Further food #2

Another staple of the Paraguayan diet is poroto ('kumanda' in Guarani), a type of bean. Demetria's son's garden produced a lot of this back in March/April time.. Here you can see the vat of dried bean pods and the shelled beans.

Further food #1

Empanadas are a little bit like miniature cornish pasties, and can be purchased round the corner (any corner) for 1000 guaranies, which is approximately 12p.

A step up from this is making your own, for which you need a mould.

You can buy minced meat to make the filling with, or you can grind it yourself, as pictured here, which tastes better (apparently).

Similarly, you can use pre-made pastry circles (as above) or you do that part yourself too, as my friend's mother did for his nephew's birthday. This involved putting the rolled-out dough through what looked like a mangle.

They are most commonly fried, but can be oven-baked too.

San Rafael

Last week brought a traveller from a distant and dream-like land... Thea, constant of my Cambridge schooldays and now a Real Grown-Up with a Real Job in the Real World zone of Oxford.

We found each other at the bus terminal in Encarnación (about two and a half hours from Santa Maria) and took rather more rickety bus for three hours to Ynambu, to visit the San Rafael nature reserve. We were supposed to be picked up there and taken the last 10km to where we would be staying, but as it was RAINING, our hosts assumed we weren't coming, didn't appear and were unreachable by telephone. An auspicious start. We were saved by serendipitous circumstance: a Paraguayan friend of mine happens to have a brother who lives in this specific tiny and remote village, whom I miraculously managed to identify based on the information that he was bald and looked a bit like my friend - the population is small enough that I think most of it walked across the square in the couple of hours we were sat there waiting. His neighbour ferried us to our destination, the sun came out and all was well.

By the lake, which was created by the Swiss owner to generate hydroelectricity. He also built a small plane for conservation reconnaissance missions. As you do.

The reserve is dedicated to the conservation of part of the remaining 7% of the South American Atlantic Forest, a kind of temperate rainforest. We saw some colourful birds, including toucans, and some monkeys in the distance. Thea was excited by armadillo holes (in Guarani tatukua, not to be confused with tatakua - points to anyone who remembers what that is), but the beasts themselves did not show themselves, alas. The plants and trees were also interesting, even to the untrained eye (me).

Thea investigates a strangler fig.

We swam in the lake. Apparently no-one has attempted this in July before (the depths of winter) but after the initial plunge it was quite a pleasant temperature!

Schnitzel in Santa Maria

Devoted or hungry readers may recall this post from Vienna in which I made Schnitzel with my Austrian-Peruvian friend Milena. As it so happens, a typical Paraguayan dish known as Milanesa is essentially exactly the same thing, although with Paraguayan meat, flour and breadcrumbs it tastes a little different. Here is pictorial evidence!

Playing with fire

The midwinter feast of St John the Baptist on 24th June (yes, more than a month ago) is celebrated throughout the country with a huge range of games and traditions. Margaret Hebblethwaite's Bradt guidebook has an exhaustive list; I'll quote a few highlights:

"paila jeherei - trying to remove a coin stuck with grease on the back of a frying pan by licking it"
"climbing the greasy pole, or yvyra syi (Guarani 'tree slippery'), in search of a bag of goodies tied at the top"
"gallo ñemongaru" - a cock is starved for 24 hours and then released in the middle of a circle of girls with maize in their hands. The one the cock eats from first will get married that year.

culminating in the What-is-this-Health-and-Safety-you-speak-of FIRE GAMES:

"kicking around a pelota tata (Spanish 'ball', Guarani 'fire') - a ball made out of cloth, soaked in kerosene and set alight. The game is to kick it directly at your friends, who run away screaming."
"toro kandil (Spanish 'bull torch')...One or two people get under a cloth representing a bull, the horns of which are set alight, and then they charge at other people, who run away screaming."
"undas kai" (Spanish 'Judas', Guarani 'burn')" - the burning of a straw effigy of an unpopular figure (could be a politician or the footballer who made Paraguay lose against Argentina) hung by the neck from a gallows. "The figure has been previously drenched in kerosene and may be stuffed with explosive fireworks". 
"the custom of walking barefoot across the glowing embers of the remains of the bonfire...According to legend, the feet are protected from burns if you do this on the night of San Juan. I have seen it done and there were no burns."

