La Yuyera
What I always loved about Paraguayans was their inner wisdom, the kind of wisdom that you don’t learn in school, their natural and simple way of see and resolve things, their ability to cure using herbs, by mixing them to create a powerful remedies that cure whatever illness in old time to current times, this is still a practice in Paraguay specially for people that can’t afford to go to the doctor.
I recall that I went to the Mercado 4 in Asuncion to a herb place, it was a small store where you could see different species of herbs, some dried out hanging from the ceiling , some fresh yerb over a table, some boxes on the shelf’s, some in little plastic bags with a name and a brand on them hanging on circular displays at the entrance of the store, herb creams like to cure skin affections and jojoba oils to prevent wrinkles and sun damage. The place was invaded of different kind of smells, colors and shapes.
I went there just to buy Yerba mate and ended up buying so much other stuff, for so many different kind of mental and physical affections that you can only imagine. All was so cheap and even on top of that the woman that was selling me the stuff gave me some more bags as gifts.
In her yopara (a mixture of spanish and guarani) she asked me what was bothering me, I told her that I wanted to lose some weight (since I was eating so much good stuff in Py, I really needed some help with that, LOL), with an unbelievable ability she mixed 2 or 3 herbs together, she told me the names (that I dont remember). I was actually surprised how well her teas worked.
I believe in inner wisdom that passes from generation to generation, I believe in the magic of good hearts, in the abilities of skilled hands and in the power of the mix of Spanish and Guarani native Population that gave life to what now we know as Paraguayans.
