Week 7 of Training: Check!

Week 7 of training is complete. I’m writing this wrap-up to tell you folks at home what is up, but also as a refresher for me! It was a long week spent in Altos, just east of Asuncion, visiting a volunteer, Julie, in her site. I went with a technical trainer, a language professor and fellow trainees Brett, Maureen, David and Casey. Lots went on so I’ll begin…

Long Field Practice

LFP is a chance to combine the skills we have learned in training–cultural, language and technical–in a week of hands-on work with a current volunteer in his or her site. It’s also an opportunity to live with a host family and meet lots of people!

On Monday morning we departed Villeta in a PC van bound for Altos. It was only a couple of hours down the road. On arrival, we met Julie at the library where she conducts a lot of her work, got a quick tour and introduction to Altos, and took a stroll around town. We went to the plaza where the church is centered, the municipality, and walked past some schools and a little business district.

Then we met our host families for the week. All of the host families were close contacts of Julie’s, and she had arranged for our stays. My host family rocked: mom Eve, dad Tito, and children Lorena (26), Leti (20) and Marco (18). Lorena is a doctor in Asuncion, but she came home one night for dinner just to meet me! I stayed in her old room. Leti and Marco are both in school–Leti for business and Marco for electrical engineering. Eve is a kindergarten teacher and Tito drives a truck and hauls building materials. There was also a family dog whose name I could never remember.

They struck me as a traditional Paraguayan family: hardworking and close knit. There was more Guarani spoken in this household than mine in Villeta. But Eve explained that she speaks Spanish with her children because it’s what they prefer. They also liked to drink matte in the evening to stay warm while watching the telenovellas, game shows or news. Super relaxing and as Paraguayans say tranquillopa.

Eve y Tito

I kid you not. Just look at the picture! One of the first mornings I was in Altos drinking coffee at the kitchen table and eating bread with butter, the dog was tied up on a chain to the door to the outside. He kept lurching toward the table. And one by one, a different member of the family would come into the kitchen and shorten his leash little by little. I’m not sure why this was so funny to me, mostly because the dog remained as persistent as ever to get on the kitchen table.

Our work in Altos

Here are some examples of activities we led or participated in throughout the week:

• Library Meeting: we led some brainstorm activities for the library counsel to discuss their expectations for library rules and librarian duties, to draft a weekly work schedule and to prioritize some upcoming tasks. For example, the counsel wants to create a museum corner that will share Altos’ history. They also want to better secure the bathroom, which is accessible from an exterior door, only for library use.
• Women’s Group: We met with the leader of a women’s group in town. The group sews bags, clothing, home accessories and makes soap to sell. They also have outside professionals come in to lead classes for new skills. They also seem to be a strong network against domestic violence and  for family planning. Overall I’d say they have a positive outlook on advancing women’s rights and their role in the family. I would have liked to have heard more from this group, but they were not meeting during our week in Altos.
• English Class: Julie teaches an English class to a group of students maybe age 8 to 12? We conducted a review of some previously learned vocabulary. This was a fun group. Many volunteers are torn about teaching English because it is time consuming, and usually amounts to vocabulary only (notebook, chalkboard, apple, desk, etc.). And then it’s difficult for students in smaller communities to practice the language. My outlook right now is that teaching English would be a great way to  meet community members early on. And to have a regular English class would help create a routine, and have some steady successes to help fuel some other work.
• Ahecha: Ahecha (Ah-hey-shah) means veo in Guarani, or “I see.” It’s the project started by a PCV to loan cameras to children and youth so that they can explore their creativity and have an active learning experience! It was a highlight of my week. Julie has to send a formal request to conduct the month-long class in her site. My understanding is that there is a quite a waiting list for the cameras, but the program may be doubling the number of cameras soon. Julie had some nice books in her library with examples of photography. The class theme was retratos or portraits. We used the books to start a conversation about what a portrait is, what it demonstrates, the different types and moods. Julie also uploaded the last weeks photos from the cameras, and discussed some of her favorites with the group. One of the most incredible pictures was of a young boy wearing a straw farmer’s hat, but popping it and posing like Michael Jackson. Culture clash! After class we walked around Altos taking pictures. I enjoyed this activity because we got to talk and teach casually one-on-one with the youth.
• Winter Break Camp. Students in Paraguay are observing their seasonal break from schools (and the Ministry of Education actually just extended the break one week due to extremely low temperatures ahead). So it was an opportune time for a day camp. One of the activities is called Machina Humana, Human Machine, and the students divide up into two groups and thing about common machines in their households or daily lives. And then, using only their bodies they have to act out the machine for the other group. We had iron, washing machine and blender demos. Some other activities included a discussion about what certain community institutions do. We conducted this camp twice: once in Altos and a second time in Pirayu.

