Hola de nuevo

 

Hola de Nuevo :) Hope you’re all doing well. I am writing from the training center in Guarambare, where just yesterday I found out that I will be moving to La Novia (yes, the girlfriend), a small town of about 50 households in the district of Nueva Londres in the department of Caaguazu. I am excited to go visit my site and will be leaving tomorrow to meet my community contact(s) and spend about 4-5 days in site! It’s crazy that this is happening so soon, but also we’ve been waiting since day 1 to find out where we will be living as volunteers for the next two years. Training has been a little world of its own, where it is not at all indicative of my actual life as a volunteer in agricultural extension. I am with 50 other Americans basically every day, and have my entire day from 7am to 5pm rupi (around) scheduled and almost every minute accounted for. Contrast that to my soon to be life where every moment is lived in the present and nothing is planned (well some things will be planned but not like this) and everything is tranquilo. 

I don't have time to post more - but I will be gone without internet til next Wednesday and then celebrating Thanksgiving at the US Embassy in Asuncion on Thursay! Happy thanksgiving everyone and lots of love!!!! I'll be thinking of you :)

xoxo

ps
the pic above is of me outside my homestay 

hola, mba'eichapa?

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Hello friends and family! It's officially been a month since I've arrived in Paraguay and I'm finally sitting down to write my first blog post in country. I’m at the Peace Corps training office in a small town outside of Asuncion and there is wireless internet, so a bunch of us are escaping the brutal heat outside and using the air conditioning and internet to catch up with people and get our internet fix. I don’t even know where to begin with how this past month has been, it feels like forever already – my days are packed full of an intensive training schedule for language (Guarani), technical training in agriculture, and cultural immersion that includes safety and medical trainings and lectures. This past month or so has been a whirlwind of hugging goodbyes, plane rides, and bus trips; new language, food and dietary changes, new friends, new soil, and so much more.

I’ve been training with 26 other agriculture volunteers, and we are distributed between two satellite-training communities where we each live with a host family and have our meals with our family each day. My host family is great- there is Dona Carmen, Don Porfirio, their neice Estela and her two-month year old son Ivan. The house is modest, and I feel like a princess because I have my own room and bathroom (with a hot water shower!) and the four of them share one bedroom with two big beds. I’m totally spoiled right now. I am going to enjoy it while I have it though. The food has been definitely interesting so far – but overall great. I started eating some meat before I left before Paraguay because I knew I would have to adjust to eating it again – after over 10 years of vegetarianism, a quick stint in veganism, and then fluctuating between pescatarian and completely vegetarian more recently. It’s been quite interesting and eating fish and chicken is the easiest for me, I actually seek out chicken now in order to get protein since the thought of eating pork or beef is unsettling for my stomach and my mind. I’ve had pasta dishes with my host family that have the tiniest pieces of beef in it and that is easier to stomach, but a huge hunk of beef asado (basically, BBQ) is not something that is even remotely appetizing to me. Paraguayans definitely love their meat and it’s a part of the culture. However, there are a number of Paraguayan vegetarian dishes and I plan to become a culinary expert in these over the next two years J

Since the internet is not reliable for me right now, it’s hard to say how frequently I’ll be able to post. However, I will try to post at least once a month and ideally every two weeks or even more if I have regular internet. I will be staying with my current host family (the Aldana family) until swear-in as a volunteer which is December 7^th, in Asuncion. After that, I will move to a new host family in my future site where I will live for two years to carry out my service. After three months with that family, I can choose to move into my own place. I don’t know what I will decide yet, but I am definitely leaning towards finding my own little shack so I can eat what I want and when I want, and also set up internet and have a little more consistent contact with people. We will receive a wireless USB connector when we swear-in as volunteers, and until then I only have internet when I’m in the main training center – which is a couple days a week now.

I’ll be traveling a week from tomorrow on my long site visit, which is a trip that involves doing work that a volunteer is currently working on and I will have language class each day while I’m on that visit. The short site visit I went on with my fellow trainee Erin was to visit Lauralee and you can see pictures on my Facebook of us on that trip! It was totally tranquilo (calm, cool) and so much fun – it made me excited to get to my site and live on my own in Paraguay and carve out my own little life here. I think that the long site visit will be great and a real hands-on experience to help me grasp what I am really getting myself into the next two years. It will also prove to me how much I need to work on my Guarani skills – which is getting better every day.

