Future Site Visit: Coronel Bogado, Paraguay!

The Friday after site celebration, we boarded a bus that carried us to the CAFASA center where we would meet our future site contacts. These primary contacts would collaborate with us on future projects in our communities. We were greeted by Nohelia and her husband Cesar, both are teachers in our community. After brief introductions with our contacts, we moved to a lecture room to participate in a “getting to know you” activity. On big pieces of “charla” paper, we wrote out the characteristics we expected of our contacts, while they wrote out what they expected of us. As we shared our lists to each other we realized that for the most part they were the same: we all wanted someone friendly, dependable, understanding, hardworking, and accepting of our cultural diversity.

After eating lunch together, the trainees with their respective community contacts went their separate ways. Ben and I jumped in the car with Nohelia and Cesar and picked up Johanna, our PCV site-mate just outside the meeting center. Before beginning the five hour drive to Coronel Bogado, we stopped to visit the Basilica in Caacupe, the largest Catholic Church in the country. We spent about an hour walking through the church and climbing the winding staircase up to the balcony. As you climb the staircase you will find a painted history of how the Virgin Mary appeared to the indigenous people of Paraguay in a vision. We exited the church and crammed back into the car. The drive was long, but we got to talk with our contacts and see a great expanse of the countryside. Much of the area along Ruta 1 is made up of large flat grasslands with occasional interspersed clumps of trees. About two to three hours into the drive the rear passenger side tire popped and we had to go to the gomeria twice to fix it adding an extra hour onto our trip. Finally, around dinner time we rolled into Coronel Bogado.

The next day, our host family took us to the beach at Encarnation. The city lies on the Parana River and boasts a beautiful sandy beach. We jumped out of the car and took off our shoes as quickly as possible, yearning to feel the warm sand between our toes. The sand is as nice as any in Florida and instead of shells you can find beautiful river-worn rocks of many colors and patterns. Some even look like they may be pebbles of petrified wood (very plausible considering the large quantity of petrified wood that is exported from the eastern region of Paraguay).  At the water’s edge we were met by shimmering schools of small fish, which proceeded to nibble on our toes as we stood in the water. Had it not been for lack of waves and the view of the opposite shore, we would have thought we were wading in the ocean. Looking out across the river, you can see the gleaming sky rises of city of Posadas, Argentina. We left the beach to go grocery shopping at the giant super market called Superseis. There you can find practically everything you need for day to day life, just like any supermarket in the states.

When we returned to Coronel Bogado, we stopped by a trade show of artensania made by the local women’s group, Manos Laboriosos, which means laboring hands. We were impressed to find that much of their artwork is made using recycled materials! Que guapa!  Later that evening, we went with Nohelia and Cesar to a couple’s group reunion. They gather every week to reflect, discuss, and pray about keeping their married relationships on the path that god intended. After the reunion, we all played volley ball on a court behind the supermarket. Believe me when I say that Paraguayans are serious about playing volle. They wear team uniforms and have a team “reina” or “queen”. Fans come out to cheer and support their teams. They will play game after game never stopping for water or even to announce the winners. If you don’t keep track yourself, you won’t even know the score. They will tell you that you are just going to play one or two games, but before you know it, you’ve played four games, it’s midnight, and there is no end in sight!

The next morning we woke up early and went to Catholic mass with our family. Since we are neither Catholic nor native Spanish speakers we understood very little of the proceedings. Afterwards we joined our host brothers in the youth group and introduced ourselves by singing our song from the Lorax. The youth group has about 50 kids in it and we hope to work with them on projects in the future. Around lunch time we went to our site mate Johanna’s house to celebrate her birthday. Johanna has been in Coronel Bogado for over a year and a half working in education. It’s definitely nice having a fellow volunteer in site with us. The following day she took us on a tour of the town and introduced to many people we might work with in the future.   We visited the municipality, the university, and walked along the Peatonal, a beautiful path that runs through the center of the community.

Coronel Bogado is a lovely little town and we are very excited to begin working here. The chipa is delicious, there is a great little downtown area, there are several parks, and the people seem to be eager to have environmental volunteers. They have told us of a variety of projects that they would like our help with including restoring the community stream, recycling, planting trees, and even creating nature trails in a nearby forest. We can’t wait to get started!

Site Assignment Celebration

   The evening after our excursion to Aregua, we arrived back at the training center for a special celebration. Tonight, we will learn exactly where in Paraguay we will be spending the next two years of our lives! As we entered through the doors of the training center, we were met with the applause and cheers of the entire training staff: our language professors, technical trainers, training directors, country director, and program directors all were there. Our normally down-to-business lecture hall was transformed into a fiesta with banners, paperchains, and flowers. A giant topographical map of Paraguay stood at the focal point of the room. As we filed in and found our seats, we exchanged nervous hugs, excited handshakes, and words of encouragement. This moment would define the rest of our time here in Paraguay.


