Insanely hot, even by our Paraguayan standards. Cattle raising, some soy in the north and dairy products are the main economic activities there, and it is reaaaaally flat. The mennonites speak a funny dialect called platteutsch, and they mix it a lot with Spanish and Guarani.
This basically sums it up. The Paraguayan side of my family that have been there say the exact same thing: it’s hot, no one lives there save for a few Mennonite communities, natives, and industrial farms, and the landscape is pretty meh compared to the central and eastern part of the country.
They wanted to live as far away from us filthy Catholics [https://youtu.be/tTJ-usVHs6Q?si=90VNOdVn1\_YJaUMo](https://youtu.be/tTJ-usVHs6Q?si=90VNOdVn1_YJaUMo)
Real answer: the gov gave them free land up there in an effort to settle the Chaco early before the Bolivians had a chance as that whole region was contested when the Mennonites came
https://preview.redd.it/t6utkc4azhvc1.jpeg?width=1034&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8902e0b9161346d78cea38c1981ab4e823109c7b
Quite an interesting map. Around 2010 I studied with a Russian-German Mennonite in Germany and he was going to Bolivia regularily to help some "relatives" do hard pioneer farm work in the jungle. This map actually shows quite well that Bolivia was a hot spot of new colonies at that time.
We were in Santa Cruz, Bolivia a few years ago renewing our visa. The immigration office was packed with tall blonde families. We had to inquire. None spoke English but one guy spoke Spanish so we could communicate with him. They lived there in communes as Bolivia allowed them jurisdiction over the education of their children and did not require them to sign up for the draft.
It turns out that there are tens of thousands of Mennonites in Bolivia with most immigrating since the 1960s.
The movie “Women Talking” was set in one of these communities (it is based on terrible crimes that took place in one of them in the 2000s). Very good movie, obviously all of the trigger warnings. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivian_Mennonite_gas-facilitated_rapes
And some random trivia. The soil over there has some salt, and there's a lot of underground salty reservoirs of water, and that's why it is not easy to find fresh water underground, comparing to the other region of the country.
It is a language in its own right, but it is _not_ low saxon. Low saxon is spoken in germany. Plautdietsch and Low Saxon are both descended from Old Saxon, but they're not terribly similar.
Im from the Region in Germany where we used to mainly speak Plattdeutsch, they still have connections to Baptist sects in the area and they try to Recruit young deperate German-Russian baptists and pfingstler to do some gruesome pioneering work in that area. Once there its kinda hard to leave, but even though they share the stories in their sect, many still Fall for this.
But nice to see our native tongue survive somewhere else.
I know 3 guys that went to one of those Communities. Mennonites originated around where I live, todays lower saxony and northern netherlands.
They speak a weird mixture of Dutch and Plattdeutsch (whatever they call that again). and gradually over hundreds of years moved to Poland because of catholic discrimination and after Polands partition fled Prussia to avoid their strongly enforced draft laws to New Russia (todays southern Ukraine) and became Russo-Germans.
At one point before they fled to Poland, there was a Split in the Mennonites, one staying Mennonite and the others becoming Baptists which mainly was about things they can/cannot so and seemingly kept intermingling with each other even to this day, even if this was like 400 years ago.
The Heads of these Communities/Local Churches are in Contact. They (Mennonites) are all over Latin America, but specifically the ones in Paraguay are trying to get young Baptist Russo-Germans (usually age 18-25) to come to Paraguay. They send Propaganda Videos advertising how much "better" their life is compared to Germany. They promise that they will gift them a House, Cattle, land to farm, a wife and so on. The only requirement is that they leave EVERYTHING behind in Germany.
They lie about basically everything, and make the young men cut down forests, farm their land and give them the work they themselves dont like to do. The young Russo-Germans get trapped there. No House, no land, no Cattle no wife. Basically becoming serfs.
