27 Days South of the Equator

This blog is a long one since I haven’t been able to write in 3 weeks. Anyways Thursday completes one month that Ashley and I have been here!!


The Sisters decided they want us to learn the economic, social, political etc. about the country as well as the different programs they have. They also said that once we feel comfortable in the country and know the different programs the site has to offer, we would then choose, and officially begin to work.

Ashley and I have been doing a little bit of everything in the past couple of weeks. There was one day when we went to a rural community called Potrero. Potrero is pretty far and to get there you have to go in a pick up truck over dirt paths, that I couldn’t even tell were “roads,” and a field of palm trees and tomato crops. It was pretty awesome! Once we were there we had a group psychology session. The people who are from these rural communities mainly speak Guarani so it was difficult to understand the session, but the psychologist tried to explain to us as best they could. Basically the group session was about couple’s relationships. The women discussed how through the Alcoholics Anonymous groups the Sister of the Good Shepherd (GSV) host, their husbands have been drinking less. The women or even some of the husbands that were there expressed how happy they were about how their relationships were improving with their spouse since they began attending the meetings.

A couple of weeks ago I spent the past couple of days translating a report for the Sister’s of GSV. They have a partnership with a sponsor-a-child program with Canada. It was a little intimidating because the last thing I wanted to do was to phrase something in a way that would make the organization in Canada question the program here in Paraguay. Ashley had the chance to work one morning in the “Escuela de Taller.” The school is made up of girls 11 and up who come from a bad home situation or who are homeless. Once at the school, they receive breakfast and lunch before going to school, at one. In the morning they learn trades like cooking, manicures, hairdressing etc. as a small skill they can use to make money. For example, the girls cook breakfast every morning and they sell what they make to everyone in the offices where the other people at the site work.

Last Friday we were able to visit a women’s penitentiary in Asuncion called the Good Shepherd. It is a state owned prison, but also ran by the sisters. We went there to celebrate the patron saint of the prison. After the mass they held, they had a small procession around the jail while carrying around the saint. Ashley and I also participated. These women were really happy to see the group of people who came to participate in the celebration. I didn’t know it was allowed, but some of the women are even raising their children in this jail. Looking back at my experience there, I realize that it wasn’t like the jails we have in the US. The women, or at least some of them were able to walk around. Most of the women have been imprisoned for stealing or prostitution. Looking at them you could see they were burned or cut up. It was an interesting experience, because it was one I never had. I would like to go back and just get to know the women or hear their stories, but that’s easier said than done.

Right now I believe what I want to do in terms of work is to sit down with the girls from the Escuela de Taller and discuss different topics such as love, relationships, school, and self-esteem. After speaking with the psychologist that work with the girls, we decided that I will be running these meeting with the girls once a week for the rest of the year. When I’m not meeting with the girls I will be going with the psychologists to different communities to participate with the group meetings they have with the women of the community.

Our co-workers/new friends were assigned to also be our tour guides and show us around and they DEFINTELY have been doing that. The red political party in Paraguay is supposed to be the party “del pueblo” or the people. Three Saturdays ago was their anniversary, but the festivities began Friday evening. Ashley and I were very lucky to find out that our “tour guides” are also part of the red party. We spent the night sharing beer (the same way they share maté) and dancing to Paraguayan folkloric music at the red party center. The next day we went to their festival where they played traditional red party songs and had people dance, sing, and play songs. After that part of the festival, there was what I like to call an “after-festival”. Everyone got up and started dancing cumbia and “polka”-which is their folkloric dance.

This weekend was probably my favorite so far. My friend from work David is the theatre teacher. So one day as we began to talk about art, literature, politics, etc. over maté we decided that we needed to take a trip. This weekend after I hopped on his dirt bike (since that’s what everyone here drives), he showed me around. He took me to the lake I had mentioned before when I went to San Bernandino. This lake is I believed called Ypacarai, which is Guarania for man who cried a lot. To make a long legend short, one day this man cried so much that his tears ended up becoming the huge lake. The entire trip was absolutely beautiful! We took a scenic road that was bright green with vegetation and also bursting with bright colors with flowers that are beginning to bloom. I felt like I was in The Motorcycle Diaries. We arrived to a city called Aregua, known for the large water jugs that are made there. The roads were cobblestone and had huge colonial style houses with roses growing everywhere. To our surprise we found a small art gallery! I was so excited to see Paraguayan art and it was beautiful! I might be able to show pictures. Then down the street was The Cultural House of Aregua. Inside you could find more pottery, art, really old post cards, hear old Argentine tango and tons and tons of classic novels!