   After several introductions from the staff, it was finally time for the site announcements to begin. Everyone waited excitedly for their names to be drawn out of a large straw sombrero. As the names were drawn, each person taped their picture next the location of their future site on the giant map of Paraguay. One by one they called out the names of our fellow trainees: Nari would be going to Caaguazu, Andrew to Ayolas, Grace and Tamarra to Yguazu, and then it was our turn! The Overstreets will be going to Coronel Bogado. We jumped up out of our chairs and hurried to the front of the room. Our trainers helped us locate our future site on the map and together we taped our pictures up. Afterwards, we were given a folder of information about our site including a welcome letter, the volunteer request form, community demographics, and a tourist brochure for the Department of Itapua. After everyone’s name had been called, we celebrated with cake and fruit salad while we scoured our folders for every ounce of information we could find about our future sites.

Day Trip to Aregua

During week 7 of training all the aspirantes were given the choice of going on a cultural excursion to one of two nearby cities: Asuncion or Aregua. Since we’d already been to Asuncion during Tapeapovo, we decided to check out Aregua. The word “Aregua” in Guarani means “City from the Past”. The quaint town is famous for its ceramic artesania, strawberries, Lago Ypacarai, and Cerro Koi (a national monument of Paraguay).

We started the day, visiting the local SENATUR office, which is the national tourism agency in Paraguay. There, we learned a bit about the history of the town and about all the cool things Aregua has to offer. After that we traveled to Cerro Koi where we hiked among the unique hexagonal rock formations that can only be found in two places in the world (Aregua and somewhere in Africa). Because the rocks fracture into small flat pieces, they were used as cobblestones in most of the roads in the town. When we had climbed as high as would could on the cerro, we paused to view the little town of Aregua nestled against the expansive lake Ypacarai in the distance. Considering the relatively flat land of Paraguay, this was a breathtaking sight for us.

Back in town we ventured into the workshop of a family that makes ceramic art. The owner led us step by step through the process from how they mix the clay to how they paint and fire the finished products. Some of us even got to try our hands at spinning our very own pots (Ben and I were not so lucky). In the workshop they make a variety of products, everything from small decorative pots to piggybanks shaped like Sponge Bob. All over town, you can find hundreds of similar products in various colors lining the streets in little booths. Ben and I purchased two little ceramic pots as recuerdos.

Next, we headed to the Lago Ypacarai. As we approached, we were delighted to see a sandy beach and inviting boardwalk overlooking the brilliant blue lake. For those of us still yearning for the ocean, this was definitely a sight for sore eyes. We walked out on the boardwalk immersing ourselves in the view. The water stretched out in every direction sparkling as tiny waves reflected the sun’s glare. The Paraguayan flags at the water’s edge fluttered in the refreshing breeze. Standing there with Ben’s arm around me, I felt at home. The sun… the water… the wind… comforted me and reminded me of all the wonderful times we’ve spent in Florida together. I did not want to budge from this spot. We stayed there as long as we could, eventually breaking away for lunch.


We ate at a local restaurant called Don Pablo’s. Let me assure you, this is not one of the chain Mexican restaurants found across the U.S., but is a popular spot to get a quick bite of authentic Paraguayan food. We ate meat and veggie pies then explored the streets lined with artesania. We stopped at a booth, where a woman was selling strawberry preservatives, and bought a small bottle of strawberry liqueur. Our exploration led us into a shop of indigenous artwork from the Chaco. The small shop was packed with wooden sculptures of animals, ceramics, woven baskets, metal workings, and paintings. One tiny shelf held a dozen or so little stone figurines. The figurines were shaped like women and clad in dresses of colorful thread and plant fibers. We learned from the shopkeeper that they are played with as dolls by children in the Chaco. We bought two of the dolls (one for my mother and one for me) and a small wooden carving of a crocodile for Ben. By that time, we needed to meet up with the rest of our group to return home to Takuruty. We had a beautiful day in Aregua. It was a much needed break from the stress of training.

Sarah’s Long Field Practice in Capilla Cue

In week 6 of Pre-Service Training (PST), trainees travel in small groups to visit current Peace Corps Volunteers at their sites and get the opportunity to practice using the technical skills they’ve been learning.  Since we traveled with our language groups, Ben and I had two different Long Field Practice adventures. I travelled with Cory, Stacy, Tyler, Ashley, and our language professora Ramona. We visited Matt in Capilla Cue, a small community in the department of Paraguari. Matt is an Environmental Conservation volunteer in our sister G (G-37). He splits his time between teaching in the community school and working with local farmers.  During our visit we got to participate in both!