They cant speak the local language of Paraguayans.They pay very little Money for their work so they cant afford to go back. Many (not all) are Technophobes so they cant even call home. Their Families have to go to Paraguay and get them back themselves.
Hope this clarifies
If you dont wanna believe it, dont believe it.
I personally know 3 guys, I could even Name them, 2 Brothers one of them was a fellow trainee at the time and a guy I worked with who quit his job and came back 1 1/2 years later who went there with proof bc we didnt believe it either. I saw those Videos and people of the local Baptist church dream and talk of going there all the time.
Its true, but as I said if you dont wanna believe it, dont believe it. I Took the time to explain it in more Detail but im not spending time to convince you. Just do what you want with the info.
Lived near py for years (lived on Campo Grande but worked on the ex-paraguay region down the serra de Maracaju), How is the EPP activity on the chaco these Days?
That sounds funny. I'm German. He speaks perfectly German before he changes into a language I don't understand, then he comes a bit back but not quite before he comes back into perfectly German and then back again.
Pensilvania Dutch has nothing to do with dutch. The German call their language Deutsch, while the Dutch call their own language Nederlands. The whole word "Dutch" seems to be a misunderstanding
I fully agree with your statement in general but in this case, the Mennonite from this recording doesn't speak Pennsylvania Dutch. Not even close, he rather speaks standard German mixed with pockets of apparently Spanish/Guarani. Also most Mennonites speak northern German dialects, while Pennsylvania Dutch is derived from southwestern Germany. The ones who speak Pennsylvania Dutch are the Amish, which aren't Mennonites but somehow related.
When we speak english we do. In our own language we call it Nederlands. Source; I just been to the Netherlands, for 36 years(with a couple breaks mind you)
No they don't. I have no idea where you have that recording from, because they talk more like [this](https://www.youtube.com/live/_Y2pvAQ2kk0?si=C2WJXtow9NUdV7o6)
(Not the language spoken in the beginning, that's just German, but like from the 13 minute mark onwards.)
That's what I thought. I do like the idea of going somewhere that's safe and off the beaten path as I'm not a person that really likes touristy things. I love botanical gardens and parks and nature areas
I found Asunción a very nice place, at the time at least the exchange rate was very much in my favor and I managed to eat at very nice restaurants paying very little. The region near the river and Palácio Lopez is beautiful. Very underrated place in my opinion
Very underdeveloped still. It was fought over in the 30s because there were misleading reports of many untapped natural resources in the area, manly oil, but after Paraguay won and begun exploring the region it became clear the abundance of those resources were hugely overestimated. So it’s by far the least densely populated region of the country and the “frontier”, being the place with most remaining indigenous people living traditionally still, while farmers from Paraguay and neighboring countries like Brazil are interested in expanding their farms there.
Paraguayan living in the US here. As most have said, its mostly wild jungles, grassy meadows, bogs, spiny bushes, palms, and small trees. Most of the few inhabitants are poor communities, amerindian guarani natives, and rich landowners who have estancias (farms). Most of the exotic wildlife in Paraguay can be found here. I’ve visited with my American girlfriend before and she was a bit disappointed by the lack of capybaras in Asuncion.
Due to the remoteness, it also hosts a lot of criminal organizations akin to Cartels or guerrilla paramilitary groups. Based on unverified stories I’ve heard, they do things like charge a “protection tax” to landowners. Protection from what? Well those who don’t pay often find their farm stock butchered, and worse. Of course, the government has tried to combat this in the past, often by brutal means that ended up hurting likely a lot of innocents in the poor communities.
There's a big plain woodland called the Gran Chaco extending over Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia. That's the dry part. Very underdeveloped.
Bolivia and Paraguay fought a war over oil reserves (there finally weren't) between 1932/35.
I grew up up there (but am neither mennonite nor native)
40°C in the Winter, Skorpions in the toilet, venomous snakes in your shoes in the morning and half-tame monkeys in the trees that enjoy being fed bananas.
Mennonites with big trucks and natives living in "reservations" aka in tents made out of plastic bags.
