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!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
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!!!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
