Buffer

Sunday afternoon marked a sort of bookend between my time in Asuncion and my time in the Chaco, and it took the form of a bus ride. Actually, there were two bus rides. I met my cousin, Hugo at conference and through some broken English (for him) and broken Spanish (for me) we decided to take the public colectivo bus system to the outskirts of town where we'd catch the “NASA” bus to the Chaco. By now, I've spent a fair bit of time on city buses, but I haven't ever seen them this full. “Standing room only” doesn't really describe how packed they were, and a dozen or so passed us by before one had enough room for us. Preparing for the Chaco, I had packed hot weather clothes, cold weather clothes, farm work clothes, church clothes, relative-visiting clothes ... I was carrying a good 90% of my wardrobe on my back. Along with a small, but weighty portion of my personal library. Along with my violin, most precious of instruments. Along with my computer, digital repository of my life. Along with gifts for all my relatives in the Chaco. The dirty looks I received from my fellow passengers as I squeezed in were well-founded: I had paid for only one ticket, but both I and my life had come aboard.

This was perhaps the low point of the day. Everything changed when I boarded the bus to the Chaco. To start with, I found myself seated in the midst of a family reunion of Paraguayan Kansans, most of whom I had some connection to. My seatmate was a diminutive Guarani boy who spoke a very soft and slurred Spanish. Surrounded by Mennonites speaking Plautdietsch, I'm guessing he felt far more out of place in his own country than I did at that point. The seats were soft and the trip was long, affording time enough for thought, sleep, and reading. When I think of the word “buffer,” this trip strikes close to my conceptualization. A time to wind down from the chaos of Mennonite World Conference and associated responsibilities, a time to prepare for a month of ranching in the Chaco.

Oh, and the bus hit a cow. Being on the second level of the bus, it was extra exciting.