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Congrats to Megan J! And Happy upcoming Fourth of July! I am very sad to be missing the festivities at Topsail. Cozort–pour a little out for me at the Homeport. And I expect everyone will make it an exciting last weekend for Blux as a bachelor. A few things about the past few days…

Festejo de San Juan Ara and the Mundial Partido vs. New Zealand (Thursday)

Last Thursday was a big day in training. We met at the usual 745 for language class, but at 10am Paraguay was taking on New Zealand in their third World Cup game thus far. It happened to be hot and sunny outside, so we set up a TV outside on the patio of our training center to watch the game. Meanwhile in the kitchen and in the backyard the language profesoras were crafting a tasty lunch of popular Paraguayan foods:

• Mbeju: gummy mandioca, battered in madioca flour (I think) and fried
• Pastel Mandi’o: an empanada with mandioca filling, plus beef and hard boiled egg
• Payagua Mascada: sort of like a latke meets a crab cake, minus the crab?
• Sopa: cornbread
• Ensalada: cabbage salad, lettuce salad
• Mandioca

We chowed down after the disappointing tie with New Zealand. And then afterward, we played some traditional games of the Festival of San Juan.

• Predicting your future: on the four corners of a table you place a ring, a doll, a key and a rosary. The game participant is blindfolded and led around the table 3 times while the objects are rearranged. Then he or she selects and object, which has a future meaning…the ring (you’ll get married this year), the doll (you’ll have a baby this year), the key (you’ll move houses this year) and the rosary (you’ll be single forever).
• Sack races
• Breaking clay jugs hanging from trees (two contained treats, the last contained water)
• Predicting when you’ll get married: tie a piece of your hair to a ring. Dangle the ring into the middle of a glass of water. Keep still, and when the ring moves and clinks the side of the glass, that is equal to one year!

Dia de Practica (Friday)

As I mentioned in an earlier blog I have embarked on a five part series of “Practice Days.” Another trainee Nikki and I are working together. Initially we were interested in working with a women’s group in town. For example, could we locate a group of women that baked bread together once a week to sell in town? Or maybe they made a different product–like laundry detergent, brooms, needlework? So we went to the Municipality on Friday morning…walked into this daunting building, introduced ourselves and asked to speak to the right person. It turns out that our contact didn’t know any women’s groups, but she worked with the jovenes, youth. She literally got up from her desk, walked outside into the plaza, and brought back about 20 teenagers into her office. Haha. Our contact is super friendly and helpful, and has worked with Peace Corps before. So upfront, I think this is a good match for our first mini-project. We asked the youth what they were interested in. And we got a lot of blank stares. But that’s OK, it’s pretty daunting. A few of the youth spoke up and said they liked to dance, play volleyball, and that they would be interested in learning more about U.S. culture. Furthermore, our contact asked about cultural diversity in the United States. Paraguay is homogenous in comparison to our melting pot. So…Nikki and I have a starting point. We know we have a Paraguayan counterpart who rocks. And we have some interested youth. We’re going to go hang out with them on Friday in the plaza, and maybe get a better idea of what we do next.

Volleyball

That’s right. We formed a small volleyball team to take part in an upcoming tournament at the U.S. Embassy. Not joking. There is a volleyball court in one of the trainee’s host family’s backyard. So our team went over for our first practice last week. We played 5-on-5 in mixed teams of norteamericanos and paraguayos. Hilarious. And that family is so cool. First of all, the dad is crazy smart and funny. Most of his comedic references he shares are things like Popeye, Pink Panther, Loony Tunes. The mom makes the best Milanese (like friend chicken scaloppini) and she is boisterous and talkative. The family dog, Ruffo, looks like a Boxer-Mastiff mix, and he likes to sit upright in chairs…at the dinner table, on the lawn. And trainee Zach has seen Ruffo pick up his food bowl, carry it over to his pillow in the corner where he sleeps, lie down, and eat his dinner in bed.

