my favorite parts of the day

Recently a friend asked me in an email what my favorite part of the day was and I couldn't think of a specific thing that I do every day because every day is different. I began writing different things that I enjoy about my days here and as I continued writing, I kept thinking of more and more things to add to the list. I only wrote down a few things but I wanted to give myself a more complete list to remind myself of why I love this place because I have too many days when I only remind myself of why I don't like this place. There are some things on this list that while I love, I hate at the same time. Though not everything on the list is necessarily unique to Paraguay, some are, and ever one of them is something I will miss dearly when I leave. So Hannah, here is a complete list of "my favorite parts of the day," and Louis, these are the things that make me happy.

I love that:

...the air always smells fresh in the morning.

...people will still give up their sesat on a bus for elderly people and pregnant women.

...the Paraguayan soil and rains are fertil. I can almost literally watch my plants grow.

...I can go to the dispensa to buy and egg and stay for 2 hours drinking terere

...when kids pass my house to and from school, they should out "Ahleesohn!" repeatedly as they pass.

...in the summer my boss asked me if I had a hammack and then told me to enjoy my extra free time.

...I can wake up and drink coffee and watch the sunrise

...I have an open invitation to eat lunch, use the shower, spend the night, or stay forever 10 minutes down the road in either direction.

...when I meet a Paraguayan for the first time, I can expect with very few exceptions the same range of about 15 questions no matter who they are, including but not excluded to: Do you have a boyfriend? Do you have a boyfriend in the States? If you find a boyfriend can you bring him back with you? Do you know how to drink terere? do you know how to eat Paraguayan food? Do you know how to speak Guarani? Do you miss your family?

...you can pick leaves off of almost ay tree for a yuyo to put in your terere.

...you can search in the lawn for certain roots to use in terere.

...Paraguayans have a plant remedy for almost any ailment or medical problem you could think of, and a few extra for ones that you would probably never think of.

...they use "hape" at the end of any kind of event from a fiesta to shucking corn, or a dog in heat.

...a rainy day is a perfectly acceptable excuse to stay in bed and read all day.

...my host dad will walk into the middle of a meeting of women and walk around to greet and shake hands with everyone while they are still talking. Asi es la cultura.

...half of my women's commission is related to each other.

...within the limits of a few degrees and with very few exceptions, my entire community is related to each other. No joke.

...when people great each other they say, "nde guapa/a" (you are hard working) and the response is, "hee, che guapa/o" (yes, I am hard working).

...almost anything I do from baking a cake to walking half an hour to the ruta, to knowing a store in Asuncion that sells soap materials, to saying 3 words in Guarani makes me either guapa or vale (inteligent).

...I have time to do cool things like make homemade bread, read, plant flowers, write blogs, or just sit and talk with people.

...I have easily over 100 trees on my property.

...where I live right now is the most beautiful place I have ever lived in.

...I never have to worry about being late because everything here functions on la hora Paraguaya.

...almost all of my food products are far fresher than I ever got in the United States.

And maybe the thing that I love most about this country is that terere is univeral. The buisnessman, polititian, teacher, and feild worker all drink it and will invite you to share with them.