Weird things seen in Paraguay...

This is in a place called "Parque de Salud" or health park.  It has really great advice like this all over the place.  This one says, "when you consume chicken, remove the skin to cook."  I run in this park and I'm so happy to be receiving such good advice.

Seen at a discount store in the open air market.  Although it feels like it might be Norway weather here right now, I'm not sure why this is here.

Many restrooms have this sign, which says to put your paper in the can. (the septic system can't handle paper, you always put it in the trash here, and everywhere I have ever been in Latin America).  This one is just odd because of the visual.  

Best advice I've had yet.

                                                                  

?

The thing is, all the toilet paper here is 1 ply.  and scratchy.

This wouldn't be that weird on it's own, but it was in a beef shop.

Our house!

Click  to get a tour of our house!

Adventuring out of the city-Cerro Lambare and Aregua

We took a trip to the outskirts of Asuncion to the neighborhood of Lambare.  There is a large hill (cerro) where you can see the city and the river.



View from Cerro Lambare.

 

A pink Lapacho blossom.  These trees blossom in the winter time all over the city.  They come in white, purple, and pink, but we mostly see pink ones.

 

The River Parana from Cerro Lambare.

The monument on top of Cerro Lambare.

 

 

This weekend, we traveled to the town of Aregua, about 25 kilometers from Asuncion, on Lake Ypacarai.  They have a strawberry festival happening. They are also known for their pottery.  We walked around town, bought some pots to start a container garden on our balcony, checked out the lake, and went to the festival.  We ate strawberry ice cream, strawberry cake, strawberry jam, and drank strawberry liquor.  We also brought home several pounds of strawberries!

On the shore of Lake Ypacarai

Strawberry fields in Aregua

Pottery on the streets of Aregua

Boats on the lake shore

Strawberry festival

 

 

Photos from Paraguay

 

 

 

A more typical plate of food would be overflowing with beef.  Pastas are also quite popular.
 

Ridding the bus seems to be an ideal way to get around town.

Buses can be hailed from anywhere, they are inexpensive, and run frequently.  The downsides: they have no schedule, no route maps and will not always come to a complete stop when you want to get off.

 

 

 

Mercado Quatro is the city's largest market and in typical fashion sells just about everything.

 

Live birds

 

 

 

Fish

 

Chaco-I is a small community across the river from Asuncion - pretty much a polar opposite.

 

This puma chased me for about 10km before it lost interest and decided to eat this little critter.

 

 

 

Things to appreciate

Working at a private school with students who have many advantages in life is a very different experience for me.  I am continually surprised at how things work here, mostly because it's so different than what I am used to.  There are some things that are quite frustrating, but for now at least, the surprises are turning out to be mostly positive!  Here are some things to appreciate:

1.  I get 80 minutes of planning a day.  My fellow teachers will appreciate this as a luxury.
2. Every Wednesday for 45 minutes we have a "fun" period.  This is where students are organized into teams and play sports.  No academics.  I watched them yesterday play soccer, basketball, volleyball, and dodge ball for a full 45 minutes.  None of the kids opted out, there was no fighting or arguing, and they were having a blast.  Not having to spend every second on "instructional time" is refreshing to say the least.
3. On top of Wednesday fun, I teach a 45 minute cooking class every Friday.  We're making chocolate chip cookies tomorrow!
4. Back to school night last night was standing room only.
5.  Parents email me back when I write them.
6. I can give homework and kids turn it in.  So far, I'm at 100% turn in rate.
7.  My colleagues, both American and Paraguayan, are hard-working people who truly care about kids.
8. I get to walk to school and home every day instead of sitting in traffic.
9. My students are sweet and polite to each other and to me.  I've gotten at least one hug per day since school started.
10.  85% of my students are at grade level in reading.

Teaching is a marathon, not a sprint, which I often have to remind myself.  I have to come back to this list when I'm struggling to get through the days...probably around November :)  I'm exhausted from all the changes in our lives right now and from the start of a new school year, but I'm content to be right where I am.