Asuncion and Paraguay

So, like I think i said before, we arrived in Asuncion the other day (Thursday, I think) with plans to head out to Byron’s site the next day. Well, lucky for us, Byron and a bunch of other Peace Corps volunteers were already in Asuncion for a get together over the weekend, so of course, we hung out the past few days and “saw the sites” from the PC natives. It’s been nice. Asuncion is very different from all the other capital cities we have visited, and I think I like it more for that reason. It is short and fat, meaning that there is urban sprawl like crazy, but nothing seems to expand upwards and outwards. The buildings are low, save for a few apartment complexes, and it kinda adds to the sleepy feeling that I think the city has. It doesn’t have the hustle and bustle of cities like Buenos Aires, and the people seem more friendly and relaxed…even if they actually aren’t!

Anyway, we checked into our hotel, and then spent Friday morning looking around at the old buildings…or at least trying to. The president of Taiwan was in the city, so there were police and military blockades EVERYWHERE, and this being Paraguay, all of these men were equipped with huge machine guns. Of course, we hadn’t known that this was the case, so we just assumed the men with guns were the norm and avoided taking too many photos!

We ended up meeting up with Byron and some of his other PC friends for dinner that night, and I actually got sushi for the second time since we have been in Paraguay. Who would’ve thought it? Paraguay has more variety of food than any other country I have seen down here, and the chinese and sushi and korean food is wonderful! There are actually a lot of Japanese immigrants here, so the sushi was spectacular!

Saturday we walked around with Byron and checked out the PC-termed “hippy market.” It consisted of a lot of locals selling their goods, and of course, I loved them all. Lots of colorful woven bags, leather goods, linen clothes, the string-puppet dolls (which Steve bought two of) and this beautiful lace stuff that is native to a town nearby. I think I’m gonna have to buy SOME MORE presents for my family when we swing back through this way!

Last but not least, we ended up going over to the PC director’s house Saturday night for PC barbeque….Mexican food style! Wonderful food because we haven’t eaten Mexican since we left Colorado (excluding one disgusting meal in Great Bend, Kansas!) We hung out all night, drank some caipirinhas, and talked to a ton of the volunteers.

It’s late on Sunday now, and Steve, Byron, Cathy (a volunteer who lives close to Byron), and myself are just hanging out and waiting for the bus to his site. It apparently leaves at 1:45 in the morning, goes for 4 or 5 hours, we have a layover, hop on another bus, and hopefully get to his site around 4 tomorrow afternoon….wish us luck! I woke up with a pretty bad sore throat this morning–consequences of all the fun, I suppose–and I am sure this extended bus journey isn’t going to do me any good! Nevertheless, Byron’s will be fun, and I’ll write more when we get back!!!!