Well, we are in our last week of our time here in Paraguay, and before we know it we'll be on a plane heading north. So before we go, I thought it would be good to write one last update to fill you all in on how our last few months have gone, as well as explain some of my ideas and feelings regarding finishing this big experience, leaving this place and getting readjusted to life at home in the U.S. I'll try not to get too sentimental on all of you...
For the most part, we have been living in the normal routine, with a few travels and visitors mixed in. Soon after I wrote the last time, at the end of February (jeesh, that was a while ago!), we took two weeks to travel to Argentina and Uruguay. We went for several reasons. First, we had to buy new Paraguayan visas, and that had to be done in Argentina. Next, we wanted to visit and connect with a friend, Corin Wenger, who we had met at orientation, and who was living and working in Buenos Aires with Mennonite Mission Network. Finally, as part of the Radical Journey program, we had to have a team retreat where we could reflect and talk about the experience, and the topics of faith and service in general.
After a very long bus ride, we spent a week in Buenos Aires with Corin. We all (5!) stayed with his very hospitable host family, the family of Sergio and Mabel Flores, and spent the week getting to know their family, sight-seeing the city, and connecting with two mennonite church congregations in the city. We also used Argentina's lovely black market of U.S. dollars to our advantage to buy our visas for cheap. One of the two churches that we connected with in Buenos Aires is pastored by Corin's host dad and located in one of the more sketchy parts of town. Seeing this church was inspiring as it is really a beacon of hope and a witness of the gospel to this difficult neighborhood. This is shown in the fact that the church has never been a victim of the violence present in the area, and that the other co-pastor, now a passionate and dedicated pastor, used to be a drug dealer (or something like that). The other church we connected to had a large youth group, and we enjoyed getting to know some of these great youth and traveling around the city with them.
We then took a boat over the widest river in the world (it looks just like a bay into the ocean, but all the water is in fact fresh and flowing out) into Uruguay and began week two. We went first to Montevideo, but then continued on to a coastal state named Rocha. The first few days we stayed in a small apartment in a coastal city and just enjoyed the natural beauty of the area, our own cooking, and the touristy things. One of the highlights was going to a beautiful national park which had forests, beaches, a pack of sea lions, and a peculiar hippy town (look up Cabo Polonio - it was seriously one of the stranger towns I had ever been in). We then went up the coast a bit to another small, less touristy, coastal village where we would have our retreat. We rented a tiny cabin from a guy that lived in a shack next door (don't worry, he loves it there) with windows overlooking the ocean. It was a great place to enjoy more natural beauty and the ocean, and to talk, reflect, and pray as a group.
We then came back to Asuncion and got back into the rhythm of things again. Austin's family visited not long after that, and they spent some time with our team. It was great to see them, as they are long time family friends. Corin came for two weeks at the end of April to visit and work at Alto Refugio, and stayed with my host family as we had a little extra space. I enjoyed having some more american company and getting to know him even more. Just a few weeks ago my parents and sister came to visit for eight days. It was a wonderful getting to see them and getting to show them around Paraguay. They visited my host family a few times, our home church, my work, our pastor's family, and then we did some other fun things that don't have much to do with my year here, but are still great for getting to know Paraguay. These include: going to Ciudad del Este and the Iguazu waterfalls, visiting Mercado Cuatro, visiting a music education program called Sonidos de la Tierra, walking around to the famous spots downtown, meeting up with Brenda Perez who lived in our neighborhood last year, and going to the house of Wes and Ester Schmidt, who are some relatives of my dad to eat supper and get to know them a little bit. We stayed with some former colleagues of my dad, Arlo and Kathy Kasper, who live in Asuncion in a complex that has a few guest rooms for rent. It was great having my family here, and now I think they understand much more of what my year was like, who the people are that we're spending time with, etc.
At work, I continue to feel very privileged to be working with such great coworkers, many of whom are new, and to be able to be serving the patients that come. There have been a few stretches of time that we have been sent to the hotel to do big painting projects, which I'm never really thrilled about, but I suppose that during those times we are helping the organization in the best way that we can. It just kind of sucks doing such boring and annoying jobs such as scraping and sanding walls and not being able to be around Paraguayans that much. Also in those times it feels like we're not helping AIDS patients at all. But Austin and I often work together on these projects, so we keep each other company. At Alto Refugio, they are trying to make a shift to make all of the people that receive help be part of Bible study/faith formation groups. At first we weren't sure if this was good, as we see helping people with things such food, daycare, meds, and clothes are good in and of themselves, and we were worried that putting limits on who receives what could reduce the people that get help. But the leaders realize, and I think that they're right, that many patients just come to depend on and take advantage of the aid they receive, and that without some internal shift or transformation in the patients, their lives will stay mostly the same. Plus, Alto Refugio was started more as a ministry, and then began to help the patients in other ways such as food and clothing. They are making this transition gradually, but it sounds like it is going very well. The small groups are filling up, and the people are quite receptive to the changes.
One of the parts of our life here in Paraguay that I am growing to love the most is life in the church. For one, the people are great, and I feel so blessed to be able to get to know quite a few people on a somewhat deeper level, just from seeing them a few times a week for a year. This especially applies for the youth. It is very gratifying to be able to walk around our neighborhood, including the poorer parts, or the huge park by our neighborhood and meet people we know from church and chat a little.
Also the religious side of church has become a lot more meaningful for me over the last few months. This was kind of surprising as I was skeptical and critical of a lot of their conservative theologies and practices towards the beginning, and I never imagined that I would be able to accept fully, let alone believe, what they believed. Well, I guess experiences like this change that. I still have problems with some of the ways they do things and some of the things they believe, but my view has changed drastically. I have seen and heard about God working in the lives of our congregation and other congregations in a way that I had thought didn't happen anymore, such as physical healing miracles, or the coming of the Holy Spirit into their presence in dramatic and beautiful ways. At the beginning, I would have said that they were just seeking an emotional high every Sunday, and that was all that they were getting. Or that the miracles were just coincidences. But I have come to believe that often times they are genuine works of the spirit of God. They are seeking God with all of their hearts, and it turns out that it's true that everyone that "seeks, finds" (Mathew 7,8). I also wasn't sure about their theology of evangelism, as my idea of evangelism had been long ruined by some groups of "evangelicals" in the US. But I have been reminded that sharing the life-giving news of the Gospel is one of the most important things we do in this life. It just has to be done in a wholistic and loving way.
One thought that I've had regarding these things: if many of these beliefs and practices were present in the early church, why are they not now? These are things that shouldn't necessarily change with the changing times. If we believe and respect the things that happened in the book of Acts, I think we would be silly to say we don't respect and believe these things that are happening today. This said, this church situation here is far from perfect, and there are still many things that I respect more about the Mennonite church in the US. Both churches have their strengths and flaws, and I feel so blessed to have been able to connect deeply with both of them. It has been a time of much learning for me.
Some other things worth mentioning:
Austin and I were able to make it out to the Chaco for a long weekend a month or two ago. We drove with the administrators from work, Elsa and Bertram Heim, to Filadelfia and then stayed with John and Susi Schmidt, more of my dad's relatives. Filadelfia is another weird city. It is the main city in one of the three main Mennonite Colonies in the Chaco, Fernheim. I've heard someone say that Filadelfia reminds them of the 1950's, and that every day is like a Sunday afternoon. The streets are all dirt (so the rain they received before we got there meant five inches of mud everywhere) and you can hear Low German spoken all over town. There are various indigenous tribes in the area, and so they, as well as some latin paraguayans also make up part of the demographic.
We had a great time meeting with several sets of relatives that live there and in the surrounding areas, eating tons of delicious German Mennonite food, exploring the city a bit on antique bicycles, going to the town's museum, and relaxing in one of the most "tranquilo" places I've been to in a while. We also went to a rodeo/fair with Elsa and Beto in the Neuland Colony, a colony started mainly by WWII widows. It was great to finally get out to this place that we've heard so much about and that's a significant part to the global Mennonite history.
