Thursday, January 04, 2007
Feliz Aňo Nuevo!!
New year’s here is basically the same as Christmas: tons of firecrackers and a big meal served at midnight, two things very bad for your health, in my opinion. People tell me that every year lots of kids are in the hospital with injured or missing limbs and eyeballs. I saw a boy sneak up behind some girls and stick a firecracker in their midst, and it went off before I had time to warn them. It is kind of sad because I think the people here would love a real fireworks show but of course the city officials don’t put one on. (warning: this entry is very cynical of people who work for the Paraguayan government. A joke from my dad: what does a government employee and a broken gun have in common? Neither of them work and they can’t be fired.) I watched from the second story of the Caballero’s house, but mostly it was just lots of noise and smoke. I also think the big meal at midnight is funny because you are basically starting out the year with a terrible eating habit, while all of North America is vowing to eat healthier. I’ve been asking people if they make new year’s resolutions, but I’ve only found one lady so far, who doesn’t write them down, which makes me think she doesn’t take it very seriously. I already told my family I don’t have to make any because I am totally preoccupied with self-improvement every day of the year.
Let me tell you something about the Paraguayan postal service: besides being almost non-existent, what they do have is terrible! Ben and Vivi had to deliver all their wedding invitations by hand. Only a very few people have international post office boxes. Oscar has one which he checks every week, and one day he got a notice that there was a package for me, but he needed my visa information to get it. He came back later the same day, only to find out that they sent the package back “because he took too long to come and get it.” I totally don’t trust any of the post office workers. Basically anyone who works for the government here can be compared to the tax collectors in the Bible; No one likes or trusts them, they often have houses and cars that are much too extravagant for their incomes, and lots of them have private security guards, like the judge that lives by my house, I guess because it is easy for them to make enemies. Anyways, I finally got the Christmas card that my mom sent a month ago, and she wrote that she hoped I would be able to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, since people here probably don’t know about Frosty the Snow Man or make such a big deal about Santa. And it’s true. I went to a mall five days before Christmas and they had a few trees and decoration, but other than that there were no other signs of the season and it wasn’t very crowded. First of all, nothing EVER goes on sale in Paraguay, except maybe stale crackers. The grocery store still has Christmas decorations out and tons of fruitcake and there isn’t even a 10% discount! Secondly, virtually no one can actually afford to shop in the mall. I don’t understand it, because people don’t make very much money by North American standards, but the clothes in the mall and any electronic items or household appliances are the same as American prices. For example, a small sandwich maker is $40. Probably the only people buying them work for the government! Most people do their shopping in street markets. But even then, I don’t think most people buy Christmas presents, at least, no one that I talked to received a Christmas present. I didn’t have to feel left out then, with no family to exchange presents with. It’s all about the food. So without the commercialism and presents and reindeer are Paraguayans able to better celebrate the true meaning of Christmas? I think it’s good that they focus a lot of spending time together, I would say this is a strength of Paraguayan society year-round. At midnight on New Year’s Eve it was fun to watch all the people go around to the neighbours’ houses to greet one another. At the same time, I would not exactly describe any of their festivities as contemplative or serene, which I felt like I was missing out on. The one pious thing that people do is put out offering by their (usually gawdy) nativity scenes. As far as I know, everything is over after Christmas eve, they are finished celebrating by the next day. Usually people go to the church on the 25th, but rather than for a church service, they go to play soccer! I celebrated the first day of the year by playing volleyball at church.
Enough about holidays until Easter, for which we get a whole week-long vacation! Speaking of vacations, I am leaving on Saturday for Buenos Aires. I am taking the bus with my friend Maria Teresa, who is originally from Argentina, and has our tourist itinerary for the week all planned out. I am a little worried because the bus that Ben’s parents took to Brazil got in an accident and rolled. His sister (who was getting married four days later) was knocked unconscious and her fiancée suffered a large gash on his face, but I guess the wedding still took place. Then two days later the bus that Ben and Vivi were taking to Brazil broke down and they had to wait and switch buses. But it should be okay, because the Lonely Planet Guide book says that Buenos Aires is one of the safest (and also one of the most beautiful) South American cities. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back!!
