WARM weather! Week 3: July 6-July 13

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Week 3: July 6 - July 13

Three weeks in. I cannot BELIEVE how fast time is going, but at the same time, I feel more comfortable here and as if I have been here for over a month!

The professor leaves this Saturday, so as a final night out we walked around Las Carmelitas and went to dinner at Un Toro y Siete Vacas (One Bull and Seven Cows). This was by far the most DELICIOUS meal and BEST service I have had so far in Paraguay. It is a fancy restaurant with an atmosphere between western (like being on a ranch) and classy (strange, I know!). It is in a chuchy (upscale) area; the neighborhood is called Villa Morra. The waiters treated us like king and queen, and we had wine, bread, yucca, soup, mashed potatoes, chicken (for me), pork stuffed with vegetables (for the professor), and Dulce de Mamón (a traditional dessert of papaya, a sweet sauce, and fresh cheese). I pretty much had to roll myself home! But it was a nice night out AND he treated me to dinner (since he knows I’m a college student, haha!). All of that food AND wine was only 85 USD. Not bad at all for the ambiance, service, and full tummies!

At work, I continued doing a little background research for the re-engineering project, but much focus was on the National Conference. I prepared for the second meeting for the National Water Conference (Congreso Nacional), including creating a PowerPoint and setting up for the meeting Friday morning. I took extensive notes during the meeting (which can be a little difficult because they talk so fast!) and incorporated the notes into the PowerPoint to email to all meeting attendees. We had another meeting on Monday with MassPublicidad (Mass Publicity) to discuss the publicity and advertising for the event. They have agreed to help out a lot with the publicity and creative aspects of the Conference. It was an especially interesting meeting because their conference room overlooked the center of downtown and the Paraguay River. It was a perfect view!

We have been blessed with WARM weather! Finally! It got up to the high 80s (F) and the humidity makes it feel even warmer! I put the coat away and enjoyed being outside. This past weekend, I ate my first Japanese food in Paraguay (the restaurant was called RapiFoods), because Karelli and Melody came from Mbaracayu to Asuncion. I had been craving sushi! Saturday, I went to an outdoor market called Mercado Cuatro with my boss, Paula. It was a great cultural experience because there were many different people there and all kinds of local goods and music. That night I was invited to have dinner at Martin Burt’s house. Karelli, Melody (an intern at Mbaracayu from Madagascar), a professor at Mbaracayu (and her sister), Martin, his wife, and I had dinner, drank wine, read poetry, and talked about “worldly” things. It was so fun! That night there was a thunderstorm ALL night! I went to my second mass in Asuncion on Sunday. It was at a church called Iglesia Santissima Trinidad, walking distance from my house, and it was so "rustic" inside. I enjoyed it! After that, I explored around my neighborhood a little and went to this bakery, called God's Pan (God's bread) that sells sweets, bread, and food! Yummy!

Starting Monday, I was given an extra project: a 34 page grant proposal for a project (Sustainable Water for All) that would be sent to the USAID. I have to help translate it from Spanish to English by Friday, so wish me luck! I have started off slow, because there are many technical terms and phrases that I need help translating, but it is a learning experience! I am learning about the project and learning more vocabulary as I move along.

Yesterday after work, Paula invited me to her parents' house to watch the Paraguay vs. Venezuela game. Afterwards we went to Paula's house (me, Paula, her sister, and their friend) to make Mexican food, eat, and hang out! It was a really fun night (besides the fact that Paraguay lost their 3-1 lead in the last few minutes of the game and ended up tying 3-3)!

A popular part of the Paraguayan culture is yerba mate. This is an herb that is used for tea, both hot and cold. The way people drink it is by putting the mate in a hollow calabash gourd (called a guampa) and pour water into the guampa to steep the tea. Then, a person drinks the tea through a metal straw (called a bombilla) which has a sieve at the bottom end to only allow liquid through without the mate leaves. With the warm weather, there has been a change with the mate. On cold days people drink it hot, which is called mate, and on warm days people drink it cold, called tereré. It is extremely common to see people walking around, on the bus, or at work with their thermos full of hot or cold water and their guampa and bombilla.

A few other things that have caught my attention are driving style and speaking style. People here drive crazy! The traffic rules are not strictly followed, such as people driving on the wrong side of the street to make a turn before the light is red. There also are not very many traffic lights. Pronunciation of words is different than I am used to. I think this mostly comes from the fact that Guaraní is spoken by many people. When they speak Spanish, the tone follows more of the Guaraní tone, and they don’t always pronounce the ‘s’ at end of words (because Guaraní words always end in a vowel).

Finally, I have found my FAVORITE sweet here! It is called an alfajor. I walked to a place called Masapan near my work, which sells food and sweets, and tried it there. It has two pieces of bread filled with dulce de leche, and coconut around it. Delicious! I am sure there will be more of those purchased in the next few weeks!

Hasta la proxima vez! (Until next time!)

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