The story in Asuncion and really all of Paraguay right now is all the flooding that is taking place in the big rivers in the country. You have maybe heard or seen pictures of Iguazu Falls which have flooded several times. (Our family got lucky to go when they were back down close to normal). But the flooding of the Paraguay River which runs by Asuncion has made thousands and thousands of people evacuate their houses and move inland. I don't know the latest numbers of how many people have to move, but I don't think the number 30,000 would be outrageous for just Asuncion. The problem is that tons of poor people make their houses on the free public land bordering the rivers that are prone to flooding, and then when the river rises 20 feet, as I believe it has, they all have to move. Friends from church, relatives of both of my host parents, and co-workers at Alto Refugio have all had to move due to the flooding. We have visited some of the government aided refuges/camps several times, and they are kind of depressing, knowing that some people will have to stay there for a half year or longer in the plywood houses and mud. We went with Edulia Klassen a few times this last week to play with the kids that live there and give them a snack. These were very good experiences, even though they were a little hectic when so many kids ended up showing up.
Now, about going home...
As was expected, I am both excited to go home and sad to leave this place. I am excited about being with my family and friends again in a familiar place and in a familiar culture. I'm looking forward to starting college, which should be a much easier experience than this was, at least on social and emotional levels. I am excited about continuing with some of the interests that I have put aside for a year. I'm also looking forward to smaller things like North American seasons, good food, and easier access to internet. However, I am pretty sad about leaving all of the people that I got to know this year. The realization has hit me that I might be saying goodbye for good to a lot of people, and I'm not sure how to deal with that. Even if I ever do come back, which I don't know that I will, I won't see everyone again. I'm sad about leaving the beautiful earth and interesting cultures that are to be found in Paraguay. I will also miss my work at Alto Refugio, a place where I see God working so often. It will be strange to be back in a culture where I am not a minority, where I am fluent in the main language, where I am not surrounded by so much poverty, and where I am not challenged and confused in my thinking quite so much. I'm not exactly sure how I will fit into and readjust to the US lifestyle. I hope I don't just become the person that I was before coming here, but instead that I am more compassionate, loving, patient, and passionate about serving God and others. I also hope that I can find a way to connect with the latino community in Goshen and use my weird Paraguayan Spanish.
I have a lot of mixed feelings about this experience as a whole, and I suppose I will never understand completely what the outcomes are that come from it, but I think it was a very positive experience. It's kind of like judging a year of your life - there are ups and downs, a ton of different threads of experiences that come and go and you can't sum it all up at once. There were parts when it was not fun at all, and there were times when I loved it. I probably grew as a person, even though I often felt less sure of myself and more confused than normal. I will maybe do another blog with a more complete assessment of this year, along with thoughts on reorientation, when I get back, although I could probably just talk in person to most of you that are reading this, so we'll see.
Anyways, thanks to all of you that read this and my other blogs this year for taking the time to keep up with what I was up to here in Paraguay. I apologize for the long gaps there were between updates, and for not actually communicating very well what we were doing. I can't wait to see you all when I get back, and to hear about how all of your years went while I was gone.
Benjamin
Monday, July 7, 2014
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Pictures take two
The pictures on the last blog didn't work so here is that section again:
The "Devil's Throat" at Iguazu Falls. In real life the water didn't look so yellow. (Photo Credit: Austin Regier.)
Good-lookin' group at a good-lookin' place.
Pretty. (From AR)
From the top of the falls looking down. (AR)
A huge Christmas party in the Jardín Botánico for children and families that our church helps put it on. There was a presentation with singing and dancing, food, activities for the kids, and Christmas presents for everyone. As you can imagine, giving out gifts was a fiasco as the thousands of people all made a line,, and it was hot, and people were impatient. (photo: AR)
The typical setup on the streets of Aregua. All the little piggies and frogs and mushrooms are Aregua's specialty. (photo snagged off line)
My team in the group activities at the church youth camp. We won those annoying games that I told you about so we got t-shirts.
Brenda Perez and me at her house. Thumbs ups are a big thing here.
Family and friends at the place with the pool on New Year's Day. I'm sure all of you in Northern Indiana were doing similar things out in the sun that day as well.
What was the main plaza in this village. On the right and left is housing and straight ahead is the Basilica.
A Guaraní-carved statue.
The Basilica. This used to have walls and pillars as tall as the front part supporting a roof. Pretty impressive.
The famous (for Paraguayans) beach of Encarnación. Not bad for a land-locked country. This is now the hotspot for Carnaval on the weekends.
Itaipu Dam. These in front are water runways for when the water level is too high, and in the background you can see the dam itself and the white water-carrying pipes that lead to the turbines. (Photo Credit: Austin Regier)
The "Devil's Throat" at Iguazu Falls. In real life the water didn't look so yellow. (Photo Credit: Austin Regier.)
Good-lookin' group at a good-lookin' place.
Pretty. (From AR)
From the top of the falls looking down. (AR)
A huge Christmas party in the Jardín Botánico for children and families that our church helps put it on. There was a presentation with singing and dancing, food, activities for the kids, and Christmas presents for everyone. As you can imagine, giving out gifts was a fiasco as the thousands of people all made a line,, and it was hot, and people were impatient. (photo: AR)
The typical setup on the streets of Aregua. All the little piggies and frogs and mushrooms are Aregua's specialty. (photo snagged off line)
My team in the group activities at the church youth camp. We won those annoying games that I told you about so we got t-shirts.
Brenda Perez and me at her house. Thumbs ups are a big thing here.
Family and friends at the place with the pool on New Year's Day. I'm sure all of you in Northern Indiana were doing similar things out in the sun that day as well.
What was the main plaza in this village. On the right and left is housing and straight ahead is the Basilica.
A Guaraní-carved statue.
The Basilica. This used to have walls and pillars as tall as the front part supporting a roof. Pretty impressive.
The famous (for Paraguayans) beach of Encarnación. Not bad for a land-locked country. This is now the hotspot for Carnaval on the weekends.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Late, Long Update #3
Hello everyone!
I have had another two good months here in Asuncion. The past months have included some traveling, having visitors, and celebrating the holidays, all of which have been a nice change of pace from the routine, and now I am enjoying being back in the routine again of work and church and being home. I usually feel good about the process of some year-long things of focus, such as friendships in the church and at work, Spanish, getting to know the community/country, growing in my faith, etc. and when these things seem slow, I remember that our leader said that growth in these areas is usually exponential, so I have to patient and know that the second half of our time here (I can't believe we're already half way done) will be even better than the first.
Not long after I wrote the last time we traveled to Iguazu Falls in Argentina to renew our Visas. A week or two later Dani Klotz, the student intern leader of our team, visited Asuncion. Then we had two weeks off of work during which we celebrated Christmas and New Year and did various things around our barrio (neighborhood) and Asuncion. A week after starting work again, Doug and Sharon Risser, friends from church in Goshen arrived in Asuncion to travel around Paraguay and Bolivia and to visit me and our friends Allison and Isaiah Goertz, who are Peace Corps Volunteers in the Paraguayan interior. I traveled with them for a week. Then a few weekends ago we went to a church youth camp. So we've been up to enough good things.
Now jumping right in... To go to Iguazu, we hopped on a nice double-decker bus early in the morning and headed to Ciudad del Este, which is one of the next biggest cities in Paraguay behind Asuncion. After arriving, we spent the afternoon visiting Itaipu Hydroelectric Dam, which is just a little bit north of Ciudad del Este. It is one of the biggest hydroelectric dams in the world, both in physical size and power output, so it was very impressive to see. It is shared between Paraguay and Brazil, so on the guided bus tour we also crossed into Brazil.
The next morning we got up early and got a taxi (a friend of my host dad) to take us to a ferry that would take us directly to Argentina instead of going through Brazil first for Visa reasons. On the shore before leaving we met some nice fruit traffickers who were loading hundreds and hundreds of pounds of melons, mangos, and grapes that had come from Brazil into rowboats to go to Argentina. A little shady, but who cares, it's Paraguay!
The taxi guy then took us to the Iguazu park entrance and we started our day there. We went first to the most incredible part, the "Garganta del Diable" or the "Devil's Throat." While the majority of the falls are evenly spread along a 1-2 mile stretch, the Devil's Throat is a point where the falls converge from three sides. It's basically just a bunch of water falling in a giant hole where you can't see the bottom because of all the water vapor. The park has made walkways that go all the way to the edge of the falls so that you can look down on them. The beauty and power of this place almost brought me to tears as it was so amazing. Unfortunately pictures can't capture it but I'll attach some to give you the idea.
