"Pigmeat Roasting on an Open Fire..."

So, we missed everyone terribly over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Chris and I helped butcher a pig that weighed like 130 kilos. Chris helped clean the fat off the pig and we ate at about midnight on Christmas Eve. It was nice because we were able to meet Simon´s parents and brother who had come to visit them for the holidays. (Simon and Jessica are the closest volunteers nearest to us, and they are a married couple.) Then we were all treated to some of Jessica´s fabulous pies, including pecan, apple, and pumpkin and that was the highlight for me, personally. Thank you again, Jessica!!

The next day was pretty sad though because we had to walk the long, dusty, red road home to our little shanty and we were sad. We did laundry and ate rice and beans for dinner. I´m glad that Christmas is over and hope it´s the only one we have to be here for...
We are still trying to get the housing thing figured out and do not yet know whether we are going to build or rent. There is only one house that we have deemed acceptable for possible renting only because it´s close to a good family for security and has some land for growing a garden and planting trees and raising chickens. We would still have to make big improvements on this house as there is no water, no shade, and Chris can barely stand up in the doorway. But, we are still looking into building and I would love a new house made of brick. However, it´s expensive and we are afraid that it would take forever to get done, and we just cannot afford to wait three months to get out own place. I will die before then if I can´t get situated soon!
Otherwise, everyone here is really nice to us and we have no shortage of people who want to talk and feed us lunch. It´s of course super HOT here, nothing new. But we are going to buy a fan today to help combat the heat and that´s about all one can do, except for the occassional long walk to the stream which is too shallow to swim in anyway. There´s some pretty cool animals and insects here and the other day I found myself defending this thing that looked like an albino snake. It had eyes that were so small, I´m pretty sure they were vestigial and knew it could not see well. It had no teeth and was this pale white color. It was within an inch of being crushed by a big board held by a very small child, until I stepped in. They told me that it was a ¨bicho¨(pest, basically) and that I should not touch it. I told them that it could not see, had no teeth, and was scared and that I was going to take it away, which is what I did. I know it was a snake because I could feel it´s spine. This is what has basically happened to all the wildlife in the area. There are no monkeys, large lizards, capybara, or other large mammals left because they all have been eaten or are seen as pests. There are wild parrots here, but they are also commonly taken out of their nests for sale or to be kept as pets. It makes me really sad. I plan to do a lot of work in the school with Chris regarding animals and I hope that I can get the children to see that the animals in the environment are important too.

I suppose I should try and wrap things up here. We have found an internet place with Skype in Caaguazu, so we can now call people when we come in to town, about every 10 days. We miss everyone and hope that everyone celebrates the New Year safely and we send hugs and love to everyone. Chris and I will be cooking over our little charcoal burner and trying to stay cool with our new fan. We will also be thinking about you all with your snow and cold weather and good food and drink. Wish we were there!!

Jill, hope you have someone to celebrate the New Year with in Ireland, and I miss you very much!

Also, Congratulations to Corey and his new bride, Jillian. We look forward to meeting her and hope you have safe travels when you are out and about wherever you are. Much happiness to the both of you!

Signing off for now,
The Updikes

It's Official!

We may now call ourselves volunteers, being that we were sworn in yesterday at the ambassador's residence inside the embassy in Asuncion. And let me tell you, it was kind of strange.
So, we had a small, intimate ceremony at the actual house and lawn of the ambassador to Paraguay. Of course the house and grounds are lush and beautiful and well tended, as you may be thinking in your head. The actual swearing-in part was pretty short. There was a speech from the Country Director of PC, the Associate PC Director, and then the Ambassador spoke and also told us what kind of work the embassy is currently doing in the country. Then we read our oaths and had a small reception with food and refreshements and cake.
And then we took photos. The ambassador has a bunch of animals and one of his employees went and got the embassy lambs out for a photo op. So, here's this guy standing next to the ambassador with the lamb up on his hind legs, smiling.

(Posted is a photo of Chris and I at the swearing-in by the Christmas tree on the patio. Also, the group above is my aggie group with my trainer, Tim, in the middle back row with glasses and dark, curly hair. The stunning sunset photo was taken at the top of the weirdest, creepiest hotel I've ever been to in my life!!!)

