problems with 'eval' and 'parse' with strings

Hi R-friends:

I don't understand very well the parser.

if I do:

p="v="
q=5
eval(parse(text=paste(p,q,sep="")))

... then the value of v is 5, OK.

but I can't with strings, for example:

p="v="
q="hello friend"
eval(parse(text=paste(p,q,sep="")))

...... error

and, I would need that v has the value "hello friend"

Could anyone help me, please?

Thank you in advance

/salva