Thursday, November 22, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving - and my new home

On this day of giving thanks I have trouble finding a place to start. So many things have gone right and so many people have supported me so that I can be where I am at this moment. I am thankful most of all for my friends and family back home. I hope all of you enjoy your turkey and cranberry sauce today.

Yesterday our site assignments came in. Next week I will be heading out to the deep south to visit my new village for a few days. It is located in the department of Itapùa, near the city of Itapùa Poty, my village is called -and i´m misspelling badly it here- Guayuayvi. This lovely little town is 50km away from the San Rafael forest reserve, one of the few remaining reserves of rainforest left in Paraguay. The town has electricity but no running water, and of course the roads are all dirt. My contacts are the director of the collegìo (like a high school) and the vice director of the elementary school. This is great because it gives me a foot in the door of both schools right away. Other volunteers have worked in the area, but I am the first to live in this town. That means I will be doing a lot of hanging out with the neighbors getting to know them and helping them get to know me. One of the big missions of Peace Corps is cultural exchange and I am on the front line in my new town. I am extremely excited about this site based on the little information I have, and look forward to visiting soon to get a better idea of where I will spend the next two years.

Well, I am off to help prepare for our Thanksgiving feast here in Guarambarè. Eat an extra scoop of cranberry sauce for me and I´ll eat an extra slice of mango for you!

1 comment:

Darren said...

I've really enjoyed reading your posts and so have my family. I shared it with them and my dad is especially happy to read it as it reminds him of his days in the PC. I also shared this with Dan Burks so he's reading them too. Happy thanksgiving to you too and I wish you the best in your new village!