Obama ogana!

I spent election day sitting under a mango tree, talking about what I miss, feeling antsy. In a way, I felt helpless, sitting in Paraguay, and wanted to be a more active participant on this historical day, even if it was just watching the election on tv. All I could do was hope that my ballot made it safely to the US and that we will get the change the world deserves. I feel embarassed when I get into political discussions with people here. No one can understand what the hell is wrong with Bush, how he can destroy so many lives, and I feel ashamed that, as an American citizen, I have not done more to stop it. How, in the land of liberty and free-speech am I so powerless?

But I do have hope. That´s one of the reasons I´m here in Paraguay. When I rolled out of bed on Wednesday morning and my dad told me that "Obama ogana," I felt a surge of positivity that remained with me all day and still tickles me when I think about it. We went into the main training center that day and watched Obama´s acceptance speech on the internet. I think we can all walk a little taller now.

On another note, I´ve been doing lots of fun food projects. I bought some screen at the ferreteria and made a drying rack for fruit. I´ve been drying bananas, pineapple, peaches, and plums. So yummy! I did a presentation about it (in Guarani!) for a family in the community I´ve been working with.

I also got to work with bees the other day, and I´m feeling more confident about it. We checked up on the hives and harvested a bunch of honeycombs. Some people snacked on the drone larvae, which is supposed to be extremely high in protein, but I couldn´t quite hype myself up for it. I get enough meat here anyway. The other day for lunch, in my bean soup, I was give two chunks of what must have been cartilage attached to bone. I just couldn´t do it. While working with bees, Nathan got stung 14 times and had to give himself an epi-pen and get evacuated to Asunción, but he´s fine now. Those Africanized bees are fiesty, but they do produce some good honey. I ate it by the handful with bees still buzzing around it. I hope I get the chance to work with them in my site. I´ll find out where my site is in a week and a half. I can´t wait!

On Thursday, we went on a field trip to a permaculture farm, and the ´manager´studied in Corvallis. It was amazing to see how productive they were on such a small plot. They put their cow and rabbit poo in a biodigester, which turns it into fertilizer and can also be used as an alternative to propane. They had plans to make a compost-heated shower. There was also an impressive vermiculture set-up. At the end of the tour, they have us samples of their homemade cheese, yogurt, and marmalada, with some chipa, lemon cake, and cocido. It was the best yogurt I have ever had, and I´ve been inspired to teach my family how to make it.

On Friday, before class, I woke up and made some pizza dough, so it could rise all day. All my compañeros and some neighbors came over with all sorts of toppings. I made tomato sauce, Esteban made cheese, and my mom helped us get the tatacua going. We made the most delicous pizza in the outdoor oven, cooked to perfection on banana leaves. God, I love cultural exchange.

Tomorrow, I´m going away for a week on Longfield Practice. I´m visiting a volunteer and staying with a host family to practice my language and technical skills. I´ll also be giving a presentation on kumanda yvyra'i, which is a magical bean tree that fixes nitrogen in the soil, can act as erosion control, and the fruit can be used as animal forage or as healthy and delicious human food. Not bad.