Ybu Bound!

A photo of me drinking some terere!





I was able to visit my future home for five days and got to know a little more about the area and my future neighbors.

Ybú is the name of the small, rural community I will be living in for the next two years. In Guarani, ybú roughly means “the place of water” or “natural spring.” The natural spring has dried up since the naming of the area and water is actually a controversial topic. If you want to google map me, check out Lago Ypacarai to the east of Asunción in the department Cordillera. I’ll be living up on a small mountain range on the eastern shore of one of the only lakes in Paraguay. It’s rare to find large bodies of water and ever rarer to find elevation in Paraguay, so I consider myself pretty darn lucky. I’m situated about 6km from the nearest paved road, but there are daily buses if you don’t feel up for the walk (baby). Once in the next biggest town, it’s only about 2 hours to the capital.

My community is rural, just like I wanted. There are about 100 to 115 homes, so a population of maybe 400-600. Guarani is the dominant language, though most everyone does understand and speak Spanish. So I plan to get my study on and learn Guarani ASAP. Parts of the community have running water while everyone does have electricity. There is one elementary school and one high school, both located on the same lot. The economy of the community is based around the two larger towns nearby, which are weekend get-away areas for foreigners and wealthy Paraguayans. For that reason, many men in my community work 6 days a week in construction outside of the community. Many families have small family plots of land where they grow a small field of mandioca, corn, beans, or peanuts. Also, thanks to declining job oppurtunities in Paraguay, many of the men leave to work in Buenos Aires or Spain while their families remain in Paraguay.

Ybú is a beautiful community nestled up above the nearby lake and as you may have guessed, there are some serious views. Due to these views, its proximity to the capital, and its location inbetween two “touristy” towns, foreigners have recently begun buying up land. Walking along any of the red dirt roads, you’ll find palatial get-away homes with pools, garages, tennis courts, and 7 foot tall fences adorned with barbed wire at the top, right beside small wooden homes of Paraguayans. The disparity was schocking at first and my host sister spent a lot of time explaining to me which Germans were friendly, which once killed their neighbors chickens for entering their terrain, and which ones never even used these vacation homes. One of the coser communities was founded by Germans and so there is a small but wealthy German population.

One family has kindly offered a room in their home to me for the first 3 months of my service and after that there is potential to live on my own. I was unable to visit as many fmailies as I would have liked to during my brief visit, but I can’t wait to get to know the rest of the community. As I explained to some already, everyone was embarassingly kind and generous towards me. I couldn’t leave a home or store without some little treat in my hand or shoved in my pocket. I already received multiple dinner invitations and chastisments for not simply staying. “Wait, so you’re here now, you’re going to live here for 2 years, but you’re leaving?” Yea, it makes a lot of sense, I know.

I’m the first volunteer Ybú has ever had, so the idea of me and Peace Corps is totally new. And the rules of Peace Corps. And what the f*%$ Peace Corps is. And why on earth I’m not allowed to ride a motorcycle. Part of my job will be explaining and re-explaining why I’m here, what I’m doing, and how we can work together. But the visit was really fun and really exciting. Plus it was all in Guarani. So lots of jokes were made at my expense, lots of comments about my teeth, hair, and body in general. And that’s only the shit that was translated to me!

As I mentioned, I’ll be swearing in the 10th of December and heading to Ybú the 14th. So wish me luck and stay posted. I will not have internet access regularly for the first 3 months until I have my own place and can get a wireless transmitter, so please be patient. Also, please keep the comments, cards, and emails coming – it’s really wonderful to hear from all of you.