Long Field Practice

This past week, myself and the other 41 aspirantes in the envrionmental sector of peace corps filled up our backpacks and water bottles and headed out to the paraguayan countryside for the week.  I was in a group of four trainees who went to visit a volunteer and work with them for a week, to get a taste of campo life and what working and living like a real life peace corps volunteer would be like.  We also practiced our guarani skills...alot.

But anyway, i would like to relay to you a few choice moments of this wonderful week.  Well...first off my host families house was about 1K away from the ruta, so i got to walk through some great fields everyday.  Bitter orange trees, really big cows, and a forest stood in between me and the road...not a bad deal.   While we were in the community we made some soap and shampoo...both of which turned out...well...mas o menos.  But, we had a really good time doing it.   The funnest part of the whole thing was probably bathing.  So at my house i bathed out in this little swampish area.  Surrounded by a little cove of trees, but with an opening looking over a pretty big field with trees.  It was really beautiful....I actually am going to rate it within the top 3 bathing experiences of my enitre life.  It was a bit ironic though....to balance myself on a plank of wood, surrounded my a mud pit, trying to get clean...i mean...if i fell, i guess i could just start over.  While this all sounds quite idyllic...i also had to deal with cows while i was bathing....they just stare at you.  It is a little awkward...i don´t know why, but it just is, haha.  Ecspecially when they try and come and drink out of your bath water!  One other obstacle was the small bee friend that tried to make my acquaintance during one bath.   normally i love bees...really...just not when i am stark naked, balanced on on foot, without my glasses on....haha.

but anyway...i have decided that i am ready to move into the campo.  I can´t wait to be a for real life volunteer, and start getting to know my new community.  We´ll see if i´m singing a different tune in a month when i´m living in my site...i think so. 

peace corps out.