come up with a play using all of the props, everyone has to participate, and all of the dialogue has to be sung. It was absolutely hilarious what we all came up with. Then we played another game with Ricardo and at the end he gave us all presents – MACHETES!!! He wrote names on each of them. Mine is called The Red Rider (you’ll slice your eye out!) and I love it. We were all super excited to get them. Before leaving the school, we tried throwing limes up in the air and cutting them in half with our machetes. A few people succeeded. I was not one of the few. Apparently I have really bad hand-eye coordination? Regardless though, it was probably the coolest gift we could have gotten. THANKS RICARDO!
So, like I said, swear-in is tomorrow! Next time I post, I’ll be an official PCV! This also means that my address is going to change… sorta. The address I’ve already posted is accurate but instead of writing PCT next to my name, it’ll change to PCV. I may get a mailbox in Santani (a town really close to my site) so if I do, I will post that address on here too.
For now, it’s so long to Santo Domingo. You’ve been great these past 3 months! Tuyango – I’m so excited to call you my new home for the next 2 years. To all of my wonderful blog followers – next post from Tuyango!
Love,
Carden xoxo
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment