Everyday before I go to work I am either walking or sitting at my bus stop. Also everyday before I go to work I see or chat with one of my fellow pedestrians. Her name is Marilyn, she is probably in her 60's, and she is perhaps the sweetest person you've ever met. The title of this post is something that she told me on a particularly chilly day at the bus stop, and although I've never heard this expression before, I will now begin to use it.
The reason I write about my friend is not because she has a clever way with words, but that she has a way of purposeful sweetness. She waves and smiles and literally every motor vehicle that passes by, regardless of which way it is going, and regardless of knowing whether or the passengers can see her. In fact she even waves at busses, perhaps mostly at the driver, but nonetheless. Additionally, her daily stroll is for more than her constitution, she stops at every house on her route that has a newspaper at the curb and walks it up to their doorway. This is an all more important gesture during the damp and dark days of Northwest winter. All with a joy-exuding smile on her face.
All this to say my friend Marilyn is super.
The world should be so super.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
The future past.
I have always had the habit of imagining a place at different stages. My biggest imaginings are from places where people are. Slowly deconstructing the things we've brought...interstates...sidewalks...lights....trash cans...cars...buildings...labradoodles...taking them away one by one. Always idealizing what this virginal world I was creating would be like...how peaceful, quite, lonely, beautiful, natural...correct.
But I think I am going to try and stop this.
Why? Because it makes me bitter and bitterness is not the staircase that change climbs. If the world is going to transform into something closer to those ideals...admittedly my ideals and no one else's...then it has to hop on the hope-wagon. Maybe the first step to having less roads is an innovation in trasnport...or city planning...or something yet unheard. Maybe if we start sharing buildings more efficiently we can have fewer...what if we took some down. Other countries fit way more people in smaller spaces. Not saying we should, just that we could. Would people walk to work if they could...or perhaps if they just thought the could? More passion is beginning to grow in my heart for changes to the positive, healthy, and new.
Growing backwards is my new m.o.
But I think I am going to try and stop this.
Why? Because it makes me bitter and bitterness is not the staircase that change climbs. If the world is going to transform into something closer to those ideals...admittedly my ideals and no one else's...then it has to hop on the hope-wagon. Maybe the first step to having less roads is an innovation in trasnport...or city planning...or something yet unheard. Maybe if we start sharing buildings more efficiently we can have fewer...what if we took some down. Other countries fit way more people in smaller spaces. Not saying we should, just that we could. Would people walk to work if they could...or perhaps if they just thought the could? More passion is beginning to grow in my heart for changes to the positive, healthy, and new.
Growing backwards is my new m.o.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Riding the Bus!
Reasons I love to ride the bus:
- It is like being at the fair...I give them money I get to ride!
- Saying hello to the bus driver.
- Watching people sleep. Specifically their faces.
- Interesting accessories - most recent...alligator skin man purse
- Watching people board the bus - ecpecially if they have to jog - even more so if they are jogging with a backpack!
- Smiling. People don't have happy faces on when they are on a bus. It is as if they all agreed to be emotionless as not to interact to heavily with anyone else. I always try to maintain a minimum of a slight grin.
- The Robotic voiceover telling you where to get on and off.
- Sitting in close proximity to strangers.
- Awkward eye contact.
- Being relatively unconfident about when to get off...or on sometimes.
- Saving the earth!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
¡Todo Apodo!
Mbaeteikopio? aka. What it is?
that isn´t a literal translation btw.
Well, i have kind of been absent from blogland for a little while now, but i´ve made it back. I thought that i would share with everyone the joy of nicknames in paraguay.
EVERYONE, and their mom, really though, has a nickname it py. it is pretty fun, but it makes it really hard sometimes to figure out who you are talking about. and sometimes when you meet someone they tell you their real name, but that is probably the only time you will ever here that name b-c everyone in the whole world calls them another name.
During my time here in paraguay i have manage to pick up a few apodos myself, which we will now review.
Everything is pretty tranquilopa here though. still trying to figure out how exactly i fit into my community and what sort of work we are going to get going for my time there, but we´ll see.
i miss and love you all so much!
Charles/Yankee/Carlos Paraguayo/Jety D. Helms
that isn´t a literal translation btw.
Well, i have kind of been absent from blogland for a little while now, but i´ve made it back. I thought that i would share with everyone the joy of nicknames in paraguay.
EVERYONE, and their mom, really though, has a nickname it py. it is pretty fun, but it makes it really hard sometimes to figure out who you are talking about. and sometimes when you meet someone they tell you their real name, but that is probably the only time you will ever here that name b-c everyone in the whole world calls them another name.