Our first day in site, Matt took us to meet a local farmer and help him harvest his lupino seeds (an abono verde or “green manure” plant used to revitalize the soil between crops). So actually, this was a blast! Picture this: the six of us PCVs, our Paraguayan language professora, and a Paraguayan farmer all jumping up and down on a big pile of sticks. With every jump you hear a multitude of cracks and pops as the seed pods burst open and spill their seeds onto the patio floor. We must have been jumping for an entire hour!  By the time we had separated the seeds from the empty shells and twigs, the sun was setting, but will still had enough time to visit the farmer’s vegetable garden. There we got to practice spraying organic insect repellent, made from the leaves of a local tree, on his tomato plants. I got to taste the leaf of a Ka’a he’e plant straight from his garden. In Guarani, “Ka’a” means yerba mate (the plant they use to make tea) and “He’e” means sweet. The Paraguayans use this leaf in their tea to make it sweet. In the states this plant is known as Stevia, but it originated here in the heart of South America.

During the nights of our long field practice, we each stayed with different host families. My host family lived in a little house at the edge of the community. My host mother cooked us several different Paraguayan meals including chipa guasu and sopa paraguaya. My host father played the guitar and sang as with shared terere in the evenings. My host brother and sister were eager to show me their school projects and were patient when I tried to speak to them in Guarani. They spoke mostly Jopara, (a mix of Castellano and Guarani) so there were many times when I had no idea what they were saying to me. I did learn however, that the community name “Capilla Cue” means “there used to be a little church”, and if you walk along the red dirt road to the school you will pass by a large cross. Unfortunately, I was unable to figure out the exact relationship this cross has to the church that is no more. 

We spent the next morning practicing Guarani in language class with Ramona. That afternoon, we drank terere with one of Matt’s neighbors before asking them if we cut down some of their bamboo to repair the garden fence at the health center. They quickly agreed, and soon we were hauling long stalks of bamboo down the road. Once at the health center, some of us chopped and split the bamboo with a machete, while the others staked it into the ground and secured it with wire. I like to think that I was actually pretty good at splitting the bamboo.

Matt rewarded our hard work by taking us on a hike to a “nearby” waterfall. We climbed through barbed-wire fences, walked through grassy meadows, and for a large portion of the trip, wading in the river itself. All the while, Cory whistled the soundtrack of Lord of the Rings, making this feel like an epic journey. When the river suddenly dropped into a wide pool, we discovered that seeing the waterfall was well worth the arduous hike. Here we found a brilliant oasis in the rolling hillsides of prairie land. The water split into two falls and spread into a pool large and deep enough to swim in. There was even a little ledge behind the waterfall that was just big enough to sit on. As I sat in the crevice behind the cascading water, watching Ashley performing impossible yoga positions high up on the rock and the others splashing eachother in the pool, it hit me… “This is Peace Corps. This is what we all pictured in our minds as we suffered through the long application process. What could be more picturesque than the six of us swimming and playing beneath a beautiful waterfall in a foreign land?” I definitely wished Ben had been there to share that moment with me. After spending several hours swimming in the pool and climbing the surrounding rocks, we hiked in the dark back to our houses.

On the third day, after another morning in language class, we visited a corn field of a local farmer and helped him plant abono verde seeds between his rows of corn. The plants will help to keep the soil rich with nutrients even after the corn is harvested.  That evening, we worked with Ramona to prepare our charlas for the following day.

The theme of our charlas was making “Recycled Art” out of trash. For our charlas, we split into two groups: Stacy and I made water rockets out of plastic bottles with the younger kids, while Tyler and Cory made wallets out of milk cartons with the older kids. Both crafts were made of recycled materials. With the younger kids, we had to give our entire charla about the 3R’s (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle) completely in Guarani. We started with the game “dibujo surpreza”, which Ben decribes in his post, to kids active and participating. Then we asked them leading questions about what trash they usually see and how they manage their trash. After that we introduced the 3R’s and told them about one fun way to reuse plastic bottles- Make a Water Rocket!  You should have seen the excitement as we launched our water rocket into the air! Afterwards we taught them how to make flowers from toilet paper tubes (the girls loved this!). The charlas were a success. We had a lot of fun and gained valuable experience presenting in schools! The next morning, we said goodbye to our host families and to Matt then boarded the bus for Tacuruty. 

