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 Poisonwood and Peace Corps 
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Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2006 6:54 pm
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Gals,

This book speaks to me so much because I encountered so many similar experiences in Paraguay as a Peace Corps volunteer. All those silly things I brought - and gave away!! And the mistakes. Children taught me so much. How to get water out of a well, for example. I think I've told you all that story. How to speak Spanish and Guarani. The names of things. How to talk to Paraguayans. You can learn to speak a language and then you can learn to speak a cultural language - or better yet, dialect. That's the socio-linguistic aspect and that's when real communication and connection takes place. I knew volunteers that could barely speak a word of Spanish or Guarani but they could speak the cultural language and they did great! Made me think of Ruth May and "Mother May I."

We built a huge raised bed vegetable garden (just like Nathaniel's - on his second try) in the Cooperative's patio (yard). The beds did indeed look like graveyard plots. Veggies did great since the pollinators were thankfully there, but then the catch was trying to convince everyone to try broccoli and chard - unknowns in Paraguayan kitchens. I fixed them every way I could think of - steamed, Chinese (big bomb!!), fried, in soup - but my neighbors didn't think much of either one until they came up with the big winner recipe, tortillas de acelga (chard) and tortillas de broccoli. Tortillas in Paraguay are not like Mexican tortillas. They're pancakes basically. So we made savory pancakes with chard and broccoli - and then they would eat the stuff. But they must not have liked them too much because they never asked for seeds to grow these exotic vegetable yum-yums!

What they did eat a LOT of (as they did in the Belgian Congo, now Zaire, I think) was manioc. When I lived in Paraguay, the country was run by a dictator, "Presidente" Alfredo Stroessner. We used to say that as long as Paraguayans had manioc, Stroessner was safe in office. One bad harvest and Paraguayans would revolt. We were wrong, of course. And less than a year after I left Paraguay, he had been booted...by another general - his son-in-law!

Manioc has no nutritional value but it does indeed fill the belly. Manioc drives the hunger pangs away, and terere [pronounced: Tay-Ray-Ray] gives everyone energy. Terere and mate [MAH-tay] are drunk like coffee and iced tea. They are the country's official caffeinated beverages, and both are made using the leaves of a holly tree. So they eat manioc and drink terere, and everything is tranquilo pai te!!! [prounounced: Trahn-KEY-low PIE TAY!! Guarani for "totally cool"]

When I lived in Paraguay, I started learning that it was okay to make mistakes. I had to - otherwise, I would have been a basket case since I made them all the time. It wasn't till I started teaching that I really learned the lesson. It's something I tell my student over and over - that it's okay to make mistakes. I really feel for the kids who come from Mexico, Honduras, and elsewhere and don't speak a lick of English as we would say. I know what they're going through. It is so hard. They're feeling out of control. They're experiencing emotional ups and downs. And they're feeling insecure, because nothing is as it once was. But eventually they learn, become grounded, and begin to dominate English. And when that happens, they are surely feeling euphoric...and safe and more in control again. Isn't that they way it is with all students, though? Just to greater and lesser degrees.

Thanks for indulging me in the pleasure of returning to the past!

Cindy

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Cindy Fowler

"Read it and weep!"


Wed Mar 22, 2006 12:44 pm
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Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2006 6:50 pm
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Cindy, when we discuss Poisonwood Bible I hope that we can hear more about your experiences. Experience is the best teacher after all!


Wed Mar 22, 2006 5:03 pm
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