Peligroso Paraguay

Last Friday night I was on the bus going to Ruth’s house after work. I hopped on the 34 bus (after skipping the 23 Limpio because it was very full) and there wasn’t any room so I put my feet inside the door and then used the handles on the outside of the bus to hang on. After awhile people got off the bus in the back and more people got on in the front so I eventually ended up in the middle of the bus with no room to move. I wasn’t exactly sure where I was supposed to get off and I could only see about 20 ft out of the bus because I was standing and the windows were low. So at this time I am trying to find room to duck down every now and then to see if I can recognize where I am and where to get off.

As we approach where I think I’m supposed to get off I try to move close to the back of the bus since that’s the only place I can push the button to tell the driver that I need off. Well, there is a very large man trying very hard to go down the isle to the back of the bus so I figured it would be easier to let him pass me and then follow him to the back of the bus and get off rather then me having to be the one to push through everyone. He was a large man, probably about 230 lbs and took up a lot of room. So I leaned as far as I could over the lady sitting down next to me in order to give the man more space since the bus incredibly packed. He struggled through all of the people right in front me and it took him between 5 to 8 seconds to pass me. After passing I was relieved because now I had room to stand up straight rather than lean over the elderly lady sitting down next to me. I could now check to see where exactly I was and how soon I needed to get off the bus.

Here comes the climax of the story.... It was about this time, probably no more than 15 seconds after the man had passed that I realized that my right pocket felt more empty than normal and sure enough empty it was. I checked my right pocked to make sure that I hadn’t put my phone and my wallet in the same pocket, I hadn’t. I had my wallet but not my phone. I instantly knew who it was but nun the less I turned to the guy next to me and said ¨¨tienes mi telefono¨ (for you non Spanish speakers) ¨do you have my phone¨ and he said no. Then I said ¨donde esta el hombre grande¨ (where is the big man) The guy responded really fast and I didn’t understand so I asked him if the big man was close, which obviously he must have been and the man said that he was ¨cerca¨ so everyone moved out of my way and (stupidly) I hopped off the bus to look for this large man. (this really was probably not the best decision considering he had 100 lbs on me and it is Paraguay) so I ran to where the bus stopped last but the man wasn’t gone, which in retrospect was probably good.

After realizing my phone was lost I looked around and realized that I was almost exactly where I wanted to be so I walked a minute or so to where Ruth was waiting and told her what happened. This is the first time I have ever really had anything stolen from me and it kind of hurts my pride that it was taken out of my front pocket, but its an experience. I’m also thankful that he took my phone rather than my wallet, which was in my other pocket, which would have been more difficult to steal. I also had mp3 player and camera on me, so out of everything I had the phone was the cheapest.

Since then I have purchased a new phone but am still working on getting the chip for it, which has been a complicated process. Explaining what happened to everyone in Spanish has been a little difficult, but I have learned several new words out of the experience. My family and friends have been understanding since this happens fairly frequently, it wasn’t nearly as big of a deal as it would have been in the States. My sister had her phone stolen a month before I got here and Ruth was alerted about a man with his hand in her purse.

All in all this process has been a little stressful and embarrassing, but it’s an experience and that’s one of the reasons why I’m here. I didn’t get hurt either which is good since I have heard several stories about people getting harmed over something as little as a phone.

On a positive note, this coming Sunday night my team and I will be leaving for Argentina to renew our Visa’s. We are also going to Iquazu falls and I am very stoked to get out of Asuncion. We will return Wednesday afternoon, hopefully with many beautiful pictures.

Family and friends, I hope you are doing well and that you have a merry Christmas with your loved ones. Thank you for your continued support and prayers, I can really feel them affecting my life.

A Forgotten Blog

After reading my team members blogs I realize that maybe they did take me seriously when I said "I call blogging about this" since I dont think anyone else did. November 17th, yes almost a month ago, so the details may be a little shaky, my team here had our first "real" outing that wasn't just our normal lunch together every two weeks.

Around 17:45 we all met in front of the local supermarcado, ready and excited for the Hillsong United concert as well as for speaking english with each other. We hopped on a crowded linea 55 bus along with some local German volunteers that Naomi knows. While on the bus we also met a few more intersting people, one in particular was a boy about my age that was an aspiring song writer that was able to communicate in english. He asked a lot of questions about the U.S. and talked about how he would absolutely love to go there some day. He was also very concerned about my relationship with Christ in a very genuine way. I've thought about him several times since we talked so his enthusiasm with his faith must have left an impact on me.

After the relatively short bus ride and walk we arrived at the mega church where the concert was being held. The church was very large with two balconies, but was nothing in comparison to Willow Creek in Chicago. It was almost 7:00 so we grabbed a quick bite to eat and found our section in the top balcony. A few minutes before the opening band started an anouncement was made that everyone in the top balcony had the opportunity to move to the floor level but had to stand all the way in the back. As a team we were fairly tired and liked the idea of being able to sit, but eventually concluded that hey we payed six dollars for these tickets (that were origianlly 10 but they lowered the price because no one was buying them) so we might as well get our moneys worth and suck up the fatigue (talk about true Mennonites).

We migrated to the back of the bottom floor where there was ample space for us to talk and catch up with each other as the opening band was playing. It was about this time that a young man came up to us and in english, but with an australian accent said "just you five?" a little shocked that english was being spoken to us Daniel replied "yes" The other man responded "oh good you speak you english... ok we'll I think we are going to move you guys to the front, just be quiet and follow me". We all looked at each other, smiled and followed him to a taped off section front and center of the band, the best seats in the house.

A little before 8:00 Hillsong finally came on stage to begin their performance. After the long wait the excitment of the crowds anticipation broke loose in applause and screaming. For the next two hours Hillsong played most of their songs in spanish but also had several in english. I appreciated having the words in spanish projected on the wall as well as the english translation, that way I could understand what they were singing about as well as try my best to sing/scream along with the people around me in spanish. I also enjoyed the english songs because just like I probably sounded funny to the people in my proximity, it was enjoyable to hear people trying so hard to sing along in english with strong spanish accents. Language difference or not we were all there to worship together and praise the lord and that was powerfull.

Exhausted, at about 10:30 we finally left the church and each went our own way to try to find a way home since the buses were no longer running by the church. Rose and I ended up walking a good half hour and then taking a bus with a few other people from our church. I finally fell into bed a little after midnight and fell asleep still fully dressed in clothes still a little damp from all of the jumping and screaming at the concernt.

Even though Hillsong isn't exactly my favorite christian band and I didn't always understand the words that were being said, I could understand the expressions and tears that I saw in the peoples eyes around me during the concert. It's beautiful to be able to look into somebody's eyes and see how much they love God. Worshipping together, as a body of Christ, has so much power. Language limitations or not Gods love transcends all the barriers of this world.