MAILING ADDRESS

ahh! I can't believe I leave so soon-- 5 days!!

Here is my mailing address, I believe for the whole time I'm there, but definitely for the first three months.


"Julie __, PCV"
Cuerpo de Paz
162 Chaco Boreal c/Mcal. López
Asunción, 1580 Paraguay
South America

PCT stands for Peace Corps Trainee, which will turn to PCV for volunteer after the first 3 months. This is not where I will be living, it is just a PC office where I can go to claim packages.

Apparently mail in Paraguay is pretty reliable compared to other developing countries.. 80% of letter actually arrive haha. Airmail can take two to three weeks to and from Paraguay and surface mails can take months. Although recently airmail has been backed up because their are only two airlines that go to Paraguay, American airlines and Varig, and they are short on cargo space.

Numbering letters is recommended since some might get lost. It is suggested to not declare any value above 5 bucks on packages or else they will either be stolen or I will have to pay a fee to receive them.. also, I read something about packages being under a certain weight or else you have to claim them. For now, it's probably safe to send anything in those big envelopes, since they will prob be underweight, but more than that might be questionable until i get more info.

I will update this entry later with more info!

Breakthrough: The Women, Faith and Development Summit to End Global Poverty

On April 13th I went to a conference at the Washington National Cathedral and I thought I would tell you all a little about it, because it was really inspiring in so many ways. First, I really admired the National Cathedral for its open approach to religion and change. They hosted many conversations that morning talking about the churches traditional approach to birth control and how counter effective it is to the spread of HIV/AIDS and poverty. They continually used the term "my brothers and sisters of all faiths" which reemphasized their attempt to unite rather than divide. Normally I don't feel the most comfortable in churches, but it was a very open and loving environment, a perfect place to host this conference.

Many inspiring people attended the conference, Madelyn Albright, Kim Campbell (former PM of Canada), Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko, Her Excellency Mary Robinson (Former President of Ireland) and Ashley Judd (haha- she is the ambassador of Global Youth AIDS). There were also many executive directors of the multi-million dollar nonprofits that operate all over the world.
Some of the most inspiring words that were expressed include:

(paraphrasing) Poverty is not something inherent in our society, it is a collective choice we make to allow people to live in those conditions. If we can choose it, we can change it -Madelyn Albright

Youth are the heartbeat of the breakthrough [in ending global poverty] - Youth Ambassador from Jamaica

This is gender apartheid, and it is happening, and it is real. It is sexual terror and I am absolutely determined to be a part of the solution- Ashley Judd, speaking about rape as a tool in war

The youth were tools of destruction, the youth were tools of pain, and I was ashamed to be called a youth because we were part of the problem. We were part of the people going to the fields - Youth Ambassador from Kenya talking about the violence in her country .. So they started a campaign "Give tomorrow a chance...because we needed that tomorrow"

[Young Women] want to be part of the solution, we don't want to be pitied, we don't want to be victims.. we want to make a difference and the difference we acknowledge starts with us - Kenyan Youth Ambassador

We must challenge partriarchy. -Religious leader

One of the reasons this conference was so inspiring was beyond the words that were spoken, but the commitments made by the nonprofits. Millions of dollars were committed to empower women in girls in the struggle against poverty. Other nonprofits committed not to monetary amounts but to the number of women impacted. For example Islamic Relief Services committed themselves to over 1 million women and girls in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East to break out of the cycle of poverty by providing aid that makes life-changing through increased programs for girls education, provision of jobs, income generating projects, clean water, support of female orphans, basic nutritional medical support.

At the end was an interpretative dance that was so beautiful I almost wanted to cry, tears of joy :) It is hard to explain in words, but the cover of the program for the conference was a young girl "breaking through" a finish line ribbon way out ahead of a lot of boys.. Well, at the end of the ceremony there were these ribbon dancers who were jumping over each other weaving together three ribbons into one braid and then dancing with the braid. At the end, they turned they held the ribbon straight out and a beautiful woman in a flowing red dress leaped through the ribbon with the biggest smile on her face. It was beautiful, and here is a picture that almost captures it.

These were the ribbons that were weaved together to make the "finish line"

Here are some more of the beautiful moments in the conference:

The Young drummer boys in the background were crazy-awesome!

This is the same woman who ran through the ribbon- beautiful

We are Virginia Tech.

We are Virginia Tech.

We are sad today, and we will be sad for quite a while. We are not moving on, we are embracing our mourning.

We are Virginia Tech.

We are strong enough to stand tall tearlessly, we are brave enough to bend to cry, and we are sad enough to know that we must laugh again.

We are Virginia Tech.

We do not understand this tragedy. We know we did nothing to deserve it, but neither does a child in Africa dying of AIDS, neither do the invisible children walking the night away to avoid being captured by the rogue army, neither does the baby elephant watching his community being devestated for ivory, neither does the Mexican child looking for fresh water, neither does the Appalachian infant killed in the middle of the night in his crib in the home his father built with his own hands being run over by a boulder because the land was destabilized. No one deserves a tragedy.

