Culture

I do not have much time right now, but since so much has happened in the past 2 days, I am going to update twice today. This will just be a few interesting cultural differences we have experienced or noticed while we are down here. Paraguay is definitely has a strong, engrained culture, and it is so interesting living in and among it and the people :)

Here we go.

1. Paraguay is the only country in South America with 2 official languages: Guarani, and Spanish. Spanish is more widely spoken, but Guarani is still present and is the indiginous language of the country.

2. Mate. That word should have an accent on the e, but I cannot figure out how to do that on this keyboard. Pronounced mah-tay. EVERYONE drinks it here. It is boiled water with basically tea leaves and herbs, then put in container. You have a cup, with herbs in it, and a metal straw. You continuously pour the hot tea water into the leaves in the cup, and drink it. Everywhere and anywhere. In the winter, its hot. In the summer its cold and called something else. I am not even going to attempt to phonetically guess how to spell it. It is served to you as a guest if you go to somebodys house, and it is rude to turn it down. Its good stuff though. We all like it :)

3. Turning 15 is the coming of age birthday. I am actually about to go to a girls 15th birthday party. It is the US equivalent to "sweet sixteen." In this case, it is a surprise party so it is pretty exciting!

4. It is very common to see chickens, cows, goats, sheep, and lots and lots of cats and dogs roaming the streets. In San Lorenzo, I see this every day. Not as much in Asuncion, but today we did see a horse going the wrong way on a one way street. I am often put to sleep by the barking of stray dogs accross the city and roosters, and woken by the sounds of more roosters and the mooing of cows.

5. In most cases, toilet paper does not get flushed, it is thrown away.

6. When you approach a house and would like to announce your presence at the house, you clap in front of the gate.

7. If you are trusted, it is most likely the owner of the house will bring chairs out and sit with you on their patio or front courtyard

8. Paraguayans, and San Lorenzo in particular, are very curious. We were very successful in door to door ministry mostly because the Paraguayans would tell the owner of the house they have an American (USA) with tham, so they would let us in or talk out of pure curiosity.

9. There are no traffic laws that I have been able to figure out. The city of Asuncion (biggest city in Paraguay and capital) is the first place I have seen a traffic light of any kind.

10. Carbohydrates are the staple food here. I have yet to eat anything green or any fruit yet. Bread, pasta, lots of meat, and other similar foods are staple. My host mother explained this is because it fills you up the most and gives you the most energy, and this is necessary especially because there are many people here who cannot afford a lot of one thing.

11. The barbeque here is amazing, and Paraguayans LOVE their barbeque. If you ask any of the guys on our team they will tell you it is the best they have ever had. At least thats what I have heard...

12. Speaking of food, dinner time is at about 10-11 p.m. every night. Portia told me this is just a South American tradition in general though.

We are leaving now though, so I will update later!!