why hello to those who might come across this blog. i´ve now been in paraguay for about 2 1/2 weeks, and this is really the first time i have had to write. so where do i begin... i just got back from a visit with a current volunteer, which was really interesting. basically the idea was for us to get a look at what some current volunteers are doing, how they live in the campo, what life is like.. that sort of thing. her house was pretty sweet. a one room wooded house with a grass roof that was built by the first volunteer who stayed at that site maybe 5 or 6 yars ago... unfortunatly (or maybe it is a good thing) peace corps paraguay has stopped placing volunteers at sites that do not have housing, so i wont have to bulid my own house... but we´ll see what my site looks like in a few months and perhaps i´ll be able to do some renovations, garden building, composting, composting toilet perhaps.... we all have these ideas and then the question is will we actually do them... time will tell.
so the trip was good. my language is still very basic. i am in the process (a long one) of learning guarani (and spanish) but for the most part its guarani. Mba´eichapa. cherera keith. aiko paraguaipe. (how are you? my name is keith. i live in paraguay)
the food here is okay. i´m eating meat simply because 1) i lack communication skills to adaquetly communicate my desires and 2) most people, or families i should say, eat a good bit of meat, and it has made it easier to fit in. its nice to know that when i have my own place i´ll be albe to cook what i want most of the time... there is a lot of fruit here, and december is going to be awesome... piña, mango, naranja, mandarine, pomello.. its going to be delicious
my beard is gone. and i may or may not look 12, not sure. its not too bad, but i´ll definitly be growing it out in a few months times ( i hope) when i get out to my site (which i have no clue where it will be)
i went into asuncion for the first time last week, which was an interesting experience. i got to see some of the government buildings and some of the downtown area (i think... not too sure because i really had no idea where i was). the city is right on the rio paraguay and these government buildings are right along the river... but right behind the buildings (directly next to the river) are some neigborhoods of slums... it was really interesting to see the stark contrast between these two areas.
so paraguay is a hotbed for religous missionaries. the country is over 90% catholic, but there is a huge influence of mormons, jehovahs witnesses, and other demoninations that are trying to convert people to their religion. i constantly have this question in my mind (and i must preface this by saying that i couldnt possibly know what is going on in other peoples minds, and that my perspective is what i would call heavily infused with north american ideas and preferences)... the question is why do so many people convert to religions that are the religions of people who have been their very own opressors. i cant answer it, but it is constantly on my mind...
i´m in the process of making a didjeridoo out of bamboo. i just have to add a mouthpiece of beeswax (that i bought in asuncion) and i should be good to go.
its also pretty fricken hot here, but nothing like its going to be in a few months. its the beginning of spring so its going to be really hot in november, december, january, february... summer here on the otherside of the world.
oh yeah, one last thing. i feel compelled to mention sports, just because its fitting... there my be some people out there reading this that will understand... i checked espn when i got to the internet cafe and saw that the phllies are one game away from the world series, and that penn state is number 3 in the country. everyone says it, and i know it has nothing whatsoever to do with me (how selfabsorbed could we be to think that it has anything to do with me). i wasnt really surprised to find it out... next time i check it might be the world seris and penn state will have played michigan (will they finally win??) and perhaps ohio state. anyway... just ramblings now.
i´m out.
k
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
a few hours
this will be the last post i make while in PA (and perhaps in the united states)... heading down to miami in the morning for our ~2 days of orientation. then we head down to paraguay via one stop in sao paolo, brazil.
what am i feeling? i would think that a whole range of emotions would be flooding me right now, but to tell you the truth there is a certain emptiness... a stagnant dull uneasiness that is residing for the most part in my stomach.
what am i feeling? i would think that a whole range of emotions would be flooding me right now, but to tell you the truth there is a certain emptiness... a stagnant dull uneasiness that is residing for the most part in my stomach.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
address
here is the address that I will be at (or recieving mailings at) for the first 3 months of training.
“My Name,” PCT (for trainee) (if you dont know who i am... who are you?)
Cuerpo de Paz
162 Chaco Boreal c/Mcal. López
Asunción 1580, Paraguay
South America
and a quick link to a bbc news report on the bees in italy... if you're interested
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7613786.stm
Peace!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
1 week
Hey all... this will be my little space on this crazy cyberworld for the next few years while I'm down in Paraguay working as a Peace Corps Volunteer. It's about a week before I head out to my staging event... 10 days before leaving for Paraguay. Just left State College yesterday, and I must say that I'm going to miss that place... it had truly become my home over the last 2 years. And missing autumn in Central PA is a bummer, but have no fear, I'll be heading down to a nice Paraguayan spring (we'll be tilted towards the sun!) while everyone back here is enjoying the beauty of the leaves changing, falling, crunching underneath feet. I've never really been as in tune with the changing of the seasons as I'm experiencing lately... I think part of it was working at Tait farm... being completely at the mercy of the weather... I expect that the work I will be engaging in over the next few years will deepen that relationship between seasons, sun, wind, rain, soil and human.