During my time here in paraguay i have manage to pick up a few apodos myself, which we will now review.
- Yankee - i know it, you know it. i am not a yankee! but my neigbors don´t know it haha. This nickname was coinged by a 2 year old that i know, whose dad is also Carlos. He didn´t want to call this big american man the same name as his dad, so he picked out yankee...haha. When i was living with them a common sentence from the 2 year old was "Epu´a Epu´a Yankee! Oíma la comida!" which is to say, Get up Get up Yankee! The food is ready! it was really cute.
- Carlos Paraguayo - This is perhaps the more endearing nickname i have picked up. It was arrived at after sitting in a wine circle (circles are how you drink things here, terere, beer, wine, water, mate, anything liquid) most of the other sitters in this circle had already had a little too much to drink, haha, but after i spoke a good amount of guarani and knew the verses to one of the polkas (Che paraguay) they were like you are paraguayo, CARLOS PARAGUAYO! haha...i like this one.
- Carlos Jety - This means Charles Sweet Potato. haha...i´ve actually only heard this one once, but after me and some peeps had dug up like 20 lines of sweet potatoes, they were like you are pretty good at that, you are Carlos Jety. haha.
Everything is pretty tranquilopa here though. still trying to figure out how exactly i fit into my community and what sort of work we are going to get going for my time there, but we´ll see.
i miss and love you all so much!
Charles/Yankee/Carlos Paraguayo/Jety D. Helms
Friday, January 22, 2010
A little bit of chicken fried... wait a second...that ain´t chicken.
Throw own your blue jeans and ball cap and grab your cane pole...we´re going fishin!
ok...that isn´t exactly what my host father sait to me the other evening, but it is as close as i can get in translation...haha. I have a fish story to share...well, i guess that isn´t technically accurate.
One of the more populare past times in my community is heading out to a small fishing hole and catching an animal, which in guarani, is call mbusu. In english, well, the closest i can get is eel. I don´t know the species, but it is indeed a freshwater eel. at any rate, jaha mbusu hapé!
I feel as if this activity would be a hit in the rural parts of north carolina, i mean, it is really even better than regular fishing. What you do is take the hoe you brought a long with you, hack at some aquatic vegetation until you´ve cleareda out a hole maybe about 2 feet in width, the depth of the water being a little more shallow than that. Then you bait your hook with chicken meat, beat the water vigorously with your pole, and wait. and wait. and wait. I was never much for fishing when i was a kid, but this is really growing on me. because next comes the rush. you feel the bite, you yank up, and there it is...a black eel hanging off your chicken meat!!! You try and get if away from the water asap, bc the mbsusu are valeterei, super smart, and will let you. mine always fell off, but not to worry. next you grab up your haul and beat it to death, you can use a stick, or just the ground....ha! then you grab another stick and feed it through the little things mouth until it erupts through the back of its skull. and there you have it my friends...dinner is almost ready!
Well...i didn´t know if i knew how to eat eel or not, but i actually took down a whole plate of it...we made a soup with onions, peppers, garlic, and oregano...heterei! (yummy!)
As i was sitting with my cane pole, watching the sun go down, being bit by mosquitos, i could have sworn i was in north carolina...as i needed was a pack a nabs, a can of vienna sausages, and a mountain dew...aaaah. Well...then i saw some parrots, remembered the heard of cows behind me, and realized those trees weren´t pines, they were palms...haha.
mmm....eels.
ok...that isn´t exactly what my host father sait to me the other evening, but it is as close as i can get in translation...haha. I have a fish story to share...well, i guess that isn´t technically accurate.
One of the more populare past times in my community is heading out to a small fishing hole and catching an animal, which in guarani, is call mbusu. In english, well, the closest i can get is eel. I don´t know the species, but it is indeed a freshwater eel. at any rate, jaha mbusu hapé!
I feel as if this activity would be a hit in the rural parts of north carolina, i mean, it is really even better than regular fishing. What you do is take the hoe you brought a long with you, hack at some aquatic vegetation until you´ve cleareda out a hole maybe about 2 feet in width, the depth of the water being a little more shallow than that. Then you bait your hook with chicken meat, beat the water vigorously with your pole, and wait. and wait. and wait. I was never much for fishing when i was a kid, but this is really growing on me. because next comes the rush. you feel the bite, you yank up, and there it is...a black eel hanging off your chicken meat!!! You try and get if away from the water asap, bc the mbsusu are valeterei, super smart, and will let you. mine always fell off, but not to worry. next you grab up your haul and beat it to death, you can use a stick, or just the ground....ha! then you grab another stick and feed it through the little things mouth until it erupts through the back of its skull. and there you have it my friends...dinner is almost ready!
