From Carob to Cow Brains...

Some of my high schoolers got me thinking about sense of place, a topic thoroughly discussed and worn out in college--and for good reason. Our sense of place plays a big role in defining who we are the respect we show to our temporary home---mama earth. Two seventeen-year-olds told me about their idea of planting trees all along the road that leads to the stream to protect the water, and plan it so that they would all produce flowers at the same time. Thus, creating two of my favorite things: beauty and sustainability. I repeat, these are seventeen-year-olds, not talking about how far away from home they want to go or how they can´t wait to get their parents out of their hair. They recognize this place as theirs, collectively, and they want to improve it.

How do we spread that sentiment around the world? Or, for a start, where would I plant my trees, so I could watch them flower? Someday, I say, I´ll have land that I will call my home. I had thought before that Paraguayans are mostly influenced by their families--many of which live in the same house together all their lives. American young people are so dependent upon their friends. During high school, college, and beyond, our friends become our chosen family. Though family is such a greater part of life here, peers play an important role. There are some exceptionally bright students in the senior class, and I know that it´s due to them that change will occur here.

On another note, I ate cow brain the other day. Cow head, apparently, is a much anticipated delicacy in these parts. When I was visiting a family, they showed me the cow head they had rubbed with garlic, salt, and other spices, waiting for the fire to be ready. Maybe I´ve been in Paraguay too long, but it actually looked good. They showed me the hole they had dug in the yard and built a fire. The cow head is then buried with the hot coals and covered with earth to cook for four hours. It sounded so intriguing, I agreed to come back that evening. When they lifted the steaming cow head out of the ground, I almost died laughing. ¨No tongue or brain,¨ I said. (I already tried pig tongue and didn´t like the texture), so they cut off a piece the cheek for me to try. When the cow head was set on the table, it was a mad free-for-all, with 20 hands grabbing, plucking, and stuffing into slurping mouths. It was more than an activity than a meal. I took one bite of the cheek and immediately grabbed a piece of mandioca to wash down the pungent flavor. After watching my companions thoroughly enjoy themselves, I eventually got up the nerve to stick a fork into the brain cavity and grab a gooey chunk. I was told to eat it with mandioca, so as not to get the shits. And it was not bad. All the spices had soaked in, and it didn't have a strong meaty flavor. I couldn't eat very much because of the odd texture, and because of my own brain that kept reminding me tht I was eating cow brain.

And my puppy is growing, though last week I noticed he was limping. Heś a rambunctious one, and probably got in trouble with a chicken, neighbor dog, or large foot. I didn't know what to do, not wanting to take him on a 2 1/2 hour bus ride to the vet, which Ive already done. So, I walked him up to the local health center, which all my neighbors thought was hilarious. That was not help, but I scrounged some materials together, as well as some neighbor hands, and constructed a splint, so his leg would grow straight. So, I had a splinted puppy. He kept it on for a few days, and when he finally ripped it off, he was healed!

As American as my dog may be raised, he speaks Guarani. I realized this when he was barking one night, and my Paraguayan friend said, ¨Anike. Eeesh!¨ and he stopped right away. Some of my favorite Paraguayan words are the sounds they use to shoo animals. So I´ve been working on my Guarani grunt, and it works for me part of the time.

I started teaching English in the school, and I would have started my cooking/nutrition class, but it´s been raining all week, so it was cancelled. I´m getting used to not doing anything when it rains, and I´m really starting to enjoy it. This drought we had didn´t give me enough time to read and play guitar. The negative of the rain is that I don´t have stripping or complete walls on my house, so the rain comes right in. The other day it rained the hardest that it´s ever rained (they say) in thirty years, or something like that. I literally had a stream in my house. And my fridge, backpack, and other items that I put agains the walls grew mold. Those are the days I bring my puppy inside, and stay in bed, drinking maté.

Winter is approaching, though you might not know it. It´s still hot in the sun, we still wear flipflops, and there are no geese flying north (or south). But it suddenly got cold. The kind of cold that puts me to bed at 6:30, huddled in my sleeping bag, and drinking steaming maté. But it feels good, too, like fall. And fall always feels like new beginnings to me, when school starts, and the air is so fresh and biting. I actually find myself following the sun instead of the shade, something I haven´t done in the eight months I´ve been in Paraguay. Eight months. I´m sometimes amazed that I can actually communicate in a language that, just a few months ago, sounded like gobbledygook. Exactly like that.

I (and my camera) were invited to a one-year-old´s birthday party last week. We drank thick hot chocolate, like in the movie, and I watched the Paraguayan version of a piñata. All the kids hover under a big sand-filled baloon, and the mom pops it open with a knife. Then some plastic toys fall out. They love it, but only because they don´t know any better. Anyhow, at the birthday party, I overheard a Señora talking about how her husband was planting stevia. So, through her, I snagged an invitation to go work in the field with the men, something I haven´t gotten to do much of because of culturally-defined gender roles. After the party, I asked the guys, and they told me to come over at 7am the next morning to go planting. So I rolled out of bed at ten til 7, and went over to the house. Most of the guys had already left, and I soon realized that I was meant to help the Señora cook breakfast in the kitchen, so we could bring it out to the men. Of course. But I enjoyed spending an hour drinking coffee (1 part cofee...8 parts sugar...seriously) by the fire and helping to make tortillas, which I scarfed down. Absence does make the heart grow fonder. We bundled up our goodies and went back to the field, where I finally got to help.

