I realized the other day that the way in which people go about accomplishing tasks here is different. It´s a communal way of thinking in which people work together to do almost everything, where relationships must be formed before the job is started. I had heard all this during training--the difference between the American, individualist way of thinking, and the developing world´s common-good way of thinking. Instead of spending their time on earning money for themselves (there´s no $ to earn anyway) they form commitees and groups to build another room on the school, start a health center, or get the local government to pay for a tractor to come and fix the roads. I don´t think things work this way because they do not desire personal gain, but they grow up depending upon each other as a community. Focus must be placed upon what the community as a whole needs.

La vida has been busy lately, without much time to spend on a computer. I had my site presentation last week, when my boss from Peace Corps comes to my village to officially present me to the community and explain why I´m here. I was surpized by the turnout--twenty-something of my neighbors came. After the presentation, I got a ride back into Asunción for the weekend. There were some meetings I had to attend, and it was the first time I got to meet up with my training group. And it was superbowl weekend, not that I´ve ever been excited about football, but the American in me was looking for some tradition. We lounged by the pool all weekend, took hot showers, and slept in AC. I almost forgot I was in Paraguay...and it was great. I was sitting on the bus in the Asunción terminal, waiting to leave the city, when my friend called me from the pool at the US Embassy. I made a quick decision, grabbed my stuff and got off the bus just before it left. And that pool was worth it.

On another note, and one I never thought I would say, Paraguayan food and music have actually been growing on me. The cheesy pop songs blasted on the radio are not just the same three songs over and over again, which I had previously thought, but a few different onces that I´m only just being able to recognize as distinctive. And all the same food I´ve been eating, I actually start to look forward to. Though it´s usually the same three ingredients that take on slightly different forms, but are all drenched in oil, I´m starting to appreciate it, and I´m even using my mandioca to slurp up extra grease. God, that sounds gross. I´m always amazed by how many old people there are here.

I would have thought that high cholesterol and diabetes would have put more of a hurting on these people, but maybe the daily exercize counteracts it. Soda, however, is probably a fairly recent addition to the diet. They down it like water here--babies are given soda in their bottles. In fact, water is rarely drinken, besides in terere. They make fun of me for always carrying my water bottle around. Drinking water, Chaco sandles, backpacks, and flossing distinguish me as an American.

I had not planned to come into the city, but I had been out of site at a meeting, and it poured all day, making it impossible to get back to site, so here I am. I coming to love that rainy days mean the world shuts down. Though, back home, that would mean nothing would happen eight months out of the year. Now it´s back to site to form a beekeeping group.