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.