Thursday, December 23, 2010
...btw
in the background of the photo on the blackboard is a crazy little story that i wrote in perfect Guaraní....how freakin awesome is that!!
Colación de mi primera Clase de Inglés
so yesterday was the last day of english class and this morning we had our little graduation party. only three of the five kids could make it but still everybody brought food and we had a good time. i handed out certificates and we took pictures. it was awesome. i feel like this picture pretty much expresses how everybody felt.
i am planning on starting class again in january after the holidays and all the kids showed interest in coming and entering my class again. I am excited to see their enthusiasm.
it was an awesome morning!!
......
this last weekend was the celebration of the foundation of my town of fulgencio yegros. it turned 119 years old. wow!!
haha the festival started thursday ngiht with a play and talent show in the amphiteatre. friday night there was a festival in the plaza along with bull fighting in the amphiteatre. afterwards there was a concert until about 5 or 6 in the morning.
sooo many people came from all over to be here and the town was hopping.
saturday night was the big night though. there was bulfighting followed by a dance party followed by a concert given by the most famous singer in paraguay right now.
her name i La Kchorra which means the puppy. but her songs are heard alll the time everywhere!!! so to have her come to our little town was a big deal. she didnt end up going on stage until about 5 am which meant that almost the entire town was up to see the sunrise together. kind fo cool
i think i ended up making it back to my bed around 1030 the next day.
then sunday night was one last night a bullfighting.
the bullfighting is pretty awesome. its not the one where they kill the bull but there are guys in nice outfits with the red capes and a clown and cowboys. like a bulfight slash rodeo almost. but was really neat to see.
cant really right too much more write now. but more to come soon!
love you all
charley
Monday, December 13, 2010
so the last couple weeks....
so havent been able to post in a while. ive been travelling a lot throughout paraguay...started with thanksgiving.
about 100 peacecorps volunteers met up in the southern city of incarnacion where we all stayed at this really nice hotel with a giant pool. there were a variety of activities and amazing food. we got to eat everything. turkey with gravey, potatoes, stuffing, and i even got a slice of canned cranberry sauce...
the culmination of the weekended was the dance party the last night of our stay. my friend had come to the dance floor and not realizing it had knocked over a wine bottle which broke and the glass had entered her foot. she finally realized that she was leaking blood all over the place and somebody carried her out of the room. when the lights went on we saw that there was blood all over the floor. i had never seen so much blood before in my life. haha they blocked off the area then every just moved over the the other side of the dance floor, the lights went off, and the majority kept dancing.
me and a few others went over to take care of her. we wrapped her foot up with our shirts. she was bleeding heavily and almost fainted. finally me and my friend carried her to the car where a driver took the three of us to the hostpital travelling at 100 miles per hour. the greatest part was that me and my friend were both shirtless and my friend didnt even have any pants on. dont ask why...another story for another time.
we arrived at the hospital and my friend who is in his boxers waits in the lobby and falls asleep so i enter into the emergency room shirtless to help hold my friends hand and watch them stitch her up.
she made it out alive. and i think its finally reached the point where we can retell the story and just laugh about how ridiculous it was.
soo after thanksgiving my group travels across the country to the capital asuncion to have a reunion and talk about our problems and also learn some new tools to help out us. we were also able to stay with our original host families in ypane. it was nice to get to see everyone again.
the following weekend i travelled to villa rica to celebrate my birthday and my best friends birthday. we danced the night away. i ended up getting stuck there for a few days due to rain....
and finally we reach my brithday which was last tuesday.....did i have a birthday!!!
i ended up buying 1000 40`s of cerveza and almost half a cow. we had a bbq at my house and half the town came. we partied all day and then at night there was the highschool graduation where we continued to celebrate my brithday until the sun came up at about 7 am.....finally it was time to call it quits haha
and finally this last weekend almost all the volunteers went to asuncion to celebrate the new group of volunteer´s graduation and also for a concert consisting of bands created by the volunteers themselves. it was a very lindo party and we celebrate to the utmost......
so that has been a recap of my past two weeks......sorry i kind of rushed through it all but estoy un poco apurado
te amo
ciao
karlo!!
about 100 peacecorps volunteers met up in the southern city of incarnacion where we all stayed at this really nice hotel with a giant pool. there were a variety of activities and amazing food. we got to eat everything. turkey with gravey, potatoes, stuffing, and i even got a slice of canned cranberry sauce...
the culmination of the weekended was the dance party the last night of our stay. my friend had come to the dance floor and not realizing it had knocked over a wine bottle which broke and the glass had entered her foot. she finally realized that she was leaking blood all over the place and somebody carried her out of the room. when the lights went on we saw that there was blood all over the floor. i had never seen so much blood before in my life. haha they blocked off the area then every just moved over the the other side of the dance floor, the lights went off, and the majority kept dancing.
me and a few others went over to take care of her. we wrapped her foot up with our shirts. she was bleeding heavily and almost fainted. finally me and my friend carried her to the car where a driver took the three of us to the hostpital travelling at 100 miles per hour. the greatest part was that me and my friend were both shirtless and my friend didnt even have any pants on. dont ask why...another story for another time.
we arrived at the hospital and my friend who is in his boxers waits in the lobby and falls asleep so i enter into the emergency room shirtless to help hold my friends hand and watch them stitch her up.
she made it out alive. and i think its finally reached the point where we can retell the story and just laugh about how ridiculous it was.
soo after thanksgiving my group travels across the country to the capital asuncion to have a reunion and talk about our problems and also learn some new tools to help out us. we were also able to stay with our original host families in ypane. it was nice to get to see everyone again.
the following weekend i travelled to villa rica to celebrate my birthday and my best friends birthday. we danced the night away. i ended up getting stuck there for a few days due to rain....
and finally we reach my brithday which was last tuesday.....did i have a birthday!!!
i ended up buying 1000 40`s of cerveza and almost half a cow. we had a bbq at my house and half the town came. we partied all day and then at night there was the highschool graduation where we continued to celebrate my brithday until the sun came up at about 7 am.....finally it was time to call it quits haha
and finally this last weekend almost all the volunteers went to asuncion to celebrate the new group of volunteer´s graduation and also for a concert consisting of bands created by the volunteers themselves. it was a very lindo party and we celebrate to the utmost......
so that has been a recap of my past two weeks......sorry i kind of rushed through it all but estoy un poco apurado
te amo
ciao
karlo!!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
f.y.i.
for those of you who arent a frequent facebook user.....just wanted to let you all know i posted a few pictures of my town and some people....there arent too many but its a start....oo and they are in the photo album at the bottom with the title
novmber 22nd 2010
enjoy...!!
novmber 22nd 2010
enjoy...!!
Monday, November 22, 2010
just one of those days.....that you will never forget
soo yesterday was our departments(states) futbol championship. between my town and the town about an hour away. the championship is a best 2 out of 3 series since it was tied 1 to 1, they decided to have to third game at a neutral field in the next closest town which happens to be only 2 to 3 hours away.
the game started at 3 and about 25 of us decided we were going to take my friends bus and leave at about 9, get there early, grill some meat and drink some beers.
weather looked like it was going to rain, but it was game day and nobody thinks or cares much about it.
and for those of you who don´t remember. the roads leaving my town are all dirt and are almost impossible to drive through when it rains, especially in shitty old bus.
we get on the road and of course it starts raining the roads immediately turn to mud. we are taking it slow and are about 12 kilometros away when bam we hit a turn and the back end of the bus starts to drift and slide down into a ditch.
what is to be done...ill tell you.... all of the guys rip their shirts off, including me of course. IM NOT MISSING OUT ON THIS!!!! haha and we get out in the almost knee deep mud and start to push. we are at this for about an hour or two. and so many times we almost get the dam thing back up on the road. but there is just nothing happening.
there is a bus filled with people stopped about half a kilo back. but of course they are from the opposing town and none of them want to come out and get wet to help us. but also they can´t pass us because our bus is pretty much perpendicular to the road and is blocking it.
enetualy we decide we will have a better chance getting the bus out if we push it all the way into the ditch to straighten it out and then push from there.
