chew on ´dat!

cockroaches- they are everywhere in my house. But there is good news – Darwin was wrong. The fittest have not survived!!! The new generations are a hell of a lot slower than the forefathers. This is great news for me – because I am getting a lot better at stepping on them. Or I suppose the other option is that I have just become so practiced – that they only seem slower – but actually I have become more agile and fiercer. Ill leave the decision up to you!

da posh life of this pcv- alright, through talking the phone with my mom and listening to all of the great ‘mom things’ she had to say about how proud she is of me and how much she loves to talk to grandma about me and just what great things I am doing. did I try to explain that, life aint so bad! It is an interesting discussion point with my friends and family “back home” and my new pcv buddies. I feel that most people at home are overly impressed with my “PC service” that there were huge sacrifices made and great hardship endured. And while the initial jump into the very wide and deep blue of unknown took some gutz, my life is pretty great now! I am a municipal service volunteer, which means I live in a relatively large city, have running water, electricity, daily access to fresh veggies, internet and regular cell phone service if I want it. I also decided to invest in an air conditioner. I have all of the basic needs covered. I am living at higher standard than most Paraguayans. (Which is something that I am not comfortable with) But I sitting here typing my blog entry – it seems ridiculous to me that people think I am making a great sacrifice or doing large amounts of good. Most days “doing good” seems like something that would be great if it happened but it’s a little hard to know if it is happening!

my three worries about moving to py – If you are an avid ‘three days on a donkey’ reader you will remember that I had three concerns about moving to Paraguay, they go as follows:
1. I would be hot and sweaty for 2 years straight
2. I would never understand or speak guarani
3. It would be a three day ride on a donkey to the internet!

well, number one is currently true, I have experienced winter in Paraguay and know that is possible to be chilly. but it does currently feel like the heat might never break!
number two…iffy still. while its comin – there is still tons of work needed
number three – how lucky that I can walk to the internet in under 15 minutes if I ever want it – any day any time.

So if you really look at it – life aint so bad!

Hey, now im 24! I turned the big 2-4 on feb 10th! Mom said that in MN it was the same kind of day as it was on the day I was born! I got to celebrate at GAD (Gender and Development) camp with 4 youth from Horqueta, 18 other volunteers and about 30 youth from all over paraguay. We were on a nature reserve close to Itapu (the worlds largest hydroelectric dam) It was a great weekend filled with charlas about making decisions, self-identiy, auto-esteem and other great things! Playing games and learning how to be good youth leaders – what else could you ask for for a birthday? The night before my birthday we got to visit Itapu, da dam! And let me tell you damnnnn, it is one big dam! It is enormous, generating 95% of paraguays electricity and a bunch for brazil too! But the weirdest part is that it is a tourist attraction. Our youth loved visiting it! They were blown away by how lindo (impressive, beautiful, really nice!) it was! But, it is kind of like the Miller Brewery tour, there is a lot of hype but not a lot to see. Sure a lot of liquid passes through both and both can give you a buzz, but besides that – not crazy impressive! But never the less, something I haven’t ever done on my birthday – and made it memorable! It was cool to see it – and even cooler to see it through the eyes of our py-youth!

camera class! the thing I am the most excited about these days! CAMERA CLASS!! I am teaching a AhechaParaguay (meaning I see Paraguay, the name of the PC project) class every Monday and Friday. It is held in the public library for two hours each class. We have had three classes so far and the forth is tomorrow! The youth love it! They are still in the early stages of taking pictures, and all like taking pictures of the same things, putting the subject in the dead center. So there is room for improvement but they are really liking it! Their pictures should be up soon on the http://www.cocumu.blogspot.com/ website. Ill keep you posted!