Taking My Time

Well, I've been saying for a long time now that when I got the chance, I would sit down and really write to you all. That time has come! I've been prescribed 10 days of physical therapy in Asuncion for my ever'aching hip joint, and that means lots of hang out time. I feel a little like I'm abandoning my community--I'll be missing several meetings, bee capturing dates, and trips to offices to help them get recognized as a committee. However, I think the physical therapy is necessary, and there's no reason to travel back and forth.

Its finally cooling down here, which is to say that its a good bit like the heat of August in the US. Its not too hot to wear jeans when I get up at 6am, but by noon its about 90 (which we've found to be quite balmy considering the past months of dry, dry, rainless heat) and at night its cool enough to cover up with a sheet or light blanket.

Mango season has come to an end as abruptly as it started--no more frightening squishing underfoot when you walk across the yard. Guava, however, is in full swing, and so as not to lose the fruit, all the ladies my jelly out of it! I prefer the fruit straight off the tree, but that{s just me.

Work in my site has been extremely satisfying. Much of training consisted of motivating a traditionally "stay inside the lines" culture to try something different. My people, however, have time and again proven to be extremely motivated. They seem to be able to recognize what would be useful to them, and they are more than willing to use every resource I can offer them. My beekeeping committee is already working on their own. Today, for example, they decided to have their weekly meeting even knowing I wouldn{t be there. They are also requesting recognition by the local municipality so that they can access donations and special assisstance, and are also in the process of requesting workshops on fishpond projects and soil recuperation from the National Dept of Agriculture. This, of course, means lots of expensive phone calls, trips to other towns, and paperwork for me, which I am absolutely delighted to do! I love that they find me useful and motivating, and I am also inspired by the fact that those type of "skills" (like being able to use a computer, or navigate unknown bus lines and offices) are as foreign to them as harvesting mandioca (google it!) is to me. Its empowering to use my skills, and its refreshing to show them that I, if fact, was not born at the age of 23, and am in fact capable in some aspects of life, though they not be those with which they are familiar.

Most importantly, however, my beekeepers have finally gotten over the hump of "getting their bees." For a few weeks I was hearing "Well Megan, there{s no reason to make a suit and a bee box until I have bees..." and was starting to get worried that we were going to fizzle out on a chicken and egg dilemma. However, thanks to one member who had me out capturing bees since new years, two other families finally got motivated to get started, and it seems like we're off to a decent start. Yea!!

I was discussing my idea of a youth group with the daughter of one of my beekeeping committee members, and she was really interested! So interested, in fact, that I decided to stop putting it off and go ahead and try to have a preliminary meeting. She and two others spearheaded the invitation process (that's house to house, all 45 of them) and I put an anouncement on the local radio. Last evening I nervously went to the appointed place and time. Things were awkward to start off with, and I was afraid the few 13 year olds that were waiting for me there would be the only ones to show. I asked the aforementioned young lady to explain the purpose of the group--I was trying to get them to take the lead to avoid speaking to them in Spanish, which sets a more formal mood. However, she pretty much immediately passed it off to me. We struggled over offices for a while, and I was having my doubts. However, I became absolutely sure that what I was doing was both good and needed when BOTH of my host brothers (who always claim to be too busy for anything, and would never come just to patronize me) came in! Newly motivated, I finally got them to decide on offices, and by the time we adjourned an hour and a half later, they had chosen their officers, planned out the logistics of a fundraising bake sale for TOMORROW (even though I won't be there!!) AND Tuesday, and had set a meeting for the following Wednesday, all without me saying a word. Yea!!! I'm sooo excited to see where this goes.

I'm gonig to close this very long entry by talking a bit about my daily life. With respect to work, I am an odd mix of male and female in Paraguay--that is, I work both in and out of the home. My schedule must also work around the Paraguayan business hours, which are typically 7 to 12am. So, I normally get up around 6am. If I have some type of appointment (with the bus, the municipality, or a beekeeper) it is usually around this time to avoid the inevitable heat that soon follows. I also buy fresh milk from the neighbor in the morning, right after she milks, and put it in the fridge so the creme will separate off by the next morning (at which point, by the way, I boil it all, make half into yogurt, and leave the other half milk. The creme is good for baking or shaking to make butter). I spend the rest of the morning baking, sweeping, washing dishes, etc. Even though my house is small, those tasks take a while since I have to pull water from the well and bring it from there in a bucket. By 10.30 or 1100 the men are back from the field and its terere time (look it up!), which consists of sharing a cold tea that is a refreshing diruetic. 11.30 or 12 is lunchtime, the main meal of the day (very USA-esque, as compared to other hispanohablante countries), and after that most people go to sleep. I sometimes crash, but usually avoid it by reading or, if its not too hot, continuing my house chores. Life resumes around 3pm. This is usually when I go out visiting people, another part of my job. Sometimes there's a reason, like I need to let them know about the next meeting. Usually, though, its just to keep contact and make friends. Twice a week I have committee meetings at 6pm. At 7, I take a half'hour spin on my bike, which is immensely refreshing and makes my icy cold shower pleasant. Dinner is a detail at somepoint between 8 and bedtime, which is, for me, around 10pm. Voila!

If you made it this far, congrats, you deserve a break. See ya lata!!