SOOO CLOSEEE we come. someone brought out a rope that we tied to the front and there were people pushing and pulling and everyones chanting COME ON YEGROSSSS WE CAN DO THISSS!!!.
so of couse now that our bus is out of the way the other towns bus can pass. and we actually help push their bus...why i dont know because they didnt help us.
so we get back on the bus and there is nothing to do except huddle together for heat and wait for something to happen. we thought we were gong to have to sleep there. because sometimes it can rain for two days and the road is so bad nothing can move.
the girls all ended up leaving in trucks that were passing by. so the guys stayed behind, we busted out the drums and cow bells and started singing our towns theme song.
eventually we get a call letting us know the the indendente of the town has ordered that a tractor comes to pull us out.
so two hours later, we are soaked, muddy and freezing but still in high spirits, we see the tractor at the top of the hill. and within seconds we are guiding the bus out of the ditch and onto the road.!! we did it!!!!!!! and of course we stop at the next little road shop to buy as manny beers and hotdog buns as possible.
two or three more times we had to get out of the bus to keep if from sliding off the road. eventually we made it to the game.
its cold freezing and everyones in the stands shivering in shorts and sandals and muddddd. nobody thought we would make, but we did. and we had our own little section of mud covered funs in the stands.
after 3 hours, the game ends in a tie and it comes down to the penalty shots. it was very exciting but sadly, we lost....so we get out of there as quick as possible. but wouldnt you know it...
on the road we are behind the same bus that wouldnt help us before. and about five times we had to get out to help them push....and not once did our bus get stuck!!! of this we were very proud. we stocked up on boxes of wine and coca cola and were drinking, singing, and banging the drums for the entire ride home.
it sounds like an awful day.....but now that its over and i think back on it, i will never forget it. it was a very bonding experience, and how often can i say i was shirtless in the middle of south america, in the mud pushing a bus, shoulder to shoulder with my paraguayan friends, singing the whole time.
it was actually amazing and i wouldnt have changed anything!!!... accept maybe i would have brought a jacket....
the game started at 3 and about 25 of us decided we were going to take my friends bus and leave at about 9, get there early, grill some meat and drink some beers.
weather looked like it was going to rain, but it was game day and nobody thinks or cares much about it.
and for those of you who don´t remember. the roads leaving my town are all dirt and are almost impossible to drive through when it rains, especially in shitty old bus.
we get on the road and of course it starts raining the roads immediately turn to mud. we are taking it slow and are about 12 kilometros away when bam we hit a turn and the back end of the bus starts to drift and slide down into a ditch.
what is to be done...ill tell you.... all of the guys rip their shirts off, including me of course. IM NOT MISSING OUT ON THIS!!!! haha and we get out in the almost knee deep mud and start to push. we are at this for about an hour or two. and so many times we almost get the dam thing back up on the road. but there is just nothing happening.
there is a bus filled with people stopped about half a kilo back. but of course they are from the opposing town and none of them want to come out and get wet to help us. but also they can´t pass us because our bus is pretty much perpendicular to the road and is blocking it.
enetualy we decide we will have a better chance getting the bus out if we push it all the way into the ditch to straighten it out and then push from there.
SOOO CLOSEEE we come. someone brought out a rope that we tied to the front and there were people pushing and pulling and everyones chanting COME ON YEGROSSSS WE CAN DO THISSS!!!.
so of couse now that our bus is out of the way the other towns bus can pass. and we actually help push their bus...why i dont know because they didnt help us.
so we get back on the bus and there is nothing to do except huddle together for heat and wait for something to happen. we thought we were gong to have to sleep there. because sometimes it can rain for two days and the road is so bad nothing can move.
the girls all ended up leaving in trucks that were passing by. so the guys stayed behind, we busted out the drums and cow bells and started singing our towns theme song.
eventually we get a call letting us know the the indendente of the town has ordered that a tractor comes to pull us out.
so two hours later, we are soaked, muddy and freezing but still in high spirits, we see the tractor at the top of the hill. and within seconds we are guiding the bus out of the ditch and onto the road.!! we did it!!!!!!! and of course we stop at the next little road shop to buy as manny beers and hotdog buns as possible.
two or three more times we had to get out of the bus to keep if from sliding off the road. eventually we made it to the game.
its cold freezing and everyones in the stands shivering in shorts and sandals and muddddd. nobody thought we would make, but we did. and we had our own little section of mud covered funs in the stands.
after 3 hours, the game ends in a tie and it comes down to the penalty shots. it was very exciting but sadly, we lost....so we get out of there as quick as possible. but wouldnt you know it...
on the road we are behind the same bus that wouldnt help us before. and about five times we had to get out to help them push....and not once did our bus get stuck!!! of this we were very proud. we stocked up on boxes of wine and coca cola and were drinking, singing, and banging the drums for the entire ride home.
it sounds like an awful day.....but now that its over and i think back on it, i will never forget it. it was a very bonding experience, and how often can i say i was shirtless in the middle of south america, in the mud pushing a bus, shoulder to shoulder with my paraguayan friends, singing the whole time.
it was actually amazing and i wouldnt have changed anything!!!... accept maybe i would have brought a jacket....
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
angepyhare...(last night)
soo last night was just awesome.....it was a gorgeous day outside and i bought cow meat to grill and cerveza and finally had the unveiling of my cornhole set.....
i wish i had a camera but there will be other oppotunities....like always my friends were unsure about playing and trying something new but then after one game, like always, they loved it and there was a crowd of 20 kids coming off the street to stand and watch us play. i only got to play the first game haha which is alright with me and then afterwards they kind of took over...i just sat back, relaxed, sipped my cerveza, and watched.
it was pretty awesome. i think they played for like 3 or 4 hours. eventually the boards broke a little. they still work but i will have to get another set made out of woood that is a little bit stronger.
its kind of cool as i am typing this im not sure if it is coming to me first in castillano or english. i sort of have it stranlsated in my head at the same time...weird feeling.
man i had something awesome i wanted to write about. it as totally random and i knew i should have written it down. but its gone now.
o well....
so guarani is all about dirty jokes and bad words. so i learned a fairly lengthy joke in guarani. it takes me forever to tell it and it comes out terrible but they love it and die laughing. jaja i feel like this is how im going to learn guarani. i have a book filled with 300 pages of grose jokes. i dont understand any of them. but if i can get through one joke a day i feel like i will learn the gramar at the same time. little by little. but it costs me a lot to speak it. my mouth is always really tired after telling the joke. major tongue twist this language.
mmmm so if people have questions i think you guys can like post comments???? in the form of questions and then next time i post i can answer...!!!
so this morning i was talking with an agricultural guy and he tells me that yegros biggest problem is that the people dont know how to sell they products or where. they really only grow food for themselves and dont do anything with the rest. so next week we are going to plan out a schedule to go visit all the farming communities and talk to them and see what we can do. im pretty siked about this.
i will keep you all updated.....
all for now
love you all
haku hina ha ha`uma helado he`e pero aipotvema
its hot as hell and i already ate icecream but already i want some more....
i wish i had a camera but there will be other oppotunities....like always my friends were unsure about playing and trying something new but then after one game, like always, they loved it and there was a crowd of 20 kids coming off the street to stand and watch us play. i only got to play the first game haha which is alright with me and then afterwards they kind of took over...i just sat back, relaxed, sipped my cerveza, and watched.
it was pretty awesome. i think they played for like 3 or 4 hours. eventually the boards broke a little. they still work but i will have to get another set made out of woood that is a little bit stronger.
its kind of cool as i am typing this im not sure if it is coming to me first in castillano or english. i sort of have it stranlsated in my head at the same time...weird feeling.
man i had something awesome i wanted to write about. it as totally random and i knew i should have written it down. but its gone now.
o well....
so guarani is all about dirty jokes and bad words. so i learned a fairly lengthy joke in guarani. it takes me forever to tell it and it comes out terrible but they love it and die laughing. jaja i feel like this is how im going to learn guarani. i have a book filled with 300 pages of grose jokes. i dont understand any of them. but if i can get through one joke a day i feel like i will learn the gramar at the same time. little by little. but it costs me a lot to speak it. my mouth is always really tired after telling the joke. major tongue twist this language.
mmmm so if people have questions i think you guys can like post comments???? in the form of questions and then next time i post i can answer...!!!
so this morning i was talking with an agricultural guy and he tells me that yegros biggest problem is that the people dont know how to sell they products or where. they really only grow food for themselves and dont do anything with the rest. so next week we are going to plan out a schedule to go visit all the farming communities and talk to them and see what we can do. im pretty siked about this.
i will keep you all updated.....
all for now
love you all
haku hina ha ha`uma helado he`e pero aipotvema
its hot as hell and i already ate icecream but already i want some more....
Monday, November 15, 2010
things that remind me of where i am......
..helping give a sheep a haircut
..the water getting shutoff everyday until 7pm
and not getting turned back on sometimes for two days because its too hott.
..having to shower with a bucket
..having dance parties in the middle of the countryside
..the stars all being upside down and backwards
..milking a cow and actually getting the milk to come out finally
..buying a pig for my birthday
..eating fruits i have never seen in my life before
..playing beer pong for the first time all over again
..being attacked and bitten by huge bugs i have never seen
..the whole town being without power whenever it rains. pitch black!
..having bird poop on my computer screen
..standing in a bus with my shirt off sweating fot two hours on my way to the fútbol championship
.....and many other things that i just cant post right now...
..the water getting shutoff everyday until 7pm
and not getting turned back on sometimes for two days because its too hott.
..having to shower with a bucket
..having dance parties in the middle of the countryside
..the stars all being upside down and backwards
..milking a cow and actually getting the milk to come out finally
..buying a pig for my birthday
..eating fruits i have never seen in my life before
..playing beer pong for the first time all over again
..being attacked and bitten by huge bugs i have never seen
..the whole town being without power whenever it rains. pitch black!
..having bird poop on my computer screen
..standing in a bus with my shirt off sweating fot two hours on my way to the fútbol championship
.....and many other things that i just cant post right now...
things that remind me of where i am......
