A trip to the ballet

Wandering around the mall our eyes were caught by a poster on one of the shop windows. Ballet this weekend. This is one of the first times we’ve managed to find out about a cultural event earlier than the day of the event. We decide we should try to go. A talk with a saleswoman in the store reveals she doesn’t have any idea where we can buy tickets. Back to the poster. It has a phone number, which during the three days we try calling no one answers. It says something about it being the ballet for Universidad del Norte, contains an address for a bookstore, and is being held at the Municipal Theater. Out running errands with Kim the next day I manage to find the bookstore on the map just two blocks before the street. (A success of its own type.) We stop by, talk to a few people, and they say yes you could have bought the tickets here…only the bookstore is closed. It is after 12 on a Saturday. We go a bit farther downtown and decide we might as well stop at the theater and see if tickets can be bought there. By the time we find the front door we are pretty sure it is not going to work. Even though they are setting up inside the doors are not open and you can’t get to the ticket office. There is a woman outside that asks us if we want a ticket for the special performance which begins in 20 minutes (really? But there is no one here!) Plans for the rest of the day prevent us from taking the opportunity. Apparently even knowing that an event is happening doesn’t make it any easier to actually get to it.

Later that day when we’re running more errands in the mall we pass the small stand that sells tickets for random events around town. I say random, because they don’t ever seem to have posters or a listing up, and it all seems to depend upon you happening to know that something is going on. We decide to ask about the ballet tickets. Turns out they aren’t selling them either, however there is going to be a different ballet in town next weekend if we’re interested in that. Yes! Tickets in hand we are pleased that we’ve managed to find out about an event over a week ahead of time and already bought tickets. The night of the ballet we’re not really sure what to expect. None of the four of us that are going have ever been to the Municipal Theater. We show up at 7:45 for an 8:00 performance only to find a long line of people waiting at the doors, all holding tickets. Turns out so far they are only letting in the people who have special invitations right now. One benefit of going places with embassy personal is that they know people, and so somehow we follow a group of people in the side door. We’re in, having never had to actually show our ticket. Not that that means that there are any seats left at all in the theater. Major confusion in my mind. How can they sell tickets for and then not even have any seats left for the people that bought them. I guess one of my mistakes was assuming that buying a ticket would get me a seat, or even get me in the door (as I am sure that some of the people outside didn’t make it in). Right before the lights go out a man comes out carrying a stack of plastic chairs and maybe a third of the people standing manage to grab one to put in the aisles. The rest of us sit on the stairs or find a handy wall to lean against. Luckily for us, we manage to get three seats when a special guest doesn’t show up (also an advantage to being with a pregnant lady) so we aren’t going to be standing the whole night. Once the show begins I forget about the craziness of getting into the theater and sit back to enjoy the first bit of culture that I’ve enjoyed since arriving in Paraguay. We watch pairs of dancers from all over Latin America take the stage for their individual dances – from Brazil and Chile to Mexico and Ecuador, a mix of classical ballet and modern dance. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and my bit of culture…but I’m not sure the entire theater experience has made me all that likely to try it again anytime soon, assuming I could find tickets to anything else.

Paraguayan Flag Day

Today and tomorrow, August 14 and 15, is Paraguayan flag day. Or so several of my students have told me. Huh. Flag day? I don't really know what that means, and none of my students have been able to tell me anything. The only applicable thing anyone has been able to tell me is that there are a lot of holidays in this country, and so of them have been canceled by the current president. A quick web search has revealed nothing about the holiday. Presumably it is to celebrate the flag, but I can find any connection to today and the history of the flag. The flag was first adopted on November 27, 1842 (which makes it one of the older flags around). The coat of arms on the front represents the date of Paraguay's independence (May 14, 1811). So I still don't know why today. But in my digging around I have found out quite a few other little tidbits about the flag. Did you know that Paraguay is just one of three countries that has a different design on the front and back of their flag (along with Moldova and Saudi Arabia)? I've finally figured out what the colors are supposed to represent. Red for courage, equality and patriotism. White for unity, purity and peace. Blue for liberty, benevolence and truth. The circle on the front contains the coat of arms. The back side the treasury seal. On the back you'll also find the national motto: Paz y Justica (Peace and Justice). So I might not know why the holiday is today, but at least it explains why there is a flag hanging out in the courtyard of the school today. If you even run across anything that explains why August 14 and 15 is flag day here in Paraguay, please let me know!

