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.