..helping give a sheep a haircut
..the watering getting shutoff everyday until 7pm
..the watering getting shutoff everyday until 7pm
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
cornhole anyone???
sooo yesterday i spent the afternoon with a local carpenter making the what is most definitely the first Paraguayan bag (cornhole) set ever. its fair decent for the tools we had. well have to see how well it holds still. i still have to make the bean bags but that shouldnt be too hard i hope. im excited to paint the boards the colors of the two major soccer clubs here, cerro y olimpia.
sunday was election day for the intendente which is pretty much the mayor of the town. there are two main political groups, colorado which is red and liberal which is blue. colorado ended up winning and there was a huge caravan through the town. it was pretty nutz. and it ended in the tinglado, where there was a huge party that last the entire night.
finished season 4 of the office...almost, got 23 minutes left. haha i love this episode. one of the funniest ones, when toby finally leaves!!! michael is straight rediculous.
so i think this is the longest ive gone without leaving the town. it has been a whole month. nutz. i cant sort of finally. i am itching to see my american friends and go to the city. but also i can feel myself getting more sucked into the life of being stuck here.
just found out that my host brother will be leaving in december to live in a city a few hours away. ill see him once in a while but it will be a lot diferent without him around as well as all the seniors in highschool. they are my closest friends because they are nearest my age. everyone my age has moved out of town to work or study. so in december ends the school year and the seniors will be going too. kind sad.
in january we are having the anual leadership camp and i will be bringing three kids from my town the one of the big cities, ciudad del oeste, for three days of leadership activites. it will be fun.
i have also started talking with a buddy of mine about opening a gymnasio or workout facility because there isnt one here and all the jovenes really want out.
haha i even started practicing break dancing.
this morning played twisteer with my little kids enlish class to teach them colors and left and right and hand and foot.
they lovvvvved it and want to play again next week. well have to see....
any ways thats all for now
guarani frase of the day......
epynoro ojekata nde´aka
if you fart you will break your head
a three year said this to me this morning.....
sunday was election day for the intendente which is pretty much the mayor of the town. there are two main political groups, colorado which is red and liberal which is blue. colorado ended up winning and there was a huge caravan through the town. it was pretty nutz. and it ended in the tinglado, where there was a huge party that last the entire night.
finished season 4 of the office...almost, got 23 minutes left. haha i love this episode. one of the funniest ones, when toby finally leaves!!! michael is straight rediculous.
so i think this is the longest ive gone without leaving the town. it has been a whole month. nutz. i cant sort of finally. i am itching to see my american friends and go to the city. but also i can feel myself getting more sucked into the life of being stuck here.
just found out that my host brother will be leaving in december to live in a city a few hours away. ill see him once in a while but it will be a lot diferent without him around as well as all the seniors in highschool. they are my closest friends because they are nearest my age. everyone my age has moved out of town to work or study. so in december ends the school year and the seniors will be going too. kind sad.
in january we are having the anual leadership camp and i will be bringing three kids from my town the one of the big cities, ciudad del oeste, for three days of leadership activites. it will be fun.
i have also started talking with a buddy of mine about opening a gymnasio or workout facility because there isnt one here and all the jovenes really want out.
haha i even started practicing break dancing.
this morning played twisteer with my little kids enlish class to teach them colors and left and right and hand and foot.
they lovvvvved it and want to play again next week. well have to see....
any ways thats all for now
guarani frase of the day......
epynoro ojekata nde´aka
if you fart you will break your head
a three year said this to me this morning.....
Thursday, November 4, 2010
mov`n to the country
so i have decided that when i do eventually move out.....i will be movin to this nearby farming community in the country. it is very peaceful and relaxing i think i will enjoy it. epsecially since i want to work more with agriculture.....so we will see what happens!
i think about food from home all the time now....haha its killer. thai food, pita inn, stuff like that, which is pretty ironic since none of that food is american.
today i am going to start workng with a carpenter to make a bag set...cornhole set. i thought it would be fun to share some of the funner aspects of our culture. and also tonight i think we will be playing beerpong...but to find the ping pong balls we will have to cut up aerosol cans and take out little plastic balls. should be interesting and i will let you know how everyone takes to the new game.
english classes are going well....feel like they are actually learning something and ive been able to root out the students that are actually pretty serious about the class. they definitely seem to be learning. so that is good.
i have a friend that drives a bus and yesterday he took me way out into the countryside and after his route we ate with his family. then he took me to this really old bridge that a train used to pass over the river....we were going to jump off because it was really hott and that water looked really nice but apparently it was too high and we would have drowned.....so afterwards we went to another bridge and another river and swam in that one....
so its been almost exactly 5 months since i landed in this country where i new exactly nobody and nobody speaks english and with no idea of what was going to happen to me or what i was going to do....and welll
i am still alive.....and still enjoying my time....and still have no idea what i am doing but its ok because now at least i can understand more of what is going on around me and i have many other friends close by that are in the same situation....
haha love you guys
will post again soon
karlo
i think about food from home all the time now....haha its killer. thai food, pita inn, stuff like that, which is pretty ironic since none of that food is american.
today i am going to start workng with a carpenter to make a bag set...cornhole set. i thought it would be fun to share some of the funner aspects of our culture. and also tonight i think we will be playing beerpong...but to find the ping pong balls we will have to cut up aerosol cans and take out little plastic balls. should be interesting and i will let you know how everyone takes to the new game.
english classes are going well....feel like they are actually learning something and ive been able to root out the students that are actually pretty serious about the class. they definitely seem to be learning. so that is good.
i have a friend that drives a bus and yesterday he took me way out into the countryside and after his route we ate with his family. then he took me to this really old bridge that a train used to pass over the river....we were going to jump off because it was really hott and that water looked really nice but apparently it was too high and we would have drowned.....so afterwards we went to another bridge and another river and swam in that one....
so its been almost exactly 5 months since i landed in this country where i new exactly nobody and nobody speaks english and with no idea of what was going to happen to me or what i was going to do....and welll
i am still alive.....and still enjoying my time....and still have no idea what i am doing but its ok because now at least i can understand more of what is going on around me and i have many other friends close by that are in the same situation....
haha love you guys
will post again soon
karlo
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
ENGLISH AND WORMS!!!
so yesterday i had my first two english classes. in the morning i taught the young ones, up to 12 anos and in the evening the teenagers.
haha it was awesome. made me feel like i was actually doing something for a change. the are learning the alphabet and simple saludos like
hello
my name is
what is your name?
it was pretty awesome. we played a bunch of games and stuff and i think they had a good time.
they are about 1.5 hours each, monday and wednesday, in the morning and evening.
think the course will be about 10 weeks, but not exactly sure. the computer guy wants that we finish the computer course and english course at the same time.
also i talked to the head agricultor guy, who happens to be my neighbor, about the lombricultura, using worms to make better fertilizer and i think he really liked the idea. i just read up on the topic and i think we are going to prepare a charla, presentation, to give to the farmers of this one nearby farming village. im excited for this because i really like being out in the country and i think this will be a great opportunity to help do create something sustainable, that they will be able to keep doing after i am gone. and plus its a little more exciting and unique than teaching english.
in december i will be going to brazil with the highschool here. its a 26 hour bus ride, then 3 days in brazil, than another 26 hour busride back...haha will see what happens.
last night this girl erme left. i have like four really close friends in this town and she was one of them. i was really sad. cried a little bit. its going to be really diferent here without her. she moved across the country to go live in the city with her sister. nobody knows why and i dont think any of us actually believed that she was going to go through with it. but she did and it kinda sucks. but takes balls to do something like that here so i guess i am proud of her...
bueno, thats all for now
love you
jajotopata
haha it was awesome. made me feel like i was actually doing something for a change. the are learning the alphabet and simple saludos like
hello
my name is
what is your name?
it was pretty awesome. we played a bunch of games and stuff and i think they had a good time.
they are about 1.5 hours each, monday and wednesday, in the morning and evening.
think the course will be about 10 weeks, but not exactly sure. the computer guy wants that we finish the computer course and english course at the same time.
also i talked to the head agricultor guy, who happens to be my neighbor, about the lombricultura, using worms to make better fertilizer and i think he really liked the idea. i just read up on the topic and i think we are going to prepare a charla, presentation, to give to the farmers of this one nearby farming village. im excited for this because i really like being out in the country and i think this will be a great opportunity to help do create something sustainable, that they will be able to keep doing after i am gone. and plus its a little more exciting and unique than teaching english.
in december i will be going to brazil with the highschool here. its a 26 hour bus ride, then 3 days in brazil, than another 26 hour busride back...haha will see what happens.
last night this girl erme left. i have like four really close friends in this town and she was one of them. i was really sad. cried a little bit. its going to be really diferent here without her. she moved across the country to go live in the city with her sister. nobody knows why and i dont think any of us actually believed that she was going to go through with it. but she did and it kinda sucks. but takes balls to do something like that here so i guess i am proud of her...
bueno, thats all for now
love you
jajotopata
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Coca Cola.........
