I'm going to get a head start on this now, so that I don't have to do a week's worth of writing next Wednesday.
Thursday was Dia del Folklore at school. It was basically a day devoted to traditional Paraguayan things. The people in tercero (seniors in the states) dressed up in traditional Paraguayan clothes: kind of. The girls dressed in the traditional men's clothing, and a few of the guys (my brother included!) dressed up in traditional women's clothes.
My nose has kinda been bothering me lately, so my mom brought me to the pharmacy to get medicine. I went in alone! That was scary, but I got the medicine I needed! Also, I walked to school all by myself! I'm slowly becoming more independent here. :)
Oh man. Today is Wednesday. I posted about a typical day, but here's some highlights from my third week here!
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
My Average Day in Paraguay
That rhymed a little too well, my apologies.
Since nothing ground breaking has happened in the past week (that I know of), I decided that today I'd write about an average day for me here in the beautiful country of Paraguay.
6:00 a.m. - Time to wake up! An average day here for me is a school day. I wake up at 6 (grudgingly) and put on my uniform. Lately it has been a bit chilly (nearing 0 Celsius in the mornings) so I've been wearing LOTS of layers. My uniform is a navy blue short sleeve shirt and navy blue sweatpants. So comfortable! I can't wait until it warms up so that I can wear my skirt uniform! I have to fold my blankets and clean up my room a little bit every morning, otherwise it turns into a disaster.
6:30 a.m. - Breakfast! Breakfast here is a bit smaller than in the states, because I usually eat a snack at school. Every morning I have coffee. It's so much better here! We make it with milk and stir-in coffee granules. Usually I'll have some bread with dulce de leche, or mixto which is basically a hot ham and cheese sandwich.
6:50 a.m. - Off to school. Depending on the weather in the morning, I either walk to school with my brother Juanro or I get a ride from my mom. Today I had to walk, which was REALLY COLD. The school is about 10 or 15 minutes away by foot.
7:00 a.m. - Arrive at school. Every day before classes start, a teacher or a student reads a passage from the bible, and then everyone says a prayer. It's really different coming from a non-religious public school. On Mondays and Fridays this happens outside because we have to raise the flags of the school and country.
We usually have around four classes every day. Today was an early out so we only had one. A normal day, for example, I might have Statistics, English, Spanish Literature, and Logic of Mathematics. That's only a few of the classes we have. There's also Physics, Ethics, P.E., Arts, Guarani, and something called Orientation. Some of the classes are kind of difficult, like Ethics and Physics. But in some of the classes I don't do anything, like Guarani and Spanish Literature.
In my class, there are around 50 students. In Paraguay, the students stay in the same classroom all day while the teachers change classrooms. I like that, because I don't have to haul books around to each classroom. In the future I'll post pictures of my school and classroom.
9:45-ish a.m. - Break. Here it's called "recreo". We usually just go outside and hang out in the sun. There's also a little cantina where we can go to purchase food, like empanadas or sandwiches.
10:30 a.m. - Back to class. We have, on a normal day, 2 classes in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. Some days, if a teacher doesn't show up, we get to go back outside again for another break.
12:30 p.m. - School gets out. Unless the weather is really bad, I walk home. I can find my way home by myself. Usually I walk with my friend Alexa because she passes by my house to get home. It's sometimes difficult to get home because it's really hard to cross the street. Yes there are traffic laws here, but they aren't really enforced. If the light turns red, welcome to Paraguay and gun it! So on busy streets I always cross with someone else.
12:45 p.m. - Lunch. We don't eat lunch at school. Instead, we go home to eat with our families. I really like that. I'll explain food some other time. There's always juice to drink with lunch. I haven't had plain milk here yet, just with coffee.
1:30 p.m. - Siesta. My favorite time of the day lately. Siesta is basically a time to rest. It isn't hard core "one must sleep" like some countries. But I sleep a lot during siesta because being an exchange student is tiring. Lately I've been waking up around 4 p.m., but I need to start waking up earlier. When I don't sleep, (like today, I haven't yet) I usually use my computer or do homework if I have any.
