Bienvenido de nuevo! Welcome back!
February may be the shortest month of the year, but it was FULL of experiences and changes for me.
To start things off with a bang, I had the wonderful opportunity to travel south to Encarnacion to celebrate Carnival's colorful, exciting cultural event. You may only know about the big Carnival celebration in Rio de Janeiro (or maybe you're like me and have seen the Pixar movie Rio too many times). Still, the truth is it's celebrated all over South America. It's a parade filled with music, floats, and dancers wearing sparkles and feathers.
It was also an amazing opportunity to reconnect with most of my fellow volunteers for the first time since we separated after our swear-in in December. Getting down to Encarnacion is a long trek for volunteers like me who are much closer to the city of Asunción. For me, it's a 3-hour bus ride from Caacupe to Asunción and another SEVEN-hour bus from Asu to Encarn. Because of this, we haven't seen any of our friends down South. On the way down there, we decided to split the journey up and spend a night in Asunción to catch up with friends who wanted to hang out but didn't want to trek down to Encarnacion. The following day, we departed early, and of the 4 volunteers who had just come to spend one night, we had convinced 3 of them to get on the bus with us.
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Top row (from left): Kate, Isabel, Emerson
Center: Nadeen
Bottom: Me, Tay, Isabel |
Once arriving in Encarnacion, we made a beeline for the beach. 100-degree heat and sand without shoes may not have been the most fun experience, but being together and in the water was well worth it. "Beach" may be an exaggeration. Coming from the Ocean State and spending most of my life in the Atlantic or the Long Island Sound (shoutout GLP, I miss you), I recognize that I'm spoiled rotten regarding beaches. The beach in Encarn was on the shore of the Rio Paraná, across from which you could see the city of Posadas in Argentina. The river was very shallow and lukewarm, and we couldn't go past waist level because of rip currents. Regardless, it was a wonderful time and good to get some sun. It was a fantastic way to catch up and see a different part of the country. The departamento (state) of Itapua, where Encarnacion is located, reminded me of Southern Florida with the beaches, palm trees, and tropical city vibes. It's a very different feel than Asunción.
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Volunteers enjoy some beach time!
(The skyline you see in the background is Posadas, Argentina) |
The day after we made it down was Carnival itself. We had a great second day at the beach and then returned to our Airbnb (meant for 11 people; we squeezed 25 into it. Sorry, Airbnb.) to prepare for the parade. With 18 girls and 7 men in an apartment with 2 mirrors, you can imagine how hectic it was for all of us to prepare for the night. We collectively spent about 4 hours getting ready. All of this was in vain because the second we made it to the parade, we received cans of shaving cream to spray at each other. We scored seats right on the front lines of the parade, and the whole night, we made friends with all the dancers and performers who came by.
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| C8 💕 |
Then Sunday came along, and I was gifted the greatest present of the weekend: a Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl win. After a lovely homemade chicken and pasta dinner, along with some pico de gallo and tortilla chip appetizers, we sat down to watch the game. I was the only die-hard Eagles fan of our group of 25, so naturally, I had to entertain everyone every time they scored by performing the fight song. I have no regrets. Go Birds.
After a weekend of not getting enough sleep, Nadeen, Ethan, and I bravely made the trip back from Encarnacion all the way to Caacupe in ONE DAY. We woke up around 5:30 am, and I walked into my host family's house at about 5:00 pm.
But thankfully, I could go right to sleep, right?
Wrong.
This month's second significant change is that I moved out of my host family's house and into my independent housing! The house was, of course, ready for me the day I got back, and since I was planning on going to the school to help out the next day (we'll get to that), I decided that I needed to move in that very night.
So, after 12 hours of travel, I packed up all my belongings and moved into my new house. Below, you'll see some pictures of my new place; she's an adorable, cozy little house with lots of land, farm animals that roam around, fruit trees (lime, passionfruit, and some avocado trees!), and the best part - a new dog!
The wonderfully kind woman I'm renting the house from moved in with her daughter in Asuncion into a building that did not allow pets. Naturally, this meant she left her dog behind with me. His name is Loco, and he is my new best friend and brave guard dog. He protects me from all the chickens and turkeys that wander into my yard and was absolutely no help when a frog viciously attacked me in my shower. I survived, though! My house is about a 30-minute walk or 15-minute bike ride from my host family's house and the school, which is a lovely trek through my lush and green community. My new neighbors are so kind and welcoming, and I feel very safe and happy in the house (besides the frogs- they're terrifying).
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| The view from my front door! |
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| My new house! |
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| Lots of lush greenery |
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| My bestie Loco |
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| My biggest opp |
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| My kitchen! |
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| The beautiful walk to my school! |
The last part of this hectic month is that school started!!
The teachers use the two weeks before the school year (February 24) to clean and organize the school. So naturally, I showed up super early and was super "guapa" (literally translated as "beautiful," but down here, it's used to signify "hardworking") in sweeping classrooms, moving furniture, and cleaning out rooms to prepare for the students.
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| Super guapa washing desks |
This two-week period was also when I had my site presentation! I had all the profes, my Directoras, and a bunch of my students from my summer English classes come to listen to me talk about my background and home, as well as my hopes and goals for the next two years. My team member Eric did a fantastic job explaining the role of the Peace Corps and what they could expect from me for the next two years. This presentation was essential because I'm the first volunteer this community has ever had, but it went so well! I also had the opportunity to give out certificates of completion to the students who came to all the English classes over the summer. Finally, with the help of my host mom, I hand-made chipa guasu, a cheesy-corn bread type thing that's a staple food down here. The Paraguayans loved that I put effort into making Paraguayan food, and it was quickly pronounced "muy rico" (very delicious).
As if all that wasn't enough excitement, this final week of February was the first week of school! I've spent this week visiting classes, getting to know the Professors and students, and otherwise being all sorts of guapa. I've helped clean desks and taught some impromptu English and dance classes (I think one of my side projects is seeing how many Paraguayan children I can teach the Cupid Shuffle). Starting next week, I start giving regular lectures about environmental topics and teaching regular English classes.
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| Baby's first day of school! |
To kick things off, March 3 is World Wildlife Day. We have a holiday down here that Monday, which means no class, but on Tuesday, I'll be giving a "Charla" (chat/lecture) on the importance of animals and biodiversity. I'm using this charla as a stepping stone to start the conversation about the importance of preserving our environment and natural resources and how we can accomplish this goal. I also - a little later - plan on starting an art club using exclusively recycled materials and nature to show examples of recycling and repurposing what is commonly considered "trash."
I'm super excited to work alongside the other profes this school year to co-teach and co-facilitate environment-based activities and charlas!!
Come back next month for more! Nos vemos😊
Just LOVE your messages. What a life!! So happy for you! Xoxo
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