moving on

Just to let you know, the blog is moving, for what will hopefully be the last time, to a more generic name. If you are receiving my posts by e-mail you will have to resubscribe on the top right hand side of the new site. Hopefully you will continue to enjoy my takes on living overseas on Traveling Texan Teacher http://travelingtexanteacher.blogspot.com/. You can expect a post to go up of my initial impressions in the next few days so you can use it as a test of resubscribing. Let me know if you have any trouble.

Ciao Paraguay

It is hard to believe that I've already finished two years in Paraguay. To believe that I got on a plane at the end of June and may very well never return to what has been home. So as I say farewell to the country I just keep thinking of the top ten things that I'll miss from my South American sojurn.

10. Fireworks going off three to four nights a week and lighting up the sky. They may be noisy but they always bring a smile to my face.
9. Where else could you get wolf whistled at by a guy driving a horse cart hauling cardboard?
8. Unusual traditions that provide great photo opportunities, even if you can't understand exactly how they started.
7. Unexpected architecture in the middle of what seems to be a residential area.
6. Stealing tastes of ice cream from friends as we enjoy an ice cream break, after all there is practically a shop on every corner.
5. Natural fruit juice made out of any fruit you can imagine, and a few you've never heard of before.
4. How every year I've been there Paraguay has found a reason to decorate with red, white and blue to show their patriotic spirit. First it was the world cup, then the bicentennial.
3. The lapacho trees that turn the sky, and the ground, pink.
2. Hot crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside, my favorite travel food...chipa!
1. Friends and coworkers who became my family away from home.

Come take a walk with me

I thought you might be interested in taking a walk with me and enjoying some of what I pass on a daily basis during my 20 minute walk to and from school.

It is 7 am and I know I need to be getting out of the house as soon as possible if I want to make it to school by 7:30. The other schools around here must start earlier than us because as I unlock the gate the swings are squeaking across the street and kids are filing into the school. I'm always a bit amused by the bright green and blue paint job the Villa Mora school has done. It definitely makes it noticeable! I only have to pass 3 houses before I make it to the corner. The one of the corner seems rundown and broken, especially compared to the fancy one across the street. However the kittens and cats that are always milling about their "yard" means my attention is always in their yard trying to spot then newest addition to their cat family. Oops, I need to pay attention to the ground. This rough spot has done my ankles in more than once in two years! The old water pump (?) on the corner is my landmark when walking home that I've reached my street. After all, there is no street sign on my block.

The majority of my walk is down Legion Civil Extranjera (unless that is you're going the other way and the road starts out as Garay, making it confusing to find anything in this city!) and I do mean down. Unfortunately that means most of it is uphill on my home when I'm tired. There are a lot of small businesses along the way. On the corner a group of three: hair salon, clothing store and what used to be an antique store then changed into a book store and is now something new which I haven't figured out yet. A small store selling school supplies half a block down gets plenty of business from the students across the street. It is beside one of my favorite houses. A very modern, and somewhat out of place, white two story house. On the corner one of the houses has a small shrine built into their wall. An antique store, a newly renovated children's store and a bright purple accessory store complete the block on the side that I walk. The bright green women's only gym across the street is next to what is my favorite tree the whole walk. The apartment building on the left is where I turn if I'm heading to the mall and agroshopping. For school it is straight ahead until the road dead ends. Pass by the ivy covered walls that stretch an entire block and then I've arrived at the next private school - Santa Clara. I know how late I am by if the doors have already been locked, and by how many parents are standing outside socializing. That brings me to Mariscal Lopez, a busy street where I always get struck waiting to cross the street. It gives me a chance to see what the headlines are in the paper, to check out the progress being made on the bank they're building on the corner and to see what new high school events are being advertised by the painted walls. Besides, I know I'm a third of the way done with my walk.

If it is raining I know the next stretch is bound to be the worst. The water rushes down to "stream" and if I'm not careful I could lose my shoe trying to wade through the water. They're doing construction to fix that, but I doubt I'll see it finished before I leave. Don't forget to wave and greet the guard by the House of Ties (you never know if you might need his help). Check the clocks on the English school and see if any of them are working today (the answer is usually no). Pass by some condos facing a couple of run down factories surrounded by chain link fences. The brightly painted wall of a nursery school that doesn't run anymore always makes me smile. Then comes the bright blue pottery barn knockoff store. There is always a bright yellow motorcycle parked in the corner and the contrast of colors always catches my eye. The comes the darker blue corner store where it is certain that I'll either be stared out while walking by, talked about, or both. I'm always a bit surprised that the building facade/restoration office doesn't have a nicer looking office. Next to that is my favorite door of the entire walk; it seems like it could be an entrance to a secret garden! Oddly this is next door to an industrial steel furniture business, and you can bet more cat whistles will come from behind that steel fence! Across the street are some nice houses, the white one and yellow one always catch my eye. Just beyond the steel shop is a high fashion boutique, and looking in the windows always makes me slow down my walk. Then on to the decorated Via Agusta, an events center which holds many parties and quinces on the weekend. The guard house on the corner reminds to stop and make sure I'm not going to get run over as I cross the busiest street in this neighborhood.

Almost there! Just another 7 minutes to get to school...and this is usually the point where I break a sweat and just wish I was there! A greenery lined section of sidewalk lies next, usually covered with blooming flowers. The university San Carlos lies across the street, although I don't see students in the morning the place is buzzing when I walk home in the afternoon. The come a few fancy houses, the rock wall I can't even see over. Of course they're across from a dirty rundown wall guarding ??? with homemade glass bottle protection cemented on top. The street dead ends at another huge house being built. Although the white one on the corner always captures my attention because of the rhea they have fenced into a small (small!) garden who just runs around in circles.

