The Adventures of Chela and the Friendly Vets

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• Entry from San Juan Bautista, Misiones

Trip Start Jan 24, 2005 Previous
Entry Trip End Apr 14, 2007

  San Juan Bautista, Misiones, Paraguay
Friday, June 1, 2007

Checklist:

Finish Peace Corps documents (turn in cellphone, bank card, type and turn in all descriptions of site/service)
Take language exam
Take Chela to the doctor
Plan Despedida (Going away party)
Meeting with youth group
Give Tara her books that I borrowed (the nearest volunteer to my site 10 K)
Pay for Jesus` plane ticket (1,300 US dollars...YIKES)

And the list goes on...  

Before I write about Chela, I have some good news to share with all of you! 

First, our travel plans!  We will be leaving Paraguay on June 22nd in the afternoon and arriving at LAX at noon on Saturday, June 23rd.  We are making lots of stops along the way, have to go through Brazil and Washington DC, but we will make it home.  The sucky part is the price of Jesus`ticket.  Im only able to pay because we volunteers receive a small amount of money when we finish our service in order to start over again in the US.  The amount is less than 6,000 US.  Once I have finished all of my paperwork and turned in all of my Peace Corps property like my cell phone, bike, bank card and such, they will give me a check for 1/3 of that money.  It just so happens to be close the the amount for Jesus`ticket.  So, I have to turn everything in early so that I can pay for the ticket...they only take cash...its crazy!  Anyhow, its almost all in the bag!  We have the date, in a week or so we will have the tickets in our hands...  we will be home in 3 weeks!  I cant believe it!

The next news might be more exciting to me that to the rest of you, but really for me its a huge accomplishment.  I just had my language exam this afternoon.  The exam is official...or rather, the tester is US approved!  The scale goes something like this:
basic low, basic mid (where I was when I arrived in Paraguay), basic high, intermediate low, intermediate mid, intermediate high, advanced low, advanced mid, advanced high, superior. 
Well, I tested at ADVANCED HIGH!!!  Really, the tester said that I am a superior low but since there is no `low` in superior, I had to take the Advanced High!  Well, as you can see, Ive improved a TON!  Im considered fluent in Spanish!!!!  One of the documents that I have to complete before I leave is called a DOS (description of service) where I explain all of the work that I did here in Paraguay, all of the trainings that I have received (cultural, technical, etc) and where I put my language score!  This DOS we present to future employers so that they can understand what we did as Peace Corps volunteers since our jobs vary so much (even within projects).  My friend Tara teases me that my English has gone down to an Internediate High...  I think she might be right.  I really depend on my Spanish these days to express myself.  That might explain why this travelpod has such poor grammer and spelling.  However, the keyboard that I am using is all mixed up, thats why its missing some punctuation.  I couldnt find it on the darn keyboard.  Regardless of my English....Im now starting to look for work.  Let me know if you hear of anything that would fit me.  Im hoping to get back into teaching but am open to see what opportunities present themselves! 

Okay, so thats the exciting news!  I cant wait to be home and to see all of you!  Really, Im sad to leave Paraguay but am going to return to the US with a whole new appreciation for a ton of things...most importantly family and friends.  I have learned so many wonderful lessons on this journey.  I wanted to be challenged, I was challenged beyond belief and have succeeded.  I wanted to be uncomfortable, I know  what it feels like to sit in wooden chairs all day for over 2 years, talk about neck and back problems.  I know what its like to eat fat, have dirty floors, wear the same clothes 10 times before washing them, bathe only when its possible or absolutely necessary, fix anything with a peice of erasure, a nail and a hammer, make great small talk in Spanish and Guarani, cook with very few ingredients everyday for over 2 years, take care of cows, deal with pesky chickens, grow my own veggies, prepare fresh homemade teas and herbal medicines, and above all, I found a wonderful man, my best friend, JESUS!  I have gained his family and they have welcomed me 100 percent (Im not even looking for the percent sign on this keyboard). I also have my host family who provided me with love and support, food and a place to stay throughout my first 3 months in Paraguay and numerous times throughout my service.  I have been blessed by getting to know such wonderful people here in Paraguay, both Paraguayan and fellow volunteers.  I could go on and on with the things that I have learned...they may truly seem small, but they were all acquired with laughter, tears, frustration, fear, and memories to last a lifetime!  I only wish that I could share them all with you... but I know that most of you will never understand.  There is no place like Paraguay in the US and no one like Paraguayans...  here I have met the most humble and generous group of people that I may ever meet.  I am happy...for the first time ever...I am happy with me, with my life, and excited to see what tomorrow brings!  Im glad that you will all be there with me!  Thank you for all of the love and support throughout my service.  Thank you for the letters, pictures and packages...  thank you for the updates, the new births, and even the sad news.  Mostly, THANK YOU for not forgetting about me here! 

Okay, Im getting sappy...Ill quit...

