Paraguay... Out of the way?
Before the Christmas break, I went to Cotacachi with my friend, Kara. We were hitting up all the stores in the pursuit of some authentic, Ecuadorian leather goods-- chaquetas and botas. I ended up walking away with a few pairs of shoes/boots and a new, black leather jacket... because somehow my old leather jacket went missing during summer break. At one point in the day, we stopped at a tienda to get some supplies. I began with the customary "Buenas tardes" and proceeded with asking for what I needed. The girl immediately responded to me in English, which is when I looked up and realized she was a gringa. I was so thrown off, I didn't even know how to respond so I am pretty sure I said a couple more words in Spanish before stuttering in my native tongue. We walked out, and Kara turned to me and said, "Next time, I want you to respond in German." Had I been a purely monolingual tourist from North America, I probably would have been ecstatic. But this is something I have been noticing more and more since this past summer. Gringo tourists coming to Spanish-speaking countries without having the most minimal basics in Spanish. When I went to Machu Picchu, I was sitting at a table adjacent to an American and he frustratingly repeated his order to the waiter in English, getting louder each time and showing distress in his forehead.
The assumption that I spoke English had zero basis. I was wearing nothing that indicated I spoke English. I walked in speaking Spanish. She should have just played along. It reminded me greatly about my time in Paraguay, where assuming the language spoken is a dangerous miscalculation.
Before going to Paraguay this past summer, I had one last stop in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. I spent nearly a week there, relaxing and recharging since I was beginning to feel emotionally and physically drained from city-hopping for the previous few weeks. Naturally, I had some transportation issues. I flew there from La Paz. As we were descending, I peered out the window to see clouds of smoke and dust plumes emerging from the Earth. It turns out there was a massive wildfire that was spreading. I tried my luck with getting a taxi to my hostel, but we ended up circling the parking lot once because there was no exit from the airport. After waiting nearly an hour while the military and firefighters fought the fire's encroachment to the airport entrance, I was finally on my way. Santa Cruz was a pretty interesting place to visit and I would definitely go back. I managed to visit the city's zoo. The entrance admission fee pays for the food and upkeep of the grounds, which I felt was more important than the actual visit itself. Reviews of the zoo outline the desperate conditions of the cages (literal cages) for the rescued animals, especially the large cats. Imagine seeing a jaguar in a cage 6' x 15'. Now, imagine that a dozen times.
I also managed to visit the botanical garden outside the city limits. This was my favorite part because I felt like I was escaping noise and distraction, and getting back in touch with nature and myself. The only downside to my visit was an entire school was visiting the park-- carelessly walking over the grounds, playing games in the gardens, shouting uncontrollably, and generating piles of trash even though trash cans were nearby. One girl approached me asking for a photo and I replied (in Spanish) that I was a tourist, not an exhibit. After trekking many of the trails open to visitors, I spent a good ten minutes cleaning up the waste carelessly left behind, and put it in the proper receptacles.
After a week, I left Santa Cruz at the end of July and flew to Asunción, Paraguay.
I always get nervous entering another country for the first time. Each nation has its own immigration cards and procedures. The immigration officers are clearly under-stimulated and get frustrated when their flow is disrupted. I knew that my tourist visa to Paraguay would cost a pretty penny ($160, good for 10 years). As I departed the plane, I quickly made my way for the immigration counters because I wasn't sure of how long the process would take and I wanted to be first in line. Well, I was. Until the officer gave me some inane look and spoke to me like I lacked common sense. The visa counter, of which I was the only person out of two flights that needed to visit, was around a corner, concealed from plain view. And no signs to indicate its location. Another thirty minutes later, I made it through immigration and exchanged money for the Paraguayan Guarani. Talk about money that is difficult to figure out. The current exchange rate is $1 USD = 5796₲ PYG. At the time it was closer to 5500₲ PYG. Don't get me started on what it's like to have bills that say "100,000" and then have to make mental conversions to figure out "how much I'm really spending." Luckily, I met some Peace Corps volunteers from the USA who helped me with this dilemma.
The coolest and most helpful part about meeting the Peace Corps volunteers was they gave me a lowdown on Paraguay... and thank goodness because I hadn't done/been able to do much research on this less traveled country.
Paraguay has two official languages. About 90% of the people speak Guarani, and about 87% Spanish. This is why my recent trip to Cotacachi made me think about this strange yet beautiful land. The entire time, I had only Spanish to rely on. It wasn't a guarantee that someone I'd approach would be able to understand and/or respond back. And the volunteers made sure to point out that Paraguayos are not that impressed with gringos speaking Spanish.
