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Published: February 20th 2014
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Santa Cruz
Colonnaded streets It’s hot in Paraguay. Let me start with that. I am not sure if it is always this hot in summer in this country. If it is I pity the inhabitants. The other day it was 47 degrees here. A man told us today you could fry an egg on the pavement in the summer. I believed him, what is not to believe. In fact I felt like that egg, or at least my brain did, as it simmered away in my head.
Paraguay… I was here once before, in winter, a much better time to visit. That was ten years ago. I only visited Asuncion then, it was rather seedy as far as I remember. Things have changed, I am sure there was no TGI Friday’s in the centre of town or in all of Paraguay in those days, or fancy shops and malls, and there certainly weren’t any hostels. But I am getting ahead of myself, because Asuncion was not where we began this trip.
So let’s start in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. It is not in Paraguay, it is in Bolivia. It was here where my mother and I flew in, and from here we
Santa Cruz
Walking down one of those colonnaded streets were planning on taking the bus to Paraguay. Santa Cruz is a rather tranquil city as far as first impressions go. The centre is made up out of colonnaded streets, which is very pleasant, as you always have shade from the sun, or shelter from the rain.
It is also rather weird in the fact that it consists of fancy boutiques, restaurants and whatnot, haphazardly strewn about the city together with decrepit half ruined buildings. Think having one or two really nice looking shops in a street which otherwise consists of crumbling shacks, repeat this for every block and you get the picture. Thinking back on it, it was rather refreshing.
But Santa Cruz was just a gateway. And we left it on a rainy evening. Rainy evenings are always the best way to go. It was a long journey, neither pleasant, nor unpleasant. Perhaps a little bit chilly, due to the air-conditioning on the bus. I will not bore you with the details, anybody who has travelled will know them. The border checks, the stamps, the moneychangers, the dogs sniffing your luggage for bags of cocaine, which you luckily have cunningly hidden up your anus.
We
Santa Cruz
Me and a friendly old chap were dropped off at the cross-road to Filadelfia, a Mennonite town in the Chaco region of Paraguay. As soon as we got off the bus, a pick-up truck stopped with a friendly, blue eyed, blond haired fellow in it, who gave us a lift into town. He spoke German, as all Mennonite communities around these parts do.
I am not sure how Filadelfia and the other surrounding Mennonite dwellings became a tourist attraction, because really there isn’t much to see. It is somewhat reminiscent of a Midwest farming community in the US, only inhabited by Germans.
That is not to say that they didn’t do a good job of things. They were given a shitty piece of land and turned it into something profitable. Actually, that is a lie, they weren’t exactly given it, they had to buy it off some Argentinian landowner who had already scooped up most of the Chaco at the time.
Mennonites, it somehow reminds me of these pre-historic fossils called Ammonites. Except that the Ammonite fossils were all curled up in a shell and had petrified ages ago. One day perhaps we will all be curled up fossils and maybe they will
Santa Cruz
Street vendor name us Mennonites. It wouldn’t be that bad, the Mennonites were friendly people, there are worse things one could be mixed up with.
While Filadelfia might not have much in the way of tourist attractions it is a good place to break up any journey coming from Bolivia, and if you like German food all the better.
And then it was time for Asuncion, sweltering Asuncion. Filadelfia was also sweltering by the way, and if it had been cheese it would have been cream cheese.
But let’s get back to Asuncion and its blistering heat. My mum and I booked into a hostel near the historic centre of town. It was so much better than the hotel/whorehouse I had stayed in ten years ago, though not nearly as cheap.
I am pretty proud of stepping into a hostel with my mum. Especially since most of the young twenty year olds inhabiting the hostels don’t do half the stuff my mother does. And the perks of travelling with her are that we stay in private rooms, more expensive than a dorm for sure, but cheaper than a room in a hotel.
Our hostel had a pool,
Santa Cruz
Nicely done up bakery and a nice garden, and it wasn’t too busy, and very important, the staff were super friendly. And it was cool, air-conditioned cool!
Asuncion is laid back, it is even charming one might say. It certainly has shaped up since I was last here. If it weren’t so hot, I would actually say I had a pleasant stay here. You know what, I will say it! I had a pleasant stay in this city, despite the heat!
We walked around the centre and I found it pleasingly stress free. Especially from a traffic point of view. Normally crossing a road in any third world country involves swerving between the oncoming cars, truck, buses and motorcycles, and hoping for the best. But not so in Asuncion, here you can cross the roads at ease, there just isn’t that much traffic, and they all drive rather lazily, in slow motion. It’s easy to cross here, no challenge really if you think about it. Adrenaline junkies might want to give this capital city a skip.
When you walk around Asuncion, or actually if you travel around Paraguay as a whole, you will notice one thing straight away, which is that
Santa Cruz
My mother in a park everybody walks around with a leather-clad thermos with a cup with a silver stem sticking out of it, attached to it. Bus drivers, police men, students, politicians, everybody carries those contraptions. Even when standing on a bus on a bumpy road with a baby in one arm, bags strapped over both shoulders, the one free hand is used to carry the thermos, not to stabilize oneself.
In this thermos there is a herbal drink called terere, and Paraguayans just love it. If there is one thing that defines Paraguayans it is this love of the terere. A Paraguayan doesn’t leave home without it. Terere is drunk cold, ice-cold, which probably is why they are so addicted to it.
Apart from terere, Paraguayans are also very nationalistic and proud of their country, including of their leaders, some of whom most of us would consider dictators of the worst kind. A man who nearly ruined his country a hundred years ago, by starting a war with three neighbouring countries and then fighting on until ninety percent of the male population was dead, is seen as a saint, simply because he didn’t surrender.
Finally, we have had a preview of
we can expect in the coming week, as we make our way down the Jesuit route. Religion, the third pillar of Paraguayan identity. They have some fine churches down south so I have heard, but the finest is only 50 kilometers from Asuncion, in Yaguaron. And it was a beauty indeed, with marvelous carvings and not a tourist in sight.
Can the Jesuit ruins down south compare? We will see. And just as the rain accompanied our departure out of Santa Cruz, so it will out of Asuncion, as it has started raining here. Blissful cool rain, there is nothing better!
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Ornella
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Sorry I\'ve been a bit slack! But you and your family have been constantly on my mind. But hey, I was surprised to see pictures of Paraguay! I do remember you being there 10 years ago! ;-) (this year btw, they are having freakish weather.) You can\'t even pop in to see Boris as he\'s visiting the UK. Did you go back to the old haunts of Puerto Madero and Choperia del Puerto. And eat some yummy chipas for us. Huge, huge hugs to you,your mum and siblings. Ro hay hu.