Songs I have heard in Asuncion:
REM - Shiny Happy People
Erasure - A Little Respect (remix), followed by
Erasure - A Little Respect
Ann Lee - Big, Big Girl
Edwin Collins - A Girl Like You
A rather soulful version of It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year in a clothing store.
This list is not exhaustive.
Paraguay is a country that does not reveal itself too easily. Asuncion is a capital city that feels like anything but. A few spikes of apartments or offices jump out of the landscape, but mostly the central area is a crumbling facade of attractive colonial-style buildings punctuated with modern chunks of brickwork. The pavements are no better nor worse than many other cities we have visited. Its easy to find a restaurant or bar, and supermarkets are aplenty. Even accommodation feels ten-a-penny.
That is all superficial though. We approach the artesian market at Plaza De Los Heroes and a man offers to sell me an enormous flick-knife. I decline, leaving me more than enough money for the cow-hoof-corkscrew-bottle-opener (had I wanted it). After all the emails I have read on them, it was tough to turn down the chap who offered to sell me a taser on the street. I did allow a girl in a shop to take £12 off me for some nice black swimming boxers though.
Asuncion's main street in the centre is supposed to be Calle Palma. It doesn't look like much from the ground. Our official route from Hotel Cecilia to the Presidential Palace is more or less west, a little north, and west again. We deviate a little, passing through Plaza Uruguaya, Plaza De La Democracia, and Plaza De Los Heroes, looking for things to take photos of. There aren't as many things as you'd like. Asuncion does not give up all its secrets on Day 1.
Jose Artigas. The MAN.
The bookshop in Plaza Uruguaya.
It is well known that the BK menu changes in almost every single country. We have not made it to this one yet to find out what it has instead of the muck it sells at home.
(PS - for a really interesting story, read about Big Mac's in Argentina and why they are so cheap - http://en.mercopress.com/2012/02/08/why-you-can-t-find-a-big-mac-on-argentina-s-mc-donald-s-menu )
Yes, I asked, and Brian is barred from this one too. If that doesn't make sense, its best not to ask.
If this doesn't make sense either...
Palacio De Gobierno from the west.
The Palace, head on. Lots of men with guns here. In the olden days we would have been executed for taking these photos and lingering as long as we did (not long at all).
Some buildings look older than others
We stop and enjoy an excellent burger and fries, washed down with delicious Pilsen. In our little Asuncion promo tourist magazines we see the San Jeronimo district ('tourist' area) is now open for business. We go for a look...
Halfway up those stairs, on one side, is this crocheted blanket, stuck to a tree. On the other side is a small cocktail bar which is really someone's house. We decide to call in for a cocktail and I manage an entire conversation with Daniel, the barman, who received his certificate from Diageo. His Paraguyan mojito was excellent.
Sarah's Sex On The Beach was pretty good too. We spoke for a while, he asked why we were visiting Paraguay, we asked him whether there was more tourism (yes, lots of Americans, some Ukranians, many Germans and French), whether life had improved in the past ten years since democracy was introduced (yes, much more security in daily life) and what the country needed (lots more jobs, pure and simple).
On the wall...the Beatles.
Could only have been better if it was 'Shamsung'
Nooo! Bad Mr Dog!
Current President, Horacio Cartes, seems to be on a winning sort of path at the minute, so long as the elite cadré in Paraguay don't regroup too quickly. But he could change a few fundamental aspects of how government does business, most notably by bringing in public-private partnerships, allowing the selling-off of government tenders to whomever the selling ministry decides, not just to the old guard who always get it. He also wants German-style apprenticeships for all school-leavers, not to mention work on the inequality and a shrinking of the 'extreme poverty' class.
Paraguay loves tereré, which is cold mate, which is a dried leaf a little like tea but more bitter. You half fill your cup or gourd with the leaves, then you have a BIG flask of icy cold water which you pour into the leaves and drink straight away through a straw with a little perforated bulb at the bottom (this is a 'bombilla'). Its very sociable, you pass the cup around and drink the whole contents before passing it back, and it refreshes the life out of you, which may explain why, in a country with such variation between filthy rich and destitutely poor, life expectancy is soon good.
It is Christmas Day and I am exhausted. Lots more to say about Paraguay and many more folk to ask. This was a day of emotion and bacon and excellent food and sunbathing at the rooftop pool. Dinner was catfish and seafood. It has been superb.
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