Community Bathrooms vs. Holes in the Ground

So, as it turns out that posting only like once every three months on a blog is NOT the best way to build an online following.  Hmm.... Haha.  When every post says "I really need to update this thing more often..." you know there's a problem. 

The last few days I have been on vacation from Peace Corps.  I flew to Buenos Aires, Argentina and spent three days wandering around neighborhoods like Palermo and Recoleta, and now I'm in Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world.


I'm staying at a hostel, which is a stretch for me.  Typically I like to have my own sleeping space and not share a bathroom.  I kind of think that other people are gross and community-anything is not my favorite, haha.  BUT, I'm on this trip for 11 days and unfortunately due to my career choice to be a volunteer, the cash isn't exactly flowing into my bank account.  So... $16/night?  Can't afford to turn that down.  And who am I to say that sharing a bathroom with other people is gross?  I don't even have a bathroom in the campo.  Is a shared bathroom more or less sanitary than a hole in the ground?  Haha, that's actually a legitimate question.

I have a lot planned for the few days I'm down here, so I'll try to update as often as I can.  I find it's more fun to blog when I'm doing something other than hoeing a field every day.  Today I just kind of wandered around town finding where things are.  I had an amazing bacon cheeseburger for dinner, so I'll DEFINITELY be returning to that place before I leave here.  Tomorrow I'm doing a boat tour of the Beagle Channel, and the following days I'm hoping to hit the National Park that is down here, as well as the glacier.  I return to Buenos Aires on Thursday and I'll be there for a couple more days.  I'm on a mission to find Wendy's!  Yes.  I went all the way to Buenos Aires to find Wendy's.  I am a true American.  haha.

The Worst Dog Owner in the World

Owning a dog always seems like such a great idea.  Especially for those of us who are isolated out in the middle of no where, aliens in a community that can barely understand us.  It's the whole idea of having someone around to love and be loved by.  All this was running through my head about 4 months ago when a friend mentioned that her neighbor's dog had just had puppies.  I jumped at the chance to claim one of them, thinking that if I was going to get a dog, now would be the time to do it.

When I was younger, my family had two dogs.  I remember it being a mostly positive experience.  Neither of them really ever learned how to heel, they barked a lot, and our house got robbed while we were out walking them once, but in general I remember learning to be more responsible and when I think back on it, I enjoyed the experience.

Enter Cobie.  This cute, big-eared dog that was graciously brought to me by my friend.  The first day, it was kind of fun having her nip at my heels and climb all over me.  I built her a dog house out of bamboo and tried to get her adjusted to living on my porch.

Obviously, I didn't put enough thought into what owning a dog means.  Dogs need to be fed, they need attention... As my sister so correctly stated, having a dog is like having a baby.  Anyone who knows me well knows that I am not what you might call "cuddly" and I don't necessarily have the warmest personality...  This whole thing was destined to fail.

Needless to say I was not prepared to handle all the whining and constant need to for attention.  She had effectively trapped me in my own house during the evenings.  I was afraid to go outside, and that I would wake her up and it would start the process all over again.  I couldn't leave without her following me everywhere, so going to town to buy food was going to be a challenge...

If I was planning on taking her back to the US, or if it was my first year of service, I think I would have kept her.  The reality of it all is, I have nine more months of service, and one month of that is vacation days that I have saved up for this year.  I have committed to running this half-marathon in Rio, so I need to start training. Plus I just have general work in my demo-plots and garden, meetings to run, and the possibility of a pig in the near future (NOT a pet!  I'm going to kill it and eat it!).

So! Things I've learned from this experience:
1.  I'm definitely not a pet person.  When I was living in Ann Arbor, I seriously thought about getting a dog.  That's never going to happen now.
2.  I'm more focused on work.  This experience has clarified what I want to do for my final year in service, and has made it a reality that I don't have a lot of time left.
3.  I tend to be a bit selfish with my time.... but honestly a person who doesn't want to make time for pets shouldn't have pets, so I don't feel so bad about it.

To close out the story, I ended up giving the dog to a family in my community.  In one of the most awkward and abrupt conversations I've ever had, and just like that (8 days) I'm back to being dog-less.  Two girls from my book club showed up at my house while I was working in my demo plot and saw the dog.