Santa Maria's festival was sadly rained off, but the kids from across the road (including the four-year-old) did their own pelota tata in the street.

Anniversary of the Comunidades Cristianas

Santa Maria is split into four neighbourhoods, each of which has its own Christian base community ("Comunidad Cristiana"), a group that meets during the week at the homes of the members. The surrounding villages also have their own communities, which are particularly significant there as they only have mass once a month. 31st May was the anniversary of the Comunidades, which was celebrated with a special mass and an "acto folclórico" and bring-and-share meal afterwards.

Two girls from one of the neighbourhoods danced to "Pájaro Campana". In typical Paraguayan style, the USB stick turned out not to have the right music on it - however, two of the Paraguayan harp students stepped in to play the piece, which of course they happened to know off by heart!

Five out of six! Outside the church.

The girls from my community and I danced to Isla Saka quite successfully, after a series of rather chaotic rehearsals. We were decked out in full Paraguayan traditional dance costume, which was quite exciting. Lelis, who also masterminded the choreography, danced with her water jug balanced on her head.

Preparations

About to start...

Paraguayitas

The end of the road

I have less than a month remaining in Paraguay...

As ever towards the end of a stint abroad, life has suddenly become very busy. The past two weeks have been holidays from the English classes, but filling up the free time has not proved difficult! Apart from a trip across the border to Buenos Aires, I took the opportunity to go and work at two of Santa Maria's cooperative projects, the sewing workshop and the medicinal herb garden.

All this has resulted in a dearth of blog posts, but I am hoping to catch up a bit over the next week (when Thea is coming to visit!). Some will be very out-of-date, but I think still of interest. Watch this space!

Work

I thought it was about time for a word on what I actually spend most of my time doing...

The Santa Maria Institute has its own two-year degree programme - free and open to all - in Food Technology, which is highly employable. It also provides university scholarships for poor students with academic potential. Apart from this (though there is often overlap between the branches of activity) it offers free English classes, taught by volunteers such as myself. Students can enter the adult course from age 13, but must first attend a short course open to all in January and pass a (fairly challenging) exam. This means that the English students are selected to some extent for aptitude and commitment. All classes run every weekday for an hour, and there are currently six levels, ranging from absolute beginners (Class 1) to advanced level. There are also non-selective children's classes which run when there are enough teachers available.

I teach the morning Class 2 and the evening Class 1 (the less advanced classes are taught on two timetables) and Class 6.  The students in Class 6 are working towards the Cambridge Advanced English certificate (having passed KET, PET and First Certificate) and have also gained qualifications in Business English and Teaching Knowledge, which they utilise professionally through interpreting, teaching English and managing the town's small hotel.

I also teach keyboard to several students, a recorder class for children and German to one girl who is going to Switzerland in August with an international exchange programme.

It's an ideal teaching situation in many ways, as the students are generally highly motivated, the classes are fairly small and the daily lessons mean they make clearly perceptible progress. The coursebooks we use are a little dated but an absolute dream compared to e.g. the Peruvian education system I worked within on my gap year, and the Cambridge certificates are qualifications of international value. English - let alone good English - is a rarity in Paraguay, but is and will continue to be important in the country's development.

For more information about the Education Fund and its various projects, see the link at the side under "About the blog", PART 2.

Koki Ruiz - art for the papal visit

The Pope is coming to Paraguay 10th-12th July, and everyone is terribly excited. Koki Ruiz, the artist responsible for the Holy Week procession in Tañarandy (see this post), was commissioned to build an altar / work of art for the occasion. He insisted on creating it in San Ignacio rather than the capital, so his workshop has been open to the public for people to see the work in progress up close.
 

