I’ve talked a lot in general terms, now I’d like to share a few of the experiences that come to mind.
Staying with Karen and Oscar was kind of like a haven for me because after a hard day of speaking Spanish and struggling to understand, I could return to English. When I was at home, it didn’t really feel like Paraguay. Their home is fairly Americanized compared to the other homes in the area (ok, it’s *really* Americanized compared to the other homes), and everyone but Oscar is very comfortable in English. Karen did make us Paraguayan food, so it wasn’t completely American.
We had to jump right into Spanish, or castellano as they call it there, though. The people knew we spoke castellano, and they wouldn’t let us get away with speaking English. The very first night we were already addressing the church in Spanish, and while it was really bad (it had been a while since I had to use it), they got our point and welcomed us in. After about a week, I felt much more comfortable speaking and understanding and didn’t need my security blanket as much. I remember one conversation with Pastor Pedro where I got stuck (the conversation was kind of deep), and called for Ellen, and Pedro wouldn’t let me use a translator. That was pretty cool. They were all very patient with me, and by the end of the trip Oscar told me my accent wasn’t bad at all. I figure I would need about 3 months to consider myself fluent. I’d like to try it one day.
I think the kids were kind of surprised when we started answering them in Spanish. At that point, though, if they wanted to say something inappropriate, they could do it in Guarani, but at least there were enough people who knew Guarani to keep the masses under control.
-j
I'm Jason, and I like to write.