I´ve never had so many conversations about poop

Hi friends!

So here I am in Paraguay! I am living in the campo (countryside.... seriously) and fighting off mosquitoes and intestinal parasites for dear life but overall I´m doing really well. Contributing to that fact are the awesome people training with me and the fact that Paraguayans are, in general, super friendly people who think its funny to listen to you learn Guarani. Speaking of which, that´s a rough language. The grammar is easier than spanish or English but unfornatunately it is nothing like either of them. It´s an indigenous language that is so far from Latin-based I can describe escape to tell you our new favorite Guarani word: Chivivi. Look it up.

What do Peace Corps trainees talk about? Poo- the weather- and who´s hooking up with whom. That is almost it. And I love it!

Sorry this is so short but I have got to get out of this unGodly hot internet cafe before my face melts off. I´ll try to post again next week and thanks to everyone for the support! Miss you all!

Trilingual is 3 times as cool

Carly emailed today. She should have internet access about twice a week, and will start posting blogs. She speaks Spanish better than she thought, and was put in the advanced language group to learn Guarani. It's hot. She sweats. A lot. And everyone talks about the weather all the time because it's hot. or it's not, and they talk about it because they're happy.
It was a short note, but it was written with her usual perky spirit and enthusiasm, despite the fact she's probably lost 10 pounds from sweating. Don't forget to post a note, and if we all mail her some snacks, maybe she won't fade away from sweating.  I appreciate your support for her, and her posting should be the next one. Stay in touch with her as much as you can....Margo

Chickens and cows and Spanish, oh my!!

My phone rang this morning, and it was from District of Columbia. It was Carly!! They must route the calls through the capital. So she says she is living with a host family that is a mom and a dad, and she can't tell who else lives there. The family homes are so close, and the kids and people move from abode to abode so freely, she isn't sure who belongs to who. Her spanish "isn't as good as I thought". Her host mom refuses to translate "you'll learn the hard way how to speak" "throw your dictionary away". She says they feed her every hour, a mixture of milk, cheese and cornbread that they fry, and they just sit and watch her eat. She keeps saying "no mas". Her host mom packed her a huge amount of food for training today in her lunch. I will let her tell you about it, it's funny. The weather is hot, and a rooster woke her up this morning, a cow was looking in her window, and the chickens run around in the house. Sounds great. She has running water, but only cold, and very low water pressure. She thinks this is just fabulously rustic and she's loving it.  All's well. She will have a phone number next week, and she fairly steady internet access right now. It was great to hear her to excited and adventurous, but not surprising. Post a comment, she loves them.  Margo

Carly sent an email, and this stupid computer won't let me copy and paste it

the jist of the email is that she arrived safely. It's hot. Real hot. Enough that she mentions it several times in a 3 paragraph note. She says she meets her host family tonight, and she will have electricity, water and a fan in her room (luxury). She says security is good, and Peace Corps workers are rarely the victims of anything more than petty theft, due to irresponsible behaviors. She is located in Guarambere, about an hour outside of Asuncion if you want to google where she's at. She will also have "lots of animals in the house", so that update should be fun.

It was a short email and I wish I could paste it, she was very upbeat and bubbly.  She starts classes this afternoon (which would be a few hours ago now) and I was so very relieved to hear from her. She's amazed that she's in Paraguay, a worldly traveller of the world now.

Please post a comment, she will be excited to see them. It looks like she got into her gmail account, so if you can, send her a note, she'll be reading them it looks like.

It was great, absolutely great to hear from her....but I miss her.......Margo

No news is good news

So, true to the word of the Peace Corps, I heard nothing from Carly today. I'm presuming all is well, and originally they were making phone calls to family tomorrow morning. When I get info, I will share.  Please click on the button under this post, marked "0 comments" or however many it says. Please leave her a comment....she always watches for them.  Margo

Good bye USA!!Hello Paraguaaaaayyyy!

Just talked to Carly on the phone, last time. She says all is well, it's all cool, everyone is fun and things are perfect!! She was boarding, and so excited. She's definitely having fun, and definitely gung ho. I really tried not to cry......... I will let you know what else I hear in the next few days, and hopefully Carly will be back on line to leave you blogs of her very exciting life with diverse goats and mountains sheep, desert flowers and strange, but lovable bugs. Yum.  Please leave a comment....she loves them. Margo

Only minutes away

Carly texted a few times today, to say things are on schedule. Only 40 minutes and she'll be on a plane, leaving the United States. This is the part I don't like....Carly leaving. Just that part.