6:00 p.m. - Merienda. Another meal! Merienda is the meal between lunch and supper, like a snack. If it's cold out, I like to drink coffee at merienda. Then I'll eat some bread with dulce de leche or Nutella, or a dessert if we have one. Sometimes I eat a food that I don't know how to spell. It's pronounced 'bay-joo', more or less. It's kind of like a pancake made from corn flour and something else. It's so delicious!
After merienda I usually watch television with my mom and niece. We drink mate too, which is hot terere.
8:00 p.m. - Supper. Sometimes we have merienda and supper a little bit earlier, but this is about normal time. During lunch we usually eat all together, but supper is more like when you're hungry. The opposite of the states, more or less. We have juice at supper too. Juice here is delicious! Usually we drink either orange or grapefruit juice. You have to add sugar to both of them though.
After supper we just relax some more.
9:30 - Like I said earlier, being an exchange student is tiring work. Usually around 9:30 I go upstairs to take a shower and go to bed. I fall asleep quickly most nights because I don't have Wi-Fi in my bedroom. Since its quite cold and the houses here don't have heating, I sleep under two big blankets and usually wear a sweater too.
I'm going to rephrase that. The house doesn't have heating because it really isn't needed here. In my bedroom I have an air conditioner that also can give off heat, but its not terribly warm so I don't always use that.
That's a typical weekday for me, more or less.
I'll try to post pictures soon! I haven't taken a ton yet, but the ones I have taken are on facebook and instagram.
Happy Hump Day/Sexual Wednesday to everyone reading!
Since nothing ground breaking has happened in the past week (that I know of), I decided that today I'd write about an average day for me here in the beautiful country of Paraguay.
6:00 a.m. - Time to wake up! An average day here for me is a school day. I wake up at 6 (grudgingly) and put on my uniform. Lately it has been a bit chilly (nearing 0 Celsius in the mornings) so I've been wearing LOTS of layers. My uniform is a navy blue short sleeve shirt and navy blue sweatpants. So comfortable! I can't wait until it warms up so that I can wear my skirt uniform! I have to fold my blankets and clean up my room a little bit every morning, otherwise it turns into a disaster.
6:30 a.m. - Breakfast! Breakfast here is a bit smaller than in the states, because I usually eat a snack at school. Every morning I have coffee. It's so much better here! We make it with milk and stir-in coffee granules. Usually I'll have some bread with dulce de leche, or mixto which is basically a hot ham and cheese sandwich.
6:50 a.m. - Off to school. Depending on the weather in the morning, I either walk to school with my brother Juanro or I get a ride from my mom. Today I had to walk, which was REALLY COLD. The school is about 10 or 15 minutes away by foot.
7:00 a.m. - Arrive at school. Every day before classes start, a teacher or a student reads a passage from the bible, and then everyone says a prayer. It's really different coming from a non-religious public school. On Mondays and Fridays this happens outside because we have to raise the flags of the school and country.
We usually have around four classes every day. Today was an early out so we only had one. A normal day, for example, I might have Statistics, English, Spanish Literature, and Logic of Mathematics. That's only a few of the classes we have. There's also Physics, Ethics, P.E., Arts, Guarani, and something called Orientation. Some of the classes are kind of difficult, like Ethics and Physics. But in some of the classes I don't do anything, like Guarani and Spanish Literature.
In my class, there are around 50 students. In Paraguay, the students stay in the same classroom all day while the teachers change classrooms. I like that, because I don't have to haul books around to each classroom. In the future I'll post pictures of my school and classroom.
9:45-ish a.m. - Break. Here it's called "recreo". We usually just go outside and hang out in the sun. There's also a little cantina where we can go to purchase food, like empanadas or sandwiches.
10:30 a.m. - Back to class. We have, on a normal day, 2 classes in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. Some days, if a teacher doesn't show up, we get to go back outside again for another break.
12:30 p.m. - School gets out. Unless the weather is really bad, I walk home. I can find my way home by myself. Usually I walk with my friend Alexa because she passes by my house to get home. It's sometimes difficult to get home because it's really hard to cross the street. Yes there are traffic laws here, but they aren't really enforced. If the light turns red, welcome to Paraguay and gun it! So on busy streets I always cross with someone else.
