Festival of San Juan!

Last weekend was the festival of San Juan, the patron saint of San
Juan Bautista. The festival revolves around playing with fire- and the
school in Jhugua was no exception! Imagine our surprise when the
principal took a ball of rags, soaked it in kerosene, lit it on fire
and kicked toward the kids, who ran screaming, and continued to kick
the flaming ball at each other!

Just a little fun playing with fire!

A pole, about 20 feet tall was placed on the playground, with a bag of treats attached to the top. Next, the pole was drenched in grease, left over from several fried traditional foods being sold as fund-raisers. All of the boys scrambled to reach the top of the pole, stepping on each other, climbing over each other, falling on each other. Finally, one boy, with the help of his friends, made it to the top of the pole and retrieved the bag of goodies!

Fund raiser- Cooking chipa, (corn bread), on sticks. You can imagine the jokes being told around this fire!

Next, two coins were attached to the back of a frying pan with a thick sugar cane syrup. The pan was hung from an extension cord nailed between two trees. The kids took turns licking the back of the frying pan until one lucky student ended up with the coins in his mouth!

How many licks does it take?

Of course, how could I forget the sack races; “Draw the Tail on the Pig” while blindfolded; musical chairs, and the dance by grade-level competition?

Does the tail go here?

But that's not all... Mark was talked into being the “Toro Candil”. He
wore a black cape and held a stick with a torch lit on both ends against
his head and chased the kids like a flaming bull! In the process he
burned the hair off his fingers and got a blister from one burn- but
boy was he the hit of the festival!

Mark as the "Toro Candil"

The finale included three more kerosene- soaked flaming balls being kicked toward and between the students, with more wild shrieking and tearing around the playground.

The Festival of San Juan was quite the experience. I can’t wait to introduce this cultural gem to the school where I am placed when I return to the states. You think I’ll get my Superintendent’s blessing?

A Visit From Home

Our friends Mary Jo and Charlie came to visit us from the states. After their 6000 miles of cramped legs, meals on board, and two layovers, we met them at the at 2:30am. It was so exciting to see our neighbors, from home, in the Paraguayan airport- a little surreal, actually.

Our visit and vacation was a whirlwind of activity. We spent a few days in Asuncion, catching up on sleep, eating good food, and sharing stories. Charlie rented a car, and we were off to Arazape. While in town we visited our two schools, delivered books, saw  Porto Garata, then made it back to the house to start dinner. Emily stayed with us that evening as well.

500 Books for the school in Arazape!

The following morning we attended the Ovecha Rague- an event our community has been preparing for all year. The beautiful wool items, created by local artisans, were on display, including a parade, and lots of typical foods.

Ovecha Rague

Onward to Encarnacion, and the Jesuit Ruins of Jesus and Trinidad. The sound and light show at Trinidad was fantastic! Mary Jo and Charlie were troopers through the rain and even used some Spanish along the way! 

Jesuit Reductions

Smile!

Next we headed to Ciudad de Este, where the real adventure began. We were pulled over twice, as expected, by the police. We were told to expect to be asked for money, (bribes), but with Charlie’s international driver’s license our Peace Corps ID’s , we were sent on our way without being asked for a dime, (or quiniento)! We nearly went over the bridge to Brazil, (for which we had no visas), but Charlie’s keen eye and expert driving skills, maneuvered us through a space in the cement partition, and got us headed in the right direction. Good thing, too, as if we did end up in Brazil without visas, we would have been detained and fined heavily, (we joked about handcuffs, pero probablamente no).

Finding the ferry to cross the boarder to Argentina took four stops and four kind Paraguayans patiently directing our way, some correct, some not. Again, thanks to Charlie’s quick U turns, Mark’s skills as navigator, and Mary Jo and my determination to keep our backseat driving to a minimum, we made it to the ferry.

Crossing the river on the ferry, we made it to Argentina. A pretty special crossing, actually, as the river touched the three boarders of Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina- 3 South American countries in 15 minutes!

After spending the night in Porto Iguazu and eating more wonderful food, we headed to Iguazu Falls. In two words, Absolutely Amazing! The shear force of the falls created strong wind and left everyone drenched! Rainbows were created by the lower falls, as butterflies, coatis, turtles and fish were spotted along the way. We hiked and again, ate more wonderful food!

Just two of the many falls at Iguazu

Finally, we started our trek back to Asuncion. We were stopped by another police officer who we thought asked us if we had any “contraband.” After assuring her we had no contraband, we realized she was saying “contramano”, (the wrong way), looked up and saw the one-way sign. We had a big laugh about that one- while the officer kept a straight face- Loco Nortes!

What a wonderful adventure we had with our buddies from the states! When I announced that I had made the decision that they “were not allowed to leave Paraguay”, Mary Jo and Charlie continued on their way to Costa Rica to celebrate their anniversary, anyway. Were they not listening?

Thanks again, Mary Jo and Charlie!

Yesterday, a fellow volunteer asked me about my favorite part of our trip, as she was planning a trip to the same locations. The decision was an easy one for me, but unavailable to her. My favorite part was the sharing of time, opinions, laughs, and conversations, with two special friends who came all the way to Paraguay to visit us!

Garden Growing

One of the goals of our Peace Corps service is to grow a demonstration garden designed to introduce Paraguayans to new gardening techniques, introduce a variety of new vegetables, and encourage healthy food choices. An added personal goal- to grow fresh veggies for our table! Currently we have to take a one-hour bus ride to access a market that sells anything more than the “trinity”, onions, peppers and tomatoes.

And so the process began…… first, we removed the sod from the area where our new garden was to be located. Then we, well mostly Mark, used the “double dig” method to prepare six tablones, measuring 1 x 3 meters each, with an additional tablon measuring 1 x 8 meters.

Double digging beds- two feet deep

During this process, we incorporated the rich, dark compost produced by the three compost piles started as soon as we moved into our house. After raking and smoothing our seedbeds, we began planting, using seeds and some transplants started in egg cartons.

Covering seeds with sand to reduce "damping off" of seedlings

Having experienced a shortage of veggies, we splurged when it came to purchasing seeds! Our garden boasts healthy crops of : peas; lettuce; tomatoes; carrots; chard; beets; garlic; onions; potatoes; peppers, radishes; broccoli; cauliflower; sage; rosemary; mint; basil; some medicinal herbs; and kumanda yvyra’i, (a nitrogen-fixing bean). For some reason, our spinach and cabbage didn’t fair too well, despite two plantings.

Battling leaf cutter ants

We do our best to combat the weeds and leaf cutter ants, although the later really took a toll on my feet! (another story for another day).

Weeding- a never ending process!

The results of our work have been delicious! So far, we have been eating the lettuce, peas, radishes, and broccoli. Today, a neighbor watched me, wide eyed, pluck a snow pea from the vine and chew it up. It took some coaxing, but she tried one, too. Before we knew it, both she and her brother were picking and crunching on that snow pea goodness!

Tomato plants nearly as tall as I am!

It has been so much fun sharing our garden, vegetables and transplants, with our neighbors and encouraging them to start their own gardens!