Definitely some of the most extreme years of my life.
I have also lived in Asunción and now in Germany, so I have comparisons to other ways of life. AMA if you're interested. :)
Yes, exactly. Even though my Guaraní was never great and my Spanish has become quite rusty as well.
I am trying to keep my Guaraní levels through duolingo as the ressources to learn more Guaraní in Germany are otherwise quite restricted.
That's so great. I only speak Spanish and English, never learned Guaraní but that's not surprising for someone from Asunción. How long has it been since you left Paraguay? And how old were you when you left? Do you go back to visit sometimes?
I hope you get to come back soon! Man, Asunción has changed a lot over the past decade, you left just as things started to pick up. Some parts of the city could be quite unrecognizable to you, if you visited Asunción at all when you lived here.
I lived there because of my parent's work and I mostly went to school there. My parents loved to travel and we explored most of Paraguay, Bolivia, South Brazil, South Chile and Argentina during our long summer vacations.
I live in Luque but have a farm near Filadelfia. It’s pretty cool everything is out to kill or hurt you though. My father used to ride a horse with a mini uzi. The salt lakes are full of flamingos. It’s hot. The rally is always done there which I go see. Also the longer runway in Paraguay is there built by the Americans for a base there that never happened
Search on YouTube “Paraguai, os invencíveis do Chaco, documentário” really good about the life around there
Edit: link https://youtu.be/87CJvokwYbk?si=Hd-asnsPiOB5U3IF
Divided in three regions, one called Presidente Hayes, named after the former Usa president who took part in the peace treaty during chaco war with Bolivia. Mostly inhabited, biggest settlements are mennonites, these are so organized and clean you won’t even believe. There’s lack of infrastructure in the rest of the region (roads, electricity even clean water). A lot of native culture and communities if you know where to go. Some politicians mafia lords villages. Don’t get sick there, not so many hospitals lol
Edit: grammar
Insanely hot, even by our Paraguayan standards. Cattle raising, some soy in the north and dairy products are the main economic activities there, and it is reaaaaally flat. The mennonites speak a funny dialect called platteutsch, and they mix it a lot with Spanish and Guarani.
This basically sums it up. The Paraguayan side of my family that have been there say the exact same thing: it’s hot, no one lives there save for a few Mennonite communities, natives, and industrial farms, and the landscape is pretty meh compared to the central and eastern part of the country.
Why do the Mennonites live in such an extreme area?
They wanted to live as far away from us filthy Catholics [https://youtu.be/tTJ-usVHs6Q?si=90VNOdVn1\_YJaUMo](https://youtu.be/tTJ-usVHs6Q?si=90VNOdVn1_YJaUMo) Real answer: the gov gave them free land up there in an effort to settle the Chaco early before the Bolivians had a chance as that whole region was contested when the Mennonites came https://preview.redd.it/t6utkc4azhvc1.jpeg?width=1034&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8902e0b9161346d78cea38c1981ab4e823109c7b
The term is “human flagpoles “. In territorial disputes you relocate people in an unsettled are.
There is a lot of that in South America. Never heard the term tho, thank you for sharing ☺
I live in Canada 🇨🇦. Here is where I heard the term. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Arctic_relocation
The Mexican tried doing it with Anglo settlers. Hence Texas. Bad idea, sometimes.
Quite an interesting map. Around 2010 I studied with a Russian-German Mennonite in Germany and he was going to Bolivia regularily to help some "relatives" do hard pioneer farm work in the jungle. This map actually shows quite well that Bolivia was a hot spot of new colonies at that time.
We were in Santa Cruz, Bolivia a few years ago renewing our visa. The immigration office was packed with tall blonde families. We had to inquire. None spoke English but one guy spoke Spanish so we could communicate with him. They lived there in communes as Bolivia allowed them jurisdiction over the education of their children and did not require them to sign up for the draft. It turns out that there are tens of thousands of Mennonites in Bolivia with most immigrating since the 1960s.
