February-March Gladness Continues...

Nothing like being in Paraguay on the jammed backed buses standing up, passing babies, sweating and well, sweating. It continues to be SO hot here! I cant wait until the VERY HOT season turns into the Hot Season. I’m ready to dismiss the Very part. So what else are we up to? We went to Mercado Cuatro to find some elastic band to sow headbands. The womyn are making the ñanduti and we have to sow on the elastic part/bottom of the headband to complete the piece. So we headed to Mercado Cuatro which is this market where they sell everything really cheap. We found what we needed and also enjoyed walking around the huge market! So many things- worth the 2 hour ride there!

We have also been into buying our veggies from the random guys that sell them on the bus. Totally saves us a trip to the market and they always have such great deals!!!

Hm, what else? We continue to spend time with Lourde’s family! They continue to be such a blast! The simpleness in friendship is so simple sometimes.

Meet Gonzalo

Hanging out, eating pastafrola- a yummy dessert- like a cookie cake--its a cake but with the hardness of a bakery cookie with freshly made jam on top. yummmmy! That and chocolate milk thanks to their cows! 

Lourdes is one of my closest friends here. She is zeeee besttt!

So this is another day. We were trying to pass by a slow afternoon and were urging to do something different. So, we blasting EMO songs and painted each other with black make-up and wrote EMO poems, just cause. Hahahaha the funtivities we come up with to keep ourselves entertainedddd…

Mid-February here is CARNIVAL celebration! I mean its no Brazil Carnival, but hey Paraguay has its own little spicy carnival events! So I knew there was going to be floats and costumes and music, but I didn’t know there was going to be INTENSE shaving cream spraying!! HAHAHAH! Everybody has this "shaving cream type" substance and you basically have no chance of surviving the night without being covered! Funnnnnnn!

What else? We have met another friend. Well, he’s been a friend for a while but he’s been so shy for quite some time. But, we think he is more comfortable with us now and accepts us as his pals. His name is Ed and he lives in a drain right by our house.

Monetti and I have joined Kelly Miguens (a Jesuit Volunteer/friend of ours), PUSH for a cause.  She started this advocacy events regarding Legal Immigrant’s Rights within U.S. We have been doing 19 push-ups a day. (Although I took 2 weeks off due to a malfunctioning wrist from pulling Nala (the dog) off of a 3 baby kittens. ha)

We have been spending more time in Asuncion lately. We visited the Human Rights Museum here which was awesome!!! Always so much to learn about history!

We found a station where it talked about the School of Americas. Surprise Surprise?? ...nottt… For anyone who doesnt know what School of Americas is... It is basically a Combat Training School for Latin American solidiers located in Fort Benning, Georgia. There is a big protest/rally every November to close the school. My volunteer community members and I road tripped it to Georgia last year to be a part of the protest. Here is more info:

Since 1946, the SOA has trained over 64,000 Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency techniques, sniper training, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation tactics. These graduates have consistently used their skills to wage a war against their own people. Among those targeted by SOA graduates are educators, union organizers, religious workers, student leaders, and others who work for the rights of the poor. Hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been tortured, raped, assassinated, “disappeared,” massacred, and forced into refugee by those trained at the School of Assassins. For more info,  http://www.soaw.org/about-the-soawhinsec/what-is-the-soawhinsec There is a street in Asuncion (the capital city) that has such awesome paintings. This first one is one my favorite wall paintings in the whole city.

Love the colors choices and just well the whole thing! Oh. After the Human Rights Museum, we decided to entertain ourselves by walking around the mall just to be in the AC, ha- Divas, I know. We rode the escalators a few times and found this game room with fun mirrors!

After that we left the mall, we were just sitting on the street curb, chatting, passing time when a RANDOM lady came over to us. She must of heard us speaking English and asked if we were from the Peace Corps. We said no and explained what volunteer program we work for, etc. etc. Then she asked us if we wanted to hang out. So, off we went, with this random random random lady-walking the streets of Paraguay with her chatting/hanging out with her. Ha. Love it!

What else? Lots of birthdays! Friends from the US! Paraguay friends! It seems now is the time that all the street cats are having kittens!! Cute baby kittens everywhereee!! Awwww!

Our friend Fabi’s (to my left) birthday. We spend a lot of time cooking traditional Paraguay food with her mom (to my right) to celebrate.

Fabi

Me Hugo Anchi Liz and Monetti

Hugo and Krystina

Me being a magician and Catalino in the back not being able to handle my magic tricks!

We have been traveling a bit more around Paraguay lately with our friends. These big rocks used to be under water yearsss ago! When you get up close, part of them look like coral. Of course, I tried to rock climb a little! J

Jeny, Hugo, and I

Peace Hugo

Nothing like a sunset in Paraguay amongst the trees.

We went to the Nanduti Festival with the sisters which was awesome! Doesn’t get any more traditional than this! Traditional dances, musics, the whole nine yards! A few of our friends/co-workers who teach music performed at the festival which was a surprise!

Our friends David and Edgar performing at the festival.

March 4^th was Evelyn’s quincenera! Evelyn is the daughter of Griselda (one of the artisans that works with us every Tues and Friday).

