Paraguay to Stay... For Now

Now I am back in Paraguay for a bit without any solid travel plans in the near future. It’s nice to be stationary for a while and settle into a normal routine with home cooked meals, private showers, and no pressure to seize every possible second. ...But the real reason that I don’t have new trips planned yet is because my passport is completely full of stamps so I legally can’t travel. It has also passed through the washing machine so a replacement is very necessary. Pending that, I am hoping to squeeze in some time in Brazil before I leave. We shall see.

With the preschool still on summer vacation, my days have been very relaxing and open. I am back on my meat and rice diet. Unfailingly I eat both at least once a day, normally twice. We still don’t have internet at our house which is a bummer for my communication with those back home, but I have been finding ways to entertain myself. I get along really well with my host sisters and cousins and we gather in the patio to talk and drink terere every night.

  (the sisters and cousins gathered for a family dinner)

 

(the 5 sisters)

 

  (a typical night)

 

One day, Janine’s friend brought the two of us to his family’s “estancia”/ranch. By 9 am I had already seen 69 cows castrated. It was certainly a new and eye opening experience. It was hard to look, but at the same time I couldn’t bring myself to look away. It only took about a minute and a half to complete the whole process for each cow. There was all kinds of ripping and tearing involved and it was way less technical and sanitary than expected (I'm positive it was just a local cheap worker, not an official vet). After watching, I’m pretty sure I could do it on my own now. I’m also pretty sure that I never want to do it on my own nor do I need to witness it ever again.

We then proceeded to eat about half a cow for lunch. Meat was not exactly what I was craving after the castration experience, but there were no other options. Luckily we didn’t eat the cow testicles that we had just removed, although they kept telling me that they were going to sell them and that people put spices on them and really do eat them. Seriously. For dessert we had fresh cheese from the cows and fresh honey from the beehive.

They own over 1,000 hectors of land and it was gorgeous out in the country. Everything around was green and the air was much fresher than in the city. I was very impressed when the owner walked out into the pasture and started making a special shout and all the cows from super far away came running towards him. They respond only to his voice and can even be individually called upon. Quite impressive. We rode horses, explored creeks, and got the gist of life on the estancia. It was very different from city living and a gorgeously great field trip. Though I couldn’t live like that for an extended period of time.

  (Jani and me at the estancia)

 

(the view from the ranch)

   

(up close and personal with the castration)

  (if you guessed that this was a bucket of 138 cow balls, you were correct)

  (riding around the grounds)

  (grilling this all for 4 people)

 

I also recently spent 3 consecutive weekends in San Bernardino, aka “San Ber.” A lot of the Asuncionian elite have summer homes there and everyone escapes the heat there on the weekend. It is still consistently over 90ºF here on a daily basis, rarely dropping below 75º during the night. San Ber is a town full of discotheques, swimming pools, and restaurants nestled on a lake. Tio Victor and Tia Rosa own a house there and it’s only about an hour drive away, making it an easy trip. By day, the lakefront is full of families and by night, the streets are full of teenagers and the clubs full of people my age.

I went tubing in disgusting water of Lago Ypacarai. This water was even grosser than the Aguas Calientes “hot spring” if you can imagine. Grosser due to the fact that there is no thermal heating here. It is hot because it is shallow and the sun is shining on it all day. Nonetheless, I had a grand ol’ time on the lake and always enjoy myself a good tubing adventure.

  (the lakefront/only beach around)

  (tubing)

 

For the first time in my life, I left the house at 4:15 am to go out to a club. We stayed out dancing at a very high-class club right on the water until 8 am. At that point we headed back to the house and proceeded to have a barbecue “breakfast” before going to sleep at 10 am. I should be used to this by now, but it still gets me every time.

  (please note that the sun is rising and there are still this many people at the club)

  (Lupe, Karen, and me at the lakefront club at about 7am)

 

Each weekend we had a great time climbing mango trees to eat the fresh fruit, sunbathing, watching the sunset on the lake, stargazing, watching fireflies, and barbecuing some more. It’s a very summery town and very relaxing.

  (Caipiriñas and sunbathing...rough life)

  (Pele had a motocross race in San Ber which we used as our excuse to go)

  (sunset on the lake)

  (Lupe, Wanda, Karen, and me watching the sunset from the dock)

  (Wanda, Me, Lupe, and Karen stargazing in the night heat. Excessive amounts of bug spray involved.)

 

(typical San Ber meal set up)

  (Lupe, Karen, Pame, Me, and Jani... the "big kid" table group of cousins)

  (typical San Ber relaxation)

 

Jose continues to take me around on motorcycle tours through the city. I have a perma-smile as I ride on the back to our destinations. The latest stop was Atyra, the “cleanest city in Paraguay”…though it didn’t seem impressively clean to me. Again, relativity I guess.

 

It’s nice to be back in my home, sweet, home. The time has been flying and I’m already getting sad that I’ll be leaving in 2 months. I’m loving this life and I’m not quite ready to go back to the real world.