When reflecting on 2009, the first adjective to spring to mind is new. New continents. New languages. New friends.
Fittingly, it also ended with an entirely new experience: a weekend spent on a rural farm in the department of San Pedro. Rather than spending the new year in Asunción, I joined a co-worker on her trek to her parents home roughly 4 hours from the city. Well, four hours in a functioning vehicle. Unfortunately, her car broke down upwards of five times direction, so we spent hours languishing on the side of the road. On the bright side, this provided an excellent opportunity to sample local farmers' produce including memón, acerola, mburukuyu, and carambola.
We finally reached our destination about an hour before midnight. After meeting dozens of family members and promptly forgetting most names, we just relaxed, sipped terere, and prepared for the upcoming festivites. When midnight struck, the hillside erupted in noise. Some launched fireworks; others descended upon a long table overflowing with beef (from a former cow), freshly picked mantioca, and other treats. Regardless of the amount of food being consumed, conversation never ceased. By the end of the meal, I was struggling to learnn some Guarani, fending off marriage requests and trying to explain the significance of Rihanna's song "Polkerface" in Spanish. Looking back at that night nearly two weeks later, I still cannot stop laughing.
As no one tumbled into bed until nearly 2:00 AM at the earliest, I was absolutely stunned when everyone arose before dawn. The cows, after all, still needed to be milked and the crops tended to before it was dangerously hot. By noon, we were all relaxing in the shade of a mango tree, sipping terere, and munching on watermelon while intermittantly venturing into the sun to play fierce games of volleyball and soccer. Slightly before beginning evening chores, we wandered to a neighbor's house for a neighborhood prayer and blessing on the new year. I did not understand a word of the Guarani, but the community sentiment certainly made an impact on me.
Rather than relaxing on the farm during the heat of the following day, we ventured to a nearby river to swim, float in the current, and play even more volleyball while surrounded by the rainforest and swarms of butterflies. Yet another excellent day minus the massive sunburn I acquired.
While I do want to spend some weekends in Asuncion, I ventured from the city once again last weekend. This time, however, I went to the southern border town of Encarnacion. The city itself proved relatively unremarkable. Aging buildings line most roads, dilapidated buses from the 1960s spew black fumes, and omnipresent vendors harrass anyone in their path. Yet, the trip was certainly worthwhile in that I had the opportunity to visit the aging Jesuit ruins in nearby Trinidad and Jesus.
Soon after the Spanish conquered the "new" world, Jesuit missionaries began streaming across the Atlantic in order to convert indigenous groups to Christianity. As part of this process, they built gigantic settlements consisting of churches, homes, farms, and even more churches. The settlements thrived, but fell into disrepair when the missionaries were expelled at the end of the eighteenth century. Today, only the shells of the building survive creating an eerily haunted environment.
Regardless of the settlement's condition, the ruins easily constitute one of the coolest places that I have ever ventured in my life. The sprawling red clay structures contrast sharply with the lush Paraguayan countryside. Moreover, unlike many similar sites, they have not been overrun by the tourist industry. When visiting, there were often no more than 2 or 3 others on each site making it much easier to imagine I was living in the settlement during its heyday.
My time in Paraguay has not solely consisted of travel, however. As expected, I spend the majority of my time at my internship designing a program to educate women to advocate for their own rights. As I enjoy my work, I actually look forward to my short trek to the office each morning, although I admit I prefer the days when my project takes me into the field. Even the simplest tasks often become adventures because, as I am quickly learning, nothing ever goes as expected in Paraguay.
Two weeks ago, for instance, Lourdes and I had a relatively simple assignment. We needed to drive to the village of Villa Ygatimi in the Departmento de Canindeyu, collect a rural microfinance committee's payment and deposit it in the bank before the close of business. Easy, right?
Although we expected a smooth trip, the problems began about 45 kilometers outside Villa Ygatimi in the midst of a small storm. At this point, the only road leading to the village changes into a dirt road. On a sunny day, this certainly isn't a problem as the red clay makes an excellent surface. Rain, however, turns the road into an impassable muddy pit. As the village is located in the rain forest, this is a relatively frequent occurance.
As we needed to collect the money that day, Lourdes and I continued forward anyways. Our progress was slow; we constantly had to climb into the mid to push the car and adjust the tires. Fortunately, we finally arrived at our destination a little dirtier and quite a bit later than expected. Along the way, we saw numerous trucks that were not as lucky. Often from multinational logging companies or other groups extracting the areas resources, the large vehicles simply could not navigate the mud while some of the desperately poor children living in the area sat on the ridges laughing. Poetic justice if you will; the companies take the resources and leave very little of their profits to help the local communities but the children have the last laugh.
Unlike the truckers, we did reach Villa Ygatimi at our destination. Upon arriving, we were warmly welcomed by a rural microfinance committee, or a group of unrelated farmers receiving loans collectively. While each man will receive his own capital, all accept responsibility for the group’s debt. If one man cannot afford his monthly payment, then the others must repay his debt or risk incurring more interest.
In this case, the men needed to pay before December 30, 2009 to avoid incurring more interest. After collecting the money, we gave them the money from their next loan and explained the conditions. Each man actively took an interest in the proceedings by asking questions and determining each man’s monthly payment.
Unfortunately, we needed to end the meeting abruptly in order to deposit their payment. We needed to return along the same seemingly impassable road before the banks closed at 4:00PM. Miraculously, the road had improved significantly throughout the past few hours and we made it back to paved roads in only half the time we needed to arrive. Once we arrived on the asphalt and in the town of Curuguaty, we believed we had succeeded. The clock had just struck 2:00 and the local bank did not close until 4:45 or so the sign suggested. However, as we soon learned, this did not necessarily matter. According to the man inside, the bank closed at 2:00 and there was absolutely no way he could serve us. Would we be able to deposit the money on time?
As there were no other banks with which Fundación Paraguaya has an account in the town, we needed to continue onward and find one that actually helped clients until its posted close. Lourdes soon realized that the nearest one could be found in “nearby” Santani, only two hours away. Although unsure if we could arrive on time, we knew we had to try. Driving just at the speed limit, we hurtled through farmlands, rainforest, and yet another storm. Somehow, we managed to arrive with a few moments to spare after our harrowing trip. SUCCESS.
Not every trip proves as exciting. Regardless, venturing into the field easily constitutes my favorite part of my internship and I cannot wait to embark on more trips in the coming weeks.
Pictures have, of course, been posted.
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