Marcia’s First Communion

October 24th, 2009

Marcia, Peke’s 12 year-old, sister invited me to go to her First Communion and party afterwards.



Every year all the boys and girls in the town who turn 12 during that year attend a ceremony in the Catholic Church known as Primera Comunión. This is the first time they partake of the flesh and blood of Christ. A few days before they confess all their sins in preparation of the ceremony.

During the ceremony they sing, say prayers, read passages, repeat certain phrases, partake of the wine and bread, light candles and wave them around, and receive their first rosemary (the little string of beads used to help keep track of their Hail Mary’s and such).



After this they undergo 3 years of Catholic training before being confirmed at 15.

It was a nice ceremony. Marcia’s Mom wanted me to capture every moment of the ceremony on film, so I stood along the wall towards the front filming every move Marcia made.



She was so cute. The girls dress in white dresses and adorn their hair with white beads and other accessories. Every so often she would look back towards me, smile and wave. I could tell she felt really special to have someone filming her.



The most beautiful part of the ceremony was when they helped each other to light their little candles and waved them around while singing. Unfortunately this is precisely the portion of the service I failed to capture because I accidentally pressed the button to stop recording without realizing it until that part of the ceremony was ending.

People were packed in there pretty tight; many people were left outside to peer in through the windows. I roughly estimated that there had to be at least 600 or so in attendance. I couldn’t help wonder why they don’t have 3 sessions (morning, afternoon, and evening) to more comfortably accommodate all the attendees. I’m sure there is a perfectly logical reason for not having multiple sessions, though I haven’t been able to think of it yet.



After the ceremony we went back to Marcia’s house, where we had dinner. Marcia had a great time taking pictures with my camera.











As it was her Primera Comunión and also birthday, I brought her a gift.

Earlier that day I had gone to a little boutique store owned by one of my friend’s Mom in search of a gift. Nothing jumped out at me, so I decided to let her pick out what she wanted. In America, the gift card is a cop out, an uncreative and lazy alternate to buying a gift, but in Paraguay it’s a new, exciting concept.

I explained the gift card concept to the shop owner. She caught on, and wrote the details on the back of a business card, and then enclosed it in a small, white envelope.

Marcia loved it! I had not only given her a gift, but I had given her something she had never received before. I gave her the opportunity to go shopping and pick out her own gift. She couldn’t wait to go pick out her presents, and she went around the party showing everyone what she had received.



This is one situation where growing up within America’s consumer culture came in handy!

Oscar B-day Party

September 18th, 2009

Oscar is the son of the Kurupí millionaires, and it was time to celebrate his birthday. His birthday party paled in comparison to the overly extravagant Quinceañera thrown for their daughter just a few months ago, but still was a really good time. I know how extravagant it was because they showed me the pictures from the party. It was literally something like the Sweet 16s on MTVs My Sweet 16 TV show.

If I get a chance, I’ll go by and try to take a few pictures of the pictures they have to show you how amazing this party was. I’m really beginning to see why Latin America has the highest gap between the rich and the poor of anywhere in the world.

Anyway, it’s Oscar’s day, so on to his party. We started things off the Paraguayan way. All the guys stood outside in a circle drinking and cracking jokes on each other while the girls sat inside, most probably gossiping about the guys outside.

The adults sat around a large table, and were served appetizers and expensive whiskey and wine.



Once the food was ready, all the boys sat around on table on the outside and the girls sat around a table on the inside. I swear...I don’t know what it is exactly that creates this cultural phenomenon, but it’s like half grown males and females act like children at a dance in the States. They even treat relationships like we did in Elementary. If a girl is interested in a guy for example, they will send a friend to tell him she likes him and ask if he likes her back. It’s going to take me some time to adjust to this part of the culture.

We ate some rather good, yet tough grilled meat, various salads, and of course mandioca.



After dinner, we went back outside for more standing around and drinking before heading inside for the disco party that ensued. They had hired an incredible DJ who brought a powerful sound system and lights. We danced and partied into the night, and when I was all partied out, I headed home.






For future travelers coming to Paraguay....BEWARE! Most Paraguayans can easily drink you under the table and they are accustomed to partying until at least 5 in the morning before even considering calling it a night.

I was told they stayed for a while after I left, and a big group ended up jumping into the pool despite how cold it was that night.

Future Site Visit

August 4th, 2009

I spent the last 6 days in San Juan Bautista. It’s called Future Site Visit. The idea is to check out your future site, find a family with which you can stay if you come back, meet some people, and fill out a few forms to bring back to Peace Corps with information about your site. Ultimately, it allows you to see your future life for 2 years, so you can make the decision of whether or not you want to swear in as a volunteer.

