A trip to Yaguaron

Yaguaron is a small city about 50 kilometers outside of Asuncion.  It started as a Franciscan Mission and had the original name of Jaguarú, which comes from the Guarani language, and means an enormous dog or jaguar that was believed to roam the region in the Guarani mythology.  The town has a beautiful church, full of Baroque artwork from the time of the mission, around 1640.   The dictator known as "El Supremo," Jose Rodriguez de Francia was also born here in 1766.

We took a trip with other teachers to the church and to the top of Yaguaron hill, where you can see several of the surrounding towns.  Views from above are rare in Paraguay, so this was a rare treat!

 

 

 

Weird things seen in Paraguay part 2

These boxers were for sale in the market.  (the black thing is a hanger!)

Balloons?  Nope.  Intestines.

Having fun yet? 

This huge lighter will last us the whole two years we are here.

This shirt was $3, so of course, we bought it.

This store sells children's clothing.

Turns out you can only buy clothes here, not men. 

Jesuit mission ruins, yerba mate, boardwalk strolling...Spring Break 2013!

For our four day Spring Break weekend, we went with some friends on a bus 5 hours South to a town on the Rio Parana, which separates Paraguay and Argentina.  We visited the ruins left by the Jesuit missionaries when they were expelled from Paraguay for not bowing to the demands of the Spanish government.  We also visited a yerba production plant, hung out at the beach, spent time on the "costenera," and visited Argentina for the day.



This meat hanging in the butcher shop like this is pretty common-they put the best cuts out for people to see and entice them to come in.



This is the town centerpiece of Bella Vista, Paraguay . That's a giant guampa, the cup you drink yerba mate or terere (cold yerba) out of.  

Even Santa enjoys Yerba!



This is the beach on the river at Bella Vista.  Argentina is just across the river.  We had the beach to ourselves and enjoyed some wine and a great sunset.





This is chipa.  I thought I hated chipa, until I tried chipa "caliente."  The chipa vendors get on the bus with baskets full of this warm, chessy, gooey, bread for 25 cents and there is no point in resisting!





This is across the river in Posadas, Argentina where we were waiting for a parade that never came.  So we drank some beer instead.





The boardwalk at Encarnacion, looking across at Posadas, Argentina.



The church in Encarnacion with one of the last pink lapacho trees of the season.





The Jesuit ruins-This one is called "Trinidad."  It was once home to over 4.000 Guarani Indians and Jesuit priests until it was abandoned in 1768. 



Our transportation between the different ruins.  Cobblestone streets + tuk tuks (or mototaxi in Spanish) made for a bumpy ride.



While in Posadas, we saw this kiddie train that was giving rides up and down the boardwalk.  We paid the driver 100 mil (about $20 US) to give us a ride and not let any kids on, effectively creating our very own party train.



Iguazu Falls National Park, Argentina

Last weekend, a group of 13 of us rented some mini vans and drove across Paraguay to the "Triple Frontera," the place where Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina meet.  At the Argentina/Brazil border is this national park, one of the "new" 7 wonders of the world.  Most of us participated in the 2nd annual half marathon or 10k run and then spent the rest of the weekend viewing the waterfalls.  We had our first successful driving adventure in Paraguay without any major mishaps.  The photos can't capture the roar of the falls or the mist on your face or the amazing site of thousands of gallons of water flowing over the rocks, but here they are!

Spider monkey

Our new teacher group at the entrance to "The Devils Throat"

At the Devils Throat viewing platform

This was a sign warning you not to feed the coatis or other animals.  We're not really sure what this picture was all about.

Photos from a trip south of Asuncion

 A river beach near the town of Villa Floridia, a popular vacation destination on the banks of the Tebicuary River.

 A more remote estuary near the town of Paso de Patria and the confluence of the Paraguay and Parana rivers.

The cemetery in Paso de Patria. Small towns in Paraguay often feature an impressive cemetery, park, war museum and little else.  Cows and chickens are abundant.

 The bridge to Villa Florida.  Burning of trash and ag waste,while quite unpleasant often enhances the sunsets and can create an "Apocalypse Now" sort of ambiance.

Stingray

Photos from my cooking class!

We made chocolate "no bake cookies" this week! Here are some pictures of my little chefs: