Poco a Poco

-So because I felt like my last post really sucked I made a serious effort to brainstorm some interesting cultural things. Here is goes:

- My family is always asking me "Do you want to shower?". I find it incredibly strange considering I’m 23 years old and am pretty good at determining when I’m ready for a shower. I know you must be thinking, "You obviously smell terrible and nobody has the heart to tell you." Despite the fact that I think I smell like roses, I’m constantly burring my head in my armpit to check on the current situation. One conclusion as to why they’re so inquisitive about my shower habits is that because it’s usually so hot throughout the year they shower like crazy…It just so happens that it’s not that hot yet. Another conclusion is that they are very particular about the order things should go in. Maybe they think I should have to shower before eating dinner. For example, I have to brush my teeth before I drink mate with my dad every morning.
- Speaking of drinking mate…I’ll take you through my typical morning real quick. I wake up at about 6 (I usually go to bed at about 9 or 10) and read for a bit. So then I get up at 6: 30 and drink mate with my dad. He lies in bed and I pull up a chair. Meanwhile, we watch the equivalent of Paraguay’s "The Today Show". The best part of this time is that as opposed to only talking about headlines, they literally put a camera on the headlines of the newspaper and color the day’s news. I sit there with my pen and dictionary and jot down words I don’t know. The whole time I’m doing this I get the feeling that my dad is thinking "when is this weird ass American going to put down that damn dictionary and start making me some breakfast".
-They love to iron their clothes here. There are very few luxuries people have here but one of them is definitely an iron. They iron every single piece of clothing they have. From their t-shirts to their socks. It’s quite astounding.
- They are incredibly indirect. If anybody needs anything from you, you’re sure to hear about it from someone besides the person that needs that thing. Therefore, they never give answers of yes or no. If you ask them a yes or no question you’re sure to beat around the bush until you get the point. For example, if someone is trying to sell you something and you don’t want to buy it you say "another day" or "later".
- The gossip around town is unreal! If I so much as blow my nose all my neighbors are sure to know about it. What makes this really weird is that when I see my neighbor later that day he’ll ask me…"So I heard you blew your nose earlier?" And then for some reason they expect you to comment on things that you’ve done as if they just asked you what the meaning of life is.
- People here don’t do anything alone or go anywhere alone. If I want to go somewhere my little brothers will ask me "do you want me to come with you?" If I was to say no they would be really thrown for a loop. So taking a walk by yourself just for the hell of it is kind of out of the question. The idea of family is the central theme of everything they do.
- They don’t really have trash cans. The only trash can in my house is the one next to the toilet. Therefore, all of their trash just goes on the floor. For example, when we are done eating bread and there are a million crumbs on the table (because there are no plates) they just wipe them on the floor until the floor is swept. Sweeping in general is a huge thing. Because they don’t have paved roads, there is always red dirt all over your feet and shoes. And they don’t take their shoes off before entering a home…so it wouldn’t be uncommon at all to sweep the floors of your house 3 times a day. In conclusion, the floor is the trash can, with all sorts of trash. Then they burn their trash in a hole in the ground behind the house.
- There is absolutely no such thing as too personal of a question. For every single thing I own there has been the question of "how much does that cost?". I have been asked many times about my sex life, why I only have one sibling, if my eyes are natural etc…all in the initial meeting. While I had a beard, someone even asked me if I was trying to look like a terrorist.
- On the public busses there are vendors that hop in and out selling everything from food, gum and bread to socks and movies. Nothing would surprise me at this point.
- People share all the drinks. For example, if sharing some after dinner dessert, aka coca cola, you would pour one glass and pass it around. At more social functions they love to combine the Coke with wine. That one took a minute to get used to but I’ve started to come around. They drink their beer with the same sharing style and sometime combine it with Coke also. It makes it very tricky to know how much you’ve drank because everyone is essentially just taking sips out of the same glass all night.
- Girls become adults at the age of 15 here; so there is huge party. After that point they are eligible to date a man of any age. The courting process if full of home visits with the family until you can escape to a "love motel" where you have to get it on by the hour. Another option is to tell someone indirectly that you’ll be leaving your window open that night. Flirting can be done through excessively long staring matches, scratching the inside of someone’s hand during a handshake, or by telling someone "say hi to that person if you see them". It’s called sending saludos. Those are just the beginning…
2 more things. Last week I visited an organic/permaculture farm where a family of 10 is almost completely self sufficient on less than an acre of land. It was the most interesting day I’ve had yet. We had this Paraguayan hippie lead us through his farm explaining how everything on the farm works for some purpose. Every output from a plant or animal is an input for something else. For example, the poop from the cows and chickens go into the compost pile with other organic products like leaves on the ground and peels from the grapefruit tree. Then the compost pile becomes the fertilizer for the crops. The crops not only feed the family but also their animals. (very basic example) They are even energy independent. They use what is called a bio-digester to produce gas. A bio-digester is a tube like thing where you put water, animal waste, and plant waste into until the right chemical reaction takes place. Then they run a hose out of it to the kitchen where they use the gas from the bio-digester to heat the food. They also sell products like homemade jam and eggs for income generation.

The other day I got back from what is called "long field practice". I went with two others in my group to visit a volunteer, Greg, for a week. We had an absolute blast. Greg lives in a town right on a lake and you have to go across a 2.5 kilometer barge to get there. Upon arriving on the other side it absolutely gorgeous. There are huge banana fields as far as the eye can see and the lake often times serves as a backdrop. The volunteer has spent a large part of his last two years setting up a radio station and working with the cooperative that’s main purpose is banana production. Because his site is very rural he mainly speaks Guarani…fluent Guarani I should add. (he also speaks fluent Spanish now too) It was absolutely amazing seeing him mash it up in this crazy sounding dialect. Very inspirational but also a bit intimidating…as one person from our group is going to be his replacement. I’ve kind of got my fingers crossed that I get his site because I requested a very rural site and I know of a few of the other future sites that aren’t quite so out there. He also did great work while he was there, so by following him I’d already know the people in his town have had a positive experience working with PC volunteer. I’ve only one more week until I find out…ridiculously exciting. Highlights of the week include; going swimming/bathing in the lake, crapping in a hole for a week, having my buddy kill a chicken and then I plucked out all the feathers (we then ate it for lunch), and just walking through incredible banana fields.
The next time I write I’ll know my site! Jajotopata.

Check out Paulette's blog for more pictures and info peacecorpsparaguay.blogspot.com