New year’s here is basically the same as Christmas: tons of firecrackers and a big meal served at midnight, two things very bad for your health, in my opinion. People tell me that every year lots of kids are in the hospital with injured or missing limbs and eyeballs. I saw a boy sneak up behind some girls and stick a firecracker in their midst, and it went off before I had time to warn them. It is kind of sad because I think the people here would love a real fireworks show but of course the city officials don’t put one on. (warning: this entry is very cynical of people who work for the Paraguayan government. A joke from my dad: what does a government employee and a broken gun have in common? Neither of them work and they can’t be fired.) I watched from the second story of the Caballero’s house, but mostly it was just lots of noise and smoke. I also think the big meal at midnight is funny because you are basically starting out the year with a terrible eating habit, while all of North America is vowing to eat healthier. I’ve been asking people if they make new year’s resolutions, but I’ve only found one lady so far, who doesn’t write them down, which makes me think she doesn’t take it very seriously. I already told my family I don’t have to make any because I am totally preoccupied with self-improvement every day of the year.
Let me tell you something about the Paraguayan postal service: besides being almost non-existent, what they do have is terrible! Ben and Vivi had to deliver all their wedding invitations by hand. Only a very few people have international post office boxes. Oscar has one which he checks every week, and one day he got a notice that there was a package for me, but he needed my visa information to get it. He came back later the same day, only to find out that they sent the package back “because he took too long to come and get it.” I totally don’t trust any of the post office workers. Basically anyone who works for the government here can be compared to the tax collectors in the Bible; No one likes or trusts them, they often have houses and cars that are much too extravagant for their incomes, and lots of them have private security guards, like the judge that lives by my house, I guess because it is easy for them to make enemies. Anyways, I finally got the Christmas card that my mom sent a month ago, and she wrote that she hoped I would be able to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, since people here probably don’t know about Frosty the Snow Man or make such a big deal about Santa. And it’s true. I went to a mall five days before Christmas and they had a few trees and decoration, but other than that there were no other signs of the season and it wasn’t very crowded. First of all, nothing EVER goes on sale in Paraguay, except maybe stale crackers. The grocery store still has Christmas decorations out and tons of fruitcake and there isn’t even a 10% discount! Secondly, virtually no one can actually afford to shop in the mall. I don’t understand it, because people don’t make very much money by North American standards, but the clothes in the mall and any electronic items or household appliances are the same as American prices. For example, a small sandwich maker is $40. Probably the only people buying them work for the government! Most people do their shopping in street markets. But even then, I don’t think most people buy Christmas presents, at least, no one that I talked to received a Christmas present. I didn’t have to feel left out then, with no family to exchange presents with. It’s all about the food. So without the commercialism and presents and reindeer are Paraguayans able to better celebrate the true meaning of Christmas? I think it’s good that they focus a lot of spending time together, I would say this is a strength of Paraguayan society year-round. At midnight on New Year’s Eve it was fun to watch all the people go around to the neighbours’ houses to greet one another. At the same time, I would not exactly describe any of their festivities as contemplative or serene, which I felt like I was missing out on. The one pious thing that people do is put out offering by their (usually gawdy) nativity scenes. As far as I know, everything is over after Christmas eve, they are finished celebrating by the next day. Usually people go to the church on the 25th, but rather than for a church service, they go to play soccer! I celebrated the first day of the year by playing volleyball at church.
Enough about holidays until Easter, for which we get a whole week-long vacation! Speaking of vacations, I am leaving on Saturday for Buenos Aires. I am taking the bus with my friend Maria Teresa, who is originally from Argentina, and has our tourist itinerary for the week all planned out. I am a little worried because the bus that Ben’s parents took to Brazil got in an accident and rolled. His sister (who was getting married four days later) was knocked unconscious and her fiancée suffered a large gash on his face, but I guess the wedding still took place. Then two days later the bus that Ben and Vivi were taking to Brazil broke down and they had to wait and switch buses. But it should be okay, because the Lonely Planet Guide book says that Buenos Aires is one of the safest (and also one of the most beautiful) South American cities. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back!!
# posted by Ellen @ 11:50 AM 
