preoccupied in Paraguay Part 2

Asuncion , due to asian importers is a buyers paradise for electronic goods. many shops to pick from, but we bonded with a young man who allowed us to take our time in buying.( he reminded us of Khana Bhana from HW).
being robbed of our camera was a blessing in disguise as it focussed us on buying another & in the course of this we discovered the world of cheap electronic goods. we upgraded our camera to a Sony & i bought a graphing calculator which is really a mini computer. cell phones are ridiculously cheap but we resisted these.

although we never managed to get a tour of the presidential palace (its like the US white house) ,we did achieve a 2hr tour of their new & impressive parliment building. this was built & paid for by the Taiwan govt as a gift to Paraguay. our guide was a young man who had once had a new zealand girl friend (she was an exchange student in Paraguay.) their democracy at this time in their history appears very robust , not like the dictatorships of the past. as a bonus we had an interesting meeting with a paraguayan senador.( she was fluent in english).

we were introduced to the drinking of "mate" by a young lady who had spent a year in AK attending Massey college as an exchange student. this drink is made from leafs of the mate tree with herbs added ,mainly mint. its like a strong herb tea tasting mainly of mint & is sipped cold during the day . rose liked it ( i preferred their beer).


we stayed in 2 great hotels. these were a great refuge from the chaos on the streets. the first was called the "city" & was where their national soccer team stayed. the breakfasts provided increased by 100 % when they were in the hotel. the 2nd was called the "palace". for history buffs this was built by president Lopezs brother in 18 57. he was later beheaded by the president. the palace was sold into private ownership in 19 20 & has been a hotel ever since.
very grand with big staircases & big rooms with balconies. while there we had the company of the american peace core workers( like our VSA). they were on rest & recreation from their work in the provincial villages. they give up 2 years of their lifes to help the less fortunate.

we tried most of Asuncions top restaurantes , they were mainly german & french establishments. these also provided a sanctuary for us during the day.
the weather was sunny every day with temperatures of 35 degrees & this was one month from the shortest day.

some things that make Asuncion unique.

no traffic lights in the centre of Asuncion.
antiquated buses roaring down hilly streets spewing out clouds of smoke.
footpaths crowded with street sellers.
children not going to school,but out working. 8 to10 year olds wkg in super markets.
the weekends. most shops close at 12pm on sat & remain closed until monday. during this time the people & the police disappear off the streets. crime now takes over. our hotel used to bar its main door with a big wooden plank. we were warned not to wander the streets during this time. we took this warning seriously after witnessing an assault & robbery by guys on motor bikes from our balcony. the robbery included bogus or corrupt police firing guns. our hotel staff couldnt agree among themselves which it actually was.

leaving Paraguay & re-entering Argentina was another unique experience.

the border control police on the paraguayan side didnt stamp our passports correctly. so the argentinan police wouldnt allow us back into Argentina. we had to return to the paraguayan side to get our passports done correctly. when this was sorted out the argentinan police then demanded that they take our passports from us. eventually we deducted that we would get them back after our suit cases were scanned for drugs etc. 45 mins later after waiting in the midday sun our cases were scanned, & then a man came along & gave us back our passports. suitcases were loaded back onto the long distance bus & we free to proceed back into Argentina.

a fairly typical border crossing in south america. ( at least we didnt have to resort to bribery as others have had to).

john& rose.