So right now everything is pretty good. I am liking my family more and more and it is harder for me to think about changing families.  I dont know what i will do. I really enjoy playing with my brothers. The other day we were playing soccer, volleyball, and then hiding in the trees and pertending that there was a monster! Then the mom said we could go on a run around the neighboorhood. I live in a place called asentamiento. All the houses are very small and close together. Everyone is always outside hanging out, drinking tehtete, working in their yard cutting sugar cane, braches, or washing their clothes. Everyone has cows, roosters, and other animals. Also i feel a lot more comfortable with my host sisters. I say what i want to them and i think they are starting to open up alittle more to me...at least i think so. I think the older sister enjoys talking to me and she listens very well which its not typical of paraguay. I feel that a lot of people are not very good at listening expecially my host mom. My host sisters are also very smart and if i ever have a concern or dont know what to do about something they have a solution. About personal hygenie, how to behave with certain people here, what to with spiders, how to wash my clothes, etc..a lot ot little things. Last night there was a huge spider crawling around really fast and i was screaming because it was really big! :p Then my host mom came in and said not to be afraid of anything that doesnt have bones....and that i just need to kill it and thats all there is to it. i thought it was interesting how she explained it....she said dogs can bite but spiders cant do anything. But im not sure if she knows that there are posious spiders....I dont think the spiders here are posious..but they are very big. Also there are some men here who are very pushy. There was two different times where i was walking in town and someone came up to me asking where i lived, if i had a boyfriend, who my family was, where i went to school, a million questions...which was very rude and very annoying. I just told them i need to go and i kept on walking and my host sister said she does the same thing. She wont talk to anyone on the street she doesnt know. But ive realized i need to be very firm with people and say no i dont want to talk to you or i dont want to go to wherever they want you to go. The two men on the street where strangers but also people i know are also like that just less heavy. For instance i have a neighboor who is 15 years old and he is very nice. At the school he asked me questions about the food ive tried here, taught me words in guarani, and we talked about a lot of different things...Yesterday he was with me in the festival and he would not stop talking to me. And asked me too many questions, asked me to go to the church sunday, to go drink tehtete, that i could cook with his mom.....it was very nice but just too much.....so after the festival i went home. I do really appreciate how inviting people are here, it is quite oppisite from the people in minnesota....Also the other day my house was locked so i went to my neighboors. and i hada really good time. The mother told me that i could live with them. Asked me about where i am from, how i got her, what i am doing, showed me where i could sleep, around the house, etc. They have their own small shop and i see the grandmother working in the yard a lot and the husband cuttting sugar cane. They have these really big knives they use. The little boy was so cute, he was running around and then ran up to me and just stared at me....The maybe 13 year old boy was studying english which was cute to see and the other little boy showed me his homework......Also i really enjoyed talking to the dad. He was very smart and talked a looot. With is not at all typical in paraguay. Their family lived in buenos aires for work for a long time. And he worked there fixing cars. I think a lot of people here go to argentina to work. There is a lot more work there. He also was in the militay and therefore did not get the chance to study. He told me that a lot of people where bringing sugar cane over from argentina to sell in paraguay because it is cheaper in argentina and therefore you can sell it for a lower price in paraguay. But the police are watching for people who are doing this and making them pay a fine or something. He also talked about politic and about how every president steals money from the goverment. The goverment is in a cycle of corruption although there was a president who did donate houses, including the houses in my nighboorhood..Also paraguay has the hydroelectic dam in asuncion and the goverment sells most of it to brazil and argentina for a low price and what is left over is sold to paraguay for  ahigher price which is not fair at all. Last wednesday was the birthday for the political party colorado..and they have a party where they dance it is kind of odd. The two political parties here are simular and they dont want to help the poor....i dont really understand the point of them and i dont think a lot fo people do also. People say there is no difference between them. Also last ween i went to the football game paraguay vs. argentina and paraguay lost. And last weekend there was a afs meeting for three days. i learned a lot about how history has shaped the paraguayan culture. way back there was two presidents who really helped paraguay a lot. One bulit the first train in southamerica and the other helped to develop the agriculture.. But argentina and brazil realized how paraguay was developing and becoming richer