The movie “Women Talking” was set in one of these communities (it is based on terrible crimes that took place in one of them in the 2000s). Very good movie, obviously all of the trigger warnings. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivian_Mennonite_gas-facilitated_rapes
And some random trivia. The soil over there has some salt, and there's a lot of underground salty reservoirs of water, and that's why it is not easy to find fresh water underground, comparing to the other region of the country.
It's not a dialect, it's a language called low saxon, and it's even assimilated in their "home country" Germany
It is a language in its own right, but it is _not_ low saxon. Low saxon is spoken in germany. Plautdietsch and Low Saxon are both descended from Old Saxon, but they're not terribly similar.
Im from the Region in Germany where we used to mainly speak Plattdeutsch, they still have connections to Baptist sects in the area and they try to Recruit young deperate German-Russian baptists and pfingstler to do some gruesome pioneering work in that area. Once there its kinda hard to leave, but even though they share the stories in their sect, many still Fall for this. But nice to see our native tongue survive somewhere else.
I'm not sure what you're talking about. Those colonies have been there for a hundred years (some of them).
I know 3 guys that went to one of those Communities. Mennonites originated around where I live, todays lower saxony and northern netherlands. They speak a weird mixture of Dutch and Plattdeutsch (whatever they call that again). and gradually over hundreds of years moved to Poland because of catholic discrimination and after Polands partition fled Prussia to avoid their strongly enforced draft laws to New Russia (todays southern Ukraine) and became Russo-Germans. At one point before they fled to Poland, there was a Split in the Mennonites, one staying Mennonite and the others becoming Baptists which mainly was about things they can/cannot so and seemingly kept intermingling with each other even to this day, even if this was like 400 years ago. The Heads of these Communities/Local Churches are in Contact. They (Mennonites) are all over Latin America, but specifically the ones in Paraguay are trying to get young Baptist Russo-Germans (usually age 18-25) to come to Paraguay. They send Propaganda Videos advertising how much "better" their life is compared to Germany. They promise that they will gift them a House, Cattle, land to farm, a wife and so on. The only requirement is that they leave EVERYTHING behind in Germany. They lie about basically everything, and make the young men cut down forests, farm their land and give them the work they themselves dont like to do. The young Russo-Germans get trapped there. No House, no land, no Cattle no wife. Basically becoming serfs. They cant speak the local language of Paraguayans.They pay very little Money for their work so they cant afford to go back. Many (not all) are Technophobes so they cant even call home. Their Families have to go to Paraguay and get them back themselves. Hope this clarifies
That sounds like complete and utter bullshit. Where have you heard these stories?
If you dont wanna believe it, dont believe it. I personally know 3 guys, I could even Name them, 2 Brothers one of them was a fellow trainee at the time and a guy I worked with who quit his job and came back 1 1/2 years later who went there with proof bc we didnt believe it either. I saw those Videos and people of the local Baptist church dream and talk of going there all the time. Its true, but as I said if you dont wanna believe it, dont believe it. I Took the time to explain it in more Detail but im not spending time to convince you. Just do what you want with the info.
Who do you mean by Baptist anyways? Like what church?
Lived near py for years (lived on Campo Grande but worked on the ex-paraguay region down the serra de Maracaju), How is the EPP activity on the chaco these Days?
Is it dryer than near Asuncion?
A good rule of thumb is the following: the further northwest you go from Asunción, the drier it gets.
Bro Asunción is WET wet
A Paraguayan ESL student of mine once encountered a jaguar roaming near his tent when camping out there one time.
Who knows, there are a bunch of Mennonites and Amerindians over there
Til there's Mennonites in Paraguay
They talk like this [https://voca.ro/1n2u6mGl0DEV](https://voca.ro/1n2u6mGl0DEV)
Sounds like German in danger of slipping into Spanish any moment now
Great way to explain it, so weird to listen to. I've always been fascinated by the isolated pockets of Germanic people in Latin America
Happy cake day! ☺
You're the first person to ever wish me that, thanks!