Yours truly with San Ignacio / St Ignatius. Yes, I'm wearing a coat and gloves and scarf - winter has arrived!

 The main images are of St Ignatius (founder of the Jesuits, of whom the Pope is one) and St Francis (whose name he chose). The depictions are composed entirely of seeds, pulses and grains grown in Paraguay (see last picture).

Close-up of the maize and coconut seed designs - like on the columns either side of St Ignatius.

 The pillars and decorative panels are made with ears of maize and coconut seeds. Visiting members of the public sign their names on the green cocos.

With Demetria's son Hector.

St Francis, and a column in progress (she's drilling holes to tie the maize on)

St Francis' finger up close: Sunflower seeds, soya beans, poroto, feichao, locro....all their natural colours.

Retreat

In the first half of this month I spent eight days in the Jesuit retreat house in San Ignacio on a silent retreat. I had more or less zero human interaction for the whole time, with the significant exception of a daily conversation with Pa'i Oscar (a Jesuit and the parish priest of Santa Maria) to discuss my experiences that day and set the Bible texts for me to pray with on the next.

Part of the retreat house garden. This tree reminded me of autumn and spring all at once.

Writing about it properly would go rather beyond my general practice on this blog, so ask me in person sometime if you'd like to know more. Suffice to say it was a truly rewarding and important eight days for me.

My friend the tortoise, enjoying an avocado. I wrote a poem in Spanish about him (see what solitude does to you?)

The room I stayed in.

PUPPY!

Following the sad demise of two out of three of the dogs (Toni and Keke), someone brought Demetria a new puppy! He is small and black and adorable. Oli (the remaining adult canine) is very much enamoured of him and licks and cuddles up to him all the time.

Demetria's new baby

...or is he Oli's?

Grief

Grief in Britain is a private affair. Not so in Paraguay, as I experienced when a friend's mother died recently.

Crowds of friends and acquaintances gather outside the house, awaiting the arrival of the family with the body. When they come, they are embraced and supported into the house amidst wailing and tears, for a prayer vigil lasting all night and into the morning.

Most of those in attendance aren't doing a great deal apart from standing around, but their presence and prayers are a concrete expression of solidarity with and support for the bereaved.

It's heart-rending to see emotional devastation so physically, openly and noisily expressed, yet I can't help but think it seems a healthier way to deal with loss than our repression and stoicism, both for the family and the community.

Ruins (two months late)

Dedicated readers may remember that I met some lovely Paraguayans in Vienna before arriving here (see this post). One of these friends, Estrella, came on a visit to Paraguay in March, which I have never yet got round to writing about. We managed to coincide on a visit to the Jesuit ruins at Trinidad. Estrella is a dancer and promotes Paraguayan culture in Europe, so she was taking photos in her spectacular ñanduti dress, while I wandered around unglamorously with my guidebook.

In this photo you can see some of the stone-carving which the Guarani of the reductions produced under the tutelage of the Jesuits.

This is a close-up of the angel frieze running across near the top of the previous picture. They are all playing musical instruments - here an organ and a trumpet. The instruments built by the Guarani in the Reductions were famed for their craftsmanship and precision, and were even exported to Europe.

Here is one side of a decorative pillar showing a woman with a fan. There are figures on the other three sides, but this is the best-preserved.

This carved arch at the nearby Reduction of Jesús features the papal crown, the crossed keys of Peter, a shell in the alcove representing baptism, the mburucuja (passion) flower, the fleur de lys (purity) and the leaves of the cocotero palm (for the entry into Jerusalem). There is a matching niche on the other side which has crossed swords at the top, which refer to the right of the town to defend itself with arms against the slave traders to whom many of the Guarani fell prey on the expulsion of the Jesuits.

At the nearby Ita Cajón nature reserve, you can see the quarry where the stone blocks were carved out by hand.

