One Year in Paraguay Already!

Lukie: my current best friend in site.

On February 10 (so last Thursday) all of the volunteers I arrived with and I celebrated our one year in country anniversary. It’s weird to be now, sort of the seasoned veteran volunteers in the Corps. Talking with one of my friends who got here at the same time I did, we found it interesting how, yes, we have changed a lot, but not in the way we necessarily expected to change.

Allow me to explain. There is a very notable difference between volunteers who have been here for over a year and those who are just arriving. Newly arrived volunteers, often, still have the naive perception that we will march into our site and fix many of the problems of our host community as we enjoy our two years and teach every kid to read, enjoy & embrace the local food for 2 years, be best friends with all of our community, always be understanding and patient with respect to cultural differences, etc. I can say that I did for quite some time.

But after a year in Paraguay trying to fight for grassroots change and be extremely patient with everyone, you start to rethink some things. Should I really accept every dinner invitation to eat straight pig fat, or ‘cow mystery stew’ just so I can become more integrated culturally? At some point, I guess right around one year for a lot of volunteers, there comes this realization that yes, while we are here as grassroots ambassadors for the U.S. and to help people and learn their culture, this is also two years of our life. Do I want to spend two years in my mid-twenties eating every mystery (and often unhealthy) meal put in front of me just to please the locals? After a year, it becomes a lot easier to refuse offers: Miguel, do you want some coffee with 4 spoonfuls of sugar in it? No thanks. Pig fat boiled in oil? Please no. Maybe some fried greasy flour? Maybe later. While these things might seem like no-brainers to refuse, its often a poor person who is offering you the best they have and you don’t want to offend them.

So like I said, the newly arriving volunteers are gung ho about everything, and it’s almost a little cute. “Oh this meat dish? It’s so good!” We’ll see how they sound a year from now. It’s refreshing to see, and makes me feel in the words of Ice Cube, like a ‘vet ballin’ on these rookies.’

Thinking back on my own naïve perceptions of coming to do development work in rural Paraguay, and how I felt at the beginning of service, I feel some things beginning to wear on me. My time in Kilometro 16 has, and continues to give me, though, an appreciation for being a citizen of the U.S. I appreciate so many things: not having to kill multiple tarantulas daily in my house, having A.C. when it’s hot, heating and insulation when it’s cold, having access to fast internet and skype, not having to walk next door to go no. 2 b/c of my lack of bathroom, not having to take a bus an hour and a half just to buy some vegetables, etc. Upon arrival these things were novel and rustic to me. Not only did those things not frustrate me, but I actually embraced them. (‘Oh the cold showers are such a fun rush in the winter!’) But I would be lying if I said I don’t doubly enjoy the hot showers I am able to take when I am staying in a hotel in the city now.

So there it is. Education PCVs do very little in the summer months and therefore we have too much time to think during January and February, so there is more time to become a little frustrated, a little stir crazy. (It’s kind of like being on welfare: getting paid by the government and doing nothing.) The school year starts back up next Wednesday though, so I’ll be busy again and that is good so I can realize once more how much work there really is to be done here. (Read: previous post “Why I am here”).

If this post sounds cynical, it’s not meant to be. I have some mad teacher workshops planned for something new around here called “Classroom Management.” Hopefully I can get the teachers to put away the switches and the whips and use some psychological tactics. (Although I have only seen one teacher use a whip).
Sorry for the lack of posts this past month. I know my WhichGuayNation fans are disappointed; don’t worry, there will never be a month’s lag in between posts again. But seriously, you try typing on a computer (or doing just about anything besides sitting in the shade and complaining about the heat) when it is 110 and humid out, as it has been for the entirety of January.