vocabulary and a lesson in terere

Over the last few weeks as I have been trying to write emails or letters to people back home in the states, I have realized that there are certain Paraguayan words that I am having a really hard time filtering out of my vocabulary and that makes it really hard for me to communicate in English. I also realized while trying to explain the basic idea of terere to a friend over facebook chat how strange it must sound to people back in the states. So, I decided to explain a few of those words that have become a part of my every day vocabulary and give a little lesson in terere. This is definitely not a complete list, but these are the words that I have found almost impossible to filter out of my vocabulary.

Lindo: This word has a lot of meanings, but in essence it means pretty. We use it to describe people or things that are really nice or in good condition. We have used it to describe everything from latrines to computers to landscape.

Guapo: Again, this is a little hard to translate but it basically means hard working, and Paraguay is the only Latin American country that uses it in that sense. Sometimes it carries the connotation of going the extra mile. We say, “that volunteer is really guapo,” meaning things like they’ve done a lot of work in their site, or they have done really creative projects. My mom will tell me I’m guapa when I wash my clothes or when I have to get up early to go to training. It´s very versatile.

Chuchi: This is different than lindo, but it means really nice, usually with the connotation of money. Some volunteers have chuchi sites because they have running water and lots of busses that come through and are really close to a town. A restaurant is really chuchi if they are super clean and on the expensive side. You can have chuchi clothing or shoes (although usually the chuchi clothing in Paraguay involves sparkles and gems).

Charla: The verb charlar means chat, so a charla is basically a talk that is directed at people, but less formal than a lecture. It can be like a presentation too. I will be doing lots of charlas in the schools and with women’s groups in my site. On that note, a colegio is a high school, by the way.

No mas: Again, many uses, but it basically means what it says, no more. We say, “I had rice and cheese for dinner, no mas,” meaning the only thing on your plate was rice and cheese. You can also say “we went to the store, no mas,” meaning your trip including nothing more than going to the store.

Now if I haven’t bored you with my strange new vocabulary, let me try and explain terere. First of all, it is a national drink and everyone drinks it here, literally everyone. It is basically a loose green tea and comes in the form of crushed up leaves called yuyos, or herbs. To drink terere you have to have a guampa, a special wood or metal cup, to put the yuyos in. You also need a termo (thermos) with water and ice in it. You wouldn’t think the ice was that important, but trust me it is. I have seen Paraguayans wrinkle their nose, say “ugh, caliente (hot)” and go get another bag of ice to put in the water so they can drink it. (Yes, people here freeze water in bags to make ice.) You can’t drink terere unless it is very cold. To drink the water out of the guampa that has the yuyos in it, you use a bombilla which is basically a metal straw with a spoon shape on the end of it. The spoon end has holes in it so you only drink the water and not the yuyos, it’s really a pretty nifty little invention. Terere is a drink that is always shared so you typically drink it sitting in a circle of people. One person holds the termo, pours water in the guampa and lets the first person drink. The guampa then gets passed back to the termo holding person and gets filled up again for the next person in the circle and it just keeps going around like that. There is also a hot version of terere called mate and it is basically the same thing and follows the same rules. There are also lots of wierd rules about drinking terere although they are not always followed depending on the community or family you are in. You can´t drink terere after eating watermelon or drinking milk or you will explode. (Yes, some people really believe that.) You can´t drink terere if you are sick. You absolutely have to drink all of the water in the guampa and can´t give the guampa back unless the water is all gone. (I have made that mistake and the guampa got handed back to me.) You can´t drink terere when it´s raining or you might get struck by lightning. You can not eat while drinking terere and should not eat right afterwards. I´m pretty sure there are many other rules, but for the sake of time and space, and your bordom, I will skip those and leave you with that.