Today marks just over one month of time that I have spent in Paraguay. And the other day as I sat in my front yard on the corner beneath my mango trees sucking out the juice of a grapefruit (also from a tree in my yard) as I watched my chickens running around, I decided that I have already begun to take a lot for granted in this country which I am fallin in love with. So, I made a list of about ten things that I thought were strange but that I now take for granted, and passed it around to most of the other PVC´s (Peace Corps Volunteers, this will be the last time I write out this abbreviation), letting them vote for their favorite four and add a write in nomination if they pleased. The results are below:
#10 Learning that chickens sleep in trees.
#9 Getting stared at wherever you go. Yea, there aren´t many gringos around these parts. The whole town notices whenver we go anywhere, its kind of ridiculous.
#8 The use of brooms to sweep away animals (out of a house, away from a fire, etc.)
#7 Throwing food scraps anywhere on the ground. Not that this one is necesarily unique to Paraguay, b/c I did this in rural Ireland when I was there as well. But I remember the look of confusion my host mom first gave me when I asked her what I should do with my banana peel. Tira en la calle!! she said. Throw it in the street!! She said this as if I had just asked her what country I was in. Since that moment i´ve had a blast...grapefruit peels, lime peels, whatever! Tira en la calle! It´s biodegradable anyway!
#6 The number of people that can fit on a bus. If you read my last post, you already know that the collectivos here are crazy crowded at peak hours.
#5 Cows being loaned out as lawnmowers. My mom here does NOT own a lawnmower. Why, when the vaca from across the street will gladly spend the day munching on some fresh grass that is our front lawn? Problem solved.
#4: Trash Fires. I have a ziplock baggie full of garbage from my first month here. I think I minimized my amount of trash pretty well; however, I have been wondering what to do with it. This morning I woke up and it smelled like a plastic factory was burning. I think I have my answer to what I am going to do with that plastic baggy...yea they burn a lot of the trash here, at least in my specific area.
#3 Ice in Bags. Now this doesn´t mean ice CUBES in bags, but rather, little clear plastic bags are filled with water, frozen, and then broken with a hammer when the ice is needed. I have not seen one tray of ice the whole time I have been here. Personally, this is my number one. I love ice in bags; it cools your drink off so much more efficiently. Already planning on bringing this one back to the U.S. in a couple of years.
#2 Saying ´Adios´ instead of ´hola´when passing people. You how in the U.S., sometimes when passing someone you say ´hey, hows it going?´ and then that person actually stops to talk to you, and an awkward conversation ensues? Worry not about that in Paraguay. If you don´t want to have a conversation with someone when you are walking by, you just say ´adios!´ and keep on rolling. Goodbye! Problem solved. I love it.
#1 Families of five riding on motorcycles. I am not surprised at all that this is occupying the #1 spot. EVERYONE and their little brother rides a motorcycle in Paraguay. My little brother here is 11 and rides one locally. I regularly see three people riding one, usually families. Five is the most I have seen or have heard of anyone seeing, and it included a baby, a couple of toddlers, a mom and dad. Sadly, very dangerous too, and moto accidents are one of the number one causes of death in the country.
So, there you have it, probably not as riveting as one of Lettermen´s lists but interesting nonetheless. Now, I would like to respond directly to some questions that people have been posting:
Q: Does Abel have a group of neighborhood friends? It seems like it'd be tough for him to stay busy all the time.
I am pretty sure Abel is related to 40 percent of my neighborhood so he has a lot of friends relatives to chill with. Honestly he stays busy though. school in Paraguay for him goes from 7 am until 11 am, and he spends the rest of the day playing soccer and working out.
Q: Also, why are Bolivian bus ceilings so short--do bolivianos top out at around 5'7"?
I´m not sure, but my Paraguayan friend told me told me they did, so I am inclined to believe her.
Q: What's the Paraguayan news like? Who are the celebrities? What are today's top stories?
I have no idea what the Paraguayan general news is like. I have not seen a newspaper in my neighborhood, and my host mom does not watch ANY tv, so therefore I am not exposed to any news. We don´t even know what the weather is going to be like tomorrow, let alone the political situation. Honestly, news here is very, very local and gossipy. People like to hear the news about their own town. For example, when I got stranded in a town one over from mine and couldn´t get home until 4 am last Saturday because of the lack of busses, my entire town new this before I woke up Sunday morning. As for celebrities, Soccer players are the most well known icons. Perhaps Paraguay´s best player, Salvador Cabañas, got shot in the head while at a bar in Mexico and this was pretty big news.
Q: Mick, Fiona and I read in Guinness book of Records that Paraguay consumes the most tea. It probably ain't Lipton's? What kinds? There must be tea shops the way we have coffee shops? But that is coffee bean country, no?
The tea that they are talking about is most likely terere. It is consumed cold, and is a great way to rehydrate on a hot day if you have been working in the fields, or just hanging out with your friends and want something cool to drink. Terere is such a big component to Paraguayan culture that in the future I will probably devote a whole post to explaining the nuances of it all. Coffee isn´t very popular here. There are few coffee shops, whichy did indeed surprise me as well when I got here since we are so close to Brazil. I guess Paraguay is just ouside of coffee bean country.
The picture link to the right now works. That´s all for today. Hasta la proxima,
Mick
excellent post, senor. i think i'm going to stick with ice trays, but the cow idea is good. bring that to the states.
ReplyDeleteWhen can I come visit?
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