The patron saint of my community is San Francisco and his day is celebrated on July 24. There were celebrations throughout that week, ending in a huge party. But, on July 24, there was a mass in the morning, a saint’s procession, and a carnival, all of which I attended.

The most interesting tradition about celebrating San Francisco is that men dress up in suits completely covered in feathers—pants, jackets, and hats—and wear masks. They wear these outfits to the mass and during the saint’s procession and then dance around to traditional Paraguayan music in front of the church. There’s also some drum beating to go along with the dance.

The mass was about an hour and included singing, a sermon, and biblical readings. For the procession a group of men dressed in feather outfits, followed by the church’s men, and the congregation took a figurine of San Francisco around the soccer field that is in front of the church. After that, the feathered men jumped around in the patio of the church, there was a raffle, and there was a carnival complete with crumbling rides.

Have you even seen fat, raw and blobby? Maybe as part of Mayor Bloomberg’s obesity reduction campaign? Maybe on a TV show about liposuction? Maybe after bacon grease congeals?

I’ve seen it. I’ve worked it from a semi-solid to a mixable paste. Nothing makes you think about what you’re eating quite as dramatically as working fat globs into something more like soft butter.

In Paraguay, one of the common ingredients is raw animal fat, rather than butter or vegetable oil. In the end, it still gives baked goods a great consistency and tastes amazing, but it does make you think about your middle section. Is that whole cup going to end up right on my stomach?…is usually what I ask myself.

Baking with the señoras here has brought me back to the basics, in terms of what we actually use to give our food the taste and texture it has. In Paraguay, there is an abundance of the real thing—raw milk, raw animal fat, fresh eggs, and fresh meat (just killed minutes before cooking).

I still eat cookies, but since coming to Paraguay visions of fat globs dance in my head when I do. I know that butter and raw animal fat is the same thing in the end, but for some reason raw animal fat gives me an unpleasant visceral reaction while butter makes my mouth water. I’m used to fresh meat and raw milk, but the animal fat makes me pause every time.

I’m sure you’ve heard: Germany won the World Cup. Several people in my community pointed out Germany’s victory to me, which I found confusing. I mean, I watched the game, but Germany was never my team. The confusion evaporated as soon as one person asked me if Germany was a city in the US and another asked me if Germany was near the US.

A lack of geographic knowledge, which may have led to these confusions, isn’t what interested me in these interactions. Plenty of people in my home country don’t know where Paraguay is, so I call it even. What interested me was how people were making the connection. Mainly, Germany is foreign and so is the US. I’m from the US, so therefore I am foreign and must have a connection to Germany. (It’s also a race thing, but I’ll save assumptions about light-skinned people for another post).

Many people in the countryside of Paraguay never leave their communities, or only go as far as the nearest town or city. Vacations aren’t common, especially vacations abroad. Most people who emigrate for work go to Argentina (at least that’s what it seems from the stories I’ve heard). My site is comprised of two communities, and my house is about 1 kilometer (less than a mile) from one of the communities. Yet, people in the community I don’t live in often comment about how far away I live. It’s a fifteen-minute walk.

The idea of living all your life in a small fraction of the Earth isn’t uncommon. Even friends I have in the US who haven’t traveled much see the world as a giant, strange place beyond their country’s borders. But, for me the idea of “us and them” is even more exaggerated here because Paraguay is such a small country. And, many Paraguayans are only just discovering that they can explore the world.

It’s also a good reminder why I’m here: to clarify some basic facts about the US and try to dispel fears and assumptions about the US that come from not knowing. I guess as humans we are uneasy about the unknown and make things up to explain things we don’t understand. Living here has turned my life on end; it’s very interesting to be the proof that certain beliefs aren’t true. But, more than anything, it makes me wonder what things I assume or think are true but are really just fantasies I’ve invented to fill in the gaps of my knowledge.