After two and a half months we spent at the mission in Hortolandia, we said goodbye to the Ksaverians, volunteers, and many new friends.
The way leads us forward, towards Paraguay, and if we want to travel around South America, we cannot stay longer, although we want to.
In the previous article I wrote about the wheelchair we donated to a poor family (Zuldia and Gilberto), and the rest of the money we collected with your help that was given to the Vincentians who will use it for other people who need help.
Our last gift before our departure was a party. We invited all those people with whom we spent time, worked together and shared joy.
Farewell party
30 people attended the party where we served goulash, polenta, rice pudding and pancakes with Nutella so the dining room of Lucas, Alfiero and Giovanni was full, loud and lively.
We also threw a farewell party with goulash and polenta in the Barka community in Italy and Lithuania, and it was always a success. We knew that goulash would be even better this time, because Brazilian beef is at least for two grades better and tastier than in Europe.
Culinary challenges
Nevertheless, I must admit that preparing food for people of different cultures and customs is a great challenge. What we like does not necessarily appeal to Italians, Lithuanians, Vietnamese, Indians or Brazilians.
Therefore, we always have to adjust the recipe somewhat to make the meal closer to specific culture. Sometimes it’s quite unbelievable how sensitive people are when it comes to food: sometimes they can’t even enjoy it if it doesn’t contain ingredients and spices that are part of their culture and cuisine.
It’s not about being picky or spoiled. It’s simply a strong need for ‘their’ type of food that everything else is tasteless or with too much taste for them.
Balkan chevapcici in India
Indians in Calcutta come to mind. We said goodbye with grilled chevapcici from that community.
If we had prepared them in the way they are usually prepared, no-one would have eaten them. So we had to add so much chilli to the mixture that we could barely eat chevapcici while the Indians literally grabbed the meat and praised the ‘Balkan specialty’.
Delicate desserts
In Brazil, they don’t use chili much, so goulash, like we prepare it in Slovenia, was a hit. You can’t really miss with pancakes and Nutella while rice pudding was slightly a different story.
Sweet desserts in Slovenia are something else as in Brazil. If a Brazilian dessert doesn’t contain at least half a litter of condensed milk and half a kilogram of sugar, it’s not a dessert.
Farewell breakfasts
Anyway, the party was a success. There were laughter, tears, farewell speeches, saying thanks and a video prepared by a group of young people in memory of our work and living in the community.
In the last days before our departure we were surprised by different ladies that came to our house early in the morning, one each time, and prepared breakfast for us to express their gratitude. We had pancakes from tapioka flower for breakfast, Pão de queijo (cheese bread) and other delicacies.
Richer
Indeed, we’re leaving the mission with a fuller heart, bigger and warmer, because each of the people contributed in their own way to the fact that we were able to experience their realty as it truly is in its interior, rich, hearty, open and friendly.
We left for Paraguay, but we stayed in Brazil for ten days.
Fr. Lucas drove us to Ourinhos, where we were once visited Paulo and his family.
Paulo’s help
During this time, Paulo helped us get in touch with our next mission to continue our path.
Not only he established contact with the community of St. August in Paraguay but he also contacted his friend, priest and missionary fr. Diego who dedicated his life and work to indigenous Indians along the border with Paraguay.
Diego agreed that in two days and a half we had before leaving across the border, he would present his work and lead us to the forests where indigenous people of South America live who are otherwise severely discriminated against.
Six days in Cascavel
After two days, we went from Ourinhos to Cascavel, eight hours away with an overnight bus.
A family was waiting at the station, Luiz and Marlene, with her 12-year-old daughter, Anna Dandara. Like Paulo, Louis is also a former Ksaverian and is now a professor of philosophy and sociology in Cascavel.
We spent six nights at this family (thanks to Paulo) during the time we were visiting the indigenous people of Guarani together with Diego. Thank God for these people!
I’ll write about how we spent time with Diego among the Guarani Indians in the next article. For us, this was an extremely powerful experience, including Diego, his way of life, thinking and working touched us deeply.
Operando!
