April Killers. Brandon Flowers.

Saludos from Capilla Cue!

So we’re now 4 months into 2013 and time is flying by here in Paraguay. My first attempt at no shave March ended with success. That’s right, I grew out my first beard…

It started after a few days of not shaving and then I decided why not… wait until St. Patrick’s Day and then Easter to complete a full month. The timing with Easter led to many biblical references amongst community members. It also worked out that my bearded self was present at my first ever Killer’s concert which was a blast. My favorite part of the night was definitely hearing “All These Things That I’ve Done” live. There were also fireworks, Brandon Flower gave a go at Spanglish several times throughout the night and surprisingly most of the Paraguayan concertgoers seemed to know more of the lyrics in English to their songs than I did…

My trip into the Capitol for the Killers concert made me miss out on the traditional Holy Wednesday chipa making madness but I did still receive more than enough Chipa from neighbors and friends to see me through my last year here in Paraguay…

This year I was also asked to help out with the preparation of the Easter Sunday morning procession to the church. In my community they have a tradition that in the wee hours of the morning on Easter Sunday three groups of singing and lantern bearing people of faith make the procession from their neighborhoods with each group carrying a statue of one of three religious figures (Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Saint John) until they all meet up at the central church for Easter Mass. To prepare for the procession many community members line the streets with candles and torches to literally light the way of the parishioners to their Sunday morning church service.

This year I helped out gathering together hundreds of plastic bottles which we then cut in half and filled with sand to be used as candleholders. On Holy Saturday we placed our candleholders on the sides of the roads and then woke up after a short rest at 2am to place the candles, waiting to lit them until we heard the chanting parishioners on their way. I hope to share some more pictures here with you soon to share in the Paraguayan Easter traditions.

In the meantime I wanted to leave you with a video that I made to help promote the campaign to fund the third Paraguay Verde (Green Paraguay) national youth environmental camp. Thank you to all those of you who donated to the cause. You will be pleased to know that not only did we meet our goal but we actually passed it! That means this years camp to be held May 30 – June 1st is sure to be even bigger of a success than the past two camps and I’ll be sharing more news and photos from the camp here on my blog

Cheers, Mateo

Remembering Francisco

Francisco Ojeda Santa Cruz

I’ve been meaning to write this post for sometime now but it’s been difficult figuring out just how to express what I’m about to. Faithful readers of Vaughan’s Voice have heard me talk about Emigdio and Emigdia. They are indeed my closest family here in Capilla Cue. The father, Emigdio, is a farmer and member of the agricultural committee that I’ve been working with. I’ve gone with him to the fields to plant corn, harvest lima beans and most recently peanuts. The mother, Emigdia, is a homemaker and together we’ve enjoyed baking a number of “healthy” recipes including banana bread, carrot cake and even guacamole which the whole family loved and which I’m looking forward to making again soon. Their younger son, Favi, is a member of AJAC, our eco-club, and has gone with me to 2 Peace Corps camps, the second Paraguay Verde camp and most recently the Imaginarte camp.

The unfortunate news I must share is that the nearly constant laughter and happiness that I so appreciate when visiting their house was abruptly silenced when we heard the news last month that their older son, Francisco, had been killed in a car accident. Francisco had just turned 21 last October and he lived and worked as a mechanic in the nearby city of Paraguari, often coming home to visit on weekends and sometimes weeknights. The night of the accident I visited his family’s house as I do quite often. Francisco arrived at the house right before his parents headed out to a birthday party. We talked and joked as was common. Francisco was one of those people who always had a smile on his face and radiated more youthful energy than anyone else I’ve ever met. He was also always filled with jokes and knew how to dance, two attributes he most certainly passed on to Favi, who is equally as energetic and full of fun humor.

When I first heard of Francisco’s passing I truly couldn’t believe it. After all, I had just seen him the night before. I also was really worried what how his mom, dad and only brother would deal with the sudden loss. The first few days were very difficult. Dealing with loss in one’s own culture and expressing sympathy in one’s own language is difficult enough but doing so in a different language and cultural context is even more difficult. I wasn’t sure of the appropriate words to use and I didn’t know how to let Francisco’s family know that “I’m there for them” so I just tried and to be there physically in their house, ready to help with whatever I could whether that be scooping up cow manure or raking leaves. It’s now been just over a month and Francisco’s family has been doing better. They are strong in their faith and thankfully Favi has not lost his positive energy or sense of humor. Of course, the process of healing for Francisco’s family is sure to take time and I ask that you please send your thoughts and prayers their way. 

