If It Doesn´t Work, Just Poke it With a Stick

I have just returned from a PC volunteer visit, where I spent four days with a current volunteer to get an idea of what life will be like. Carin is just about to finish up her service, so she has a lot of good advice and reassured me that, yes, training is exhausting. I went to my first campo fiesta on Saturday. Anyone can host a party in their yard, sell beer and chipa, play music, and charge on entry fee. The Señoras sit in chairs around the dance floor (i.e. the dirt yard) for hours, watching their daughters dance. Girls have to have had their quinceaño (like our Sweet 16 parties) before they are allowed to go to fiestas, and some of the young ones can really shake it! Everyone dances with a partner in lines. All of the music can pretty much fit into a few categories: kichaka (a simple 1-2 beat), kumbia (steppin´it up a notch), Reggaeton (my personal favorite), and Brazillian country.

There were a strain of redheads in Carin´s communidad, which I was curious about. Where did that recessive trait come from? Anyhow, it was a pretty tranquilo few days. We visited a few families, I checkout out her demonstration garden plot, and spent a lot of time sitting on the porch drinking terere in the heat. On Monday, we went into the nearest pueblo to do a radio show. I introduced myself in Guarani and gave a little shoutout to my new friends in the campo. I´ve actually been pleased by how much I can actually understand of the language.

Lastnight, played some Paraguayan cards (they only have 40 in a deck here), drank some wine and soda (yes, in the same glass), and then the power went out. This is pretty common, especially when there´s wind or heat lightning (of which there was both). A neighbor came by with a long stick, gave the electric line a little poke, and, voilá, there was light. It´s the little things.

I took the 5:30am bus from Carin´s town back to my own area. If it had been raining, I would have had to figure out something else, as buses can´t run in the mud. Only 10% of Paraguay´s roads are paved. Getting up that early does not even phase me anymore. It´s actually the nicest part of the day, with the sun rising, the roosters crowing, before it gets too hot. I´m going to run a few errands in town before heading back to my family. I´m looking forward to reuniting with everyone.

Last week, we had a party for my papa´s birthday. They cooked asada and chorizo (lots of meat) on a fire in the front yard. I played guitar for a while, and some of my American friends came over and sang with me. Then we turned on some polka music, and I danced with my papa. I´ll upload some pictures later. I also made another batch of zucchini bread. My ma wanted to learn how to make it, and I even found baking powder, though I think it was faulty. My zucchini hook-up brought over a few more gigantic zucchinis for me, so I´m going to make a zucanoe. My sister also turned 11 while I was gone, so I told her we´d have a mini celebration tonight. And then I have to prepare for a presentation on raising chickens. The fun never stops. Jajotopata!