Our trip to Monte Alto

Week 3: Monte Alto (PCV Visit)

On the third week In-Country, trainees get to spend 3 days visiting a current volunteer (PCV) at their site. On Monday, Ben and I strapped on our hiking packs and travelled 4 hours by bus to a small community called Monte Alto near Caaguazu, PY. The view from Monte Alto is one of beautiful rolling hills. The red dirt roads sharply contrast with the green pastures and the brilliantly blue sky. The bus dropped us off in front of a small teal house where our PCV, Hannah, was waiting for us. Hannah is in our "Sister G", which means she is in the group of environmental volunteers (G-37) that directly precedes ours (G-40). Hannah has been living at her site for about a year now. She has done several environmental projects with women and youth groups and with the small school in her community.

We spent our first day in Monte Alto getting to know Hannah, drinking terere, and making a pizza together. The next morning, Hannah took us to meet her host family. During their first 3 months in site, volunteers typically live with a host family that will help them integrate into the community. After drinking some terere, we knocked a papaya (mamon) down from its tree, and headed for a picnic at the "nearby" stream. As an added bonus, a local boy, named Junior, joined us our venture. The walk took us about an hour, but we eventually arrived at a small river with sandy shores. We kicked off our shoes and waded through the chilly water to a large flat rock in the center of the stream. There, we ate grilled cheese sandwiches, left over pizza, cookies, and mamon for lunch. I soon realized that I was allergic to mamon, but that is whole other story. We swam in the river and had a wonderful afternoon. On our walk home, Junior pointed out the different types of cows, birds, and trees we passed along the way. We came across a broken tape cassette, which once contained Paraguayan polka music, lying in the middle of the road. Junior picked it up and tied the long strand of exposed tape around his waist, leaving a 15 foot slithering tail behind him. At one point, a cat began to playfully follow behind us as it tried, unsuccessfully, to catch the end of the ever-moving tape.

That evening, we piled onto Hannah’s spare mattress and watched the movie The Lorax. We were so inspired by the final song in the movie that Hannah and I spent the rest of the night translating the song into Spanish while Ben learned the chords on the guitar. The next day we performed the song for a horticulture class at the school in Hannah’s community, one verse in English and the second in Spanish.

“Let it grow! Let it grow!
You can’t reap what you don’t sew.
Plant a seed inside the earth,
Just one way to know its worth.
Let’s celebrate the world’s rebirth.
We say let it grow!

A crecer! A crecer!
Siembras para recoger
La semilla hay que plantar,
Y lo que nos da a apreciar.
El mundo va a celebrar.
Dijenlo crecer!”

Afterwards, we visited the house of the professor, where his mother played a few songs on the guitar for us as well. We drank terere, and then toured their vegetable garden (huerta), fields (kokue), and aquaculture ponds. Later, his mother let us sample the juice she had made from sugar cane (miel de cañe).  She also showed us her crocodile that she had tied to a tree next to a small fish pond in her back yard.

The next morning we boarded the bus at 6:00 am and headed back home to Tacaruty. On the way, we stopped in San Lorenzo because Ben was in desperate need of a guitar. We looked in three different music stores before stumbling into the little back-alley shop called “Corochire”. The woman at the counter told us that all her guitars were hand-crafted of genuine Paraguayan-North American pine, right there, in her shop. Ben spent around an hour playing the guitars, wishing he could buy the more expensive ones, and then decided on a nice classical style guitar with nylon strings and a cut-away. We successfully haggled with the shop keeper to throw in a fabric case and colorful woven strap at a fraction of the cost.

All in all, we had a wonderful time on our excursion to Monte Alto. We loved getting a glimpse into our future lives as volunteers.

Official Business

The first section in the Blue Invitation Packet is filled with information about obtaining your Visa and Passport. You should submit this paperwork immediately!! Peace Corps makes sure to warn you, that if your paperwork does not go through in time, this will impact your assignment and departure date.

Be sure to review the materials thoroughly and follow the instructions step-by-step. There are two different types of no-fee passport applications: DS-11 (new applicants) & DS-82 (renewals). Ben already had his passport so he was able to submit the DS-82. My passport was issued when I was under 15 years old, so I had to complete form DS-11. The last part of form DS-11 requires a signature by the clerk of court and a $25 application fee. Don't waste time making appointments with the post office, go to your local probate court instead (no appointment necessary)!  We got our photos taken at Walgreens. Make sure to dress appropriately; tank tops are not allowed (a mistake I almost made!).

Peace Corps includes a pre-paid UPS envelope in the blue packet for you to ship your paperwork directly to the processing center. Once completed, they will mail your passport to the Peace Corps Office. You can track the progress of you passport application at: https://passportstatus.state.gov/opss/OPSS_Status_ip.asp

We are happy to say that both of our passports have been mailed to the Peace Corps on time!

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