So i havent posted in a while. not much has been happening but ive started to bring together some ideas for projects i will be starting soon.
ive decided in about a week or so i will have sign up day for english class. it will be 2 days a week in the morning and after noon. adult class and jovenes class.
despues, i talked to the director of the high school. and we are going to design a class i can give once a week, more of a presentation, to the kids about topics of life. haha mainly values, family respect, that sort of thing because there is not much of that here.
i also want to give charlas to the people who live in the campo(countryside) about better ways to manage their crops....
ive started to tutor this teacher in mathematics. she teaches adults in a night class, but she covers all topics and is not really fluent in mathematics. she has a book but with no answers and she has to send away to a different town to get the answer to the math problems so she can teach them. so i am helping here out and she is feeding me haha.
so i wanted to talk a little bit about COCA COLA...it has pretty much taken the place of smoking cigarrettes here. it is dranken all the time, everywhere. after meals as deserts. or people will say, ´hey lets go to the plaza and drink´ haha and the mean lets go buy a liter of cocal and drink it together in the plaza. they even put it in their beer and wine. i have to admit, wine with coke is not bad, but its pretty insane the amount consumed. haha the majority of people also think that coca cola was created in paraguay....but ill let that one slide.
this sunday is the festival de liquor. people have been busy preparing for it. including me, making certificates to hand out. but its a big festival where all the liquor producers come here. sort of an expo. its the biggest thing we have here so people are freaking out. should be fun. ive been helping the one guy make glasses out of bottles. i think i already wrote about it. but now we have close to 50. we are going to have a stand at the expo and try to sell them. they are muy lindo.
went out and drank terere in the campo the other day with a friend. the scene was amazing. just this house in the middle of the country. we walk in and there are two elderlies sitting on a bed and in a chair, chewing tobacco from a cigar with spit all over the floor. playing cards and using corn cournels to bet. teeth falling out, old and wrinkly haha with skin like leather.
we sat outside drinking terere, the chickens and pigs and cows walking all around us. it was pretty awesome. its these kind of moments that it hits you. man look where i am. that why i love getting out into the campo as much as possible. it so relaxing and peacefull.
im trying to think of there is something i am missing....mmmm probably but ill save it for next time.
i decided im going to make a video of the town and try to get it up online somehow so you all can get an idea of where i am and what im living like.
jajotopata (we will find eachother later)
ive decided in about a week or so i will have sign up day for english class. it will be 2 days a week in the morning and after noon. adult class and jovenes class.
despues, i talked to the director of the high school. and we are going to design a class i can give once a week, more of a presentation, to the kids about topics of life. haha mainly values, family respect, that sort of thing because there is not much of that here.
i also want to give charlas to the people who live in the campo(countryside) about better ways to manage their crops....
ive started to tutor this teacher in mathematics. she teaches adults in a night class, but she covers all topics and is not really fluent in mathematics. she has a book but with no answers and she has to send away to a different town to get the answer to the math problems so she can teach them. so i am helping here out and she is feeding me haha.
so i wanted to talk a little bit about COCA COLA...it has pretty much taken the place of smoking cigarrettes here. it is dranken all the time, everywhere. after meals as deserts. or people will say, ´hey lets go to the plaza and drink´ haha and the mean lets go buy a liter of cocal and drink it together in the plaza. they even put it in their beer and wine. i have to admit, wine with coke is not bad, but its pretty insane the amount consumed. haha the majority of people also think that coca cola was created in paraguay....but ill let that one slide.
this sunday is the festival de liquor. people have been busy preparing for it. including me, making certificates to hand out. but its a big festival where all the liquor producers come here. sort of an expo. its the biggest thing we have here so people are freaking out. should be fun. ive been helping the one guy make glasses out of bottles. i think i already wrote about it. but now we have close to 50. we are going to have a stand at the expo and try to sell them. they are muy lindo.
went out and drank terere in the campo the other day with a friend. the scene was amazing. just this house in the middle of the country. we walk in and there are two elderlies sitting on a bed and in a chair, chewing tobacco from a cigar with spit all over the floor. playing cards and using corn cournels to bet. teeth falling out, old and wrinkly haha with skin like leather.
we sat outside drinking terere, the chickens and pigs and cows walking all around us. it was pretty awesome. its these kind of moments that it hits you. man look where i am. that why i love getting out into the campo as much as possible. it so relaxing and peacefull.
im trying to think of there is something i am missing....mmmm probably but ill save it for next time.
i decided im going to make a video of the town and try to get it up online somehow so you all can get an idea of where i am and what im living like.
jajotopata (we will find eachother later)
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
ahora estamos internacionalmente!!!!
just this morning we have put our radio station on the internet...........
now you can listen to fulgencio yegros live at anytime, anwhere in the world.
you may even hear my voice once in a while so check it out!!!!! hey speak guarani once in a while so you can get a little taste of that! and what authentic guarani music sounds like....
www.ajp.com.py
radio aguai poty 90.5
scroll down and look on the right hand side.
there should be a little play bar where you clic to listen
ours is called
radio aguai poty 90.5
fulgencio yegros
love you all
jajotopata
now you can listen to fulgencio yegros live at anytime, anwhere in the world.
you may even hear my voice once in a while so check it out!!!!! hey speak guarani once in a while so you can get a little taste of that! and what authentic guarani music sounds like....
www.ajp.com.py
radio aguai poty 90.5
scroll down and look on the right hand side.
there should be a little play bar where you clic to listen
ours is called
radio aguai poty 90.5
fulgencio yegros
love you all
jajotopata
Friday, September 3, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
ARRIVED!!
so i just arrived at my sight tuesday. haha i was a little freaked the first night. didnt know anybody. could barely understand them. had no idea what i was going to do. but after a day i realized that everything would come with time and i kinda settled down a little bit.
but my site (for jisi) is amazing and very tranquilo. my day will normally go as follows. wake up at 8 and go to the municipalidad to sit there and drink terere and do nothing because they all talk in guarani and i dont think they do too much anyways haha.
then after about an hour i go to the computer salon and help people out with computer issues and play on the computer until about 11
afterwards i go next door to the justice house where i drink terere outside with my host brother and his friends for two hours. still not sure what happens there but ill figure it out someday. then at about 1 i go home for lunch.
laydown for a little bit because the day has made me tired. then i figure out something to do for an hour or two and then play soccer with some guys. then dinner. and then who knows what comes next!!!! haha
but its good because i need a break after a long 3 months of hardcore training. this life will change though once i start finding more things to do.
BUT already i have done a lot in the past week.
ive met sooo many people. i went to the colegio where i introduced myself to every class and even practiced dancing with the dance class. haha they talked about it on the radio too!
worked in the huerta. garden. with my host dad. talked him about lumbricultura wich is creating a more rich abono (fertilizer) using worms. he seemed really interested and i think we are going to try starting it as a project and im hoping other people which catch and and try it as well. because it really does work amazingly.!!!
then yesterday me and my brother bought some materials and started making glasses and wine glasses out of wine bottles. an awesome project i learned during trainig and was a lot of fun. and of course to celebrate we had to throw a little get together in his backyard and test them out....of course!
last night also i went to my first meeting with the cultural commission. they were talking about how to survive the elections because a new municipaility could be put in place and they want to ensure they it will still recognize them as a commission. i was surprised but actually understand a lot of what they were saying. haha i think it surprised them too. i responded to something someone said and they all stared at me with mouths open because they were not expecting me to make a noise for at least a year i think haha
anyways.....its been the most eventful but chilled week of my life and i cant wait to see whats going to happen...
love you guys, miss you,
charlie
but my site (for jisi) is amazing and very tranquilo. my day will normally go as follows. wake up at 8 and go to the municipalidad to sit there and drink terere and do nothing because they all talk in guarani and i dont think they do too much anyways haha.
then after about an hour i go to the computer salon and help people out with computer issues and play on the computer until about 11
afterwards i go next door to the justice house where i drink terere outside with my host brother and his friends for two hours. still not sure what happens there but ill figure it out someday. then at about 1 i go home for lunch.
laydown for a little bit because the day has made me tired. then i figure out something to do for an hour or two and then play soccer with some guys. then dinner. and then who knows what comes next!!!! haha
but its good because i need a break after a long 3 months of hardcore training. this life will change though once i start finding more things to do.