2013

So we’ve already begun the 3^rd month of 2013 and I’m just now getting around to posting my first blog. I’ve been meaning to write it ever since I got back from my trip to the States for the holidays. My trip was a short two-weeks but it was great to spend time with family and friends, some of my favorite people on the planet really, after over a year of being away and largely out of touch.

After my trip home for the holidays I attended an arts camp called “Imaginarte” with two members of our environmental youth club AJAC. Oscar and Favi had a great time at the camp as they learned hands-on about the many different mediums of art and the ways in which art can be used to support social change. Instead of camp shirts all youth received black shoes which they were then encouraged to paint before shooting a Footloose inspired dance video. PS: The frog’s cameo appearance was totally my idea.

Footloose ImaginARTE from CoCuMu Paraguay on Vimeo.

Also at the camp I saw a music video of John Lennon’s classic “Imagine” translated in Guarani. As I’ve mentioned before, Paraguay is a bi-lingual country where over half the population, including everyone in my community, speaks Guarani, the indigenous language of the Guarani Indians.

While this may be my first email after 2 months of 2013 I’ve only received one card so far in the mail… It’s always great to hear from family and friends in the States so please stay in touch. Write me a letter or email or Facebook message. I want to hear from you and every surprise message or letter really does make my day. So, just incase you’ve misplaced my mailing address(s) yes there are two, here they are.

Unofficial “PO Box” in my nearby city (good for cards, letters and small packages in envelopes)

 

Matt Vaughan
Paraguari,
Paraguari
Paraguay 4000
South America 

Official Peace Corps Address (good for larger packages, anything heavier or in a box)

Matt Vaughan, PCV
Cuerpo de Paz
162 Chaco Boreal c/Mcal. López
Asunción 1580, Paraguay
South America

I look forward to hearing from you all and keeping you updated, hopefully on a more regular basis, here on Vaughan’s Voice.

Saludos de Paraguay,

Matt

A (somewhat) Familiar Fall

The rainless days of winter have finally ended as I’ve passed my 1-year mark in Paraguay. Now everything, the climate, the flora and the fauna has a somewhat familiar feeling to it. The last of the citrus fruits of winter have fallen and now the green mangoes and avocados are starting to grow reminding me that in just a few months we’ll be eating fresh mangoes and making guacamole once again. While it’s not the typical Fally weather I grew used to in Missouri as it’s the second time I’m going through Noche de Halloween and the like here in Paraguay it seems surprisingly familiar. It’s Spring here in Paraguay and the animals are out once more, especially the lizards and yes even a few snakes. While I have yet to encounter any tarantulas like last year I did find a tiny black scorpion in my shower one morning. For those that followed my blog posts from last year you’ll remember how common it is to find animals in bathrooms here in Paraguay.

PCV Visit and Reflections

A few weeks ago I hosted two future volunteers, Grace and Nari, at my site. While last year the PCV visit meant my first trip outside of my training community this year the trainee had become and the trainer and now I was somehow seen as an expert in Guarani. (not quite the case but I have definitely improved) The visit made me realize how lucky I am to be where I am in Capilla Cue. Here I’m not too far from 2 cities and the Capitol yet still surrounded by plenty of nature and a short walk along the sand bottomed stream  leads to our community’s secret waterfall. It might not be Iguaza but it certainly is a treat, especially during summer.

Paraguay Verde 2

Those of you on Facebook should’ve seen all the fotos I posted from the second addition of the national environmental youth camp, Paraguay Verde. This time round I attended with two of our younger members of AJAC, our local environmental club. Fabi and Nery both had a wonderful time and even brought some worms to start composting in their backyards.

Long Field

Just 2 weeks after Grace and Nari’s visit, a group of 5 future volunteers and my former Guarani profesora from Guarambare came to visit my site.  It was slightly stressful organizing housing for everyone and while one of the volunteers got a little sick the rest of the week was great. We tried some honey straight from the harvest, swam in the creek underneath our secret waterfall and planted mucuna, a nitrogen-fixing cover crop in the field in between rows of corn. We also helped cut up some more bamboo to fill in some gaps in the fence surrounding the Puesto de Salud’s vegetable garden. This is part of my effort to re-start the Puesto’s garden and the first priority is protection from the chickens. Chickens in Paraguay are like the aliens in Signs in that if there is a way into the house or the garden they will find a way.