After swearing in, we killed some time and went to the hotel where the party for us and the group that is done with their service was held. It was at this essentially abandoned hotel that was supposed to be the place to be seen back in the like, the 80's. It was CREEPY! Our first room was huge but it had rat droppings in the sink, no sheets on the bed, mold on the carpet and walls, and the light fixture was filled with yellow water, so we switched rooms. The hotel, I believe, was built under the commission of the former dictator, Stroessner, to entertain friends and dignitaries. It's situated on the river, and is this giant dilapidated wreck now. The main party area was held outside on the dance floor, next to this huge empty pool, so that was kind of weird. They managed to fill up the wading pool for us, so at least we could cool off. All in all, it was a great time and Chris and I definitely closed the party down, and had an awesome time dancing. Still, it was kind of weird to have security from the Peace Corps have to watch us while the whole thing was going down. I'm sure they think Americans are nuts. Especially because the them of the party was "superhero", but mostly just turned into a pool party with everyone in their bathing suits. I was eaten alive by some the fattest mosquitoes I have ever seen.

So anyway, we need to get going for dinner right now. I will write more tomorrow and try to post more photos too. We miss everyone, but we honestly don't miss the hustle and bustle of having to shop for Christmas presents for everyone!

Ciao!

~Marissa & Chris

13 Days Until Christmas...

(Our buddy Bo, me, and Chris doing some beekeeping last weekend)

And it's about 100 degrees or so at least here today, and it's so miserably hot! Not even sweating helps, but I know that everyone in Ohio is already used to this... Chris and I are tying up some loose ends, as we prepare to swear-in as official volunteers on Friday at the U.S. embassy. We will be staying in the city afterwards, enjoying some creature-comforts until we leave for the campo on Tuesday morning. We hope to be receiving a cell phone on Monday, but will not yet be sure that we can call from it for a while. We ARE however, planning to call family on Sunday (and maybe on Saturday sometime) to catch up before we leave, probably sometime in the afternooon.

Chris and I were having a semi-horrible day today because we couldn't sleep last night. Our ceiling fan broke about 5 days ago, and no, it won't be fixed because we are leaving on Friday morning, and it's just not a priority. We thought about buying a floor fan, but imagine having to lug that around on very busy, hot public transportation while you carry other heavy bags. So, I think we'll have to suffer for a few more days. Maybe I'll just take 2 anti-histamines instead of one, so that it knocks me out and I can get some sleep.

In other news, Chris and I have been trying to learn about building latrines and basic masonry so that we may be of aid if we are going to have to build a house. The houses in our site are little more than wooden huts with metal or straw roofs. And while this and of itself sounds charming and rustic, the fact is, that when two pieces of board do not sit together flush against each other, bugs get in. Also, straw is extremely flammable, and metal roofing (especially at a height not much tall than Chris' head) feels like an oven in the middle of an equatorial summer. The only house available for rent that we feel we can work with also does not have shade, water, or a latrine. Latrines are not hard to build, but water is another thing. If we wanted our own water source, we'd have to dig a well. Or else, we'd have to walk across to the neighbors and haul it back and forth across the road. That is, if we even have to option of renting said house. The owner, a young man of about 30, apparently built it with the intention of marrying and moving into it. However, he has yet to even have a girlfriend in his entire life, or so says my host mom. Whatever the issue, we're just afraid that if we move in, he'll find someone, end up marrying, and then want to move in before our time is up.
The other houses we've seen for rent are simply not do-able. Thus, we are left with the possible outcome of building our own house. We do not want to deal with taking out loans, hauling materials in from the city, or having to pay someone to build. Nor do we want to live with a host family any longer than we have to. But we'll do it if there's no choice. I haven't given up hope yet though as we haven't seen much in the neighboring community where we also have the option of living. I've even heard of families willing to actually move into different housing just so that they can make money off of the rent! We shall see what happens, and I'm sure it will be nothing less than interesting.

Other than that, our future site is beautiful. There are gently rolling hills and lots of forested areas left. We have several arroyos (streams) where we can go cool off, and the people there are really friendly and very generous. We went to a wedding anniversary party while we were there and they have just killed a pig for the celebration. The food was good, and we even danced a bit (even if it was just to a Paraguayan polka). We see lots of potential for good work to be done both in the fields and in the schools. We will even be schooled in beekeeping once we finish our service as there are lots of people with honeybees. They are also starting to do work with piscicultura (fish farming) and there are a few very progressive farmers who want to work with me, and are open-minded. Which is nice, considering that Paraguayan culture is very machismo and often times, women just aren't tolerated--whether working alongside men in the fields or telling them how to increase production.

I had better wrap this up for now and give someone else a chance to get on the computer. I believe we already received our Christmas present from Sally and Jim and the girls, so THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! We love you and all of our family and friends too!!!! We will be calling shortly, so be on the lookout!

Love,
Marissa and Chris