Well...i didn´t know if i knew how to eat eel or not, but i actually took down a whole plate of it...we made a soup with onions, peppers, garlic, and oregano...heterei! (yummy!)
As i was sitting with my cane pole, watching the sun go down, being bit by mosquitos, i could have sworn i was in north carolina...as i needed was a pack a nabs, a can of vienna sausages, and a mountain dew...aaaah. Well...then i saw some parrots, remembered the heard of cows behind me, and realized those trees weren´t pines, they were palms...haha.
mmm....eels.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
We Were Kings
Storytime!
So here in paraguay there is another holiday celebration after the official christmas and new years that we are used to in the united states. It is called the day of the kings, which i am pretty sure is supposed to be when the three wise men came to visit baby Jesus. Here it is celebrated by people putting shoes outside their windows and the kings bring by gifts for them! pretty fun, but this year, i had a fun adventure with my host father. I am working as a crop extensionist, and those crops sure do stretch; they usually go from seed, to field, to a home to be processed and cleaned, and then finally to market! I was lucky enough to go to the market in a city near my site where members of my community sell their produce.
The product - Melón - think cantaloupe...ish. sweeter. better. maybe more honeydew....anyhow.
The goal - bring in the dough at market.
The ride - pick up truck
The time - 1 AM.
Intensity. So the day before we loaded a pick up truck full up of the melóns and it was sent to wait at the drivers house. We woke up at 1 in the morning to walk to the ruta, hop in the truck and head off to the market. The city was deserted...not one to be seen, we were the first to arrive. We unpacked each small, but weighty crate of fruit and placed it on the side of the road. Then i napped for an hour on one of the vending tables that later that day was to be occupied by a veggie vendress. The the city started waking up, people opening store fronts, bringing in other produce...it was a really cool experience. Fruits of all kinds and more veggies than you could imagine. My host dad actually sells produce to other vendors, so my community is like the primary source of the goods. It is a really cool system. In the meantime i had some super fresh chipa...the best snack in the universe, and a breakfast of some mystery meat, rolled in pigskin...this dish is really growing on me. We were done selling by 6 in the morning, having brought in a pretty good haul. We bought some stuff to take back home to family. It felt very gratifying, and i can only imagine taking a field from seed to market. Small scale agricutural production is just the best. It felt like we were kings...well, of the market at least.
So here in paraguay there is another holiday celebration after the official christmas and new years that we are used to in the united states. It is called the day of the kings, which i am pretty sure is supposed to be when the three wise men came to visit baby Jesus. Here it is celebrated by people putting shoes outside their windows and the kings bring by gifts for them! pretty fun, but this year, i had a fun adventure with my host father. I am working as a crop extensionist, and those crops sure do stretch; they usually go from seed, to field, to a home to be processed and cleaned, and then finally to market! I was lucky enough to go to the market in a city near my site where members of my community sell their produce.
The product - Melón - think cantaloupe...ish. sweeter. better. maybe more honeydew....anyhow.
The goal - bring in the dough at market.
The ride - pick up truck
The time - 1 AM.
Intensity. So the day before we loaded a pick up truck full up of the melóns and it was sent to wait at the drivers house. We woke up at 1 in the morning to walk to the ruta, hop in the truck and head off to the market. The city was deserted...not one to be seen, we were the first to arrive. We unpacked each small, but weighty crate of fruit and placed it on the side of the road. Then i napped for an hour on one of the vending tables that later that day was to be occupied by a veggie vendress. The the city started waking up, people opening store fronts, bringing in other produce...it was a really cool experience. Fruits of all kinds and more veggies than you could imagine. My host dad actually sells produce to other vendors, so my community is like the primary source of the goods. It is a really cool system. In the meantime i had some super fresh chipa...the best snack in the universe, and a breakfast of some mystery meat, rolled in pigskin...this dish is really growing on me. We were done selling by 6 in the morning, having brought in a pretty good haul. We bought some stuff to take back home to family. It felt very gratifying, and i can only imagine taking a field from seed to market. Small scale agricutural production is just the best. It felt like we were kings...well, of the market at least.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Sometimes i just sit.
The life of a peace corps volunteer is a an up and down, left and right, ingles y espanol, (ha guarani, ikatu) topsy turvy, vague...lets not go as far as clear...crazy experience. I do a lot of things now that i didn´t used to do, some because of culture, some because there isn´t anything better to do. heres a list!
