Horqueta-My Home Town

I just got back from my future site visit. Let's see....what can I say about the town I will be living and working in for the next two years??? It is a town 6 hours north of the capital, in the department of Concepcion. (Departments are like our states in the U.S) It is called Horqueta and is a lovely, charming little town of 10,000 people. There is one paved road that goes through town where you can buy most anything you would need to survive, there is a really pretty plaza (in comparison to other plazas in Paraguay-not pretty plaza like in Spain or anything) a big church, a little pizza place, two high schools, two elementary schools, a girl's group home, a muni, a library and a soccer field. All the other roads are dirt roads, like most in Paraguay and it rained two of the 4 days I visited so I didn't do too much exploring. When it rains, the roads become like rivers and nobody goes anywhere, not even to work or school. Not to mention all the farm animal crap and trash that is in the road floads over your feet and that is just gross! It also leads to parasites getting in your feet so no thank-you, I will do as Paraguayans do and stay indoors!

The days that I did get out and explore, I went to the schools with my contact and he introduced me to some people. Everyone has been very nice and seems willing to work with me. I was trying to use my middle name (Kristine) and go by the name of Kristina in site since people have such a hard time with Jill but the previous volunteer already told some people in the town that my name was Jill so I think it will end up being Jill. RIght now people use both so we'll see what happens...

When I wasn't walking around awkwardly introducing myself to people, I was hanging out with my new host family. There is a single mom and her 5 kids. There is a baby, a 6 year old, 11 year old and 2 teenagers. They are all great kids. The Urban Youth volunteer that I am following up lived with the family the whole 2 years and I am sure I will too. She built her own house on the property of the family and by built I mean paid for the materials and the family paid for labor. The house is really cute, nicer than some studios I have seen in California. It has a bedroom, a bathroom with running water and a flushing toilet, a little kitchen with a sink and stove and a patio. The only problem is the roof is made of metal and it leaks in the rain and is very hot in the summer. As soon as I get a camera I will post pics of all this. My host mom owns a little store and I sat on the corner a lot and watched kids play soccer on the dirt field out front and drank terere with neighbors. Within the course of an hour I saw a kid walking by with a bicycle and a squealing pig strapped to the back of the bike, I saw 3 grown men piled on a motorcycle almost run into a pole, and saw goats, pigs, horses, dogs, and cats roaming around the street. It's funny how familiar these surroundings are becoming but I still laugh a lot at them. In my backyard there are pigs, chickens, dogs and cats. When we eat at the dinner table the little piglet walks under my legs all the time. I have to remind myself one day they will kill this pig and I'll probably have to witness it so I can't get attached!

There is another volunteer in the same town who has been here almost 2 years and works as a municipal services volunteer. He will leave in August and is really cool. He will be a big help in showing me around and for moral support. He did a radio show with the volunteer I am following up and would like to continue it with me. Where in the U.S can you just walk into a radio station and say Hi, I would like to have an hour slot on your program...and have them say yes!? I will give it a go but will be very nervous about it. I did speak a little bit on the radio on Sat with another volunteer in the area who has her own show. Radio shows are very common ways for volunteers to get information out to the community and educate. Also very fun once you get over your fear of speaking in a different language for hundreds if not thousands to hear!

Every volunteer as well as our boss has told us that the first 3 months in site are the most challenging. The make it or break it time. It's hard to get work going right away since you ahve to build trust of the community first before you start projects and building projects is no easy task. Also, saying goodbye to your fellow trainees after 3 months of training and living in the same town is hard. I will have to do that in 2 weeks and get on a bus and go off on my own to practically the other side of the country! Two more people decided Peace Corps wasn't for them and decided to leave before site assignments. One was from my Urban Youth Group. It was really sad because she is the first person I met on the plane from L.A to Miami and was someone I was close to. Now there are 9 Urban Youth volunteers and 6 of them have sites near the capital-Asuncion. I am way up north and my best friend here has been placed way down south! My other good friend is kind of in the middle of the country. The next time we will all see each other will be in August for another training for a week. Then the time after that will be at Thanksgiving.

While I won't see other people from my group that often there are other volunteers from other sectors that will be in the Concepion area. This group is called your VAC group, those that live in the same department and once a month we get together for meetings and to have fun. The VAC group up in Concepcion has a reputation for being very hard working and close and a lot of fun. I have met some of them and they are being really supportive of the newbie. I think I will fit in fine with them and the Paraguayans.