Voy a visitar otro lugar en Paraguay en departmento Caazapa, se llama Yuty

I am going to visit another place in Paraguay in the department of Caazapa called Yuty. We (three of us in my group, a language teacher and my trainer) leave on Monday a.m. and come back on Friday. This is called Long Field Practice. We give charlas, work with the Muni, etc. Should be a lot of work and a lot of fun. Considering that Yuty is 90 k.m. off the highway and that road is dirt, we are really hoping it doesn´t keep raining or we won´t get there.

This week has been hard. I am homesick for the first time and struggling with small group dynamics. We found out our sites are more rural than usual, and while I am glad about this since smaller Municipalities need us more than larger ones, it is also a little scary. Perhaps I´ll be living in a place like Yuty, off the main ruta and then I will be on the island of Yuty if it rains and the roads shut. But, I´ve lived in very isolated places before (I once spent 4 straight months on Koh Tao without leaving at all and NEVER left Steamboat for over 5 months) so I know that part will be fine. It´s the communication that scares me. Internet and the ability to keep in touch. But, again, I´ve dealt with that before too. I continue to worry about my level of Spanish and being understood and understanding. I know at this point I can be understood without too much trouble (even if I sound like an idiot) but it´s the understanding others part that scares me more.

¿Que más? (This phrase has become a running joke, because our language teachers say it every two seconds to get us to expand and talk more about stuff. We give them a hard time about it.)

I got a french pedicure for 5000G last night (about $1). That was a nice treat. Food continues to be fine. I should do a whole post about that at some point. I will. I bought the Paraguayan equivelent of Soft Scrub and cleaned my bathroom floor the other day because it was so gross (anyone who knows me well knows that it must be really gross for me to actually get down and clean something!). We found a bakery and now the owners expect us each day after class. :)

This weather is insane. Yesterday it was 92 degrees (about 35 C) and today it´s about 65 (20 C). Crazy ass winter.

I´m going to Asunción on Sunday to see Piratas del Caribe II which just opened today. YAY! A real movie in a theatre. In ENGLISH! Woo hoo.

Este semana, mis compañeras de clase y yo empezamos apriendiendo Guarani. Ahora, yo tengo tres idiomas en mi mente. Loca! Necesito traducir Guarani a ingles en mi mente y despues, traducir a español. Dios Mio! Pero, yo sé que es mejor saber algo Guarani porqué lo ayuda con trabajando con la gente. (This week, my classmates and I began learning Guarani. Now, I have three languages in my mind. Crazy! I have to translate Guarani to English in my mind and after, translate to Spanish. My God! But, I know that it is better to know some Guarani because it helps with working with the people.)

All is well in Paraguay. Hope you are well too. Keep in touch. Love and missing.