12:45 p.m. - Lunch. We don't eat lunch at school. Instead, we go home to eat with our families. I really like that. I'll explain food some other time. There's always juice to drink with lunch. I haven't had plain milk here yet, just with coffee.
1:30 p.m. - Siesta. My favorite time of the day lately. Siesta is basically a time to rest. It isn't hard core "one must sleep" like some countries. But I sleep a lot during siesta because being an exchange student is tiring. Lately I've been waking up around 4 p.m., but I need to start waking up earlier. When I don't sleep, (like today, I haven't yet) I usually use my computer or do homework if I have any.
6:00 p.m. - Merienda. Another meal! Merienda is the meal between lunch and supper, like a snack. If it's cold out, I like to drink coffee at merienda. Then I'll eat some bread with dulce de leche or Nutella, or a dessert if we have one. Sometimes I eat a food that I don't know how to spell. It's pronounced 'bay-joo', more or less. It's kind of like a pancake made from corn flour and something else. It's so delicious!
After merienda I usually watch television with my mom and niece. We drink mate too, which is hot terere.
8:00 p.m. - Supper. Sometimes we have merienda and supper a little bit earlier, but this is about normal time. During lunch we usually eat all together, but supper is more like when you're hungry. The opposite of the states, more or less. We have juice at supper too. Juice here is delicious! Usually we drink either orange or grapefruit juice. You have to add sugar to both of them though.
After supper we just relax some more.
9:30 - Like I said earlier, being an exchange student is tiring work. Usually around 9:30 I go upstairs to take a shower and go to bed. I fall asleep quickly most nights because I don't have Wi-Fi in my bedroom. Since its quite cold and the houses here don't have heating, I sleep under two big blankets and usually wear a sweater too.
I'm going to rephrase that. The house doesn't have heating because it really isn't needed here. In my bedroom I have an air conditioner that also can give off heat, but its not terribly warm so I don't always use that.
That's a typical weekday for me, more or less.
I'll try to post pictures soon! I haven't taken a ton yet, but the ones I have taken are on facebook and instagram.
Happy Hump Day/Sexual Wednesday to everyone reading!
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Children's Day and my Second Week
Its really been two weeks? Oh wow, time really does fly!
Highlights of my week:
Thursday: I went to my uncle's birthday party. Caroline came too. We were there for the afternoon to eat lunch and just chill out, then we came back later. Caroline brought her guitar and her dad's computer for karaoke. She sang a song (WOW!) and then her dad and his friends sang a lot of karaoke. Also, they said the mayor of Coronel Oviedo was there too, and he sang karaoke!
Friday was Dia de los Ninos (my computer doesn't have accents). It's basically a day that celebrates children in Paraguay. I went to a rotary member's house and along with the other exchange students make over 300 gift bags for poor children that live outside of Coronel Oviedo. It was so fun being with all the children and giving them the chance to celebrate Dia de los Ninos.
Also that night, I went to my first Rotary meeting here in Paraguay. There was only about 10 Rotary members there, and the exchange students. It was very chill. Two of the exchange students from last year did their presentations about their year in the U.S. The meeting started at 9. At night. Way different. After the presentations, I thought we were done. Nope! We ate supper there too, at 10:30 at night. I didn't get home until around 11:30. Needless to say, I was pretty tired.
But the next morning, I was up before 6! My mom woke me up and said we were going to visit the farm. It's so huge! I don't even know how big it is. There's a whole forest inside of it!
On Sunday I skyped with Gabby for a while, and then visited my grandparents' house. Also I had to do my homework. It's a lot harder than you'd think to write papers in Spanish. But I got it done!
Monday I went to school again. I'm actually participating in school, and my teachers complimented me on my workmanship. That made me really happy. :) When I came home I got to play with Danna for a little bit, and I actually understood a few things she said! I can tell that my Spanish is slowly improving.
Wednesday I got ice cream with some of my friends from school. We forgot to take pictures though. I had dulce de leche flavored ice cream. YUM!
That was my second week here. Sorry the post is a little late, but hey it's here!
