In my first week of training, a very important holiday took place, called Karai Octubre. It gave me a great introduction to Paraguay to learn about this holiday, and I enjoyed a fun day shared with new friends and teachers.
On the first day of October, there is an important Paraguayan holiday called Karai Octubre. Karai means "man" in Guarani, and I got the honor of making a surprise appearance as Karai Octubre himself. Karai Octubre is an evil spirit who brings poverty and misfortune to those who do not prepare a special dish, jopara. The word jopara has a double meaning, translating to "mixed" in English, as it is the name of the dish, as well as the name of the mixture of Spanish and Guarani that most Paraguayans speak. My class got to make the stew and prepare a presentation while everybody else was being lectured in the main room. I had the most fun role, because I got to cosplay as the evil spirit Karai Octubre. I really got into my role, and people seemed to enjoy the spectacle. Karai Octubre is a mean, hunchbacked old man with a large sombrero, and he walks around carrying a sack or rides a horse. I walked into the room at the end of my group's presentation, fully in character, riding an invisible horse, and I made sure that my group had prepared the jopara.
