So you guys know that one Drew Carey (or is it Jim Carey? I never know the difference) movie where the guy has to say YES to everything? Well, I haven’t seen that movie, but I think it’s called Yes, Man and I think that I understand the concept behind it, basically you just say yes to everything. Anyway… I feel like my first year in Peace Corps is accurately summed up by that movie (bold statement seeing I haven’t even seen it, nor know which actor is actually in it). Let me explain why.
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Woah, so I’ve officially completed an entire lap around the sun down here in Paraguay ! I think maybe it moves faster down here in the Southern Hemisphere or something, because DAYUM that year went by fast!
I could write a sappy one-year post about how grateful I am for all of the amazing humans I’ve met down here, the incredible relationships I’ve made, the wonderful support I’ve gotten from friends and family back home, the projects I’ve started and can’t wait to see how they turn out…. etc. etc etc. BUT I’m not gonna do that. Instead, I think it’s fitting to include some of my “Peace Corps moments” from the past year. My beautiful friend and I have been collecting these little anecdotes and stories about moments that happen to us that would only seem normal to another Peace Corps Volunteer. A year ago, I would have cringed at the thought of most of these moments, but now these have become all too comfortable to me, and too frequently the reality of my life. So enjoy these moments that I’m sharing with you and cheers to one year in Paraguay! Today, you would have been 54.
You would have been more fierce and even more fabulous than ever. Your smile would have lit up every single room you entered. Your laugh would have been echoed off the walls. Paraguayan: ”Te hallas, Katy?”
Me: “Hêe, che avy’a ko’ape” Every time I meet somebody new (literally. every single time), I can expect to be asked the same exact question. The question usually asked to me in Spanish, is figuratively translated to mean, “are you happy?” but literally translates to “have you found yourself?” To which, I always respond in Guarani by saying “yes, I have found myself here.” I love that I can always (ALWAYS) expect to be asked the same question, no matter who it is I meet or where I meet them. Whether I’m hitching a ride with the construction workers out of my site, running into an old señora walking down the street, or just joking around with a group of humans, I can si o si (literally meaning “yes or yes” or figuratively meaning “no matter what”) expect to be asked if I’m happy. Happiness is important to Paraguayans. My brother informed me before I left for the Peace Corps that Business Insider, or Forbes, (or some time of journaly business thing like that), did a world ranking of happiness and Paraguay was listed as the world’s happiest country (if I get good enough internet I’ll try to find this article**). It’s been so hot here I haven’t even wanted to even touch my computer. I’ve thought about many possible blog posts that I wanted to write, but never actually wrote any of them. (But don’t worry, they’re still in my head so I’ll get them out and onto a post eventually!) Anyway, I figured it’s been over a month since my last post, so I should at least try to give a quick update about life, love, the pursuit of happiness, and the repulsive summer heat.
SO HERE IT COMES…. I challenged myself to try something new for the month of December. For those of you who remember my last post, I was inspired in November to record a list of everything that I was thankful for every single day. About halfway through the month, I read Cami Walker’s 29 Gifts- a book about a “giving challenge” that is supposed to “change your life.” I was a bit skeptic, but it was a book and I had plenty of time to read. So after reading it, I decided that I would try the challenge for the month of December. The rules are pretty simple, you have to give a gift (this can be anything, ranging from money to compliments or simply your time) every single day for 29 days straight. You are encouraged to keep track of what you give, and if you miss a day you are supposed to restart. Since I am a volunteer, technically all of the things I do are considered donating my time…BUT I wanted to find other ways to give back to my community this month. So without further ado… here is my list of “gifts” I gave for the giving challenge… So I just sat down in my kitchen to film a vlog and realized this is probably the last vlog of 2016! Wow! The video below includes a story about the generosity of the Paraguayans in my community. I feel so lucky to have some people like this in my life down here in Paraguay and just wanted to share with everyone a specific example of how big hearted and selfless my neighbors are. Here's the photo of Ña Julia with my newly constructed mosquitero!
I spent the summer before leaving for the Peace Corps working as a camp counselor (Team Assistant, they preferred we called it) for the National Student Leadership Conference in Medicine and Health Care (or as I preferred to called it, Nerd Camp). ANYWHO I got the chance to work with an eccentric neurosurgeon from Iran, who is by far one of the most interesting humans I’ve gotten the chance to get to know. First of all, I’ve got mad respect for anyone who choses NEUROSURGERY as their specialty, its not for everyone, and more accurately it’s barely for anyone. I was inspired by this mans’ dedication to become a neurosurgeon, and as an immigrant from another country, he overcame much more than your “average” neurosurgeon (not that any neurosurgeons are average to begin with).
Anyway, out of respect for the doc, I won’t include any of his personal information (I’ll call him Dr. Brain from now on) or anything else about his personal life he shared with us, BUT I do want to take a minute to talk about a very important lesson he taught all of the students on the last day of nerd camp, something he was very adamant about… SURVIVAL. Dr. Brain is what I would call a “survivalist” not only does he go into peoples’ brains and clip their aneurysm to keep them alive so they wouldn’t burst, but he also is prepared to survive the apocalypse (or any more likely scenario that he could possibly face). He taught the students how to treat broken limbs, deep lacerations, and trauma to the spinal cord with objects like cardboard, duct tape, tampons, plastic, rubber bands, etc. It was one of my favorite lectures of the summer (almost as cool as drilling holes into fetal pigs’ brains). What I’m trying to get at in this blog post is Dr. Brain’s message of the importance of a good survival pack. He stressed the significance of everyone having their own survival kit and to actually keep it on you at all times. Before I left for my month long backpacking trip to Central America, he helped me start mine and gave me a plethora of goodies from his own pack. What a guy. SO without further ado, I am going to share my, now personally modified to reflect the needs of Peace Corps Paraguay volunteer, survival kit for all you future or current volunteers, or normal nonvolunteer humans who are thinking of starting their own survival kit for travel, camping, or just day to day life (because you should ALWAYS be prepared, and you NEVER know when you’ll need it). ALSO will be sharing some of Dr. Brain’s tips when starting your survival kit. School is ending, the rainy season is ending, and SUMMER IS COMING. Things are starting to slow down (and heat up) so to keep myself sane, and in the spirit of Thanksgiving this month, I decided to make a list of things I was thankful for every day for November (and there's LOTS of photos along with my list!). So enjoy!
I went through a phase when I was a little girl where if you asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would say “the president of the United States of America.” I knew nothing of politics but I knew that there had never been a woman president. I wanted to be the first.
This phase didn’t last long, as my next big idea was to play football, which was also short lived as I wasn’t eligible due to my uterus and because my mom feared I would get hurt (which may be true, but I was a BIG girl back then). When I excelled in softball, I begged my dad to let me play baseball on his team so I could play against the boys. In junior high, I took a specific count of how many boys I could beat in PE fitness testing and which boys I could throw a shot-put farther than (most of them). In high school, a perfect score on a chemistry exam put your name up on the wall, and I sure as hell made sure that there was a female nerd up on that list amongst all the male nerds. Anyway, what I am trying to get at is my entire life was fueled by this competition within myself to prove that I could do anything (better than) the guys could do it. So obviously, when I found out Hilary Clinton would be running for president of the United States I felt validated that my little dream of having a female president wasn’t just a dream, but it was an actual possibility (plus it took the pressure off me so I don’t have to run for president…). So now lets fast forward to present day: |
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