San Juan

The last week of June Paraguayans celebrate San Juan, one of the most popular religious festivals in the country. It seems like no one knows exactly what we celebrate or who exactly this St. John is, but that doesn't stop people from eating heaps of amazing traditional food and playing some really silly and really fun games. 

The San Juan festivities were in full swing when we arrived in Asuncion. We braved the cold drizzle one night and went to one that was being held on the street. Despite the inclement weather, a significant crowd gathered to enjoy the traditional dances and the food.

While in Quyquyho, we went to another one organized by the local high school, where one of the girls from the Home performed a skit. We tried kabure (chipa on a stick), asadito (bbq) and mandioca empanadas -all of which were amazing.

Last Tuesday Greg, my dad and I went to our third San Juan at the local Colorado Party headquarters, where more of our friends performed traditional dances. The games were the highlight of the night:

There's the Paraguayan version of pinata but with a kambuchi (clay pot)

There's pelota tata, which involves setting balls on fire and kicking them around (extra points if you aim it at other people).

And there's yvyra syĩ -climb a pole covered in grease to get to the prizes at the top

Tonight we have been invited to our fourth San Juan at the local school. The girls at the Home will be performing more dances, and they even asked us to to perform as well. "Something American," they requested. So we've been rehearsing the chicken dance, the Boot Scootin Boogie and the Electric Slide. Pray for us...