Avelino, the representative from the Coop who was sent to accompany me, and I arrived to San Juan Bautista on Tuesday in the early afternoon. Avelino was hungry so we went to a restaurant about a block down from the cooperative. I had recently eaten while on the bus so I just got a piece of cake. It was delicious. We went to the cooperative, where I met a few of my future co-workers. They were all very cordial.

The cooperative is super-nice. It has glass door entrances, looks like a modern bank and has modern style offices. There is a guard with a bulletproof vest and gun posted out front. There are two police officers close by holding what looks like sawed-off shotguns. Everyone has their own computer, the people dress in formal business attire, and almost everyone has a University degree. There is a store in the cooperative in which they sell appliances, shoes, electronics, etc... There is a big screen TV in the entrance for goodness sakes! Wait. I did sign up for Peace Corps right? Haha. That just goes to show you that Peace Corps isn’t just living in villages, playing with poor kids, and teaching AIDS awareness and prevention to the local villagers.



Around 4:00 PM, one of the managers, Mariño and Avelino drove me to a “hotel,” which was basically a long house, but there was no vacancy. Then they took me to this pension-like place. There are like 6 dormitories, which the Señora of the house rents out to students who are studying at the local university.



They just kind of dropped me off so I was a little depressed. It didn’t quite work out how Peace Corps says it is supposed to. I was supposed to stay with a local family. Nonetheless it ended up working out, and my depression lasted less than an hour because around 6:00 PM, Mariño, who had dropped me off earlier, picked me up and took me to an urban style soccer field at a local school beside the park. I watched the guys play soccer for a little while. It was like an And 1 commercial but in soccer.




I just remember having this feeling of how nice everything was when compared with Paso de Oro and many other places I’ve seen in Paraguay. It’s like a completely different country. The people are educated, the streets are clean, there are parks, recreational activities, nice restaurants, etc... The large towns and cities in Paraguay are very different from the countryside.




When they finished playing soccer, we sat in the park and drank Brahma, the local beer. On the way home, Marino stopped at this local burger stand and bought us some delicious burgers.

The next day I felt like I was a consultant or executive on an international business trip. Shortly after arriving at the cooperative, two of the managers gave me a tour of San Juan by car. Upon arrival back at the cooperative, a few of the managers and the general managers all went out to lunch at this really nice restaurant. We all walked the two blocks to the restaurant. Imagine this...the managers are all dressed in power suits, and we’re all walking down the road together. The cooperative is by far the largest and most important institution in San Juan. Many people greeted them as we passed. It kind of felt like I was walking down the street with either important political officials or the mafia. You may think that’s a big jump between mafia and officials but in many countries the lines are blurry and sometimes they are one and the same.

It was the kind of restaurant where the waiters are dressed in nice suits and hold the wine bottle with a towel while gently pouring your glass. It was the kind of restaurant where the chef drizzles a cream on the plate and strategically place parsley for decoration. I had really good pasta and a strawberry dessert. It was a wine glass filled with finely chopped strawberries, whipped cream, chocolate shavings, and this other sweet creamy stuff. AMAZING!!!

Dia de Amistad

July 30th, 2009 was Dia de Amistad (Friendship Day) in Paraguay. This is one of many really cool holidays Paraguay has. Throughout the day everyone was wishing each other Felicidades, or Happy Friendship Day. Certain people exchanged gifts. Someone brought in a few delicious pizzas. I noticed a few people standing around in one of the offices eating something. Then Avelino said, “Brad, eju,” meaning come in here. I did and was invited to partake. I had three slices. You have to keep in mind, things like cake, ice cream, good pizza, desserts, etc... have been very rare events for me up to this point. Most of my food is simple, bland, and I eat the same kinds of things day in and day out. So when I get things like really good pizza, it is an extra special treat for me.

Later, around 3:00 PM, everyone headed to a building out back. I didn’t really know what was going on or what was about to happen, until I saw people carrying food and drinks. At first, I thought it was like a company meeting, but it turned out to be a company party.

Here is how the tradition goes. 15 days before Dia de Amistad, they draw names out of a hat. Then everyone buys a present for their amigo but they don’t reveal who their friend is. Then during the party, everyone sits in a semicircle to begin the gift exchange. The really weird and funny thing about it is that all the girls sat on one side and the guys on the other side. It was like I was at an elementary school dance or something.