My Garden

So, I’m making some more progress on diversifying my garden beyond just veggies. The papaya plants I’ve been nurturing from seed are starting to get taller and hopefully they’ll have fruit before I have to leave Paraguay. I also recently transplanted 2 banana plants from Don Emigdio and my passion fruit vine is coming along as well. I’ve even planted some ginger root that I picked up from a Super in Asuncion and 2 pineapple plants that a neighbor gave me though the later will certainly not be ready to eat before I leave next year.

Coming up soon….

With Turkey Day just around the corner I’m planning to put my cooking skills to the test as I prepare some holiday classics to share with friends at a Thanksgiving get together next week. Turkey Day is also a big reminder of how fast time is flying by. Next week is my last official day of English Class in the High School as school ends at the end of this month. I’m still trying to push ahead with our environmental youth club’s effort to build a wall made out of soda bottles filled with trash though we’re still short on supplies so that way turn into a 2013 project. I also just received a kit of cameras as part of the Ahecha Paraguay Peace Corps photography workshop. I only have the cameras until December so this month I will be organizing a photography class with some local youth. I’ll be sure to share some of the best pics on here. And, most exciting of all, in just about a month I will be leaving Paraguay for the first time in over a year to reunite with friends and fam for a Christmas American style. I’m looking so forward to seeing old faces in person, hearing Christmas music on the radio and eating A LOT of all American and Chinese, Mexican, etc food that you just can’t find downunder in Paraguay.

A Year In…

This week I’m in the Peace Corps office in Asuncion to meet the new Environmental Conservation Peace Corps trainees that just arrived at the end of September. This special occasion means I’ve finally passed the one-year mark for my time in Paraguay, also the longest period of time I’ve yet been outside my home country. So it seems fitting for me to take this minute and share some of my reflections on a variety of topics from my new viewpoint.

The things I miss

Of course being gone from my homeland for over a year now has made me realize some of the material things that I miss. Things like Raisinettes, cookie dough ice cream, apple sauce, good cheeses of more than one variety, fast and reliable internet to name a few. I lack of reliable internet access is probably the most missed material thing on the list. I’ve felt quite disconnected from the outside world. Back in the States I was a news junkie. Now here I usually have no idea what’s going on in the world. I only hear random news every once in a while but it’s definitely not the daily or even weekly updates I was once accustomed to. I also feel really disconnected from American pop-culture.

What music is on the radio these days? Surely Party Rock’s “I’m Sexy and I Know It” can’t still be as popular in America as it is down here. What youtube hits have come out over the past year? Surely there has to have been some good ones. In my year + in PY I’ve only yet had one night to watch youtube videos and as they were with fellow volunteers they were all mostly PC related and also very old. What movies have come out? I did get to catch a bit of the Oscars live broadcast but have no idea about any of the movies that received awards. And, technology. I know Facebook finally made me change my profile again but the last time I was in the States QR codes were the next big thing and Google was still trying with its social networking concept. Surely there has been some more exciting stuff since that.

But more importantly than pop-culture and news I have missed any good communication with friends and family back home. Thanks to all those that have sent me things. It always is such a nice surprise to find a letter or card waiting for me and while the mail system is super slow I have no problem waiting these days.

America:

After growing up with a desire to travel as far away from my hometown as possible I find it quite surprising how often I think about my home country and even my hometown these days. I have found a greater appreciation in certain important aspects of the American society things like the value of volunteerism, respect for the law and, believe it or not, our education system. That’s right, after being a pretty strong critic of the American education system, my integration into the Paraguayan ed system has reminded me that the American education system actually has a lot of great merits. Teachers and students really do seem to take it more seriously, time in the classroom is actually much greater state-side and critical thinking and more hands-on learning, two foreign concepts here in Paraguay, do seem to have a good impact on students’ overall success in the States.

Flexibility:

Before arriving in Paraguay I considered myself a quite flexible person but Paraguay has definitely taught me a thing or two more about going with the flow and being willing to drop your plans for the day when a new opportunity arises. With PC’s strong focus on cultural exchange and integration into the community I oftentimes feel like it’s my job to willingly drop whatever I’m doing if someone asks me to play soccer, watch a movie or go to some social event.