First Birthday and a Quince (Saturday)

norteamericanas at the quince

There were lots of parties on Saturday. First I went to Nikki’s family’s house where her niece was turning one. The first birthday is a major celebration in Paraguayan culture. We’re talking bouncy thing for the older kids to jump in, piñata, cake, food, sound system, snacks, sit-down dinner. I just dropped in to enjoy some hot chocolate, sing happy birthday and see the piñata game. And afterward, a group of trainees went to our first-ever Quince on Saturday. It began with the 7o’clock Mass. The music was a guitarist and a nice female vocalist that led the songs. There were several recitations–Lord’s prayer, affirmation of faith, Gospel readings, a short sermon/homily thing, communion. And after the mass: the party. There was a big projector set up playing music videos as people arrived. Then the young lady was presented by her father, and she danced with lots of family members. That was followed up with a slide show of pictures from her life. Then the guests were invited to go through the buffet. The buffet was all vegetarian dishes: bean salad, fruit, bread, manioca, beets, lettuce, tomato, cukes, rice salad. Once we sat down, the meat man came around and served the carne. For dessert, there was a fantastic cake. It was 6 mini layers with 3 different kinds of icing: vanilla, dulce de leche, chocolate. And the chocolate frosting had chunks of white and milk chocolate in it.

quince cake over spanish studies

I’m tearing up just thinking about it. We danced and partied hard. My host mom and brother also attended. And I totally embarrassed my host brother by asking him to dance with me. But he obliged! And all of his cronies were thrilled to hang out with such cool norteamericanos.

There’s no rest for the weary

Sunday I slept in and had Quince cake for breakfast with café con leche. Then I met up with Nikki and her host sister to go to the big city Asuncion (fist pump!). Nikki’s host sister is the jam. She’s 28, contracts with Peace Corps as a language professor, and has another job, too, I believe. So she’s smart, ambitious, funny, and she speaks clearly and listens sympathetically. It took a while to get to central Asuncion…about 1.5 hours (including the waiting for the first bus). We went to the Mcal. Lopcz Shopping area, had lunch at the food court. I had a burrito, which was more like a quesadilla with grilled veggies and chicken, and a salad. And it was spicy! Paraguayans do not like spicy food. Ment gum is considered spicy. Also a touch of black pepper and some ketchup is considered spicy in my family. After lunch we went to the MOVIES to see Sex and the City Dos (2). Let me just say I loved it. I don’t know what nerve it hit, but it just made me so happy to watch something that I recognized, and hear English, and to have a tiny dose of U.S. culture. And with that Alicia Keys New York song and the big panoramic shots of the skyline…I was misty-eyed! And I’ve never spent more than a few days in NYC at a time!

World Cup Paraguay v. Japan (Tuesday)

BOOM! We won! This has been an exciting time to be in Paraguay. In case you missed it…the regulation periods and two additional periods were scoreless. So the game went into penalty kicks. Paraguay made all 5 kicks, and Japan missed their third or 5. It’s a heartbreaking way for Japan to lose, but forget about ‘em! Paraguay won! I ran out into the street and caught some footage of our little town celebrating. Motos and flags everywhere.

Language

Yeah, so how’s the Spanish coming? Well. It’s hard to say. I have good days and bad days. This morning was mixed because my professor put me on the spot, I froze up and couldn’t think through the subjunctive tense to save my life. But then I was able to explain how the many different birds of the Galapagos Islands all have different beaks because they evolved to live in unique environments and eat certain foods. booyah. And watching the soccer game was fun! Devon’s host mom, Rosarita, told me to come over anytime. I don’t need an invitation, and she wants me to eat lunch with them! double booyah. This past Friday I went out with some trainees and two of Maureen’s host sisters to a local copetin, which is like a convenience store/mini café that has seating outside. And when we’re in a mixed group like that, to be considerate and inclusive, we try to speak solo castellano. It’s a challenge. But Maureen’s sisters are incredibly funny and social, so it‘s more fun that way, too. We have nicknamed one mariposa social, social butterfly.

Some logistics

My mom asked in an email about trash here. That’s a good question. In my household, there is nearly zero food waste. Leftovers or scraps that might normally be tossed in the trash are fed to the dog, the rabbit or the pig. There are also some abandoned lots in town that appear to be non-official places to dump trash. On the street, there are some elevated, metal trash bins. I have not picked up on the frequency of the collection. And I’m going to guess that it’s not frequent. I’m nearly certain there is a landfill nearby, but many people are not informed about it. Therefore, most Paraguayans burn their trash. That’s very common.

Hasta luego. Love and peace,

Emily