[Traveling Tale] A Texas Daytrip

[I've got a lot of traveling stories to share, it may take me a while but I'll get them posted eventually...]

We decided it was time for a girls day out in my family and so my sister, my mom and I piled into the van and started to drive. About 2 ½ hours northeast of Austin, after a drive past scenery that exemplifies what I think of when I think Central Texas (large pastures, barbed wire fences, gently rolling hills, a herd of cattle, a few stock ponds and a windmill or two thrown in for good measure)you arrive in the town of Calvert. You might wonder what is so special about Calvert, a town many Texans have never heard of, that we would make it our destination for the day. My sister had done her research and learned that amidst the antique stores on the main street of town there is a place called Cocoamoda. It is a producer of fine truffles and just happens to also have a cafe that is open for lunch and dinner. Thanks to our cold midweek choice we happened to be the only three in the restaurant. After ordering from our waiter (who used to be a server for Carnival Cruise lines) we were given three sample of truffles (a seriously yummy appetizer). I can highly recommend the double chocolate truffle. Lunch itself was also enjoyable – my quiche was fluffy, moist and hot (although perhaps a bit too hot as it cracked the Wedgewood plate it was set on) and my mom and sister seemed to enjoy their choices. Of course, though, the best part of the meal was dessert. We got a sampler of truffles – and when they’re so rich you can definitely share one among three people, seven new choices were more than enough. While sampling our treats we got to meet the owner and confectioner (?? What do you call someone who makes truffles?) and received a nice short lesson on what was necessary to truly appreciate a good truffle, a bit of his history and that of the café, as well as a glimpse of his future plans (all I can say is that it involves gold coating). All in all a delicious experience and one I can recommend.

Ordering a Terere Thermos

After consulting with several teachers at school and then asking some others for directions I, along with a friend, ventured out on a mission to order my own custom made terere thermos. What is that, you may wonder? It’s the one thing you will always see any group of Paraguayans carrying. In reality it consists of a thermos of cold water, a cup with terere leaves and other herbs in it and a bombillo – half straw half strainer – that you drink through. Terere has to be the national drink of Paraguay.

Back to the adventure…we walk into the store and notice shelves covered with different types and patterns of leather and wander around for a while. I never dreamed there would be so many choices, or that I’d have so many different decisions to make. On a low table was a collection of leather swatches and flipping through it became we’d need to decide on a color (dark brown) and a finish (suede, smooth leather or bumpy like alligator skin – I went with smooth in the hopes of it staying a bit cleaner). Then there was a question of sewing pattern. Crisscross? Diamonds? Smooth cover? I decided I might need to think of accents before I made a choice about that. So I started paging through giant books of embroidery designs, flipping quickly until I came to several pages of butterflies I found a simple design that would please me. Of course she then had to ask one or two? (two) What color? Out came a tri-fold of stitched thread, but beware – we actually can only use the ones with a highlighted number (okay with me, that means a few less choices). I finally settle on a turquoise and a purple. In the meantime the woman who owns the shop has begun to sketch out my requests on a simple form she has. Stitching on the jug and handle? Oh, sure, make that a mix of the two colors. What about the cup? Do you want a design on it? What color? What about the stitching? I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed by this point but know that there can’t be too many other decisions to make. I no longer think I’m going to end up with as simple of a thermos as I originally anticipated but it will definitely be uniquely mine. I can’t wait to see how it turns out!

Clever!

I went down town this weekend to the artisanal market in the hopes of finishing up the last of my Christmas shopping. I looked around at the leather goods, wooden bowls, embroidered clothes and jewelry but nothing caught my eye. In the end I returned home with only two new photographs to speak of. These pictures show what I think is quite clever, the kind of second hand use of things that I love to see people do. As you can see the men in this area have come up with a cheap way to play checkers. All it took was a bit of paint to put the board on the concrete slabs that were already there along with enough bottle caps in two colors to make up the two playing pieces. A few steps further on I actually saw two men playing, only they had collected yellow and red twist off lids for their playing pieces. Clever!

