What’s Different: We Don’t Knock, We Clap

When you arrive to someone’s house here in Paraguay, you don’t walk right up to the front door and knock.  Instead you stand at the edge of their porch and clap.  If they don’t come to the door, you can try to clap again louder and say hello to see if they just didn’t hear you the first time. 

 
Several times there has been someone at my house and I didn’t realize it until I just happened to walk out into my kitchen and see them.  I am not quite used to listening for the clapping, so I think that is the main reason I miss it, though we do almost always have a fan too on which drowns out a lot of noise!

How do you announce your arrival to someone’s home in the country where you live?  I’d love to hear! 

photo credit

What’s Different – The Seven

I learned a small but important difference recently when I ordered copies for my Bible study.  This is what I ordered:

What do you read there?  I thought I was writing page twenty seven to forty three, seven copies.  Instead, I found out I wrote page twenty one through forty three, one copy.  Hmmm…

Turns out, the seven here has a dash through it.   Good to know!  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to get my other six copies!  :)

What’s Different – Trees in the Middle of the Road

This is another one of my favorite things about Paraguay.  Mature trees are not cut down when a new residential road is excavated!  A reflector is simply placed on both sides of the tree and the road goes around it.  I fid it very winsome and it makes a great landmark too! 

What’s Different – They Ride Bicycles

One of the things that makes my new home so charming, is that elderly people (and people of all ages) ride their bicycles around town. 

Every time I see that one of them meandering along, I’m transported to a more wholesome era.  An era when people took time to enjoy enjoy a scenic ride to the grocery store, to wave and call out a greeting to their neighbor.  It’s very Old Europe and I love it!  

And yes, they do have baskets on their bikes.  Is it strange that I love that so much?  :)

Photo: All Posters

What’s Different – The Food’s From Around Here

One of the neat benefits of living here in Paraguay is that we live very close to our food source.  Everything from our milk products, to our peanut butter, to our dried beans, to our bread and even some of our fruits and vegetables come from within a half hour drive of our house.  Our supermarket also sells homemade pasta, home canned pickles and locally made pastries.   

My eggs come from a neighbor down the road and it floors me how H.U.G.E. they are! 

We eat quite healthy when we are living abroad because we don’t eat pre-packaged, processed, preservative laden foods.  Convenience foods are virtually non existent and canned foods are very expensive.  A can of tuna, for instance, can cost you $2.00 (as compared to 33 cents in the US).  A small 8 oz can of black beans costs $1.50 here (as compared to $.49 for a 16 oz can in the US).  So we cook the old fashioned way, which I enjoy and which really tastes amazing, even though it takes a lot more planning ahead!

What's Different - Tea Time (Tereré)

Every day at 9 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon, the people of Paraguay take a collective pause for tea.  This tea is called Tereré (te-re-ray) and is made from yerba maté (Yerba ma-tay) which is a species of holly. 

Everywhere you go, people carry with them a water thermos and their tea supplies.   It's the equivalent of the latte in American culture. 

There is quite a rich culture surrounding this tea, the most important of which is the invitation to and solidification of friendship.  Paraguayans are extremely friendly and accepting.

The tea is served out of a guampa (gwam-pa) and taken through a bombilla (bom-bee-ya) which is a metal straw with a strainer at the end of it. The host fills the guampa with tea, then nestles the bombilla down to the bottom.  Water is poured over the tea and taken through the bombilla.  You should drink until the tea "talks" or makes a little slurp as it is considered uncouth to leave water in the guampa. 

The server (normally the host) takes the first drink because the tea is somewhat bitter in the beginning.  After that, if there is a person of importance present, they would receive the second drink, followed by the next person in clockwise fashion.  If you didn't already catch on, everyone shares the same cup and straw!  

It is considered rude to refuse the tea when it is offered.  Remember, it's not just a tea, it is a sign of friendship.  After two or three rounds, you can finish without giving offense.  A simple "gracias" lets the server know that you are through and he will skip you through the rest of the visit.   

Traditionally, tereré is not mixed with food, though certain sectors of the culture do regularly eat a snack with their tea.  We were advised that it is good to eat a little snack just before you drink Tereré to give a "shelf" for the tea "to rest on" in your stomach.   Tereré should never, ever be mixed with watermelon - though I haven't been able to find out exactly why that is!  :)  

While 9am and 3pm are the "recognized" times, there's never a bad time for a  tea break, especially in this hot climate!  I personally find Tereré refreshing, especially when enjoyed in the company of good friends!   

What's Different - Um Hmm...Do we have to talk about this?

One of the things that is probably the hardest for North American's to get used to is having to throw your TP into the trash can, instead of into the toilet.  For us, the idea is just, well, gross.  But believe me, it is much better than a backed up toilet which is what can happen if you put the TP into the toilet as the plumbing system is not designed to handle TP (small pipes).  Enough said.

Photo: nkzs

What's Different - Greetings

Here in Paraguay greetings are a little different!  The first time you meet someone, you shake hands.   Generally, after that, you would give that person a kiss on each cheek.   

Here are the rules (as I understand them):

     Man to man - shake hands or hug if a close friend

     Woman to man - man waits for women to lean in, then he knows it is ok to give the kiss greeting.  If woman is uncomfortable for whatever reason, she offers her hand instead.  Normally, however, here is no problem with giving the kiss greeting to a man.  

     Woman to woman - a kiss on each cheek

     Dignitaries or other important people - shake hands to show respect

It's also important to greet everyone in the room when you enter.  North Americans are notorious for entering a room and just giving a "hey, howdy, hey!" to everyone.  That is considered very rude to a Latin.  Here you enter a room, and go around the room greeting each person.  When you depart from a gathering, you should generally also say goodbye to everyone individually.  The handshake or kiss is repeated at departure.

The population of the Paraguayan Chaco where we live is about one half Mennonites.  I just found out that they greet each other with a handshake or a hug if they are close friends.  Oops!   I had been giving the kiss greeting for about two months!  Obviously being Paraguayans they are familiar with the kiss greeting so as far as I understand it wasn't offensive, just not the way they normally do it. 

As a side note, Honey and I found it difficult when we were home in the US last year to remember NOT to give the kiss on the cheek at greeting.  It's funny how you get so used to one way of doing things, you don't even realize it's become a part of you! 

See you next Wednesday for the next installment of What's Different!  If there is something specific you are interested in, let me know in the comments!  I love comments!  :)

Photo:dailymail.co.uk

What's Different - Mopping

The mop in much of South America is a long handled squeegee and a thin absorbent rag.  The rag is dipped in the mop water, wrapped around the squeegee, then passed over the floor until it needs rinsed.  When you are finished mopping, you wash your mop rag.  I personally really like the idea of starting off with a clean mop rag each time, instead of trying to get a mop head clean after each use like we do in the US!   

Come back next Wednesday for more What's Different and if you haven't read about the Widow Maker, click here!  

What's Different - The Widow Maker

I'd like to introduce you to what locals call The Widow Maker. My husband refers to it as a Self Electrocution Kit.


We don't have a hot water heater so any water we want to warm has to be heated on demand with one of these fancy contraptions. It's a scary thought to have wires in your shower, believe me! And because we have a high mineral content in our water, I was getting shocked every time I tried to adjust the temperature of the water! Yikes!

Then some experienced missionary told us you can just put some hose on the shower handles and then you won't get shocked. Much better!


Thanks for reading the first installment of What's Different! Come back next Wednesday for more!