I´ve always heard that it´s your connections that get you places, and I´ve believed it, but I´m seeing here how important connections really are. Just from running into the right people, and speaking their language, I´ve had so many offers of assistance. The other day, when I biked to my pueblo to make photocopies, word got around that I was in town, and I got a call from the the mining company who I visited on a fieldtrip with the high schoolers. They are an international company with gold stock in Canada, and I ended up spending hours at their office talking to the bossman, who speaks perfect English. Having heard about the environmental fair I was planning, they offered not only to donate 150 tree plants, but to pay for an expert to come and test ten different water sites in my district with groups of students, so it will be an educational experience. I´m psyched! And then they gave me a ride home in their fancy 4-wheel drive truck. I have friends in high places...

As for the environmental fair, I was unsure of how it would turn out, since my Paraguayan students took charge of it (as it should be). I did get to start a bucket brigade to pass tree plants, which may be one of my best contributions to Paraguay thus far. I had four of my volunteer friends come to my site to help out, and then sleep in my tiny house. We had a huge turnout, and even on the coldest night I´ve yet had in Paraguay. They made me get up and give an impromptu speech, which was fun. The next day, some of my high schoolers came to my house with bottles of wine and coke as a thank you. They know me too well. The fair definately opened eyes, and a teacher even assigned a report about how to deal with the problem of garbage. It´s a small step, but in the right direction. It also opened my eyes about how the education system works here (or doesn´t work) and how much support and guidance I need to give.

But sometimes Emilia needs Emily time. After my friends left, I spent the next couple days most working around the house and my garden. My neighbor and I went into the woods, and she helped me identify plants I wanted to use to make homemade pesticides. Bugs have been eating my greens, so I made three different stinky plant concoctions to combat them. I love making venenos caseros. It´s like I have a little apothecary, used for purposes of war. But all in the name of love, of course.

Alright, gotta go catch my bus. My English classes and cooking/nutrition class start this week, so I have some preparation to do. Until next time, keep a good song in your head...

Earth Day in May

I'm starting to see a pattern with no format here. Once in a while, for no apparent reason I'll get into a funk that will last a few days. I become reclusive, not wanting to talk to anyone (tough) or see anyone (impossible). I just get tired. So, I'll bike to the arroyo and go for a swim and read by myself, which clears my head. And then, the feeling will pass, and I'll go uninvited to visit the neighbors I had been trying to avoid. It always feels so good to get back to my old (new) social self. Peace Corps has forced me to become outgoing.

One thing that probably contributed to my antisocial attitude was a horendous itching all over my body. Apparantly my adorable little puppy gave me a wicked case of scabies. For those who don´t know, scabies is parasitic skin infection caused by tiny mite that burrows into the skin, lays eggs, poops, and itches like no other. I remember having scabies in India when I was seven years old, but I think this was worse because it covered my entire body. To treat it, I was supposed to take a hot bath and wash my sheets and clothes in hot water everyday. Hmmm...bath?...hot water? Twice a day, I heated up water and bathed out of a bucket in my house, which also worked to clean my floors. And because I wash everything by hand, much of my day was spent leaning over a tub of bleach water.

Before I left for Asunción, I visited the high school because I´m working on an Earth Day festival with them. I had wanted to do something to celebrate Earth Day (which was over a month ago...Paraguayan time), and so I brought my idea to the high school because I had heard that they were already planning a Mother´s Day festival. And who´s the greatest mother of us all? To my delight, they decided to take on the project, and each grade would take a different environmental theme (i.e. garbage and recycling, water contamination, deforestation) and create a project to present on May 16th. Tuesday the plan was to go back to the high school, so that I could answer any questions they had, and generally make sure everything was coming along.

So, I walk into the high school yard, and it´s a complete circus--as usual. There are no teachers in any of the classrooms, a few kids are copying things into notebooks, while others are chasing each other, buying soda, and sucking on candy. There is one 17-year-old kid who pretty much runs the school. I don´t know what they´re going to do without him next year. He´s the one that organizes everything and basically teaches class. He accompanied me to every class and helped me herd students into their seats. When I asked how the projects were coming along, I got blank stares. I soon realized that nothing had been done--not even research. So, I started from ground zero: What is garbage? Is garbage a problem? Why? What are the effects, solutions? I did the same for every class according to their topic. I feel like I gave a quick briefing of the entire environmental movement. At first, I was really frustrated and almost walked out, but I started having fun with it, dancing around the room, so they wouldn´t just stare at me blankly.

By way of motivation, we´ve turned the environment into a contest, and whichever class comes up with the best project gets a prize. So, this morning, I lobbied the governor for financial assitance to take the students on a fieldtrip. We walked into his air-conditioned office, explained our case, turned in the pedido , and with a flick of his pen, he gave us 500,000Guaranies. So, now we´re going to get a sweet trip out of the deal. I hope this thing works out.

I´m now on my way back to site after going to a fiesta at my friend´s site. His youth group hosted the party for a fundraiser, so, of course, I had to go dance. After sleeping in my hammock, and then going out for Japanese food (there´s a large Japanese population in one part of the country), we found a random ferris wheel! And now it´s back to see my puppy. Until next time.