A Day in My Life

I realize I haven't updated this in a couple months. That's because I don't really think my life has been that interesting lately. I don't have anything though-provoking or life-changing to write about so I'll just tell you all about a typical day in my life.

7:00am
I wake up to the sound of the giant pig squealing at the kitchen door because it wants to eat. It's a horrible noise but that's what pigs do so no reason to get upset about it. I lay in bed listening to the hustle and bustle around my house. My 20 year old sister has already left for work at the Municipality in the nearest town, Santani.

7:30am
I wander into the kitchen where my mom greets me with “Mba'éichapa neko'ê” (How did the sun rise? or How did you sleep?). Because I'm still not thinking that clearly in English, much less in Guarani I just reply with “Iporã” (Well). On my better days I can make a complete sentence with “Cheko'ê porã” but that usually doesn't happen. She replies with “Gracias a Dios” (Thanks be to God) then tells me to go sit down at the table so we can drink cocido. Cocido is delicious. It's yerba and sugar simmered over coals and then added to milk or water. We drink that and eat rolls or banana bread, if I can get my hands on some bananas, or chipa. Then we sit and listen to the radio and chat. My mom also sells soy milk so people come and go all morning with their 2 liter milk jugs getting refills for 2 mil (less than 50 cents).

10:00am
We eat a little snack and drink tereré together. If it's sunny we will sit outside in the shade and chat with neighbors who walk by. If it's rainy, like today, we stay under the porch and watch tv. My mom begins preparing lunch and I do laundry or go to the school to drink tereré with the teachers or hang out with other families and, you guessed it, drink tereré.

12:00pm
We all gather around the table for dinner. My 18 year old brother goes to pick up my sister from Santani for lunch. I am very lucky to be living here because my mom has a beautiful garden that she is very proud of. Because of this, she loves serving fresh veggies from her garden. It's also lettuce season right now so we have “salad” (lettuce, salt, oil and lemon) with every meal. The rest of lunch consists of a broth with meat or pasta or rice with meat and the ever-present mandioca. It's pretty much the same everyday.

1:00pm
On nice days we sit in the yard, eat fruit and drink tereré. I usually zone out of the conversation until I realize that someone has asked me something in Spanish and everyone is staring at me. Sometimes I go to the school or to another family's house. Lately I have been working on my house too. On rainy days everyone stays inside. I get some good reading time in and there is always a telanovela (soap opera) on tv, which my sisters are obsessed with.

4:00pm
At this point in the afternoon my host mom usually announces some social event that we will be going to soon. I never really get much warning on these things and the rest of the family already seems to know exactly what's going on. We have horse races, which usually are just men sitting around drinking beer while the occasional horse trots down the track. My mom, in addition to selling soy milk, also sells beer so it's a good event for her to go to. And if she brings her American daughter she gets even more business. I have also been to many rezos since I've been here. They are basically small memorial services. They happen 9 days after a person has died, then at 6 months, then a year, then every year after that until 5 years. People gather at the person's home and someone leads prayers for the deceased. Then they pass out chipa and cookies and candy and we socialize. I am usually a popular topic of conversation. My host mom introduces me as her daughter and other women always point out that I look more like Rosalba, my mom's sister who lives in Ciudad del Este. Apparently she is pale too. I would like to meet her sometime to see if these similarities truly exist. People tell me I'm linda (pretty) and I've been asked several times if I am German, Brasilera, a Mennonite or a model. They also ask if I have a boyfriend and tell me that I am going to find my husband here. Awesome, glad that's settled.

5:00pm
It's starting to get dark so everyone disperses to gather their cattle and herd them back to the pin for the night. If it's a chilly night we drink mate dulce, which is delicious or just tereré if it's a warmer night. We sit on the porch and enjoy each other's company. Sometimes neighbors come over and chat for a while. I usually get bored pretty quickly because all of the conversations are in Guarani so I wander off to my room to read or take a shower because it gets too dark. We don't have a light in the bathroom so showering is night is interesting. It's also nice to shower before it gets too cold because we don't have hot water.

8:00pm
The news comes on and we gather around to watch the news. It's surprisingly graphic compared with news in the US. My mom fixes dinner or sends someone out the the cruce (about 2km away) to buy empanadas if she doesn't feel like cooking. We eat dinner and watch the news and talk. Dinner has slightly more variety than lunch and I usually enjoy it a lot more. Sometimes it's a roast chicken, or fried eggs with veggie, or a mandi'o dish (my favorites).

8:30pm
Time for bed! My family goes to sleep pretty early so I head to my room and read or listen to music before I hit the hay around 9 or 9:30pm. It's very quiet at night except for the occasional dog fight or rooster crowing (the don't only crow at sunrise by the way).

I've sort of gotten into a routine and I'm discovering more and more ways that I can help this community. People still have to tell me “tranquilo, Amanda” some day when I get antsy about sitting around for hours. Life is pretty slow out in the campo but it's good. It's home.