Reflections on Peace Corps:

So, what is Peace Corps? I’ve been asked that question in 3 languages now and still have no idea how to answer it correctly in any of the 3. Taking the advice of a friend I’ve focused on looking at my Peace Corps service more as a cultural exchange program than anything dealing with “international development.” I’ve heard too many stories of past and current volunteers losing all sense of idealism when going in with the idea of “I’m going to make a difference.” So, to protect at least some of my idealism, I’ve chosen to first and foremost focus my efforts on the cultural exchange part, which I think is really important for all those involved. Then, if any positive changes take place in my community that’s cool too but if not I at least will not finish my service having given up the dream of making a better world.

This first year has already made me much more realistic when it comes to development and such but I would prefer to retain at least a little hope. My first year experience and chats with volunteers and PC staff has also led me to the conclusion that honestly Peace Corps is much more focused on developing the volunteers who are serving than the actual communities. PC Service is just such an interesting thing that you can’t help but learn 1 million new things about yourself, the world and so much more and all of that is sure to help me and other volunteers no matter where we end up after our service. If PC really wanted to focus more on the host countries than it would make more sense to send young adults from the host countries to America for a 2-year volunteer service. But for now it seems there’s no such program.

Language:

So, I haven’t yet become magically fluent in either Spanish or Guarani but I have learned that’s not the important thing. What’s important is being able to communicate and that can be done with hand gestures, strange looks and, yes, laughter. So, yes, my Spanish has improved a TON and I now understand just about 100% of what I hear expect for random new vocabulary and my Guarani has also improved but I’m definitely not fluent “and that’s fine” because it’s really not necessary.

Food:

I continue to learn to make more with less. Finally I’ve mastered a homemade brownie recipe and I’ve also learned to make cream cheese by straining yogurt overnight with a handerkerchiefJ

Gardening

BPC (Before Peace Corps) my only gardening experience was with growing transplants bought from Lowes or the like in a small patch of soil (maybe 2 tomato plants, 2 pepper plants, strawberries and a few random herbs.) Now here in Paraguay I’ve finally got a real garden, or at least half of one as the other half of my fenced in area has yet to be planted. All of the veggies and herbs I’ve got were also all grown from seed and it’s surprisingly not as hard as I thought. In fact, though it’s been difficult finding time to prepare new beds in the garden I’ve found that once things are planting it’s pretty easy to maintain with twice daily watering.

Expectations

Since arriving in Paraguay I’ve found that most of my pre-PC expectations couldn’t have been more wrong. I definitely expected to travel more and for some reason didn’t think I’d be watching any movies. I also expected to be placed in a much more rural place with a much more basic living situation. I never thought I’d have a shower with hot water and a lawn that required mowing. I feel extremely fortunate on one hand but I also sometimes feel guilty or even sometimes I wish I could have the more stereotypical Peace Corps experience. I’ve also always been a huge animal lover which has made it a little surprising that I’ve gone a year without adopting any four-legged friends like many of my fellow volunteers.

So, those are just some of my reflections from a year in Peace Corps Paraguay. I really do miss all my friends and fam. Feel free to shoot me any questions and also for the more US pop-culture informed feel free to fill me in on what’s up with what these days.

Thanks again for reading and hopefully I’ll do a better job at getting some more interesting posts and maybe even some pics on here one of these days. Jahechata!

Mateo

Tanto Tiempo: It’s Been a While

Hey friends, fam and devoted readers of Vaughan’s Voice. I realize it’s been quite a while since my last blog post so I figure it’s about time to update you on all the things that have happened over the last 3 months, or at least give you a few of the highlights.

First of all, I can’t believe it’s now almost been a year since I arrived in Paraguay. Time has flown by much faster than expected and my time here has been marked by many changes. I’ve seen a lot of animals grow up (seriously a ton of little puppies that were newborns when I arrived at site and are now little giants, not too mention all the fast growing chickens, ducks, pigs and such.)            

There have been a lot of changes here over the last few months. In my community my friend and ally the “Doctor Cubano” has left town after receiving a higher position in a nearby community. A new “Doctora” has since replaced him. The Peace Corps country director of several years here in Paraguay also has left to pursue a position state-side and a new country director has arrived. But probably the biggest news out of Paraguay of all, though I’m not sure how much state-side coverage it garnered, is that Paraguay’s former president Fernando Lugo was recently ousted from office in a controversial impeachment trial. There’s plenty of news stories out there with more details if you’re interested but the important thing is that for me and my Paraguayan friends and family life goes on like always and very little has actually changed at all.

