I’m sure you are curious what has been happening recently since all I posted the other day were pictures that should have been posted a long time ago. I’m sorry they’re all out of order. When I get a chance I will try to remedy that.
Let me give you an update about why I haven’t been writing (besides that fact that I’ve been Skyping Jeremy). Last week they gave us a vacation of sorts. Each of us trainees was assigned to visit another PCV. It was a 4 day trip just to get away from the daily grind of language and tech training. It was also to give us a better perspective of our future life as a volunteer. I visited Lara, a beekeeping volunteer. She’s been here about 9 months. Her situations has been pretty difficult, but through it all she’s managed to stay positive.
The first day I met up with her she took me to lunch at a Japanese restaurant. (there’s a Japanese colony about an 1 hour from her site). The sushi, won-tons, fried fish, and salad were a delicious break from the normal Paraguayan fare. We didn’t go right to her site. We spent the night with another PCV, Megan and her PCT Amy (both are beekeepers, Amy is a fellow trainee). Megan cooked for us and we had Polenta and carrot cake and some Pomelo wine and Ginger beer to wash it down. She’s quite the cook and I got several recipes from her. That evening we went to a dance party. It was not what I was expecting. It was in a large gym. There were all ages and everyone who was dancing, danced in long lines facing each other. It was kind of like an awkward high school dance. We joined in the dancing, but kept to our own group. We trainees hadn’t had the Paraguayan culture norms lecture yet and I nearly got roped into dancing with some random guy. Megan got me out of that awkward scenario. At another point some boys were trying to take a picture with me in it. We quickly dodged out of that. Overall, we had a great time.

The next day we did a little beekeeping. Lara and I caught a bus to her site. We had a great time cooking together. We even cooked with Kumanda yvyra’i. You’re probably wondering what that is and how to pronounce it. (coo-mawn-dah oo-voo-rah-e) is also known as pigeon pea and the name literally translates to little tree. It’s a great abono verde or green manure. Not only does it provide nutrients to the soil and break up hard pan, but the beans can be used for human or animal consumption. They’re picked green for human consumption and the taste and texture remind me of Edimame. It takes a long time to shell every little bean, but when cooked in a wine sauce with cabbage and other veggies, it sure was a nice change. For dinner Lara made bean hamburgers with queso Paraguayan. Paraguayan cheese doesn’t have a lot of flavor. It’s more a texture thing. The other day our professor brought us French cheese for a snack. We devoured it. There is a widow who lives in our main training town. She was married to a Frenchman and he taught her how to make cheese. Random, but I thought I would share.
A nice lawn is clean swept dirt. I used a machete and helped Lara clean her patio of weeds.
My time away was over all too quickly.