- i wipe my face off with the tablecloth...i´m a fan
- i can put as many tablespoons of salt and or sugar on any food i want...i´m a fan
- watching chickens run around is often a main source of entertainment...i´m becoming a fan
- i have to dodge the biting parrot at my new house...i´m not a fan
- need a lime? go pick it!...i´m a fan
- need a mango? go pick it! it is so great....i´m a fan
- i constantly shew away animals...cows, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats...etc...not a fan
- i send text messages...i´m becoming a fan
- i either walk or take the bus...aka no more gunther...i´m a fan...but i miss gunther
- i still call shorts, shorts...and mountain bikes mountain bikes...in all three languages...it is funny...if you could here it with the accent you´d be a fan
- i put toilet paper in a trash can...i still think it is gross.
- my office are the homes and fields of my community...i´m a fan.
and sometimes...i just sit.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Felices Fiestas!
Ok. ok. i know, i have not written anything in forever. my apologies.
As it currently stands though, i am now an official volunteer of the Cuerpo de Paz in this here country of Paraguay. I have recently, within this week actually, moved out to the rural town that i will be calling home for the next two years. I am currently living with families for the next three months, and then hopefully i will be able to move out on my own!
Everything is going really quite well. My mind and body are slowly adjusting to the new rythym of life that i am in and i feel like things are looking up for the next two years. I think that as you are living in a place it sort of starts to sink down into your heart. I believe that paraguay has started its journey into entering into mine. I realized this just the other day.
You see, my host father is a small time agricultural producer, and he asked me if i wanted to help him with the pepper harvest. I was like, heck yes!, naturally. So at the break of dawn just the other day, I, him, and his son boarded the ox-cart and slowly made our way a few kilometers to his field. We spent all morning picking peppers, pretty much the green bell pepper kind...except skinnier. It was such a peaceful experience. Later we took a break, and had some watermelon, that was picked right out of the field next door. Also great. As we finished up picking he tied the guei back up to the cart and we hauled all 382 kilos of peppers back to the house! At this time, i was pretty much thinking, screw peter piper...charles helms helped pick a peck of pickled peppers! That day for lunch, we had a fish fry because my dad had gone fishing the day before. I also ate some cow tail...not the candy...way more chewy. But still pretty good.
I followed this wonderful morning up with a great siesta, probably my favorite cultural habit of paraguay. I am not sure i will be able to deal with a life without siesta after this. really. And what is more...that evening for dinner we had an asado...which pretty much means a barbeque...lots of meat, lots of goodness, lots of fun.
So yeah. I am livin´ the country life and i think that slowly and surely paraguay is sinking its way into me...and i think that is for the best.
ciaomante
As it currently stands though, i am now an official volunteer of the Cuerpo de Paz in this here country of Paraguay. I have recently, within this week actually, moved out to the rural town that i will be calling home for the next two years. I am currently living with families for the next three months, and then hopefully i will be able to move out on my own!
Everything is going really quite well. My mind and body are slowly adjusting to the new rythym of life that i am in and i feel like things are looking up for the next two years. I think that as you are living in a place it sort of starts to sink down into your heart. I believe that paraguay has started its journey into entering into mine. I realized this just the other day.
You see, my host father is a small time agricultural producer, and he asked me if i wanted to help him with the pepper harvest. I was like, heck yes!, naturally. So at the break of dawn just the other day, I, him, and his son boarded the ox-cart and slowly made our way a few kilometers to his field. We spent all morning picking peppers, pretty much the green bell pepper kind...except skinnier. It was such a peaceful experience. Later we took a break, and had some watermelon, that was picked right out of the field next door. Also great. As we finished up picking he tied the guei back up to the cart and we hauled all 382 kilos of peppers back to the house! At this time, i was pretty much thinking, screw peter piper...charles helms helped pick a peck of pickled peppers! That day for lunch, we had a fish fry because my dad had gone fishing the day before. I also ate some cow tail...not the candy...way more chewy. But still pretty good.
I followed this wonderful morning up with a great siesta, probably my favorite cultural habit of paraguay. I am not sure i will be able to deal with a life without siesta after this. really. And what is more...that evening for dinner we had an asado...which pretty much means a barbeque...lots of meat, lots of goodness, lots of fun.
