So, I am here (the United States of America), and have been here for at least 72 hours or so now. It's been a quite busy 72 hours. I have done more "things" such as going out to eat, going shopping, watching a movie (just at home) on tv, playing game stations (is that they are even called these days) and using the internet like I am right now, and being in a car, more than I have in the past few days than I usually do in a whole month in Paraguay. It's been a bit overwhelming. I mean I can handle it, it's fine, but I note that at all feels very fast to me. I went and ate my breakfast outside this morning. I stared at their back pond in silence for 10 minutes. I watched rings in the water and wondered where they came from. I wondered if there's fish. I watched birds fly over, just skimming the top of the water (Maybe looking for fish?). I watched a wasp on light pole. I watched a humming bird zoom by. That's more about my pace these days. Staring at things and thinking is my most ample and available entertainment no matter where I am. And the best part is, it's free, unlike the game stations, the HDTV's and whatever else it is people seem to be occupying themselves with. Too much for me, it's too much.
Don't get me wrong, I am still enjoying the lap of luxury that is the USA. I have taken advantage of it and bought myself an ipod classic. Fun! But, on the flip side this has been a purchase I have been thinking about for MONTHS, and music is one of my passions. It's one of the things that can get me through a day down there. If I have to pick TV, ipod or game station, I would pick ipod. I have a tv in Paraguay, thanks to the family I live with. But, I don't really watch all that much. They have America's Next Top Model in Spanish on it now, I watch that and the news sometimes. That's about it. And I am really going to appreciate this little gadget. It's not like I'll just toss and get a new one when something "better" comes out or something. And it's my only gadget. Everything is OK in moderation theory I believe applies to this situation.
All right, enough ranting about all that. Let me tell you about my trip. I notice such change in the way I travel now. I used to be bothered by small talk and talking to strangers. I would prefer to talk on my cell phone on a plane before take off. Up to the minute that they allow you to use them. That way I could be entertained without having to actually speak to any of the people around me. Then, I would prefer to settle in a book, magazine, or an in-flight movie. Again, avoiding that annoying person to my right or left, or maybe on both sides, who is taking up the space near me. A quick smile, or nod "hello" is all I might throw someone who happened to be sharing my row, then burying my face in some sort of book/magazine/television screen, so that they get the point, "Don't talk to me".
Now, I feel like I want to get to know everyone. And I did. Life is better, when you recognize that the people around you, even those strangers you pass on the street, are a lot like you. They all have a family, people they love and care about, and problems. Just like me, just like you.
First, I met a young looking 28 year old Paraguayan wife and mother of 3, leaving Asuncion on our way to connecting flights in Buenos Aires. Like many Paraguayans she was on her way to Spain, to work, as there are just NO JOBS in Paraguay. 1/6 of the population lives in either Buenos Aires, Spain or the US working and supporting families back home in Paraguay. Her story was just like the thousands who have gone before her, and thousands after her. She has a cousin who can get her a job at her beauty parlor, she'll be living with her cousin and 3 other Paraguayan girlfriends who are all working as maids in people's homes, or in beauty parlor (doing nails, hair). She hopes to make some fast cash (Euros are worth quite a bit these days!), raise her flight home money, and head back, using that money that she makes to open her own beauty shop, as she is a hair sylist by trade. She hopes to be back in 3 months. I hope she can do it. But, unfortunatley many times people get over there, and things don't work out the way they want. She left behind her 3 children. It's easy to judge and say how could a Mom leave her kids, but you also don't know the daily struggles of feeding them. And hopefully a 3 to 6 month stint in Spain could help them get just enough extra money, to start a business and bring more money home, greatly increasing the quality of life for the children. It's more hard on the Mom than it is the kids. Her mother who had been living with them anyways before, will care for the children, with the help of the mother in law who lives right down the street. So, they'll be fine, with a team of 2 grandmas and Dad to take care of them. I sat and listened to her plans, we looked through photos of her family together. We traded seats so she could watch the take off and look out the window, as this was her first flight. We exchanged hugs on way out, and wished each other luck, we lamented that we would not have each other to chat with on the next looong flight!