Just as a quick overview, if you have no idea what it is that I will be doing (and if you have an interest) here we go. I will be leaving to work as a crop extension specialist (specialist might be a bit of an overstatement at this point in time) in the South American country of Paraguay. I had originally been preparing to work as a beekeeping extension specialist, so over the last few months I have been working pretty extensively with honeybees. I hope to incorporate beekeeping in the work I will be doing, as it is a wonderful skill to learn how to manage and work with honeybees, such a fascinating little creature. I found it amazing how little the bees I've worked with actually became aggressive enough to defend their home by stinging... for all the time we spend manipulating their home, stealing their hard earned food, killing them accidentally when opening and closing the hive... not to mention all the unknown stresses that human beings are imposing on them. Pretty amazing indeed... they pollinate our food, we get perhaps the most delicious food known to humanity (i've become quite a lover of honey)... all for a few stings? For all those who fear these little creatures... i tell you, interact with them and you will open yourself up to a world of beauty. And if you find that you are apprehensive about interaction, do the very least and don't end their lives... we owe them at least that much.
Tangent complete. Agriculture. That is what i will be doing for the next few years working in Paraguay. As for any other details, I couldn't begin to tell you. We will be learning both Spanish and Guarani (a language native to some groups of people living in various lands across the South American Continent). Guarani will be the main form of communication, especially for ag. volunteers working in the more rural areas of the country. I think that's all for now. Pennsylvania has been my home for the entirety of my life... and it has shaped me in ways that i am just now beginning to understand. From the rolling farmlands of my Lancaster home to the mountains and valleys of the places I have come to love in central PA, I have been shaped. we are all being shaped, the real question is if we realize it or not. If we allow the natural world to truly become part of who we are and what we believe about the world, as it must be. Or we can choose to separate ourselves from it, but up barriers that allow us to hide from the world and our place in it. Separation. So often we separate; from ourselves and the ones we love, to the food and water that is essential to our survival as individuals and as a species. Can we engage with the beauty of the natural world? Can we face the ugliness that we are creating in the ever increasingly human-dominated world? Can we find a way to fully enjoy the joys of being human beings while simultaneously integrating our lives with the land? with the world that we have taken for granted for so long? The question becomes not "can we?" but, rather, "will we?"
peace & love
keith
Just as a quick overview, if you have no idea what it is that I will be doing (and if you have an interest) here we go. I will be leaving to work as a crop extension specialist (specialist might be a bit of an overstatement at this point in time) in the South American country of Paraguay. I had originally been preparing to work as a beekeeping extension specialist, so over the last few months I have been working pretty extensively with honeybees. I hope to incorporate beekeeping in the work I will be doing, as it is a wonderful skill to learn how to manage and work with honeybees, such a fascinating little creature. I found it amazing how little the bees I've worked with actually became aggressive enough to defend their home by stinging... for all the time we spend manipulating their home, stealing their hard earned food, killing them accidentally when opening and closing the hive... not to mention all the unknown stresses that human beings are imposing on them. Pretty amazing indeed... they pollinate our food, we get perhaps the most delicious food known to humanity (i've become quite a lover of honey)... all for a few stings? For all those who fear these little creatures... i tell you, interact with them and you will open yourself up to a world of beauty. And if you find that you are apprehensive about interaction, do the very least and don't end their lives... we owe them at least that much.
Tangent complete. Agriculture. That is what i will be doing for the next few years working in Paraguay. As for any other details, I couldn't begin to tell you. We will be learning both Spanish and Guarani (a language native to some groups of people living in various lands across the South American Continent). Guarani will be the main form of communication, especially for ag. volunteers working in the more rural areas of the country. I think that's all for now. Pennsylvania has been my home for the entirety of my life... and it has shaped me in ways that i am just now beginning to understand. From the rolling farmlands of my Lancaster home to the mountains and valleys of the places I have come to love in central PA, I have been shaped. we are all being shaped, the real question is if we realize it or not. If we allow the natural world to truly become part of who we are and what we believe about the world, as it must be. Or we can choose to separate ourselves from it, but up barriers that allow us to hide from the world and our place in it. Separation. So often we separate; from ourselves and the ones we love, to the food and water that is essential to our survival as individuals and as a species. Can we engage with the beauty of the natural world? Can we face the ugliness that we are creating in the ever increasingly human-dominated world? Can we find a way to fully enjoy the joys of being human beings while simultaneously integrating our lives with the land? with the world that we have taken for granted for so long? The question becomes not "can we?" but, rather, "will we?"
peace & love
keith
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