Spending the summer in Paraguay was meant to be a chance to visit family and spend some time in another culture. Perhaps it's not as ironic as it seems that, having left Asuncion with its North American-styled shopping centers and cineplexes, its Hooters and casinos, I feel closer to home in the Chaco. A few hundred kilometers north of Asuncion, you begin to see the land transform from the wet grasslands and forests of eastern Paraguay into a desert not unlike Arizona: rain is scarce, especially this year (during the “rainy season” they received only a few drops), but plant life is abundant. And like the Sonoran desert, this means only the hardiest, woodiest, prickliest plants can survive. More than a familiar landscape, however, I've felt transported into a culture that mirrors the U.S. Midwest (an arid, German-speaking Midwest).
Understandably, the same families of German farmers who settled in central Kansas also broke the bush of the Chaco and started farming it (I've even met a couple Regiers here, probably no relation). Though I'm told their first years were very challenging, the towns that have emerged look little different from any small town in Kansas, with their grain elevators, feed stores, and motorcycle dealerships. The houses themselves resemble the low, ranch-style houses that populate large parts of Newton – a far cry from the homes of central Asuncion whose facades reflect a prison-like need for security.
On Saturday, I attended a volleyball tournament in town. Mennonites settled the Chaco in half a dozen colonies and from time to time, they get together for various sports tournaments. Apparently volleyball rivals soccer for popularity in these parts. Looking around the gymnasium, I could easily have been in rural Kansas. Apart from the ubiquitous tereré tea (indispensable if you'll be sitting for more than five minutes at a time), the crowd, wearing seed caps and plaid, could have been cheering on any Midwest home team. The score keepers looked to be two retired farmers perched high in the stands, the type who would meet for coffee at the local cafe.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to appreciate much of the Chaco yet, having caught a couple bugs at World Conference. So far, none of them appears to be H1N1, but as soon as my body overcomes one, another seems to set in. I'm hoping to do at least a little work here before I leave in a few weeks.
A first taste of Chaco dust (prettier pictures to follow)
2 comments:
I remember feeling exactly that way when we visited Laura and so many other relatives there when I was 14. Asuncion felt so foreign to me but I felt so much more at home in the Chaco. Maybe it was partly because almost all of the people we were around spoke at least some english and (just like Kansas) almost all of them were related to me.
I love reading your blog, Danny. Keep posting!
- Becca
Ha...be glad you are there in the winter...at least it's not too hot. Greg was there during their summer...poor kid. Then the terere is even more indespensible. :-) I loved the Chaco too, and actually could understand more in German sometimes than Spanish.
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