| July 29, 2005 |
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| Written by Michael Berg | |||
| Thursday, 28 July 2005 00:00 | |||
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Dia de Ñoki
Tomorrow we find out our sites where we will be for the next two years. Then next week we spend a week arranging everything in the site. I probably won't get to a computer again for about two weeks. I weigh roughly the same as I did when I left. The food here is fatty and greasy, so I should be getting fatter. But since it is bad, I don't eat much of it. I think these two things are balencing each other out. As far as I can tell there are only two spices widely used here - sugar and salt. Today for lunch Doña Blanca made these vegetables I've never seen before stuffed with cheese and I got sick. I had thought I was sick from these anti-histimines the doctor had prescribed me for a rash that broke out on my shoulders and back, but I think it was the food. I think so because a couple hours ago, after a long session on Paraguayan health care decentralization, I vomited my lunch and then felt much better. And the rash is clearing up, I think. A few days ago, I ate the best cheese I've every eaten, made by a Frenchman who settled in the town of Guarambare. Tomorrow is the Dia de Ñoki. Ñoki is a reasonably edible food made from potatos and wheat flour. It is boiled and made into little pastas. The 29th of every month is the Dia de Ñoki, when everybody eats Ñoki. I've learned that there are many different bus lines in Paraguay. For example, the bus line orginating in Villeta is called the Villetana. The bus line from Quiindy is the Quiindyense. The Quiindyense is a fleet of buses that look as though they were created before the era of Henry Ford. They are famous for breaking down. Many of the buses are numbered by lines, or lineas. A few days ago I took linea 54. The most commonly used bus line Paraguya is Linea Once, or Line 11. Linea Once travels to every city, town and farm in the country. It is slow, but very reliable. Linea Once is free to use. You have probably used it before. Stand up straight. Look down and notice what your legs look like from the feet to a little bit before they reach your crotch. That's Linea 11. Yesterday I presented to the Municipal Services Develpment training group research I did on Paraguayan myths. Here are some of the most interesting things I have found: Jasy Jatere is a little blond boy with blue eyes. He is blindingly shiny. He runs around naked in the cornfields. When kids see him they are blinded by his brilliance and they are left dumbstruck. Then he kidnaps them and takes him to his house, where he keeps them forever. The reason he kidnaps children is because he likes to play with them. He feeds them milk, honey and worms. They usually get kidnapped when they go out during the siesta. Jasy Jatere is usually just called ¨the little blond boy¨. He carries a little stick in his hand that gives wisdom. The Kurupi is a youth who hides out in the forest. He is really short, ugly and hairy. He has a gigantic penis, so long that he wraps it around his waist like a belt, twice. The Kurupi waits around for young women foolish enough to leaves their homes during siesta time. Then he chases them down, takes them into the grass and rapes them until they die or go crazy. There is a popular type of Terere (cold Paraguayan drink) called Terere Kurupi. Luison is an animal that looks like a dog. It is ugly and has bright, shiny eyes and a giant head. At midnight it roams around the cemetary over the graves. During the night it howls and all who hear it get chills. If you feel that some cold hand has touched you in the middle of the night, for sure it is Luison advising you that you are about to die. If a woman has seven male children in a row, there is no doubt that one of them is Luison. The Malavision is a tree that moves its branches around and leaves people blind who hear its whistle. The Pombero is a dark, little hairy man who lives in the forest and he likes to go around raping virgins. When he whistles, it gives chills. He also makes noises like a baby chicken - pio, pio, pio! You have to leave tobacco and some type of alcoholic beverage out for the Pombero to appease him. To me he seems a lot like the Kurupi, but people in Paraguay seem to think they are very different. The most important difference is the Pombero is out during the night, not the afternoon. I have met several people who claim to have seen the Pombero. Pretty much everybody believes in the Pombero. Most people are afraid to say his name - I was unable to discuss him with Doña Blanca. It is good to ask the Pombero to be your friend because then he will protect your home and animals. That's all for now. Add your comment
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