We spent the rest of the day walking on the many trails the park has and admiring the hundreds of huge waterfalls that are scattered along the ledge which runs down the river. Along with the tropical forest, and the high lookouts over the river below, it was all incredibly beautiful.
In the late afternoon we took a taxi back to the Argentine border town, found a nice hostel for some cheap lodging, and explored the city a bit, which is considerably different (classier?) than most of the places in Paraguay. The next morning we got the ferry again, a taxi to the bus terminal, and a bus to Asuncion. And that was the end of our very fun trip.
A week or two later Dani Klotz arrived in Asuncion for a week with our team. It was very exciting to have a familiar face from the US even though we only knew her from the week of orientation. We visited as a group, had an Asado for our host families at the pastor's house, talked individually about our experiences, took walks in the Jardin Botanico, ate at a Mexican Restaurant for a little taste of Goshen, introduced her to our work and families, and took a day to travel into the country to a nice place with a stream and little water falls to swim in. It was great to have her here to talk to her about our experiences and process things as she has had experiences very similar to ours. Furthermore, she is fluent in spanish which made everything so much easier.
In our two weeks off from work, we did quite a few fun things as a team, as well as spent time with our host families and Paraguayan friends. With our team we made Christmas Cookies and Peppernuts and traveled around Asuncion to places like an art museum and the national cemetery where we found famous historical people's graves among the fancy house graves (what are those called again?). We have enjoyed watching BBC's Sherlock at Austin's house, and pigging out on tropical fruit that is in season, especially the endless supply of Mangos that we can find in the Jardin Botanico. One day we also traveled to the beautiful city of Aregua which is an artisanal city about an hour away from Asuncion. It is on the banks of the very big Ypacarai Lake which, while beautiful, is contaminated beyond repair. First we hiked and climbed up a little hill/mountain which has some unique hexagonal rocks, and from which you can see all of Aregua, the Lake, and almost Asuncion. We also walked among the crazy pottery markets which line the streets, saw some art galleries, went to the lake, and ate food. Also during these two weeks off, I got to go visit Brenda Perez at her house a little ways out of Asuncion. Brenda was a volunteer at Goshen College last year staying with the Nolt family in my neighborhood, so I had gotten to know her a bit. It was fun visiting her and meeting some of her family and friends.
During this time off we celebrated Christmas and New Year with our families, which were both very different experiences. The church didn't have a service for Christmas Eve or Christmas, and didn't even focus on it that much in Sunday church which somewhat surprised me. On Christmas Eve, all the women started early making all of people's favorite foods, and all of the girls started doing each other's hair and making themselves up in the late afternoon, some 4 hours before they would've needed to. In the late evening friends and family came over and started sitting together and drinking Cidra, which is slightly alcoholic sparkling apple juice, and eating some of the food the women prepared. At 11 at night we sat down to eat a huge dinner. Once midnight arrived everyone went around hugging everyone else including neighbors and friends and wishing them a merry Christmas. We then continued to sit outside our house with friends and family, and occasionally walked to other peoples' houses to say hi until 4am when I called it quits and went to bed.
With all the buildup to Christmas I thought that we were going to do something special, but we didn't really. Everyone was obviously very tired from the night before and so most people groggily went about doing nothing all day. All my siblings did go to the Shopping Center, which at least served to get us out of the house. This day was kind of depressing, mostly because I couldn't be with my own family for Christmas, and there was nothing going on here to distract me from that fact.
New Year's was almost exactly the same as Christmas, except my host family went to my mom's side of the family in another part of Asuncion. I didn't find all of her brothers or nephews especially charming as they basically just ignored me or talked to me in Guarani and laughed and made fun of me in Guarani when I didn't understand. Maybe it was just in good fun, but it felt mean to me, and my relationships with that extended family never really took off the ground. There were a few nice ladies, but that was all.
Fortunately, on New Year's Day a few families actually went to a nice campground type place in the country to pass the day together. There was a pool, some areas to play soccer, and a grill to make an Asado, so it was a good time.
After a week of work again, Doug and Sharon Risser arrived in Asuncion. I met them at their hotel Saturday morning and we spent the day going to Mercado Cuatro, places downtown, and a cute, colorful neighborhood that looks like it's trying to copy La Boca in Buenos Aires. On Sunday they visited my church and ate lunch with my host family and me. They also brought me a suitcase full of t-shirts and some care-package things from my church and family back home that they had collected before coming down. I loved receiving some awesome foods, games and an Aerobie, and my family and friends loved all of the cool used t-shirts that they got. Now I enjoy seeing shirts like MCC Run for Relief or Goshen College around our neighborhood. So many, many thanks to everyone who sent something along with Doug and Sharon. I really feel supported and loved by things like this.
The next day we hopped on a bus headed for Yuty (more or less pronounced "Jew two") where Allison and Isaiah Goertz are Peace Corps Volunteers. It was a long bus ride as the route isn't too direct, but it was still beautiful, with all of the dormant volcanos of Paraguarí, and the flat plains and rolling hills of Missiones and Itapúa. In the next few days there in Yuty, Allison and Isaiah showed us around their cute, dusty town of 5,000 people, including some of the things they are doing for work and some of their friends. We took several walks, talked a lot, ate a lot of good food, and got to go to a soup kitchen that they help at on one of the days it was open. At the soup kitchen we played frisbee with some of the 30-40 kids that came, watched Allison read stories to them, and ate with them and the volunteers. Each evening we sat outside in the somewhat cooler air and enjoyed delicious dinners such as fajitas with homemade tortillas, or vegetables and hummus. We heard many traveling stories from Doug and Sharon, and heard about Allison and Isaiah's time there in Yuty, and saw pictures of their recent trip to Patagonia. It was so fun to spend a few great days there with these two couples.
After that, we got on another bus and went to Encarnacion. There we got a hotel and explored the city a bit. The parts we explored were trashy and there wasn't much to do but i'm pretty sure there are nicer parts as well. It has potential partly because it has so much shoreline on the Río Paraná. We went to the beach twice, and there were many people enjoying swimming and sunbathing in the day, and volleyball and walking around at night. The next morning we got up and took a taxi to Jesús and Trinidad, the ruins of two Jesuit missions that are both about a thirty minute drive from Encarnación. They are both on the edges of small towns, and despite being UNESCO World Heritage Sites, they don't receive many visitors. In each mission, there is a huge basilica, housing for all of the 3-5 thousand indigenous that used to live there, a plaza, a meditation garden for the two priests, classrooms for the privileged youth, workshops, and extending in all directions is land where they would have had gardens and plantations for things like Yerba Mate and Manioc (I think). All of the building structures were made of stone and wood and all that remains is crumbling stone. I will not go much into the history of the Jesuit Ruins, but you all should read about it because it's interesting and it was very influential in the history of Paraguay and all of South America. But basically the Jesuit Priests arrived in the early 1600's to evangelize the indigenous, and built up these utopian villages where the Guaraní people, now Catholic, would work, attend Mass, and participate in village life, all accompanied by Classical Music and under the gaze of ornate statues. While there was strict discipline, it was clearly not slavery, as for a mission of 5,000 indigenous, there were rarely more than two Europeans present at one time. Plus they were saving the Natives from slavery and other violent tribes of Indigenous. For reasons dealing with their great economic success, and politics between Spain and Portugal, the Jesuits were expelled from South America in the 1750's and the missions were abandoned. Seeing this place and learning about its history was very interesting and enjoyable for me.
While Doug and Sharon when on up to see Iguazu, I headed back to Asuncion. I saw them again after they had visited Bolivia and when back in Asuncion for a few days before catching their flight back home. We went to the house of some people they had met at the hotel at Iguazu, the family of the president of MEDA for Paraguay. The next day they came to Alto Refugio to see the place where I work, as they are going to give a presentation about what Allison, Isaiah and I are doing in Paraguay. We said goodbye, and they headed back to the ridiculous cold and snow of Indiana, which I miss a lot. I feel so grateful to this couple for making the trip down here to visit us and spend time with us. It was really so great to travel around with them and spend time getting to know them in this interesting country.