The quarry is now overgrown with plants and trees, including the amazing guapo'y tree, whose exposed roots tun from the top of the cliff all the way down some five or six metres to the bottom.

The characteristic verdant green and terracotta red of Paraguayan countryside.

Celebrations #1

In the last few weeks I have experienced quite a variety of Paraguayan parties.

First was the quinceañera - this is a large-scale party to celebrate a girl's 15th birthday. The 15-year-old floats around in a posh white dress (debutant-esque) and dances a "waltz" with her father and male relations to a recorded medley featuring (you guessed it) the Blue Danube among other Viennese classics, before it morphs into the Paraguayan polka. The numerous guests all have a sit-down meal (asado, naturally) and there is usually live music. Needless to say, not everyone can afford to have one, but it's significant enough that people make a big effort to do it.

Waltzing...a long way from Vienna.

Grotto of Pink

Santa Maria has one secondary school, so almost everyone who lives in the village attended it. Its 50th anniversary was therefore cause for a reunion party for ALL the students who had ever been there. It was a lovely event, and particularly novel because this kind of thing just wouldn't (/couldn't) happen in Britain, with its more mobile population. A thunderstorm hit during the party but didn't damp the mood.

On Teacher's Day, my Class 2 students and I had a picnic instead of a lesson in the garden of the Institute. You can see the quincho (outdoor, roofed-over classroom) in the background.

There was also a more official Teacher's Day event organised by the Food Technology students, with draped decorations and a cake and a Powerpoint presentation detailing the biography and all qualifications and jobs (ever) of all the teachers, followed by food and dancing.

Camping with Class 4 #2 - winter edition

Last weekend had long been designated for the second camping expedition with Peter's Class 4. We were having second thoughts following torrential rainfall on the previous evening, but the weather was beautiful on Saturday so we went ahead.

The campers

After a (sometimes rather rollercoaster) ride on three motorbikes loaded up with tents, blankets, food and two people each along the unpaved road (rendered churned-up mud in many places after the rain), we arrived at Nacho's parents' house and subsequently at our camping spot. At this point it was already getting dark - perfect conditions for putting up unfamiliar tents and conjuring a bonfire out of soggy wood.

Success! Kabure cooking on the fire.

We triumphed in the end, and were soon sitting around our blaze making kabure (chipa on a stick) over the embers. [See this post if you've forgotten about chipa]

In the early hours of the morning there was a full-on thunderstorm with liberal lashings of lightning. Our tents held up pretty well but a bit of water did seep its way in. I speculated about death by electrocution, but on the whole it was rather fun.

In the morning we went for a walk in the sunshine and ate mandarins from Nacho's parents' garden.

Nacho's nephew hooking down mandarins

Autumn

Autumn is gently making its presence known. The leaves here don't turn, which is a little disorienting, but the slanting light and crisp air in the evening is as familiar and beautiful as in Vienna, Oxford and Munich.

Of course, I'm missing the glories of spring at Worcester, but I am partial to autumn - thou hast thy music too.

More food

Continuing along the line of the papayas and avocados...

Paraguayan cheese is a vital ingredient in a lot of cooking, including chipa (see this post), and isn't usually eaten 'raw' (except occasionally in combination with honey or preserved fruit).

A friend and I walked to Itacurubi, one of the nearby villages, and visited her sister who lives on an estancia there - a kind of ranch. She showed me the presses used to make the cheese:

And here's a bonus picture of Demetria gleefully brandishing a flaming egg-tray. This comes into play when one of the cockerels gets eaten, because one of the stages of plucking and cleaning the bird is passing it through fire.

Sponges don't grow on trees... or do they?

Lemons, mandarins, passion fruit, yes. Papayas, yes. Giant avocados, yes. Sponges? Surely not!
BUT THEY DO.
You can use them for washing up, cleaning or in the bath/shower.

Mostly-peeled sponge.

A sponge GROWING ON A TREE. The things at the top are papayas.

Avocados. These are fairly small ones.