I apologize for the delay in submitting a post, but the charger for my laptop stopped working. All here is well! Later in March I will be moving out of my host mom’s house and into my very own house. I decided to wait until I move in to post more recipes. When I have my own kitchen and gas oven, I will be able to make each of the recipes a second time before I post them and double check that all of my instructions will work in a U.S. kitchen.

My future house (in the picture above) belongs to my neighbors. They are building it for their son, who may use it in three or four years when he returns from Argentina. In the meantime, the family told me I could live there. They will put a cement floor and windows and doors in two rooms, and the bathroom. They also told me that I could make a demonstration garden next to the house.

The family who owns the house also owns the 100 m dirt track where my community gathers to watch footraces. People come to buy food and drinks from their store and bet on which runners will win. The owner of the house stretches a piece of string across the finish line, and they have a mechanism that shows which person finished first, so it’s impossible to have a tie (see the picture below). They adjust the finish line so the runners have an equal chance of winning. For example, if an adult is racing a child, they will put the child’s finish line closer, so when people bet there is a relatively equal chance of both parties winning.

I’ve raced once, against a man in my community. My finish line was 5 m closer than his, but I still lost, just barely. Most people here own sneakers, but they race barefoot, and so did I. However, I jog on the track almost every morning with my 11-year-old neighbor, and I wear running shoes.

A lot of people back home are asking about the work I’m doing. Right now, I’m finishing up visiting every house in my community (there are about 70, and I’ve visited about 50). Other volunteers say that it’s best to visit everyone early on, so no one feels left out. I’m also working on preparing a request to the Ministry of Agriculture to ask for a Paraguayan researcher to come to my community to give a presentation on how to grow melon, watermelon, and squash. My community members already grow those products, but they have a lot of technical questions that I can’t answer.

I’ve been in county for over 5 months now, and I’ve learned so much and adapted an incredible amount. But I still miss everyone I left back home. I hope all is well with all of you, and that you are enjoying your jobs and appreciating any new experiences you are having as well.