Semana Santa

Sunday was Easter, and in the States Easter usually means finding your hidden Easter basket full of candy, possibly an Easter egg hunt, going to Church and a big dinner. In Paraguay Easter is not celebrated for a day but for an entire week. Palm Sunday signifies the beginning of Semana Santa (Holy Week), which ends on Easter. Monday and Tuesday most people go about their usual routines with work and school, but starting Wednesday everything changes. I had a half-day of training on Wednesday but most schools were closed and many people had off from work. All over Paraguay on Wednesday families were making Chipa. Chipa is a traditional bread made from corn meal, yucca flour, eggs, pig lard (or butter), anise and of course Queso Paraguaya. It usually tastes pretty good when it’s fresh, but after a few hours it gets hard and dry. Thursday is the day of the last supper. Many families eat pork for lunch. I was lucky enough to arrive home Tuesday afternoon in time to see my host dad’s sister, who lives next door, slaughter and butcher the last of three pigs to be sold for the week. On Thursday most families also make Sopa Paraguaya, which is like a Paraguayan cornbread with many of the same ingredients as Chipa. Friday is the most important day of the week because that is the day Christ was killed. Most businesses in Paraguay are closed on this day, including the Dispensa at our house. The traditional families fast for the entire day eating nothing but Chipa and Sopa Paraguaya and drinking cocido, brewed Yerba with charcoal burnt sugar. On Saturday most businesses are open, but it is a very relaxed day. There was a three-hour mass that began at 9 pm. Sunday was a pretty normal day with no extra special celebration. Semana Santa is the most important holiday is Paraguay. Many people travel to spend the week with family in other parts of the country, like we would for Christmas. One of my host brothers who currently lives in Buenos Aires came into town for the week. It was nice to have a few days off from training. I read a lot, watched a few movies and taught Laura and Santiago how to play Rummy 500. This week I am in another town visiting a volunteer for my Long Field Practice. We got here Monday and we´ll be here until Friday. Next Friday we find out our sites... the anticipation is building.