hmm... so paraguians like fried food, lots of salt and lots of sugar.they dont like anything spicy or that has flavor ( american view).
so picture mandio ( yuca) fried with lots of salt or just boiled. when we do get the occasional lettuce it is either ...in salad form with tons of salt and few tomatoes, or fried in batter. or i get just batter fried. the meat is the weridest thing ever. bits of it in sauce, soup or bones with meat and fat on it over pàsta. I swear ill never eat meat again in my life. Coming from being a vegetarian on and off for the last 5 years to Paraguaian meat is a giant leap of you are what you eat to swallow and dont think about it, to now finally rejecting it. ( hey the dogs get fed!) Soy is now a new product in paraguay and A LOT cheaper for the families and with tons of protein... but even in america it is hard to make the switch.
Paraguians dont eat breakfast so by the time lunch rolls around I am so hungry that I shove food down fast and dont realize how much i am eating till after i am in a painfulahhhhhheeeeeeeg feeling. now we spend our daily allowance of 2 dollars per day on yogurt and take some fruit if it is around for snacks during the morning guarani lessons. our group has become remarkably close. today was our technical evaluations and i talked to leo our professor almost solely about dianamics to our group...hmm what else. so guarani in the mornings, technical training with leo in the afternoons. We have learned a lot of trees, identified them and their seeds, discussed treatement, storage and where to get seeds, how to plant, grafting etc..
Today is horrible wednesday of burocratic nonsense but i get my third rabie shot so thats good. oh at the begining of our training they purposely stung us with a bee! This consisted of: Grabbing the bee out of the bee net with tweezers 2) placing the bee on your arm 3) pulling its wings back intill it 4) stings you.. I guess this was to see if we were alergic. or was it just fun for our tech trainers or a way to see how commited you are?!
Anyhoo, Thursday this week is our fourth thursday of Dia de Practica which is wondering around the community and knocking on peòple´s doors and saying hi.. basically cold calling. Luckly the very first day Leah and I met Leevrada who has four or is it six? children and stays home all day and loves it when we come so she can leave the house and show us around to her family, friends, pigs, tomatoe plants, etc. I helped wash clothes with her oldest daugter in the river.
Yesterday morning at 6;30 we were at her house milking the cow ( i cant!! it is way harder than it looks! Paraguians found this hilarious, which it was..) and then making what we have coined INSTANT cheese. with the bucket of milk she just got from the cow, we put stomach linning of a cow with lemon and salt on it and woosh it around. then take that out, set aside. Press down on the cheese which starts to harden, and separate from the water. move that mess to wooden plateform and let dry on wooden overhang outside house with flies landing on it. yum! campo cheese... yuck... notice there is no boiling of the milk... the pigs get fed the rest of the cheese water in the bucket.
anyhoo, going on... Guarani class has always been funny. the rules are outragously odd. condugate the first part of the word and not the end part like in spanish... por ejemplo:
I went ; aha
you went ; reho
she went; oho
wait thats an irregular! ... hmm...
oh! i walk ; aguata
he walks; oguata
and isnt of a question mark for questions we use PA
Maepa ojapo cada dia ....the pa is on the Mae or what.. notice there is a mix of spanish words as well, this is know as Jopora! or mixture...
Saturdays we either have tech or language class or we are running around paraguay somewhere doing something. we have great ice cream here in town! (gerry its really good!!!) and fruit and veges. On wednesdays i have a habit of buying tomatoes or fruit and eating them on the way home.
last saturday we passed CASA DE MANI or house of peanut which is on one of the main highways.. not many here in paraguay one was just made by the oil companies.. anyhoo. so no need for any peanut products to be sent. just letters for now :) see older post for mailing address.
what else...red dirt, ox, chickens, chicks, birds, palm trees, small huts, nice huts, neon lights... lots of green thats where i am!
so picture mandio ( yuca) fried with lots of salt or just boiled. when we do get the occasional lettuce it is either ...in salad form with tons of salt and few tomatoes, or fried in batter. or i get just batter fried. the meat is the weridest thing ever. bits of it in sauce, soup or bones with meat and fat on it over pàsta. I swear ill never eat meat again in my life. Coming from being a vegetarian on and off for the last 5 years to Paraguaian meat is a giant leap of you are what you eat to swallow and dont think about it, to now finally rejecting it. ( hey the dogs get fed!) Soy is now a new product in paraguay and A LOT cheaper for the families and with tons of protein... but even in america it is hard to make the switch.
Paraguians dont eat breakfast so by the time lunch rolls around I am so hungry that I shove food down fast and dont realize how much i am eating till after i am in a painfulahhhhhheeeeeeeg feeling. now we spend our daily allowance of 2 dollars per day on yogurt and take some fruit if it is around for snacks during the morning guarani lessons. our group has become remarkably close. today was our technical evaluations and i talked to leo our professor almost solely about dianamics to our group...hmm what else. so guarani in the mornings, technical training with leo in the afternoons. We have learned a lot of trees, identified them and their seeds, discussed treatement, storage and where to get seeds, how to plant, grafting etc..
Today is horrible wednesday of burocratic nonsense but i get my third rabie shot so thats good. oh at the begining of our training they purposely stung us with a bee! This consisted of: Grabbing the bee out of the bee net with tweezers 2) placing the bee on your arm 3) pulling its wings back intill it 4) stings you.. I guess this was to see if we were alergic. or was it just fun for our tech trainers or a way to see how commited you are?!
Anyhoo, Thursday this week is our fourth thursday of Dia de Practica which is wondering around the community and knocking on peòple´s doors and saying hi.. basically cold calling. Luckly the very first day Leah and I met Leevrada who has four or is it six? children and stays home all day and loves it when we come so she can leave the house and show us around to her family, friends, pigs, tomatoe plants, etc. I helped wash clothes with her oldest daugter in the river.
Yesterday morning at 6;30 we were at her house milking the cow ( i cant!! it is way harder than it looks! Paraguians found this hilarious, which it was..) and then making what we have coined INSTANT cheese. with the bucket of milk she just got from the cow, we put stomach linning of a cow with lemon and salt on it and woosh it around. then take that out, set aside. Press down on the cheese which starts to harden, and separate from the water. move that mess to wooden plateform and let dry on wooden overhang outside house with flies landing on it. yum! campo cheese... yuck... notice there is no boiling of the milk... the pigs get fed the rest of the cheese water in the bucket.
anyhoo, going on... Guarani class has always been funny. the rules are outragously odd. condugate the first part of the word and not the end part like in spanish... por ejemplo:
I went ; aha
you went ; reho
she went; oho
wait thats an irregular! ... hmm...
oh! i walk ; aguata
he walks; oguata
and isnt of a question mark for questions we use PA
Maepa ojapo cada dia ....the pa is on the Mae or what.. notice there is a mix of spanish words as well, this is know as Jopora! or mixture...
Saturdays we either have tech or language class or we are running around paraguay somewhere doing something. we have great ice cream here in town! (gerry its really good!!!) and fruit and veges. On wednesdays i have a habit of buying tomatoes or fruit and eating them on the way home.
last saturday we passed CASA DE MANI or house of peanut which is on one of the main highways.. not many here in paraguay one was just made by the oil companies.. anyhoo. so no need for any peanut products to be sent. just letters for now :) see older post for mailing address.
what else...red dirt, ox, chickens, chicks, birds, palm trees, small huts, nice huts, neon lights... lots of green thats where i am!
How fun! Quite interesting about the food and the lack of spices.
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