So yeah. I am livin´ the country life and i think that slowly and surely paraguay is sinking its way into me...and i think that is for the best.
ciaomante
Saturday, November 14, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
y, yvy, yvyra
Welcome to your guarani introdcution to paraguay...and three of the most important things ever!
y - water - high quality H20!
the water here in paraguay is actually pretty good...so no worries. my stomach problems were most likely not caused by the fact that i drank some bad water. I´ve actually had some people tell me that the water here was the sweetest water in the world. There is even a story that PY exports some of its water to the united states, b-c we don´t have enough. I´m no so sure about that one, but man do i love some good cool water when it is 40 d´s C outside. dang it´s hot.
yvy. - soil - down and dirty!
there is a huge diversity of soils here in paraguay...or so they say. they being peace corps. i have really only experinece one as of yet. and that is sand. in so many ways paraguay is the beach without an ocean. and in the streets, sand in your sheets, sand all up in erewere. But there is supposedly clay too. One of my biggest jobs will be working with folks to rehab their soil! add some organic material up in that piece and keep it from all washin´away!
yvyra - tree - you should got plant one!
paraguay, like many places, has an ongoing problem with deforestation. There are lots of cool native species of trees and quite a few introduced ones that peace corps volunteers work with and know. I got a crash course in agroforestry the other day, and i have to say, it was really cool. I hope to plant some trees soon after i get to site to that my community and i can see them grow through the whole two years! My favorite species so far is called Timbo, and has a really cool seed pod that looks like an elephant ear.
btw. "y" is prounounced like euh...in the back of your throat. it is a fun sound.
peace corps out.
y - water - high quality H20!
the water here in paraguay is actually pretty good...so no worries. my stomach problems were most likely not caused by the fact that i drank some bad water. I´ve actually had some people tell me that the water here was the sweetest water in the world. There is even a story that PY exports some of its water to the united states, b-c we don´t have enough. I´m no so sure about that one, but man do i love some good cool water when it is 40 d´s C outside. dang it´s hot.
yvy. - soil - down and dirty!
there is a huge diversity of soils here in paraguay...or so they say. they being peace corps. i have really only experinece one as of yet. and that is sand. in so many ways paraguay is the beach without an ocean. and in the streets, sand in your sheets, sand all up in erewere. But there is supposedly clay too. One of my biggest jobs will be working with folks to rehab their soil! add some organic material up in that piece and keep it from all washin´away!
yvyra - tree - you should got plant one!
paraguay, like many places, has an ongoing problem with deforestation. There are lots of cool native species of trees and quite a few introduced ones that peace corps volunteers work with and know. I got a crash course in agroforestry the other day, and i have to say, it was really cool. I hope to plant some trees soon after i get to site to that my community and i can see them grow through the whole two years! My favorite species so far is called Timbo, and has a really cool seed pod that looks like an elephant ear.
btw. "y" is prounounced like euh...in the back of your throat. it is a fun sound.
peace corps out.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Excursions and Excretions....yuck.
haha...don´t be turned away by the title, i just needed to share the past 24 hours of my life with the rest of the world. So the Crop Extension group went on an overnight tech excursion this past day and i´ve had a relatively interesting time. Well...the purpose of things was to get some real world practice...and i did indeed...planting crotalaria and canavalia...two different abonos verdes (green manures) and making curvas de nivel...aka contour barriers. But this is not where the humor lies...let us begin.
We are out in the field, in a rather mountainous...or should i say, hilly...region of paraguay and my stomach starts doing summer saults within my body. I´m talkin crazy mess. cramping up, cramping down...cramping all the ways round. Too bad i left my TP at our host volunteers house and didn´t feel like using corn cobs to wipe down in the latrine of the farmer we were working with....so i hold it. Forgive me if i become to graphic at any point, but i think this entire process is funny...and pc volunteers need to be ready to discuss there various bowel movements at any time.
So i finally make it back to the home latrine...and EXPLODE! I was kind of proud of my aim, but was feeling pretty "crappy"...ha. Fun turn of events...it was now time to go stay with a host family...aka people i was only going to meet for one night and morning. My tech prof took me to there house, and explained that i was sick, didn´t want to eat, and needed to just rest. They heard that...and said i could lay down and rest...but i coudn´t turn the tv off...my one night host dad needed to catch his bingo numbers. haha...ok. i could roll with that. During the hour long wait for the bingo number i discovered that this family housed a toad in a box, which they freed every night to eat...i don´t know why, i don´t know how...but...amusing nonetheless.
So finally I make it to bed...and lay restless for the next 2 hours...it was time to go again...so i throw on my headlamp...make the quick walk to the latrine...and well...got my business done. Along the way, i scared the crap out of a cow who was snoozing...literally...he jumped up and stared pooping. Maybe i´m just an inspirational pooper. But at last i make it back to my bed.