Someone starts it by saying something to the effect of, “My friend is someone who is short, very funny, and likes Olympia.” They continue talking about the person as they walk towards them, and then reveal who it is by calling their name, giving them a hug (between men) or kisses (between women and between men and women), and handing them the gift. Then it’s that person’s turn to reveal who their friend is. The process continues until the last person has gone. The atmosphere is amazing. Some give serious speeches but most joke around. Sometimes, they start chanting, “Kiss Kiss Kiss,” and other times the room explodes in laughter after someone’s comments and someone else.

After all the gifts were exchanged, the ladies brought in the food and drinks, and everyone stood around the table eating finger food and pieces of cake. That’s the Paraguayan way. You don’t get your own little plastic plate and napkin. You just pick up what you want to eat, and eat it. It’s actually less wasteful, and is more conducive to a close, friendly atmosphere.

After the party I went home, and was picked up around 6:00 again to go to the cancha to watch the guys play soccer. Once they finished playing, we celebrated Dia de Amistad together by having some beers in the park. After that, Marino took me to a Dia de Amistad BBQ.
Now is a good time to talk about how a lot of Paraguayan BBQs go down. Everyone basically sits in the Paraguayan equivalent of lawn chairs in a circle. A glass of wine and coke or beer is passed around the circle. One man is designated the cook. He mostly attends to the meat on the grill but also partakes in the drinking circle. There could be one of a few meats on the grill. The most popular items are chorizo, which is sausage, and carne de vaca, which is cow meat. I say cow meat instead of beef or steak, because that’s exactly what it is...cow meat. Most times its still on the bone and is full of fat and slimy stuff. Another popular option is to throw a pig head on the grill, which was the case for this particular occasion, along with chorizo. Once the meat is ready, they put it in a large pan in the center of the table. Then everyone pounces on it like lions on antelope. Everyone has a fork and a knife, and you just proceed to cut off pieces. Usually there is something like bread, mandioca, rice, or lettuce and tomatoes, to accompany the meat. When I didn’t immediately pounce on the meat, they encouraged me to hurry up and get in the circle, or risk missing out on the best meat. The Paraguayans know where all the best meat is. One particular nice fellow, would ever so often, slice off a specially chosen piece, and hand it to me.

After eating the pig head and sausage, we sat continued with the drinking while listening to music. Later, a few of the guys started dancing together. It’s all very relaxed. When you have to pee for example, you just walk a few steps away from everyone else, and let it go. After that, Marino drove me home, but when we got there, he was like, “let’s continue the party.” So we went to a little place that was still open, and some of his friends met us there. We continued the party there late into the night, and then one of his sober friends drove me home.

It is a very cool holiday, and I don’t know why we don’t have something like that in the US.

The next day was pretty uneventful. I slept really late, watched a few movies, read some out of a book I was reading entitled, Ismael, and went to the coop later in the afternoon to play on the internet.

Funny Story- The Carrolin catastrophe

The next day was August 1st, and yet another interesting day in Paraguay. The tradition on this day is to take a shot of a drink called Carrolin, which is caña with Ruda plant leaves. You do this to purify your body, clean your blood, and build up defense in your body in preparation for the month of August, which is a bad month full of sicknesses, etc...

Funny story: Obviously I knew nothing about this tradition or the drink before the day began. They told me it was strong, so I waited until mid morning to take my shot. I prepared some water as a chugger in case it was awful. A few people were waiting in anticipation for this gringo, foreigner, to participate in the tradition and take the shot. I think they were waiting to see my reaction. I chugged down a big gulp, and that was that. It was HORRIBLE. It was very strong and sour, and left a nasty taste in my mouth, so nasty that I ended up walking to the pharmacy, and bought a pack of Winterfresh, to take the taste away. It turns out you aren’t supposed to drink the leaves too. You’re supposed to use your mouth to filter the leaves and only drink the Cana. Obviously, I had no way of knowing, and no one told me. They thought it was hilarious, and said they figured I knew. Of course I didn’t. In the end they said it wasn’t dangerous, and I would just have really clean blood, and be strong for the coming month.

Birthday Party at Ranch

That night my soon to be new family, which I found through a co-worker, took me to a birthday party a few miles outside San Juan. It was held at the birthday boy’s ranch. This birthday party was super nice. There were tables set up, waiters, a live band, an open bar, and a spread of food like I hadn’t seen since arriving in Paraguay. Out back, the men were grilling. This consisted of gigantic pieces of lamb, pig, and cow meat on big wooden sticks stuck in the ground in a circle around a big fire. Ever so often they would rotate the sticks so as to grill all sides of the meat.

