Paraguay

I love it!  I will be living in a very happening area of Asuncion, with plenty of markets, restaurants, stores, etc.  I think many of my fellow Peace Corps friends here might be jealous of my “chuchi” (fancy in Paraguayan Spanish) site :).  My new host family is great!  I will be living with the president of the co-op where I will work, and her daughter that is 32 years old.  I even have wireless internet at my new place, so feel free to Skype me!  The co-op is walking distance from where I live, very convenient!  I visited to the co-op yesterday and today to meet the main person I will be working with and the rest of the team.  Everyone is really friendly!  Yesterday I also visited a partner co-op, which worked closely with Peace Corps in the past.  Peace Corps helped construct the building, and organized the procedures for accounting and finance for that co-op… pretty cool!  My host mom has been cooking all afternoon for a big birthday party, so I’m looking forward to attending that tonight! 

I will be in Asuncion until Wednesday, then back with my other host family until I officially complete training on Aug 10th. 

Yours Truly, Julie G

Asuncion!!!  I’m so excited 🙂  I will be working with a large cooperativa doing small business consulting!  People in Paraguay mostly use cooperativas instead of banks because the minimum investment to open a bank account here is $10,000 US dollars.  The average person living in Paraguay makes roughly only $4,500 US dollars per year.  Some other projects I will be working on include teaching an entrepreneurship class designed by Peace Corps called “Build Your Dreams,” and teaching leadership courses.  I’m really, really excited and will send more details later!!!

Yours Truly, Julie G