First days in Paraguay

Hola! I'm in Paraguay! My first few days here have been great.

I started my trip with an orientation in Miami with 5 other students from America going to Paraguay. It was at a hotel that was connected to MIA airport. At this orientation, we learned about safety, communication and we got to talk with a consul from Paraguay. We did activities to practice acting out and drawing words we don't know and discussed our goals for the program. The orientation was led by two students from Miami International University.

After that we had an 8 and and a half hour flight from Miami to Santiago, Chile. On that flight I slept and watched movies and talked to the lady beside me. She was a retired teacher who is traveling the world now and she was going to Chile to hike in Patagonia for two weeks. So coool:)

From Santiago to Asuncion i sat next to a man who was very curious about the United States. He really wants to live there but he needs to "find an American bride" because it takes too long to become a citizen. haha.

When we got to Paraguay we were met in the airport by people from AFS and the students from Thailand. There alot of students from Thailand- 15 or 16. Thats more than all of the other countries combined! At the orientation we did more security info and we had lessons on Paraguayan culture. We learned about body language, culture, Guarani (the second national language of Paraguay), and medical info. On Saturday we met our families! I looove my family. My mom is very fun and my dad is really nice. I spend a lot of time with my 15 year old sister, Marta. My other brother and sister also live with us but they are both in college.

On Sunday we went to my grandma’s house in the country for the day. It was really cool to see that side of Paraguay because it’s very different than the city. The people that live in the “campo” are generally poor and live a very simple lifestyle. Also, I think that most of them are indigenous because Guarani is the primary language. My grandma lives in what Americans would consider a shack. Her house is partially made of boards nailed together and there’s no running water or electricity. Her land is very pretty though. I think that she has a yucca farm and she also grows lots of different types of fruits. My whole extended family on my dad’s side was there because it was his sister’s (my aunt’s) birthday and because they wanted to meet meJ We had a huge lunch made up of grilled pork, beef and chicken and a little bit of yucca and fruit from the yard (Paraguayans eat A LOT of meat). After lunch my dad, sister, cousin and I went for a walk around the land. Behind the house my grandma grows lots of plants. We also tasted all of the fresh fruits. Yum!

On Monday, I started school. I LOVE school J I go to a catholic school called Sagrado Corazon de Jesus. It’s very different than my school in the United States. We have to wake up at 6 because school starts at 7. It ends at 12 though, so I don’t mind. The school has classrooms centered on an outdoor plaza. The stairs and hallways are outside, so it’s very open to the outdoors, which I like. Here, the students stay in one class and the teachers move every period. There are only 18 students in my grade and we’re all in one class. This is different than America where I switch classrooms every period and have different people in each of my classes. In terms of a schedule, I have 5 classes a day for 50 minutes each with a ten minute “recreo” between each one. The school has a food store with candy and empanadas and sandwiches so people usually eat or talk with their friends during recreo. The people in my class are so nice! My sister and I mainly hang out with a group of 6 girls (including us) and 3 boys. They are very interested in the United States and are helping me a lot with my Spanish.

Speaking of my Spanish, I’m learning much faster than I thought I would! I can easily have a conversation, though sometimes I have to ask the other person to explain a word or repeat themselves.

We are about to have company over to watch a soccer game. Every night we either go to someone else’s house or someone comes here for some reason. Last night we went to my mom’s friend’s house (because it was her birthday) and we had to wait two hours to drive home because there was a terrible storm that flooded the streets and knocked out power!

Wow I feel like I just wrote a novel. It took me two days to write! Sorry for the length, but I wanted to let everyone know how my first days in Paraguay are going. I hope all is well in the USA! Ciaooo

ps- I am created a flickr account to share my photos but the internet here is really slow so it’s taking hours to upload them. When they are up, I’ll post a link on this blog J