"Is this your dog?  She's pretty." 
"Yeah, she's very energetic."
"I want her."
"What?"
"Do you want her?  Because I want her."
"OK.  I guess that's possible.  What do you want to name her?"
"I don't know."
"When do you want her?  Tomorrow?"
"No, I have to go to the fields tomorrow."
"Now?"
"Yes."
"...Ok?"
And just like that, she picked her up and carried her away.  

So thus concludes the very short-lived pet-owning experience.  Never again, haha.  I've made myself a promise that I will never again own an animal that I do not intend to kill and roast over a fire at a party.

Reasons why I havent updated...

1. Nothin new to say regarding the demo plot or garden.  Its business as usual.

2. I havent been anywhere different or interesting.  I did fall on a cactus up on the cerro, which fulfilled a desire I never knew I had to re-enact a Wile Coyote scene.

3. I had a medical check-up... OH THIS IS INTERESTING.  So I went to the dentist, and I will be the first to admit I am not always excellent at brusing my teeth.  I like to eat late at night and the water spicket is far away.  Theres a lot of bugs between my bed and the spicket, and Im not a fan.  So I was concerned about the dentist visit, as I have never had a cavity and would like to continue that streak.  No cavities!  But I did have to hear some weird stories about former patients of the dentist.  Apparently "Doctor/Patient Confidentiality" isnt a thing in Paraguay.  Out of all the stories he could have told me, he brings up this guy who was fat because he had a mental problem where he was "afraid to deficate." Oh the things you cannot unhear...

4. I havent cooked anything new, or bought any new foods.

5. I havent met up with any of the new PCVs in Ybycui.  Our schedules are all pretty different, so... Still kind of a loner.  But thats ok, Im more motivated to blog when I dont have anyone to talk to.  Because what this blog needs is more updates like this one where you get no beneficial information about my service.

Ok, so I AM working toward getting some interesting stuff going.  I am going to build a pig pen, Im getting a dog, Im going to be preparing for a half marathon.... So there WILL BE interesting stuff here.  Just not right now.  So enjoy this random meme and I will get back to you with something interesting.  Someday.  Somehow.   Thanks for reading!

Back to Reality...

Coming back from vacation for Americans is usually a relief.  Usually, at least with my family, you've cleaned the house before you left so that when you get home, you can quickly put all your suitcase items in their pre-designated places, throw the laundry in the wash, and spend the rest of the day relaxing.  Well, it's no surprise that things are completely opposite in Paraguay.

That rats have been busy, friends.  It doesn't appear that they ate anything this time though.  They just like to run around and poop everywhere apparently.  Figures.  Almost one night out of site and everything had a half-inch layer of dust on it.  Also, my demo-plot is a jungle:

That crotalaria gets tall pretty fast

Also, the frogs and the spiders... I'm pretty sure there are more spiders in there now than there were before I moved in, when my landlord was just using the house for bean storage.  They're EVERYWHERE, and in EVERYTHING.  My shoes, my dresser, my cup that I use when I brush my teeth.  WAKALA.  It's so gross.  I hate spiders, but we do have an arrangement.  The ones that live on the walls can live, but the second they land on the floor, they're dead.  Violation of this contract results in severe punishment, usually involving a shoe or one of my sandals, with no dignity as I scrape it off on the side of my porch floor.  Learn the lesson Spiders-- I'm not messin' around.

This one gets to live.  They rarely leave the walls.

This one got to die.  I don't like the hairy ones.

I had a wonderful time in the States.  It was fun to see my family and friends, I enjoyed 2.5 weeks of cold, snowy weather, and drank every cup of coffee I could get my hands on.  I seriously went to starbucks at least 12 times.  Amazeballs.

I'm going to try to do a better job in 2013 of keeping this blog updated.  I love to write, and so even if I don't have anything going on, I should be at least submitting something a couple of times a week.  New goal! I have a my yearly medical check-up in Asuncion next week, so I've going to be traveling for a bit longer.  I have some exciting new developments coming up though, so be sure to check back!

Vacation Blog 2! Sort of...

Guys, I'm such a failure.  I keep letting life get in the way of this blog.  That's so not okay, because life is about blogging.  Ok not really.  It's good that I'm getting out there and doing things.

