Apensa ha fotos

Its funny when cultures start to blend, when normal is suddenly questioned and the unexpected or previously interesting becomes the every day. I would say that after about a month, my reality has more or less become Paraguay. I wake up and only have an interest in a hot cup of whole milk coffee with bread. Though throughout Guarani class breaks I joke around about the carb-heavy meals so common to Paraguay, come lunch time I happily dive into my pasta with a potato sauce, and then catch myself scanning the table for sweet potatoe fingerlings to complement the meal. As I slipped out of bed this morning I realized that I had forgotten how strange it would appear to an outsider that I army crawl under a tucked-in mosquito net to get out of bed. These idiosyncrysies that left my jaw dropped for the first few days are now my comfort blankets, the little normalcies of Paraguay I now appreciate.

I no longer an shocked at how the red dirt from the road cakes on, nor at having to dive to the side of an oncoming bus. I forget when I last washed my underwear anywhere but in the shower, and have willingly begun to sling spanish and Guarani back and forth throughout my english with friends. And while I understand that I am not nor will ever be Paraguayan, I am now comfortable with the idea of living as one, albeit one that is more white and speaks Guarani not so well, for the next two years.

Back in Costa Alegre, the schedule of class and lunch and more class and studying has already become repetitive (something big for me to say considering my love for schedules) still I have noticed recently that I am absorbing the information. I only hope it stays long enough to work once I get at site for the next two years! OK, now the long-promised photos. Enjoy! First is my house from the front with my cool dog Jango out front. Next is my kitchen, and then my bathroom (notice, there is no curtain, so after you shower everything is wet and you have to dry it off again, which sucks). Next is my family holding down the baby cow to cut off its balls. Then the group when we first got our gear, in the apiary checking a kenya top-bar and finally Kendall with a frame from the top bar hive!
Jajotopata-
Jess