Livin' large

To be clear, I did not take this photo, but I found it appropriate given the content of the post.

As I become gradually introduced to the Paraguayan way of doing things, and more specifically, the ASA community's way of doing things, I find myself often surprised by how different a clientele I'm dealing with. For starters, my kids at Minnehaha were rich...no way around that, but in terms of influence and power, they've got nothing on the families at my current school. I can barely bring up a student without somebody telling me "oh yeah, that kid. His father owns half the Chaco."

Given these considerations, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that fundraising for school events is a little different here than in the States. When having this conversation with a couple of students before philosophy class today, one of them asked me, with a bemused tone, "what do they do in the States to raise money? A bake sale?" I was able to earnestly tell him, yes. This is how we raise money in the states. Our kids sell chocolate bars, wrapping paper, or even donuts. These are the sorts of things I had to do when I was in high school and the band wanted to go to Europe. So what do the most powerful families in the country do when they want to raise a little money?

They have a fashion show.

This is not a cheesy little fashion show that you see at your local park district where the local businesses donate a couple outfits to get some free advertising. I'm talking a big frickin' fashion show with designer labels, corporate sponsors and real models. Of course there are some elements that are a little less that professional. Some of the students serve as models, as, much to my amusement, do some of my fellow faculty (males, mostly - and before you ask...no, I didn't). This is held at the nicest hotel in Asuncion (the Sheraton pictured above) and draws members of the press and fashion community.

As a sponsor for the junior class, the host of this fashion show, I got the "honor" of getting to assist with the functioning of this evening. Basically, they needed a few adults around to watch the doors to the backstage and make sure guests found their seats and weren't sneaking into the VIP section...yes, there was a VIP section. The nice part about playing bouncer is that once the show starts and there is nary a soul left to bounce, I got to sit down in the VIP section. The benefit of being in the VIP section is that whilst enjoying the spectacle of people walking back and forth in outfits that can best be described as disco-hooker (how do you have a dress that is both leopard print AND shiny?) is that you get to partake in all the food and beverage that the waiters bring around. Will I enjoy a glass of champagne while I laugh at my colleagues who got suckered into model-dom? Why, yes I will.

If anything, this experience has taught me (for any Minnehaha folks reading this, that is an example of a reflective journaling sentence) that expectations are meant to be shattered. I expected rich kids...I didn't expect my kids to run the whole damn country. Oh, and I got to wear a fancy badge...