We felt soooo excited that we were invited to celebrate her big day! Evelyn is the only girl in the whole extended family so this was a very big and important event! The 4^th was a Sunday. Krystina and I woke up bright and early and took a nice long walk to Griselda’s house to help prep for the quince. All day we spent decorating and cooking cooking cooking!

This is Grizzy's sister who came from Argentina and Mom who came from Spain took the trip to Paraguay for Evelyn's quince! So it was really cool to finallyyy be able to meet more of her family! (They live in Argentina and Spain because there is just so much more work opportunities there compared to Paraguay. They were a Blast!)

This is the kitchen where we had the quince. Making the plates of the food we made all day. 

I will be honest- by the time 5pm hit, we were ready for bed! The quince started at 9pm aka an hour before our usual bed time! Ha! Ahhh it was so cool though. We got to spend the entire day just sharing in the experience of such a special day for the whole family. We absolutely love, adore and look up to Griselda (the artisan). She is something else! It really was so cool to just be a part of everything- the preparation, the ceremony, the hecticness, the rushing the laughs, the dances, the traditions, the every everything! I loved just watching Grizzy watch her daughter. They love each other so much. They are so much a part of each other, its cool. It was so awesome to just be a witness to such love. Okay, am I being corny?

Maybe, but whatever! Mom and daughter relationships can be so so special, just like Grizzy and Evelyns, just like my mom and me. I LOVE THAT! There is nothing like it in the whole world! Okay, another high light from this quince is that Krystina and I well- didn’t know what to expect. What is the traditional Paraguayan quinceneras like? What do we have to wear? We don’t have much besides out t shirts and Bermuda shorts?? So, well, we borrowed clothes from our Paraguayan friends. We let them pick out our “quince appropriate wear” which left Monetti in a SPARKLY (even though you cant fully see it in the photos) black dress. It left me in a FLORAL off white pink skirt! Im not anti skirts but lets be real- Im not the “floral type print girl.” We were dying laughing and totally embracing how much our outfits didn’t scream “us.”  Part of the prepping quince process including us getting our hair done by their neighbor.

We didn’t know what was “quince appropriate hair” so we said do whatever which let Krystina with SLICK TIGHT back ballerina hair bun and left me with some braid thingy! We couldn’t get enough of all the surprises!! Ha! Lets take a sidenote and appreciate my pose in the pictures. A few days after the quince, we were looking at pictures and dying laughing! Why is my hand so high up?? Why didn’t I just put my hand on my hip or down next to my side? I guess I put my hand where the shirt ended instead of my hip because I wasn’t used to this type of skirt. Ahahahahah! (Don mind of glistening sweaty faces- I cant.)

So the night was a blast! Clearly we did not leave the dance floor! Dancing with all of Grizzy’s family including her mom from Spain who turned out to be quite the fabulouss dancer! We threw confetti on eachother and got sprayed with this shaving cream stuff! Ha! It was such a blast!

Midnight struck and then it was my birthday! CAKEEE

February and March

Today is March 12, 2012. I haven’t blogged in quite some time. As time goes on and relationships deepen, I put blogging lower and lower on my priority list. But, Im determined to not stop completely as I know I’ll appreciate reading my own blogs 10 years from now. Shall I begin…January Patagonia Adventure flew by! Just two days after I got back, I was cleaning my ear with a qtip. I took the qtip out and realized that the cotton was missing. Did the cotton fall out in my ear? Or did I put a qtip in my ear not realizing that was missing one side of the cotton? I wasn’t 100% sure. I tried wetting another qtip and sticking it in my ear hoping it would catch the dry cotton piece if it was in there. No luck. At this point my ear did feel a little different and I started to feel more sure that there was actual cotton in my ear. I told on of the retired sisters during our lunch break. She told me I need to go to Centro de Salud immediately! Next thing I know I’m laying on a table wondering what process I am about to encounter to capture this cotton! The doctor had his ear light but problem= it didn’t work. Bang banging the light on the table. Licking the batteries. Nope, no luck.  He tells me if my light doesn’t turn on he cant help me. I still have hope! 20 minute and a hard bang later- boom a small light comes on-flickering! Yahoo! (Sidenote- the 20 min during the light banging was also some smooth head swiggling from the doctor as reggeaton was blasting in his office which in most cases I would probs appreciate ha, but not with this pulsing ear issue! Oh also, Titanic song Spanish version was thrown in there. Gotta love the randomness of music in the midst of the ear dilemma) He looks at me and goes “Quick hurry before it breaks again!” Followed by this is Doctor McDoc shoving his light tool down my ear pretty much tickling my brain.  There is me pushing his arm as he’s shoving it. We were pretty much wrestling as Im yelling that he is hurting me and he’s telling me just a little further. So after the wrestle, he so calmy says “Nope, nothing in there.” Im like really? He walks away to go write down some prescription for pain meds bc now my ear is suurrriously pulsating! I ask him “ Is that it? Are you sure you didn’t see anything? I really think there is something there; can you please look one more time.” At this point, I was ready for wrestle #2.  So wrestle #2 and 4 minute later out comes the cotton swab! I scream I knew it was in there!!—all excited that its out! He’s like “it’s a good thing you made me go back in there!” Ha, I cant. Always an experience at Centro de Salud.