The next weekend there was a church youth camp in a town called San Bernardino, which is a town across the big lake from Areguá. Youth groups came from all over the country, and although not many from our church went, we had a great time meeting a bunch of interesting and friendly people. They had meals, worship services and several planned games and activities. Some of the activities weren't that fun, like apple-bobbing but with mangos that they reused a bunch of times, or their version of Survival which included dragging yourself in the mud. For the last two worship services they brought in a charismatic preacher from Argentina to give the sermons. He said a lot of good things that I appreciated, and by the end of both services he had basically everyone at the front crying, twitching, and falling over when he placed his hand on their foreheads. They even had a team of volunteers that came to the front when they thought people would start coming up so they could catch people when they started falling over. This was a very new and interesting experience for me and it left me thinking about what I believe about these charismatic gifts and spiritual things taken so literally in general. Earlier I might have just blown them off and been very critical, but I was challenged to have more of an open mind about them. It was also good having our team there to talk about things.
There have been a few other fun things that we have done recently that were out of the ordinary. Hannah and I (the other two preferred being lazy and staying home...) went to a presentation on the nature in the Chaco given by a famous British nature TV guy named Nick Baker at the Paraguayan American Cultural Center. He had spent the last week in the Chaco and this presentation was his report from his travels. It was a good talk, and it changed my perception of the Chaco from a lifeless, desolate wasteland with little worth, to a diverse and living place that has some of the most interesting life on earth. Now we want to visit it to see some of the things he showed us. Unfortunately, the Chaco's jungle is being deforested at a faster rate than any other on earth (I think), so it would also be interesting to learn about and support any campaigns there might be to stop that. I hope that the Mennonites that live there aren't part of the problem, but they probably are.
Other things - The other day we also went to a friend from work's house for a hymn sing. We were the only ones there that didn't speak German, but it was still very refreshing to sing some awesome hymns with good musicians, and eat some good German Mennonite baking.
-The other night we went to see the move "Frozen" with a friend from Church. I actually liked it.
-A few weeks ago Austin and I went to a Co-worker's house to watch him speak on a radio program he and a friend of his have. Before hand, we also participated in a martial arts training class he was giving, as he is the national champion for his weight class for some martial art. The radio show was a hoot, and at the training class, I did more pushups than I had done in the last two years, and then regretted it for the next week. As it turns out, our co-worker was best friends in college with Dani Klotz's husband.
-This week the church is starting some weekly bible studies that we are going to participate in. ----On Sunday we are going with some friends to a small town in a beautiful part of the country to pass the day there.
So that is how I am spending my days nowadays. I am spending less of my time being board now than I was in the first few months, which is a very good thing and instead I am more often having a great time. I usually really enjoy my days at work, as I am getting to know all of my fellow co-workers and volunteers and some of the regular patients that come. Often in can be meaningful work, although there are still days where I ask myself "what am I doing here?" At church, it feels like there are many more people that I know and consider friends. And we are starting to do things with those people outside of church, which I am very happy about.
The weather down here is borderline unbearable, as it is commonly reaches 105-108 degrees and there isn't much way to escape it besides going out and and drinking Tereré in the shade. But these last few days have been gorgeously cool and have reminded me of early fall, so we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. For perspective, right now it is the southern hemisphere equivalent of the middle of August in the North. It's also almost Avocado season!
At the end of this month we are thinking of taking a trip to Buenos Aires and maybe Uruguay to renew Visas, visit Corin Wenger, a kid our age who is working with the Mennonite Church in Buenos Aires and who was at our orientation, to visit some different, cool places in South America, and to have a team retreat, where we will talk and reflect about the year.
Well, that's probably about all there is to say for this update. Thanks to everyone for your thoughts, prayers, and support of me during this year, and for having interest in reading my infrequent blog. I hope everyone is doing well, and I can't wait to see you all in five months.
Ben
Itaipu Dam. These in front are water runways for when the water level is too high, and in the background you can see the dam itself and the white water-carrying pipes that lead to the turbines. (Photo Credit: Austin Regier)
I have had another two good months here in Asuncion. The past months have included some traveling, having visitors, and celebrating the holidays, all of which have been a nice change of pace from the routine, and now I am enjoying being back in the routine again of work and church and being home. I usually feel good about the process of some year-long things of focus, such as friendships in the church and at work, Spanish, getting to know the community/country, growing in my faith, etc. and when these things seem slow, I remember that our leader said that growth in these areas is usually exponential, so I have to patient and know that the second half of our time here (I can't believe we're already half way done) will be even better than the first.
Not long after I wrote the last time we traveled to Iguazu Falls in Argentina to renew our Visas. A week or two later Dani Klotz, the student intern leader of our team, visited Asuncion. Then we had two weeks off of work during which we celebrated Christmas and New Year and did various things around our barrio (neighborhood) and Asuncion. A week after starting work again, Doug and Sharon Risser, friends from church in Goshen arrived in Asuncion to travel around Paraguay and Bolivia and to visit me and our friends Allison and Isaiah Goertz, who are Peace Corps Volunteers in the Paraguayan interior. I traveled with them for a week. Then a few weekends ago we went to a church youth camp. So we've been up to enough good things.
Now jumping right in... To go to Iguazu, we hopped on a nice double-decker bus early in the morning and headed to Ciudad del Este, which is one of the next biggest cities in Paraguay behind Asuncion. After arriving, we spent the afternoon visiting Itaipu Hydroelectric Dam, which is just a little bit north of Ciudad del Este. It is one of the biggest hydroelectric dams in the world, both in physical size and power output, so it was very impressive to see. It is shared between Paraguay and Brazil, so on the guided bus tour we also crossed into Brazil.
The next morning we got up early and got a taxi (a friend of my host dad) to take us to a ferry that would take us directly to Argentina instead of going through Brazil first for Visa reasons. On the shore before leaving we met some nice fruit traffickers who were loading hundreds and hundreds of pounds of melons, mangos, and grapes that had come from Brazil into rowboats to go to Argentina. A little shady, but who cares, it's Paraguay!
The taxi guy then took us to the Iguazu park entrance and we started our day there. We went first to the most incredible part, the "Garganta del Diable" or the "Devil's Throat." While the majority of the falls are evenly spread along a 1-2 mile stretch, the Devil's Throat is a point where the falls converge from three sides. It's basically just a bunch of water falling in a giant hole where you can't see the bottom because of all the water vapor. The park has made walkways that go all the way to the edge of the falls so that you can look down on them. The beauty and power of this place almost brought me to tears as it was so amazing. Unfortunately pictures can't capture it but I'll attach some to give you the idea.
We spent the rest of the day walking on the many trails the park has and admiring the hundreds of huge waterfalls that are scattered along the ledge which runs down the river. Along with the tropical forest, and the high lookouts over the river below, it was all incredibly beautiful.
In the late afternoon we took a taxi back to the Argentine border town, found a nice hostel for some cheap lodging, and explored the city a bit, which is considerably different (classier?) than most of the places in Paraguay. The next morning we got the ferry again, a taxi to the bus terminal, and a bus to Asuncion. And that was the end of our very fun trip.
A week or two later Dani Klotz arrived in Asuncion for a week with our team. It was very exciting to have a familiar face from the US even though we only knew her from the week of orientation. We visited as a group, had an Asado for our host families at the pastor's house, talked individually about our experiences, took walks in the Jardin Botanico, ate at a Mexican Restaurant for a little taste of Goshen, introduced her to our work and families, and took a day to travel into the country to a nice place with a stream and little water falls to swim in. It was great to have her here to talk to her about our experiences and process things as she has had experiences very similar to ours. Furthermore, she is fluent in spanish which made everything so much easier.