Strawberry Festival

It is strawberry season here in Paraguay, obviously as there are people selling strawberries on all the major street corners. That also means that it is time for the Strawberry Festival in Aregua, about 30 minutes outside of the city. Saturday we decided to take a little trip out to celebrate the strawberry season and see where the berries are grown that end up in our kitchen. I have to admit I expected a bit more out of the festival, but I’m willing to mark it down to showing up so late – almost 4:00. Perhaps there would have been more going on if we had gotten there in the middle of the day. Perhaps not though, as the festival seems to go on until the end of strawberry season, so maybe that can’t really do much more than what I saw for a month. The Aregua strawberry festival consisted of approximately 20 tents lined up on the side of road. Each tent seemed to belong to one family or grower and contained baskets of strawberries, whatever strawberry products they produced (jams, jellies, liquor, juice) as well as a selection of sweets (strawberry shortcake, strawberry alphahores, strawberry frozen icicle pops, strawberries and cream in a cup…). I’m sure you get the picture. I’m not going to say that there was a whole lot of variety but if you like the chance to pick what you think are the prettiest looking strawberries then this was a great place to be. With the added benefit of them being cheaper where they are grown than they are once they make it to Asuncion.

We browsed for about three quarters of an hour to the music blaring over the loud speaker before deciding that we had bought all that we wanted (1 ½ kilos of strawberries to take home for me) and that we really wanted to see where the berries were grown before we left. Strawberry fields could be found less than a hundred meters from where the festival was set up, and after gaining permission from an old man sitting by the side of the road we wandered down the dirt path between two sets of fields. Talk about a field with a view! Behind the six or so fields lined up we could catch glimpses of the lake and the palm trees. Making this one of the most picturesque places I’ve been in Paraguay. I was more intrigued by seeing how this fruit grows than the festival itself. Rows of dirt piled up, covered in plastic, with holes for the strawberry plants to grow up through. Dark green leaves next to dark canvas made the ripe red strawberries stand out and cause my mouth to start watering. Barbed wire fences to protect the fields from…cows? People? Homemade sheds along the edges acted as storage for boxes. When I saw one field being harvested by hand I had to be glad that it wasn’t my job and that I could just buy a basket of strawberries that were ready to eat. My back is thankful for that as well. It was interesting to see another side of life in Paraguay and I will eat my fresh, ripe, sweet strawberries with much greater appreciation now.

[Traveling Tale] Going on Safari

After three trips to South Africa I decided that I really did need to go on safari if this was going to be my last summer/winter there (yes, it is true, I’ve finished my program and now have my Master’s degree in education). Safari. The word brings up images of wild animals and a wilder environment. But other than that I can’t say that I really had any true idea of what a safari really meant. Honestly, it turns out that it is a lot of time spent staring out of the car window hoping your eye will catch a color that doesn’t quite blend in or that a scrap of movement will grab your gaze and cause you to speak up that you see…something…perhaps a cape buffalo? But interspersed with the almost hypnotic driving are moments of sheer wonder. When you catch some movement and realize that there is a rhinoceros just over there, and then your guide/driver manages to move the vehicle so that you are positioned to watch it emerge from the bushes and cross the road just in front you. When you see a pile of cars stopped in the road ahead of you and know they must be looking at something good, waiting impatiently for your chance, and then catching the movement and seeing, yes, it is a leopard. A leopard that desperately wants to cross the road but is nervous from the noises of some of the cars. Topping a hill and realizing all those spots you see are actually zebra grazing along the plain, and indeed they are all black and white striped including their manes (which still seems like an extremely odd color scheme for an animal, if you ask me). It is sitting at a water hole and watching a couple of hippos play around in the water. Then moving on to another one and seeing a single hippopotamus get his nap in the sun disturbed by some elephants and reluctantly splashing into the water for safety. It is breakfast after 3 hours in the car at a rest camp where a hippo family makes its way across the river, and bright yellow masked weavers snack on your breakfast bowl whether you are finished or not. It is counting yourself lucky that you’ve managed to see 4 of the big 5 (leopard, elephant, rhinoceros, cape buffalo) without much effort and even managed multiple sightings of most of them. It is your guide lamenting that because you’re not from here you don’t realize how rare and amazing of a sighting that is…the inyala…when it just looks like another antelope to you, admittedly with funny white spots that almost look like its eyes. And it is going out the last time hoping that maybe this time you’ll see a lion to complete your big 5 sightings. Staring intently out the window and find you are carrying on a monologue in your head “cat! Wait a minute. Did I just say cat? Oh my gosh…maybe it is a lion. Oh, oh, need to get him to stop the car and back up.” “Stop!” “What?” “I think I saw a cat. Back up. Back up. Right there!” And then to be even more excited when you realize that there are three young lions sitting not 10 feet from the side of the road. Sitting and smiling at you as if to say “we’ve been waiting for you.” So it turns out that a safari can have plenty of magical moments in between the staring out of a car window. And if you’re lucky you’ll see all that you’ve imagined including the giraffes, warthogs and baboons, along with a few things you’ve probably never even heard of.