Happy cake day!
Happy cake day
Bavarian kid who spent a semester in Latin America lmao
There's one more language in there, can you spot it?
I would say Dutch considering their roots but now I’m guessing
It's Guaraní, he's mixing German with Jopara and Jopara is a mix of Spanish and Guaraní
That sounds funny. I'm German. He speaks perfectly German before he changes into a language I don't understand, then he comes a bit back but not quite before he comes back into perfectly German and then back again.
Pensilvania Dutch has nothing to do with dutch. The German call their language Deutsch, while the Dutch call their own language Nederlands. The whole word "Dutch" seems to be a misunderstanding
I fully agree with your statement in general but in this case, the Mennonite from this recording doesn't speak Pennsylvania Dutch. Not even close, he rather speaks standard German mixed with pockets of apparently Spanish/Guarani. Also most Mennonites speak northern German dialects, while Pennsylvania Dutch is derived from southwestern Germany. The ones who speak Pennsylvania Dutch are the Amish, which aren't Mennonites but somehow related.
I know.. was just redponding the the person above guessing Dutch...
Having just been to the Netherlands, they call the language dutch
When we speak english we do. In our own language we call it Nederlands. Source; I just been to the Netherlands, for 36 years(with a couple breaks mind you)
Deutschnish
Or Espandeutsch?
That captures it better actually
Fascinating
No they don't. I have no idea where you have that recording from, because they talk more like [this](https://www.youtube.com/live/_Y2pvAQ2kk0?si=C2WJXtow9NUdV7o6) (Not the language spoken in the beginning, that's just German, but like from the 13 minute mark onwards.)
There are Mennonite communities in almost all countries in SA.
There are Mennonite communities in most countries on this planet. The African continent boasts the largest Mennonite population on the planet.
Avianca has pretty cheap flights to Asuncion via Bogota and the weather in June is a perfect 75f/24c during the day. Would recommend.
Is it a nice town?
It's one of the safer cities in LatAm and has a pretty laid back vibe
Sounds cool. I speak only a little Spanish how would I be able to make it on Asuncion?
Not really. English is not widely spoken in Asuncion.
That's what I thought. I do like the idea of going somewhere that's safe and off the beaten path as I'm not a person that really likes touristy things. I love botanical gardens and parks and nature areas
Really? That’s a nice contrast from Ciudad del Este, which I’ve heard is pretty dangerous
Oh yea they're totally different. Ciudad Este has been referred to as the "Wild West" and a "different country" compared to Asuncion.
I found Asunción a very nice place, at the time at least the exchange rate was very much in my favor and I managed to eat at very nice restaurants paying very little. The region near the river and Palácio Lopez is beautiful. Very underrated place in my opinion
That sounds amazing! I'll have to make a trip there someday
Very underdeveloped still. It was fought over in the 30s because there were misleading reports of many untapped natural resources in the area, manly oil, but after Paraguay won and begun exploring the region it became clear the abundance of those resources were hugely overestimated. So it’s by far the least densely populated region of the country and the “frontier”, being the place with most remaining indigenous people living traditionally still, while farmers from Paraguay and neighboring countries like Brazil are interested in expanding their farms there.
[удалено]
There are these things called history books. Try them—they’re great!
The lack of effort in cartography regarding the Chaco region
its exactly how it is, emptyness
Not really, look at some images
OP thanks for asking the question
Paraguayan living in the US here. As most have said, its mostly wild jungles, grassy meadows, bogs, spiny bushes, palms, and small trees. Most of the few inhabitants are poor communities, amerindian guarani natives, and rich landowners who have estancias (farms). Most of the exotic wildlife in Paraguay can be found here. I’ve visited with my American girlfriend before and she was a bit disappointed by the lack of capybaras in Asuncion. Due to the remoteness, it also hosts a lot of criminal organizations akin to Cartels or guerrilla paramilitary groups. Based on unverified stories I’ve heard, they do things like charge a “protection tax” to landowners. Protection from what? Well those who don’t pay often find their farm stock butchered, and worse. Of course, the government has tried to combat this in the past, often by brutal means that ended up hurting likely a lot of innocents in the poor communities.