While waiting for my next flight, I met a woman I had seen on our plane. It was hard not to see her, she was a very German looking woman, with a big chubby baby with blonde hair and blue eyes, very rare in Paraguay. There are German descendents in Paraguay (many Germans fled to Paraguay after WWII to avoid being trialed for war crimes, including that doctor who did all the most weird and inhumane experiments and surgeries and stuff, can't remember is name, his house is in the middle of nowhere, Paraguay, and passed away a long time ago.) We were looking for connecting flight information and ended up taking a seat in front of one of the screens and waited for the information to be updated. It was still pretty early, so we had time to kill before our connecting flights. Turns out she's from German descent, but was born in Paraguay and raised there until 18 or so, and now is married and living in Canada. She had been in Paraguay for her sister's (a sister who has decided to stay in PY) wedding. She was not dressed extravgantley nice, or with a lot of bells and whistles as most people from money do in PY, she seemed like a nice normal woman, but she has the ability to travel frequently to and from Paraguay, Germany and Canada, so she must have some money. The nice thing about her, is she didn't act like she was rich, even if she was (like a lot of people do!). She probably wasn't rich to us, more like comfortable middle class, but put her in PY and that's rich. Her baby was one of the cutest little chubby things ever, and it was fun to act silly to try to make him smile. He was our main topic of conversation. A lot of people would stop and oodle at him as he was special with that blonde hair and blue eyes! At one point, this group of men were sitting behind us. This older man, with a big bushy mustache began to do the typical baby sounds and silliness involved in attempts to get the baby to smile or laugh. I thought about how funny it is that we will turn ourselves in to such idiots just to get a little thing to smile for half a second. Turns out this man and his friends were from Turkey. They work on big barges sailing internationally, and he has been all around the world. They were on their way back from a job now as we met them. They spoke a bit of English, and as he explained, they work 6 months on, then 2 or 3 months off, then another 6 months at sea, and 2 months off, etc. He's been doing that schedule with the sea since he was 16. He has 3 children, but everytime he's home, he's missed 6 months of their lives. He saw them grow up, but from baby to toddler overnight, then little girl to young woman, overnight. His life is the sea, but if he could change anything about his life it would be the time he missed with his children. I kid you not, he said all of this in broken english. So, he was enamored with this woman's baby. And went as far to pick it up out of her arms. He had been playing with it awhile, in it's face doing silly faces, letting him pull his mustache. But, he then proceeded to put his arms around the baby and take it out of it's mother's arms. This put the woman and I on edge, but we didn't freak out externally. We just positioned our bodies ready to tackle him if he started to walk off. In Canada and here, you don't really let strangers touch and/or hold your baby. We are very much against that in these cultures. But, we both now how it is Paraguay, where you would pass off your baby to any stranger on the street if you needed to bend down and tie your shoe. So, perhaps the rules were different in Turkey, too. Or, perhaps all that time at sea has affected his social rules, and he doesn't actually know that it is inappropriate to pick up other people's children. He was nice man, but, hello a sailer and his friends all looked like a rough bunch. They were watching and laughing at his antics, has he proceeded to blow on the baby's (not his baby again!) belly. We were ready to attack, but our instincts told us he was harmless and just wanted to hold a cute baby for a minute. He eventually handed him back. The sailors went in search of a smoking lounge, and we went in search of my gate (and to get away from them). The man had come over to the baby about 7 times before he picked him up and his constant interaction with him was a little unsettling.
An hour before the departure my flight was already boarding in Buenos Aires! In Paraguay, it was like, just show up 15 minutes before the plane takes off and you're good, and here it was an HOUR before! Crazy, I realized I was coming back to a world that runs things on a little bit different schedule, or a schedule at all. On that plane I chatted with two young pretty Portenas (or girls who are from and live in Buenos Aires). They work at the Hyatt there (NICE HOTEL) and were taking a 9 day vacation to Cancun, Mexico. Good for them.
On my final flight, I didn't meet anyone. I sat next to a couple, probably in their mid-60's. They were Americans. But, that's all I know.
They barely shot me a glance before they each dove into a book, and the flight was a long 4 hour silence between us.