and richer so they made war with paraguay. And paraguay lost. Paraguay really valued the men that fought in the war and that is where the macho cluture comes from. Men where highly valued for this. And the reason that people are very private and more closed off about certain things is because of the period when strassuner was in power, a dictator. When he was in power you could not have a different opinion and i guess that is why kids today in paraguay do not resist their parents or express their opinion. I see these traits very much my family. Also asuncion was stratigically bulit because it is on the paraguay river, where the gold and other items where transported by boat. There is a colony of guaranis that live in asuncion. Also ive realized how different asuncion is. How modern it is. they have technology and soooo much more money. here you can really see the difference. There are really poor people and then really rich people. Also the people in asuncion dont speak guarani, instead they speak english. Also paraguay has a aquipher of water..And i have realized that people put their trash on the side of the road or in their yard and burn it. so you see small fires a lot. Also paraguay smells bad a lot..the trash and other things i do not know..Also i really like how here everone shares food. When ever you have food or a drink you share it with everyone. there is never some food just for you. And they are very propper. they always give me food, cothes, tell me to sit down. In my school there are a lot of festivals where the kids dress up in the tradition dress and dance. It is really cute because they are so tiny and they know how to do their countries traditional dance. Also the dogs here are really not treated how they are treated in the united states. They are kept outside and not treated very  nicely. And the kids here also adults have a lot of black teeth...I think that is something that the parents need to teach their kids about along with contraception. I actually found a organicacion that deals with kids rights including contraception and topics such as this. Monday i will go talk to them. I really like to find a job because right now gustavo keeps saying that he will talk to the school. Also i will be able to teach computer classes in about two months.

 dia del nino day of the children. everyone dresses up as clowns and we sang and danced for the kids

 warming up milk for the kids in day of the children

 A protest against rape asuncion next to river paraguay

a poor neighboorhood in Asuncion

It now has been a month and a lot has happened! I feel a lot better now because i have meet some really nice people! The first couple weeks i really missed my family and still do. But i was kind of sad because my host family, i didnt really understand them at first...I have realized a lot about my host family. They are a family who sticks together a lot. The mother is very protective and i thought that was normal of paraguay. But now that i know other people and families ive realized she is a lot more protective. I am not sure if this is a good or bad thing......Because i think my sisters should be able to leave the house more, experience more but at the same time i think its good to stick together. My family does not know much about the outside world. they have never been outside paraguay and the do not have a desire to travel to other countries, they also do not know what they want to do for work after school ( the sisters)....i dont really like that. I think they have a lack of interest because they have not seen or heard much. one day i asked my host sister what she wanted to know about my culture, country and she said there was nothing she wanted to know because she had never read anyhing or seen pictures or videos... My sisters stay home and they listen to the mother always. They never fight or uestion her ever and they also act as mothers to the younger brothers. They clean their clothes, put clothes on them, brush their hair, scold them when they do something wrong. My host family is not very open, the do not talk much to me and didnt show much in me, where i am from, my culture. They are a also very serious and they do not smile or day goodmorning, goodnight, or hello when i come back home in the night. They never ask each how their day went or how they are doing. They are not a very warm or cozzy family but they are carring, they just show it in different ways through protectivness and taking care of each other. the little boys i really enjoy being with they are always playing and the mom likes to play with them to :) The two sisters are very close and at times i felt bad because they always talk to each other but not to me. This i really did not like and i felt bad because i felt like they did not want me to live with them and felt like they were putting a lot of distance between me and them. The companation of this feeling, missing my family, and being in a very strange place made me really sad....I think its the way of paraguayan people...but other people outside my family have asked me a lot about what my country is like and have shown interest in me. My host mom is very interesting....she talks a lot and very strongly....she doesnt really comfort me or every listen to what i say...but she lectures me what to do ir trys to teach me something. She also lets me go out a lot and she doesnt let her own daughters, which i kid of feel weird about...why does she let me but not her daughters..a couple times i came home at nine and everyone was sleeping. they sleep at eight every night. About a