....THE MOVE

So its been months since my last post. sorry guys, the mayor stopped paying for internet service and i have to borrow my friends comp inorder to get on so i dont like to spend too much time on it......

but well dont now how to update you all on everything that has been going on.....but the truth is most of the same projects are probably still the same. hasnt been too much progress in the past couple months.

ill just give a list of things that stick out in my head....

-killed three chikens with my barehands then ate them. was pretty.....interesting haha wasnt sure if i was going to be able to do it.

-tomorow is the 200 anniversary of the independence of paraguay from spain. big deal. parades, parties, and bullfights across the country.

-asmost of you probably know i have recently moved myself out into the countryside. its a simple one room house of bricks and mud. no running water. TWO outdoor bathrooms, one is filled with wasps and the other is filled with...well.....shit
but there are millions of stars!!! it is crazy relaxing. i have one neighbor and the other is about 200 meters away.
there are any type of farm animal that you can imagine. my favorite is called the wei. i think in english it is an ox but not sure. they use it to pull carts. its pretty much a gigantic bull. but its one of the biggest animals i have ever touched.
i sit out at night, cook on my little coal run stove. very theraputic hahaha
evreymorning i get up, sweep, bring water from the neighbors well then go to my other neighbors house to eat breakfast and chitchat...
i eat lunch there too and then afterwords i get to do some farm work....how cool is this....
first we heard the sheep....then we go cut down sugar cane and mandioca and bring it in a wheelbarrow to feed the cows and the bulls. and the humans too and the dogs!!! haha we all just sit there eat sugar can together. the other day i started pushing the wheelbarrow and about 15 baby cows smelled it somehow and started chasing me ahaha i had to fight them all off with a piece of sugar cane.....mmmmmmm

what else

-CHECK OUT MY PICS ON FACEBOOK::::: my new foto album called CASA NUEVA. its has all the pics of my new house and neighborhood and can better explain it than i probably did.

well

all is well for now

miss you guys

happy mothersday mom!!!! they celebrate it one week later here. ahah dont know why.

love you guys

will post more again soon!!!

chau!!!chow!!!

STOP!!

so its been a while.........besides the recent installation of the muy lindo basketball court, there has not been too much happening the past month or so.

but i thought id give a little update...

so 1. the basketball court. we have been playing every night which is awesome. im thinking about starting a league and giving classes. the kids love playing. its something new and exciting for them.

2. i think i posted about taking a few kids to a leadership camp about a month ago. well after the camp each group of kids is required to do a community project in their own town. my kids and i have been meeting a couple times a week to brainstorm about possible projects and have finally landed on one that seems it will do just nicely.

the transit rules and regulations in this town are really lacking. kids ride like speed racers on their motorcycles and there is nothing to stop them, axcept for eachother. BOOM!CRASH!

so today we met with the guy who runs the transit department and who is the transit department of own town. we ran some ideas by him and he thought our project was a great idea and said that he had been wanting to do something about the situation for a while.

we talked about putting stop signs up, painting lines down the one paved road, putting up speed limit signs, and even going around the highschools giving charlas on traffic safety.

the will be a very awesome project if we stick with it and follow it through. very possible as well. the kids seem very psyched and enthusiastic so my hopes are high.

3. still growing and reproducing worms in my back yard in hopes of putting them in a big pile of fertilizer someday.

4. today my family just got a pump for their water tank which connects to the well in the backyard...........you know what that means mom!!!! when you come visit you dont have to shower with a bucket! que purete!

5. its getting to the point where i think i might finally move out. i still will have someone else do my laundry and cook my meals,,,,,, but at least i will have the oppotunity to do those things if i feel like it. and i will also have my own space finally. but just a thought right now still

6. mmmmmmmmmlanguage is still a pain in the ass but little by little.......

7. not sure ill let you guys know later

but i love you all and miss you

charlie

eho eke nde

The First Shot.....

The first basketball game this town HAS EVER seen....how cool is that!

does he know how to do it, or does he know how to do it.....

basketbal court update.....

and now we have something to put it into...

oooo.....

abd the camp is called

ñande hae tenonderá...


this means ´we are the future´ pretyt much in guarani

been a while....

so yes i know its been a while since my last post.......wellll december was a month filled with visiting other volunteers, other cities, but nothing dramatically exciting

this past week however was the youth leadership camp in Itaipu, resort Tati Yupi. (itaipu means the sound a rock makes, and tati yupi means rising smoke). Side note, itaipu is THE largest functioning hydro electric dam in the world....haha and located in such a tiny middle of nowhere place. crazy.

anways for four days 20 volunteers from all over the country brought 3 or 4 jovenes or youth ages 15 to 19, to this resort for a leadership camp. i brought jorge, hernan and jose. there were a variety of speaches and presentations from youth to the youth and also done by volunteers. we taught them a variety of things pertaining to what it takes to be a leader in their community. there was also a number of activities done.

there was a lot of down time too, to play futbol, volei, talk and walk around exploring the amazingly beautiful park, forest, lake. friday night we took a fieldtrip to the dam to watch them light it up at night. it was pretty intense. amazingly huge. one second there was just darkness and the next, BAM a huge lit up dam.

but anways, more importantly was that the kids loved it!!! they had such a good time, learned a lot, and made a ton of new friends! the goal is that they go back to their communities and do a community project within the next 6 months. then we have another camp where all the same jovenes meet up to present the projects they have complete. this is only the second time the camp has been done but from what it seems like, it will be around for a while. awesomeness!!

so this is how you know your in peace corps paraguay...

my mom sent me a basketball in the mail. but in my pueblo there is nowhere to play....so what do you have to do?

you have to build yourself a basketball court.


and thats wat i have recently started doing. i got the support of the mayor to place it next to the highschool. the carpenter made me the backboard which i am in the middle of painting and the father of the family who i am living with is going to make me the hoop out of iron.....

i will keep you updated on this and hopefully post pictures!!!