My tummy is still doing some fun tricks, and i just can´t shake this odd feeling...so logically i sit up and vomit all over my host familys floor...and manage to fill and entire one of my work boots with the vom too. Lets just say i won´t be eating the type of beans that came up for quite a while. So here i am...in my undies...with a floor full of vomit...what am i to do!? I wake up my host mom and dad...and with stunning guarani accuracy and grammar tell them that i had woken up and vomited all of the floor...they were very gracefull and helped me clean it up. And then we were all back to bed.
But yet...the night had decided the fun was not over. As i was laying in bed....i could not shake the last little bit of gas that was causing me pain in my stomach...so i thought..."it couldn´t be that bad of an idea to fart just once...or at least try". So i go for it. Now as any of you who have had diahreaa and tried to flatuate know...this is a bad combination. So hear and now, I confess to the world...that I Charles D. Helms...pooped his pants a little in a strangers house...after throwing up all over their room and devestating their latrine.
Welcome to the Peace Corps...haha.
BUT!!! next day...we all went out and had some killer sushi and japanese food...thank goodness for japanese colonies in paraguay.
Disgusting: yes...rude: a touch...real: i´d have it no other way.
ciao peeps.
We are out in the field, in a rather mountainous...or should i say, hilly...region of paraguay and my stomach starts doing summer saults within my body. I´m talkin crazy mess. cramping up, cramping down...cramping all the ways round. Too bad i left my TP at our host volunteers house and didn´t feel like using corn cobs to wipe down in the latrine of the farmer we were working with....so i hold it. Forgive me if i become to graphic at any point, but i think this entire process is funny...and pc volunteers need to be ready to discuss there various bowel movements at any time.
So i finally make it back to the home latrine...and EXPLODE! I was kind of proud of my aim, but was feeling pretty "crappy"...ha. Fun turn of events...it was now time to go stay with a host family...aka people i was only going to meet for one night and morning. My tech prof took me to there house, and explained that i was sick, didn´t want to eat, and needed to just rest. They heard that...and said i could lay down and rest...but i coudn´t turn the tv off...my one night host dad needed to catch his bingo numbers. haha...ok. i could roll with that. During the hour long wait for the bingo number i discovered that this family housed a toad in a box, which they freed every night to eat...i don´t know why, i don´t know how...but...amusing nonetheless.
So finally I make it to bed...and lay restless for the next 2 hours...it was time to go again...so i throw on my headlamp...make the quick walk to the latrine...and well...got my business done. Along the way, i scared the crap out of a cow who was snoozing...literally...he jumped up and stared pooping. Maybe i´m just an inspirational pooper. But at last i make it back to my bed.
My tummy is still doing some fun tricks, and i just can´t shake this odd feeling...so logically i sit up and vomit all over my host familys floor...and manage to fill and entire one of my work boots with the vom too. Lets just say i won´t be eating the type of beans that came up for quite a while. So here i am...in my undies...with a floor full of vomit...what am i to do!? I wake up my host mom and dad...and with stunning guarani accuracy and grammar tell them that i had woken up and vomited all of the floor...they were very gracefull and helped me clean it up. And then we were all back to bed.
But yet...the night had decided the fun was not over. As i was laying in bed....i could not shake the last little bit of gas that was causing me pain in my stomach...so i thought..."it couldn´t be that bad of an idea to fart just once...or at least try". So i go for it. Now as any of you who have had diahreaa and tried to flatuate know...this is a bad combination. So hear and now, I confess to the world...that I Charles D. Helms...pooped his pants a little in a strangers house...after throwing up all over their room and devestating their latrine.
Welcome to the Peace Corps...haha.
BUT!!! next day...we all went out and had some killer sushi and japanese food...thank goodness for japanese colonies in paraguay.
Disgusting: yes...rude: a touch...real: i´d have it no other way.
ciao peeps.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Mayonesa.
Mayonaisse. yep. i´m not even sure if that is how you spell it. but it is an important part of life here in paraguay...at least for this one peace corps trainee.
- Brand of choice in my host family. Hellmans. which they think sounds very similar to Helms. I am now affectionately knows as Carlos Helmmans, or Carlos Mayonesa by by host sister. It makes me laugh every time.
- Salad - mayonaisse is the salad topper of choice for many people. maybe you get a lime sometimes. I´m not proud, I´m not happy, but I ain´t gonna lie...i lay the mayo on my salad sometime
- The mayo is made with sunflower oil...it just makes me a little happier knowing that within every calorie packed little drop...i´m also eating a little bit of sunshine...mmmmm...
