San Juan Day

I'm not sure where to start with this story, so, I'll just start here. Yesterday, was the biggest day of the San Juan celebration in Paraguay (June 23rd 2008). I think the holiday is a month-long celebration, to celebrate the saint of fire in Paraguay. As the sun went down yesterday the match hit the gasoline and the rage was on. For about three hours every male in the barrio, got to live out their 10-year-old fantasy and kick a flaming ball of fire around the street. Of course all I had to see was the flaming ball of fire, to know I was in.

One by one flaming balls of fire were thrown into the crowd. As one ball died out another was tossed into the crowd. At one point there were about three or four balls being kicked around. It was awesome!Of course in accordance with Murphy's Law, the people who attempted to avoid the fireballs the most had the most dramatic contact with it. One of the other PCV’s (Julie my neighbor), was hiding in a corner to avoid the obvious chaos of the festival, when a ball of fire was kicked at her. Naturally, it landed on her shoulder burning her jacket and ultimately leaving a good-sized scar on her hand.

During the festival, all the Peace Corps volunteers received a big welcome to the barrio by all the neighborhood kids. At one point there about 20, 5-10 year-old boys shouting at me in Guarani (of which I cannot speak one word). As soon as they realize I could not speak Guarani the s-it hit the fan; they pointed at me for a good 20 minutes, and when they were not pointing and laughing, they shared with me their wide knowledge of American cuss words. It was the best San Juan Day ever!