March On!

I just arrived in the Peace Corps office and found in my mailbox a letter titled "The Future-Megan Mayzelle. Do not open until December 2008!" Well it came a little late but I finally got the letter from me that I wrote last year. I think it did a pretty good job, too, of recording all the strange memories of training and the things of Paraguay which seemed strange to me at the time--and that now are commonalities of every day life. I laughed reading it, to say the least!

Speaking of mail, the librarian informs me that we have received no packages since January 27, so anyone who mailed me something, I haven't gotten it yet. And if you're wanting to send something, take a peek a couple entries back at my "to send" list (scratch the Cold-Eeze, thanks Mrs. Lovell!!) Something to look forward to!

Nothing's been too terribly eventful the past month. The horrible heat that we DIDN'T have in Janurary, when we should have had it, has made a March Madness comeback. 42 Celcius yesterday people, no lie. April showers, please??

I've been investing some time in visiting my neighbors again, as well as helping more around my host family's house. My host sister, Esther, finally got a huge break: the chance to ditch her 250.000Guarani/month job for one that pays 1.350.000! (That's more than I make!) She's going on 3 weeks of training in Asuncion, and as you can imagine, her daughter, Ana Paula, and her mom, Pabla, miss her presence a great deal. I've tried to fill in as much as I can with keeping the house clean and such. Mostly, however, I try to take care of Ana Paula. I take her on walks, show her how to do whatever I'm doing (washing clothes, making bread...), comb her hair, give her her Flintstone vitamin (courtesy of Tio Ramon in the US) , teach her letters and numbers, talk to her like an adult, etc etc. Sometimes she asks where my mommy is, or what my daddy is doing...which I'm forced to answer with "I don't know"! She also asks me a lot of words (What is this?) Sometimes she gets so specific that I don't know the word in Spanish, so I just tell her in English! Oh well, she remembers it anyway.

In visiting with the neighbors I've come across a few new project ideas to broach while my running water project sludges through the beauracratic mud of Asuncion. They all, however, require money. The municipality would give us the money (especially given how tight the mayor and I are) but the people are required to form a committee to request it. And no one wants to do that. The mayor says people are traumatized from the days (over 20 years ago) when one could be arrested and killed for forming groups. I say people can't leave their houses and obligations (remember how I said most houses have no lock or key and someone is ALWAYS home?). But either way, my community plaza and my chicken coops are going to be coming any time soon.

So as a way to keep myself occupied, I've become enthused to do something I never thought I would do (remember that first Peace Corps invitation that I turned down??): work in the schools. At first I figured, ok, I'll get some kids books and read them in the classes. That's not too intimidating. But then when I went to say hello to the principal, and the more we talked, the more I realized how in luck I really am! She is, unlike most people who work in schools, very sincerely committed to doing well by the students. She asked me if there is any chance of getting more anti-parasite pills (like I distributed last year). She also asked me if I would pick up classroom posters and garden seeds from the national news paper in Asuncion (a public service) if she writes the request letters. A principal that VOLUNTEERS to write request letters???WHoot!! She already got chain link donated from the municipality, so when I take the seeds back we'll be starting a school garden. This is an immense project: the kids are not only introduced early to an otherwise foreign food group and how to maintain a garden, but also (with some luck) they have products to take home to improve their nutrition TODAY. When I told Enrique about all this he added that he'd like to help them start a tree farm, too, so that in a year they'll have trees to repopulate their community with. Oh, joy. I just hope it goes as well as it could, haha...

Speaking of getting enthused to do something I never thought I'd want to do (again), I've also been training to run a 5k race. I've been running 5k every morning at 6, before the heat gets too bad. My times are terrible, though, so if they don't improve I'm not sure I'll do it. And if the heat doesn't tone down, the idea of a 9am run will make me cringe. We'll see.

For this next month, along with work in the school, I have a lot of trips planned. Enrique and I are hoping to hike to Salto Cristal, the local waterfall, next week. This coming weekend I'll be visiting a soon-to-leave volunteer in Villarrica. A friend of mine is hosting a St. Patty's Day party on the 17th, and the 22nd I'm hoping to come into Asuncion to run that 5k race. The 28 I'll be in the city again for the National Volunteer Council meeting, and the 2nd my best friend in Paraguay, Abby, is having her birthday party at her new house!

That's all from Paraguay, dear friends.