week ago she told me not to wash my hair when i have my period....i thought that was very strange so i asked my spanish teacher and a friends mom about it. And i guess that is what the indigenous gurani people did way back then!! And that today no one does that...but my family still does that even the sisters. They believed that washing your hair would put more pressure on your head causing your head to hurt more and causing your blood to be pushed out ...My friends mom said that my host mom did not study much and that there is not much i can lean about paraguayan culture from her, she said it is very rich....My family also is a lot poorer than other families. She tells me a lot of what to do, things that in the united states are more a personal choose of what to do...but in paraguay personal things such as bathing and how you take care of yourself is not personal, they tell you what to do. she tells me when to shower, what to wear, when to bruch my hair, what to eat, if i need to eat more, when to wake up everyday, she and my sisters clean and organize my personal things and they help me get ready when i leave for the day like putting my jacket on and things like that....some things i agree with but other things i dont agree with that my mom says.I feel like a lot of the things she says are negative....like she said that she wants to help children so they have enough food to eat but she doesnt want to help girls who get pregnant because they could have prevented it, she also said its better to keep your children in the house so they dont get pregnant, get drunki, or get into trouble....She told me she doesnt like that afs doesnt pay for a lot of things and that afs doesnt help the poor very much like the peace core does...She told me not to let little kids touch my things because they might break it. She also told me not to talk a lot to people, telling them how it is at home and where i live and what i think about things because if i talk to much people will want to keep their distance from me. She told me to abserve more than i should talk. which i agree with but i think i should be able to express my opinion. i live in a small town and a lot of people know already my name, where i work, what i think of my work and what i think of my family....information travels very fast. She also said that the richer people here look down at the poorer people and do not converstate with them. She also told me i need to speak spanish more with the other foriegn exhchange students because if i speak english other people in town wont want to talk to me as much. I think she is very concerned that i do the right thing, and she is concerned of what people think and that i take care of myself...but i dont like that i cant have a conversation with her and talk about other things other than what i should do. Right now i feel like i am more used to the way the family behaves. I can talk openly with the siters but they dont talk openly with me. I have realized that paraguayan people do not talk about their personal lives or their pasts very much...She told me that she has a boyfriend and that her mother can never know if she has one. but other than stating that she has a boyfriend she doesnt talk about how her relationship is going or how it is with her friends, or how she is feeling at the moment...other people also do not do this. A lot of young people have children and marry very early in paraguay. i guess the girls are embarrassed to use birth control and that is why there are so many girls prenant here...but i dont understnad because they talk to them in the school about birth control and they can go to the hospital for free birth control. So the other week i was walking to cooking class for the first time and i ran into my host sisters friends and they invited me to dia del nino. It is a day full of cookies, chololate, toys, and games for kids....it is for the kids in the past who fought in wars for paraguay. Paraguay has been through a lot of wars in the past and have lost a lot of land to argentina and brasil. I also went to the church with them to sing. They go to the chruch a lot!!! and to the capilla every saturday! a church that is deticated to one saint and they play games, sing, and read messages from the bible...the games they do is very interesting....and last saturday there was a party at night for nueva italia, the day it was created. their has a proffesional paraguayan dance group from assuncion. and we dances a lot! til two in the morning...their is friend from the group who can dance verrry well, all sorts of types of dances and he can move his stomach very well too. he showed me how they dance and i really enjoyed it! He also can cook very well. the next day we cooked different types of food. I have felt a lot better every since i have been spanding more time with this group of people. they are so inviting and inclusive! they always invite me to things they are doing. and when i was late they went looking for me. they are also very inclusive when i dont understnad something they explain it to me, they are always making sure i am having fun and i am a part of what they are doing i am so glad i meet them ;)) they also ask me uestions about my country and they like when i teach them english or when i show they how to belly dance. the other day i was dancing and they all were trying to do what i was doing, it was really cute! there is one boy in the group who always talks really fast and softly so its hard to understand him! and he always asks me about the most complex things...that are hard for me to answer