"Chorizada"

Last night I went over to my future neighbor's house for "chorizada" for Founders' Day. Asuncion was founded 474 years ago! I really didn't know what to expect, so I went mentally prepared for anything! I knew from Mexico that chorizo is a sausage-type food. I had heard from many people that it is a different type of sausage than the chorizo in Mexico.

I stopped along the way and bought a kilo of chorizo and a bottle of Coke. My understanding of what I was to bring was a kilo of chorizo--in fact, I thought everyone was bringing that, which I thought was a bit much & it didn't make sense in my head. But, if I was told to bring a kilo, bring a kilo I would! I later found out as people were arriving that the plan was to pool together our money & send someone to the store to buy the things we would need: bread, chorizo, ketchup.

While two of the guys went to the store, the girls waited, and a few others showed up.

When the guys got back, they started putting all the chorizo on spits to put over the fire. They also pretended to be eating the full spit of chorizo (like a sword-swallower) and also did some minor sword fighting. But I digress.

After the chorizo was finished cooking, it came off the spits, and Hily and a few others took turns slicing most of the chorizo. A few people ate it inside of a small piece of bread that looks like a small loaf of French bread. Most of us used a toothpick to spear a slice of chorizo and a piece of mandioca (yucca root, boiled.)

It was a fun night--lasted until 11:30! Many of my new friends got to see where my new house is, and we even took a tour through the rooms. Hopefully within a week I'll be able to move into my house!