Sunday, April 10, 2011

Striking Oil

3/30/2011
Today we had our second “Tapeopovo” (treasure hunt). The first one was neither exciting nor fun, which is why I chose not to dedicate an entire blog to writing much about it. Pretty much Peace Corps divided us into groups of two, gave us two places to visit along with a list of questions, and oh yeah, sent us out to find the answers alone…our 3rd week in PY. However on a less-frustrating note, this time we were given a choice as to with whom we wanted to travel and more importantly, where we wanted to go. I was a little hesitant to go after just re-cooperating from a horrible 5-day virus (including 1.5 days in the city hospital L), but I decided to go since it was meant to be super “tranquilopa” (calm in Guarani). Of course I went with Rose and we chose to go in search of sandals and shirts at “Mariscal Lopez Shopping”. However, first we stopped at a bookstore near by to not seem entirely obvious about our craving for air conditioning. The name of the bookstore we visited was called “Books”, why the American name I’m not too sure; however, it’s possibly because of the giant selection of current best-sellers, cookbooks, travel guides, and children’s books in ENGLISH. Unfortunately, reading isn’t exactly a valued pastime here. Newspapers are a luxury and children’s leisurely reads are usually their textbooks (and that’s only if the schools have enough for each child, and/or trust them to take home and return- which most schools do not). Plus what kid in any country would want to read the book they study from everyday let alone enjoy reading it?  So naturally, book prices in general are ridiculous, new book prices are even more ridiculous, and new/current American book prices: forget about it! This store “Books” did claim to have a “oferta” (sale) section which consisted of books with missing or torn pages yet “40% off” still cost 30 G’s. Rose and I booked it (pun intended) on out of there pretty quickly, especially since the store clerk wasn’t particularly friendly nor patient with our questioning. Afterward, we headed across the street to Shopping Mariscal where we roamed each of the three floors. Before entering, Rose and I made a deal that she would go with me to get ice cream if I went with her to find real coffee. Almost immediately we stumbled upon a Starbucks-like coffee shop in the middle of the mall. Rose ordered an espresso and I simply rested while enjoying the scenery’s scents (I’m no caffeine feign but the aroma is soothing). Twenty minutes later or so, we skimmed the other two floors. No luck for me, but Rose did finally find some sandals she liked and bought although neither of us appreciated the salesladies’ stalker-like approach to helping us. Next, we found the food court and since we share a love of culinary creativity, naturally we decided upon “Belini’s”. This pasta bar consists of customers selecting from behind  glass between 4 types of pastas, pointing to up to 8 ingredients, stating either “red or white sauce” and chefs on the other side of the glass preparing the meal right before your eyes….in OLIVE OIL. Rose and I were in heaven! I crafted an alfredo-based dish, while Rose assembled a spicy marinara-based one and we both cleaned our bowls with the free dinner rolls. The portions were huge and the meal included a drink only cost 25 G’s total…no wonder the line extended through half the second floor! Whoever thought of this idea is a genius because Paraguayans love it just as much, and PY is rich in fresh fruits and veggies so who wouldn’t appreciate ingredients from their own soil? This meal was by far the BEST non-Paraguayan dish I’ve had since I’ve been here (Sorry SUGU, but you’re a close second). To top of the day, we found my ice cream shop and both indulged in some atypical flavors: peach for Rose, and reverse turtle tracks for me (caramel outside, solid chocolate cookie drops instead of turtles inside). SIDE NOTE: I know it seems that most of my really amazing days involve food lol, and this is true. BUT, you have to understand that when you’re in another country and you find something familiar, you cling to it without neither hesitation nor lack of enthusiasm, period. So judge not people, judge not lest you yourself decide to embark on a journey similar as mine J
Rose & I before our Asuncion Adventure!

