Tuesday, July 17, 2007
I just got back from church camp in Argentina. Oscar and Karen and their boys, Ben and Vivi were also attending camp, but in Washington with my friends and family, so I was glad to have something else to occupy my mind and keep me from being too nostalgic. I almost didn’t go for threat of the cold, but we were blessed with four sunny days, and I was blessed to share a small bed with Maria to keep me warm during four cold nights!I think I am in for a real shock when I go home, because even a trip to Argentina shows Paraguay in a pretty bad state of being. As soon as you cross the border, everything gets cleaner and nicer. The form of speaking is more melodic and smooth, and the people wear nicer clothes! One difference that I really appreciated was hearing four-part harmony at our camp meetings. Poor little Paraguay doesn't seem to have much of a chance in comparison. One night we watched the final of "Copa America" the classic game between Brazil and Argentina, and Marcelo, a Paraguayan, confessed to me that he hoped Brazil would win because he didn't know if he could stand the Argentineans' pride afterwards. They lost 3-0 so we didn't have to put up with any gloating and took a night walk downtown to the river where you could look across to Paraguay. It was very beautiful, but it was still in South America. The camp was at a school where everyone slept spread out on the floor in classrooms, there was only one cold shower and 5 out of 7 toilets didn't work in the women's bathroom. But I was a celebrity! I have to admit I am almost tired of speaking English, or at least the phrases "how are you?" and "good morning." I got three invitations to come to different parts of the country and teach English. I had no idea there were so many AC churches in Argentina. Also, greetings to the Pavkovs who know people in Argentina, and the Kovacs in Kitchener. When we were not at camp, I stayed at the house of David, who is engaged to my friend Maria from Lambaré. In his family there are nine boys and only one girl, and all the boys still live on the farm together, even the two married ones with families. David's mom confessed to me that she is worried for the six sons between the ages of 21 and 35 who aren't married yet. Perhaps partly for this reason, I was treated grandly and am invited back anytime! I would like to visit again, especially for the evangelistic campaign we are going to have in August there, but I know now that my heart is committed to Paraguay because of how I missed it. Even though the roads are bad and I don't care for the popular music and customer service is at an all time low, I have fallen into unreasonable and unexplainable love.I am afraid to write about this next topic for fear that my readers will not understand and be offended like I used to be, but this phrase keeps going through my mind since I heard it 3 days ago and if I don’t write about it I feel like I will burst: "If I have it, I give it." These words, even simpler in Spanish, were uttered by the wife of one of the married brothers in reference to an herb that someone was looking to add to her mate, but it could very well include material possession, all you have to do is ask. For example, this weekend a girl asked me for my jeans because she liked them, and when they didn't fit, she asked for a shirt, any one of my shirts so she could remember me. Another guy asked me for my sweatshirt because he liked it. He was the fourth person to ask me for this particular sweatshirt, but I haven't given it away, reasoning that I only have two sweatshirts and if it gets cold again, what will I do? But this mindset is not shared by the people here, and I am slowly beginning to understand. They don't think about caring for themselves in the future, they think about having good relationships right now. From now on, I am going to be complimented when someone likes my stuff or when they want something to remember me by. Often North American visitors will leave without their watch or their running shoes. Marcelo, who I am sure has a lot less stuff than I do, gave away a jacket and a toque this weekend, even though it might get cold again and he doesn't have a replacement. Maybe his plan is just to ask someone else for one! I think one reason why I am so affected is that I didn't exchange enough money, and instead of worrying about who would pay back who or exchanging with me for Guaranies, everyone just shared and the group took care of me. Don't worry, I am not taking advantage of them, in the end I gave people money, but the point is that no one asked or expected me to pay them back, they just gave. I think I used to be very discriminating in my giving, and taking into account the economic state of the person I was giving to or their ability to return the favour. I think here people just give and they enjoy it and they love the person they are giving to. I would love to experiment with this when I go back home and ask people for stuff and see what happens. I might need to too, since I am all pumped up now about giving away my stuff!
# posted by Ellen @ 1:19 PM 