Our safari was well organized by Wildlife Safaris and we were quite pleased with the tour we got out of it.

Blow that vuvuzela

On our way to the Ghana-Uruguay game Cairen decided that she wanted a vuvuzela so that she could fully participate in this South African World Cup. Quick bargaining occurred through the van window as we were stopped at a light and they soon came to an agreement that the yellow horn could be hers for 30 Rand (approximately $4). She quickly borrowed money to thrust it through the window as the car began to pull away with the green light. The street vendor was jogging alongside to make sure that he was able to finish the transaction. This was the first hint as to just what our experience might involve. Cairen began practicing her blows on the vuvuzela, sounding a bit like a dying elephant in the process. There is more skill involved than you would think! She continued to practice all the way to the game so that she could be read to join in the noise making.

Before the game I was struggling to decide whether I would be supporting Ghana or Uruguay. After all I’ve been to both countries and been pleased with visits to them both. I was not sure that I could choose between them (which at least has an advantage of not being upset no matter the final result). As we entered the train station I began to realize that there really wasn’t much of a choice to be had. If I didn’t want to stand out to badly I was going to be supporting the Black Stars of Ghana, the team that carried the “last hope for Africa” this World Cup. The train station held a steady stream of fans that were clearly headed…well…I assume to a train. We got caught up in the stream and followed the flow down the stairs, along a platform to await a train that would soon be stuffed headed directly towards Soccer City Stadium. The train was filled with energetic supporters of Ghana excited to be heading to a game. At times spontaneous chants broke out quickly involving the entire car. One man added rhythm with his drums while another was making sure everyone was ready to show their support with Ghanaian inspired face paint. We were off to the game!

Reaching the stadium a sense of anticipation was in the air. People (the three of us included) were so excited to be there, ready to support a team and see a great game of football being played. Despite having nosebleed seats (3rd row from the top of the stadium) gained just two days before the match, I found my seat to provide an excellent overview of the field…and the fans. Sure enough I could pick out just two pockets of Uruguayan supporters, proudly delineated in their blue and white, while all the rest of the stadium were displaying the red, yellow and green for Ghana. There were numerous people waving flags, a girl sporting the best flag topped head gear, and even a group dressed up in Ghanaian colored caps and gowns escorting a full body painted fan. Elvis was even there!

I have to admit that I was quite often distracted from the game by the fans. Particularly when a free kick came up. Without fail this would bring about a steady, rhythmic blowing on the vuvuzelas by large amounts of people. And if you think the noise sounded steady and large on the television you have no idea what it was like in person. I just had to thank my lucky stars that there was no one directly behind me adding to the noise. What’s that? Ghana just scored! With seconds left in the half the crowd goes completely wild and I am pressed to consider the last time I’ve seen or heard such a celebration for a single goal in a game. Frantic waving of flags. Jumping up and down. Loud blows of the vuvuzela. The African supporters are happy. Unfortunately the joy didn’t last until the end of the game, but despite the disappointment the crowd flowed out of the stadium pleased with how Ghana had represented themselves – marking their exclamations with quick toots of the vuvuzela. And you know what, by the end of the game Cairen was actually sounding just like all the others. All you have to do is keep on blowing that vuvuzela.

