Training, Site Visit, and DENGUE!!!

Hey what’s up y’all! It has been over a month since I created a new blog post so I figured I would update on how everything is going in Paraguay. Everything has been great so far!

Training: Training keeps us very busy in which we are now easily putting in 10-12 hours a day five days a week plus a half-day on Saturdays. Not a lot of free time so I am looking forward to that whenever we move to site in just over a month from now. We train in a lot of different areas. More or less we have language-training everyday in Guarani. We recently had a proficiency interview to determine whether or not we need to study more to pass the final language exam at the beginning of December. Most of us placed in the Intermediate Low range, including me. We need to advance to the Intermediate Mid range in order to pass the language component to become a Peace Corps Volunteer. Other areas of training include our sector work in agriculture. We have learned about agroforestry, small animal husbandry, extension principles, green manure and cover cropping, gardening, and working with schools. Other areas of our training have consisted of health, safety and security, Peace Corps approach to development, and cultural interactions.

Site Visit: In the middle of October all the trainees had the opportunity to spend three days visiting a current PCV in their respective sector. I headed three hours south to San Juan Misiones, a department that is very close to the Argentina border. I stayed with a female volunteer so I had to sleep at a different family’s house. The PCV that I visited is a first time volunteer, meaning that no volunteers have ever worked in the community that she is working. She is almost a year into her site and is trying to get her work sorted out for the community. During the visit we had the opportunity to attend a high school class in which an agriculture teacher spoke about the importance of fencing animals to keep them out of gardens and into pastures to graze. Overall, the site visit was a really good learning experience for me as to what things I desire or do not want with my site and future work.

Dengue: The last day of site visit I woke up and was extremely sick. I had aches through my entire body and I was extremely dehydrated. I didn’t eat much and had no desire to eat or drink anything. The next four days were probably the worst I have experienced in this country so far; I barely ate anything and still had no desire to drink. I had two different fevers, extremely painful headaches behind the eyes, and painful stomach aches. I was first taken to Asuncion on a Friday but was brought home because I was feeling better. The next morning the doctor called me and said that I tested positive for dengue fever; the South American version of West Nile virus. I slept all weekend long and did not improve my situation. I was taken back to Asuncion on a Monday and was placed in the hospital until Wednesday. I had never been hospitalized in my life until I came to Paraguay! I was placed on an IV to replenish fluids and had multiple tests which showed that some of my organs had leaked fluid into my stomach cavity. They kept me in the hospital until this cleared up. I was finally cleared to leave the hospital and was just told it would take another week to recuperate my energy to feel better again. Now I can say I am all better and experiencing none of the symptoms of dengue. It was a pretty crappy week or so but hopefully I won’t have to experience this again!!!

In sum, I just want to say that I am enjoying Paraguay a lot and am pleased with how training is going. I am looking forward to these final few weeks of training in which we will learn where we will be living for the next two years. Thanks for all your support and I will try and mail some messages soon! Chau!