Name that sound: Paraguay Edition

This is a surface level observation of the sounds I have encountered here in Paraguay so far.

1. Dogs. Dogs bark at all hours in my neighborhood. I woke up a few nights ago to hear the War of the Dogs. Tati defends our front patio outside my window. And then there are two fluffy poodle-ish mutts next door (one is named Jaguar) that patrol the street and like to start trouble with the other dogs. Heck, those dummies even chased down two bulls that were walking down the street.

2. Motos. In the past few years motos have taken off as a primary mode of transportation in Villeta. You can imagine what a scooter sounds like zipping down a stone paved street.

3. Chickens. I thought chickens just made a lot of hoopla in the morning. No, they make chicken noises all day and night.

4. Unidentified temporarily. A few nights ago, I awoke to a very loud beeping noise. Was it my alarm clock? No. It was 3am. Is it a fire alarm? No, we don’t have one of those. Is it coming from outside? No, it seems to be coming from the corner of my bedroom… Holy cow that is the loudest cricket I have ever encountered. And then I threw a bottle of laundry detergent at it. Minus one cricket in Paraguay.

5. Lady Gaga. That song “Telephone” is muy popular here.

6. Adiós. When passing by someone on the street, or when someone passes your front door when you’re sitting outside, it is common to say “Adios.” This seems counter to what you’d expect because adios means goodbye, but I think of it as a non-committal greeting–recognize someone without the requirement to have a chat.

7. An empty terere cup. Terere/matte is the official drink/custom (in my opinion, if not officially) of Paraguay. It is a beverage served cold (terere) or hot (matte) and shared communally. To make terere you use a mortar and pestle to break up fresh herbs with different flavors and qualities. Add that to cool water and mix. Then you can pour this into the terere cup that is packed with a dried blend of tea leaves. The terere straw filters out the leaves while you drink, and when you have drained the beverage you hear that suction sound! And then it’s time to pass the cup to your neighbor or refill.

8. Ma’ena is a Guaraní word that translates to que triste or “how sad.” My Spanish classmate Maureen learned the word from her host sisters who use it frequently to express minor sadness–like “Oops, I spilled my glass of Coke, Ma’eeeeeeehnahhhh.” I went running down Maureen’s street this past week during siesta and Maureen and her sister were sitting outside of their house. Her sister asked me why I was running, and I explained that I was exercising. To which she responded, “Ma’ena.”

9. A tucan. Trainee Nikki has a tucan at her house named Tuci. He lives in a cage in her family’s garden, and he’s very handsome and squawky.

tuci the tucan

10. Laughter. I have been laughing at myself a lot lately. For example…My language teacher’s name is Pabla. A shovel in Spanish is una pala. One of the other Spanish teachers, Diosnel, asked me “Que hiciste con la pala?”– “What did  you do with a shovel?” And I proceeded to answer, “Oh, she taught us the vocabulary for parts of the farm like the fence, the raised tables of dirt, shade, seed…”

me at the rio paraguay. across the river is argentina.

Training and Walkabout Villeta

First day of training in Villeta. I woke up at 630am, dressed and ate breakfast at the table with Ana and Delma. Angel was out partying late last night, so he was not awake. I believe Alma had already left for work.

For breakfast, Ana prepared cocido, a kind of tea served with milk and sugar, and rotito (sp?), which are little, hard bread sticks or rounds. Ana would float hers in the tea and eat them with a spoon, and drink the tea. So I did that, too. Then I had a piece of multigrain bread with ham and cheese.

The training center is literally a 1 minute walk from my house. The neighboring family is also hosting a trainee, Brett. So I had someone to walk to class with. Our class today was a general introduction to Peace Corps’ philosophy on training. It is based on an experimental learning cycle. This may sound like fluff, but it makes a lot of sense. Think of this as a cycle with steps 1-4. After completing step 4, you start at 1 again.

1. Experience (Activity, Doing)

2. Reflecting (Share, Discuss, React, Observe, Questions)

3. Generalizing (Infer a truth about the world based on observations)

4. Apply (Plan a more effective behavior)

The Experimental Learning Circle is a fancy way of saying learning by doing and trying again. This is how our teachers want us to experience cultural adaptation, language adjustment, everything. There is no handbook, and we´ll best get a hang of things by trying things for ourselves. I have some homework that consists of reading some case studies of successful and unsuccessful development projects.

I also took a learning style survey that indicates that I prefer Active Experimentation. I laughed a little when I read the assessment further:

“Active Experimentation indicates an individual who is active and oriented toward doing. This is someone who learns experientially. These people learn better when they are involved in activities such as projects, tasks and small group discussions. They do not like passive learning situations such as formal classes and lectures. These individuals usually tend to be extroverts.”

Here’s the percentage breakdown of training:

40% language

31% technical

11% cultural adaptation

6% safety

4% health

8% miscellaneous overlap of language/technical, language/cultural, etc.

Our class today ended with a language/cultural lesson about terere, the national drink of Paraguay. It was conducted entirely in Spanish and Guarani. We learned about a TON of medicinal plants the Paraguayans use to ease stomach aches, rheumatism, etc. And then we partook, after choosing our preferred blend of herbs.

medicinal plants for terere

Class dismissed and I returned home. Angel and his friend were sitting outside on the sidewalking sharing terere. I was somewhat surprised to see this tradition popular among young people. But it is. Then Ana and Alma came home and we had a large lunch of Chicken Milanese, salad with carrots, onions, tomatoes and beets, and manioca. Lunch is the main meal of the day.

Then while the rest of the town went to sleep or siesta, I met the other trainees living in Villeta at the cooperative, and we walked all around town…to the River Paraguay (across which is Argentina), to the main square and park, down the main road. That´s the extent of Villeta. And then we sat in the park while some school children played handball, and others were practicing marching for a parade next week. There is a national holiday celebrating the end of one of Paraguay´s wars. I will have to do more research on that…

I ended the night by going to Alma´s dads 50^th birthday party. That will be a whole new blog post! So much to share. Adios. I miss you all, but know that I´m well and happy.