The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio does not allow for photography in most of their exhibit space. Apparently the musicians who have donated items to the museum are worried about the unlawful duplication of artifacts and the sale of such counterfeits on eBay. So most of these photos are exterior shots of the Museum, and some other sites around Cleveland. [View Full Entry]

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1. Corruption - Paraguay was declared the third most corrupt country on earth by Transparency International’s 2002’s Corruption Perceptions Index (out of 102 nations ranked). In order to combat this, Paul teaches a class on political ethics at his site in Pilar. My question is: Is it ethical to teach ethics in such an unethical society? ;) Won’t the students who take Paul’s teachings to heart face a massive disadvantage trying to act ethically in an unethical society? ;) But it must be working, because in the 2005 index they were ranked the 13th most corrupt (out of 160 [View Full Entry]

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Pilar is where Paul works as a Peace Corps Volunteer. It is a nice little town, the capital actually of the Ñeembucú department (a political unit similar to a state). There is a museum there dedicated to the War of the Triple Alliance (when Paraguay fought Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, although the latter was at that time a puppet of Brazil). There are also sculptures, mostly of birds, on the streets. Pilar’s largest employer is the textile factory located on the Paraguay River. Cerrito is a smaller town about 3 hours from Pilar. It is located along the Paraná River. It [View Full Entry]

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The Holy Trinity of Parana was one of the last Reducciones (reductions or townships) built by Jesuit led communities of Guaranís in what was possibly the most interesting social experiment conducted during the European colonization of the Americas. Motivated by their desire to both convert and protect the native populations of Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil, the Jesuit (Society of Jesus) Missionaries created these small cities as a place of shelter, worship, education and commerce that operated independently of the secular colonial governments. In these communities the Guaranís worked together [View Full Entry]

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In the movie “Speed,” a ludicrous thriller starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, a terrorist plants a bomb on a bus, a bomb set to explode if the bus drops below 50 miles per hour. They never could’ve set that story in Paraguay, first they measure speed in kilometers per hour, and second the buses rarely travel slow enough to have ever been in any danger. Of course that is an exaggeration, the buses did have to stop after all, but most of the time, like every other vehicle on the road, they moved fast. There were plenty of other vehicles [View Full Entry]

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After the boat ride under the falls we decided to stop by the Parque das Aves, a bird park that features most of the birds of South America as well as a few from Africa. Many of the birds, unfortunately, were in a cage, which makes for not so great photography, and the mid-afternoon lighting was having a strange effect on my camera, so many of the photos were blurred. Our cab driver was still with us as we toured the bird park. He had been with us through every tour and attraction we visited (I guess they don’t mind letting [View Full Entry]

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Our trip to the Falls began on the Paraguayan side of the border. After breakfast at the hotel (Austria, there are a number of German owned/themed hotels in Paraguay), a breakfast somewhat smaller than the “needs to be seen to be believed” promises of the guidebook, we went to exchange some American dollars for the Brazilian Reals we would need on the other side of the border. Having crossed the bridge the previous evening we were aware that the Falls were not close by in Foz do Iguaçu, so we decided to take a cab. The cab driver spoke Spanish with [View Full Entry]

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Before we arrived in Ciudad del Este, my perception of the town, based on everything I had heard about it, was that it was, in the words of Obi-Wan Kenobi, a wretched hive of scum and villainy. Actually it is just another city, not unlike many other cities in the world. The crime rate may be the highest in Paraguay, but then Paraguay is not exactly overrun with criminal activity (at least not the violent kind). But the odds are if they stole it from you in Argentina or Brazil it is likely to be sold on the streets on Ciudad [View Full Entry]

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It was a two hour bus ride out of Asunción to Caacupé, the Mecca of Paraguay, a small town dominated by a large cathedral, the Basilica de Nuestra Señora de los Milagros (consecrated by Pope John Paul II in 1988). According to the legend, the Blue Virgin of Caacupé saved a converted Guaraní from a band of Mbayáes hostile to the Christian faith. To show his gratitude he carved and image of the Lady of Caacupé out of a large Yerba Mate plant (some grow to near tree size). There is some question as to whether the image on display in [View Full Entry]

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Tereré is an important part of Paraguayan society. It is an ice cold variant of mate, a tea made from the leaves of the Yerba Mate plant, a species of holly native to the region. Cultivated originally by the Guaraní Tribes and later spread by Jesuit missionaries, mate is popular in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and the southern regions of Brazil and Bolivia. In Paraguay the tradition of Tereré has been augmented by modern technology, and in order to keep their water cold most people carry it in a thermos. Some of these thermoses are bound in hand worked leather that is [View Full Entry]

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