After the ear fiesta, we went to Lago Ypacari with some friends. Didn’t swim in it because the last time we did, we had some skin reactions. SO HOT out! Brought some food and drinks and just chilled with some friends which is always refreshing.

The Roa Sisters- Jeny Claudia and Anchi. Then there Fabi, Monetti and I.

We have also been on top of the game at work! Lots of orders! The artisans quality of works continues to improve which means more sales! Busy Busy Busy!

Yes, we continue to be hair, hand, and neck models! This month I was also a blouse model! Aaaaaahahahaha! I cant!! We cannot even breathe when we are photoing for the catalog! Too hilarious!

Spa Jessie is still open for pampering! Although I usually like my nails to be free of nail polish, I do like to paint Monetti’s nails and design her eyebrows! My favorite part is POURING baby powder on her head. She’s not a fan of it but its part of the Spa Jessie deal because I find so much humor and fun in it! Mwwaaahahaa!

What else has happened? Hmm…more sleepovers at the retired sisters, our besties. We rented The King’s Speech (on Monetti’s laptop with a projector on the wall- home movie theatre!! Except the volume from the laptop was so low we had to put subtitles, ha) and had a popcorn slumber party with them. Ice-cream-always ice-cream. Dulce de Leche…yummmm never gets old!

Another highlight is that we got our fans fixed in our house which has been such a blessing! It is still hitting into the 100s and sometimes the fans just toss around hot air but they are awesome on the days that it rains and there is a breeze that comes through.

The avocado tree is now in season which is great and not great! Great to eat but it is also located right over our house. So, as we are sleeping, we hear loud bangs on the tin room at 12am, 1am, 2am, 3am and so forth which leaves us jumping out of our bed scared shitless from the sudden bang and then we look at each other and say “onlyyyy an avocado!” It was funny in the beginning but not so much anymore with our baggy eyes. Ha, but still a little funny.

What else? Oh, apparently I was featured in Good Shepherd Services newsletter. Our coordinator told me he copied and pasted a part of one of my blogs to be featured in the newsletter. I was also asked to write a short piece for the GSV blog. So I decided to take our corny and by corny I mean FABULOUS motto of “Just Love” and write about it.

http://justlovegsv.blogspot.com/2012/01/just-love-from-paraguay.html

Hm, what else. Reading books continues to be an activity of ours. Monetti continues to act out the book The Help. We keep practicing The Four Agreements to the best of our abilities..and well, more books about social justice issues/Bluestocking-esque.

We went to a festival in Ita ((Ita= (guarani)= Piedra (Spanish)=Rock(English)) with Jeny, Claudia and Fabi which was fun!

We’ve recently been all about making stuffed peppers!

Let’s just say Monetti had a moto burn incident! Ahhhhaa!

Hm, what else? We decided that we want to become scorpion savors instead of killers so we have masters catching the scorpions in our house and freeing them outside.

Nothing like brushing our teeth and freeing a baby scorpie!

Some other highlights have been receiving mail from friends and family! It always feels like Christmas morning when we get a letter or package from someone from home! Received an amazing HILARIOUS Christmas DVD from my family! Thank you thank you thank you!! Mike you are the coolest.

It takes us a few hours to download but every now and then we download a 20 minute episode of Ru Paul’s Drag Race. We love Jiggly Caliente!

What else? Prop 8 was declared unconstitutional and Washington State legalized gay marriage.  Love itttt.

Oh, Superbowl fun! We sort of watched the superbowl- very grainy but still tried! We skyped Mickie, Monetti’s mom for the Superbowl which was hilarious. NY WHATTTTTT?? Madonna’s performance was fab- never disappoints!

Monetti and I have been trying to master the booty shake in our spare time. We think Missy Elliot’s “Shake Your Pom Pom” is an encouraging song for booty shake practice. What is wrong with us?? Ahhaaha.

Rafiki and Nala continue to be our best friends here too. They are too cool!

We decided to rock some dreds! Found a croche needle and crocheted dreds into eachother’s hair. My dred is named Liz.

This is Hermana Elisa. She is the youngest one that lives in the retired sisters house. She isn’t a retired sister but she lives with them. She is the one that works at the Women’s Jail. She is THE JOKESTER of the group and is constantly picking on Krystina and I-with love, obvi. We love her. Here she is-“visiting” our office aka asking me to give her a massage. She was super stressed this week. (She usually gives people massages- the retired sisters or people who are hurt.) So, I gave her a massage for a change, except we couldn’t tell anyone because it would be “inappropriate” so she came to our office and I basically punched out her stiff shoulders. We were cracking up, especially me! Being sneaky/ “bad” behavior with the Sister killed me!

Okay, one last update for this blog: our friend Court, another volunteer who is doing service in Malaysia got pink eye. The medical solution to cure her pink eye was breast milk. Except it didn’t work; it just made her eye creamy and more blurry. Classic!