Saturday, October 17, 2009
North Carolina vs. Paraguay
So i´ve been living in paraguay for about 3 or 4 weeks now. I´ve done a whole lot, and learned even more, and written on this blog very little...my bad. BUT, i´d like to offer you a brief comparison on my two worlds. I think you´ll be a little surprised just how similar they are...
1. Sweet Tea vs. Tereré
Any southerner worth there salt wouldn´t want to go a day without a tall glass of ice cold sweet tea....mmm....i can almost taste it now. Any good southern americaner, specifically paraguayan, wouldn´t start there day with some hot maté or cool, refreshing, and minty tereré. Man, this stuff is good, and no one goes anywhere without it...anywhere. Bus drivers while talking on cell...and driving...have a cup in near at hand. News anchors...sippin´and reportin´, same time. it is awesome.
2. A lil´bit of chicken fried.
You think people in the south like to fry their foods, their veggies, there everything. False. People in paraguay know how to down some fried food. Milanesa (aka chicken fried steak), fried mandioca (aka extra greasy cassava), fried er´thing. Sometimes it weighs on the stomach...but for me, it nourishes the sould.
3. Cornbread is mas ó ménos Sopa Paraguaya
Ok...so this is a stretch, but...there is this soup here...that isn´t a soup...it is bread. Yes this is the land where soup is bread an mayonaisse is salad dressing...don´t ask. It is like cornbread, but thicker, and cheesier. it is easy to get used to.
That is the extent of the compare contrast that i´ve got today.
Also, quick wrap up of highlights of paraguay life
haha.
1. Sweet Tea vs. Tereré
Any southerner worth there salt wouldn´t want to go a day without a tall glass of ice cold sweet tea....mmm....i can almost taste it now. Any good southern americaner, specifically paraguayan, wouldn´t start there day with some hot maté or cool, refreshing, and minty tereré. Man, this stuff is good, and no one goes anywhere without it...anywhere. Bus drivers while talking on cell...and driving...have a cup in near at hand. News anchors...sippin´and reportin´, same time. it is awesome.
2. A lil´bit of chicken fried.
You think people in the south like to fry their foods, their veggies, there everything. False. People in paraguay know how to down some fried food. Milanesa (aka chicken fried steak), fried mandioca (aka extra greasy cassava), fried er´thing. Sometimes it weighs on the stomach...but for me, it nourishes the sould.
3. Cornbread is mas ó ménos Sopa Paraguaya
Ok...so this is a stretch, but...there is this soup here...that isn´t a soup...it is bread. Yes this is the land where soup is bread an mayonaisse is salad dressing...don´t ask. It is like cornbread, but thicker, and cheesier. it is easy to get used to.
That is the extent of the compare contrast that i´ve got today.
Also, quick wrap up of highlights of paraguay life
- 20 baby chickens...raise ´em, love ´em, eat ´em.
- i milked a cow today
- i´m making cheese tommorow
haha.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Carlos y el Cuerpo de Paz
Mbae´chapa! Hello!
Chererà Carlos! My name is Charles
Che aspirante de Cuerpo Pazpegua! I´m a Peace Corps Trainee!
Che Estado Unidogua! I am from the United States
Welcome to the amount of conversation that I can have with my host family in Guaranì. Haha good thing that i have a little spanish to fall back on. Not that my spanish is great though...haha. So far I am saying a few things and smiling a whole lot. I give a lot of thumbs up too...it is money.
Also, my name is (un)officially Carlos from henceforth, which is kind of fun. My host family is wonderful and are taking very good care of me! I got my first shot and my first killer bee sting the other day, so that was fun too. Three cows live in my yard, which is great, and i have a mango and a lime tree! mango season should peak around december...so good times are a´comin.
But for now, this internet is costing money, and I could type this out on my laptop and bring it in to the internet cafè and do this for much less.
Just because i´m in another country, doesn´t mean i´m still not cheap. haha.
much love.
Carlos.
Chererà Carlos! My name is Charles
Che aspirante de Cuerpo Pazpegua! I´m a Peace Corps Trainee!
Che Estado Unidogua! I am from the United States
Welcome to the amount of conversation that I can have with my host family in Guaranì. Haha good thing that i have a little spanish to fall back on. Not that my spanish is great though...haha. So far I am saying a few things and smiling a whole lot. I give a lot of thumbs up too...it is money.
Also, my name is (un)officially Carlos from henceforth, which is kind of fun. My host family is wonderful and are taking very good care of me! I got my first shot and my first killer bee sting the other day, so that was fun too. Three cows live in my yard, which is great, and i have a mango and a lime tree! mango season should peak around december...so good times are a´comin.
