The Final Move...

Since ive gotten to the city its been all go... first day of work was welcoming the new group and since then its been visiting Volunteers, traveling all over the country and making sure the Community Health Sector Volunteers are happy and successful. Any down time, i have been going to the embassy gym, hanging out with the other coordinators or going back to my site to visit.

I have been living in a TINY one bedroom place since February and i just want to be able to have more room to move around. So POR FIN (finally) i am moving into a little house that has a living room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. a nice little patio and only a ten min walk away from Peace Corps Office.

Everything is going well. Working well with my boss and having a great time learning how to work in a developing organization. Peace Corps is such a great organization, that i am honored to work with.

The city life has been nice, but i am not running around eating out all the time, or going to the movies or anything like that. I barely make it by each month on the stipend that i get. But i did not come here to live a life of luxury or to spend money. It is nice every once and a while to go out and have a nice meal. Thank goodness my boss and one of the coordinators both love and know good food. So i have two people i can splurge a little with a enjoy a good meal and good company with.

Traveling with my boss can be really tiring since we have to sometimes go as far as 4 hours in a car into the countryside to visit and spend the night in the near by city. The following day wake up and visit another Volunteer and do it all over again. My boss and I have a good time in the car though listening to music and chatting about everything... and i appreciate that she speaks both Spanish and English :)

From this moment until i leave to go to London i will be settling into my new place. Continuing traveling around Paraguay visiting the reminder of our Volunteers, attending a HIV/AIDS workshop, and preparing to to leave Paraguay for a month of well deserved vacation.


Until next time :)

City Life

So far so good in the big city. Moving was not too bad, since i had help from a Peace Corps driver. It was a bit hard to leave my site, but knowing i am only 3 hours away makes it easier. I can go back on any given weekend, or Holiday to visit. I have been back once since the big move.

Weekends are dead in the city, everyone goes to the campos to visit their families. So i have been leaving on the weekends to travel and visit other volunteers. Which is part of my job description to go and spend time with volunteers in their sites.

My boss is great, and any boss i have from here on out will have to live up to her standards. We get a long great, which makes it easier when we are traveling in a car together for endless hours. Next week we are going to be traveling down to the South of PY. We will have to spend two nights down their, to visit sites and volunteers. I am excited, but it will be a lot of work and traveling.

My little apartment is treating me well, love having a TV with cable, hot showers and wifi! But in a couple months i will move to another apartment that is way bigger but no TV or wifi! Can't have it all haha

Well must keep this short, I will write again soon... here are some pictures from my recent visit to a volunteer's site to build brick cook stoves...

The Big Move

Its been all go since the holidays.. First i shared Thanksgiving with my dad, then Christmas with my training family, and New Years with a group of Volunteers... Somewhere in between all these holidays i found time to think about my future here in PY.

I filled out the paperwork to become the coordinator for the health sector. I figured i would give it a go and go through the process for a great job opportunity  I have enjoyed my experience here in Paraguay and want other volunteers to have the best experience possible. The job entitles that the coordinator works with the sectors director to provide information, support and organize for the health sector. The bosses for this sector are two of the sweetest people in the office. So on New Years eve, one of my bosses called me and offered me the position. I accepted and continued with my water project. Knowing that soon i would be moving to Asuncion.

After finishing my water project my boss asked me to get ready to move to Asuncion sooner than expected. So i started to look for apartments and pack prior to an All Girls Camp that Peace Corps organized. I ended up taking two girls from my community which was great. my last weekend in site i was able to have a couple final days with the people in my community. Especially since i moved all my belongings( bed, fridge, dresser etc) 5 days before i actually left for the camp, it gave me the perfect opportunity to stay at the houses of people in my community.

I left site on Monday the 4th of Feb with my girls for the camp. The camp lasted 3 and half days and was very exhausting for all of us. On Thursday i got a ride with a PC vehicle into Asuncion for my first day to live. I got into the office, to see a welcome sign on my desk, and was welcomed into the office with open arms. I talked to my boss, and then went to my future apartment to pay and see it. On Thursday night i spent the night at my co-workers house to adjust to the first night.

On Friday morning i woke up, ironed my clothes, and went to the Office for my first day. I was welcomed by my boss with roses and a little note " Alex, Welcome to the Team, My best wishes for the year". Such a sweet touch to my first day! LOVE IT!

We then took off to the airport and met the arriving new group of 23 new health volunteers. We went to the training center, and had a meet and greet lunch with the new group which was great. This new group will be one of two groups i will focus on within the next year.

 (The old coordinator( new tech trainer) and me the new coordinator (old health volunteer)


On Friday night i spent my first night in my new place. It is nothing too big or fancy. One room, and a bathroom! So my first weekend in my apartment is so far so good!

Stay tuned for updates from the BIG CITY now a days ..  

Water

Water! 

After 3 months of working, paper work, waiting... Yelling.. Gossip...Digging... Sweating... Tears( of frustration and joy).. Even blood( blisters) finally I am happy to announce that Zorrilla has running water! We are putting in the last faucets in the next couple days... 

It has been a battle... Mostly uphill.. But in the last week seeing my community come together has made me proud...I have seen them fight and it disappoints me.. It's been tough.. A lot of non believing and yelling has taken place... Every meeting has it's highs and lows...

