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| A Sunset at San Bernardino |
“You’ll come back in a body bag” were just a few of the encouraging words that were said to me by my friends, when I announced that I was going to Paraguay for 3 weeks after I had finished my TESOL course. Finishing Paradise with Serpents on the flight across the Atlantic Ocean from Frankfurt to São Paulo, I did feel a certain amount of trepidation, because the author had painted a very black picture of the place and it was too late to change my mind.
However, when I finally arrived at Asunción airport, the warm welcome that I received from Sara soon dispelled any fears that I had. I could easily write a novelita about my time in Paraguay, especially since I eventually spent seven weeks there and not three as originally planned, but this is a story about my experience of teaching English and not an account of my private life.
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| The Iguassu Falls as seen from Brazil |
Throughout 2007, I had been thinking about languages, both teaching English and learning Spanish, and my friendship with Sara really gave this a boost. Life in Rotherham had turned into a vicious circle and it had become increasingly difficult to see a way out and when, after a few months of getting to know each other, Sara suggested I go there, I jumped at the chance.
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| A view of the Trinidad Jesuit Mission |
My touristic
adventures were organised before I arrived in Paraguay and much of my stay was spent investigating work as an English teacher.
Having friends in high places
helps and I was introduced to the English language
schools in Asunción. At one, I was invited to sit in on a typical lesson in English
given to a class of teenagers, where the teacher used a textbook and, at the Anglo, I was given the chance to teach a lawyer from CONMEBOL.
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| An offer of employment |
Everyday,
for a couple of weeks, I took the bus to go and visit my student in his house.
Standing at the bus stop, with the midday winter sun blazing down on my head, I remembered that when my friends had said that it was extremely difficult for gringos to live in Paraguay, because of the heat, I
knew that it was true.
Although I have fantastic memories of my short stay and
still have my offer of employment from the Anglo school, should I return, I can’t see when I will go back to Paraguay; however, despite the pessimism of my friends, I am
still very much alive and I am proud to say that I put my money where my mouth is and, on the last leg of the journey home, I took a
prize winning photograph.
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| Newton's Colours |
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