The 7:00 to Yuty

I stayed 3 days at the McKissicks again before heading further down Route 8 to Yuty to stay with the Reichs.  Route 8 is the only major road in Paraguay that hasn’t been paved yet (and when I say major road we’re talking 5 or 6 buses, and 20 trucks, per day) so travel, especially by bus, is often determined by the weather.  If it’s sunny then everything is good, the red dirt road is dusty and hard, but if it’s raining then there’s no dice because it’s like driving on butter.  I was leaving at 7pm but knew if it rained I’d be leaving the next day.  If a storm is even forecast then the buses don’t leave Villarrica further up the road (where the tarmac ends and the dirt starts), but if the bus had reached San Francisco by the time the rain started it would trudge on to Yuty...

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The White House and Other Pictures

I finally got to see Downtown Asuncion today!  It’s meant to be the Royal Mile of Asuncion, the Manhattan of the city.  Danny had provided me with a touristy city map a few days ago filled with 5 small pictures of the must see parts of the city (all of which seemed to be clustered around the unfortunately-named Avenue Colon near the Rio Paraguay).  As the ACA’s old film has a few seconds of Downtown as a view of the city, I thought it wise to have a couple also. I was going to take the bus, but was encouraged not to as there is no direct bus, just one that takes forever to cover half the streets in the city regions on the way,...

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Radical Guampas

On Wednesday I joined Jeff and Andy the Guarani and Spanish teacher on a trip to Brasilia Avenue which is getting a bit closer to downtown, and probably the nicest area I have seen in Asuncion so far.  It was really only to get a mountain of fried chicken for about 13 people, so the order was very large and took a long time to prepare, so we got to roam around the premises while we waited.  I discovered the fried chicken place had a small tereré accoutrement room for personalised guampas and flasks.  Guampas for tereré (see tereré post for more details) and mate (the same drink, only hot) are made from hollowed-out animal horns,...

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Mission Trip Photos (Habitat for Humanity)

These are pictures from the recent one-day mission trip with Habitat for Humanity.  Well, rather they are pictures taken from video clips. This picture is of one of the kids whose family we were helping build their new house.  She was an expert at climbing trees. This is at the 2nd location.  As videographer I got to go to 3 house-build locations unlike everybody else who had to stick with just one. Some of the ACA students hard at work in the mid-day heat. They had to sand and chisel the cement, then wash it with some chemical or other. Heading to location one through the woods on the back of a 4x4! A sander. This...

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Negotiating Tricky Spots!

Foreigners are encouraged not to drive at night, as even in the daytime all roads in Paraguay have tricky spots.  I’d encourage them not to travel at all as a tricky spot is found on nearly every road.  Tricky spots even for pedestrians are road crossings without pedestrian signals (I’m yet to encounter even one!), roads which are rendered gauntlets by the 6 lane expressways (one, helpfully, if not negotiated, has a major graveyard on the other side to ensure you reach the other side in death if not in life); sidewalk sculptures such as rock gardens that surround major trees that leave sometimes no route past without stepping onto the...

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Habitat para la Humanidad

The Man With No Surname's certificate. On Saturday I joined Asuncion Christian Academy’s teachers and students on a one-day mission trip.  It cost only about £10 for the bus trip, the mid-day meal, and the t-shirt all volunteers for Habitat for Humanity get.  I don’t remember where it was, only the distance and general direction (east of Asuncion about 70km).  I think it was off Route 2 somewhere, so Mbokajaty del Yhaguy, or Itacurubi de la Cordillera (I might be way off).There were about 20 of us scheduled to depart the Academy at 6:00am.  I arrived in English time (early) at 5:45am having got up at 5am and walked the...

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Zoo

I skipped 4th period of school today.  Well, a large group of Americans arrived at the academy and said we were all going to Asuncion zoo so I didn’t have any option.  I was only 5 minutes from being done anyway.  10 of us went in the 5-seater and blended in amongst the other Paraguayan carpoolers (some there -none of us- hang onto the backs of 4x4s or perch precariously on the sides hoping for no major bump to wipe them out). Me and Dexter The zoo featured what are probably the only Paraguayan jaguars left that aren’t riddled with Paraguayan bullets and hung on walls.  They cut a pretty miserable sight in their concrete...

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Pictures of the Week in San Francisco

I taught 2 of the younger McKissicks how to work the camera and they made a film about getting fruit from a neighbours tree by throwing rocks at it. This was at an outdoors meal where fancy furniture was placed under trees. The 2 young filmmakers. A rabbit that happily lives in a chicken house. A baby rabbit born during the week I was there. A chick rescued from the jaws of one of the dogs.  It had a broken wing.  It sadly died on Friday night. The best day was when I was given an iced coffee by Amy.  I can't express how good a cold drink is.  Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant...

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