June 12, 2005

After a extremely busy training week, I woke up this morning at six thirty to blairing patriotic music, all sung in Guarani. Today was the big parade in Villeta, like all over Paraguay. The celebration of the Defenders of the Chaco! The Chaco war was fought against Bolivia in order to defend the northern half of Paraguay, the Chaco, where few people live. The Chaco is considered a hellish wasteland by many, but the Bolivians thought there might be oil, so they invaded in 1932, with funding by Standard Oil.

The war lasted four years and cost well over 100,000 Paraguayan and Bolivian lives. Paraguay successfully defended the Chaco from the Bolivian invaders, who were better armed and had more training. However, most of the Bolivians were Aymara and Quecha people from the highlands. The flat desert of the Chaco wasn't exactly what they were used to.

So I tried to sleep a couple more hours. Dona Blanca was already gone when I awoke. That's the woman I'm staying with. Homestay is not exactly something I relish, but Blanca is not controling whatsoever of what I do, she's real nice, and she''s helping me with Guarani, although often her words don't match those of my dictionary.

She had to march in the parade this morning. This was not good, because she is 60 years old and has feet that look like basketballs. Something is severely wrong with those feet, and it hurts her to walk. I told her just to let them know that she was medically unable, but she said that there was a lot of pressure.

So I finally got up and ate some greasy, old tortillas that Blanca had left me, along with fresh apple juice. Paraguayan torillas are fluffy egg things with algie inside, they are quite unlike Mexican or even Nicaraguan tortillas. She also left me some greasy fried eggplant, but I couldn't even contimplate eating something that greasy. I also ate a banana.

The food is greasy, but I have gotten her to stop cooking so much meat, which I ate last week for the first time in many years. She said, yes, I was wanting to cut back on meat anyways.

In general Paraguayan food is bland, greasy and unhealthy. But it is a source of great pride, as most of what people eat are the same food that the Guarani people ate even before the time of the Jesuit missions.

I left for the parade (three blocks away) and found some friends, include Walid. Walid is a Peace Corps volunteer and the only person I ever met whose hometown is Mecca. He is Saudi-Arabian American. He is the only one here who after only one week is wearing a Paraguayan hat, and he goes around with his equipo de terere. Terere is the cold herbal tea everyone drinks all the time, it is an essential part of Paraguayan culture. They put the mate in a wood cup, then pour the cold water, then drink out of a filter straw called a bombilla. Remember, the terere is COLD, so it is very different then what the Argentinians do, when they drink HOT mate.

Walid has decided to make his name more Paraguayan he will change it to Walipe. And so he has. When I get there he is in the middle of everything, photographing the Villeta Prefecture's eight surviving Chaco War veterans as they slowly walk or wheel there way to the stage, carrying Paraguayan flags. (I will see where Walipe puts his pictures on a website, and try to send that information.)

Then the parade begins! Fireworks, bands, high-school girls in army shirts, extremely short mini-dresses, and high-heels, marching behind high school boys pounding on drums.

Then came tiny kids, half dressed like Paraguayans, half dressed like Bolivians. The boys were evey wearing the famous Bolivian hat in the hot sun, and the girls in polleras (I'm talking about kids between the ages of two and five).

The thing got repetitious and I felt really sick. Feeling like I was going the fall, I left the throng, started back to the house and then vomited profusely near some unsympathetic cows. I laid down for hours.

Perhaps it was because I was out of sorts because yesterday I walked six miles in the sun and then played football. Perhaps apple juice still doesn't do me good. Perhaps all the grease. I don't know.

Blanca got back. She had taken my advice, and had sat on the side for the whole parade. Then she made me eat a little bread, which was good, and I refused her attempt to have me drink more juice and eat more fried.

Then we studied Guarani a little. I am learning the body and the verbs. Ipòraminte!

I was going to go to a soccer game, to watch the great match between Villeta and Naranhaisy, but I've spent all afternoon setting up this Yahoo account, which is MUCH BETTER. One afternoon of work will save me hours in the long haul.

Tomorrow more language lessons and meetings with the Paraguay Peace Corps director. Tuesday to Asuncion, Wednesday in Guarambare, then five days at the site of Stu, an actual volunteer.

June 21 2005