Carpinteros in Caacupe

3/17/2011
Rose, Silvia (our language prof.) and myself
Trip Numero 2 is called ¨LFP¨ (Long Field Practice) and usually involves visiting yet another city or town in Paraguay BUT together with your language class and teacher. My class and I went to a city called Caacupe, which is a pretty big city. It´s located right along the ruta (highway) which has it´s ups and downs. For example: Easy access to Asuncion= Up; School on one side of the ruta, playground on other =Down. We met up with another volunteer named Alyssa who is going to swear-out (finish her 2 year service) this month. Our schedule pretty much consisted of either going to the local elementary school and reading a story with a different grade level or going to the colegio (local high school) to play a dinamica (dynamic game) with the students. We had a lot of fun, yet in the lower grades like kindergarten-2nd most of the kids only spoke the local language (Guarani), so to communicate with them our language teacher had to step in. The trip in itself was a LOT of work. Before visiting the schools, our time was spent planning our lessons for the day, and after visitations our time was spent in language class. It was nice to have a change in setting for language class, but frustratingly enough the days were planned out to be just as long as if we were back at the training center. Also we all fell in love with the “carpintero” (carpenter ) family and were partly anxious to spend more  time with them. For each of these trips, the Peace Corps volunteer we go to visit must find a “host family” for us to stay with. Indeed these families are always reimbursed for our usage of food, water, and electricity yet sometimes it’s still not an appeasing offer for whatever reason. Por suerte (luckily), this particular group of woodworking families were kind enough to take us in for a few days, and they turned out to be THE nicest people I have yet to meet in PY. I ended up staying with Rueben and his family, Rose stayed with A and his family, and our other classmate stayed with the parents of these two men. SIDE NOTE: Of course our language teacher Silvia was put up in the city’s nicest hotel, despite her jokily telling those we encountered that she too was an American, specifically from Los Angeles). I was boarded up in a room with Rueben & Emmi’s 4 children: 3 daughters-Mari (butterfly ), Adi (+), Monica ($), and the only son- Abel (a bell ). Big families here are very common so to help me remember everyone’s names, I created a word/symbol for each person (as seen in parenthesis above).  As well there was Sandra, Emmi’s niece who hangs out a lot at the house and is clearly best friends with Mari, but doesn’t live with the family. Also roaming freely were two dogs, a puppy, a mama cat that gave birth to kittens in the backseat of the family’s idle Volkswagon and who could forget… “Abuela” This loving elderly woman and mother of Emmi, had a small apartment behind the family home and could consistently be found either busy making the sweetest Guava jelly you could ever imagine or insisting on conversing in Guarani with me. Adi (+) loved to pass us by while giggling “Grandma, she doesn’t understand you.”, and although she was right Abuela always shooed her away and carried on with our chat. I’ll admit I still have no idea til’ this day what we discussed lol, but I know it was surely pleasant because afterwards I was always given a big wet kiss on the forehead. On our final day in Caacupe, instead of the usual lunch with our families, we were instructed to pack the night before so that after visiting the schools one last time we could leave to have lunch in the city. I attempted unsuccessfully to have the plan changed so that we could enjoy one more lunch together with our families, but thankfully we were given some time for goodbyes. Abuela gave me another kiss for the road, as well as, some of her delicious marmalade. All of the girls wrote me notes which I found in my bag later, and Emmi handed me her phone number with tears in her eyes insisting that I call anytime and better come back to visit. How could one not adore such a warm and welcoming family? After hugging them all and slipping notes into each of their hands, I reassured them I would at least make a special trip back for Mari’s Quince (15th birthday) in May and then my group and I all had to leave. Our last stop in the heart of Caacupe was SUGU; a German owned and run Swiss café. The owner spoke fluent Spanish, French, English and obviously German. He served us a full 3-course meal: salad, entrée, and dessert for 20 G’s (Guarani is also the name of PY money). This cost converts to about 5 U.S. bucks therefore well worth the price and the walk. The salad was drizzled with vinaigrette dressing, the pasta had fresh basil atop, and the dessert was delightful peach sorbet. The restaurant décor and not to mention the meal itself had us all forgetting what country we were in. All in all, it was a great trip, amazing people, and a fantastic meal to end on, wouldn’t you agree?
Love Notes from my adoring (and adorable)  host sisters 

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

The Great Debate

Unlike American culture, MOST of the people of Paraguay are VERY blunt. If someone thinks you're fat, ugly, have an unusual eye shape, or whatever- they say something about it. (Side note- I  do find it comical that MANY Paraguayan men have unibrows  but I have yet to meet someone with such a nickname, despite it's palpability lol) It's also very common for these comments to become your potential nickname. For example, I got into this rough conversation with my host brother about this part of Paraguayan culture and how it's very hard for Americans to hear/accept because we find  it very offensive. I asked him if Paraguayans ever got offended and he said no and even used himself as an example..."They call me hairy boy for a reason" he said as he proceeded to lift up his shirt to caress his bear chest. OK. The point is NOT whether or not these comments are true, the point is it's not always necessary or very nice to point out a person's flaws. I also found out that some Paraguayans are straight up cruel and make comments saying they DO like something... "You look pretty today" or "I like your nails" when they are really poking fun. My host mom isn't the type to point out my flaws per say but she is quick to pull at the sides of her eyes when referring to an Asian volunteer or stretch her arms out wide when an overweight person is nearby. I also made the mistake of asking her if/where I could get my eyebrows done in Guaramabare and ever since she gave me directions, she's been asking when I'm going to go. THANKS. Somedays she tells me I look pretty and I just stare at her because I can't tell if she's going to laugh afterwards if she sees I took her seriously. I simply shake my head. What could I  possibly say to someone who has been taught that it's culturally acceptable to make these sort of comments and gestures? Exactly, NADA. And I dread the day that someone makes a comment about my weight especially. I know I will probably lose it, but funny thing is when I'm angry I speak better Spanish so I doubt I would have trouble communicating my true feelings lol....I think weight in general is a very sensitive subject for women period, I don't care what culture. Let's all just hope that my future nickname is a pleasant one or maybe I should make up my own and spread it around before anyone else gets the chance to make one up for me? Sorry to disappoint but "Brown girl" isn't gonna cut it, friends. AND I don't think I will gain much weight while I'm here since I've already lost 5 lbs, but if I become known as a little "gordita" (fatty) someone is gonna get hurt!