Welcome to Paraguay!

Three weeks of photos, here is a glimpse of life as a Peace Corps Trainee.

Micro to Cumbarity
Meeting Host Family

We hit the ground running. Within a few hours of arrival we were bused to our host families.

Alicia, Lidia, Carlito - First Day
Walking to our first day of school, with my host sister Lidia, host cousin Carlito, and fellow trainee Alicia.
Demi, Lisa - First Day
Demi and Lisa
Scott, Kelsey - First Day
Scott and Kelsey

I’m living in a community called Cumbarity, along with 11 other volunteers. The walk to our nearby language school takes ~30 minutes, ~45 minutes to get to the bus stop, and ~1 hour 20 minutes to get to the PC training center in Guarambaré

Host Parents
My host parents, Maria and Pedro, in front of our home/icecream store
Host Brother Gustavo
My host brother Gustavo
Host Sister Ana

One of my host sisters, Anita. And then there’s our huge extended family of aunts, uncles, and cousins

Host Cousin
Host Family
Host Brother Soccer
Host Cousin
Selling Food
Host Aunt
Host Uncle
Making Chipa

Peace Corps training is a nonstop barrage of language classes, tech courses, and security briefs:

Cumbarity Training Group
My training group in Cumbarity
I Hate Icebreakers
One of too many icebreakers
Christan Teaching Garden
Our tech trainer Christan, teaching us garden design
Gustavo Security
Security guru Gustavo
I Dont Like Sand Its Coarse
Yep Thats Dirt

We made a demo garden at our language school. Many of our homework assignments involve treasure hunts and interviews. Below are some photos from an excursion into Guarambaré’s markets to learn more about locally available plants.

Guarambare Herb Vendor
Yerba Vendor
Guarambare Vegetable Vendor
Produce Vendor
Guarambare Shopkeeper
Local Shopkeeper

This view is from our backyard. My host family has about a square kilometer of land which they use for farming and grazing.

Cumbarity Palm Trees

Despite being landlocked we have beaches here. This one is 30 minutes away by car in Villeta, a port city on the Rio Paraguay.

Cumbarity Balneario Municipal
Villeta Fisherman
Beautiful Sunset in Villeta
Cumbarity Kitty

My only free day is Sunday, which is today. I’ve spent about half of today getting to Guarambaré to finally upload these pictures, and now I need to head back to finish my laundry. There’s so much more I want to show, but I just don’t have the time to describe everything! (But if you want to see more go here!)

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