BUT already i have done a lot in the past week.
ive met sooo many people. i went to the colegio where i introduced myself to every class and even practiced dancing with the dance class. haha they talked about it on the radio too!
worked in the huerta. garden. with my host dad. talked him about lumbricultura wich is creating a more rich abono (fertilizer) using worms. he seemed really interested and i think we are going to try starting it as a project and im hoping other people which catch and and try it as well. because it really does work amazingly.!!!
then yesterday me and my brother bought some materials and started making glasses and wine glasses out of wine bottles. an awesome project i learned during trainig and was a lot of fun. and of course to celebrate we had to throw a little get together in his backyard and test them out....of course!
last night also i went to my first meeting with the cultural commission. they were talking about how to survive the elections because a new municipaility could be put in place and they want to ensure they it will still recognize them as a commission. i was surprised but actually understand a lot of what they were saying. haha i think it surprised them too. i responded to something someone said and they all stared at me with mouths open because they were not expecting me to make a noise for at least a year i think haha
anyways.....its been the most eventful but chilled week of my life and i cant wait to see whats going to happen...
love you guys, miss you,
charlie
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Jurnamento
ola,
so friday we all came down to the capital of asuncion. there we checked in at the hotel, dressed up, and made our way over to the us embassy for jurnamento, swearing in. it was a nice little ceremony and i think they put us in the news too.
so officially, finally, after a year of waiting and three months of training we are VOLUNTEERS BABY!!!
haha friday was followed by a 48 hour celebration in asuncion!
i am heading back to ypane today until tuesday, to hang out a bit and say good bye to the fam. then tuesday, off to yegros!
finally started to heat up a little bit hear which is nice. hotel had a pool. yesterday went to a movie. saw plan b, or i think its the back up plan. whatever it was, it was terrible.
today we went and saw INCEPTION. AMAZING!!!!!!!!!i cant even begin to describe how much i loved the movie. haha felt weird leaving the mall tho. watching a movie in english, eating mcdonalds, i forgot where i was for a while. haha didnt realize how much i kinda missed that stuff. but o well, good to get one last taste. now i see why volunteers manage to make it back to the capital at least once a month!
other than that, not much. kinda sad, saying good bye to some people. but we will all be relatively close, sort of...
this weekend is the partido clasico. where the biggest two rivals in paraguayan futbol are playing against eachother, so the streets are dead right now haha everybody is watching. olimpia vs cerro. i am an olimpista. not sure the difference, only that they have different colors.
anyways, hope all is well! love you guys.
next time i post it will be from my sight!!
jajo'topata
so friday we all came down to the capital of asuncion. there we checked in at the hotel, dressed up, and made our way over to the us embassy for jurnamento, swearing in. it was a nice little ceremony and i think they put us in the news too.
so officially, finally, after a year of waiting and three months of training we are VOLUNTEERS BABY!!!
haha friday was followed by a 48 hour celebration in asuncion!
i am heading back to ypane today until tuesday, to hang out a bit and say good bye to the fam. then tuesday, off to yegros!
finally started to heat up a little bit hear which is nice. hotel had a pool. yesterday went to a movie. saw plan b, or i think its the back up plan. whatever it was, it was terrible.
today we went and saw INCEPTION. AMAZING!!!!!!!!!i cant even begin to describe how much i loved the movie. haha felt weird leaving the mall tho. watching a movie in english, eating mcdonalds, i forgot where i was for a while. haha didnt realize how much i kinda missed that stuff. but o well, good to get one last taste. now i see why volunteers manage to make it back to the capital at least once a month!
other than that, not much. kinda sad, saying good bye to some people. but we will all be relatively close, sort of...
this weekend is the partido clasico. where the biggest two rivals in paraguayan futbol are playing against eachother, so the streets are dead right now haha everybody is watching. olimpia vs cerro. i am an olimpista. not sure the difference, only that they have different colors.
anyways, hope all is well! love you guys.
next time i post it will be from my sight!!
jajo'topata
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
MAPA MUNDIAL!!!
so for the past...weeks we have been working on the project where the muni let us paint a world map in the front of the plaza...and today we just finally finished!!!!!!!!!
its sooo awesome and its huge! like 10 meters by 5 meters. and colorful and everything.
we started off just painting abig blue square and nobody wanted to help cuz nobody knew what we were doing. once we drew in the countries and started paiting everybody in town got to excited and started talking about it!
everytime wed paint we would get the kids and some adults to help us and everybody walking by would talk to us and ask us what we were doing.
its amazing how little the people here are exposed to sometimes.
we finished the map and some people still asked what it was. if it was a map of our country. and por eso is the reason we did the map. to help educate themabout the world.
but it was soooooooo cool getting to show somebody for the first time where their country is located in the world. haha very gratifying and satisfying.
but i will put a picture of it up on here sometime soon.!!
ahh soo cool...
anyways friday is our day.juramiento! very excited.today all the familys are gathering together for a little fiesta.
and and just skyped with jisi for the first time. think he is the first person from home i have seen since i have been out here. made me miss you guys!!
jajo´topata!
its sooo awesome and its huge! like 10 meters by 5 meters. and colorful and everything.
we started off just painting abig blue square and nobody wanted to help cuz nobody knew what we were doing. once we drew in the countries and started paiting everybody in town got to excited and started talking about it!
everytime wed paint we would get the kids and some adults to help us and everybody walking by would talk to us and ask us what we were doing.
its amazing how little the people here are exposed to sometimes.
we finished the map and some people still asked what it was. if it was a map of our country. and por eso is the reason we did the map. to help educate themabout the world.
but it was soooooooo cool getting to show somebody for the first time where their country is located in the world. haha very gratifying and satisfying.
but i will put a picture of it up on here sometime soon.!!
ahh soo cool...
anyways friday is our day.juramiento! very excited.today all the familys are gathering together for a little fiesta.
and and just skyped with jisi for the first time. think he is the first person from home i have seen since i have been out here. made me miss you guys!!
jajo´topata!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
day of rest
so today me and a friend are calling in sick to take ourselves a day of rest and relaxation. training can be a long pain sometimes and today was needed.
but all is well. only two weeks left till we move out and it couldnt go by any slower haha im dying to get to my sight. think today im going to asuncion to by my first hamaca....hamock.
soo my week long sight visit was a success. me and the old volunteer had a good time. it was kind of sad because everyone was saying good bye to him but also made me excited to see what kind of awesome relationships i am going to build.
we hit up this dude ranch in the middle of no where on the way back with a couple other volunteers who live within a couple hours of my sight. stayed there a night. very interesting. this german guy just straight moved to paraguay and started a forresting camp in the middle of 2 square miles of nothingess. very wierd but he was nice and said he would love to have us back. his spanish was terrible just like ours so it was fun to have conversations with him. and interesting. the fact that he spoke only german and us only english and we were using this third language to communicate.
all in all i think everyone is very siked about where they are going to be living the next two yeras and that is great!
miss you guys and will post again after we swear in and are real volunteers!!! TWO WEEKS!!!
peace
carlo
but all is well. only two weeks left till we move out and it couldnt go by any slower haha im dying to get to my sight. think today im going to asuncion to by my first hamaca....hamock.
soo my week long sight visit was a success. me and the old volunteer had a good time. it was kind of sad because everyone was saying good bye to him but also made me excited to see what kind of awesome relationships i am going to build.
we hit up this dude ranch in the middle of no where on the way back with a couple other volunteers who live within a couple hours of my sight. stayed there a night. very interesting. this german guy just straight moved to paraguay and started a forresting camp in the middle of 2 square miles of nothingess. very wierd but he was nice and said he would love to have us back. his spanish was terrible just like ours so it was fun to have conversations with him. and interesting. the fact that he spoke only german and us only english and we were using this third language to communicate.
all in all i think everyone is very siked about where they are going to be living the next two yeras and that is great!
miss you guys and will post again after we swear in and are real volunteers!!! TWO WEEKS!!!
peace
carlo
Monday, August 2, 2010
ChANCHO!!!!!!!
so...i woke up this morning at 430 and went across the pueblo to a familys house which is a little bit more rural.
we started off the day milking cows...only watched haha i tried one time but the cow ran. i think i was squeezing to hard.
but what came next....???
WE KILLED A PIG!!!!!!!
nutz...they pulled the guy out and he was huge. they dragged him to a wooden plank, hog tied him, and i swear i have never heard anything make a noise so loud. i started off feeling really bad for him. they asked me if i wanted to kill him but i had to decline. next time for sure though. what hold him down and a quick jab through the neck and straight into its heart. its a good thing i just watched the first time because blood splattered all over the place and then just started flowing out of his neck. it was quick and painless though...i think. he died within 30 seconds. he was a big guy...lots of blood.
haha i had mixed emotions as this point...the feeling of pitty and remorse and sadness was disappearing. once it stopped moving i realized it was something they had to do to survive and it became easier to accept hahaha
next the took boiling water and poured it on his skin to soften it and with a huge knife they scraped the top layer of hair and skin off. after an hour it was a beautiful clean white pig haha i was able to help with this part. next we hung it up by its hind legs and i continued to scrape. finally they washed it down and it was perfectly clean and white. almost like a piece of art. next we cut off tis hooves and slicced its back open. we started to cut off the skin and grease like a huge coat. haha i got some good pics of us doing this.
next
we sawed it in half and its inards just fell out into a bucket. it was cool to see them save each part and they told us what they were going to cook with it.
haha then we cut off its head and took that guy apart too.
everything was then layed out on a table to be cleaned.
then we preceed back to the center to get some breakfast.
all this by id saya bout 830
haha quite the morning.
soo anyway i really like this pueblo. its pretty tiny and you can walk anywhere in about 15 mintues or so. only a couple main streets....if you would call them that....only one has paving which is new as of last year.
the people are really nice.
today is the current volunteers last day so people have been having despedidos...little going away parties for him. its been interesting and emotional to see him say good bye. its kind of wierd because i keep hearing how great he is and now i have to follow that....but im not too worried. im sure when the next volunteer comes to follow me up the same thing will happen.
but i have pretty much bet all the big players in the town and have made some friends.
i am excited to come back and stay for good.
i am staying with a family right now. mom dad and a kid my age. he is pretty smart and the dad is crazy. we will get along. i will be staying with them for a month or so when i first get back and then after move into the house of current volunteer. its pretty cool and im planning on fixing it up in my spair time and making a huge garden in the back.
he told me he had raised a pig there and then ended up eating it later haha but think ima stick with the garden. we will see.
still freezing here.....supposed to get warm by the end of the month and for this i am excited.
going back to ypane in the next day or two....excited to see my old friends and family again haha
hope all is well at home.....
love you guys
charley
we started off the day milking cows...only watched haha i tried one time but the cow ran. i think i was squeezing to hard.
but what came next....???