Highlights of my week:
Thursday: I went to my uncle's birthday party. Caroline came too. We were there for the afternoon to eat lunch and just chill out, then we came back later. Caroline brought her guitar and her dad's computer for karaoke. She sang a song (WOW!) and then her dad and his friends sang a lot of karaoke. Also, they said the mayor of Coronel Oviedo was there too, and he sang karaoke!
Friday was Dia de los Ninos (my computer doesn't have accents). It's basically a day that celebrates children in Paraguay. I went to a rotary member's house and along with the other exchange students make over 300 gift bags for poor children that live outside of Coronel Oviedo. It was so fun being with all the children and giving them the chance to celebrate Dia de los Ninos.
Also that night, I went to my first Rotary meeting here in Paraguay. There was only about 10 Rotary members there, and the exchange students. It was very chill. Two of the exchange students from last year did their presentations about their year in the U.S. The meeting started at 9. At night. Way different. After the presentations, I thought we were done. Nope! We ate supper there too, at 10:30 at night. I didn't get home until around 11:30. Needless to say, I was pretty tired.
But the next morning, I was up before 6! My mom woke me up and said we were going to visit the farm. It's so huge! I don't even know how big it is. There's a whole forest inside of it!
On Sunday I skyped with Gabby for a while, and then visited my grandparents' house. Also I had to do my homework. It's a lot harder than you'd think to write papers in Spanish. But I got it done!
Monday I went to school again. I'm actually participating in school, and my teachers complimented me on my workmanship. That made me really happy. :) When I came home I got to play with Danna for a little bit, and I actually understood a few things she said! I can tell that my Spanish is slowly improving.
Wednesday I got ice cream with some of my friends from school. We forgot to take pictures though. I had dulce de leche flavored ice cream. YUM!
That was my second week here. Sorry the post is a little late, but hey it's here!
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
First Week in Paraguay
It's been a week since I got on the airplane to start my adventure here in Paraguay. Here's an update on my life so far:
Thursday: I got a telephone here! Also I went with my sister, Ceci, to my school to watch the classes practicing for the dance festival. The music was so loud! In the middle, we left with two of her friends to have empanadas. They're like little pies with meat inside of them. My favorite was the ham and cheese one.
Friday: I ate cereal out of a coffee cup: that's the norm here. I got pants for my school uniform and for lunch I tried vori vori, a Paraguayan soup with meat. Danced (the festival) was tonight. I went with my host family and Caroline, an exchange student from Arkansas. Also I had a Paraguayan burger at a lomiteria.
Saturday: Ceci and Mavi took me to the supermarket and I got ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies! We also picked up Caroline and she helped make cookies. I can't say that before Saturday I had ever chopped up a bar of chocolate to make cookies (chocolate chips aren't popular here, we couldn't find any). It took a little while because we had to convert all the measurements (and did some guestimating on the small measurements), but they turned out really good. We ate cookies outside and drank terere and mate (which is hot terere- terere is kinda like tea, but lots of leaf and its served very cold). Also Saturday Caroline and I went to Hunter's house (Hunter is an exchange student from Minnesota) and went out for pizza with some other exchange students and some other people. So much fun!
Sunday: I went with my family to a bull festival. It was kind of like a rodeo, which was pretty exciting. There I tried asado. Asado is like American roast, cooked on a giant stick over a fire. It tasted very good! After that we went to the house of Juanro's grandma. We drank terere and talked for a while. When we went home, Dana (my adorable 2 year old niece) and I watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in Spanish.
Monday: My first day of school here in Paraguay! I'm in the same class as Hunter, Friedrich and Oskar. Friedrich and Oskar are from Germany. I didn't understand much of anything that happened. School is very different here. I'll talk about it another time.
Tuesday (today): Second day of school here. We had English class for a little while then everyone left to go to a raffle. The people that didn't go (including me) just hung out outside for the rest of the day. It was very chill and VERY chilly! After school I slept for a while and then went to Friedrich's house. He, Oskar, Romana and Manon and I (wow I apologize because I probably butchered those names...) walked around town for a while to find a place to eat. Now I'm at home on my computer.