We are Virginia Tech.

The Hokie Nation embraces our own and reaches out with open heart and hands to those who offer their hearts and minds. We are strong, and brave, and innocent, and unafraid. We are better than we think we are and not quite what we want to be. We are alive to the imaginations and the possibilities. We will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears and through all our sadness.

We are the Hokies.

We will prevail.
We will prevail.
We will prevail.

We are Virginia Tech.

-Nikki Giovanni

FREE HUGS!

This is so cute! You have to watch this video!
http://www.freehugscampaign.org/



The concept behind this campaign has been on my mind a whole lot lately because I have come to realize something about the American culture's individualism...It can lead to the isolation of its members. It seems to me that it is very easy for a person in the United States to become completely disconnected from the world because our culture is one where we constantly ignore people we pass on the streets while trying not to make direct eye contact. This just seems to perpetuate the loneliness in some members of our society, and can even lead to events, similar to what happened at my school on April 16th. In my opinion, which is not a professional one, it seems like in societies where people are forced to communicate with one another would at least give those who feel lonely the ability to have social interaction, instead of assuming that everyone has friends and family of their own and don't need to talk to anyone outside of those circles. For example, In Spain people were much more friendly on the streets and actually used the time on the bus to talk to one another rather than to stare off into space. There were even old people whose job it was (or that's how it seemed ha) to sit on a bench and converse with those who passed by. I think it's a healthier outlook on life and can lead to a happier society with less people who feel isolated and end up doing the unimaginable. Just a thought. P.S. If you ever need a hug, mine are always free :D

Documentary Anyone?

If you are looking for a good documentary to watch, or are interested in freedom and civil rights, please read on!

I was lucky enough to see the film "For the Bible Tells Me So" at the Lyric, a really cool old movie theatre that operates as a nonprofit historical site currently... and it was free! Doesn't get much better than that. Well, the film was a VERY good portrayal of the struggle gays, lesbians, bisexual, and transgendered people go through just to live their lives. It goes into detail about how the Bible actually DOES NOT support discrimination against them, and follows a few different families in their discovery of the hatred some churches preach on the subject matter... It is really moving.

The next documentary is on the Sudan and the violence that 5 Americans witness when they go there to bring back the true story of the plight of Sudan "with open eyes" (which is also the title of the documentary). Unfortunately, I haven't seen it yet, but I have seen a promotional 15 minute preview on it, and in those 15 minutes I have already learned a lot about what is truly occurring in Sudan every minute that you and I are going about our daily lives. This is the kind of film that makes you want to do something to make a difference, because it is so evident that we can.



If you want to watch the preview yourself, go to this website (Sudancan.com).

"It looks fresh! like you're ready to go!"

Something I really wanted to do before I left for the Peace Corps was cut off my hair and donate it to locks of love. I cut it off one other time, which was freshman year of college, for the same cause, but I didn't like that haircut because it made me look like a soccer mom. I like this one better because it is more "me" and it doesn't require a lot of work to look good, unlike the last one.. And since I'm pretty lazy when it comes to my hair, that is probably why my other haircut always looked bad.

So here it is -- I think it ended up being about a foot that I cut off.

It's a pretty ugly place...

Well, just to give you a little update...I had a meeting this past weekend (Thanks to Granddad) with a nice man named John who did the Peace Corps in Colombia back in the day. While in Colombia he heard the Paraguayan harp and fell in love with it. Now he makes a living making harps in Front Royal and lives in this cool rustic house, with a wood burning stove for heat and an outdoor kitchen area. He has been back to Paraguay a good amount of times and these were his conclusions:

- It's a pretty ugly place and really flat
- The people are really friendly once you get to know them
- There's no need to learn Guarani (the indigenous language)
- It's the hottest place he has ever been
- It's really safe, for the developing world
- The tea (Mate or Terrere) that they drink religiously is bitter and gross
- The music is awesome and the harp is king!

haha, so pretty much confirmed what I had already suspected... However, I am hoping his opinion about the beauty is based on his limited travel (he has only been around Asuncion) and hopefully the attached pictures disprove the ugliness that he speaks of.. .However, I don't doubt that there are a lot of ugly places in Paraguay.. and being a lover of the mountains, the flatness might not be very appealling... but from what I've seen it gets better and somewhat hilly as you move north. Overall, I'm really glad I got to talk to him and hear him play, he is very good and I really hope that the harp still is King in Paraguay because I would love to listen to that all day! Especially the Paraguayan harp, which has a much smoother acoustic sound, not as metallic sounding as the average harp... very pretty!


Mountains of Ybyturusu


Lake Ypacarai


San Miguel Misiones

I hope there are more pretty places like this and less like the ones he described in Asuncion!