WE KILLED A PIG!!!!!!!
nutz...they pulled the guy out and he was huge. they dragged him to a wooden plank, hog tied him, and i swear i have never heard anything make a noise so loud. i started off feeling really bad for him. they asked me if i wanted to kill him but i had to decline. next time for sure though. what hold him down and a quick jab through the neck and straight into its heart. its a good thing i just watched the first time because blood splattered all over the place and then just started flowing out of his neck. it was quick and painless though...i think. he died within 30 seconds. he was a big guy...lots of blood.
haha i had mixed emotions as this point...the feeling of pitty and remorse and sadness was disappearing. once it stopped moving i realized it was something they had to do to survive and it became easier to accept hahaha
next the took boiling water and poured it on his skin to soften it and with a huge knife they scraped the top layer of hair and skin off. after an hour it was a beautiful clean white pig haha i was able to help with this part. next we hung it up by its hind legs and i continued to scrape. finally they washed it down and it was perfectly clean and white. almost like a piece of art. next we cut off tis hooves and slicced its back open. we started to cut off the skin and grease like a huge coat. haha i got some good pics of us doing this.
next
we sawed it in half and its inards just fell out into a bucket. it was cool to see them save each part and they told us what they were going to cook with it.
haha then we cut off its head and took that guy apart too.
everything was then layed out on a table to be cleaned.
then we preceed back to the center to get some breakfast.
all this by id saya bout 830
haha quite the morning.
soo anyway i really like this pueblo. its pretty tiny and you can walk anywhere in about 15 mintues or so. only a couple main streets....if you would call them that....only one has paving which is new as of last year.
the people are really nice.
today is the current volunteers last day so people have been having despedidos...little going away parties for him. its been interesting and emotional to see him say good bye. its kind of wierd because i keep hearing how great he is and now i have to follow that....but im not too worried. im sure when the next volunteer comes to follow me up the same thing will happen.
but i have pretty much bet all the big players in the town and have made some friends.
i am excited to come back and stay for good.
i am staying with a family right now. mom dad and a kid my age. he is pretty smart and the dad is crazy. we will get along. i will be staying with them for a month or so when i first get back and then after move into the house of current volunteer. its pretty cool and im planning on fixing it up in my spair time and making a huge garden in the back.
he told me he had raised a pig there and then ended up eating it later haha but think ima stick with the garden. we will see.
still freezing here.....supposed to get warm by the end of the month and for this i am excited.
going back to ypane in the next day or two....excited to see my old friends and family again haha
hope all is well at home.....
love you guys
charley
Saturday, July 31, 2010
YEGROS
YEGROS::::
so thats my sight....that i have been waiting pretty much 1.5 years to find out....
and actually, i am typing this from there, here right now.
wednesday night we had sight presentation where everybody found out there sights and then thursday morning already we were off.
thursday we had this thing called encuentro where we all met our contact from our new sight at this chuchi retreat. we did a bunch of activities to get to know eachother and the town.
then friday morning we headed out to our sight....it was a long 6 hours cramped bus ride through the country side but finally we made it.
me sight is pretty cool. its got about 1500 people. its pretty small and tranquilo but i like it alot.
i stayed last night with the volunteer that is currently there. but he is leaving tuesday for good, then i come back in three weeks to take his spot!
how crazy is that!!
the rest of the week i will be staying with a host family....hopefully getting to know the people and the town.
so looks like i will probably be teaching computer classes and english classes. helping out with civic education and maybe family financing but we will see....still a lot to do and get acustomed to before this happens.
well post again after the week and let you know how everything goes!!
love you guys,
carlo
so thats my sight....that i have been waiting pretty much 1.5 years to find out....
and actually, i am typing this from there, here right now.
wednesday night we had sight presentation where everybody found out there sights and then thursday morning already we were off.
thursday we had this thing called encuentro where we all met our contact from our new sight at this chuchi retreat. we did a bunch of activities to get to know eachother and the town.
then friday morning we headed out to our sight....it was a long 6 hours cramped bus ride through the country side but finally we made it.
me sight is pretty cool. its got about 1500 people. its pretty small and tranquilo but i like it alot.
i stayed last night with the volunteer that is currently there. but he is leaving tuesday for good, then i come back in three weeks to take his spot!
how crazy is that!!
the rest of the week i will be staying with a host family....hopefully getting to know the people and the town.
so looks like i will probably be teaching computer classes and english classes. helping out with civic education and maybe family financing but we will see....still a lot to do and get acustomed to before this happens.
well post again after the week and let you know how everything goes!!
love you guys,
carlo
Friday, July 23, 2010
LOtE....the CAMPO
hey guys
so this last week we split into groups of five and went to sites to visit a volunteer.
my group got sent to the campo.....which pretty much means youre out in the middle of nowhere...in the fields with the farmers.....
i had an incredible time....haha living conditions were rough but i loved it.
i stayed with a host family there.....dirt floors, only two rooms, latrines in the fields, freezing cold shower out of a pipe
lighiting a fire on the ground in order to cook....i loved it
so our volunteer has been working with a womans group and is helping them start a panaderia....a bread shop. they have the building now and some machines but are still learning how to run a business...they have no idea but its sooo great...
also he gives charlas to kids in the area because they dont go to highschool....teaching them about entrepeneurship and such...
it was a reallly realllly awesome experience....me and one of the other kids gave a presentation to the womans group about what goals they have for their business and how long to reach them....
just thinking like this is new for them...
also we got to chop down cana dulce....sugar canes in the fields with machetes
haha i even tried milking a cow but was doing something wrong and it ran away before any milk came out hahaha
i wanted to kill a chicken but never got the chane
mmmm i loved the camp....the only hard part would be that nobody speaks spanish like at alll
im told that when we get sent to our sites that we can move out to the campo if we find work to do out there which there always is....as long as we stay within the city limits of our site..
we find out WEDNESDAy our sitios and then thursday we actually go visit our sight for a week....
its moving really fast now and im super excited....
miss you alll
love you
charley
so this last week we split into groups of five and went to sites to visit a volunteer.
my group got sent to the campo.....which pretty much means youre out in the middle of nowhere...in the fields with the farmers.....
i had an incredible time....haha living conditions were rough but i loved it.
i stayed with a host family there.....dirt floors, only two rooms, latrines in the fields, freezing cold shower out of a pipe
lighiting a fire on the ground in order to cook....i loved it
so our volunteer has been working with a womans group and is helping them start a panaderia....a bread shop. they have the building now and some machines but are still learning how to run a business...they have no idea but its sooo great...
also he gives charlas to kids in the area because they dont go to highschool....teaching them about entrepeneurship and such...
it was a reallly realllly awesome experience....me and one of the other kids gave a presentation to the womans group about what goals they have for their business and how long to reach them....
just thinking like this is new for them...
also we got to chop down cana dulce....sugar canes in the fields with machetes
haha i even tried milking a cow but was doing something wrong and it ran away before any milk came out hahaha
i wanted to kill a chicken but never got the chane
mmmm i loved the camp....the only hard part would be that nobody speaks spanish like at alll
im told that when we get sent to our sites that we can move out to the campo if we find work to do out there which there always is....as long as we stay within the city limits of our site..
we find out WEDNESDAy our sitios and then thursday we actually go visit our sight for a week....
its moving really fast now and im super excited....
miss you alll
love you
charley
Sunday, July 18, 2010
alumbrado publico
BUENO.....la segunda semana de entrenamiento, nuestros jefes nos dijeron que tenemos que hacer un proyecto en nuestro pueblo. andrea y yo decidimos que vamos a trabajar juntos para implementar el proyecto.
estabamos pensando y descubrimos que hay muchas calles en nuestro pueblo en donde falta luz y siempre esta oscuro durante la noche. decidimos que este problema va a ser la base de nuestro proyecto.
empezamos hablando con todas las personas que viven en lugares oscuros. despues de muchas entrevistas con familias, concluimos que el barrio de San Antonio va a ser el barrio donde trabajariamos.
tuvimos que crear un pedido y despues juntar todas las firmas y schedulas de las personas que viven en ese barrio.
ayer entregamos el pedido a la municipalidad para que el intendente lo pueda ver. la muni nos dijo que tenemos que volver dentro de ocho dias para saber si tenemos la firma del intendente.
que asombroso!
estabamos pensando y descubrimos que hay muchas calles en nuestro pueblo en donde falta luz y siempre esta oscuro durante la noche. decidimos que este problema va a ser la base de nuestro proyecto.
empezamos hablando con todas las personas que viven en lugares oscuros. despues de muchas entrevistas con familias, concluimos que el barrio de San Antonio va a ser el barrio donde trabajariamos.
tuvimos que crear un pedido y despues juntar todas las firmas y schedulas de las personas que viven en ese barrio.
ayer entregamos el pedido a la municipalidad para que el intendente lo pueda ver. la muni nos dijo que tenemos que volver dentro de ocho dias para saber si tenemos la firma del intendente.
que asombroso!