In our two weeks off from work, we did quite a few fun things as a team, as well as spent time with our host families and Paraguayan friends. With our team we made Christmas Cookies and Peppernuts and traveled around Asuncion to places like an art museum and the national cemetery where we found famous historical people's graves among the fancy house graves (what are those called again?). We have enjoyed watching BBC's Sherlock at Austin's house, and pigging out on tropical fruit that is in season, especially the endless supply of Mangos that we can find in the Jardin Botanico. One day we also traveled to the beautiful city of Aregua which is an artisanal city about an hour away from Asuncion. It is on the banks of the very big Ypacarai Lake which, while beautiful, is contaminated beyond repair. First we hiked and climbed up a little hill/mountain which has some unique hexagonal rocks, and from which you can see all of Aregua, the Lake, and almost Asuncion. We also walked among the crazy pottery markets which line the streets, saw some art galleries, went to the lake, and ate food. Also during these two weeks off, I got to go visit Brenda Perez at her house a little ways out of Asuncion. Brenda was a volunteer at Goshen College last year staying with the Nolt family in my neighborhood, so I had gotten to know her a bit. It was fun visiting her and meeting some of her family and friends.
During this time off we celebrated Christmas and New Year with our families, which were both very different experiences. The church didn't have a service for Christmas Eve or Christmas, and didn't even focus on it that much in Sunday church which somewhat surprised me. On Christmas Eve, all the women started early making all of people's favorite foods, and all of the girls started doing each other's hair and making themselves up in the late afternoon, some 4 hours before they would've needed to. In the late evening friends and family came over and started sitting together and drinking Cidra, which is slightly alcoholic sparkling apple juice, and eating some of the food the women prepared. At 11 at night we sat down to eat a huge dinner. Once midnight arrived everyone went around hugging everyone else including neighbors and friends and wishing them a merry Christmas. We then continued to sit outside our house with friends and family, and occasionally walked to other peoples' houses to say hi until 4am when I called it quits and went to bed.
With all the buildup to Christmas I thought that we were going to do something special, but we didn't really. Everyone was obviously very tired from the night before and so most people groggily went about doing nothing all day. All my siblings did go to the Shopping Center, which at least served to get us out of the house. This day was kind of depressing, mostly because I couldn't be with my own family for Christmas, and there was nothing going on here to distract me from that fact.
New Year's was almost exactly the same as Christmas, except my host family went to my mom's side of the family in another part of Asuncion. I didn't find all of her brothers or nephews especially charming as they basically just ignored me or talked to me in Guarani and laughed and made fun of me in Guarani when I didn't understand. Maybe it was just in good fun, but it felt mean to me, and my relationships with that extended family never really took off the ground. There were a few nice ladies, but that was all.
Fortunately, on New Year's Day a few families actually went to a nice campground type place in the country to pass the day together. There was a pool, some areas to play soccer, and a grill to make an Asado, so it was a good time.
After a week of work again, Doug and Sharon Risser arrived in Asuncion. I met them at their hotel Saturday morning and we spent the day going to Mercado Cuatro, places downtown, and a cute, colorful neighborhood that looks like it's trying to copy La Boca in Buenos Aires. On Sunday they visited my church and ate lunch with my host family and me. They also brought me a suitcase full of t-shirts and some care-package things from my church and family back home that they had collected before coming down. I loved receiving some awesome foods, games and an Aerobie, and my family and friends loved all of the cool used t-shirts that they got. Now I enjoy seeing shirts like MCC Run for Relief or Goshen College around our neighborhood. So many, many thanks to everyone who sent something along with Doug and Sharon. I really feel supported and loved by things like this.
The next day we hopped on a bus headed for Yuty (more or less pronounced "Jew two") where Allison and Isaiah Goertz are Peace Corps Volunteers. It was a long bus ride as the route isn't too direct, but it was still beautiful, with all of the dormant volcanos of Paraguarí, and the flat plains and rolling hills of Missiones and Itapúa. In the next few days there in Yuty, Allison and Isaiah showed us around their cute, dusty town of 5,000 people, including some of the things they are doing for work and some of their friends. We took several walks, talked a lot, ate a lot of good food, and got to go to a soup kitchen that they help at on one of the days it was open. At the soup kitchen we played frisbee with some of the 30-40 kids that came, watched Allison read stories to them, and ate with them and the volunteers. Each evening we sat outside in the somewhat cooler air and enjoyed delicious dinners such as fajitas with homemade tortillas, or vegetables and hummus. We heard many traveling stories from Doug and Sharon, and heard about Allison and Isaiah's time there in Yuty, and saw pictures of their recent trip to Patagonia. It was so fun to spend a few great days there with these two couples.
After that, we got on another bus and went to Encarnacion. There we got a hotel and explored the city a bit. The parts we explored were trashy and there wasn't much to do but i'm pretty sure there are nicer parts as well. It has potential partly because it has so much shoreline on the Río Paraná. We went to the beach twice, and there were many people enjoying swimming and sunbathing in the day, and volleyball and walking around at night. The next morning we got up and took a taxi to Jesús and Trinidad, the ruins of two Jesuit missions that are both about a thirty minute drive from Encarnación. They are both on the edges of small towns, and despite being UNESCO World Heritage Sites, they don't receive many visitors. In each mission, there is a huge basilica, housing for all of the 3-5 thousand indigenous that used to live there, a plaza, a meditation garden for the two priests, classrooms for the privileged youth, workshops, and extending in all directions is land where they would have had gardens and plantations for things like Yerba Mate and Manioc (I think). All of the building structures were made of stone and wood and all that remains is crumbling stone. I will not go much into the history of the Jesuit Ruins, but you all should read about it because it's interesting and it was very influential in the history of Paraguay and all of South America. But basically the Jesuit Priests arrived in the early 1600's to evangelize the indigenous, and built up these utopian villages where the Guaraní people, now Catholic, would work, attend Mass, and participate in village life, all accompanied by Classical Music and under the gaze of ornate statues. While there was strict discipline, it was clearly not slavery, as for a mission of 5,000 indigenous, there were rarely more than two Europeans present at one time. Plus they were saving the Natives from slavery and other violent tribes of Indigenous. For reasons dealing with their great economic success, and politics between Spain and Portugal, the Jesuits were expelled from South America in the 1750's and the missions were abandoned. Seeing this place and learning about its history was very interesting and enjoyable for me.
While Doug and Sharon when on up to see Iguazu, I headed back to Asuncion. I saw them again after they had visited Bolivia and when back in Asuncion for a few days before catching their flight back home. We went to the house of some people they had met at the hotel at Iguazu, the family of the president of MEDA for Paraguay. The next day they came to Alto Refugio to see the place where I work, as they are going to give a presentation about what Allison, Isaiah and I are doing in Paraguay. We said goodbye, and they headed back to the ridiculous cold and snow of Indiana, which I miss a lot. I feel so grateful to this couple for making the trip down here to visit us and spend time with us. It was really so great to travel around with them and spend time getting to know them in this interesting country.
The next weekend there was a church youth camp in a town called San Bernardino, which is a town across the big lake from Areguá. Youth groups came from all over the country, and although not many from our church went, we had a great time meeting a bunch of interesting and friendly people. They had meals, worship services and several planned games and activities. Some of the activities weren't that fun, like apple-bobbing but with mangos that they reused a bunch of times, or their version of Survival which included dragging yourself in the mud. For the last two worship services they brought in a charismatic preacher from Argentina to give the sermons. He said a lot of good things that I appreciated, and by the end of both services he had basically everyone at the front crying, twitching, and falling over when he placed his hand on their foreheads. They even had a team of volunteers that came to the front when they thought people would start coming up so they could catch people when they started falling over. This was a very new and interesting experience for me and it left me thinking about what I believe about these charismatic gifts and spiritual things taken so literally in general. Earlier I might have just blown them off and been very critical, but I was challenged to have more of an open mind about them. It was also good having our team there to talk about things.
There have been a few other fun things that we have done recently that were out of the ordinary. Hannah and I (the other two preferred being lazy and staying home...) went to a presentation on the nature in the Chaco given by a famous British nature TV guy named Nick Baker at the Paraguayan American Cultural Center. He had spent the last week in the Chaco and this presentation was his report from his travels. It was a good talk, and it changed my perception of the Chaco from a lifeless, desolate wasteland with little worth, to a diverse and living place that has some of the most interesting life on earth. Now we want to visit it to see some of the things he showed us. Unfortunately, the Chaco's jungle is being deforested at a faster rate than any other on earth (I think), so it would also be interesting to learn about and support any campaigns there might be to stop that. I hope that the Mennonites that live there aren't part of the problem, but they probably are.
