More mail
Now that I’ve visited my site, I have good news relating to mail access. I should be able to get letters and care packages directly from my community instead of relying on the central Peace Corps office, many hours away in Asuncion. My new address doesn’t have any numbers; that’s normal for rural Paraguay. In communities like mine, everybody knows everybody by surname if not given name. The post officer can find me without a street number.
Speaking of numbers and communication, I should be getting my cell phone in another few weeks. The provider that most Peace Corps volunteers use has an antenna within a stone’s throw of my apartment-to-be. I’m told that the signal is pretty good so long as the power is online. Incoming calls are cheap, but it is pretty expensive to place calls. Ten minutes will cost me about a day’s wages. Depending on your personal level of technical phobia and desire to make lots of international or long distance calls, you might want to look into Skype or a competing VOIP company.
And finally, what of web access? It’s going to be OK. There are no commercial providers in town, but I think I should be able to get occasional access through the office of a good-natured local government worker. There’s also a commercial ciber in the next major town, Horqueta. Between the two, I hope to keep this blog and my e-mail running at a moderate clip.
The Guaraní word of the day is mburucuja, meaning passionfruit. They grow really well here on nice shady vines. Planting an arbol of them above your hammock is going to be a very popular home improvement project this cycle. I think I’ve got a pretty good spot in my site. The word mburucuja is quite easily confused with the Guaraní word for cat. We’re still chuckling at the trainee who excitedly told his family that he ate lots of cat on a recent road trip.
August 9th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
I just knew the Guarani word of the day would be ‘bee’. What a great pic! Looks like there should be some delish honey thanks to the laborers that be.