Happy Thanksgiving...a couple of days late. As you may have guessed, Paraguay doesn´t celebrate Thanksgiving. It was business as usual. The nice part is that I work for the U.S. government, which celebrates all U.S. and Paraguayan holidays, so I had a holiday. The director of Peace Corps Paraguay invited all of us trainees over to his house for a Thanksgiving potluck. I decided to bring a sweet potato dish that I ate last year at Thanksgiving and absolutely love. Instead of yams I used Batatas...actual sweet potatoes and instead of brown sugar I used molasses. I had a lot of fun making them and learning how to find food in Paraguay and manage a Paraguayan kitchen. There is a supermarket in the training town where I got sugars and flour. I got butter at a corner supermarket in another town, and the rest of the ingrediens: nuts, sweet potatoes, milk, at the mercado. I bought an egg from my neighbor as well, and then used a little of my host mom´s molasses. A large majority of the lower class Paraguayans have gas ovens and stoves, so I learned how to use a gas oven for the first time. The dish turned out a success and everyone at Thanksgiving loved it and I am passing around the recipe to friends here.
So the director of Peace Corps Paraguay has a really incredible house in the capital of Asuncion. It reminded of some of the houses that I visited in East Memphis. We swam in the pool and lounged in the yard, along with eating an incredible amount of delicious food...including vegetables (vegetables have become a luxury in my Paraguayan diet.) I enjoyed visiting with other trainees that I don´t get to see very often and relax by the pool. The cold water of the pool was refreshing in the Paraguayan heat!
Training is quickly wrapping up. We have two weeks before swear in. Last weekend I visited my future site. It is in a beautiful location only 2.5 hours from Asuncion and 3K from the nearest paved road, which is pretty nice. I have it better than a lot of my friends that have a two hour walk to the bus stop. My bus is only 1K away. Although I think I would have enjoyed a more remote community, I think I am going to like my site! One of my contacts has a kitten that she is going to let me have so I am reading up on how to care for a cat!
Ciao for now friends!
Jajatopata!
Maddie, thanks for the good update! How far is 1K in a measurement I can understand? Catherine and I talked a little bit about you last night; I'm glad you're writing letters, too. I hope to get another one on its way to you before Christmas.
ReplyDeleteLove to you, sister.
Abbye
Hey girl. 1k is .6miles. So it´s 1K to the bus that has a regular schedule (4am, 6am, 5pm) but 3K (2.8miles) to the ruta where buses come more frequently. I just made that trip to get into town!
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