Other things - The other day we also went to a friend from work's house for a hymn sing. We were the only ones there that didn't speak German, but it was still very refreshing to sing some awesome hymns with good musicians, and eat some good German Mennonite baking.
-The other night we went to see the move "Frozen" with a friend from Church. I actually liked it.
-A few weeks ago Austin and I went to a Co-worker's house to watch him speak on a radio program he and a friend of his have. Before hand, we also participated in a martial arts training class he was giving, as he is the national champion for his weight class for some martial art. The radio show was a hoot, and at the training class, I did more pushups than I had done in the last two years, and then regretted it for the next week. As it turns out, our co-worker was best friends in college with Dani Klotz's husband.
-This week the church is starting some weekly bible studies that we are going to participate in. ----On Sunday we are going with some friends to a small town in a beautiful part of the country to pass the day there.
So that is how I am spending my days nowadays. I am spending less of my time being board now than I was in the first few months, which is a very good thing and instead I am more often having a great time. I usually really enjoy my days at work, as I am getting to know all of my fellow co-workers and volunteers and some of the regular patients that come. Often in can be meaningful work, although there are still days where I ask myself "what am I doing here?" At church, it feels like there are many more people that I know and consider friends. And we are starting to do things with those people outside of church, which I am very happy about.
The weather down here is borderline unbearable, as it is commonly reaches 105-108 degrees and there isn't much way to escape it besides going out and and drinking Tereré in the shade. But these last few days have been gorgeously cool and have reminded me of early fall, so we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. For perspective, right now it is the southern hemisphere equivalent of the middle of August in the North. It's also almost Avocado season!
At the end of this month we are thinking of taking a trip to Buenos Aires and maybe Uruguay to renew Visas, visit Corin Wenger, a kid our age who is working with the Mennonite Church in Buenos Aires and who was at our orientation, to visit some different, cool places in South America, and to have a team retreat, where we will talk and reflect about the year.
Well, that's probably about all there is to say for this update. Thanks to everyone for your thoughts, prayers, and support of me during this year, and for having interest in reading my infrequent blog. I hope everyone is doing well, and I can't wait to see you all in five months.
Ben
Itaipu Dam. These in front are water runways for when the water level is too high, and in the background you can see the dam itself and the white water-carrying pipes that lead to the turbines. (Photo Credit: Austin Regier)
The "Devil's Throat" at Iguazu Falls. In real life the water didn't look so yellow. (Photo Credit: Austin Regier.)
Good-lookin' group at a good-lookin' place.
Pretty. (From AR)
From the top of the falls looking down. (AR)
A huge Christmas party in the Jardín Botánico for children and families that our church helps put it on. There was a presentation with singing and dancing, food, activities for the kids, and Christmas presents for everyone. As you can imagine, giving out gifts was a fiasco as the thousands of people all made a line,, and it was hot, and people were impatient. (photo: AR)
The typical setup on the streets of Aregua. All the little piggies and frogs and mushrooms are Aregua's specialty. (photo snagged off line)
My team in the group activities at the church youth camp. We won those annoying games that I told you about so we got t-shirts.
Brenda Perez and me at her house. Thumbs ups are a big thing here.
Family and friends at the place with the pool on New Year's Day. I'm sure all of you in Northern Indiana were doing similar things out in the sun that day as well.
What was the main plaza in this village. On the right and left is housing and straight ahead is the Basilica.
A Guaraní-carved statue.
The Basilica. This used to have walls and pillars as tall as the front part supporting a roof. Pretty impressive.
The famous (for Paraguayans) beach of Encarnación. Not bad for a land-locked country. This is now the hotspot for Carnaval on the weekends.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
I'm Alive
Hello All!
First of all, I would like to say how sorry I am for how long it's been since I wrote last. Many things have happened but it's always felt hard to think of what to say in a blog post. Anyway, the last month or two have been very good. I have settled in pretty well and I am generally very happy about where I am and what I am doing.
Work at Alto Refugio continues to be very good. Usually I am either upstairs with the kids, helping in the kitchen/food storage room, running around town with Beto, one of the leaders, to pick up food donations, or working at a bed-and-breakfast that Alto Refugio owns to support its work. Playing with the kids in the daycare can be meaningful work that I enjoy a lot. While it is usually exhausting and the kids can be straight-up annoying, I know that we are showing love to children that often don't receive much love elsewhere and often have very tough home environments. I used to not have much patience for the children of the employees who are sometimes the only kids we have because I thought that they were well off and didn't need my "help." But I've realized that their home lives are often just as difficult as the others. Very few of the kids we work with have fathers, so just having an older male figure in their lives can be very special for them.
Working in the kitchen is fun because you get to work with the three older ladies who always joke around and teach you how to say things like "you're an old, ugly monkey" in Guarani. Going around on errands with Beto is always exciting and scary as he is a huge fan of the Trans-Chaco rally and tries to bring these driving styles to the streets of Asuncion like a real Paraguayan. I go to the Bed-and-Breakfast once a week and do yard work or painting or things like that. That can be fun working outside, being with the young family that lives there, and swimming in the pool before going home (this will be even nicer when its 105 degrees every day this summer.) Plus, the wife, who's a German Mennonite sometimes makes Zwiebach.
My favorite parts of work, though, are when I can get to know the patients that come in when we're eating during meal times times or sitting in on the daily devotionals that David usually leads. Hearing about their lives is often very eye-opening for me and their kindness in spite of their difficulties is always inspiring. I also am often inspired by the way David and others engage the people in songs and prayers and messages during the devotionals. They have found a way of worship and spiritual input that is very life- and hope-giving to the people, and I like that a lot.
Our coworkers are also generally great, and it has been very fun getting to know all of them well. I also feel so lucky to have Austin working there too, although we are usually doing different things.
Now... on to home, social, and church life. Sorry this is getting long...
During the week after work, there usually isn't too much going on, so I spend quite a bit of time just doing whatever my family is doing. I have gotten to know most of the people in my family pretty well and I like them a lot. A common activity that I enjoy is just sitting outside, drinking Tereré, and talking. What has gotten old sometimes, as I mentioned last time is the TV which is on a lot of the time. I like watching things like soccer and the news (when it's not just about ghost sightings...don't ask me why those are on national news), and I can even tolerate the Soap Operas because they're set in scenic areas of Mexico, but the risqué dancing shows just about make me gag and everyone takes them so seriously.
Also, birthday parties (including mine back in October) are fun as family and friends come over, they make a bunch of meat, and just have a good time. We've somehow had like 5 birthday parties in our family, so it's kind of a regular thing. In fact, just yesterday we had one for my older brother, and it was a great time even though a storm left us in the dark and the rain forced the ginormous grill to be moved inside the house to prepare the meat. It was quite a scene. Here was the conversation: me, worried about the possibility of a dozen people being knocked out by carbon-monoxide poisoning: "won't there be too much smoke?" Brother: "smoke or no smoke: we need our Asado!" We all lived, and it was actually more fun because there wasn't electricity for the TV - ha!
I have done some things with from friends from church during the week. I have had a few guitar lessons from Javier and in return I have taught him some cello. Fransisco has taught me some electric bass, and there has been a choir class led by someone at church that I have been to a few times. Also several people run a few times a week in the Jardín Botánico and I join them sometimes. Us four volunteers used to have spanish lessons twice a week, but then they stopped because the teacher thought we were good to go. Now we might find some people to tutor us one-on-one as there will be a lot of teachers and students out of school for the summer with a lot of time on their hands. Us four also sometimes do stuff like walk through the park or down to the river and talk. When there is nothing else going on I read, listen to podcasts, or practice guitar (Javier fixed up an old guitar my family had that we found my 1-year-old brother jumping on one day.)
