Hard week

My house in the works. The pictures start from most recent to the first day of work. It is coming together slowly.

I had to take a day in to the city for myself, just because ive been pretty frustrated lately. Before I get into all of this, you all should know that this IS normal for the first 3 months and it gets better. Atleast thats what everyone has told me, which helps. Anyways, things are frustrating. A lot of the culture, ie the food, the music (they play the same 4 songs, very loud, all day) and the general flakeyness. Also, they know I am new and im trying VERY hard to learn their language, and it hasnt been that long that ive been here but I still can understand that they are making comments or making fun of me. They do it as playful joking around, but when you get it everyday it really starts to bother you. And honestly, I wouldnt mind a bit more respect. I know Im new and I cant speak their language very well but I treat all of them with the utmost respect and I feel that it would be nice to get a little back considering that I have come here to work with them and help them on my own free will. But whatever. I realize that their culture is not MY culture, and that is something I have to tell myself everyday because even though I may not like it and I may disagree with it, it doesn´t make it wrong. I´m sure if they came into the US they would feel the exact same way towards our culture and that is something that I have to accept. Okay, sorry for that mini bitch session, but it was necessary.

Anyways, Ive been running almost everyday which really helps with my mood and also burning off the empenadas and chickenfried steaks. I run about 30 minutes and will continually try and up my time. Christmas was interesting, we ate dinner at midnight on xmas eve and then they shot off pistols and shotguns. The next day I went to a waterhole to swim which was a lot of fun. New years I will prob go to a party, we will see.

Ive started working on another garden by my house that we are building. It will be a small herb and flower garden.

I continue reading, a lot. Im just about done with A walk in the woods by bill bryson, which is AMAZING. SO hilarious and really interesting, it almost makes me want to do the AT...almost. This will be my 5th book completed in less then a month. Im going to read a LOT over the next two years.

Almost time for xmas

Today Im going to hang out in Santani. Things are going well in site, I´ve got the garden going and I´m going to start a youth group after the new year. Guarani is slowwwwly getting better, but it is very disheartening when they speak SO fast and I just cant keep up. Oh well. It is hot, very very hot. The kind of heat that melts your brain, you cant even think its so hot.
Ive started running everyday in the morning to try and burn off as much of the greasy fried food as possible. Speaking of which, the other day they served a soup made of cow intestine, liver, stomach, fat around the stomach, and other tidbits. I could not eat it, super gross.

We started working on my house. We put down a small brick foundation wall and the posts. It is going to be tiny - 4m x 4m. Barely enough room for a bed, fridge, and stove. I think it will be nice and cozy! After it is done I will build another garden, this one will be mainly for herbs and poha ñana, the herbs used in terere as well as just a nice flower garden.

When im not studying or working in the garden or playing futbol with the kids im reading. I finished a collection of short stories of isaac asimov two weeks ago, this past week I read 100 years of solitutude which was amazing, especially because my little pueblo kind of reminds me of Macondo.

Today I´m going to hunt out a hidden pizza place that supposedly exists in Santani, it will be nice to have something OTHER than Paraguayan food for a change. Even though the food isnt great, my health has been fine. I think training was the hardest on my system but I have gotten past it (hopefully).
By the way, I do have a cell phone for those that want to call my number is 011595971399104. It should work, Ive already gotten one call from the states. No drunk dialing! well, ok, maybe SOME drunk dialing.

Volunteer in site

Alright, so Im a volunteer! I got into site Tuesday the 9th, and things are going really well. I was going to start building a fence for my garden but the comite said it would be tough since they werent sure WHERE the house would be...BUT, they had a garden I could use. I went to check it out and its HUGE! I got to work immediately: hoed, put down some fertilizer, planted abonos verdes and some herbs. Im really pumped about the whole thing. Things have been pretty tranquilo since it has been raining, but I was able to go to a meeting of the comite de agronimos. Language is still hard to understand since they speak so fast, but I can usually get the main point the conversation. There is a lot of work that is needed in the community and it can be a bit daunting at times but I have two years and these first couple of months are really just for me to get comfortable with the community and work on language etc.

Update on odd foods eaten so far: 1. Pig liver....didnt actually eat it, the smell was too strong for me to even touch it. 2. Chicharones, fried pig fat. Not terrible, kind of bacon-esque but still REALLY heavy and made me feel queezy. 3. A roll made from pig skin with bits of meet inside...couldnt eat that either it looked GROSS. 4. Carpincho, also known as caapibara the worlds largest rodent which is quite tasty!

