Monday, May 04, 2009
Out of Money
Fellin' a little down today. I have been working my butt off in site, and I got to come into town today for a little bit of R 'n R. I had planned on buying some delicious food, making some serious photocopies for my upcoming presentation, and possibly buying a much sought after blender. But when I get to the bank - guess what?
No money.
Because it's the beginning of the month, most government employees get paid. But instead of using a debit card, or pulling out a little cash for the week, most employees take out their entire pay checks - which leaves the bank line OUT THE BUILDING and the ATMs out of cash. My trip into town is pretty much useless, so I guess i will just use the computer, and come back this weekend when there isn't a Mary Poppins-like rush on the bank.
To top it all off, May 1st was a holiday, so I had a really really long weekend. Weekends are okay, don't get me wrong. The only problem is that nothing is open, and no buses are running. So I sat in my site while most people were gone
visiting families. That is kinda a crapper about Peace Corps. Unless you make a really close family tie with a host family, or a nearby neighbor, sometimes it's hard not to be the red headed stepchild of your community. At least in my community, everyone just assumes you're doing something, so you almost have to invite yourself to hang out with other families, and let's face it. Sometimes it just gets tiring being the pushy outsider.
So the extra long holiday weekend consisted of me making bread the whole time, since I just got some new gas for my oven. It wasn't TOO bad, but enough to make me really want to get away to town for the day. Usually, there are a few other volunteers floating around, so we can usually meet up for lunch, or terere, or just shop together. But again, today is a crapshoot cause everybody is busy and I just want a buddy. Wahhhh.
Okay. So enough whinning. I'm over it. I just bought a hard-to-find Diet Coke, so I feel a little better. I will end up just going to the market and buying some cheap veggies and possibly an expensive can of pringles. I can make it in the country another week without spending a cien (or in the US - a dime)!
Last Thursday, we started our radio program. It's really ghetto....and FABULOUS!!!! I finally got ahold of the president of the coop, and he opened the radio door for me and my 2 closest neighbors in Jykyty (pronounced Joo Koo Too). We had a sound board, a cd player, and a microphone - with electrical tape all over everything.
The beauty part about this, was that he showed us how to operate the cd player, mic, and volume, and then left us alone. We all spoke in Guarani and Spanish, and called our show Joparadio. Jopara is what people call the mix of the Spanish language and the traditional Guarani language. So if someone asks me which language I speak, I reply that I speak Jopara which in guarani means 'Mix' or 'all thrown together'. So if I had a basket of lots of different fruits and veggies I could say that I had a jopara of food! The name for the radio station has been used by other volunteers before, but since my coop antenae only reaches about a 3 mile radius, I don't think anyone will mind.
So because not too many people were listening, and it was our first show and we haven't gotten the word out quite yet, talking on the radio was really easy! We messed up and had bad feedback and awkward pauses, but otherwise, it was really chill and we had tons of fun! I'll bring my camera, and I'm going to try and tape a show - on a cassette tape, there is no computer - so maybe I'll be able to play it down the line!
We will be having our show every other week, so the next one is scheduled May 14th the day before
The New Star Trek comes out on Mother's Day.
I seriously doubt this will make it to Paraguay, seeing as how no one is a trekkie here except me, and a few people that still live with their parents in the city. Although that is very common here.....
No money.
Because it's the beginning of the month, most government employees get paid. But instead of using a debit card, or pulling out a little cash for the week, most employees take out their entire pay checks - which leaves the bank line OUT THE BUILDING and the ATMs out of cash. My trip into town is pretty much useless, so I guess i will just use the computer, and come back this weekend when there isn't a Mary Poppins-like rush on the bank.
To top it all off, May 1st was a holiday, so I had a really really long weekend. Weekends are okay, don't get me wrong. The only problem is that nothing is open, and no buses are running. So I sat in my site while most people were gone
visiting families. That is kinda a crapper about Peace Corps. Unless you make a really close family tie with a host family, or a nearby neighbor, sometimes it's hard not to be the red headed stepchild of your community. At least in my community, everyone just assumes you're doing something, so you almost have to invite yourself to hang out with other families, and let's face it. Sometimes it just gets tiring being the pushy outsider.So the extra long holiday weekend consisted of me making bread the whole time, since I just got some new gas for my oven. It wasn't TOO bad, but enough to make me really want to get away to town for the day. Usually, there are a few other volunteers floating around, so we can usually meet up for lunch, or terere, or just shop together. But again, today is a crapshoot cause everybody is busy and I just want a buddy. Wahhhh.
Okay. So enough whinning. I'm over it. I just bought a hard-to-find Diet Coke, so I feel a little better. I will end up just going to the market and buying some cheap veggies and possibly an expensive can of pringles. I can make it in the country another week without spending a cien (or in the US - a dime)!Last Thursday, we started our radio program. It's really ghetto....and FABULOUS!!!! I finally got ahold of the president of the coop, and he opened the radio door for me and my 2 closest neighbors in Jykyty (pronounced Joo Koo Too). We had a sound board, a cd player, and a microphone - with electrical tape all over everything.
The beauty part about this, was that he showed us how to operate the cd player, mic, and volume, and then left us alone. We all spoke in Guarani and Spanish, and called our show Joparadio. Jopara is what people call the mix of the Spanish language and the traditional Guarani language. So if someone asks me which language I speak, I reply that I speak Jopara which in guarani means 'Mix' or 'all thrown together'. So if I had a basket of lots of different fruits and veggies I could say that I had a jopara of food! The name for the radio station has been used by other volunteers before, but since my coop antenae only reaches about a 3 mile radius, I don't think anyone will mind.So because not too many people were listening, and it was our first show and we haven't gotten the word out quite yet, talking on the radio was really easy! We messed up and had bad feedback and awkward pauses, but otherwise, it was really chill and we had tons of fun! I'll bring my camera, and I'm going to try and tape a show - on a cassette tape, there is no computer - so maybe I'll be able to play it down the line!
We will be having our show every other week, so the next one is scheduled May 14th the day before
The New Star Trek comes out on Mother's Day.I seriously doubt this will make it to Paraguay, seeing as how no one is a trekkie here except me, and a few people that still live with their parents in the city. Although that is very common here.....
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