The first couple days

Hey everyone! Mbai'che pa? That's about all the Guarani that I've been able to master in the first few informal lessons--it means how are you?

I just spent 2 fabulous days with the Saints watching the world broadcast of General Conference. It was really a blessing to get to a chapel and be with other members. The Church is a lot bigger here than I had envisioned and while there isn't a chapel in the town where I'm living right now, I'm planning to move down to the center of lace-weaving and there is a chapel there (as well as 5 more between there and Asuncion 40 minutes down the road.) So, I was really impressed to find LARGE churches and today with the second day of Conference the overflow went into every classroom and there wasn't enough room for all the members in the Stake to sit in. But, it was weird because yesterday there were only 30 people that came to Conference, and after the first session this morning, more than half the group headed home... Everyone says that there are droves of Paraguayans getting baptized but retention is a huge problem...

So, I should back up. I flew out of Houston directly into Buenos Aires and met a guy on the plane that was a Christian convert (evangelical church) and had been living in Sweden for the past 15 years and was now coming back to his home in Argentina. He had tattoos all over his hands and talked about how would go into really rough neighborhoods that the rest of the people in his congregation couldn't go into, but he could show the marks on his hands to show that he was "one of them" and not get hurt. I tried to learn more about the "marks" but he wouldn't explain them to me and I suppose that they have soemthing to do with violence or other things that he probably isn't too proud of... Anyway, it was an interesting encounter and we talked a lot about Argentine culture and how weird it was for him to be coming back to his "home."

I then went through an amazing hassle in the Buenos Aires airport thanks to a rather un-helpful agent that signalled me to go through immigration passport control when I really should have stayed on the upper floor to get my connecting flight... As a result, I had to complain to 3 different people, pay and extra $18 airport fee, and convince a lackey agent to accompany us through to get to the front of a 2 1/2 hour security line in order to get to my flight on time! It was incredible. Argentines aren't exaclty known for their customer service and I definitely got my taste of it that day...

I finally got into a small commuter jet, praying that my luggage was underneath me somewhere and flew into Asuncion. It's hot. It's going to get hotter, but it's definitely hot. It was like a wave that blew me over when I started to walk off the plane. But, tropical place...what do you expect?

My luggage DID arrive...though somewhere between Salt Lake and Asuncion, my Nalgene bottle became conveniently unnattached from my bag and with it all my pens, office supplies, and some little trinkets I was going to give away. Could be worse though...

I met with the "right-hand man" of Osvaldo (Osvaldo is the president of the NGO here in Paraguay and also the head honcho of a renovated hotel that the NGO helped to get fixed up and back into a functioning business.) I got a ride out to a small lakeside town called San Bernardino where I am staying right now. They have a FABULOUS hotel that was built in 1888 and has been renovated and decorated. All the rich Paraguayans come to "summer" here in San Ber and this is one of the most expensive spots in town. Osvaldo is really well connected within any community and so I'm hoping to be able to get in with some of his friends that run the textile trades but I don't know if I really want to stay stationed in San Ber. One, it's really expensive to be staying in the hotel. He said we could work out a cheaper room but he would still want $10 a day and there's NO way that I'm going to be paying that. So, I'm tentatively thinking to stay here for a month or two while taking some private Guarani lessons and getting to know Osvaldo's contacts and other people in the area and then moving out to Itaugua. WIth the church members, they assured me that they could help and I made really good friends with a girl that is 24, working in Asuncion but lives in Itaugua and so I'm going to visit them next Thursday to see what housing options they come up with. The benefits of being in the hotel is, well, a nice bathroom, free water, free internet, and lots of famous and well-connected people constantly stirring about the place. They say that in the summer they feed between 300 and 350 people a meal and the place is booked solid. So, it could be a great networking spot, but I still bristle at thinking that I'm not at the ground level really learning about the people in their homes and communities. I've never been a big fan of the elites and especially in a country where the elites are SO separated from the bottom level, I just don't feel like I'm really doing the study that I would feel fulfilled in...but I've only been here 2 days so I can't really jump to any conclusions yet!

I also made good friends with a woman that lives in Asuncion but her grandfather was full-blooded Austrian and moved to Paraguay where he married a native. She has bright blond hair and light brown eyes, pale skin, and a very European jaw but is fluent in Spanish and Guarani and knows basically nothing more than the name of the country her ancestors came from. She and her husband were great to hang out with and they gave me a general history lesson about the other Paraguayan tribes that "they think" are still running "savage" in the Chaco region (north towards Bolivia.) Apparently it's a veritable Bermuda Triangle and anybody that wants to go and do maps or study the area just disappears (assumedly caught, murdered, and served up for dinner by the local tribeseman.) She had an uncle, though, that was though to have disappeared into the area and ended up reappearing 7 years later with a total memory loss of how he had gotten there and how he had gotten back. So, no current plans to travel in that direction...

I had my first terere--which is just like Argentine mate but served with cold water instead of boiling water--and I think I like it a lot better than mate. It's basically just an herb that they grow here in South America that is cooked and crushed and dried and they put it in a carved out bull horn, still a straw with a filter in and poor cold water over the top and pass that around the group while you chat. Having the terere with the group of recently returned missionaries and a couple premies and then Lorena the 24 year old from Itaugua, we made instant friends. Everyone is shocked at my Spanish even though I am struggling to understand them... For the first time in my life since 7th grade Spanish, I honestly feel inadequate with my Spanish! It's not that they are saying anything particularly difficult, but the Paraguayan accent is freakishly hard for me right now. Lots of natives of other countries have told me the same thing. There is a lot of influence from Guarani, so the intonation is very distinct--mostly a monotone clipped speech that always ends with with a descending tone. But, that I can handle. What makes it difficult is that they don't open their mouths to enunciate and the whole country is soft-spoken. Lorena's mom told me that she is different because she is louder than other Paraguayans and she pontificated that it was due to their being in the church... Anyway, if that weren't enough, they speak Guarani with the same tone and generally mix it all together in the same sentence so I never know if my lack of understanding is because they actually speaking Guarani or because they just didn't say things loud enough! All the same, everyone I have met has been sure to comment that not only do I speak Spanish well but that I speak it "perfectly." I have noticed little grammar errors here and there and wonder if they are self-conscious about their Spanish and that would explain some of the soft-spokenness. But, even when they are asking ME questions, I have to ask people to speak up and repeat things 3 and 4 times until I can respond. It blows my mind.

Well, I am going to go down and have some dinner and hopefully watch the rain roll in again. While I've only been here a couple days, I've been able to get on local transportation, make new friends, and learn about other contacts of towns with other textiles so I'm feeling realy comfortable and the people are super friendly and laid-back. No pictures just yet but I promise they'll be coming!