Yes, still getting used to using the word winter in what would normally be the good ol´ summertime. While I don´t need to bundle up with a heavy winter coat nor gloves, I DO need to dress in layers many days and nights….especially the nights since there´s no heat, combined with minimal insulation….just have to get used to feeling colder inside than outside!
It was a little hotter than a normal winter weekend this past, first winter weekend, due to the popular celebration of San Juan (St. John the Baptist, feast day June 24). Many of the games and traditions that are part of San Juan involve FIRE; yes, a pyromaniac´s dream fiesta!
El dia de San Juan is one of the most widespread festivals anywhere. Probably beginning in pagan times...fires that were lit at the time of the summer solstice(in the northern hemisphere), and in these giant fires, bones were thrown in. And that's where the term bonfire comes in, from this festival. It was perhaps the most widespread, important pagan celebration known. The St. John the Baptist celebrations were very quickly adapted through South America everywhere and integrated into indigenous, native celebrations. In Paraguay, this ranges from highly mobile activities like a tag-like game in which people chase each other with long lit-up reeds...kicking around flaming balls made from rags, and steering clear of the fiery path of a bull-shaped figure whose real bull horns have been set aflame...to more stationary customs like a burning scarecrow-like figure, and stoking the omnipresent bonfires. In my community the local schoolgrounds served as the center for most of this flaming activity!
Speaking of school, it´s nearly the middle of the school year here, since the new academic year begins in February. Starting next week all schools in the country, both public and private, will close for a two-week vacation. I´ve been busy giving reading tests to the kids so I can compile and analyze the results during the school break. (No vacation yet for we new PCVs.)
Meanwhile, many Paraguay PCVs will be heading to Asunción this weekend to celebrate the 4th of July American-style. I´m looking forward to meeting other Americans living here during the celebration at the embassy. VIVA America! (both North Y South!)
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