Dia del Amigo

All are crazy about the Friendship Day here in Paraguay. I haven’t heard of it being an American, though it is supposedly the International Day of Friendship. Some colleagues were telling me that it was like Valentine’s Day, although for everyone in your social circle—not just your enamorado. I am not sure what I’m up to, but I have a few friends here so am going to arrange something certainly. I think that its a great holiday and a time to celebrate the fact our friends, no matter how far away the best ones may be. Entonces, salud a los amigos!

There are several different days that people celebrate the holiday (I think that it’s August 5th in the States), as well as several different stories about how it came about. The most common origin that I can find and applies directly to South America is that a doctor named Enrique Febbraro was impressed by the combined effort that lead to a successful lunar landing 1968 and proposed a law to the Argentinean Congress to establish Día del Amigo. Our effort to reach the moon, he believed, was symobolic of the struggle for equality between men and races throughout the world. A few suggestions for the modern amigo: Lose the earbuds for a day, stop by and chat instead of email, get coffee with a friend, say hi to people on the street (Adios works best here in Paraguay), and try to make a new friend during one of your activities during the day (something boring is preferable, since it will make it more exciting and memorable if you talk to someone new).

And so, without realizing that I was acting with these exhortations, I tried to talk to someone on the bus this morning. I had missed the ride which most often takes me to the office in the morning since I have been irregular lately, and so had to wait in the rain for the bus to pass by. This can take quite a while, but it came pretty quickly and I had an umbrella that I borrowed from Stael. Yes, the person was female. My Spanish came out badly and I said “put” instead of “able” although the message went across. I was happy to at least have said something.

It seems to double the apprehension everyone has in approaching the opposite sex—you have to say something appealing as well as express yourself in the foreign language. Or you can just screw it up and hope that they are forgiving and appreciative that you said anything at all. In the States there are of course more iPods, which people use to elude the advances of random people who have solely public transportation in common. It can be a pretty good place to start! Anyway, it was not much of a success—I didn’t expect to have any in the first place—but I am glad that I said something to at least bait the line.

Which is what we all have to in life—keep baiting the line and making people come around for more. I'm lucky to have so many good opportunities and am happy to say that they keep coming along. I have always been a bit unnerved that I leave my closest
friends to live in strange places like Mexico, Washington, and Paraguay, but I do always find hospitable parties. My brother asked me once while I was down here whether I was getting homesick about the States—for material things like peanut butter and baseball games or for the people. Today it is for the people. But, while the nomad must desist from certain pastures for a time, he most often finds ample fields after migrating. Most, likely including myself, will return to the old pasture eventually, but in the meantime can send only good vibes across the ocean.