Who Spilled the Beans?

Poroto, Kumanda, Beans!

Here in Parguay, almost every kokue, or small farmed plot, has four main staples: corn, mandioca, sugar cane or pasto, (cattle feed), and beans. Recently, we had the opportunity to help with the bean harvest. As the weather has been extremely dry this year, we all worked together to get the beans out of the field before their pods cracked and the land reclaimed them.

So, off we went at about 6:00am, with our hats and long sleeved shirts, knowing the temperature would rise above 100 degrees before we returned, feed sacks slung over one shoulder, and carrying termos of cold water for terere, (Did I forget to mention the machete? It comes on every trip and is used for everything from removing stickers from pant legs, to hacking at snakes, to punishing a dog- flat side only, of course!).

After a 1 mile walk, we arrived at the bean section of the kokue, were assigned a row, and started picking the beans, by hand. The goal was to fill as many 50 pound feed sacks with bean pods, (dry only- small red bean variety), as we could before it got too hot to work in the sun.

It wasn’t all work though. We spent time laughing, teasing each other about our “bean picking styles”, (heads down with butts up is the norm, sitting will get you a razin’), and of course sharing terere midway through the morning. 

Each day I was able to fill my 50-pound sack of pods, but I was never quite able to balance and carry it on my head as the other woman did. I did try though, and in the process provided lots of entertainment for the others watching my attempts. Fortunately, we did not have to carry our harvest back to the house- an ox cart and a moto took on that task.

The second part of the harvest took place at home. The bean pods were spread out on a tarp, and put in the sun for a day, then, were cracked by hand. 

We spent lots of time sitting in a circle, talking, (mostly listening in our case), and watching the piles of beans grow! 

The family ended up with enough beans to eat for the entire year, plus enough for seed for the next growing season.

On the third day of harvest, I was told that one of the sacks was for Mark and me. Suerte! It yielded 4 ½ , 2 liter bottles full of beans, probably enough to get us though our 2 years of service!

Club de Libros!

I had heard that there were very few books available to kids in Paraguay. It turned out to be true, at least in the town where we are serving. Our town doesn’t have a library- even the school “library” is just a place to house the few textbooks kids use in the classroom.

What, kids without books? It seems like something we take for granted in the states. Luckily we preplanned, before leaving for Paraguay. We were given some books in Spanish by our kids, (cool- from our kids in the US to our kids in Paraguay!), and brought some others with us as well.

One day, I gave it a test run- Would the kids here be interested in books? With their many farm chores and active lifestyles, would sitting and listening or reading in their free time be something they would chose to do? So…. I brought three children’s books, (all of our books are in Spanish), outside, sat under a tree, and began to read, ( a great way to practice my Spanish, too). Before I knew it, I had two kids glued to my sides, listening, pointing to the pictures, trying to see what might be on the next page!

The next day one little boy kept asking about my dog. I kept explaining to him that I didn’t have a dog here, yet he persisted. I figure out that he wanted my book about dogs! So, we brought it out, commenced to reading, and continued to read almost daily.

To take our reading sessions to the next level, I asked an 11 year-old girl if she thought kids would be interested in a book club, or “Club de Libros.” She was all over this idea! Before I knew it we were selecting books to read, planning activities, visiting homes to invite kids, and making carrot cake and apple juice for snack!

Last Saturday we held our first meeting of the “Club de Libros.”

 

 We invited 10 kids, and 16 arrived, half an hour early, (unheard of in Paraguay- everyone arrives late!). While kids arrived, they looked at books independently.



We started with a quick ice breaker where everyone said their names and a topic they liked. Mark, Yeni, and I each read a short book about trees, (the theme Yeni chose), aloud. The kids then drew and colored pictures of trees, (which I bound and added to our book collection).




 Next, everyone read independently or read to the younger kids.



