Last night I trully felt a million miles away, in the middle of nowhere. I had known that UNC was in the final four but I did not know when they played, nor did I know that last night was the championship game. Sigh. Hey, atleast we won, right? What a domination, too.
Anyways, things here are going well. I threw an asado for the comité who helped build the house and also invited other volunteers that are in the surrounding area. It was a lot of fun and good food. We had a pig, chicken, chorizo, chipa guasu, salada, sopa paraguay. It was great. And yes, I am a killer. I have killed, and I could kill again. I slaughtered that pig. It was not pleasent, to say the least but it had to be done. I watched them carve up the pig and do all the dirty work. There is a lot of work that goes into preparing a pig for cooking, something that I feel is good for everyone to see before they eat an animal.
This week is semana santa, which is basically the biggest holiday in Paraguay. Basically we eat a lot of chipa for a week and do nothing. Im not sure how I feel about it, but all the Paraguayans are excited. One thing that Im not thrilled about is that I can´t do anything for Passover. Some other volunteers talked about doing a sedar, but I wont be able to go because the buses stop as well during semana santa....Im stranded. This was the first time I really did miss a holiday in the states; not being able to be with family, eat really good food etc. This is probably how the other volunteers felt when Christmas rolled around. It´s okay though, I have the rest of my life to do Passover, but only two years to do semana santa.
Overall, I would say my life is good. I think I am slowly finding my way through this crazy experience. Ive been meditating (laugh all you want) and just thinking a lot. I feel very lucky to be where I am in life. I get to do things that people cant do in the states. I have a lot of free time, which could be a bad thing unless used correctly. But how many of you can say you sat outside and just watched the clouds travel across a sky that seemed almost endless? It may sound boring, but its amazing. Im getting better at dealing with frustrations and the unexpected. Im reading a lot. Im being with Paraguayans. Im working out in the fields, in my garden. Its hard, but its good.
One thing that I have realized is that manual labor is a wonderful thing. I know that might sound odd, but its true and its something that I think is missing in most American lifestyles. The other day I was digging my trash pit. Digging in Paraguay sucks. The ground is sandy, but when its dry it compacts into an almost undiggable hardpan. Basically you throw your shovel to the ground to break a layer, digg it up and continue until you cant go anything, about two inches deep. After that you pour a bucket of water into your little hole and wait for it to soak up, then repeat over and over. Needless to say, it is a long and painful process.
Now, why would I say something like that is wonderful? Because it quiets the mind. Whether its hoeing a field, harvesting, digging or whatever the effects for me have all been the same. When I take a break I find that my mind has been cleared from the work and that I can focus on one line of thought, and if I want to I can just leave my mind empty and just enjoy my surroundings. It´s basically meditating but with the added benefit of getting something done. That is the other great part of manual labor - you get to see some results. I have a trash pit where I can safely store trash and not have to burn it. I hoed my demonstration plot, which was brutally hard, but now it is weedless and ready for me to plant.
Speaking of demo plot. Now that winter is around the corner (I think?? it is still really hot) I am getting ready to plant my abonos verdes in my demo plot. I am planting avena negra (black oats) which acts as a cover crop, outcompeting weeds, nabo forragero a long rooted turnip cousin, which breaks up the hardpan and brings up nutrients from deep within the soil that are not accesable to other plants, and lupino blanco, which is a nitrogen fixing legume. Once Spring rolls around I will cut all of this down and leave it as dead coverage and experiment with no-till farming.
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