Speaking of Guarani – that is the reason this post is titled as such – mba’eichapa is the most valuable phrase to know, it means “how are you?” and I say it dozens of times a day when I meet and greet people in my classes and in the community.

I’ll have to wrap up this post now – and I had to actually write most of this off-line as the internet at the training center cut out and we weren’t able to re-start the router since the room was locked. Thank goodness for my friend Julia who already purchased a wireless USB port J I may decide to do that – but it’s expensive for right now and may not be the right company that I will eventually want to use in my future site.

Anyways, I will conclude with one last thing which is I am completely in LOVE with the Paraguayan skies – the sunsets and sunrises are some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. The only thing that is missing I’ve been realizing is an ocean! It’s quite bizarre to have the wind blowing and just get the feeling I am near the beach, and then realize I am no where near any major body of water. Unless you count the river that was my street on Friday morning after an intense storm that monsoon rained for hours on end. There are lakes and rivers nearby and all over Paraguay, but definitely don’t replace the ocean. Anyways, I am not complaining because I love this country’s beauty for what it is – but let’s just say I will be ecstatic to see the beach again on any coast when that happens J

Hopefully you’ll see more pictures on my blog but also I’ve posted a number of pictures on my Facebook as well. If we aren’t friends on there, please friend me! It’s an easy way to be in touch J and definitely easier to receive messages there since my gmail (mterry13) is so full of junk mail that it’s hard to sort through the messages.

Sending all my love to all of you back home and friends and family that are all over the US and beyond. Abrazos para todos and I am thinking of you all. Thank you for your support, prayers, and love!

More soon J

Xoxo

Meagan

The eve before departure

I'm so nervous and excited in the eve before my adventure begins as a peace corps volunteer in paraguay! i had a fantastic going away party down by the river in my neighborhood, with my family and friends this weekend. it was complete with a taste of my soon-to-be life with power outages, no running water, and a torrential downpour. fun!

I wanted to give you all my address that I will use to start in Paraguay which is:

Cuerpo de Paz,
Chaco Boreal 162,
Asunción, Paraguay

Please be aware that the mail will get to me a little slower - but by using the Peace Corps address and a courier like Fed-ex for packages, it shouldn't be a problem reaching me.

I leave for Miami tomorrow for staging - where I will meet the other 49 volunteers I am going to Paraguay with, 25 of which are other Agricultural Extension volunteers. From Miami, we will fly together to Paraguay (which goes to Buenos Aires, then Asuncion) on Wednesday evening. I will be meeting my host family who I will live with for the 11-weeks of training on Friday! I hope to have internet at some point to update you all on what my life is like during training- and where I will be living the next two years!

Lots of love and so much thanks to all those who have been giving me love, support and encouragement in my departure. I will miss everyone dearly, and cannot wait to share with you my experiences. Thank you again and see you on the flip side!

xo

sunrise...sunset...

I just got back from a trip to Acadia National Park with my family and I'm so glad I finally got to Maine before I leave for Paraguay :) I think I'm only missing a handful of states in the continental US and I really would like to get to all 50 while in my 20s - Alaska and Hawaii may have to wait a while though. It was a wonderful vacation; totally relaxing, gorgeous views, awesome hikes, and we had quality family time that was long overdue! It's been a while since I've taken a trip with my parents and brother (and our dog, jade) and we had to rent a mini-van to fit all of us and our stuff we schlepped up to Acadia. It was well worth it since it came with a DVD player - although the 12 hour drive today was a bit much even with three movies. The weather was insane on our drive back - news and warnings on tornadoes, a pretty heavy rain storm, bad car and truck accidents - was a bit frightening. Makes me realize that extreme weather events are probably something my generation is going to see a lot of from climatic changes. But that's for another rainy day to discuss...

Back to vacation - here are some snapshots from the trip - my brother, dad and jade and i when we first arrived in acadia, me at 6am for the sunrise over cadillac mt, and sunset on top that same day, and family shot at jordan pond. I'll admit that getting to the top only meant getting in the car since you can drive up. Made me feel like a bit of a cheater- but it was an incredible view at both times of day.

There are many more photos (we took hundreds) and I'll create a Facebook album to show a larger smattering of our family times in Maine. I'm glad to be back home in NJ and am excited to see some familiar faces very soon, I've missed people here so much!

