Don´t drink the diarrhea water: lessons from rural paraguay

When we all arrived in Paraguay, we were told that our host families would be boiling our water for a week, and after that it was up to us if we wanted to purify our water or not. We were also told that the water may or may not make us sick at first, but either way, it was almost guaranteed that we would have problems at some point. My first day here, I double checked with my mom that the water bottle in the fridge was purified, just to make sure. she said yes, so I drank it. Then later, the same night, my sister was making lime juice (fresh squeezed lime, water, and TONS of sugar) and when she went to add the water, she went straight to the faucets outside to fill it up. There went all my hopes and dreams of drinking purified water for a week, so I decided to suck it up and just drink the water. Besides, they put ice in everything, and the ice is definitely just frozen faucet water.
I was totally fine for the first few days and then I drank what I think was the most stale water in the world (it had been sitting in the smelly fridge for a few days) and I also drank out of a faucet near a futbol field. I´m not really sure if it was the stale water or the futbol feild water, but the next day I was feeling not so bueno. Maybe in the US talking about bodily functions isn´t socially acceptable, but in Peace Corps, anything goes. Some of us have actually started refering to bad water as ¨diarrhea water.¨ I literaly had multiple conversations like this with several people today.
¨So, you know that stale water I drank yesterday´? I´m pretty sure it´s diarrhea water.¨
¨Yah, I´m feeling a little queezy too, you think it´s the water from the futbol feild?¨
¨No, I definitely had it the worst. I went to flush the toilet today and it didn´t work and I had to have my mom help me.¨
As gross as it may sound, the ¨diarrhea water¨ has become a common topic amongst Peace Corps trainees. We actually had a 30 minute health presentation today just on diarrhea, and none of us have reservations about sharing our experiences. I think I even had once conversation about the frequency of poop since we´ve been in Paraguay... buuut, that´s probably a little too much information to post all over the internet.
In addition to avoiding certain faucets, I´m trying to find a good ratio of how many guavas to eat (high in fiber) per meal of carbs and cheese (almost every meal and not so high in fiber). I think a couple of days ago I have 7 guavas... they were amazing. The food has most definitely been the hardest think to adjust to. I have eaten the strangest things in Paraguay and I´m still not always sure what I´m eating. The first day here, my mom was told that I don´t eat red meat and in less than a week I was fed pig, hot dog and some unidentifiable chewy, fatty meat. I think maybe I should have elaborated on my meat-eating habits. Every once in a while I get a good meal like mashed potatoes and fried eggplant, or beans with tomato, eggs, and lime juice. My favorite thing I´ve gotten so far is beer with fresh coconut in it. Most days though, I can´t force it all down. I´m sure I´ll adjust to it, and I think I´m going to ask her about vegetables. But until then, I´m supplementing my meals with stuff I bought at the store, like carrots and peanuts, and the guavas I constantly pick off our tree.
This whole thing probably sounds completely crazy, but even though I´ve only been here a week, it has become normal. By the way, if anyone wants to send me anything, dried fruits and nuts would be amazing! For now, I´m off to dinner.. hopefully it will be something that I actually know. Maybe even a cucumber salad...