There are also not many attractions tourists can find with ease. Paraguay ranks 166th in the world for percent of contributions to GDP from tourism. When you consider there are only about 195 countries in the world (depending on your source and personal belief), this isn't shocking. Paraguay also is ranked third to last in South America for GDP, ahead of the Guyanas. I expected this. Pope Francis visited three of the poorest economies in South America in July 2015: Ecuador, then Bolivia, and lastly Paraguay. What I was not expecting was the disparity between the wealthy and poor. In a country where the minimum wage is $250 USD, there were high-rise hotels with rooms that cost that much or more (compare this to around $350 USD in Ecuador). The number of luxury cars I saw shocked me, too.
For only having less than 96 hours, I needed to capitalize on my time. I couldn't decide between going to Encarnación or Ciudad del Este. From my research and the knowledge of my new-found friends, Encarnación would be safer to be and have more options for activities. My first morning, I navigated across Asunción to the bus terminal that would deliver me to my next destination. Like an idiot, I went with the first coopertiva that hollered at me. This bus was soooooo rundown. The bathroom appeared to me as a CSI crime scene. And it stopped more often than Ecuadorian buses do. The bus, designed to carry 50 passengers, probably exchanged close to 125 people over the eight hour bus ride.
The main (maybe only?) tourist attraction near the city are these Jesuit ruins. I made a new friend, Christine, at my hostel and we decided to venture to them together. For a UNESCO World Heritage Site, they are neither the easiest to get to nor the easiest to move between. There are three sites, and some people will say it is possible to visit all three in one day. This is true... if you have your own vehicle. By buses and random taxis, not at all. These ruins are both mundane and surreal. The vastness of the properties these sit on were a lot smaller than I imagined, and the ruins themselves are not that interesting (despite the color of the bricks and stone being striking and oddly memorable). These ruins must be the least visited UNESCO site because we saw a total of, like, five other people including someone we met (Theresa) while figuring out how to get to the second site.
It was surreal visiting the ruins. These large stone structures that are in various stages of despair, sprinkled in these vast fields. It made me curious as to how many people would be walking around these "villages" and how many people actually walked-in to do commerce or observe religious days. This was also the second time I was exposed to the Jesuits in this trip, where the first was in Cusco. In the late 1700's, the Jesuits were expelled from Paraguay by the Spaniards, leading to the natural decay of these buildings. With one church in particular, it actually crumbled under its own weight. I guess that's what happens when you don't apply physics.
I had spent basically one day traveling to get to Encarnación, one day getting to-from the Jesuit ruins, and my third day getting back to Asunción. I spent the remainder of my time at the same hostel I originally checked into when first arriving. In one morning and afternoon, I searched the entire "central district" for tourist attractions posted on TripAdvisor and the maps provided at my hostel. Suffice it to say, I did not find anything. Or if I did, it was closed or had moved across the city someplace else. Amid being the only gringo walking around and getting strange looks from Paraguayos, I gave up on trying to search. Paraguay is not setup for tourism, at least in the easy sense. I am sure that those who truly feel a calling to visit this country are hardcore travelers and/or somehow have connections to those living here. One of my former students was shocked when I told her I was going to Paraguay... she has family there and she wasn't even that crazy about it. It's kind of like when people tell me they're going to Wisconsin and my first reaction is, "why?" Don't get me wrong, it was a beautiful landscape, but this may have not been the country for me.
After this, I was off to Santiago, Chile and Easter Island. The previous five weeks, including Paraguay, were exhausting and traveling alone began to wear on my soul. But that's another story.
What will always stand out in my memories of both Santa Cruz and Paraguay is the street art and the beauty I was able to find. While I may definitely go back to Santa Cruz, Paraguay will remain only in my history.
The assumption that I spoke English had zero basis. I was wearing nothing that indicated I spoke English. I walked in speaking Spanish. She should have just played along. It reminded me greatly about my time in Paraguay, where assuming the language spoken is a dangerous miscalculation.
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia
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| The Wildfire on the Opposite Side of the Street from the Airport |
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| One of my favorite photos from Santa Cruz, taken at the Botanical Garden |
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| Another one of my favorite photos from Santa Cruz, taken at the Botanical Garden |
After a week, I left Santa Cruz at the end of July and flew to Asunción, Paraguay.
Paraguay
I always get nervous entering another country for the first time. Each nation has its own immigration cards and procedures. The immigration officers are clearly under-stimulated and get frustrated when their flow is disrupted. I knew that my tourist visa to Paraguay would cost a pretty penny ($160, good for 10 years). As I departed the plane, I quickly made my way for the immigration counters because I wasn't sure of how long the process would take and I wanted to be first in line. Well, I was. Until the officer gave me some inane look and spoke to me like I lacked common sense. The visa counter, of which I was the only person out of two flights that needed to visit, was around a corner, concealed from plain view. And no signs to indicate its location. Another thirty minutes later, I made it through immigration and exchanged money for the Paraguayan Guarani. Talk about money that is difficult to figure out. The current exchange rate is $1 USD = 5796₲ PYG. At the time it was closer to 5500₲ PYG. Don't get me started on what it's like to have bills that say "100,000" and then have to make mental conversions to figure out "how much I'm really spending." Luckily, I met some Peace Corps volunteers from the USA who helped me with this dilemma.