I hope that everyone back in California and the west coast is doing incredibly well - I am missing everyone! It's been really great to be back home for this month though, it's helping with me transition and get ready for leaving. Although it's hard to reconnect with old friends just to leave so suddenly. I hope that through blogging and emailing and some internet connection I will be able to stay in touch with everyone as much as possible :)

Sending all my love! xo

life before peace corps in paraguay

hello!

i will be converting my blog to a chronicle of my adventures in paraguay as an agricultural extension peace corps volunteer. i leave september 25th for paraguay, and am leaving davis, ca in one week! i just had my last day with the uc davis policy institute, and saying goodbye to great people was so hard! i will miss everyone over there. i leave for NJ next week, and will spend time at home with my family before leaving for south america.

i just finished my first year of graduate school in international agricultural development, and i will come back after 2 years in the peace corps to finish my degree as a masters international student. 

i will write again as things are getting closer to my departure, so check back in a month or so as i prepare for my next adventure in south america!

til next time..

xo!

gonna catch me farmin' dirty

hello! it's been too long. i haven't really kept up with the blog as life has been happening very quickly here on the farm. a few quick updates on my own life, before i get into happenings on the farm and what i've been learning. i am going to be starting at UC davis in september for my masters degree in international agricultural development, and i'm insanely excited to join the davis community and get back into academia. although, the farming lifestyle really is something that i could get used to. it's hard as hell, but it's incredibly rewarding in so many ways. i know that my life will involve growing my own food in some capacity.

i will be flying back to the east coast on june 10th, but i am driving myself back out to CA to stay at the farm for the summer as a 'graduate' of the green string institute internship program. i will be one of six current interns that are staying for the summer, and we will have the opportunity to focus on a project that we want to complete as a grad, provide additional support to the farm and learn more about farming techniques, and have time to study and research topics of interest. i'm excited for the chance to continue learning, welcome a new group of 12 interns, and also be close to davis in order to find a place to live, make connections, and hopefully find a campus job or assistantship. i am looking for a travel companion on my road trip out to CA - let me know if you want to come or know anyone that wants to get out west!

before i head home for a couple weeks, i'll be on the farm helping out the transition from our intern class to the next, and also i will be responsible (along with a few others) for 375 new baby chicks. it's going to be crazy!!! i've never taken care of little newborn chicks, so it's sure to be a learning experience. i'll hopefully be posting pictures of them next week - they come in on june 2nd.

there was a morning when i woke up super early and took a walk outside, and it looked like the hills were on fire from the sun coming up. stunning.

this is the group of interns i've been living with and working with the past three months- we're a fun bunch! this is us at our after part of our community mixer and farm party event on may 14th. we drove big blue - the farm truck - into the big barn and had a live band playing in front of it during our event. it was a ton of fun, and i am going to miss some these people so much in my life here that aren't staying for summer!

i intended to write more - but it's been a long day and sleep is calling my name. more soon, promise!!

xo

spring is upon us

I've been a bit behind on my blog posting activity here on the farm, mainly because we have limited internet access it seems whenever I have the time to sit down and post. I am going to start to write some blog posts while off-line, and back log them as I have the time and better wireless connection! I've been busy here as well, and am trying to get back in the swing of things after being in Jersey last week for my grandmother's funeral. It was a surreal few days to be home with family after living here in Sonoma County and not being connected to life on the east coast. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with family and friends that I got to see, although I wish the circumstances for my homecoming had been different. My grandma is no longer suffering with Alzheimer's disease, and I am comforted by the fact that she is now at peace. I made banana bread in her honor to leave for the other interns the night before my 6am flight to Newark, which everyone seemed to enjoyed!

Today marks the end of week 7 in my internship, and I cannot believe that much time has flown by. It's absolutely insane. We all announced our intern projects this morning in our 8am meeting, and I will be working on the Green String blog as well as heading up farm tours that allow for visitors to get a deeper understanding of the natural process farming techniques and get a taste of farm life. I'm really excited about working on both of these things, and making sure more people know about what Green String is up to and how the internship program helps develop sustainable agriculture and the young farmer movement.

Spring is in the air - and we've been planting and transplanting so many delicious vegetables. Tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, sweet peas, broccoli, kale, lettuces...and so much more! It's almost the end of root vegetables in storage, and I can't wait for more greens and wonderful food. There are a ton of flowers in bloom on the farm as well - and we've been selling flower bouquets in the store which are so beautiful. We have a huge sweet williams patch of flowers that are flowering and ready to be picked.

I have to run - but missing everyone and sending out lots of love :)