Research n Culture

So some GREAT things are happening in Asuncion and I'd thought I'd share (shameless plugs):

1. My musically inclined neighbors are makin' it happen, PURAHEI SOUL, check 'em out:

2. My roomie Santi is a fantastic journalist and reports about everything, including Firefox offering their browser in Guarani (Paraguay's official indigenous language) and an app for medicinal plants native to Paraguay and are used daily in Terere (the mate tea I previously mentioned). Check his article out (in espanol): Remedios

3. Munchies Food truck, which I adore, has opened up a permanent establishment indoors for lunch. I tried the zucchini lasagna today with a fresh mixed peach/pineapple juice and it was amazing:

Munchies Food Truck w/ Chef Pepi, love how the van pops open!

This is some great street art...very political tho, with the US and Brazil being pigs n all:

Huelga is riot or demonstration

The whole mural across from my house

I dig

RESEARCH UPDATE:

Research is going...slowly but surely. I have an excellent person to collaborate with at the Ministry of Education and I hope to visit a few border towns and collect interviews outside of the capital.

I had no idea of the magnitude of Brazilian influence in Asuncion: when I first arrived ALL I heard was Portuguese on Calle Palma, the main drag of Asuncion. Heaps of Brazilians come to study in Asuncion since it is so affordable, and also tend to vacation here as well. Many Brazilians are also purchasing land for farming and building (although whether they have a right to is questionable...the forever problem of 'landgrabbing' is as prominent here as it is in Vanuatu).

So....many people speak Portunhol in Asuncion, but it's out of necessity to communicate with these students and tourists, with future employers while living in Paraguay. This is all new information to me. However, I will continue to focus on those Paraguayans that have returned from extensive time abroad in Brazil and have a different cultural perspective on the significance of Portunhol. The primary issue is this population is harder to access and I want to create a strong confianza (trust) relation with my participants before interviewing them, which takes patience (I have more than I used to) and time (aaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy I never have enough!).

However, an exciting academic development occurred when I discovered what I perceive to be one of very few recent studies done on Paraguayan culture, transnationalism, and technology/globalization influence: Is There a Home in Cyberspace? By Heike Mónika Greschke

I've corresponded with the author and excited to say that she wants to read my Fulbright report! I'm working on an ethnographic methodology that relies on hers, as she has modified traditional ethnographic methods that were created for a stable, physical environment to that of the internet which has no real physical space.....such a relief to find such a great reference guide to continue my research.

Yep, Fulbright, I am working!