The coolest and most helpful part about meeting the Peace Corps volunteers was they gave me a lowdown on Paraguay... and thank goodness because I hadn't done/been able to do much research on this less traveled country.
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| In Central Asunción |
Paraguay has two official languages. About 90% of the people speak Guarani, and about 87% Spanish. This is why my recent trip to Cotacachi made me think about this strange yet beautiful land. The entire time, I had only Spanish to rely on. It wasn't a guarantee that someone I'd approach would be able to understand and/or respond back. And the volunteers made sure to point out that Paraguayos are not that impressed with gringos speaking Spanish.
There are also not many attractions tourists can find with ease. Paraguay ranks 166th in the world for percent of contributions to GDP from tourism. When you consider there are only about 195 countries in the world (depending on your source and personal belief), this isn't shocking. Paraguay also is ranked third to last in South America for GDP, ahead of the Guyanas. I expected this. Pope Francis visited three of the poorest economies in South America in July 2015: Ecuador, then Bolivia, and lastly Paraguay. What I was not expecting was the disparity between the wealthy and poor. In a country where the minimum wage is $250 USD, there were high-rise hotels with rooms that cost that much or more (compare this to around $350 USD in Ecuador). The number of luxury cars I saw shocked me, too.
For only having less than 96 hours, I needed to capitalize on my time. I couldn't decide between going to Encarnación or Ciudad del Este. From my research and the knowledge of my new-found friends, Encarnación would be safer to be and have more options for activities. My first morning, I navigated across Asunción to the bus terminal that would deliver me to my next destination. Like an idiot, I went with the first coopertiva that hollered at me. This bus was soooooo rundown. The bathroom appeared to me as a CSI crime scene. And it stopped more often than Ecuadorian buses do. The bus, designed to carry 50 passengers, probably exchanged close to 125 people over the eight hour bus ride.
The main (maybe only?) tourist attraction near the city are these Jesuit ruins. I made a new friend, Christine, at my hostel and we decided to venture to them together. For a UNESCO World Heritage Site, they are neither the easiest to get to nor the easiest to move between. There are three sites, and some people will say it is possible to visit all three in one day. This is true... if you have your own vehicle. By buses and random taxis, not at all. These ruins are both mundane and surreal. The vastness of the properties these sit on were a lot smaller than I imagined, and the ruins themselves are not that interesting (despite the color of the bricks and stone being striking and oddly memorable). These ruins must be the least visited UNESCO site because we saw a total of, like, five other people including someone we met (Theresa) while figuring out how to get to the second site.
It was surreal visiting the ruins. These large stone structures that are in various stages of despair, sprinkled in these vast fields. It made me curious as to how many people would be walking around these "villages" and how many people actually walked-in to do commerce or observe religious days. This was also the second time I was exposed to the Jesuits in this trip, where the first was in Cusco. In the late 1700's, the Jesuits were expelled from Paraguay by the Spaniards, leading to the natural decay of these buildings. With one church in particular, it actually crumbled under its own weight. I guess that's what happens when you don't apply physics.
I had spent basically one day traveling to get to Encarnación, one day getting to-from the Jesuit ruins, and my third day getting back to Asunción. I spent the remainder of my time at the same hostel I originally checked into when first arriving. In one morning and afternoon, I searched the entire "central district" for tourist attractions posted on TripAdvisor and the maps provided at my hostel. Suffice it to say, I did not find anything. Or if I did, it was closed or had moved across the city someplace else. Amid being the only gringo walking around and getting strange looks from Paraguayos, I gave up on trying to search. Paraguay is not setup for tourism, at least in the easy sense. I am sure that those who truly feel a calling to visit this country are hardcore travelers and/or somehow have connections to those living here. One of my former students was shocked when I told her I was going to Paraguay... she has family there and she wasn't even that crazy about it. It's kind of like when people tell me they're going to Wisconsin and my first reaction is, "why?" Don't get me wrong, it was a beautiful landscape, but this may have not been the country for me.
After this, I was off to Santiago, Chile and Easter Island. The previous five weeks, including Paraguay, were exhausting and traveling alone began to wear on my soul. But that's another story.
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| In Asunción, Paraguay |
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| In Asunción, Paraguay |
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