Guess where I am?  IN MICHIGAN!  That's right, the little location thingie for this post reads "Lansing, MI!"  This means that I have super-fast internet and I finally got all my videos from my parents' visit uploaded to youtube.  Here they are:



I'll write more about the experiences later.... once I get back to Paraguay.  Until then, feast on this:

 

I got a white Christmas afterall! :D  I head back to Paraguay in a few days, so I'll be sure to post some stuff about all my trips.  And I have some new exciting stuff planned for 2013!!  Have a happy New Year and I'll be back once I arrive in South America.

It's Finally Here! Vacation Blog 1 - Asuncion

It's time for the long-awaited vacation blog!  My parents were here like two months ago, and I never wrote about it.  But now, my videos are edited together, my pictures have been adequately sized, and I actually have the time to sit down and write about my experiences with my mom and dad.  I'm going to break this all up into parts, because I think it will be a little long.

The day my parents arrived, I went to meet them at the airport.  It's hard for me to explain what I was feeling.  It was almost like I was nervous, I don't know.  The second they walked out from baggage claim it was that bizarre feeling of worlds colliding.  I'd been in Paraguay for nearly a year at that point, and I very specifically remember the last time I saw my parents in person as I rode up the escalator to my gate in Lansing when I flew out to go to Staging in Miami.

It was great to see them though!  They made it, which was a huge relief.  I was worried they would somehow end up stranded in Sao Paulo and not be able to contact me.  All that Portuguese... so many opportunities to get lost and confused!

"Hola! Nosotros necesitamos ir al centro. Cien mil no mas, si?" I tried to impress my parents with my Spanish right off the bat, but we had kind of a tough time locating a cab that would take three people with luggage.  So, I guess that was Paraguay experience #1 for my parents--cramming into the back of a taxi with their bags piled on top of them.  Welcome to my life, eh?

We stayed at the Palace for three nights initially.  I wanted to give my parents some time to adjust before we hit the campo. That night we went to my favorite Asuncion hotspot for dinner-- Bolsi!  Ugh... just thinking about a plate of cheese fries is making me drool.  I want to go to there. NOW.

On the roof terrace of the Palace Hotel in Asuncion

The next day I took them to the Peace Corps Office.  It must have been a holiday or something (labor day?), because the place was totally cleared out.  It gave me the opportunity to show them around though.  They even got to try some terere!  While they enjoyed it, I doubt they'll be sucking it down as much as I am.  I'm drinking ridiculous amounts of it these days.

Sipping tereré in the Peace Corps Office

This stretch of days was pretty hot.  I want to say it was over 100F, which was kind of random.  It cooled way down after they left.  But anyways, the Palace has air conditioning so after the office we went back to the hotel.  I'm thinking my parents could get into the whole asaje thing (siestas from noon to 2:00PM).

That evening we went to Manzana for pizza and enjoyed the nighttime view of the Presidential Palace.  There was also a Paraguayan national futbol game, so it was fun to walk around and have my parents experience some of that national pride.  All the bars had the games on, and even the taxi drivers were huddled around the TVs at their pick-up stations, terere in hand, cheering loudly for Paraguay.  Those are my favorite nights in Asuncion.  It reminds me of football Saturdays in Ann Arbor.

Dad and I outside the Presidential Palace

The Paraguay Nacional game being projected onto the wall at Manzana

The last day before we left to go to my site, I initially wanted to take them to Mercado Cuatro, but it was so hot we decided to go look at the PCV Ahecha exhibit.  I was kind of disappointed in the whole display... It's not that the pictures were bad; it's just that they were just sort of there.  There was hardly any information about the photos, and there was a random registration for a different event going on in the display room.  After that we walked back to the hotel for more AC.  That evening we went to Taberna Espanola for dinner, which is a fancy-ish Spanish restaurant near the hotel.  I had rabbit paella, and my parents got a salmon plate.  It's pricy, but can be fun to go there after spending tons of time being filthy and gross in the campo.  Sometimes it's fun to actually wear nice clothes and go out to eat an expensive meal at a nice restaurant.

The next morning, we took a city bus to the airport (another fun real-Paraguay experiences for my parents) to get the rental car.  And from there, the REAL adventure begins...

More to come!

Video Updates are Back!

Here's a video of when I climbed Cerro San Jose with the aspirante that visited me a few weeks ago:


And this is from my latest trip to Salto Cristal with my friends.  I love this place!