I have cried with frustration when people haven't wanted to dig to help two families in the last houses.. Yes they live "far" from the rest and don't have anyone to work. But they are the most appreciative and believed this whole time.. So I was brought to tears when few supported my determination to continue digging... 

But we made it! My hands are raw.. My back hurts... I have cut my leg and toe.. But water has arrived! Every time someone turns on their tap hopefully they will not take it for granted  like many of us do.It's been a wild ride...but I am happy and will enjoy my last weeks in site.. 

Without the support of everyone back at home... And my friends.. The community I live in would not have been able to complete this dream... 

What once was a dream is now reality... Can't wait to shower!

I will write next time after my move to asuncion! It's all go... 

Until next time.... 

Too hot for jingle bells

Christmas Eve 2012. I am here in Guazu Cora, with my host family for this Christmas. It is already a better Christmas than last year. More family oriented, more “christmasy”. It is sad that I have to have Christmas lights, Christmas songs and decorations to feel like it is Christmas but its true. So being here for Christmas is so much better. It is always a plus to be with my host family from training. They are just so nice and remind me so much of my family when I was a kid. The parents are so involved in their kids lives and it makes so much of a difference. Doesn't hurt that my 7 year host sister loves me and looks up to me : ) 

I am currently sitting with my host family. We are about to open a bottle of cider. Its 8pm and dinner will be at 12am! Followed by dancing and fireworks until the early hours of Christmas morning. It is such a different Christmas than I was raised with but nonetheless I am happy to sure with another  culture.

It is currently about 90 degrees and the sun as officially gone down. All day I have been sweating and haven’t been able to have a nap because its been so hot. Now the mosquitoes are starting to bite and all I can think of is how in the USA in places it is snowing! Blows my mind… but  it is what it is…I cant say i like Xmas in the summer... but for now i will deal with the situation at hand. 

I miss my family back at home, and everywhere in the world. But tomorrow when everyone wakes up to opening gifts and sitting around in their PJ’s… it will be another day here in PY.. 

I am not sad I am not home for the holidays… but I am sad I cant experience it all! Soon ill be back in the USA and ill be missing my host families here in PY. 

So as we count down to midnight... I shall drink up, share stories of when i was a kid and christmas with my host family and enjoy the time i have been given here in Peace Corps Paraguay. 

There won't be any gifts this year, but I am truly blessed with the gift of  being able to help others.... It's unforgettable and truly amazing!  

Until next time 

Thanksgiving... Never meant More to me then now...

I was never one to like thanksgiving as a kid. I was always sick... And turkey and its fixing never was my favorite meal. I was always more of the Sunday Dinner with the Yorkshire pudding type of girl.

So not spending thanksgiving stuffing my face is not that big of a deal... Its being with family, watching the football, and enjoying the company that i miss the most...

But this thanksgiving I am spending it with my dad. Here in PY. I could not be more thankful!

Along with that, i have a project to be thankful for. I am trying to get water for 30 houses in my community. Then men and boys in my community have been digging the lines for the pipes... hard working men! 3,300 meters for the main line must be dug... here are some pics of the work so far!








If you can donate anything please do...

go to http://www.peacecorps.gov/donate

type in Murillo and you will find my project...

anything counts...

My dad and i are heading to the campo. and i will take videos and photos of our weekend in the Campo. So stay tuned.


Love to my family and friends...all over the world... Happy thanksgiving!

You decide!

Integrated or just plain dirty? 

Never a dull moment in my life here! 

So as many of you know I am always with my kids. Pretty much 24/7. Minus the hours I am asleep, bathing or in the bathroom of course. They are my shadows. My students. My neighbors. Even my alarm clocks. 

I am in the school at least twice a week. They come to my door at 6am and don't leave until dark. 

They are great company but also it is very tiring to have kids ALL the time. 

The biggest reason I came back to Paraguay after my medical evacuation was for the kids. I love them and I'd do anything for them. 

I hope they have learned from what I have taught and what they have seen in my model behavior( that I try hard to perfect a better way of living). 

So the day finally came... The day I became the most integrated in my community. But also the direst I have ever been in my life. 

I don't know how or when.. But I realized over the weekend that I had 

Wait for it...... 

LICE! 

I was horrified! 

So, I called my doctor! Asked for shampoo and directions to get rid of it fast! 

I was able to buy everything I needed in the local pueblo. I spent hours combing through my hair... I had my neighbor (12yr old) check.. My volunteer friend... My host mom.. And a local nurse... I want it GONE! 

I am currently on my way to my friends site. LICE FREE! To spend some time with other Nortes. 

I still feel dirty... So I'm going to have my hair washed in the closet thing to salon I will come across here in PY. 

So there you have it... Another story for the books.... Alejandra had lice! ( can't use that in the game never have I ever had lice..) 

Oh well.. Like I said.. I will do anything for my kids... Even if it means I had to get lice.. 

I'm actually surprised that I hadn't had it before and I cross my fingers I won't get it again... I pray I won't! 

I've been advised to keep a hat on while around kids... Im currently taking all my sheets and towels to a laundry place in Paragua'i. Also burnt my hammock were my kids always lay. 

So am I truly integrated into my community since I too have had lice or am I just plain dirty!? 

*i say dirty****** 

Until next time....