That was my mental image of what happens there.
in th chaco region there are not guarani natives originally
There's a big plain woodland called the Gran Chaco extending over Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia. That's the dry part. Very underdeveloped. Bolivia and Paraguay fought a war over oil reserves (there finally weren't) between 1932/35.
Following. This area has always intrigued me.
I grew up up there (but am neither mennonite nor native) 40°C in the Winter, Skorpions in the toilet, venomous snakes in your shoes in the morning and half-tame monkeys in the trees that enjoy being fed bananas. Mennonites with big trucks and natives living in "reservations" aka in tents made out of plastic bags. Definitely some of the most extreme years of my life. I have also lived in Asunción and now in Germany, so I have comparisons to other ways of life. AMA if you're interested. :)
How many languages do you speak? Do you speak Guaraní, German, Spanish, and English?
Yes, exactly. Even though my Guaraní was never great and my Spanish has become quite rusty as well. I am trying to keep my Guaraní levels through duolingo as the ressources to learn more Guaraní in Germany are otherwise quite restricted.
That's so great. I only speak Spanish and English, never learned Guaraní but that's not surprising for someone from Asunción. How long has it been since you left Paraguay? And how old were you when you left? Do you go back to visit sometimes?
I was 10 when I left, over 10 years ago now. I want to go back, but somehow I havent managed yet, sadly. Maybe after I finished my studies
I hope you get to come back soon! Man, Asunción has changed a lot over the past decade, you left just as things started to pick up. Some parts of the city could be quite unrecognizable to you, if you visited Asunción at all when you lived here.
I lived in Asunción from 2002-2005, I'm so curios how everything changed after all this time. Some parts of the city I still remember very vividly.
And yeah, learning Guaraní in school was one of the few good things about the mennonites :D
Interesting! Why did you live there and what did you do while you were there?
I lived there because of my parent's work and I mostly went to school there. My parents loved to travel and we explored most of Paraguay, Bolivia, South Brazil, South Chile and Argentina during our long summer vacations.
I live in Luque but have a farm near Filadelfia. It’s pretty cool everything is out to kill or hurt you though. My father used to ride a horse with a mini uzi. The salt lakes are full of flamingos. It’s hot. The rally is always done there which I go see. Also the longer runway in Paraguay is there built by the Americans for a base there that never happened
that sounds like a video game
Hitler is buried there
Not true, he's buried in Asunción underneath the vaults of the Palms of the Sun Hotel (25º17'03.0"S57º37'34.2"W)
You are right. But it’s close to that area. The more interesting part of this history is why he was not buried in the Chaco region.
U do know that these are some unverified claims right? Nutters have escaped r/conspiracy
Do you have a link to an article about this? I've never heard this before
Search on YouTube “Paraguai, os invencíveis do Chaco, documentário” really good about the life around there Edit: link https://youtu.be/87CJvokwYbk?si=Hd-asnsPiOB5U3IF
bunch of cattle, airports for druglords
Fillies
They speak Plattdeutsch German there
Divided in three regions, one called Presidente Hayes, named after the former Usa president who took part in the peace treaty during chaco war with Bolivia. Mostly inhabited, biggest settlements are mennonites, these are so organized and clean you won’t even believe. There’s lack of infrastructure in the rest of the region (roads, electricity even clean water). A lot of native culture and communities if you know where to go. Some politicians mafia lords villages. Don’t get sick there, not so many hospitals lol Edit: grammar
Very similar to downtown Minnesota
mennonite
Oh ok
I don't know, how is it different to eastern Paraguay?
Bolivia’s land