So that's been my first week here in Paraguay!
Thursday: I got a telephone here! Also I went with my sister, Ceci, to my school to watch the classes practicing for the dance festival. The music was so loud! In the middle, we left with two of her friends to have empanadas. They're like little pies with meat inside of them. My favorite was the ham and cheese one.
Friday: I ate cereal out of a coffee cup: that's the norm here. I got pants for my school uniform and for lunch I tried vori vori, a Paraguayan soup with meat. Danced (the festival) was tonight. I went with my host family and Caroline, an exchange student from Arkansas. Also I had a Paraguayan burger at a lomiteria.
Saturday: Ceci and Mavi took me to the supermarket and I got ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies! We also picked up Caroline and she helped make cookies. I can't say that before Saturday I had ever chopped up a bar of chocolate to make cookies (chocolate chips aren't popular here, we couldn't find any). It took a little while because we had to convert all the measurements (and did some guestimating on the small measurements), but they turned out really good. We ate cookies outside and drank terere and mate (which is hot terere- terere is kinda like tea, but lots of leaf and its served very cold). Also Saturday Caroline and I went to Hunter's house (Hunter is an exchange student from Minnesota) and went out for pizza with some other exchange students and some other people. So much fun!
Sunday: I went with my family to a bull festival. It was kind of like a rodeo, which was pretty exciting. There I tried asado. Asado is like American roast, cooked on a giant stick over a fire. It tasted very good! After that we went to the house of Juanro's grandma. We drank terere and talked for a while. When we went home, Dana (my adorable 2 year old niece) and I watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in Spanish.
Monday: My first day of school here in Paraguay! I'm in the same class as Hunter, Friedrich and Oskar. Friedrich and Oskar are from Germany. I didn't understand much of anything that happened. School is very different here. I'll talk about it another time.
Tuesday (today): Second day of school here. We had English class for a little while then everyone left to go to a raffle. The people that didn't go (including me) just hung out outside for the rest of the day. It was very chill and VERY chilly! After school I slept for a while and then went to Friedrich's house. He, Oskar, Romana and Manon and I (wow I apologize because I probably butchered those names...) walked around town for a while to find a place to eat. Now I'm at home on my computer.
So that's been my first week here in Paraguay!
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Arrival and Day One
I made it to Paraguay in one piece!
What a looong flight. I arrived in Paraguay around 7:30 this morning. When I arrived, I had to get my visa for Paraguay. At first there was some trouble but we got it figured out. Then I got through customs and received my suitcase. When I walked through the exit, my family was there to meet me!! I almost cried when I saw the sign that said my name.. My first cultural experience was saying hello to everyone. When you say hello here, you don't just say "hello". You kiss the air next to a person's cheek when you do. That was a surprise to me when I had to do it with about 10 people!
After our initial hello, we got in the car to drive back to Coronel Oviedo. Juanro (my host brother) told me that the car ride was about 2 hours, but I wouldn't know because I slept almost the entire way there!
We ate lunch (spaghetti), and then I gladly took my siesta and slept again. When I woke up around 6, it was DARK OUT! Apparently here it gets dark around 5 right now. I got up and went outside with my sisters and drank terere, the national drink of Paraguay. It was delicious! It is kind of like a tea, but a lot more leaf and floating in the cup. It is also served very cold. My mother told me it is very popular here in Paraguay. Some people even drink it in the winter!
After that, I went with my family out for supper. I wish I knew what it was called that I ate, but it was like a Paraguayan taco. It had chicken in it. THE FOOD HERE IS SO GOOD. When we finished supper we drove around town for a while and I got to see my school. I start Monday, I believe.
Now I'm sitting at home watching TV with my sister, Mavi. I'm very tired though so I think I will go to bed. Ciao ciao! (That's how you say goodbye!)
What a looong flight. I arrived in Paraguay around 7:30 this morning. When I arrived, I had to get my visa for Paraguay. At first there was some trouble but we got it figured out. Then I got through customs and received my suitcase. When I walked through the exit, my family was there to meet me!! I almost cried when I saw the sign that said my name.. My first cultural experience was saying hello to everyone. When you say hello here, you don't just say "hello". You kiss the air next to a person's cheek when you do. That was a surprise to me when I had to do it with about 10 people!