Pirayu

Pirayu is another volunteer’s site. Shevonda is working closely with an up-and-running community library. A family donated the building, and the library has been receiving book donations. Plus they have a children’s corner with a puppet stage, desk and chairs, floor mat, toys and books, TV/VCR/DVD. The library also has a multi-purpose room for music classes (apparently some parents in town have pooled money to hire a music teacher to come to town. I know there is at least one strings student, but I’m not sure about other instruments). And the library has about 8 computers with internet connection. Shevonda conducts some classes and activities for youth and children with the library. There’s also an active group of nuns with whom she works, and a super hardworking and enthusiastic librarian.

While we were in Pirayu we went to Shevonda’s host family’s house. She lives on the property of the host family in a private house. She has the best of both worlds–privacy,  but a family to call your own and the security of close neighbors. We ate with her family, which included a cousin, brother, sister, mom and teeny tiny grandmother.

Little grandmother, abuelita, lives independently in her own little house on the property, and gets around, as she said, better than her own children. When we arrived, she was sitting outside with a charcoal grill to warm her hands while she sewed the most beautiful table runner. She explained that she sews to support herself. She can sell her work for 400,000-500,000G (about $95-$120). That is a spectacular earning. She told me she learned the trade as a girl from a señora.

abuelita

In addition to sewing, abuelita is a bookie. I kid you not. Lotto tickets are big here, and they are mostly sold on buses or in the street by individuals that manage their own materials. Abuelita showed us the notebook where she keeps track of her sales, the different kinds of tickets and how to fill out the tickets. She goes for a walk around town every morning to sell tickets. I would imagine she is quite the saleswoman.

This woman was the best part of our trip to Pirayu. She spoke mostly in Spanish with some Guarani thrown in. I would have sat with her for hours to hear more about her life.

Driving back to Altos from Pirayu we went through a ritzy vacation town called San Bernardino, located on a lake. I understand that many of the wealthier people from Asuncion spend their summers in San Bernardino. We took a pitstop here to visit the German bakery. We had pastries with coffee, and watched the telenovella that was on the TV.

Atyra

We went to Atyra for a quick stop on Friday. We visited the church, climbed up to the belltower (ladders, not steps–scary!) and checked our some leather artisens. The made bags, belts, desk accessories, but there best work is the leather coozy type materials to personalize a terrere thermos.

Weather

Atrocious. Winter has sunk in here. Buildings here are constructed to keep cool in the summer, which means they do the same thing in winter. There’s hardly any relief from the cold except to add layers and drink matte. And then there’s the occasional space heater, which is expensive to buy and power. I have yet to experience the Paraguayan summer, but many current volunteers have observed that our group of volunteers will be fortunate to have 3 winters and 2 summers.

Food

My host family in Altos prepared some tasty, homemade meals! On Monday we had what is essentially a meatball that has cornmeal in it as well, served in rich broth. For dinner I had tortillas, picture tiny pancakes or beignets, with coffee. Tuesday was beef Milanese with rice salad with tomatoes; homemade chicken empanadas for dinner. And Wednesday lunch was a beef soup; dinner was hotdogs. Thursday for dinner, Eve pulled out all the stops and roasted chicken and beef, made mashed potatoes, and a bean salad with hardboiled egg and tomato.

On the way back to Villeta from Altos we stopped at a relatively famous restaurant called Cucurucho. I had a lomito (steak sandwich with lettuce, tomato, cheese, egg) and a penguino, which is the name of the most amazing dessert sundae.

Asuncion

at the expo with the baby cow

This will be another update entirely, but a small group of trainees went to Asuncion Saturday night to visit the Expo. This pic is me in the corral with all the cows, and this prize-winning calf!

After the expo we went to a discoteca and had quite an eventful night. More to come on that!

Love and peace,

Emily