 

AJAC: The Association of Young Environmentalists of Capilla Cue

Our environmental youth club that I helped start with two youth in my community is going strong. A few youth and I recently represented the group at a walk for the environment in the nearby city of Paraguari. We are also continuing to gather 2 liter soda bottles and inorganic trash to fill them and make “eco-bricks” that can be used in the construction of benches, walls and even buildings. We’re starting small though. Our hope is to collect enough bottles stuffed with trash to make a small wall next to the local health post. That’s still going to use over 200 bottles though so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the kids in the school will help us make some.

My House

So, I’m now living in my own place and I feel really lucky to be where I am. It’s a nice place with running water, electricity and it even has a hot shower! Quite a while ago I finished painting my room and I’ve decorated the walls with all the cards you all have sent. The singing cards are quite popular with visitors, especially the Christmas pug card that farts Jingle Bells! Thanks MomJ And on windy days often times the cards start randomly opening and singing on their own. I’m also finally getting started planting in my garden. It’s taken much longer than I thought but I’ve finally finished the bamboo fence to hopefully evade the destructive forces of my neighbor’s chickens.

An ongoing culinary adventure

My own home has also given me the place to finally try and learn how to cook… from scratch. You see, for most things, you can’t just buy pre-made mixes or frozen foods that you just have to heat up. You have to make it all from scratch. My most recent success was making my homemade version of Outback Steakhouse’s Awesome Blossom. I swear it tasted just like the real thing! Or, it could be that I’ve just forgotten how the real thing tastes. I also found a pretty good diabetic friendly (or so they say) banana bread recipe that I’ve shared with quite a few neighbors. It uses less sugar, only a little oil instead of butter or margarine and no salt. The bread alone is not likely to drastically change the diets of people in my community and help them reverse diabetes and high blood pressure, two major health problems here, but it’s a small step. And Peace Corps is all about those small steps.

Of course not all of my culinary adventures have been successful. I’m still trying to figure out how to cook dried pulses (beans, split peas and lentils) So far they always end up burnt or still hard. Cooking from scratch isn’t easy and it certainly takes time which is why I never turn down an invite to eat with another family which, thankfully, happens quite frequently.

Lately I’ve been eating some quite bizarre foods and sometimes not always realizing it. One day I visited a local family who have a lot of interesting agricultural projects going on in their house. They have a pond of tilapia, honey bees, a walnut tree, loofahs, and so much more and I always enjoy visiting. This day they invited me to stay for lunch. I said sounds good and then they said BUT… we’re eating DUCK. Or at least that’s what I thought I heard. They asked me if I have ever eaten DUCK before and I said only once but it was rico. Then when it came time for lunch they brought out the bowl and I soon realized we wouldn’t be eating an DUCK for lunch because all that I could see if my bowl was some rice topped with what appeared to be cow’s feet. OH, they had said pata “feet” and I had misheard pato “duck.” Well, I was too embarrassed at this point to explain that this was my first time eating cow’s feet and so proceeded to eat what was in front of me. It actually didn’t taste bad at all it was just quite gelatinous. Believe it or not on my last stop by the house they invited me to lunch but once again said but we’re having cow’s feet again. That time round I had actually eaten it before.

Those of you who’ve been reading my blog might remember my previous experience with mondongo “cow’s intestines” in my training community. Well, I also recently gave that another try when I was told “it’s all in the preparation” so I tried it this time grilled and stuffed with veggies, ground beef and a ton of spices and salt. I will say that I ate quite a bit and it wasn’t too bad at all. And I’ve also recently tried two more traditional meals, cow’s tongue and fried cow’s fat. The last one is supposed to be really good for your health. Just kidding!

Learning SOOOO much

As a first time volunteer in my community if I had to describe my Peace Corps experience I think “highly effective study abroad trip” would do it some justice. I swear in the 7+ months I’ve been in my community. My “light-reading” choices have mostly been focused on organic gardening and agricultural topics and while my own garden at my home is taking a lot of time I have been reaping what I sowed some months ago in the Puesto de Salud (namely tomatoes, green onions and parsley but now the peppers are starting to fruit too and we just planted some radishes the other week.)

