I´m writing from an internet cafe, while I wait for pictures to take their sweet ass time uploading, and while I wait for a particular paraguayan to also take his sweet ass time to drive a couple hours to deliver some parts for the fogones the women made a few months ago. I can´t complain or stress out though because the pace of life is so laid back, I´d probably be drinking Terere with someone or sitting in front of my fan and reading otherwise, but there is plenty of time for that afterward.
Despite February being the hottest and slowest month for PCVs, especially new ones, I´ve been working! I came into town once and happened to meet some kind of important person from the local government (it would translate to couselor to the planning and development office of the city or something like that) and somehow profiled me as a Peace Corps volunteer (maybe it was my keen backpack, and sandals, or me walking around obviously lost and with the hurried gait tranditional of people from the USA). So I remembered I was in Paraguay, stopped to meet her and drink hot mate with her mother. All in all it was a fruitful hot mate session. She is interested in maybe working with me in planning a new city park near the plaza, or having me put her in contact with someone more competent, and applying for a volunteer to work in Acahay.
It seems exiting! Í´m sure that our visions now are a little different, but I hope to use her vision to put in light the fact that at the doorstep of the little city is a biodiversity hotspot and pretty cool crater-donut shaped cerro that has been designed to be a protected area for it´s habitat to many crazy awesome migrating birds. So very few local people are aware of this or care to protect the area, so I hope that there is something that I could do to raise at least a little bit of awareness about this, and maybe in the future, people will care enough to take care of their beautiful home.
Last tuesday, I went to my first regional meeting for volunteers, and it rained minutes after I got to the meeting, and wouldn´t let out most of the morning. Taking advantage of being in a slightly bigger town than my nearest town, Acahay, I went shopping for food, and the rain kind of let out, so headed home. Though it was barely sprinkling by the time I got to Acahay, there was no bus leaving town to my site! So enjoying that the rain had cooled down the heat of summer, I started the 1hour45min walk home, and about half an hour into it, it begins to pour again. I was jamming to my ipod and really loved it! In any other similar situation in the U.S. I think I´d probably be cursing the world and my life, and thinking about the million other things to do, but life stops in the campo when it rains, so I didn´t mind getting soaked while jamming my ipod and everyone hiding in their homes. I just got home, dried up and since the electricity stuck around through the rainfall, watched a movie. :)
For a real and brief update: I had summer camp for the past couple of weeks and was originally dissapointed that at the most, 5 kids would show up, but hey I´m out in the sticks, and it´s hard to get anyone motivated to get out of their houses. Nonetheless, we had fun, so that I had to cancel the last day in order to figure out the fogon deal with the women´s group, and the kids were heartbroken and trying to convince me to continue it next week! They even tried little teasing tactics like taking my backpack and soccer ball until I said maybe.
Sending my love and lots of hugs to say I misssss yáll!!
Connie
