The steaming, overly-sweetened cocido touched my lips, and the day officially began. Cocido, a mix of boiling yerba mate, milk, and as much sugar as the cook deems sufficient to make it ‘dulce’ (sweet), is one of the many Paraguayan drinks introduced to our group over the past few weeks. It has become one of my personal favorites, even if at times the sugar makes me feel like I’m sipping on hot candy.
This morning we woke up at the Cerrito, an agricultural school about an hour outside of Asuncion. It was a chilly winter morning, as we have grown accustomed to, and everyone was enjoying exploring the outdoor campus — homes for students, chickens, pigs, cows, and goats scattered the grounds, in between lecture halls, the church, and even a cheese making room. We had a packed day to prepare for: our return to Asuncion, a visit to La Expo (an annual fair), and a party at night with students from a different traveling American group.
As a bit of an organizational nerd, my instinct was to hold a meeting with the students and go through each tiny detail of the day, starting with the timing of our schedule, and ending with what materials/clothing they would need at every point of our itinerary. However, as I quickly learned after our first few days, when 1-hour site visits turned to 4 hours, and a quick snack at the empanada stand became a 2 hour activity, this is not possible in Paraguay — I had to adapt to the Tranquilopa lifestyle. A mix of Spanish and Guarani (the indigenous language), Tranquilopa has become a popular life motto here. In essence, it means to relax — take a deep breath, don’t sweat the small stuff, life is good, and we are happy.
This felt like a stark contrast to the fast-paced lifestyle in the United States, particularly for our high schoolers. At home, I see my students attempting to juggle perfect grades, impressive extracurriculars, excessive amounts of AP classes, high SAT scores, exceptional college applications, a lively social life, a supportive family, all while trying to figure out their life’s ‘purpose.’ I am exhausted just typing it all! But imagine injecting a little Tranquilopa into this ‘US formula’ for success?
Over the past two weeks, I have witnessed our students forgo their endless to-do lists and furious schedules, and embrace the serenity of Tranquilopa (better than me on most occasions). Each time they created a game to occupy us in Tobati when a project was delayed, engaged creatively with a site visit when a guest speaker arrived late, or embraced the fact that the plan will likely change, they became stronger leaders, and formed deeper connections between themselves and with our Paraguayan partners.
For us, Tranquilopa does not mean sitting idly by when there is a problem, as we have seen our Paraguayan partners take plenty of social action in their communities, but instead it means putting less emphasis on everything following a strict path and on the details of what exactly will happen next. It has opened up space for all of us to be more innovative, live in the moment, and have stress-free fun. Today we were able to appreciate our surroundings and play silly games together, without feeling the weight of the ticking clock or the guilt of an impending task. We knew it would be fine if we ran a few minutes over, or didn’t fully finish our blog for the day, because TRANQUILOPA — it will all be okay!
When we leave Thursday, I challenge all of us here, and anyone reading this at home, to embrace a little bit of Tranquilopa into their lifestyle. Whether that be sitting outside for a moment during the school week, taking a deep breath if that webpage just won’t load, or even cracking a smile when your morning Cocido has four too many spoonfuls of sugar — “Tranquilopa” –– life is good and we are happy.
Florence Rivkin, LearnServe Paraguay 2019 Trip Leader, LearnServe Office Manager & Program Coordinator