These day I live in a house with all the comforts that brings. However for me here in Paraguay that has not always been the way of things.

Throughout my time at the English school and for a good while afterwards everything was far simpler. Certainly less comfortable but also possibly more interesting.

When flew into Paraguay for the first time the first few days were spent waiting for everyone arrive. There was no point heading off into the countryside only to have someone sent back to collect stragglers.

And so until everyone had reached Paraguay we all spent the first few nights in the country in one of the suburbs of Asuncion.

This was the home of the couple who would be running the English school. Obviously there house had not been built to accommodate the sudden arrival of a dozen guests.

The only large empty space was the garage and that became our dormitory. Inside a dozen sleeping bags were squeezed. Little space remained for anything more than bags. Fortunately the house had a pleasant little garden at the back to sit in. There for the first time every i saw hummingbirds.

On the forecourt in front of the garage an armed guard patrolled. Whether the was necessary or just for show it was impossible for me to tell being so freshly arrived in the country. So I gave it not thought.

A couple of days in the garage and everyone had arrived. Then we and all the equipment could be loaded up onto a lorry to head out into the countryside. To Piribebuy and the grounds upon which the school would be set up.

This was ground belonging to a private house that had been borrowed to use for the school, So nothing like accommodation blocks could be expected.

Instead it was time to test out the tents everyone had been told to bring.

Mine was a little red dome tent. A few years old and whilst fine for weekends away in England but probably not designed for months under the sub tropical Paraguayan weather.

Knowing that my tent was far from new I did take one precaution with it before I packed my bags for Paraguay. I gave it a good thick coating of waterproofing liquids. I don’t know if that made any real difference but the little tent never leaked even in the heaviest of rains.

Inside there was not much room for doing anything. Not enough room to stand up and with my backpack inside along with a mosquito net over the sleeping bag a fairly compact space to be living in.

That and the heat made the tent somewhere to store stuff and somewhere to sleep but not a place to spend too much time.

Our tents were placed at the far end of the field. Beyond the school buildings and playing field. We were offered some shade by some trees and pitched our tents on a horse shoe of raised ground above a natural depression which would become waterlogged after heavy rains.

Just behind the tents ran a clear stream. There were a number of large smooth rocks in the water which created small rapids. An ideal place for bathing and for washing clothes.

The waters normally ran quietly past. However after a heavy storm the stream turned into a raging torrent that could be heard far away.

With trees standing behind and around the tents there was some privacy from the goings on at the school. Additionally the journey to work to go and teach a lesson was a very short walk. As was the walk to and from the cooking hut.

A walk to the bathroom was a little longer as we had use of an outside toilet that was part of the families house. For washing though there was the river.

My little red tent remained my home for the next three months. By that time the heat of the sun had faded its colour considerably and the material was starting to wear very thin. I doubt it would have lasted much longer before starting to disintegrate.

After that the school closed down for the Christmas holidays. Afterwards it reopened with much reduced but still adequate staffing numbers.

Now at last those of us that remained could get out of tents and into buildings.

For me a little hut was built on the river bank.

It had wall made of split palm logs sealed with mud. A very simple construction but it kept the weather out. For the roof there were sheets of tin roofing.

My hut was not large. Less than three metres along each side. So room for a bed with not too much space to spare. I did though have an old cupboard and table so at long last I could get things out of my backpack.

Initially I had no electric. Lights were candles and a radio could not be powered. However the tin sheets heated up under the strong sun and roasted to air inside. Not the most comfortable place to sleep on a hot and humid summer night.

Eventually that was resolved. A wire was run from the house on top of bamboo poles. At last I could cool the air with a fan and get a little radio.

For more than a year that little hut remained my home. I had the river right next to me and the school just a few steps away. It was basic, but not a bad little place to live.

From there I returned to England and all its creature comforts. Brick walls, 24 hour electric, that sort of thing.

All the buildings that had formed the school were returned to the family along with the field that had been the schools grounds.

The various buildings were repurposed. The school house became a guest house and my little hut was a chicken coup for a number of years until it fell down or was taken down.

Those couple of years with out home comforts were very enjoyable ones and a recommend everyone try it out once in a while.