Today Im in Santani, which is about 30 minutes from site and the closest main city to me. Im in the Plan Paraguay office - an NGO that does the whole adopt a child gig but they also work with schools and communities for things like community gardens and what not and they do a lot of work with Peace Corps Volunteers. They are really nice and even let me use their internet.

Overall, Im feeling really good. Things are going well in site, though language is still tough. Im getting back into running in the morning, before its too hot. I have some pictures taken from the swearing in ceremony in the US embassy...that place is NICE! Really really big. They said that we can use their pool, tennis courts, gym, etc whenever we wanted. And yes, that is a moustache...we all in the Crop extension group thought it would be funny to come to the US embassy with moustaches.


Crop Extension, G-28

Me and the two ladies(Christina and Emily) of the crop extension. Christina is actually from Brevard, NC and went to UNC. Small world.

Keith, me, Nate (unbelievable moustache and hair) and Juan (went to Cornell), not sure why he had a straight face.

I also taught my littler brothers back in my training site how to do pushups...imbarete! (that means they are strong in Guarani) The video may take some time to load...if it doesnt, well, I have no idea how to fix it.

Asuncion

So, Im a volunteer now. We were sworn in at the US embassy yesterday and it was quite nice. It is a large, beautiful embassy. Last night we went out and celebrated in Asuncion. First we went to this bar which is British style, and kind of odd, but still a lot of fun. Then we went to an outdoor bar on the streets with live music. Today I went around town, just checking out different markets and little artisan shops. Im going to be staying here until Tuesday, at which point I will head off to site. The hotel we are staying at is nice and we get a good Peace Corps discount, it even has internet! Sadly I cant upload pictures onto this computer so it will probably be a while before I can show anything from swearing in and what not. I wish I could make this post a bit more exciting...but Im a bit hungover and am at a loss of what to write about. Ill post again, probably once in site.

Last week of training

Alright, this is the last week of training. It has gone fast. I visited my site which is in the department of San pedro, close to guayaibi. It is flat, and not the most beautiful but the people are super nice and hard working. They grow sesame and pineapple for cash crops and the usual crops for consumption. Im going to be building my house, letrine, and shower with the comite de agriculturos in the calle which should be cool. The week was hard at first...lots of hassle and frustration and ridiculous heat...but things got better. Im pumped to be going to the site. This thursday is my birthday and then the next day we go into Asuncion where we swear in at the US embassy and I will become a volunteer. not a bad gift. During the first three months in site i have to live with a family, but after I will live alone...thankgod. The family is nice, prof. miguel is 35 and is a teacher at the local school so I can work with him with the kids on all types of projects. The wife, dolly, is 24 and has a little girl jessica who is 4. A nice family who lives on the upper scale of the neighborhood. Thanksgiving was fantastic, we bought a pig that was slaughtered and we had 8 different types of pork dishes, turkey, and tons of food. yum!

After friday, we are staying in Asuncion for a couple days to relax, get what we need for site, and partttaaayy. It will be well needed.

There are tons of things I will be doing in site, but I will name a few;
1. Work on a community garden, the comite wants a garden where we will first grow and sell oranges grafted on lemon stock, then grow and sell eucylyptus, then vegetables.

2. work on getting all the farmers to try using abonos verdes (green manures) and potentially try no-till farming.

3. try to find a niche market with products from the community, maybe added value products such as sesame candy etc.

4. teach english, nutrition, HIV and/or sexed in school.

5. Work on a school garden

6. Work with the womens comite to do all kinds of stuff.

and much much more...I will have my hands full. The whole goal of the peace corps, in a nutshell, is to give the local people the techniques needed to better their lives through sustainable methods, so that in the end they themselves have the means to create a better life for their families and community. Through this, the other goals are met, which are the sharing of American culture to paraguayans, and the sharing of paraguayan culture to americans.
Okay, its time to post some pics.




My backyard.


Prof. Miguel and Dotty



Jessica, Definitely the queen of the house!

Pictures and what not

Im back from long field practice. We went to La Colmena again where Joel, the volunteer, is finishing up his two years. Joel is a funny guy and a great volunteer, it was a fun time. Also, La Colmena is a beautiful, beautiful place. I took some pictures from the house I was staying at, breathtaking. I stayed with Don Maximo, his wife who everyone called De la Paz, and their 14 year old son Jorge. We worked out in Joel´s demo plot where he had planted different types of abonos verdes (green manures) as well as worked on this one guys field. We did curvas de nivel, which is countour planting, we made the curves using A frames and then hoed, and planted Pasto Camaroon which is a great forage plant for cows and also Kumanda Yvyra´i which is a nitrogen fixing legume that forms a small tree. Food was good, lots of fresh vegetables. However, Thursday during lunch I got a big bowl of steaming organs...I couldnt figure out WHAT it was until I asked Joel later. Turned out it was a big bowl of Cow livers.......yum. I couldnt finish it because i KNEW it was something from the depths of the cows insides. Didnt taste terrible though. I bathed in a creek a little ways from the house and man was it cold, but very refreshing! This was my first time using a latrine also...its kind of hard getting the squat just right.

