Paraguay from every angle
Life, culture, landscapes. All that is Paraguay, and my life here
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...
Paraguay has winter just like everywhere else
For most of the year Paraguay bakes under a hot sun. However things can be very different once winter arrives. This is not a land where winter means months of never ending cold. Instead it is a time when short sharp spells of cold weather may arrive at any time....
A 15th birthday. Every Paraguayan girls big day
For every girl in Paraguay her 15th birthday is something to look forward to. Every child is given a large party for their 1st birthday. Then for girls there is a second birthday that needs to be marked with a big party and celebration. This is her 15th birthday. The...
In Paraguay hills arise abruptly from the flatlands below
Much of Paraguay consists of a flat lowland plain. There are though to be found several areas of higher hill country. These rise sharply from the lowlands and so a visible from great distances. These highlands are hills rather than mountains. Nowhere in Paraguay does...
Flying from England to Paraguay
The flight from England to Paraguay is something I have taken numerous times over the years. And equally often in the opposite direction. These were of course all pre COVID and so everything mentioned in this article refers to pre pandemic times. It may be a little...