My Volunteer Visit

So this first picture is of a girl at the site i went to this weekend holding the pet monkey... it was awesome! second picture is of our volleyball court we played on... the boys in the pic are playing a game of pici and the rightmost picture is my volunteer i visited, Saydia, her neighbor boy in the town and her bro on the right, we´re sitting and drinking tereré!

Visiting a Volunteers Site: This was a very cool experience. First of all I was suppose to go on Saturday but it was raining all day and the road was washed out and I had gone all the way to Asuncion and found out the buses weren’t going so I went back home and just hung out with my mom! So the next morning on Sunday I woke up and it was nice and shinny so I thought no problem. So I walked another 45 min to the main road where I caught the bus and headed to Asuncion once I got there I went to the bus company and they said they weren’t going to Tuyango today either… so I called Ricardo, who is our technical trainer and he told me to try another bus company, luckily they were going today, so I bought a ticket and got on their bus that was packed. I sat right next to a very nice guy that talked to me the whole way, he was very interested in my story and just like to talk! He helped me practice my Guarani and was a huge help to tell me when I needed to get off the bus, so we waded through the crowds of people to the front and then I saw my volunteer running towards the bus, so it stopped, I thanked the bus driver and I finally made it. Not until late Sunday night, but I made it! The last part of the bus ride to the actual site was 20 km on dirt road… I felt like I was on a rollercoaster, and we got stuck three times, it was very scary! But I made it and I was introduced to some people then we just went back to Saydia’s house and hung out and watched a movie! In the morning she made a banana smoothie and we sat outside and enjoyed the cool of the morning! Next we took a tour of her site, but not all of it cause we got tired of walking! Then she made me some really spicy Indian stir fry, but it was delicious! I scarfed it down! Next we went over to a neighbors house to play volleyball. Well this court was very little and the next was a piece of wood that came up to my wrists when I put my arms up… we started playing and the people that were playing/hangin out with us knew very quickly that I knew how to play volleyball. I was a little timid when I was first playing then Saydia told me to hit the ball… so I started swinging hard! It was ridiculously fun! We ended up playing 12 games, yes 12 games! They were only to 10, but it was an entire afternoon of volleyball, it was great! Oh and we played with the neighbors pet monkey, it was pretty freakin cool, he was like wrapped around my arm and climbing on my head! He was soooo cute! Then we went home and made brownies and watched the older boys play soccer in Saydias front yard! Then as if we weren’t tired enough, we played a game of soccer with the kids! I couldn’t move after this game, I was so exhausted! We took showers, ate the delicious brownies (which were made from scratch, none of this premade box stuff!) and went to the neighbors house again to watch a scary movie with the boys! I was so tired at this point I couldn’t even focus on the movie and try to translate, so I just watched, but I got the jist of the movie anyway! We were both tired so we went home early and just talked in our beds and passed out! In the morning she showed me where she works at her health post. It was really cool, and definitely something I would love to work in! and the nurse is the contact person for the community and basically the coolest lady ever! Everyone that I met this weekend wanted me to be their next volunteer and the nurse was actually going to call our director and request that I be the next volunteer in their site! So it was pretty cool to get such a warm reception! It definitely made things seem a lot more real and discover what site is really going to be like. And if I’m in a site anywhere like Tuyango I’m going to be very happy! However I need to learn my Guarani, everyone was talking in it! Good thing we start Guarani classes tomorrow! Overall wonderful weekend, great experience and hopefully I’ll end up in a site as cool as Tuyango!

p.s. I’ve started a very nice tan! I wear sunscreen every day, but because of all the walking I do I’m out in the sun a lot most every day! Cool with me- lovin the sun kissed look!