Paraguayan Night

The soft red dirt muffled our foot steps as we meandered down the path. It was quiet, the hum of the night insects encouraged us to sleep but the sound of a lone moto betrayed the natural silence its low buzz fading into the distance. It was dark, about midnight but the moon lit up the sky like a distant stage light above our heads. There was a slight breeze and I felt a rare shiver as the wind blew through my t shirt and rustled in the sugar fields around us and hit trees beyond. I was jokingly pestering Eric about the cute girl at the fiesta. He played along and responded with harsh threats. After all, she was the daughter of his commission president. We both laughed. As we inched closer to Eric's house I couldnt help but stop and ponder where we were and what we were doing. It was a Saturday night and we had returned from one of Eric's commission events, a dance that they charged a entrada and sold food and drink at. Despite fears that no one would show up, the event was successful even with only 40 people instead of the expected 80. Eric's Paraguayan youth were fun, good spirited and frankly, the girls were pretty cute. Now the party had ended and we were half way through our 30 minute walk back from the party location. For us it was just another night in Paraguay, with the added fortune of a fiesta and the company of another volunteer. We both had had a couple of beers and we're exhausted. As we let our minds wander and our feet drag across the dirt, it hit me that we were in rural Paraguay, walking on an unlit street miles from the nearest concrete road, We wernt in a city cruising home from a bar or a club, we wernt playing Xbox or watching Fast Five on a plasma screen stretched out on overstuffed couches, we were surrounded by sugar cane and cotton, no bar, no club, no cars, no city lights, no nothing. We were walking back to a house built by hand with wood from the neighboring forest, no insulation, DSL, cable TV, or aircon. But none of this phased us, infact it was normal. We both stopped and looked up into the sky. The night is dark enough here to actually see the milyness of the milky way. The beauty of the sky and the accompanying tranquility was breathtaking and our chatter dwindled into silent awe. “so when do I get to see that cute girl again?” I asked, breaking the trance. “You're horrible Riso.” Eric smiled as he slid his keys into the door and we stumbled inside.