Here are some photos from my trip. I think you can click on individual pictures to get a closer view.
The horse and buggy photo is from Villarrica which is Karen's go-to city of about 25,000 people. To get to Villarrica she walks 1 hour and then takes a 2.5 hour bus ride on dirt and asphalt roads. Villarrica is a charming city. All the basic comforts are available - a grand supermarket, bus service, hotels, schools, hospital, post office, internet cafes, etc. Karen prefers this to Asuncion because it is closer and more laid back.
The day we rode on the bus to her community, Monte Rosario, we arrived 20 minutes early only to find the bus already full. This meant that we, too, had to stand. So we stood 20 minutes while the bus continued to fill up. Then the bus started rolling, we continued to stand for about the first hour or hour and a half of the ride. Usually the busses aren't so packed, but since it had rained 4 inches the busses were not able to run. So we stood until enough people got off and we could sit down.
The second picture is of Karen standing with 2 backpacks on the road to Monte Rosario. The pack on her back was the one I brought from home filled with everything from guitar strings, duct tape, 15 CDs from Betsy, 2 books from Dan, spice cookies from her mom, and a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 from the Chandelle Winery in Sonoma, CA! It is a 5 km walk which takes about 1 hour. As you can see, the country side is lush green of trees, plots of crops, and open fields. The mountain in the background is the second highest in the country, and Karen's house is at the foot of that mountain.
The next picture is Karen's red house with her horse "mowing" her lawn. She put up a barbed wire fence (she hauled the barbed wire 5 km and it easily weighed more than 50 lbs). You can also see her little garden which needs additional reinforcements because the chickens like to get in it. The mountain is behind the trees. Inside the house is a gas stove (but she ran out of gas and the replacement tank is being hampered by rainy weather). She has electricity for lights (2 inside and 1 on the porch). She has a bureau for her clothes, several tables, 2 chairs, and a bed with a mosquito net (as you can see in the next photo).
She hauls and drinks her water straight from the family well. She lives about 50 yards from her host family of about 8-10 people depending on who is home. This wonderful family has woven Karen into their daily lives. You can see her host mom in the next picture. They run a subsistence farm of about 20 hectares which, I think is about 50 acres. Those 50 acres are used for their home and to graze their 20 head of cattle, couple of pigs, 40 some chickens, etc. They grow corn, beans, mandioca (a root vegetable which you'll see in another picture), and have several fruit trees. They have a nice vegetable garden, too. The dad lost an eye as a child shooting off firecrackers, so he has a glass eye and no longer works the fields. He does carpentry work. The boys (5) work the fields and go to school. One sister goes to school and the other has finished and lives at home. Both help with running the daily household which consists of cooking, laundry, and the like. The family and Karen share a "shitter" which is an outhouse about 30 yards away. It is a hole in the ground surrounded by a wooden structure. No light. It took about 3 visits to get used to it. Good thing I practiced my deep knee bends for 3 weeks before I left!
The next picture is of Karen's host mom. She is a strong, capable woman who cooked us food the entire time I was there. Food staples include noodle based meals with some protein like beans, beef, pork. Mandioca is the ubiquitous root which is boiled and then served cold almost like a bread, but with the consistency of a potato. Quite tasty. It's also common to serve meals which are mandioca with mandioca on the side...just prepared differently. Frying in oil is also common. While I enjoyed every dish she prepared us, my favorite was the noodles with 3 chunks of beef (you can see the picture, and the mandioca is on the side).
The next picture is of a family Karen works with. Her job is to promote sustainable agriculture through soil conservation. This involves planting green manures which are really seeds. The seeds are planted among the other crops (corn, beans, etc.). The green manures grow into plants, trees or bushes which infuse essential nutrients into the soil to help primary crops thrive. On our walks to visit families, you could see where they have planted these green manures as a result of her efforts. The challenge with her job is that the community of 250 is spread out over a large area. To "call a meeting" isn't really possible unless you dove tail on Sunday after church which has great potential. Instead, she visits individual families to do her work.
She doesn't use her horse because the only way he will go is if you hit him. Karen would just as soon walk than to have to switch the horse. So she walks and walks and walks. This family in the picture was probably 1.5 mile walk (one way) from her house, over a river (walk on a log) and over many hills and dales. When we arrived we were just in time for "terere" which is a form of yerba mate that is drunk out of a communal straw and cup. Both urbanites and rural families partake in this most defining Paraguayan ritual. Even the bus driver's helper will pour terere and pass it around to the driver and 1-2 people standing near the front (whomever they may be). It is a very refreshing drink and I will be sure to enjoy it when my luggage is found in South America.
The photo of the cell phone in the tree is how Karen communicates with other volunteers. She gets limited service but can occasionally receive text messages if she hangs it from the tree. This is a great support network among volunteers. They will type short little messages in any or all 3 languages to each other. Usually she only gets service when she is in Villarrica or on the bus to Asuncion. And the Paraguayans are no different. We caught a ride with a guy driving a tractor the other day and he, too, was text messaging while he skidded us through the mud.
The last picture is of us at the Lido Restaurant in Asuncion. The Lido is quite famous and I was thrilled that we could go there. The menu item I originally asked for was not available. The waitress then said to me, "Might I suggest the horse meat with onions dish? It is very tasty." I politely declined and opted for chicken and rice.
As I said before, Karen seems quite content with her work and life in Paraguay. She has embraced the opportunity completely. And she exudes a quiet confidence that serves her well in her community. Whenever Karen walks by a house or sees someone on the path, they will stop and chat a spell. Several women in particular talked about how she is like a daughter to them and they enjoy her so much. It was such a thrill to see it with my own eyes.
If you've stuck with this posting this far, congratulations! I apologize for its length, but to do Karen justice it has to be this long. And there are other stories I haven't told because there are too many! Even if all you did was look at the pictures and skip to the end, then I've accomplished my goal of trying to share Karen's experience. Thanks for taking a peek!
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