Friday, July 16, 2010
ps....
there are a couple pics of my up on facebook from other people...but only a few....but you get to see the people in my group and me dancing ifnront of the whole town in my ppara get up... enjoy!!!
Leadership Camp/Longfield Practice
Hey guys so it has been a couple weeks since my last post. Sorry bout that. it has been a long intense couple of weeks.
last weekend we went down south to one of the very large and incharge dams they have in paraguay that supply the country with a ton of energy. they actually have the largest working dam in the world here.
haha off the top of my head i can´t remember the name of the place but we were pretty much on the border with argetinia.
the camp was lead by a couple other active volunteers and had about 30 paraguayan jovenes. its was a three day camp and the main objective was to teach the kids about the values a leader would have.
we were there pretty much to participate and be spectators.
haha the vacilities we stayed in were the old dorms the workers on the dam had....it was pretty much like a concentration camp but we definitely made the best of it. we threw a party in the dorm room one of the nights and got yelled at for it later but was definitely worth it.
so we we got back i was engripado....had the flu or something like it and sort of finally getting over it. this week has been freezing. its not as cold as the winter at home....but the dificult part is that you never get a break from it. i literally walk into my house expecting to warm up but only to realize that i have to keep my hat and jacket on. i literally sleep in sweat pants and socks and two shirts with three blankets on top and my gorra....snowcap haha but its alright...all part of the experience. i can´t remember the last time i even took my clothes off!!!
what made it even rougher was that today i had to give my charla....hour long presentation on technology in paraguay and computers...was only infront of my own class tho so wasnt too bad. think it went well.
anyways....next week is long field practice.....this means we are splitting up into groups of 6 and going to live with a volunteer for a whole fricken week.
my groups is going to arroyos y cerros which is a town that is in the campo hahah meaning we will be living in shacks in the middle of nowhere. i am excited and nervous. we will be hanging out with the volunteer all week giving charlas and learning about his experience.
to make things crazier....the week i get back.... I FIND OUT MY FUTURE SITIO!!!! future cite
how nutz is that!!! so excited. dam and training is already half way over....insane.....you have no idea
ok well ima gooo
love you guys
hope youre keeping the chi rockin
nos vemos
carlo
last weekend we went down south to one of the very large and incharge dams they have in paraguay that supply the country with a ton of energy. they actually have the largest working dam in the world here.
haha off the top of my head i can´t remember the name of the place but we were pretty much on the border with argetinia.
the camp was lead by a couple other active volunteers and had about 30 paraguayan jovenes. its was a three day camp and the main objective was to teach the kids about the values a leader would have.
we were there pretty much to participate and be spectators.
haha the vacilities we stayed in were the old dorms the workers on the dam had....it was pretty much like a concentration camp but we definitely made the best of it. we threw a party in the dorm room one of the nights and got yelled at for it later but was definitely worth it.
so we we got back i was engripado....had the flu or something like it and sort of finally getting over it. this week has been freezing. its not as cold as the winter at home....but the dificult part is that you never get a break from it. i literally walk into my house expecting to warm up but only to realize that i have to keep my hat and jacket on. i literally sleep in sweat pants and socks and two shirts with three blankets on top and my gorra....snowcap haha but its alright...all part of the experience. i can´t remember the last time i even took my clothes off!!!
what made it even rougher was that today i had to give my charla....hour long presentation on technology in paraguay and computers...was only infront of my own class tho so wasnt too bad. think it went well.
anyways....next week is long field practice.....this means we are splitting up into groups of 6 and going to live with a volunteer for a whole fricken week.
my groups is going to arroyos y cerros which is a town that is in the campo hahah meaning we will be living in shacks in the middle of nowhere. i am excited and nervous. we will be hanging out with the volunteer all week giving charlas and learning about his experience.
to make things crazier....the week i get back.... I FIND OUT MY FUTURE SITIO!!!! future cite
how nutz is that!!! so excited. dam and training is already half way over....insane.....you have no idea
ok well ima gooo
love you guys
hope youre keeping the chi rockin
nos vemos
carlo
Friday, July 2, 2010
FELIZ CUATRO DE JULIO
happy 4th of july guys haha not even but close.
today we had class in the morning but got a ride to the US embassy in Asuncion. they were having a pre 4th of july party. all the peace corps volunteers in the country showed up. pretty cool. lots of food, booze, futbol and volleyball. the embassy here is nutz. its a huge compound that is gorgeous inside and takes up about 4 city blocks.
haha i even accidentally met the embassador. was a little bit tipsy and almost did made a fool of myself before i knew who she was. thankfully someone alerted to the fact and i changed me course of action.
but it was really cool getting to meet a lot of active volunteers, some of which are the ones that we are going to be replacing.
think we are going back to asuncion tomorrow night to party once again with the volunteers for the 4th.
hope you guys are having a blast and seeing some fireworks for me.
love you
charley
today we had class in the morning but got a ride to the US embassy in Asuncion. they were having a pre 4th of july party. all the peace corps volunteers in the country showed up. pretty cool. lots of food, booze, futbol and volleyball. the embassy here is nutz. its a huge compound that is gorgeous inside and takes up about 4 city blocks.
haha i even accidentally met the embassador. was a little bit tipsy and almost did made a fool of myself before i knew who she was. thankfully someone alerted to the fact and i changed me course of action.
but it was really cool getting to meet a lot of active volunteers, some of which are the ones that we are going to be replacing.
think we are going back to asuncion tomorrow night to party once again with the volunteers for the 4th.
hope you guys are having a blast and seeing some fireworks for me.
love you
charley
Thursday, July 1, 2010
tranquilopa
so life here is amazing. very tranquilo (chilled out).
its soo cool that you walk down the street and say hello to every single person that you pass haha well actualy you say good bye, adios, which is kind of hard to get use to but fun.
life is very relaxed. people just sit outside all day drinking terere during the day and mate at night (just a hot version of terere). it is pretty much water that you poor into a guamba which is a cup filled with herbs and you drink it out of a bombilla which is a filtered straw. everybody and i mean everybody walkes around carrying a thermost and a cup. people will invite you over to drink all the time. it is more of a social thing haha but very awesome and addicting. but apparently it turns your teeth green by the end of service haha they make a poinbt of saying that they will not pay for whitening your teeth.
anyway
we have partnered up and started looking for small projects to do while we are here. me and andrea are partners and we have decided to try and get lighposts put into the areas where it is dark so that people wont have to be scared when walking down the street and night and to hopefully lessen the crime. we will see how it goes.
love you guys
ciaociao
carlo
its soo cool that you walk down the street and say hello to every single person that you pass haha well actualy you say good bye, adios, which is kind of hard to get use to but fun.
life is very relaxed. people just sit outside all day drinking terere during the day and mate at night (just a hot version of terere). it is pretty much water that you poor into a guamba which is a cup filled with herbs and you drink it out of a bombilla which is a filtered straw. everybody and i mean everybody walkes around carrying a thermost and a cup. people will invite you over to drink all the time. it is more of a social thing haha but very awesome and addicting. but apparently it turns your teeth green by the end of service haha they make a poinbt of saying that they will not pay for whitening your teeth.
anyway
we have partnered up and started looking for small projects to do while we are here. me and andrea are partners and we have decided to try and get lighposts put into the areas where it is dark so that people wont have to be scared when walking down the street and night and to hopefully lessen the crime. we will see how it goes.
love you guys
ciaociao
carlo
Monday, June 28, 2010
dia de san juan
haha or something like that..... anyways
me and my amigos have been taking local dance classes and learning traditional parguayo dance kind of like polk and the past few nights we have been dancing in the plaza infront of all the people with our paraguayn girl pernters. hahah tons of people came to watch us and we gotta do it agian tonight.
ill get pictures up eventually haha but we get dressed up in black pants, white shirts, banderas around our wastes and bandanas around our necks and sombreros. hahaha que lindo.
the past week has been a big celebration in our town for a patron de jesus or something like that. there are a lot of dias de saints so its hard to get the story straight. but there is a scary looking ferris wheel and a lot of little tents selling stuff and music blasting.
the weekend was a huge part in the disco. people from all over came to dance.
mmm im trying to think quick because i am hungry.
love all you guys and ill try to post a more complete story later but
love you guys
charlie
me and my amigos have been taking local dance classes and learning traditional parguayo dance kind of like polk and the past few nights we have been dancing in the plaza infront of all the people with our paraguayn girl pernters. hahah tons of people came to watch us and we gotta do it agian tonight.
ill get pictures up eventually haha but we get dressed up in black pants, white shirts, banderas around our wastes and bandanas around our necks and sombreros. hahaha que lindo.
the past week has been a big celebration in our town for a patron de jesus or something like that. there are a lot of dias de saints so its hard to get the story straight. but there is a scary looking ferris wheel and a lot of little tents selling stuff and music blasting.
the weekend was a huge part in the disco. people from all over came to dance.
mmm im trying to think quick because i am hungry.
love all you guys and ill try to post a more complete story later but
love you guys
charlie
Sunday, June 20, 2010
In Action
So this is my last night in Aregua.
It was awesome because I am staying with a volunteer and actually got to see him in action. What my life might be like in 10 weeks.
