Paraguay from every angle
Life, culture, landscapes. All that is Paraguay, and my life here
Visiting San Blas in Piribebuy became an adventure
Yesterday I decided to visit the chapel of San Blas in Piribebuy. I had only been there once before. That was during festival time over fifteen years ago. Accordingly I had only a vague idea where it was. It was also well overdue a visit. In Piribebuy the chapel of...
Here in Paraguay I have become quite an expert at DIY
Before I came to Paraguay no one would ever have thought to describe me as good at DIY. In fact anything beyond the most basic would not have been attempted by me. Quite simply I have always approached manual tasks on a need to know basis. In England there was little...
Right now rain would be welcomed in Paraguay
Winter in Paraguay is the dry season. Much of the rain which falls in Paraguay comes in the form of electrical storms. These are driven by high temperatures evaporating moisture from the ground. The temperature being a little lower during the winter there is less heat...
Some things to do when visiting Piribebuy
The small country town of Piribebuy lies approximately 80 km from Asuncion. It is situated in picturesque upland scenery which draws a regular stream of visitors. The town is these days primarily a tourist and resort town. It does though have a long and interesting...
Many years ago when I first travelled to Paraguay
It is now almost 20 years since I arrived in Paraguay for the first time. Then I had left behind a job working in a bank in England. Ahead lay a teaching project in the Paraguayan countryside. The year was 2002. By then much of the back office work in the bank had...
Before I came to Paraguay England was my home
Paraguay has been my home now for nearly twenty years. Before that England was where I call home. More precisely the town of Dunstable. There I grew up, went to school and then to work. Dunstable is an average sized market town in Southern England. It is located in...
Mate and terere. The same but different
Mate and terere are in many ways identical. They represent two different ways of preparing the same beverage. In preparing mate hot water is used. Alternatively if terere is to be made cold, preferably iced water is needed. The basis of the drink is yerba mate. This...
My first trip to Asuncion for a long time
It had been quite a while since I last visited Asuncion. 18 months or more. The last time I was there was upon my return from England after my last visit. A few months after that Covid arrived and restrictions were put in place. Even through those have on the whole...
Stone Archways. Rock forms in the Paraguayan hills
Stone archways are to be found on top of a number of the hills of Paraguay. Could these places have been used for religious rituals by the indigenous peoples of Paraguay? Probably not. But what if the stone archways of Paraguay were sacred spaces to the ancient people...