guest blogger - my mom!

A visit to Paraguay -- truly a collision of two worlds! We have to give our Peace Corps volunteers a BIG hand for avoiding the collision and making their experience a BLENDING of two worlds. Middle class America meets an indigenious village in Paraguay bringing with it knowledge, experience and an enormous amount of energy and caring – trying to make the world, or at least this one little corner, a little bit better by not doing, but showing them how to do.

To say I was horrified at my first glance of Lori’s new home wouldn’t be fair, but it would be real close to that totally emotional reaction. I saw a hovel, a step up from a shack. Of course, take into consideration I was just off a 9 hour bus ride from hell, I was exhausted, incredibly hot and very dehydrated! But I have come to love her little house with the cement slapped haphazardly between the bricks that almost tell a story of the men that built it. I am comfortable now with the little routines of life here – the toilet that you can’t put toilet paper down but put it aside in a bucket to burn later; the bucket in the middle of the kitchen floor at night in case you can’t wait to pee until morning; people coming up to the window of the house and clapping their hands to let you know they are here; saying ‘adio’ as you walk by total strangers and having them greet you in return (I’m a city girl and that not the rule on the street.); sitting and visiting her friends and sharing a ‘cup’ of terere – and I mean sharing in the actual sense of drinking from the SAME straw with perfect strangers who think nothing of it. I have also found that dirt and bugs (not to mention chickens, roosters and pigs) take on a different meaning for me. The heat is a whole other issue. I currently live in Georgia just outside of Atlanta where it is hot in the summer – I mean there are weeks when it will be consistently over 95 and sometimes topping 100. BUT that didn’t prepare me for the HEAT of this part of Paraguay. I am almost glad that it was the hottest on my first day here because now I can appreciate the ‘cool’ breezes, yesterday’s rain, and I can TOTALLY understand the Paraguan culture of ‘tranquilo’ – taking it easy, no rush, no time commitments, if not today then whenever! Who would want to work in this heat?

Many times I’ve been asked how I feel about Lori being in Paraguay, so far from home and family, and I answer that until now I was very concerned for both her safety and her happiness in an area so culturally different from what I know. But I see she is safe (thank you Peace Corps for being her guardian); and I see that she has neighbors (and at some level friends) among the people of the village of Tacuati that will not only watch out for her, but be there for her; and I see that she has real friends among the other PC volunteers! This is what I would want for Lori if she was in the States – the fact that she wants to be here helping to make people’s lives a little better and a little easier, that’s what she wants (and not necessarily something I would be able to do), and that’s OK with me – actually more than that, I APPLAUD her for what she is doing and am very PROUD of her!

Thanks for listening while I stood on my soap box (I think I could go on forever about my experiences here), but we must go terere-ing again and take pictures of her friends for her blog and my memories. I’ll let Lori tell you about our daily experiences, I need to change into something cooler. If you want to write me to either ask questions or find out more about my experience, I’d love to communicate – my email address is: ljpenuel@mindspring.com.

Chao,
Leslie (Lori’s mom)