The weekends are usually more occupied with social and church events. We spend more time with other youth from church on the weekend. We usually just sit and talk and drink tereré (seeing a pattern?) or occasionally play games, like Dutch Blitz which we have taught people. On Saturday, us volunteers usually find something to do in the day. We've gone to the market to eat chinese food, gone to an art museum, and done stuff around home. Saturday night is a youth church service, which usually is some loud rock music and a speaker. After this we usually hang out with youth people and eat hamburgers at a Hamburguesaría across the street. On Sunday, there is a church service for everyone in the morning, a soccer game in the park in the early afternoon for a bunch of guys from the church and neighborhood, small youth group at 5, and volleyball at 7. I have been involved in the worship service a few times when I played cello on some of the slower, quieter songs. The combination of rock band and cello isn't ideal, but it can work for some things. My sisters and other people from church often walk around the park on Sunday as well. There are tons of people in the park on Sunday, along with Guarani people selling hand crafts, and Churro vendors (so delicious). Sundays are usually very fun days and great for getting to know other people from church.
Special things that have happened section:
A long time ago Austin and I went with David and Judy Schmidt to beautiful Lucero and Tres Palmas in the interior of the country to visit their son, Anton and his family that live there. Tres Palmas is a Mennonite Colony (3000 people?) and Lucero is a Mennonite village a little ways away which just consists of a street with 20 houses on it. Anton is the Doctor and Pastor for the area. We spent this fun weekend getting to know his family and playing with his kids, who are my third cousins. Their family, like all good Mennonites in Paraguay, knows a ton of languages - English, Low German, High German, Spanish, and whatever they speak in the Philippines, as the mom, Faith is from there. And maybe Guaraní.
On the way back from this trip, we stopped in at the Mennonite Hospital Km. 81, which was started by David's dad, John Schmidt. It was originally created as a leprosy hospital that treated lepers so much better than was the norm back then. Now it deals with a lot of things, but it is still known for the quality it offers. It is on a beautiful large property with housing for the volunteers, doctors and some patients, the hospital, fruit and nut groves, pastures for cattle, etc. When we got there, another one of my dad's second cousins, the grounds keeper was butchering the weekly cow.
A few weeks ago, we also went to David and Judy's 60th and 65th birthday party. They had a lot of people over and we ate a lot of food. The next day on Saturday, they took us to the wedding of Jonathan Schmidt and Helena Arrechea (I think that was her name). Jonathan Schmidt is the son of Wesley and Esther Schmidt, who also live in Asuncion, and a nephew of David and Judy. It was a very nice outdoor wedding on land adjacent to the Rio Paraguay. There was a very fancy reception and meal, which left us very full and wondering who is rolling in the dough. It was also fun to meet even more second cousins of my dad.
Also a few weeks ago, I heard that Isaiah and Allison Goertz were coming to Asuncion from their small town of Yuty where they are serving as Peace Corps Volunteers. Isaiah and Allison used to go to our church in Goshen and Allison was one of the leaders of our middle school youth group. We went together to a Korean Restaurant in Mercado Cuatro (a crazy bustling place full of an odd assortment of items all at an awesome, contraband price) and walked around the market. It was so fun to meet up with people that I had known before coming here and compare notes about our experiences, the culture, etc. Sometime this year I am going to try to make it to their town to see what they are up to, meet their friends, and get out of the city a bit. There are busses that can take you to most places in the country for pretty cheap.
First of all, I would like to say how sorry I am for how long it's been since I wrote last. Many things have happened but it's always felt hard to think of what to say in a blog post. Anyway, the last month or two have been very good. I have settled in pretty well and I am generally very happy about where I am and what I am doing.
Work at Alto Refugio continues to be very good. Usually I am either upstairs with the kids, helping in the kitchen/food storage room, running around town with Beto, one of the leaders, to pick up food donations, or working at a bed-and-breakfast that Alto Refugio owns to support its work. Playing with the kids in the daycare can be meaningful work that I enjoy a lot. While it is usually exhausting and the kids can be straight-up annoying, I know that we are showing love to children that often don't receive much love elsewhere and often have very tough home environments. I used to not have much patience for the children of the employees who are sometimes the only kids we have because I thought that they were well off and didn't need my "help." But I've realized that their home lives are often just as difficult as the others. Very few of the kids we work with have fathers, so just having an older male figure in their lives can be very special for them.
Working in the kitchen is fun because you get to work with the three older ladies who always joke around and teach you how to say things like "you're an old, ugly monkey" in Guarani. Going around on errands with Beto is always exciting and scary as he is a huge fan of the Trans-Chaco rally and tries to bring these driving styles to the streets of Asuncion like a real Paraguayan. I go to the Bed-and-Breakfast once a week and do yard work or painting or things like that. That can be fun working outside, being with the young family that lives there, and swimming in the pool before going home (this will be even nicer when its 105 degrees every day this summer.) Plus, the wife, who's a German Mennonite sometimes makes Zwiebach.
My favorite parts of work, though, are when I can get to know the patients that come in when we're eating during meal times times or sitting in on the daily devotionals that David usually leads. Hearing about their lives is often very eye-opening for me and their kindness in spite of their difficulties is always inspiring. I also am often inspired by the way David and others engage the people in songs and prayers and messages during the devotionals. They have found a way of worship and spiritual input that is very life- and hope-giving to the people, and I like that a lot.
Our coworkers are also generally great, and it has been very fun getting to know all of them well. I also feel so lucky to have Austin working there too, although we are usually doing different things.
Now... on to home, social, and church life. Sorry this is getting long...
During the week after work, there usually isn't too much going on, so I spend quite a bit of time just doing whatever my family is doing. I have gotten to know most of the people in my family pretty well and I like them a lot. A common activity that I enjoy is just sitting outside, drinking Tereré, and talking. What has gotten old sometimes, as I mentioned last time is the TV which is on a lot of the time. I like watching things like soccer and the news (when it's not just about ghost sightings...don't ask me why those are on national news), and I can even tolerate the Soap Operas because they're set in scenic areas of Mexico, but the risqué dancing shows just about make me gag and everyone takes them so seriously.
Also, birthday parties (including mine back in October) are fun as family and friends come over, they make a bunch of meat, and just have a good time. We've somehow had like 5 birthday parties in our family, so it's kind of a regular thing. In fact, just yesterday we had one for my older brother, and it was a great time even though a storm left us in the dark and the rain forced the ginormous grill to be moved inside the house to prepare the meat. It was quite a scene. Here was the conversation: me, worried about the possibility of a dozen people being knocked out by carbon-monoxide poisoning: "won't there be too much smoke?" Brother: "smoke or no smoke: we need our Asado!" We all lived, and it was actually more fun because there wasn't electricity for the TV - ha!
I have done some things with from friends from church during the week. I have had a few guitar lessons from Javier and in return I have taught him some cello. Fransisco has taught me some electric bass, and there has been a choir class led by someone at church that I have been to a few times. Also several people run a few times a week in the Jardín Botánico and I join them sometimes. Us four volunteers used to have spanish lessons twice a week, but then they stopped because the teacher thought we were good to go. Now we might find some people to tutor us one-on-one as there will be a lot of teachers and students out of school for the summer with a lot of time on their hands. Us four also sometimes do stuff like walk through the park or down to the river and talk. When there is nothing else going on I read, listen to podcasts, or practice guitar (Javier fixed up an old guitar my family had that we found my 1-year-old brother jumping on one day.)
The weekends are usually more occupied with social and church events. We spend more time with other youth from church on the weekend. We usually just sit and talk and drink tereré (seeing a pattern?) or occasionally play games, like Dutch Blitz which we have taught people. On Saturday, us volunteers usually find something to do in the day. We've gone to the market to eat chinese food, gone to an art museum, and done stuff around home. Saturday night is a youth church service, which usually is some loud rock music and a speaker. After this we usually hang out with youth people and eat hamburgers at a Hamburguesaría across the street. On Sunday, there is a church service for everyone in the morning, a soccer game in the park in the early afternoon for a bunch of guys from the church and neighborhood, small youth group at 5, and volleyball at 7. I have been involved in the worship service a few times when I played cello on some of the slower, quieter songs. The combination of rock band and cello isn't ideal, but it can work for some things. My sisters and other people from church often walk around the park on Sunday as well. There are tons of people in the park on Sunday, along with Guarani people selling hand crafts, and Churro vendors (so delicious). Sundays are usually very fun days and great for getting to know other people from church.