Virgin of Caacupe

Today is a national holiday. The holy day of the Virgin of Caacupe which also happens to be the feast of the Immaculate Conception. I have been gathering a vague idea of what this holiday means to Paraguayans over the past week. My Spanish tutor shared a bit of the history and told me that she will taking a bus to a town close to Caacupe where she and her family will make a one to two hour pilgrimage on foot to Caacupe. This is something that it seems a large part of the population chooses to do on this day. Why? What is the story? From what I have been able to piece together there was a Guarani Indian being chased when he hid behind a tree. Praying to the Virgin Mary he promised that if they would pass him by unnoticed he would carve an image of her. Which, of course, is exactly what happened. The man then carved a statue of the virgin (or two depending on the story) one of which is in the cathedral of Caacupe. Paraguayans see this as a true miracle story and believe fervently in the Virgin of Caacupe. As for me, I’d be interested in going to Caacupe (perhaps on the 8th of December next year) and experiencing some of the national belief myself. In the meantime I will try to sort out more of the story (although I have little hope in actually covering the one true story as is so rare in much of Catholic history).

See here for an account of Caacupe.

How much?

After four and a half months in Paraguay I still find myself struggling with the money. It is not that I don’t understand how much people are telling me, although I have to admit at times I’m not sure I understand, and at others I think I must be wrong because it is just to cheap. No, my problem comes when I actually try to pull out the money to pay. I’ve got the bills down fine. There’s the green 100 mil bill (worth approximately $20) with a picture of the dam on the back. A purplish 50 mil, the blue 20 mil, the brown 10 mil and the red 5 mil. The different colors help to keep it all straight, and the numbers are pretty easy to see. I might not know who the people are on the front side yet (except for the name which is written on it) and I might have trouble keeping small change as no one ever wants to give you change except at the grocery store. No my problem comes from trying to use the coins. There are coins worth 1 mil, 500, 100 and 50 Guarani. That should be four different coins. Not to hard, you think. Not so true when there is two different versions of almost all of the coins. One gold and one silver 500. The same for the 100 and 50. Add in the different thicknesses and you start to see how sorting out coins by touch can be hard. Oh, and did I mention that the silver 50 is almost exactly the same size as the silver 1 mil? Is it any wonder that I get confused? Usually I just end up paying with bills and not worrying about the change, which as you can imagine makes it pile up. The alternative is the pile of coins it takes to pay for something when I decide to actually dig it all out. I wonder if I’ll get it all figured out by the end of two years?

A shopping ???

I’m not quite sure what to call it. It is not exactly a shopping basket, nor is it really a shopping trolley (cart). Although at times it functions as either one. I think perhaps I should call it a shopping…trasket. You’re probably thinking, what are you talking about? I have to tell you that the shopping trasket is one of the more clever things I’ve seen here in Paraguay. It is perfect for when you are just running in to pick up some groceries and end up with a few more than are comfortable to carry over your arm, yet fewer than you really want to deal with a trolley for. It is basically a shopping basket on wheels. Often there are two handles – one which lets you carry it over your arm as you would with a normal basket, and a longer flip up one which allows you to pull the trasket along behind you on its wheels. One of my friends raves about them for the simple reason that they work for a person of any height. Are you shorter? That just means that your trasket will be a bit farther behind you. Are you taller than the average Paraguayan? No worries, the handle will still be long enough for you to hold comfortably. I’m telling you, this is a gadget (can you can it a gadget?) that I’d love to see adopted in other places. In addition to its versatility in handles you also have to appreciate a smaller wheeled container which doesn’t clog up narrow aisles and makes it quite simple to pass the shopper who is stopped studying the racks. You can stick with your shopping cart or basket if you want, me, I’m going to grab a shopping trasket as I go into the store.

It's getting hot down here

It’s getting hot down here, not that this is any real surprise. After all one of the big draws of Paraguay for me was that I would be moving back to a country that was predominantly warm and sunny. The heat definitely suits me more than the cold. The real sign for me that summer was truly coming here was when all of the street corner vendors start displaying pool floats and blow up pools. At times they seem to call to me saying “you know you need a way to cool of once you’re back at your house.” Most of the well off (and middle class) families have some sort of pool in their backyard. Most of the time the pool is just big enough to cool off in not the sort you would do any exercise in. Sadly that is the one thing our house doesn’t have. The way we’ve been debating the blow up pools lately, it wouldn’t surprise me if we end up with one our back porch though. In the meantime I’m stuck trying to figure out how to talk about the seasons. I know this is summer, or soon to be, but at the same time I’m considering the approaching Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and wondering how they can really take place in a season that is not fall or winter. Talking to folks back home just makes me even more confused, is my upcoming break from school the summer break or winter break? It will be summer here, but I’ll be returning to visit winter for a good part of it. How to keep it all straight in my head? Perhaps I’ll just stick with saying it’s hot down here.