Ellen in Paraguay

I am two days short of having spent an entire year in Paraguay. I almost forgot to write that I attended the third wedding during my time here over the weekend. This time it was a young girl studying to be a lawyer and a guy from Argentina who hasn’t had a “real” job since I’ve known him, but I wouldn’t exactly say he is lazy or anything. (Perhaps being in Paraguay has changed my perception of laziness?) David plays guitar really well and I got to know him being in the music group at church, but I also traveled with them to his home during vacations in July and it was during that time we became pretty close friends.

The ceremony and reception were both at the church, and it was wonderfully decorated for that night, especially outside. Well, it wasn’t exactly the latest fashion, but the green looked nice with the trees and the weather was perfect. I received an invitation about a month ago with my name on it and everything, but I am pretty sure that it didn’t matter much if someone had one of those or not. The delicious chicken meal was prepared by the myriads of relatives that were staying at the bride’s parents’ house during the week. It was a little sad because there were so many people there that half of them missed the entire ceremony because of transportation difficulties. Three of David’s brothers couldn’t even come because they had to stay home and take care of the pigs and their little neighbourhood store. So when I feel sad because I can’t be with my family, I sometimes think about people here who even though they live relatively near to each other, they don’t get to see each other that much.

The bad part about having another wedding is that people are always asking and teasing me about getting married. Popular sayings are “you’re going to invite me to your wedding right?” and often they will add on to that “…and pay for the plane ticket?” I am sometimes hesistant to wear makeup or do my hair nice to go to school or church, because the girls will say I am trying to impress someone. The name for a bridal shower is goodbye to the single girl, and so one lady said that at my goodbye party we’ll also have to have a despedida de soltera, since they are so certain I will find a husband as soon as I get back. Many times when people are praying for young people or teenagers, they will confess the knowledge that God is preparing a special person for them and then pray for the future spouse. I think it would be really hard to choose to remain single here, even harder than it is in North America. Well, I know they are just doing it because they love me and for a little bit of fun, but like I said, I’ve just about made it a year here quite successfully, so I guess the joke’s on them!

# posted by Ellen @ 8:56 PM