This a three part post of recent and not-so-recent happenings in our Peace Corps life. *All photos were taken with a point & shoot, please forgive me.*
Part 1:: Reading & Crafts Camp
During training there was a session on secondary projects given by the ever talented and amazing Peace Corps Volunteer Amy. During it Amy told us all about the reading camps she had done in her community; I instantly fell in love with the idea and decided that somehow I would make this happen in my own community.
Today I am sharing with you five little facts about Paraguayan food/meals:
1. Avocado is eaten as a fruit. Paraguayans like to sprinkle some sugar on top and eat it in its skin or in a smoothie with milk and sugar. This means they won’t eat it in a salad, or in their sandwich, or savor the all-time American favorite: guacamole. In fact, the day Jon and I made guacamole not one member of our host family tried it.
2. The preferred breakfast is white bread; there might be some dulce de leche or jam to spread on it. This means no eggs, no pancakes, no yogurt, no granola, no fruit, no cereal, no oatmeal, no French toast, none of it, just good old white bread. There is no need to get complicated so early in the morning, Paraguayans enjoy keeping things simple.
3. Red meat shall never be eaten with the slightest trace of blood. Once I showed Paraguayans images of how Americans like to eat their steak, they couldn’t believe what they were seeing and continuously shook their heads. Ironically, they love blood sausage, while Americans stay away from it.
I have a question for you. Well, before I pose my question I would like for you to excuse my ignorance, and Jon’s ignorance for that matter, for he is perplexed as well.
The question: Why do we refrigerate our eggs in the United States?
I have most certainly not been to every country in the world, but enough to where I have seen a trend, a.k.a. no one refrigerates their eggs… except for us, the Americans. We love them so very much refrigerated that we buy them already refrigerated in the supermarket and it wouldn’t surprise me to know that they come to the supermarket in refrigerated semi-trucks.
Paraguay is covered in mango trees and since arriving here I have been patiently awaiting the ripening of the mangos. The time has finally come: it’s mango season!
There are two types of mangos that grow here, the little mango that grows on big mango trees and the big mango that grows on little mango trees. The big mango trees are much more common than the little mango trees, which is unfortunate because the little mangos are very fibrous and not very pleasant to eat while the big mangos have no fiber, are juicy and delicious.
Jon and I unfortunately do not have a little mango tree in our yard, so to attain big mangos I came up with a simple strategy: to tell every Paraguayan I know that I l-o-v-e big mangos. After my mango campaign I stood at my door and waited to reap the benefits. Paraguayans didn’t disappoint; I received 12 big mangos in two days. Jon was amazed.
We left off last time with a promise of food for this post and yet here I am instead with a recap of our trip this past Christmas and New Years. Please forgive me. I hope you enjoy this eye candy instead.
After 6+ months in Paraguay Jon and I were ready to start exploring the land beyond our new home. During Thanksgiving, with Isaiah and Allison, the idea of a Christmas trip was mentioned. Quickly thereafter out came a map of Argentina and adjacent countries and with that the planning had officially begun.
On the day of Christmas Eve we flew off to Mendoza, Argentina, the largest wine producing area of South America, most famous for its Malbec. Maybe I am too easily impressed in life, but I quickly fell in love with Argentina. There is a great variety of cuisine available (including seafood paella!), fun/cute shops, and pedestrian walk signs. Ah, yes, you folks living the fancy life in the first world should say a small prayer of gratitude thanking whatever higher being you believe in for that flashing walk sign that tells you when to cross the street, because it’s worth gold. Ahem, back to Mendoza.