This wednesday I will find out where my site will be, where i will spend the next two years! how exciting.

Every now and then I get homesick...I remember chapel hill and what a great city it is. But, I am having a great time here and couldnt imagine being anywhere else. Ive been reading a lot too, I finished three books in two weeks. Though now I think Im going to focus more on Guarani and less pleasure reading.

Mangoes are starting to get ripe, im very excited about that!
Okay, picture time.

Kankles!!!! Ahhh bees! My feet are fine now. How gross is that?




This is the view from my house in the peublo, I would sit here and read. Jealous?


Che familia. Don Maximo, De la paz, ha Jorge. They arent very good with having their pictures taken but are super awesome people!


This is the Kururu(toad) that stayed in my room. I named him Arlo. He was fat, but very tranquilo. People here are afraid of them and I cant understand why. He was a good roommate.

Rainy Sunday

I had some time this morning to head to Ita and use the internet cafe. It´s a rainy day...it always seems to rain on the weekends for some reason. Anyways, I took a picture of my super swollen feet but I cant seem to upload it so you all will just have to wait in suspense....it aint pretty. Tomorrow we leave for long field practice. We will be visiting a volunteer for the week and working with him and his community. My group will be giving a charla on venenos caseros....homemade pesticides. It should be interesting considering that it will be our first in guarani. Anyways, my feet are fine now. I was given some allegra since I had such a strong allergic reaction and that took care of it. I think I jinxed myself about getting sick. This Friday I woke up feeling terrible and realized that I had food poisoning. I wont go into details but it was not pretty. I was laid out the entire day with absolutely no energy and a VERY high fever. I havnt had a fever that high since I was young. Ndaipori problema (no problems) I was back to normal the next day, though my taste for Paraguayan food has diminished even more. Last Thursday we went to this amazing little farm, about 3 hectares in size. The family was practicing more or less a permaculture system. They had crops which they ate as well as feed their animals. Pigs which ate the crops and whose manure they used in a biodigester which fermented their shit into methane which they use to cook with. They had rabbits for food and also manure for their crops. A vermiculture setup so the worms ate the compost and rabbit manure which was then given to the plants. Cows which also ate the crops. Afterwards they gave us some of their products...different jams and yogurt...the yoghurt was amazing! It was very inspiring and interesting to see all these systems working together on such a relatively small plot of land but they made it work. We learned how to make yoghurt...which is actually quite simple as well as cheese. Im going to make yoghurt soon. Ive been reading a lot on my down time. I think my mind has been starved for that type of entertainment because when I read I read fast and nonstop. Ive read 3 books in two weeks. And it´s not like I have a ton of free time either.
Ahatama (im going to go) jajotopata!

Kankles

Hey all. So, week 6...almost done with training. Next week we do a weeklong visit to a volunteer and see what volunteer life is all about. Things are going well...got sick with ghiardia(sp?) but im doing fine now. Guarani is getting better by the day, though I kind of hit a wall for a bit before it started getting better. I have two stories relating to bugs (bichos) and one relates to the title of my post.
1. Two weeks ago it was super hot...like REALLY hot. I was sleeping with the fan full blast on me. Around 1230 the power went out and I woke up, immediately it was 90 degrees and humid..how terrible. But, it gets worse. Slowly I heard a horrible sound......the sound of SWARMS of mosquitoes slowly encroaching on me. Luckily I was under a mosquito net,, but I could NOT sleep. Then, sweet relief....the power came back on. Fucking mosquitoes.

2. Yesterday we were working with bees, we were checking out some hives and just doing some basic beekeeping practices. All of a sudden I got stung on my lower ankle. I had my pants tucked into my socks and it turns out that bees dont like wool socks...that are dark green. They had figured out they could sting through the sock and into my ankle. So on stung me. It hurt. The thing that sucks most about stings is that they let off a pheromone that tells others to come sting that spot. So a mini swarm came to my foot, I tried to smoke them away...the smoke covers up the pheromone. On a side note, we use dried cow shit as our smoking material so it was the best of smells. Anyways, another stung me....then another on the other ankle. I got away and luckily I didnt get anymore but I did start to freak out. Today I woke up and my ankles are HUGE, as well as my feet. So I now have kankles. Super lame. Ill try to take a pic if possible.