 For every book read, each kid got a “bead”, (section of cut up straw), to add to their necklace, (piece of yarn).  This was followed by an active game of Frisbee, and then finally our homemade carrot cake for snack!

Everyone seemed to enjoy our first “Club de Libros”, so we decided to make it a weekly event, every Saturday morning at 9:00am, (if you’re available, stop by!), next theme chosen, “Animals.” It was so much fun for me to see interest and enthusiasm these kids had for books- I’m not sure about their reading levels at this point how much they were actually “reading”, but it doesn’t matter- they were enjoying books!

Maybe a library project is something the community might be interested in pursuing…. Something to consider as a part of our service here?

A Place to Hang Our Hats

We have our own house! A week ago today, we grabbed our backpacks and a few boxes, (in other words, all of our possessions), and walked to the house we will be renting for the next two years. We were so fortunate to find this three bedroom house, completely furnished, with an inside kitchen and bathroom for a mere 300,000 guaranis  per month, ($65.30 US)! An added bonus is the florescent green paint- everyone in town knows where this house is- just look for the glowing green!

 Our Kitcen

It has been so nice to have a little more privacy; to be able to fix our own meals and eat when we want to; spread out a little; and develop a new hobby. Hmmmm, what was that new chord, again?!

In addition, we have a fenced yard to protect our garden from the animals that roam the streets, and have already started two compost piles, (the formerly mentioned animals are regular contributors to this project).  

 

We have started to clear a space for our garden, though won't begin planting until March. In the mean time, Mark prepares to sharpen his machete and hoe on our back patio.

 

We’ve had visits from neighbors, who have generously presented us with gifts: a painted sombrero, (check it out on our kitchen wall); a sack of mandioca, (a staple in Paraguay); a plastic bag that held a chick with half of its feathers missing, (yes, it was and still is alive!); and a flour sack that held a full-grown hen. Two chickens, no feed, no cage. What did we do? We built a cage from wood, screen, and door parts from around the house, made a waterer out of a soda bottle, and fed them some left over rice. Somehow, the hen escaped from the shed sometime during the night, (prior to the completion of the cage). Yes, that’s right, the nice hen with feathers flew the coop. At that point we were left with little Peky, (pronounced Paku, which means little/immature in Guarani), who seemed right at home in his new abode. The following night we were presented with three more chickens!

 

"Peky"

So there you have it- a nice place to hang our hats, plenty of space to grow veggies, friendly, generous neighbors, and a growing chicken farm. Who could ask for more?!

Got Milk?

It is common for a family to have 1 to 7 milking cows on small family farm here in Paraguay. I purposely didn’t say dairy cows because they are all purpose- for meat or milk, a mixture of Brahama and ?  It’s been interesting to observe the process, which goes like this:

1. At about 2:00pm all of the calves are brought in from the street, put into a pen and tied to a tree or fence. All calves have a rope tied around their necks, which drags behind them throughout the day. The calves spend the day munching on chopped sugar cane and grass, and drinking water to which salt is added.

2. At 8:00am the following morning, the cows are brought into the pen and tied near their calves.

3. One cow’s back legs are tied or hobbled, with rope. Her calf is then led over and guided by hand to suck on each teat, causing the milk to start flowing.

4. The calf is then quickly retied and the cow is milked by hand.

5. When the cow is finished being milked, the rope is removed from her back legs. The cow and calf are released together to graze/ nurse for about five hours before the calves are brought in, again.

The seven cows on this particular farm, give about five gallons of milk, total, each morning. With the exception of a little milk for the morning cocido, (mate, lots of sugar, and milk), all of the milk is made into cheese. The five gallons of milk is enough to make one large cube of cheese, (see a previous blog for this process), which is used for home consumption or sold. I was told that the cheese brings in more “plata” than the milk does, besides, I haven’t seen anyone drink a glass of milk since we’ve been in Paraguay.

Quite a different process than in the states- maybe a more appropriate title for this post would have been “Got Cheese?”