Terere, Mandioca and Truco!

A cow traveling down the same road as me.

Paraguayans drink a refreshing drink multiple times a day called Terere. At first I was not a fan of it because the very first time I drank it, the individual serving it always liked drinking a very bitter type of yerba mate. Since my first experience of having the bitter terere, I have had plenty of other opportunities to try my other neighbors terere, in which they fix it using a different type of yerba mate that is flavored with mint so it is much more pleasing to the taste buds! I also have started to love it because since it is so hot outside, this drink is served ice cold and is refreshing! Over the last month, I have grown to love drinking terere, but I’m still not a fan of mate, which is the same thing, just served hot usually in the early mornings. One saying they use here in regards to terere, is that “we drink our weed instead of smoking it”, as the yerba mate is basically a ground up holly tree.

Read more about Paraguay on Treasures Of Traveling Website.

-- Luke Keeler

Mba’eichapa reiko (How are you? in Guarani)

Mba’eichapa reiko (How are you? in Guarani) Sunset on my walk home in Santo Domingo, Paraguay!

I am still in the middle of my three month training for the Peace Corps in Paraguay. In any country that the Peace Corps operates in, they hold a three month in country training that includes learning the language as well as having technical training for the things you will be focusing on while there. We have currently been focusing most of our time to learning about general public health here in Paraguay, from educating individuals about parasites and HIV/AIDS to water sanitation and dental hygiene. We learn ways of teaching to both adults and children. We are also learning how to build sanitary latrines and fagons (brick ovens) because these are some of the things we will most likely be doing when we reach our site in May! We are also learning about community development, globalization, culture exchange, just to name a few.

Read more about Paraguay on Treasures Of Traveling Website.

-- Luke Keeler

Bienvenidos a Paraguay!

Walking to my host families house in Santo Domingo![1]

I’ve been in Paraguay for a week now and it is a little bit of an adjustment, but it helps to be here with other Peace Corps Trainees. We flew into Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, where the Peace Corps headquarters is. Then we went to the training facility in Guarambare to meet the training staff. It’s about 45 minutes south of Asuncion. This will be our main training facility and we will meet there at least twice a week. That same night they took us to meet our host families. Mine lives in the district of Villeta in a smaller town outside of Guarambare, called Tacuruty and they live in a very small community called Santo Domingo/Inmaculada. From the main training center it’s about a 30 minute bus ride and then a 50 minute walk down dirt roads. We each are staying with our own host family, which is really nice. Mine is very big and are so wonderful. I have a Father, Mother, Sister, Brother-in-Law, two nieces and one nephew, plus other family members and friends who are always visiting. My father is a farmer, so they have every type of animal you can imagine and also grow vegetables and fruit (I have fresh fruit juice every day; DELICIOUS!!). The first day I was there and my niece was showing me the outhouse/latrine, my nephew was climbing all around and fell into a huge pile of crap that the cow had just dispensed of. It was really funny! The stable area kind of surrounds the cow area and the animals just kind of wonder all over their property.

Read more about Paraguay on Treasures Of Traveling Website.

-- Luke Keeler