World Cup Excitement

The first of several posts on my World Cup experience around the globe.
When traffic came to a standstill with no signs of it starting to move again we paid our driver and jumped out of the car to finish walking to Ellis Park Stadium. It didn’t take long before the trickle of people turned into a steady stream which converged into a mass patiently waiting in line to go through security and have their tickets taken. You need not worry about finding the stadium the day of a game here in South Africa. You really can just follow all of the people. During the walk I found myself getting a big disgusted, all of the street vendors were selling Spain things! But worse, despite clearly wearing the red and white stripes of the Paraguayan jersey they were trying to sell me Spain gear! I don’t think so! I had already assumed that I would be one of the rare Paraguayan supporters at the match, the sales going on did nothing to dissuade me. Even once we entered into the park things were clearly unequal. The official fan shop was selling 7 different Spain shirts and just 2 for Paraguay. The other goodies…either Spain or South Africa. I guess it means that I’ll just have to cheer all that much harder for Paraguay once the game starts.

After exploring the grounds outside the stadium my friend and I parted ways to find out seats. When you buy last minute tickets you’re lucky enough to get tickets, don’t even think about them being together. We were on completely opposite sides of the stadium, but that’s okay. It just means we spread out the Paraguayan support a little bit more. Sure enough after I crawled over people to my seat I was the only Paraguayan supporter in my section. My friend had it a bit worse as he was surrounded by well decorated and enthusiastic Espana supporters. I think we may have been outnumbered by 1 to 1,000 around the stadium. My amusement came when people questioned me as to why I was cheering for Paraguay. The response of “I live there,” always brought a flat “oh.” They could never give me a good reason why they were cheering for Spain except for the claim that they were supposed to be the best in the world. One man told me it was the only jersey he could find, which after my observations on the way to the park I had to give some credit to. He was excited to help me wave my flag on occasion when I got especially enthusiastic.

Sitting a mere 14 rows away from the field I felt like I was in the middle of things. Watching them walk on and line up for the national anthem I could identify some of the players I've learned to recognize over the past month. After a team huddle the players took their position and the game began. I could easily read the numbers on the jerseys of the players and even felt like I could read their facial expressions at times. Before I knew it the whistle for half time blew, and I was left to consider the scoreless half while the dancer/cheerleaders came out to perform and Zakumi, the mascot for the World Cup, wandered around. With the start of the second half I was drawn back into the battle taking place on the field. I was caught up in the game most of the time but was occasionally distracted by the massive wave working its way around the stadium or a particularly coordinated blowing of vuvuzelas by the crowd. The stadium had such a great atmosphere that I could only think of how incredibly lucky I was to be there. Even though my evening’s story ended sadly with Paraguay’s 1-0 loss to Spain (impressing many people with their level of play along the way) I know that this will be one experience I will not soon forget.

playback

Living overseas I often head off to events not knowing what to expect or what exactly I’m getting myself into. Tuesday night was no exception. For a week my 10th grade students have been pestering me, “Ms C are you going to playback?” Playback? What in the world is that? I know part of their interest is the need for each of them to sell their tickets, after all this is a fundraiser for the sophomore class. But still, what is it? Words here and there tell me it is something about dance, or remaking a music video…in any case it should be a nice change from another fashion show or asado.

My friends and I show up at 7:30 for a show whose ticket said 7:00. We only have to wait another 15 minutes before the show starts (am I starting to adjust to Paraguayan time?). Soon enough the lights go down and the curtain rises at the Centro Paraguayo Japones. On stage is a group of black clad, teased hair girls. Above them on the screen is a video showing the same start. What continues on stage is their recreation of the dance video playing overhead. Ahh…that is what they mean by calling it “playback.” A group of five students from my school emerge next and proceed to dance to a hip hop mix. Perhaps what has occurred is a mix of playback and dance competition (although how you compare the two I’m not really sure). Next was my favorite, and the eventual winner, a playback which began with a conductor orchestrating three groups of dances around the stage. Add to the night a group of girls dressed in satin flight attendant costumes, another group which danced with barrels, a large group of women at work and a somewhat fireman inspired theme and you have an evening’s entertainment which is difficult to describe. I had to take some video to be able to fully convey the experience. In any case it was not my typical evening. I went to see what it was all about and ended up with quite the show! I’m left only be able to say so that is an ASA playback.