Finally, I can see the gate to the school. Just need to cross one more road and I'll be there. Walk through the mangoes (called that because of the mango trees) then past all the other classrooms to get to my room on the far side of campus. I'll turn on my air conditioner first thing and try to cool off before my students start trickling into the room. I've got nine hours before I'll have to repeat my walk in the opposite direction.

Piki voley

Piki voley is an odd game. It reminds me of when I was little and my soccer coach took us to the tennis court to play a game over the net. In fact it is extremely similar. The setup - a short, low to the ground net and a square playing court on each side. The rules, or at least whet I've been able to figure out....

(1)service is a volley over the net
(2)whoever won the last point serves
(3)3 touches total on your side of the net, you must alternate who touches it
(4)you can have fewer than 3 touches but not more
(5)the ball can bounce once before you receive it (although I don't think it has to)
(6)no bounces allowed after the first touch on your side of the net
(7)game to....?? whatever you decide?

I do know this game can entertain my students for an entire lunch period, every day, and even make them late to class. It is enjoyed by the students that they put a small court in the main courtyard of the school. I have to admit it is kind of nice to have a name for something I've played on several occasions, even if it is unique to this country.

Mbaracayu

Last week we had about 20 girls come and visit our school from an all's girl school in the forest region of Paraguay. The school is run by a foundation called Mbaracayu. What they have done is created a secondary boarding school for girls who live in a remote region in the hopes that they will with education they will help their communities develop, and that it will aid them in stopping the cycle of becoming mothers themselves around the age of 14. It was interesting to talk to a few of the girls (somewhat of a challenge with my limited Spanish and their limited Spanish - they are much more comfortable with Guarani) and hear them share what sort of opportunities the choice they made to continue to school has provided. This video shares a bit of a glimpse of the school for those of you interested.

sidewalks

I can't believe I'm really sitting here thinking I'm going to write about sidewalks. Have I become that desperate for a topic? No, really, I'm sure there are plenty of other things I could share, but I have to admit I spend a surprising amount of time thinking about sidewalks. This is probably because I get most places by walking, and due to the sometimes rough nature of the sidewalks here I spend the majority of that time looking down at the ground to try to save my ankles. So at least 40 minutes of my day is spent starting down at the sidewalks of this city. Put that way, perhaps it makes sense I'm going to share some of my observations from all of that time. What is interesting to me is that while almost every road has a sidewalk on each side, the sidewalks clearly belong to a house and not to the city or whoever deals with roads. Why do I say clearly? You only have to look down one block and see 4 or 5 different sidewalk styles to realize that they must belong to the house. Which explains why you can get a nice smooth sidewalk for 20 steps and then step onto a section which is broken, uneven and almost a pile of rubble. It explains why there are some sidewalks with fancy designs, others done in tile, and some with constant patterns that catch your eye. Since the sidewalk must go with the house, then it also makes sense that the owners of the house are responsible for their sidewalk getting/staying clean. Which is why most of them are free of leaves, flowers and other trash while there are occasional areas where it seems as if nothing has been cleared off in weeks. (It is very common for me to see women out sweeping the sidewalks as I walk to school in the morning.)I wonder what else I'll notice as I continue to walk?

Happy Birthday Paraguay

On Sunday, May 15, Paraguay turned 200 years old. The entire weekend, or perhaps I need to say extended weekend as the government passed a movement to make Monday a national holiday for the bicentennial, was dedicated to celebrating this mile marker. The past month or so I noticed that Asuncion was starting to get dressed up for the bicentennial. Red, white and blue were getting hung on buildings all over the place (although perhaps not with quite the enthusiasm as last year for the world cup), flags were on sale on the street corners, stickers could be noticed on windows of buildings and cars alike. An entire program was set to go on over the weekend including numerous parades, music, ballet and such. I have to admit that I only managed to get myself downtown for a small portion of the going ons - namely the military parade. But what fun it was to watch the military procession and listen to those watchers cheer and comment on the groups that passed. You could feel the pride everyone had to be part of the country. The exclaimed over the groups that had their faces painted for camouflage or were wearing bush stealth outfits. Claps whenever a group of all women passed (one set of nurses with a red cross on their sleeve, one group from the navy, and finally a group of women carrying guns). Loud cheers when the reservists, any person who had previously served in the military (and by definition here could still be called up if the need arose), entered the street. Especially for the 102 year old man holding on while standing in the back of truck. Curiosity when a group from a different country marched by (Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil and others). Excitement to see the tanks and heavy equipment. Distraction when the planes and helicopters flew overhead. Bouncing to the music when a band passed by. And of course, ohhing and awing over the mounted groups and the decorated horses. Despite the rain delay everyone was thoroughly enjoying themselves. I have to admit that my favorite memory of the weekend happened because of the 30 minute rain delay. Some of the big wigs from the military where standing in trucks when the rain started to pour down. They didn't stay there long, but instead climbed down to escape someplace a little drier. Which is how I found myself sharing my umbrella with a 3 star colonel. (Ummm...this is a bit unreal!)What to do, but hold the umbrella a little bit higher? I had a nice 35 minute chat with Jorge, and then everyone was lead back out to the street for the start of the parade (which of course took at least another 10-15 minutes).

Congratulations Paraguay on 200 years! Happy Bicentennial!