As many of you know, I left the community house this summer in
the care of Justin and John and Zeke so that I
could travel to Paraguay to teach English in La Escuela de Alturas Nuevas in
Labare near Asuncion and help the missionary here to serve the rural churches
in the country.
LA ESCUELA DE ALTURAS NUEVAS IN LAMBARE
I have been in Paraguay for about ten days now, and I cannot begin to express the amazing things that I have seen and experienced. But I would like to try to give my friends an idea of what this summer holds and how it has affected me. To say that it is like a different world here would be a bit of an understatement. But here are just a few things that will blow your mind:
1. There are no
stop signs here. At very major intersections there are single traffic
lights, but in the vast majority of the streets, it’s every man for himself. Quite
literally. And it seems to work okay for them, it just takes a while to get where you're going.
2. About 60% or more of the
vehicles on the road are motorcycles. No
exaggeration. Most people ride two at a time. And I've even seen a family of
four on a motorcycle- no exaggeration! Dad was hanging on to one kid while mom
had the other. It is extremely dangerous, but they don’t seem to care.They ride in the rain on cobblestone roads and cut through traffic at high speeds. But they are really, really good at it.
3. No one is
required to have insurance here. If you get in a wreck, you just "work it
out". Most of the cars here are dented,
scratched, older, etc. One lady had a hatchback Audi that we had to push start. The
large cargo trucks are Mercedes Benz. It’s quite comical. I saw a Nissan "Sunny" and many crazy cars: including some pimped out hippie vans and bugs and hot rods cars.
4. There is no
central heat here. No one uses air conditioners. They use fans. It is the end of the rainy season and winter is about to start.
5. Over here, they
don't use gasoline, but diesel and at the gas station you can't pump your own gas. They won't let you.
6. An apartment
would cost about 160 American dollars a month. A three liter coca-cola costs
about a dollar, but a can of tuna costs about five dollars.
7. Local streets
are made out of cobblestone. Some major
roads are made out of concrete. Only the very major roads are made out of
blacktop, and those would not impress you. And even those major roads are only two
lane highways. However, people turn them into four lane highways with their crazy Paraguayan driving. Asuncion has about 2.5 million people, and there is no freeway. Only
a series of cobblestone city blocks and a handful of two-lane major roads. That makes everything local. Everyone sticks to their neighborhood and you can find everything you need within several blocks' radius. Yesterday
we drove thirty miles down a dirt road to visit a pastor in the country.
8. Yes! the toilets
absolutely flush the other way! And I’ll argue with
anyone who says otherwise. I’ll have video soon.
9. Here, you have
to pay about 1,000 guaranis to use the bathroom. But don't worry. That's only
about twenty-five cents!
10. And
finally, I must have really, really bad vertigo, because all of my natural
sense of direction is telling me that the sun is setting in the East. I know
that can't be true, but I'd need a compass to prove it to myself.
The
Churchyard in Lambare
The Church
in Lambare, Paraguay
I have been teaching 7th, 8th, and 9th grade English classes. I may also take on the other grades when I get used to being here. I absolutely love teaching these kids. They are wild and hyper, but they are very, very happy kids. They think I’m a movie star or something. They pour over everything I say, and they fight over who will carry my books to the next class. Everyone of them shakes my hand two or three times each when they leave class, and they follow me in a big group asking me questions about myself and about America.
MY SEVENTH GRADE CLASS
They are the
sweetest kids I’ve ever met. They make me want to change my career. One of my
tasks this summer will be to create new English textbooks for next year. Here,
the state regulates the schools’ exams, but not their teaching material. For
that reason, I can save them a great deal of money and improve their materials
by writing the material myself. I am having great fun doing that. I will write
more about these kids in the future, but I’ll mention that it costs about $150
dollars a year to send one of these poor children to the school. And they really
would not be in school otherwise.
The economy here is
interesting. They idolize Americans, so anything American is just wow to them.
There are no Wal-marts. There is only a large grocery store. Everything else is
found in the many many shops along every road. If you want bananas, you go
looking for bananas, and if you want Lysol, you go looking for Lysol. You will find most of what you need. There are many
specialty shops: Pharmacies, bakeries, ice cream parlors, and clothing shops.
Two dollars can buy you a pretty hefty breakfast. There is no Dr. Pepper here,
but Coca-cola and Coke Zero are everywhere.There is a McDonald's that boasts "me canta" but nobody here cantas McDonald's. Nobody. It's a huge empty building filled with the smell of failure.
As many of you
know, I’ve been learning Spanish for the last year. I have made a lot of
progress in reading and writing, but I simply hit a brick wall when I try to
have a conversation with people. Well, I have torn that brick wall completely
down. I was shocked on the very first church service that I could carry on a
meaningful conversation with people. I just had to be in a position in which I
had no choice. I have surprised myself. I have made about twenty friends my age
who do not speak any English. Granted, I probably sound pretty silly to some of
them, but they don’t seem to care. They want so much to be my friend that after
a couple of minutes of stuttering, we forget all about the language barrier. I
have even learned how to speak a little bit of Guarani. In addition to my
Junior High classes, I am tutoring a couple of University students.The people here are very sincere and sweet. They have a great respect for their friendships and a great awe for the ministry.
Yesterday, we
visited two pastors in rural areas in Paraguay. It was about a four hour trip
one way. But it was very worth it. These two men and their families were some
pretty amazing people building little churches of believers in very small
communities in the middle of nowhere. And they take their work very, very
seriously. Now the smallest church that I have ever been in was 8x14ish. Yes, feet. There
was no bathroom. There were wires running along the wall to keep the single
light bulb lit. I couldn’t take a picture because my phone died. But I think
there will be opportunities in the future.
A UPC CHURCH IN RURAL PARAGUAY
A STREET SHOP IN LAMBARE
On Wednesday, I was invited to preach at the big church. I was very blessed to have that opportunity. I prepared and prayed, though nothing could really prepare me for that experience. Bro. Bir translated for me (which was a very unique experience). I believe that it went well, and I hope that I will have another opportunity in the future. But even if that was my one and only time preaching in a foreign country, I'm sure this summer holds a wide variety of life changing experiences similar to that one.
ASUNCION, PARAGUAY FROM THE AIRPLANE
I will be praying for all of you and your families and your churches. Please pray for me as well. It looks like I won't be able to use my phone. The best way to get in touch with me would be to email me. God bless you!
Gus LaFosse
No comments:
Post a Comment