Vacation--Paraguay!

Hola and Hello from Paraguay!  We're here visiting Ramon's family.  He's been working very hard and it's vacation time! 

We were so thankful for an uneventful trip with no problems!  This time we flew on Qatar Airways and can recommend it.  The main thing we love about it is that we didn't have to go through India!  We flew straight from Kathmandu to Doha where I saw this for sale:

I said, "Oh, look Ramon!"  He said, "No way!"  :)  I tried to lift one, but couldn't and Ramon wouldn't try :) so I had to leave it behind!  :)

I did buy this book which is as interesting as it seems it might be!

Partway through the flight I woke up and looked out the window.  We were flying over the desert just north of Khartoum and this is what it looks like!

It looks like there are desert crop circles, doesn't it?

Here is Sao Paulo from the plane, where we had a layover.

When we landed in Asuncion, around midnight, there was a singing group playing some nice music.  The lead singer had a really good voice.  Ramon was disappointed that they were actually playing Mexican music and not Paraguayan music.  Oh well!  People like me wouldn't know unless someone told us! 

Sometimes there is someone playing a harp, which is really nice too.

Anyway, we've been having a lovely time resting, visiting with family and friends, and of course eating!  We heard that one of the grocery stores had a shipment of food from America that had just arrived and we headed over.

What fun!  We have gone twice already and may go again!

One of my favorite places here in Asuncion is where there are twin malls side by side.  We find ourselves there often!  The tables you see here are at the little confectionery called Sugar--the place I have mentioned before with the most amazing hot chocolate EVER!  (Their secret ingredient is ice cream!!!)  However, this time of year (it's hot!) I tried their chocolate milkshake and it was good too!

Speaking of it being hot, brings to mind that as far as I can tell, Paraguay jumps from Winter right into Summer!  I mean it is Spring, but the weather feels like Summer!  When we got here it was coolish--long sleeves and actually quite nice and then--from one day to the next:  BAM!  It was HOT and HUMID!  I was sweating like I was back in Curacao!  This meant I didn't have enough short sleeved shirts so I got to go shopping!  However, it will be getting cold when we get back to Nepal, so I won't be able to wear them there for awhile.  I'll enjoy the heat while I can!  I haven't complained about being too hot because I told Ramon (during the very cold winter in Nepal) to shoot me if I ever complained about being too hot again!  :)  

One nice thing is that watermelon is in season right now and Paraguayan watermelons are REALLY good!

Ramon has always told me that I have a VERY thick American accent when I try to speak Spanish and even when I say, "Gracias" or even "Si" for that matter I'm very noticeably American.  Well, today we were coming out of a frozen yogurt shop and a man coming in held the door open for us.  I said, "Gracias" in my very best Spanish and he said, "That's OK" in English!  When Ramon said, "Gracias" he answered, "Da nada" in Spanish.  Well, I guess I haven't improved my Spanish AT ALL!

Anyway, after this, as we ate our yogurt on the little patio you see here, we saw these taxis across the street and it reminded us of something funny.

  

On my first trip here, Ramon asked me not to talk while inside a taxi (because of my thick accent).  Well, when you shop here, because so many people walk or ride buses/taxis, stores have cubbies or lockers just inside (or outside) the front door for bags from other stores.  Well, one time when we got into a taxi I suddenly remembered that we had forgotten to pick up our other bags so I had to talk.  "Ramon, our bags!"  "What?"  "Our bags!  We forgot our other bags."  "Oh yes."  He headed back to the entrance of the store.  The taxi driver looked back at me and said in Spanish, "You an American?"  Of course, I had to admit, "Si."  He reached up to the meter and turned it to US $2.00 (which was more than the fare home).  It wasn't much, but I thought, "Well, now I know why Ramon doesn't want me to talk!"  Then Ramon got back to the car, got in and started talking in Guarani (the other official language of Paraguay).  The driver reached back up to the meter and turned it down to US $0.20--yes, 20 cents!!!       Isn't that funny?  Well, I guess my accent hasn't improved any since then, and it probably never will.  

That's all for now!  I'd better go and practice some Spanish!  Have a nice day and God bless!  

Adios!