Inside the ladies were cooking. There was a fish soup, which took me forever to eat, because I had to carefully chew each piece and pick out the tiny little bones. I regretted accepting the invitation to the fish soup, even though it was really good, because it took me so long to eat it that it was awkward because everyone else had finished and all but my new host sister had abandoned me.

When the meat was ready, we all took our plates to where the meat was, and the guys sliced off portions of our choice of meats. I ate every meat available including lamb, which was the most delicious. It was so tender and juicy. You sprinkle a little lemon on top of freshly slaughtered and cooked lamb and whaala, you have yourself a delicious meal.

Speaking of food, I want to give a shout out to Joe McGinnis! There is no way you’re eating more organic than me. Many times, I can literally see my food walking around or growing. Most of my veggies come fresh from home gardens; fruits come from backyards, and meats from local ranches. I’ve talked with a lot of farmers and ranchers, and I know most of what I’m eating is truly organic because they can’t afford the chemicals, and preservatives aren’t used.

Anyway, the birthday party was a blast. I was introduced to a lot of people, listened to good music, ate good food, and even danced a bit. Just another day in Paradise...
All in all, my future site visit was really good. I read a book, watched a few movies, went to several parties, played on the Internet, met my future family and co-workers and began a few friendships.

My general thoughts on the town:

San Juan Bautista is a very nice town in comparison with many places I’ve seen elsewhere in Paraguay. It is almost too nice...I am in the Peace Corps after all, and part of me craves that living poor experience. I mean while on my future site visit I ate delicious desserts, pizza, pasta, and hamburgers. I went to a rich man’s birthday party, was treated to a fancy lunch, and spent a good amount of time in the comfort of a modern air-conditioned office.

It’s not like a huge city and it’s not like a really small town either. I really like the size. There are plenty of people and businesses, but it’s not overwhelming. It’s really clean; there are some paved streets. The people are nice and very welcoming. They are more educated and a bit more sophisticated. There is a pretty rich culture, and I’m told it is very safe.

I don’t think I’ll be able to help the Cooperative too much in the way of their administration, but instead hope to be able to leverage coop resources to reach more humble people surrounding San Juan.

Cow entrails soup and yet another birthday party

July 24th, 2009 – Cow entrails soup and yet another birthday party

VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED

Thursday, July 23rd, I came home to a special surprise. I had walked in and heard some loud noises outside my window. I went out to see what it was, and it was my father and his friend unloading the remains of a cow on a table in our carport...in this case I guess cowport. Haha. It’s been a while since my last incredibly witty and funny pun.

They told me they were going to prepare a special treat for the soccer players to give them energy for the upcoming game. What they do is cut up and cook all the entrails of the cow, and make a big soup out of it. I think they grill the head and sit it on the table, give everyone a fork and a knife, and everyone digs in. You have to be fast to get the best parts, which I’m told are the tongue and the brain. As they were telling me this I’m looking at a pile of cow organs and a big meaty cow head. Haha. The head still had the horns, eyeballs, and some hair on it. I had to get a picture for your enjoyment.

I snapped a picture after the head was prepared a bit, and as they were cleaning and cooking the meal.

It was Jacqueline’s, my niece’s, birthday. She’s only 13 years old, as of this birthday. She’s kind of shy and you can tell she doesn’t have a lot of self-esteem, and probably doesn’t receive a lot of favorable attention from her parents. At lunch that afternoon, I walked over to her house to wish her Happy Birthday. She was still lying in bed watching TV. That’s awesome because she probably never gets to do that, but it was her birthday so if she wanted to lie in bed half the day and watch TV, then that’s exactly what she should have done. Anyway, I asked her what she was going to do for her Birthday, to which she had no response. I told her I hoped she had a great birthday and to do whatever she wanted, hung out with her a bit, and then gave her a big birthday hug. After lunch she told me her parents said they were going to have an Asado, a BBQ, for her birthday.

When I came home from school, she had invited a few of her friends over to attend her Birthday BBQ, and they were running around playing. The hours passed and it soon became evident that there would be no BBQ. Her Mom came home announcing there was no cake to be found in town, and her Dad said it was too late to start a BBQ. She ran to her Mom’s bed and began to cry. It broke my heart. Here it was her 13th birthday, she had invited friends over, and her parents didn’t come through. I felt so bad for her, and could understand exactly why she was crying. It was like she wasn’t important enough. What makes it worse is that she had just seen the fairly large party we had for Mike and the big extravaganza we had for Angelic. Her family had thrown big parties for her sister’s last 2 birthdays including her 15th, which is huge here. I mean it’s so big that people go in debt for it. She had been anticipating her birthday, and probably imagined a party, and the day comes, she gets a promise for a party, invites some friends, and nothing happens. Can you imagine the humility, and the feeling of rejection? It broke my heart.