Alright, time to get out of here.
Suerte,
David

Pictures? Check post below as well.

Sunsets in Paraguay are beautiful. Sadly I couldnt capture them well... but EVERYnight, unless it is cloudy, there is a gorgeous sunset. The sky is painted every shade of pink, orange, yellow, purple, a great way to end the day.





This is what I walk through to class every day. This first picture is of a ´backy field like back in NC.....Jealous of the view? I never get sick of it. The light is so bright, it is wonderful.






This is my family, from the left is Andres...who is Lurdes boyfriend. Lurdes, in the black is my aunt she is holding Omar. The older woman in the back in the white is one of my grandmothers. The man standing is Crispin, my dad. my mom is hiding behind Hilda, abuela who is holding bro number 2 Bauti, who is 2.





Tatakuaa. this is the outdoor oven where they cook special foods. In the front is Sopa Paraguay, basically really really rich cornbread. in the back is a pan of pork, beef, and chicken for mi mamas bday.

This is Omar...Omar oreko 4 año, Omar likes to scream and cry and touch everything I own. Still, Omar is the man.

Que tallllllll

Yo yo yo,

Finally got internet! ANDDDD I was able to get pics on this computer so lets hope I can blog it.Life is good...always exhausting, sometimes frustrating, never dull. Terere is awesome, it needs to be spread around the US. I voted the other week.....wrote Bush in, SYKE. I hear obama is doing well? Opama in guarani means finished so i dont know if that is good or bad. Guarani is getting better by the day, we are learning all types of agricultural techniques...learned how to keep bees, pigs, have chicks that we will keep and then once they are ready we will give to our family. There are these awesome stingless tiny bees called Jata'î which dont produce a ton of honey but its super rico and expensive. They basically need no help with the colony and are easy to maintain. Still havnt gotten sick. Mangos are getting plump....que riccoooo. Okay, time to try these pics.

Caaguazu

So, Im sitting in a small cyber in the district of Caaguazu. I didnt think I would have time to hit up the internet on my long volunteer stay but i guess I lucked out. To get here I woke up at 3 30am to catch a 415 bus into asuncion and then get a ticket for the 6am to caaguazu, a 6hour bus ride. I met the volunteer, Stepehen, right at the cruce (bus stop) in the pueblo of rutai. It is literally the middle of nowhere but I really enjoy it! He has some electricity but no running water. Honestly, taking a shower and doing everyday things without water aint that bad. It´s good to know I can do a lot of things...like manage my way to the middle of fucking nowhere on my own in a foreign country AND take a dump slash shower without water. The people in his community are super nice and we walked around on a hot hot day and chatted with them all. I was surprised at how much of the convo I could understand. basically I know what they are saying I just have trouble responding in Guarani.
Anyways, today we got some pizza at this place owned by a menenite immigrant, actually pretty damn good. Im pretty gross right now...walking many many kilometers in super hot dusty roads.
Life in the campo is super tranquilo, lots of sitting under shade and terereing.

I finally ate something I could not actually eat....queso paraguay. The only cheese here. Basically it is rotten milk in cheese form, i know i know cheese IS rotten milk but this shit is NASTY. I ate a tiny piece and handed it right over to my sister. Lo siento abuela.

Im in Caaguazu till Tuesday and then it is back to class.

Time to get home and take a shower with cold water.
Jajotopata!

ryguasu chivivi

Mbae teko.
Today I am in Asuncion, about an hour from my little village. We were given different objectives and places to go to in San Lorenzo and Asuncion. I was told to go to the minstry of Agriculture and the University of Asuncion to ask about apiculture (beekeeping). The bus system here is pretty good...cheap and they drop you off anywhere on the road. I didnt get lost and was not pickpocketed. I had extra time in Asuncion so I am able to sit in this tiny cyber cafe. Afterwards ill get some lunch and hit the peace corps office.
Life in the village is good..havnt gotten sick yet. Food is heavy cream sauce, rice, mandio (cassava), spaghetti. When I get meat it is usually chewey beef, vegetables are really good. Excellent tomates ha pakova (nanners). The eggs are amazing, they are usually just found outside left by the neighborhood chickens. The yolk is bright orange and muy muy rico! I went out the other night with my aunt and her bf to Ita, which is a bigger city by my home and got a hamburger: beef burger, fried egg, lettuce, tomate, ham, cheese. Super rico. We got to visit a beekeeping site and I had my first dose of thousands and thousands of angry africanizd bees. Didnt get stung.
Saturday I visit a volunteer about 5 hours away so that should be fun. Paraguay has a big futbol match against Colombia so I expect some serious partying.