But for now, this internet is costing money, and I could type this out on my laptop and bring it in to the internet cafè and do this for much less.
Just because i´m in another country, doesn´t mean i´m still not cheap. haha.
much love.
Carlos.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Nah, Nah, Nah...Nah, Nah, Nah...
Hey Hey Hey...Goodybe!
Ok kids, here we are. I am leaving for Peace Corps Staging tommorow and there are a few things i need to let you all know.
1) I have an address!
Charles D. Helms, PCT
Cuerpo de Paz
162 Chaco Boreal c/Mcal. López
Asunción 1580, Paraguay
South America
There is nothing that would mean anything more to me in the world than if you wrote me a letter! I'll write you back. pinky promise.
2) To anyone reading this (well anyone I know at least). I love you very much. From the bottom of my heart to the top of my nose. The thing i'll miss most about the united states are my wonderful friends and family. I have a small song that I need you to here that you might be encouraged by the eternal nature of our relationship.
I am your brother.
you are my simon.
peace (corps) out.
Ok kids, here we are. I am leaving for Peace Corps Staging tommorow and there are a few things i need to let you all know.
1) I have an address!
Charles D. Helms, PCT
Cuerpo de Paz
162 Chaco Boreal c/Mcal. López
Asunción 1580, Paraguay
South America
There is nothing that would mean anything more to me in the world than if you wrote me a letter! I'll write you back. pinky promise.
2) To anyone reading this (well anyone I know at least). I love you very much. From the bottom of my heart to the top of my nose. The thing i'll miss most about the united states are my wonderful friends and family. I have a small song that I need you to here that you might be encouraged by the eternal nature of our relationship.
I am your brother.
you are my simon.
peace (corps) out.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Fast Food Fun For Friends or F.F.F.F.F
McDonalds McCafe 'Intellectuals' commercial at Boston.com
Shared via AddThis
Paraguay?
1) I love Mickey D's coffee.
2) You need to know where Paraguay is.
3) If you don't...let's talk.
4) Only 11 days left!!!!!!!!!!! (that is one exclamation point for every day.)
Shared via AddThis
Paraguay?
1) I love Mickey D's coffee.
2) You need to know where Paraguay is.
3) If you don't...let's talk.
4) Only 11 days left!!!!!!!!!!! (that is one exclamation point for every day.)
Sunday, August 23, 2009
The Run Down
Who: Charles D. Helms (yours truly)
What: Moving to Paraguay to be a "Crop Extensionist"
Why: To serve for 2 years in the United States Peace Corps
When: I'm leaving on September 22! I'll be at staging in Miami for like a day, then down to Paraguay I go, with an undetermined number of new friends. 3 months in the the city of Guarambare for training then...who knows.
Current Emotional State: Over the rainbow, exuberant, nervous, scared, optimistic, excited to say the least.
Definition of a "Crop Extensionist" : I'll be working with farmers to increase soil productivity, crop diversity, introduce new farming techniques, act as a in-between with the government, strech out vegetables? (no)
Biggest Worry: Psh...i'll worry when I stop being pumped up.
Biggest Excitement: Living with Host families! Not that I don't love my current family...i'm just not sure how well they can teach me to make empanadas.
Current Goals:
I think that covers all the FAQ's, and I probably won't attempt writing anything else till right before I leave, or right when I arrive, or right after I arrive. One of those.
Adiós Amigos
What: Moving to Paraguay to be a "Crop Extensionist"
Why: To serve for 2 years in the United States Peace Corps
When: I'm leaving on September 22! I'll be at staging in Miami for like a day, then down to Paraguay I go, with an undetermined number of new friends. 3 months in the the city of Guarambare for training then...who knows.
Current Emotional State: Over the rainbow, exuberant, nervous, scared, optimistic, excited to say the least.
Definition of a "Crop Extensionist" : I'll be working with farmers to increase soil productivity, crop diversity, introduce new farming techniques, act as a in-between with the government, strech out vegetables? (no)
Biggest Worry: Psh...i'll worry when I stop being pumped up.
Biggest Excitement: Living with Host families! Not that I don't love my current family...i'm just not sure how well they can teach me to make empanadas.
Current Goals:
- Brush up on my Spanish
- Come and visit you. (if you are reading this then you probably deserve a visit or hug or high five or something)
- Resist the urge to indulge in America just because i'm going to leave it for 2 years.
I think that covers all the FAQ's, and I probably won't attempt writing anything else till right before I leave, or right when I arrive, or right after I arrive. One of those.
Adiós Amigos
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