Her parents promised her they would do it the next day. It’s not the same, but at least it’s something.

So the next day we had a small party. Her parents are very humble from a financial perspective and not nearly as organized and motivated so the party was kind of thrown together and simple, so I still felt bad. The party started out just as just a few girls and their Moms’/relatives and I sitting around a TV listening and watching a music DVD.

Regardless there were balloons, music and dancing, cake, and friends....all the important ingredients for a good birthday party. Later the men quit working and joined the party. About that time, we started eating and then drinking.

It was freezing...literally. To let you know how cold it was, I had already gone home for like 20 minutes to put my feet in front of a heater, to warm them up because they were so cold. I tell you how cold it was so you’ll fully appreciate how funny it is that these two Paraguayans, my brother and Carlos’ brother, took their shirts off and danced together in 32-degree weather.

Bday Party Remixed & Paso de Oro Game

July 20th, 2009 – Bday Party Remixed & Paso de Oro game

Bday Party Part 2:

Mike’s surprise birthday party started at 3:00 PM on Saturday afternoon. Paulo and I had planned on making it back by then, but with how long it took to get there and back, it didn’t quite work out like that. We got back around 7:00 PM, and the birthday party was well underway. In fact they had already been going strong for 4 hours.

It had been moved from Mike’s house since his parents are in mourning and aren’t aloud to play loud music. So the party was at Mary’s house, just 2 doors down from my house. We walked up and joined the party. This time, it was almost 100% Americans, yet interestingly enough, the Americans were partying like Paraguayans, which is to say they were sitting in a giant circle talking and sharing drinks. Before too much longer, Mary’s Dad cranked the American hip-hop, and with that the dancing was underway. I started it off by dancing hip-hop style with Mary’s super cool little brother. With us two on the dance floor, the girls weren’t far behind. The party lasted several more hours at Mary’s house, before we noticed that Mary’s Mom had become sick, and it was getting late, so we took the party to the house of what is seemingly Paso de Oro’s only 20 something with his own place.

By this time we had lost a decent portion of the Americans but picked up some Paraguayans. We danced in the living room deep into the night. This is cultural integration and intercultural exchange at its best.

We all had a ton of fun!

Paso de Oro Game:

The next day was Sunday. Of course, the sacred day of the national religion...soccer. So the whole family and half the community headed down the long, dirt road in my brother’s truck.

Nothing too eventful. Just another normal day at the cancha (soccer field). The referees just barely escaped death running by escort into a small wooden shack, which enraged supporters tried to tear down...but you know, nothing unusual, just another average Sunday in Paraguay. Papa told me later that unless they assault the refs and draw blood, the police aren’t allowed to do anything. Even more so since the principal agitator was the owner of the opposing club and therefore on his own turf. I asked, and to the best of my knowledge, a disturbing of the peace or disorderly conduct law doesn’t exist here. What’s more is that there has to be someone to denounce someone else. If no-one denounces a criminal within six hours, they are set free. Many times, people won’t denounce someone, because they know they are likely to go free anyway, especially if they throw a few Guaranis (local currency) in the direction of the cops. Then the criminal is free and knows the name of who denounced them, and revenge is a common problem in Paraguay. You can see who this is a troubled system I’m sure.

Fiesta de Cumpleaños-Paraguayan/American Style Birthday Party

Paraguayans + Americans + A birthday= A really good time

We had a birthday party for Angelic at my house. It was a really good time. A few days before, I passed around a sheet asking people to sign up to bring something to the party. I provided the house, the decorations and the chicken. We started out the evening with singing Happy Birthday to Angelic in 3 languages. I think the Paraguayans especially liked the English version, because even a week after the party, I overheard my little niece singing it. Then everyone stood around drinking and conversing.

We moved on to dinner, cutting of the cake (which true to Paraguayan tradition, the Birthday girl cut), and then we drank and danced the night away. It was like a Paraguayan/American hybrid style birthday party, which makes for a great party. It was a great blend of Americans and Paraguayans of all ages.

Paraguayans drink in groups. Usually they fill one glass and pass it around. Americans, being the individualists and germophobes we are, give everyone their own glass. So it must have been weird for the Paraguayans to receive their own glass full of the beverage of their choice. I think some of them secretly liked it though.

My camera broke, and my brother, Agusto, had taken it into the city to be fixed. He didn’t arrive with it until late in the party, but I did manage to snag a few pics...