Special things that have happened section:
A long time ago Austin and I went with David and Judy Schmidt to beautiful Lucero and Tres Palmas in the interior of the country to visit their son, Anton and his family that live there. Tres Palmas is a Mennonite Colony (3000 people?) and Lucero is a Mennonite village a little ways away which just consists of a street with 20 houses on it. Anton is the Doctor and Pastor for the area. We spent this fun weekend getting to know his family and playing with his kids, who are my third cousins. Their family, like all good Mennonites in Paraguay, knows a ton of languages - English, Low German, High German, Spanish, and whatever they speak in the Philippines, as the mom, Faith is from there. And maybe Guaraní.
On the way back from this trip, we stopped in at the Mennonite Hospital Km. 81, which was started by David's dad, John Schmidt. It was originally created as a leprosy hospital that treated lepers so much better than was the norm back then. Now it deals with a lot of things, but it is still known for the quality it offers. It is on a beautiful large property with housing for the volunteers, doctors and some patients, the hospital, fruit and nut groves, pastures for cattle, etc. When we got there, another one of my dad's second cousins, the grounds keeper was butchering the weekly cow.
A few weeks ago, we also went to David and Judy's 60th and 65th birthday party. They had a lot of people over and we ate a lot of food. The next day on Saturday, they took us to the wedding of Jonathan Schmidt and Helena Arrechea (I think that was her name). Jonathan Schmidt is the son of Wesley and Esther Schmidt, who also live in Asuncion, and a nephew of David and Judy. It was a very nice outdoor wedding on land adjacent to the Rio Paraguay. There was a very fancy reception and meal, which left us very full and wondering who is rolling in the dough. It was also fun to meet even more second cousins of my dad.
Also a few weeks ago, I heard that Isaiah and Allison Goertz were coming to Asuncion from their small town of Yuty where they are serving as Peace Corps Volunteers. Isaiah and Allison used to go to our church in Goshen and Allison was one of the leaders of our middle school youth group. We went together to a Korean Restaurant in Mercado Cuatro (a crazy bustling place full of an odd assortment of items all at an awesome, contraband price) and walked around the market. It was so fun to meet up with people that I had known before coming here and compare notes about our experiences, the culture, etc. Sometime this year I am going to try to make it to their town to see what they are up to, meet their friends, and get out of the city a bit. There are busses that can take you to most places in the country for pretty cheap.
So that's about all I can think of right now. We've definitely had some great times and learned a lot. There are times when our work does not seem too meaningful, such as when we are just helping watch a few kids or sweeping a patio that is not that dirty, but there are other times where it feels like we are responding to a great need that is in Paraguay. At times it also feels like we don't know that many people that well when we should after 2.5 months. But we have made many great friendships with more people than I sometimes remember. Likewise, it sometimes feels like our Spanish is great and sometimes it feels like it sucks. I suppose all of these conflicting emotions and views are bound to be present in an experience like this, and it can still be a great experience in spite of them, but living through them can be tough.
In these couple weeks we have two visitors from Mennonite Mission Network. First, Linda Shelly is visiting for a bit as she is traveling all around South America connecting with MMN's partners. We spent some time with her today and will eat dinner with her tomorrow at Paul and Hildi Amstutz's house. Next, Dani Klotz will come and spend some time with our team. She is the Radical Journey intern this year and she is in charge of our team. It has and will be great to see these two people and talk about our experiences, hear their suggestions, etc.
Also, in the next week or so we might have to leave the country and come back in to be legal with our Visas, which were only for 3 months. We might try to visit the Yguazu Falls on the Argentina side, but we'll see.
Thanks to everyone who has read this far and to everyone who has supported me in this experience. I really appreciate it! I hope all is well in the US, and feel free to contact me.
Bendiciones,
Benjamin
Here is an assortment of pictures to give you an idea of what we see everyday.
Our work, Alto Refugio:
Most of my family and some friends at my house for my birthday:
A church service:
Some of the youth in the church. This is our small group that gets together every sunday to talk and do bible studies.
Some of the beautiful land around Km. 81:
And here are some fricken awesome trees:
(The first one is all one tree, and the third is not my picture but it's the tree we're enjoying right now)
Saturday, September 28, 2013
40 pounds of beef later...
Hello from Paraguay!
I apologize that I am writing this three weeks after arriving in Paraguay. Things have been kind of busy and I have just focussed on things going on here. Things have been really great! There have been many very fun and exciting times meeting many great people, learning to live in a very different culture/style of life, improving our spanish, and traveling around to see different parts of the city. There have also been difficult moments, where the language barrier makes communication very difficult, where the slow pace of life and people's interest in their cell phones and TV makes moments of boredom, and just plain exhaustion from so much newness. But the good times are always soon to follow and my positive outlook returns.
After our long overnight flight, on which we woke up to the sun coming up over the Chaco, Alfred and Edulia Klaasan, the pastors at our church, picked us up at the airport. Obtaining visas and going through customs was strangely easy; they asked no questions and didn't really search our things. We spent part of the day at Alfred and Edulia's house, and they introduced us to our neighborhood and host families. All four of us volunteers live in the same neighborhood within five blocks or so. I got placed with a great family named the Alderete Perez's. Living at our house are our parents, five of their seven children, their grandma that has severe dementia, and sometimes their aunt. Needless to say it is always a happenin' place, especially since there are usually cousins, aunts and uncles, other siblings, and friends over at our house as well. The ages of my siblings are something like 1, 14, 20, 22, 24, 26, 35. This means that my 1-year-old brother has a niece that is some 16 years older than him.
The first week we mostly just got introduced to the neighborhood (we are between the huge, beautiful botanical park and the Rio Paraguay), church (there are three services every weekend plus several youth activities), the city of Asuncion, and Tereré (the national drink). We went around the city with various youth from church to introduce us to different parts of town and the bus system. This was fun as we got to know some awesome youth that we get to spend the next year with and got to see different parts of the city. We went to downtown a few times, San Lorenzo, a huge market, and to the "Shoppings" (yes it's a noun here). This last one was a popular place for people to take us, I think because they wanted to show us the one place that is clean and sparkly and that resembles corporal America. We trudged along to the various Shoppings to make them happy.
The most fun things that I remember from the first week were walking and playing soccer in the botanical park, going to the Paraguay/Argentina game with my family, and sitting and drinking Tereré with family and friends. The church services are very different than what I am used to but I can respect them and learn from them. I have to keep remembering that churches have to respond to the local culture and situations, and so in a place as different as Paraguay, the theological focuses and worship styles are bound to be different. Church and the youth events are also great social settings where we can meet and converse with new people.
In our second full week here we started our work assignments. Austin and I were both placed in Alto Refugio, an organization that works on holistically helping people with HIV/AIDS. It is run by David Schmidt who is related to both Austin and me. Hannah and Brittni both work at the school that is connected to our church. At Alto Refugio, we have worked in areas such as child care, the kitchen, and cleaning. In child care, we watch the children of HIV/AIDS patients while they go across the street to the hospital for treatments or just want a break. The kitchen provides meals to AIDS patients and gives out bags of food staples. Alto Refugio also has days where it gives out clothing, has self-support group meetings, has a dentist because other dentists are too expensive or don't allow AIDS patients, has cots for them to rest, and has devotionals during the day. It is a very good organization that really helps a lot of people that are struggling and need a place to turn and get support. I am very glad that we can participate in its work. It is also fun to get to know the Schmidt's. They had us over the other night for a big meal and also had some of their children and grandchildren. It was a great time.
After three weeks, communication in Spanish has become much easier, although I can still only understand and communicate fairly simple things. Listening to others conversations is still usually very hard because they talk so fast and use Jopará, a mixture of Spanish and Guaraní, the indigenous language that everyone is fluent in. I have tried to learn some, but I usually just forget everything I learn because everything sounds like Korean and looks like this: "Mba'échapa." That means "what's up."
The food is sometimes hard to like because mostly everything is either an animal or wheat product. There are definitely foods that are really good, but my family jokes that if there isn't meat on the table, they won't eat it. This is tough for a former semi-vegitarian.
Thanks for reading and for all of your support! I hope everything is going well in the US as well.
Benjamin
P.S. Sorry there are no pictures - transferring them wasn't working. I'll try to post some later.
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