Here are the adventures of Chela! A few weeks ago, my friend Tara made both her cat and Chela appointments at a vet in a nearby town (15 minutes in old bus on dirt road, stand on side of road in super cold morning to wait and pray that another bus will stop to pick me up, then a 30 minute bus ride on asphalt, then walk 2 blocks on cobblestone road) so that they could get fixed...or rather...so that Chela wont have anymore babies!  So I went to the local supermarket to ask for a box, brought one home and introduced Chela to her box. 

The day of her appointment, Jesus and I got out the duct tape and stuck her in the box.  Before we could tape it closed, she was out of the box.  So I grabbed a bag, stuck Chela inside, and zipped it almost all of the way closed when I realized that she wouldnt be able to breathe...  opened the bag...the bus was coming!  Jesus and I looked quickly around our one room house for something...we found nothing.  The bus passed my house...I couldnt get on.  We missed our appointment.  I was really disappointed in Chela...but also in myself.  How stupid not to try out the box before hand.

So I called the vet, explained what happened, when back to the supermarket and got a new and bigger box, and tried getting Chela into her box the night before. That Chela is a strong cat and a smart cookie...she escaped again from her box.  What were we going to do?  I had already determined that Chela was pregnant again...  no one would want a pregnant cat.  No one even wants female cats.  Chela wasnt going to have a place to live...someone would just kill her.  NOOOO  I had to stop this.  She had to get to her appointment to have a fighting chance at LAJ (Life After Jenny¨)  Also known as LAA (Life After an American).  So Jesus and I talked about the options. There wasnt time to get a new box, she wouldnt go in a backpack...  cat carriers are very expensive in Asuncion and dont sell them anywhere else.  Besides, her appointment was the next day.

Well, thankfully a Paraguayan friend of mine had taught me how to make these awesome recycled magazine baskets so I had one in my house that I have been using for my dirty laundry.  So we decided to give it a try.  We took some strong rope and tied half the lid closed before putting Chela inside.  Then we sat there and held it down for about 5 minutes to see if Chela could escape.  Well, she didnt.  So off she went to the vet the next morning where we jumped on our little bus with Chela meowing, scared and confused but in a cool, big basket.  Then got off on the side of the main asphalt road and waited while super cold winds tore at out cheeks...not a cloud in the sky but felt like ice everywhere.  We were not prepared for the cold.  The 15 minutes that we waited felt like forever.  Poor Chela was trapped inside her basket sandwiched between Jesus and I trying to keep everyone warm.  Finally a bus came and lucky for us, it stopped for us.  Unlucky for Chela, her basket wouldnt fit through the door on the bus so the driver put her in the underneath compartment for luggage.  I was freaked out...I felt so bad but we had gotten so far and couldnt turn back.  A half hour later we reached San Juan Bautista, another town on the other side of my community.  We carried her down the road and got her safely to the vet. 

The vet turned out the be amazing.  Her and her husband started out as agro vets living on a farm where they mostly helped with farm animals like cows.  For the past 2 years they have been living in the ´city´ taking care of mostly pets (of the richer folks who take care of pets...its not very Paraguayan to take pets to a vet but its become trendy for richer people who are still poor by American standards).  Jesus and I stayed and chatted with the vet for about 2 hours and found out that they have rescued 3 cats (all female) and 6 dogs (mostly female) from the streets and they all live with the vets in their home. (This is sooo NOT typical Paraguayan behavior).  They said that Chela would be done later that day and that we could pick her up around 4pm....it was only 9am, super cold, underdressed and away from home.  So we left Chela and headed out to explore the town...turns out there isnt much to see.  Around 11am we got a message saying that Chela is pregnant and that they need to talk to us.  So we walked back to the vet worried that they wouldnt opperate and that Chela would be toast.  Well, it turned out that they gave her the meds but because she was prego, the meds didnt work and they had to wait for the next day to give her another dosage.  Chela would have to spend the night and we would have to make the trip the next time our little bus came into our community.  Chela ended up staying for 2 days because we couldnt get to her sooner.  Good thing she was in great hands!  When we went to pick her up, we stayed to chat for a long time with the vet and her husband, also a vet. We talked about Paraguayan politics, the education system, and then we were invited to have lunch with them.   It was really great to see how professional and passionate they were about their work... you dont see much of that here.  I thought Chela would have a horrible time... but they gave her cat food, water, and had a cat cage for her.  I think she had an okay time ...considering.  They even offered to go to our house if Chela had any complications. 

So Im now working on a basket to give them as a thank you!  Chela is happy, still healing but doing really well.  Im in Asuncion right now but when I return I have to take out her stitches...  I am going to take then out myself... should be interesting!

So why arent we taking her home with us?  Well, its quite simple.  We already spent over a thousand dollars on Jesus`visa and will be paying another 1,300 for his plane ticket.  Bringing Chela home would be another couple hundred dollars.  We just cant afford it although it is honestly breaking my heart to leave her here.  Shes such a wonderful cat and a great friend to both Jesus and I.  She is going to live with a Paraguayan friend of mine who I think will love her and take good care of her.  However, shell have to eat human food because no one can afford cat food. I think Chela will be okay.  Im really going to miss her. 

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