After our initial hello, we got in the car to drive back to Coronel Oviedo. Juanro (my host brother) told me that the car ride was about 2 hours, but I wouldn't know because I slept almost the entire way there!
We ate lunch (spaghetti), and then I gladly took my siesta and slept again. When I woke up around 6, it was DARK OUT! Apparently here it gets dark around 5 right now. I got up and went outside with my sisters and drank terere, the national drink of Paraguay. It was delicious! It is kind of like a tea, but a lot more leaf and floating in the cup. It is also served very cold. My mother told me it is very popular here in Paraguay. Some people even drink it in the winter!
After that, I went with my family out for supper. I wish I knew what it was called that I ate, but it was like a Paraguayan taco. It had chicken in it. THE FOOD HERE IS SO GOOD. When we finished supper we drove around town for a while and I got to see my school. I start Monday, I believe.
Now I'm sitting at home watching TV with my sister, Mavi. I'm very tired though so I think I will go to bed. Ciao ciao! (That's how you say goodbye!)
Monday, August 5, 2013
My Last Day in the States
Okay, so not technically my last day in THE STATES. A more accurate phrase would be "Last day in Iowa".
I'm leaving early tomorrow morning to go to Minneapolis, Minnesota to board a plane and begin my exchange year! Doubting that I'll get any sleep tonight, but I will probably try.
Today isn't my last day in the states, tomorrow is. Because I'm leaving Miami at 11:45 at night!! It'll be a long overnight flight to Paraguay.
So what have I been doing during my last day in the States?
To start, I enjoyed my last day of sleeping in. It's kinda been a regular day I guess.
I ate a bagel with nutella.
Went to the bank to let them know that I'm leaving.
Came back home and watched a movie.
This is boring.
Later I'm gonna visit a few relatives and say goodbye.
And I really really want to go to the Whippy Dip before I leave!!
Probably another post later. Or maybe not. I'm not really sure. I'm feeling pretty scatterbrained lately.
I'm leaving early tomorrow morning to go to Minneapolis, Minnesota to board a plane and begin my exchange year! Doubting that I'll get any sleep tonight, but I will probably try.
Today isn't my last day in the states, tomorrow is. Because I'm leaving Miami at 11:45 at night!! It'll be a long overnight flight to Paraguay.
So what have I been doing during my last day in the States?
To start, I enjoyed my last day of sleeping in. It's kinda been a regular day I guess.
I ate a bagel with nutella.
Went to the bank to let them know that I'm leaving.
Came back home and watched a movie.
This is boring.
Later I'm gonna visit a few relatives and say goodbye.
And I really really want to go to the Whippy Dip before I leave!!
Probably another post later. Or maybe not. I'm not really sure. I'm feeling pretty scatterbrained lately.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Could it be?
After another failed round of sending papers to the Brasilian Embassy for my visa, Theresa at the travel agency determined that it isn't worth going through all the trouble we've been going through to get the visa. Which means no Brasil visa.
That's a good thing, unless I want to travel to Brasil with a host family. But if that's the case, we can try again.
So what now?
Now I get to work on getting my flight organized!!
I'll be leaving between August 4th and 6th, out of Minneapolis.
That's pretty close. I should start packing.
*Procrastinates*
But seriously, I think I'll start in a few days. Pretty sure I'm going to try to put a suitcase inside of a suitcase. That will prevent me from taking too much "stuff" that I won't need. Those of you that have flown before, is that a legal move?
That's a good thing, unless I want to travel to Brasil with a host family. But if that's the case, we can try again.
So what now?
Now I get to work on getting my flight organized!!
I'll be leaving between August 4th and 6th, out of Minneapolis.
That's pretty close. I should start packing.
*Procrastinates*
But seriously, I think I'll start in a few days. Pretty sure I'm going to try to put a suitcase inside of a suitcase. That will prevent me from taking too much "stuff" that I won't need. Those of you that have flown before, is that a legal move?
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