I’ve also been getting a lot of hands-on learning out in the fields. I helped harvesting peas and plant corn with one local farmer. I can’t believe it took this long for me to actually plant corn after growing up in corn capitol USA.

My Unofficial PO Box

So, those of you who write to me more often than others know by now that I recently aquired a new unofficial PO Box in the city closest to me, Paraguari, just a 30 min bus ride away. So, you can now feel free to send any postcards, letters or packaged that you would like to my new address. Or you can keep on sending it to the old address to. It’s just that the old address tends to be slower and I have to go into the Capitol to receive it. And yes, I realize the new address looks a little funny and it does have the same name “Paraguari” for the 3^rd and 4^th lines but I swear that’s the address.

 

New Address:

Matt Vaughan

Paraguari,

Paraguari

Paraguay 4000

South America

 

Old address

Matt Vaughan, PCV
Cuerpo de Paz
162 Chaco Boreal c/Mcal. López
Asunción 1580, Paraguay
South America

Thanks Mom, Dad, Tom, Claire, Molly, Charlie, Aunt Margaret and Uncle Matt for all the letters, postcards and packages! They always make my day.

And, if anyone is wanting to send anything a few things that would always be appreciated are chocolate covered raisins, tootsie rolls, marshmallows, graham crackers, chocolate of any kind, (anyone seeing a SMORES theme here?), duct tape and children’s books in Spanish (like The Giving Tree, The Lorax, environmentally themed books ie: with animals and such for kids or books in Spanish like Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings)

Paraguari: my new muni

So, Paraguari, the capitol city of the Department of Paraguari is only about 15K or a 30 min bus ride away from my community. My community is officially in the Department of Cordillera and our municipalidad or city center is Piribebuy, also just 15K from our community, but lately I’ve been spending more time in Paraguari as it has a much better super market, postal service and a restaurant with ample electrical sockets where I can sit down and take advantage of their wifi.

Emigdio y Emigdia

So lately I’ve been spending a lot of time with this new family. The husband and wife, Emigdio and Emigdia, not only share the same name, save one letter, but also the same birthday and were both born here in Capilla Cue. I guess it was meant to be.

I first visited them to make Guacamole back when the avocados were in season. They have two large avocado trees by there house so we took full advantage of the fresh, organic supply until the very last fruits fell off the tree. Now we have to wait until next May to make some more! I also shared my banana bread recipe with Emigdia and she has since made it several times as they also have a ton of banana plants (at least 3 different varieties) in their fields. The father, Emigdio, is a small scale farmer and so I also got the chance to go with him out into the field and harvest some peas and later plant some corn. Favi, their younger son is also in our environmental youth group so I hang out with them quite a bit, especially when they invite me over to share meals:) Though I’m not living with them it certainly does feel like they are my new host family. I often head over  to their house at the end of the day, help Favi feed the cows and round them up into their pen for the night. Then we share mate or terere, a ton of laughs and always plenty of food. 

One night I heard from Favi that his mom was going to be making pancakes for dinner. I was quite intrigued as I hadn’t had any pancakes yet in Paraguay, except those that I had made in my own home. After we finished rounding up their cattle and giving them food we headed into the kitchen to drink mate and check out the pancakes. When Emigdia asked her son to go and pick some lettuce from the garden I was a little confused out how she was going to prepare these Paraguayan pancakes… Then she started chopping up hard boiled eggs and tomatoes and I grew even more intrigued… Once the pancakes were fried to perfection she covered the top of one with mayo, then the lettuce, tomatoes and eggs and then topped with another pancake with mayo. She then sliced it up like a quesadilla… and it was surprisingly DELICIOUS. In-fact it tasted just like a BLT but minus the B. I suppose you could call it a PLT:)

Other Happenings…

I celebrated the 4^th of July BBQ with some other volunteers and Americans at the US Embassy in the Capitol and I ate WAY too much dessert. I also finished 3^rd place in egg toss and waited forEVER for one of those cartoon face drawings but eventually gave up…. Too many kids waiting.

And a bunch of the volunteers in my group got together for a celebration in the capitol of Christmas in Jul, secret santa and all. We even had a guest appearance by a Pirate!

Also, apologies for not posting more photos on here. It takes FOREVER to upload them but I have found that it’s much faster to upload to facebook so feel free to check out more recent pics on there.

