Our Story

Our Story: After meeting in graduate school at UGA, we were married in 2011 in Marietta, Georgia. A year later, we joined the Peace Corps as environmental conservation volunteers and embarked on our adventure in Paraguay!

Disclaimer: The contents of this blog are ours personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps.

July 23, 2012

The Heart of South America

Our Peace Corps invitation was waiting on our doorstep this afternoon! Before we opened the UPS package, we gazed at the map of the world hanging on our wall. We read the name of each country in Central and South America aloud, preparing ourselves to learn the name of the place we would be spending our next two years. Ben slowly opened the package and pulled out the bright blue folder that read "Peace Corps invites you to serve" in large letters. We unlatched the velcro that held the folder shut. After taking a deep breath, Ben removed the first page. Our eyes frantically scanned the invitation letter until they landed on the name of the country...



Paraguay.  We will leave on September 26th to become environmental conservation volunteers in Paraguay. Paraguay? Really? Of all the exotic countries we thought we might travel to, Paraguay was certainly the one we knew the least about. We spent the next few hours scouring the internet to find as much information as we could about this small country in the heart of South America. As we have learned more and more, we have become even more excited about taking the road less traveled, into the little-known country of Paraguay.

"Paz y justicia"

Here are some quick facts that we found:

Capital: Asuncion
Bordering Countries: Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil
Official Languages: Spanish (Formal) and Guarani (Informal)
Size: 157,048 sq mi (similar to California)
Population: 6,543,591 (similar to Indiana) 
Population Density: 41.6 inhabitants/ sq mi (similar to Oregon)
Climate: subtropical to temperate (similar to inland Florida)

Bodies of Water: Rio Paraguay and Rio Parana
National Parks: Cerro Cora, Nacunday, Deforsores del Chaco, and Rio Negro
Places to Visit: Itaipu Dam, Iguazu Falls, Ciudad del Este

We are really getting excited about all the amazing wildlife that we will get to see! Here is a short list of some of the interesting and beautiful animals found in Paraguay:

Mammals: Three-toed Sloth, Tamandua, Azara's Night Monkey, Plains Viscacha, Chacoan Mara, Agouti, Lowland Paca, Margay, Jaguar, Bush Dog, Maned Wolf, Crab-Eating Raccoon, Coati, Lesser Grison, Brazilian Tapir, Paccary, and Guanaco (plus a variety of armadillos, mice, bats, and opossums)

Birds: Red-winged Tinamou, Whistling Heron, Jabiru, Black and White Hawk Eagle, Purple Gallinule, Red-legged Seriema, Wattled Jacana, Macaws, Parakeets, Parrots, Hummingbirds, and Toucans

Reptiles: Chaco Sideneck Turtle, Red-footed Tortoise, Caimen, Iguanas, Geckos, Boas, Anacondas, a variety of other constrictors, Coral Snakes, and Vipers

Amphibians: A variety of Tree-frogs, Thin-toed frogs, Horned toads, and toads

Fish: River Stingrays, Swamp Eels, Catfish, Cichlids, Trahiras, Dorado, Piranhas, and Knifefish




July 16, 2012

52 Points for Latin America

Ben took the Spanish CLEP exam and made a 52! Two points above what he needed to make in order for us to qualify for the environmental program in Latin America. Way to go Ben! We called our placement officer immediately after we found out the score. She congratulated us and informed us that we will be leaving September 25th! She will process our invitation and send it to us by mail ASAP! Once we receive the invitation we will learn what country we will be going to and we will have seven days to accept.


Here is our application status update from our toolkit:


Fun Fact: We may not actually be speaking Spanish in our community, but an indigenous language instead :) 

Paraguay Photos