Marianna Castiaux In Paraguay

hmm... so paraguians like fried food, lots of salt and lots of sugar.they dont like anything spicy or that has flavor ( american view). so picture mandio ( yuca) fried with lots of salt or just boiled. when we do get the occasional lettuce it is either ...in salad form with tons of salt and few tomatoes, or fried in batter. or i get just batter fried. the meat is the weridest thing ever. bits of it in sauce, soup or bones with meat and fat on it over pàsta. I swear ill never eat meat again in my life. Coming from being a vegetarian on and off for the last 5 years to Paraguaian meat is a giant leap of you are what you eat to swallow and dont think about it, to now finally rejecting it. ( hey the dogs get fed!) Soy is now a new product in paraguay and A LOT cheaper for the families and with tons of protein... but even in america it is hard to make the switch. Paraguians dont eat breakfast so by the time lunch rolls around I am so hungry that I shove food down fast and dont realize ...

My Family and Home Here in Paraguay Picture a road of red dirt, with evidence of ox carts and motorcycle tires. Walking along pass a harvested sugar cane field, which is across a wooden hut with lots of cows in front. Make a left on a small road that leads to a house and the despensa - a small store on side of my Peace Corps friend Rosa house. Walk down now a foot path that passes yet another house, pass the giant four ox eating leftover sugar cane, chickens and chicks whom hide under the mom when you walk by. You have arrived at my host families house. Instead of going into my front door, you always go in the back door where the patio - outdoor kitchen /hang out and do landry area. There are five small dogs, my host mom cooking over a fire with a big black pot and five puppies on a blanket near the back outdoor hall that leads to a storage area. You then take off your shoes, walk in and look into the indoor kitchen on your right to make sure your plate and mug and thermas of cochido...

training is boot camp, i mean literally every step of the way we have something to do, i breathe in and by the time i breath out there is another new thing to go, see, talk about, study for , or go to yet another boring workshop on peace corps policies. love my agroforestry group. we spend our days laughing at our actions ,playing hacky sac and more laughing in class with our professor as we try and learn guarani which is extrem gibberish to any outsider.there is 29 yr old Leah with a masters in geology, from new mexico,26years old Sherry or Rosa ( went to school in colorado) as paraguans call her ( no one can pronounced Sherry so they changed her name) then julia from florida, then Jacobo( jake in english) who speaks amazingly and is from phenoix, arizona ,and is in the master international program, laaura is from atlanta,georga, 24? Brian is a very tall red head who did the peace corps in nepal and is 32? is from michagan and is also in the mastersinternational program, H or Heather ...