I was going to upload some pictures but I wasnt expecting to get to a computer today so maybe next time I can post a few. The weather has be great, a bit chilly at night and around 70s during the day. But they say soon it will get HOT...bring it on. Still havnt gotten sick, I think India made me a hardened traveller. My guarani is getting better by the day, in fact my family is a bit surprised at how quickly I am picking it up. Still, I can barely form sentences. It is very interesting...for instance, if you are asking a question you add Pa to the end of the noun. for instance: Mboy añopa nde rereko = how old are you...literally How many yearsquestion you youhave. Not terribly hard but still tricky.
My family is great, I make them laugh and I usually understand most of what they say. The two little boys are loud and a handful......but I always put on a smile. They call me tio david...thats right....uncle dave! I need to get going . Jajotopata!!

ps. the tittle of this post, yguasu chivivi, is sort of an inside joke in our group of crop extensionists, it literally translates to chicken diarhea. I appologize for my spelling, the more I learn spanish and guarani the worse my english gets.

Mbae la porte

Hola todos, que tal?¿? Things in paraguay are going well so far. Basically to sum up each day, I wake up at six, eat a pakova (banana in gaurani) drink mate, go to class for four hours and learn guarani, have a mega lunch, go back to school for either guarani or tech training. My brain wants to explode with all this info, it is insane...muy muy loco (tarová) I go to bed at around 9 or 10 because im so exhausted. My family feeds me too much food, I will come back muy gordo. I speak as much guarani with my family as posible and they laugh at my pronounciaton while I laugh at their english....fair trade. Food is good, weather is good, ate my first mystery mammal meat.....tasted fishy but still quite rico. I drink mate all the time and terere...terere is the cold version of mate its fantastico. No digestive problems yet....gracias dio. Guarani is an odd language....Y is pronounced like UGH but in the middle of your throat. any letter with an accent means it should be spoken nasally...so it gets complicated like yryryru...which means trashcan. or Eguapyké which means have a seat. I study all day and think Im getting pretty decent at the basics but still....muy muy hasy (dificil). Okay, it is getting dark and I need to catch the micro (autobus). Hope everyone is having fun in america... I hear the economy is fantastico!!!! chau todos.

David

Mbaechapa!

Hola todos! or should I say Mbaechapa. I made it here safely and had a few seconds in a cyber cafe. Paraguay is amazing, it is spring time and the weather is fantastic. I live with a mother and father, two lil bros, one sister and one grandmother. All are pretty awesome. We have a huge mango tree in the front yard and cows, chickens, dogs etc. This place is great. We have been working hard the past couple days, mainly cultural adjustment classes y a bit of guarani, it is an amazingly beautiufl language and not THAT hard to learn but it has some odd guttural sounds. Honestly, I think that because I can sort of speak hebrew (at least pronounce the words) is helping me out a lot. Presidente Lugo was on my flight from sao paolo to asuncion...pretty baller eh?? A real president takes flights with his people!! I miss america, but am loving every bit of it here. Mate is pretty damn good and gives me the buzz i need yet not quite as crack-ish as the sweet sweet espresso. My fellow voluntarios are pretty damn cool if I may say so, one is from Brevard NC but the rest are from all over.

I wake up every day around 6ish...or 5ish since that is when the roosters crow. We have a light breakfast of pan y mate. I miss working out. Paraguayan women are pretty hot so far...no esposa yet. I must run, but I miss you all and love all. Take care!

chao! (thats how it is written down here)

David

First Blog

So this is my first blog of my Peace Corps adventure. Tomorrow I leave for the Peace Corps - first to Miami for a brief orientation and then to Paraguay. I will use this blog as a pseudo-online journal where I can keep you all updated on my experience and also post pictures. I expect that I wont have a lot of time on a computer so if you do email me I might respond through this blog instead of individual emails. Feel free to comment on the blog whenever you would like and send the link around to those you think would be interested in following my adventure.

Thanks to everyone who came out to my going away party Saturday night, it was a wonderful time and I could not have asked for a better group of friends to be there. What a send off! (For those interested, my mother will be giving private lessons on how to kick ass at beerpong.)

For those of you that may want to send me snail mail the address is:

David Suchoff, PCT (for trainee)

Cuerpo de Paz

162 Chaco Boreal c/Mcal. López

Asunción 1580, Paraguay

South America

Be warned that packages/letters do take a while to get there and that there is the possibility of things being stolen, so don't send anything too valuable.