Pilar/Cerrito

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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 features a beach (with cows), a hill, a one building naval base, giant frogs, the world’s most vicious dog and half of the mosquitoes in South America. The bus from Cerrito back to Pilar leaves at 3:00AM, but that didn’t stop the world’s most vicious dog from getting up to bark his head off as we left.

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