Does this look like the Indian Consulate?

We'll be stopping in India for a week on our way to Kenya in January since we already had tickets to return there.  To save time and money, Mandy and I were hoping to get our tourist visas for India while here in Paraguay.  The Indian visa website lists a consulate here in Asunción, Paraguay.  We scribbled down the address and began walking around the city trying to find it.  We found the right street, but we couldn't see the consulate anywhere.  We were so confused.  We asked several people for help, but they could only point us in the direction that the address should be.  Finally we went into Goodyear Tires and asked one of the employees if he knew where the consulate was.  He just simply pointed to the Chevy dealership and said, "It's up there."  [Insert our blank stares here.]

Sure enough, on the second floor, inside the dealership, above the car salesmen's desks, lies the Indian consulate of Paraguay.  It's a small closet with a desk and a few chairs.  The Paraguayan woman who operates it explained that they don't really do visas.  They only collect people's needed documents and mail them to the embassy in Argentina...for a fee.  Of course, she explained that we could do the same thing for less money using DHL.  The whole process takes at least a week.  Needless to say, we don't have our visas yet.

And though we still have no idea what the Indian consulate in Paraguay actually does all day, we do have to thank the Indian government for their contribution to the American auto industry.

Martin Burt featured on I Prize Peace

I don't know how many of you have checked out our other blog www.iprizepeace.blogspot.com.  Each Monday, we post a short spotlight of a social innovator.  It's a fun side project for us.  It helps us learn about social entrepreneurship, do graphic design, and write.

Anyway, this week's post is about Martin Burt, who created the self-sufficient school where we are right now.  We thought it was fitting to spotlight him before we left this school in Paraguay.  If you are interested to learn more about him, there's a short bio, website links, and a cool youtube video on our I Prize Peace blog.

Only one more week in Paraguay.  Crazy.

Graduation & Summer Begins

Graduation was one week ago.  Fifty students received their diplomas to thunderous applause from family, friends...and us.  After the ceremony, there was a fancy dinner, an awards ceremony, a promenade, and then a dance for everyone outside in the courtyard that lasted until 2 AM.  So, basically we ate, drank, and were merry.  Though some of us were only drinking Fanta.  We had never seen the school so busy and loud and festive.  It was a lot of fun. 

The next morning, the school was silent.  Summer had officially started here at La Escuela Agricola San Francisco.  Apparently the slow life here can get even slower.  But not just for us.  Now everyone seems to be moving at a snail's pace.  But that's probably a good thing because it's really hot.  Don't want to overexert ourselves and pass out in the sun.

But this past week has been a good one.  I finished the English curriculum, which is my biggest contribution in the past three weeks.  That and some English classes.  Tay and I are finishing up a website for the school's hotel.  Tay's also finishing some advertisements that they've asked him to do.  Honestly, his graphic design skills have made him very popular here.  He has created stickers, order forms, and posters.  He has good designing skills.  Kind-of like Napolean Dynamite.  And self-sufficient schools only want interns with good skills.

Anyway, one more week here.  Then we'll be back home for Christmas.  :)

Thanksgiving Feast

We managed to pull off a delicious Thanksgiving dinner Saturday night.  We found a turkey in Asuncion and cooked it up at the school.  The past few turkeys that we've cooked have been amazing.  The secret?  Cooking it in a bag for all but the last 30 minutes.  The meat is so moist and delicious.  Since we couldn't find a turkey bag here I had to improvise and make one out of 30 feet of tin foil. 

We also made homemade apple stuffing which turned out awesome.  Cooking around here is always an experiment, and unlike some of our previous experiments, this one turned out great.

We invited a handful of teacher friends from the school and enjoyed a great meal together.  I love thanksgiving.  We missed spending time with family, but we'll be home soon.

A Poem of Thanksgiving...Sort-Of

So strange.  I only remember one poem from elementary, and it is a Thanksgiving poem that I will now type completely, yes COMPLETELY, by memory.  (Are you getting so excited?)

Gobble, gobble,

Says the turkey.

Soon 'twill be Thanksgiving day.

Will you eat me?

How you treat me!

I will run away.

Do you love it?  I do.  Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.  Wish we could be with family on this delightful and delicious holiday, but alas we have run away.  

But we'll be back soon!

Living the Slow Life

In Paraguay, life is slow, and not just for us.  No one ever seems to be in a hurry for anything.  Neither are we.  Each morning, we go about our lives, slowly wake up, slowly read the news, slowly work on projects.  Slowly slurp soup for lunch.  Then everyone at the school has an hour break to nap or chat with friends.  A few hours after lunch, Tay and I slowly walk down to the store on the corner.  We eat empanadas and salad.  We drink chocolate milk or soda.  We can't help watching the novella that the store workers have gathered around, full of suspense.  After we pet the puppies on the way home, we slowly work on projects a little more, slowly play cards, or slowly read.  Slowly slurp soup for dinner.  Maybe chat with family online.  Slowly fall asleep.

That's all.  Maybe it's a little too slow at times, but I must admit there is something wonderful about living the slow life.  

Sometimes We Just Do This

Six Weeks Late...English Classes

Funny thing.  I originally came to Paraguay planning to spend most of my time working on an English curriculum and teaching English classes here at the school.  Once we got here, the school director informed us that the students would be taking exams for a month.  The school year was almost over, and it really wasn't a good time to begin a new English class.  So, I've focused on creating the English curriculum and working on other projects with Tay. 

Here's the funny part: six weeks later,  I have been asked to teach English classes.  Not sure why, but here we go.  Tay is my trusty assistant and fellow English expert.  We've taught two lessons so far.  It's quite a challenge, actually.  The students are on such different English levels, and English is a bizarre language compared to Spanish.  All the weird stuff like "ph" making an "f" sound etc.  How do you explain that?  Luckily the students are excited to learn, and it's been fun spending more time with them. 

Jessica Jackley: Poverty, money -- and love | Video on TED.com

If you're interested, here's a link to a cool TED talk by the co-founder of Kiva:

Jessica Jackley: Poverty, money -- and love | Video on TED.com

Kiva

We want to introduce all of you to an awesome organization that we have really enjoyed over the past year.  Kiva.org, is an online peer-to-peer lending site to support microfinance and microentrepreneurs all over the world.

Here's how it works.  You create an account, put money on it, browse the site for someone you want to loan money to (in $25 increments), click a button that transfers the funds, wait a couple of months and the money is returned to you.  At that point you can either have it transfered back into your bank account, or you can lend it out again.  Kiva has a 99% repayment rate and has facilitated 170 million dollars of loans to date.

Mandy and I have used this site multiple times.  We've invested in people living in towns we've lived in or traveled to.  Our current loan is to this group from Jinja, Uganda (A town we would travel to for delicious food located on the headwaters of the Nile).

It's really easy, lots of fun, and a great way to make a significant impact.  The best part is that you can do it over, and over, and over.  At least 99% of the time :)