So far we found a scorpion in my room, in the bathroom, and at work. The irony in all of this is, is that everyone swears there aren’t a lot of scorpions. Ashley and I definitely disagree. Also last week we saw a crocodile when we went out. Of course since Ashley is the next Steve Irwin, she decides that she wants to call the crocodile over!! Thank goodness Good Shepherd Volunteers gave us insurance!

Last, but not least, yesterday was a really tough day for me. I think the honeymoon bliss is beginning to fade. I absolutely love it here, but I think nostalgia and the questioning of my sense purpose is also starting to grow. Ashley and I spoke about how we were feeling and we felt better. Yet, we decided that if we stole one the stray puppies on the street from it’s mom and kept it, we would feel so much happier. The best part in all of this was that while we were having this discussion, one of the sisters came up to us and told us they had taken one of the puppies and that it’s going to live with us now on the property! She told Ashley and I that we can name the dog. We volunteered to wash it and take it to the vet. In the end Ashley and I have something else to look forward to and make us happy! The puppy is now part of the GSV community! =)

¿De que pais son ustedes?

First I would like to make clear that spell cheack is more like spell check en Español therefore I apologize for my spelling errors.

It´s been a long and intense past couple of days since we arrived. Ashley, the other volunteer, and I have been constantly busy that I don´t think we´ve had time to even think about home. I´m trying to think about what Ashley and I did Thursday, our first day,  but we can´t even figure that out. On Friday we went on a small retreat with the other people that work at the Sisters of the Good Shepherd site where we´re staying. We went to this city called Cultimo-a summer city, where all the people from Asuncion go when it gets hot since there´s a huge lake there. We went and it was absolutely beautfiul! Since it´s spring here the flowes are begining to bloom and the house we saw in Cultimo look like the ones I´ve seen in the Mediterranean.

The retreat we went on was great because it allowed us to bond with the other people that we´ll be working with. I swear ever since we got on the plane in NY, all we´ve been doing is laughing! So many funny things have happened, but I have not laughed as much like we did on the retreat. The other people on the retreat began to teach us Guarani-the indegenous language here that EVERYONE speaks. I began to speak some words and I ended up saying something vulgar,which then made everyone laugh. Drinking maté is pretty cool too. Basically there´s this one cup with a bombilla, something that looks like a big metal straw. You warm up your water, put in a thermo, put tea leaves in the wooden cup, and sip. The tea you drink is meant to share with everyone. You drink, then pass the wooden cup around. It´s a really nice experience where you sit down, relax, share your maté, and talk with people. Most importantly before I forget I must say that everyone we have met has been extremely loving and hospitable! We´ve barely been eating at our house since the community memebers are constantly inviting us to go to their homes or go out and do things with them. Whenever I mention something about missing home, they always respond, ¨We will give you so much love and comfort you won´t miss home.¨ With this this type of TLC I don´t think I want to come home! Just kidding! One of the first questions people constantly ask us is if we´re vegitartians. It´s extrememely funny. I guess some of the past volunteers were vegitarians and Paraguayans love thier steak and so do I! =)

There´s so much to learn and do. Right now I´m really trying to learn Guarani. It´s important to know the language because when Paraguay was under the dictatorship, people weren´t allowed to speak it. Now it´s national pride to be able to speak Guarani and people just love you the much more when you do. I´ve also been learning about their politics which is complicated, but little by little I´ll learn.

This week we´re visiting the different sites the sisters have and I guess we´ll be working soon. Today is the first day Ashely and I feel overwhelmed. When in doubt drink some wine! Ciao!