Chao!

Mateo

Oh Holy Week

In memory of Pedro

Holy Week in Paraguay. It’s much more than the one day holiday we have in the States. In fact, it felt like a bigger deal than Christmas here and was definitely more traditional and based in religion than it’s commercialized counterpart in the States.

Preparations began before Palm Sunday with several stations of the cross ceremonies in my community. Members of the church came together to form a procession that continued from house to house to read scripture and pray in observance of each station of the cross.

I also was able to experience this tradition on a grander scale in Piribebuy, a larger city just 20 minutes away. The students from local schools dressed up to act out each station of the cross much like we do for Christmas with live nativities in the States… the parade of spectators followed a Jesus carrying his cross through a candlelit street.

To celebrate Palm Friday I went out into the countryside with one of my younger host brothers, Hugo, and we cut down our very own palm tree. In the process I learned that there are several rules involved when you are searching for your own palm. For one, not all palm looking trees are created equal. You can only use one variety called Pindo down here. This variety, fortunately lacks the giant spikes that many other varieties here have. You also have to concentrate all effort on cutting out the new leaf stalks that are emerging from the center of the tree. Yes, that means the easier to reach older leaves are a no-no. The Pindo we ended up settling for, the shortest we could find, was actually surprisingly taller than I had imagined and when Hugo’s attempts to climb a nearby tree to put down the palm and my attempt to ask for a chair or ladder in Spanglish from a German neighbor both failed we were left with no choice but for me to take on my role as a machete wielding giraffe. Thankfully after a few, okay QUITE a few, swings, we had our palms, just in time for Sunday’s service.

After Palm Sunday my younger host brother, Lucas, discovered a random DVD copy of Moses which happened to only be in English or Portuguese. We ended up settling on watching it in Portuguese with English subtitles. I could read the subtitles and my host dad, supposedly, could understand the dialogue. The rest of the family just watched and every once in a while would shout out. “Oh, I know what that means! I’m so clever!”

For Holy Wednesday school was canceled, though there was some confusion about that. Most year’s there is no school on Holy Wednesday but apparently the government had said that this year they were going to have class or something like that. Then, the night before, it was apparently announced on TV and radio that the government had changed its mind or something like that. What did that mean for me? Well, I woke up at 5AM to take part in the Holy Wednesday of making Chipa (a traditional unleavened cheesy cornflour bread) with my host mom and grandmom. Then I headed off to the school where I encountered a small group of confused teachers and students. We, the “uninformed ones” hung are for a bit until the school director showed up and tried to explain the confusion which I still really didn’t understand but then we all left and I went back to making literally HUNDREDS of Chipa with my host family.

For Holy Friday, the school director brought our the school’s new projector to screen a showing of Passion of the Christ on the wall of the health post. And, yes, someone asked me if they were speaking English in the film.

Holy Saturday I went back into Piribebuy with a group of singers and such from our community to celebrate a traditional meeting of the saints, 3 giant statues representing Jesus, Mary and another saint, after the Holy Saturday church service. We also witnessed the traditional burning of the hung Judas. See the before and after pics.

We arrived back in Capilla Cue Saturday night around midnight and had just 2 hours to rest before waking up once more to take part in the traditional parade of Saints from one sanctuary in my community to the largest church in town. It was still dark and community members had donned the streets with candles in plastic bottles and bamboo torches fueled with scraps of old clothing. It was a beautiful site as we marched holding traditional “faroles” or lanterns and the community’s chorus led us in traditional religious hymns in Guarani. Our group grew as we proceeded onward towards the San Ignacio church.

It turned out I was actually just part of one of three groups making the same march in my community from their different neighborhoods. Each group had their own choir and their own Saint statue and we all three met they performed a traditional greeting dance and the Easter Sunday service began. After the service we all went back to bed as it was still only 4 or maybe 5, as the clock’s decided to change for Fall that night.

All in all I really enjoyed the tradition and celebration of local culture and pride that I saw in my community throughout the Holy Week celebrations. Throughout the ceremonies I assumed the role of local photographer and promised to share these traditions with you fine folks here on my blog.

I hope you enjoy the fotos.

Best,

Mateo

PS: My internet connection is loading this fotos super slowly so I’ll try to get the rest posted at a later date. Sorry it’s taken so long!