Paraguayan Extremes: City hearts to starlit farms

Much has happened since the last time I blogged. One of the most exciting and perhaps refreshing excursions was a trip to the countryside (called ´el campo´) to visit my host mother’s father. He lives on a farm a good three and half hour bus ride away from my home. From the outset we were received with a warm welcome and a ox powered cart ride from the bus stop thanks to Marías brother. Very shortly after our arrival to the house we were given an afternoon tour of the farm layout. The house where Marías dad lives serves as a sort of central hub to the surrounding houses belonging to his children that decided to stay in the area (María has 13 brothers and sisters). On one side of the house there are various sorts of fields that grow crops like sugarcane. On other sides there are all sorts of animal pens, small gardens and orchard type setups and in front of the house runs a long, rough dirt road. The rest of the day was spent hanging out under shade trees talking with the family, drinking terere and enjoying the surprisingly comfortable wooden hammock. That night we had a grandiose dinner with at least 15 people under the open campo sky followed by speedy motorcycle trips to neighbors’ houses where we would spending the night.

The open air atmosphere of the campo was very quickly forgotten after about 20 members from the church loaded up in a decently sized rented bus at 3:00 in the morning that following weekend for a trip to Ciudad del Este. The trip itself took about 5 hours but to me and Scott it felt like no more than 10 minutes since we slept the entire way. We arrived first to Itaipu, one of the largest damns in the world where we were able to see massive amounts of water being spilled into the river from overflow releases and a general tour of the damn’s premises. This was followed up by a venture into the heart of Ciudad del Esteto eat and shop that ended in me bustling around 3 multi-storied buildings with my host parents looking for a pair of headphones with a microphone to use on Skype. The rest of our trip was spent relaxing in the hotel and heading to services of sister churches in the area that I later came to find out were started by my host parents in their younger years. The trip ended on a bit of a sad note since we had to leave Dorothea behind because this was her placement city.

Dorothea was only the first. The day following our return to Asunción the rest of the group dispersed; Craig, Krista and Scott headed about 45 minutes away in San Lorenzo and Becca an hour away in Villa Hayes leaving me in the same house were we all started. With the change of location also comes the change of schedule. We’ve all started to teach our English classes. My first week was a little strange because I’m not fully familiar to the social workings of this culture so I had some problems setting a class schedule but after a few days of quick placement tests and chats concerning students free time, I’ve set a time for my first class which starts tonight at 6:30. It’s really exciting to finally get started and dealt responsibility.

Rock Shelters and Rickety Bridges

You know that feeling when you are suspended over a decently large stream by a bridge that resembles some sort of backyard construction project you tried to build without dad’s help? Me either, until this last weekend when our group accompanied the young adults from the local church on a trip to a country town a few hours away called Eusebio Ayala. Besides trying out our luck on how many people the bridge would hold until it collapsed, we also took several stops along the way to eat, explore the countryside including some intruding shallow, cave-like rock formations, and play soccer and volleyball.

This seems to be a heavy focus right now; getting to know the country, the people, and the churches were we will be spending the next 9 months. We have weekly trips to significant places around Asuncion inlcuding La Casa de Independcia, a monumental hill that has a specific title that I have forgotten and many of the surrounding churches were we will be working. Besides this we have also been getting to know the people we will be living and working with, so much so I find it very difficult to remember more than half their names. At least twice a week we are invited over to peoples´ houses where we will have a meal, drink terere, or just hang out. Since the location we are staying at right now is going to be the same location where I will be staying the rest of the year, I’m able to start building relationships with the church and neighborhood. For the most part I’m highly involved with the young adults group in the church where my host father preaches. I’m invited to just about every event that they happen to be doing and feel a continually warm welcome from all of them.

While familiarizing ourselves with Paraguay, we’ve also been involved in an interesting dichotomy of learning Spanish and learning how to teach English. Besides the mere immersion of learning of the language we have also been having 3 or 4 Spanish lessons a week taught by the oldest daughter Laura in the house we were are staying. Learning how to teach English has come at the expense of taking taxing bus rides to a Seminary downtown where we have been learning under two college language professors on teaching techniques and have each had at least 2 practice sessions with local Paraguayans. Both of these have proved to be amazingly helpful.

In the midst of all these happenings, I’ve managed to get sick twice; once during the first week and once more in the second week. I’m not exactly sure what caused the sickness but Krista thinks it could be related to my unconscious habit of touching every public object including hand rails, light posts and anything else within my reach. Whatever the cause, each sickness took me out of routine for at least a day. However, Maria, my host mother, who is a nurse and quiet possibly could have helped written a book on natural remedies, has nursed me back to 100% both times.

If you’ve read this far on the blog you’re a real trooper and I thank for you for you’re interest in me and my journey! I would encourage you to write a comment to let me know who is reading this and what you think of it and also because they are amazingly uplifting! Thanks!!!