in english let alone spanish...like what is going on in syria right now, or how the military is in the usa, and nasa. he wants to be a pilot and go to the united states to learn because in paraguay you cannt learn how to do such things...there is not much opportunty here in paraguay...its like going back in time a hundrad years. Also another thing that is  weird to me is that they are very touchy, always hugging and kissing. The guys do it to other girls even when they have a girl friend and its nice that they are comfortable withe ach other and show their affection. Also the other day i got a message that they were all comming to pick me up and i was so happy...one of them talked to my host mom and explainned what were were doing today and asked if she would let me go with them...i really like how they talk to the parents, i feel like that is very respectful. Also recently i feel like i have been doing to much!!! every morning going to the school, spanish class, to be with friends or to an activity..i felt really bad that i was never home....really bad because my family is always together...and i dont like how i have to go to spanish class. i dont learn anything because the teach isnt very good and i am always talking english to explain to the other people what the teacher is saying. i dont feel like its helpful for me to be spanding so much time with people who speak english so today i didnt go and i washed my cloths. right now i cant wash my cloths in my house so i took all my clothes and brought all of it to gustavos house to wash them by hand there! it was so heavy in the intense heat! i dont mind washing my clothes by hand...also soon i will be teaching english in the high schiool, elementry school, and community center.Also i am so glad that there is another foreign exchange student here i can talk to, i can tell her everything and she is very sweet :) Also i meet a teacher at my school who grew upo in the chaco region with the indians which i thought was very interesting. he didnt learn spanish until he went to school and now he travels with other paraguayans dancing talking about paraguay and sharing the culture. he knows aloooot about paraguayn history and he talks a lot about it which is nice because not a lot of people here are well educated or weel traveled and they cannot share as much. Also there is a korean man at my school who is teaching and donated a lot of things to the school. i guess there is a lot of koreans in paraguay..im not sure why..but he donated a lawn mower..i dont know why because paraguayn grass doesnt really need to be cut. its different. and the guy who was starting counlt figure it out and everyone in the school wa watching him so i shower him how to do it. it was funny seeing the whole scene because to me a lawn mower is so normal but not to them. Also now i am used to speaking spanish. i still ahve a lot to learn and i still dont speak well but i dont feel bad anymore. Also in the elementry school they learn about their countrys fladg and they sing songs about being a praguayan. they really teach them how to be proud of their country. and about two weeks ago another president in paraguay was elected names horacio. he owns a factory and has a lot opf money but i dont know if he is any good the people here dont know either. there is a lot of polital corruption in paraguay. Also paraguay in a country of transit a lot of people going through paraguay to but things. things are verrrry cheap here because their ecomomy is verrry weak. and it is easy to but drugs here because of the corruption. paraguay used to be rich people their was many mines and many gold but other countries ttook paraguays wealth and land. Also the last thing i want to say is that i think i might be changing families. the other week i went with the group to thomys house. and his mom offerend to have me. Me , his mom, and his dad talked for a very long time. they asked me many uestions about how everything was, if it was hard, and if i missed my family, what i thought about everything here and they showed empathy. It wwas really nice that someone asked me how everything was and that they could understnad what i thought and felt and it was very nice that they listened to me. the dad is from japan adn the mom is paraguayan. They are very interested and open to other cultures. and the son wants to travel after high school. their family is very inviting and very different them my family right now and i was thinking that this other family might be a better fit. They go fishing in rio paraguay and have many produce, vegtables, and animals. i feel like there is a lot i could learn from them and that i could get a long with them well. they also have two other chilren both younger. the oldest is sixteen. The mom also is very empathetic, carring,a and not as harsh. she lets her kids having friends over and do more activities which i think is healthier. the grandma from japan also lives with the family and she seems very sweet. their son is very much a people person. he know a lot of people and is very good with dealing with poeople. he talked to my host mom about me living with them and i talked to her too the other day. she said that there was no problem if i want to see what it is like fwith this family. and that it is good that i see what its live, how they are...but i definitly would miss the little boys. im not a hundred percent sure that it will work out though, it is a big deal to have som,eone for a year. wel will see. also gustavo know the family well and the family is well knows so i know thay are okay.