Yesterday i sat in with him on a photography class he gave to five highschool kids. it was all in spanish but i got the gist of it.
we created t his biogas contraption that will collect burnable gas from compost. hopefully it will work. we will find out in a week. but i am leaving tomorrow so i will have to build one of my own. he is going to show it to some town leaders and maybe get them to start building larger scale ones to use for stove tops or kilns or whatever.
he is also working on getting trashcans put into colectivos (buses)
it is sooo cool to actually be in "the shit". this is what i will be doing for two years and i got to have a little taste of it.
I can't wait!!
this town is pretty cool. we got a chance to hike through their monumento natural (national park) that has some pretty cools veiws of the land and of the lake and hills.
Paraguay won today fyi! party in the streets tonight!
miss you guys
got a phone now so some random people have my number.
hope all is well at home
HAPPY FFATHERS DAY!!! DIA DE PADRES!!
adio
carlo
It was awesome because I am staying with a volunteer and actually got to see him in action. What my life might be like in 10 weeks.
Yesterday i sat in with him on a photography class he gave to five highschool kids. it was all in spanish but i got the gist of it.
we created t his biogas contraption that will collect burnable gas from compost. hopefully it will work. we will find out in a week. but i am leaving tomorrow so i will have to build one of my own. he is going to show it to some town leaders and maybe get them to start building larger scale ones to use for stove tops or kilns or whatever.
he is also working on getting trashcans put into colectivos (buses)
it is sooo cool to actually be in "the shit". this is what i will be doing for two years and i got to have a little taste of it.
I can't wait!!
this town is pretty cool. we got a chance to hike through their monumento natural (national park) that has some pretty cools veiws of the land and of the lake and hills.
Paraguay won today fyi! party in the streets tonight!
miss you guys
got a phone now so some random people have my number.
hope all is well at home
HAPPY FFATHERS DAY!!! DIA DE PADRES!!
adio
carlo
toronjo
so goood. like pomelo but better.
cerro koi, monumento natural.
que hermosa y tranquilo.
que chevere
cerro koi, monumento natural.
que hermosa y tranquilo.
que chevere
Friday, June 18, 2010
aregua
sooo.....stilll trying to get used to this language thing but im sure it will come with time. this weekend went to visit another volunteer in a town bout an hour or two away. staying with him for three of four days....trying to get a feel for what the life is like.
haha might have a paraguayan girlfriend already. not really sure how that works here.
me and a couple of the other people in my town, in my pcvp group have gotten pretty close. feels like weve been here for months already and like weve known eachother forever. obviously a result of the circumstances but none the less pretty awesome.
we go to school about 9 hours a day with language class every other monring and the rest is technical/cultural training. six days a week. so obviously everyday after class we have a beer or two or three or mas
went to a cumpleanos last night
was pretty fun.
weve been taking classic paraguyan dance classes. haha been busting out the moves everywhere.
the teacher says we can dance with her class infron of the whole ten next weekend. it is a celebration of san padro i think or something like that.
they are building a carnival for it. scary a shit looking. haha the ferris wheel is beeing held up by 2 by fours
haha laerned couple more guarni words
ha u se oo
haha no idea how to spell it.
i want to drink water.
aight but i gotta go
sorry this post was sooo shity but kinda in a hurry
love you all
still missing you
ciao ciao tu companero carlo!!
haha might have a paraguayan girlfriend already. not really sure how that works here.
me and a couple of the other people in my town, in my pcvp group have gotten pretty close. feels like weve been here for months already and like weve known eachother forever. obviously a result of the circumstances but none the less pretty awesome.
we go to school about 9 hours a day with language class every other monring and the rest is technical/cultural training. six days a week. so obviously everyday after class we have a beer or two or three or mas
went to a cumpleanos last night
was pretty fun.
weve been taking classic paraguyan dance classes. haha been busting out the moves everywhere.
the teacher says we can dance with her class infron of the whole ten next weekend. it is a celebration of san padro i think or something like that.
they are building a carnival for it. scary a shit looking. haha the ferris wheel is beeing held up by 2 by fours
haha laerned couple more guarni words
ha u se oo
haha no idea how to spell it.
i want to drink water.
aight but i gotta go
sorry this post was sooo shity but kinda in a hurry
love you all
still missing you
ciao ciao tu companero carlo!!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
quick summary
Hey all,
so my town is probably a quater of the size of skokie, more likedevonshire. the roads are made of dirt and rocks. haha cows horses anddogs are walking around everywhere. the ceter of th town is small buthas some restuarants and a disco.
i live next door to andrea, this girl from florida. our families arerelated so we are always over at eachothers houses hanging out. hahanot much to do here
i like playing with my nephew esteban. hombre arana. aka spider man. hes crazy
everyday except sunday we get up at around 7 and have class from 8till 5. its pretty intense, but nothing a cervesa can´t help withafterwards.
in my town there are in total 10 trainees who i see everyday and thenonce or twice a week we come to this bigger town and meet with anothergroup of 10 or so.
friday my group has decided to start taking paraguayan dance lessons.i am excted.
not learning guarani yet. i have to get better at my spanish first!haha but it sounds cool and i can´t wait.
language is insane. sometimes people have to say things three ofr 4times before i can get it straight or sometime they just give up hahabut getting a little better at spanish.
luckily i have a cuzin living next door who also speaks english. sosometimes its nice to hang out with her.
saturday we hit up the club. it was a lot of fun. tons of people and dancing.
i have a brother who is my age so we talk a bunch and he introduces weto people.
hopefully getting a phone today. not sure tho.
will try to make a call eventually.
my town is ypane haha if you want to look it up on a map, right near guarambre.
mmm not sure what else to say for now.
drink a lot of mate and terere which is sort of like a hot or coldtea. people just stand outside all day long with a big thermo drinkingit. they are very into herbal medicines. haha think some of them aremild narcotics.
love you all and will talk to you soon
charley
so my town is probably a quater of the size of skokie, more likedevonshire. the roads are made of dirt and rocks. haha cows horses anddogs are walking around everywhere. the ceter of th town is small buthas some restuarants and a disco.
i live next door to andrea, this girl from florida. our families arerelated so we are always over at eachothers houses hanging out. hahanot much to do here
i like playing with my nephew esteban. hombre arana. aka spider man. hes crazy
everyday except sunday we get up at around 7 and have class from 8till 5. its pretty intense, but nothing a cervesa can´t help withafterwards.
in my town there are in total 10 trainees who i see everyday and thenonce or twice a week we come to this bigger town and meet with anothergroup of 10 or so.
friday my group has decided to start taking paraguayan dance lessons.i am excted.
not learning guarani yet. i have to get better at my spanish first!haha but it sounds cool and i can´t wait.
language is insane. sometimes people have to say things three ofr 4times before i can get it straight or sometime they just give up hahabut getting a little better at spanish.
luckily i have a cuzin living next door who also speaks english. sosometimes its nice to hang out with her.
saturday we hit up the club. it was a lot of fun. tons of people and dancing.
i have a brother who is my age so we talk a bunch and he introduces weto people.
hopefully getting a phone today. not sure tho.
will try to make a call eventually.
my town is ypane haha if you want to look it up on a map, right near guarambre.
mmm not sure what else to say for now.
drink a lot of mate and terere which is sort of like a hot or coldtea. people just stand outside all day long with a big thermo drinkingit. they are very into herbal medicines. haha think some of them aremild narcotics.
love you all and will talk to you soon
charley
Sunday, June 6, 2010
paraguay
hey guys can´t post long but just wanted to let you all know that i am alive! living with a paraguayan family! and its insane haha
were in a small town called ypane
life here is very slow and easy going and im kinda lovin it.
the language part i hard. can´t understand anything my family is saying, even if it is in spanish.
guarani is nothing like spanish either. it sounds african or french or something
mbae chapa
onda
han de
for example
focusing on spanish for now haha
will post more details later. i gotta go
but i love you guys
CIAO
hope you are all living it up in the chi
good luck with everything
talk to you soon
charley
were in a small town called ypane
life here is very slow and easy going and im kinda lovin it.
the language part i hard. can´t understand anything my family is saying, even if it is in spanish.
guarani is nothing like spanish either. it sounds african or french or something
mbae chapa
onda
han de
for example
focusing on spanish for now haha
will post more details later. i gotta go
but i love you guys
CIAO
hope you are all living it up in the chi
good luck with everything
talk to you soon
charley
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
So it's the night before...
Hey guys,
Just wanted to let you all know I have officially created a blog for this insane adventure I am about to go on.
It is the night before and I am sooo exited/nervous.
I want you all to know how much I appreciate all of your support and love, especially over the past couple weeks.
You are all great friends and I wish you all the best of luck over the next two or so years.
Please feel free to comment here anytime and I cannot wait to be able to post something awesome to read.
love,
Charley
Just wanted to let you all know I have officially created a blog for this insane adventure I am about to go on.
It is the night before and I am sooo exited/nervous.
I want you all to know how much I appreciate all of your support and love, especially over the past couple weeks.
You are all great friends and I wish you all the best of luck over the next two or so years.
Please feel free to comment here anytime and I cannot wait to be able to post something awesome to read.
love,
Charley
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