Day 9 – The Ascension (or Asuncion)

Day 9 – The Ascension (or Asuncion)

Today is a day of history and pictures, look or read as you see fit.

Our driver José picked us up at 9:30 to take us to Mass at the Asuncion Cathedral downtown and for a tour of the city. Mass was not until 11:00 so we got some introductory views of some of the snazzier parts of the city. We saw some elegant places where leading political figures lived and some historic sites (e.g. where the street battles took place during the coup of 1989 when the dictator was toppled). The American Embassy is expanding there in a major way, and apparently, America has a very good relationship with Paraguay.

I must say, that even in the snazzier parts of the city, the roads are EXTREMELY bumpy. Also, they are no big on Stop signs or traffic lights so each intersection is a bit of a guessing game as far as I can tell. Of course, major roads and intersections have such modern conveniences, but many of the downtown streets and neighborhood streets did not have any such traffic control at the intersections. As they say down here (with a bit of despondence), “It’s Paraguay.”

The Cathedral was nice, but not nearly as ornate as those in Europe or some other countries, including the US. It was completed in 1845, which is relatively recent given that the Spanish, who seemed to co-exist peacefully with the native Guarani Indians, arrived in the early 1500’s. The altar piece was very ornate, but there was no stained-glass windows to speak about, no rose window in the rear of the church and not much in the way of artwork.

After Mass, José continued with our tour to some areas that are very nice and some areas – how shall I say? – that are a work in progress … with some areas where the work hasn’t started yet and the progress is slow. There are some shanty towns in the heart of downtown, some around the government buildings and park areas. So, it is slightly uncomfortable, and we did not walk around as much as José drove us around explaining the city. He told of the difficult political/social situation for how to deal with some of the extreme poverty while not having too many government hand-outs. This seems to be the Paraguayan version of a common, global problem of wealth distribution, employment, social programs, taxes and all those inter-connected issues.

The building that houses the Paraguayan Congress.

Plywood shanties that line the streets right up to the edge of the
Congress building in the heart of downtown Asuncion.

The Presidential Palace where the President works but does not live.
There is a small park surrounding it and Bob and I were whistled
by the police to stay off the brown grass.

 We went to the open-air markets where shoddy booths were erected over a nine-block area selling vegetables, fruits, drinks, various wares, and in the case of the indigenous Indians, herbs, plants and roots for all sorts of health and medicinal purposes.

Eventually, we went to lunch at a traditional restaurant that was off the beaten path. It served lots of different cuts of beef (like a Brazilian restaurant that we might have in the US – you know Foga de Chao) along with a buffet of potatoes, vegetables and desserts. We ate way too much and had some cuts of beef that I have not had before. I am sure we were the only non-Paraguayan people in the place. It was lively and fun, and Bob got to practice lots of Spanish through this culinary immersion program.

After lunch, a little more touring, but honestly Asuncion is not a beautiful touring city – albeit an interesting city and country history. José told us much of the same history as I learned from Ariel, the day earlier at Grandma’s lunch. Independence in 1811; prosperous country; decimated by Argentina/Brazil/Uruguay in the mid-1800’s; 92% of men killed (only very young men and very old men were left); a 125-year path to re-population and emerging prosperity. We were off to the airport with a side stop at the South American headquarters for the football (i.e. soccer) confederation for South America. We parted amicably with José and took our flight to Buenos Aires. Now, we were in a race against time to get on the ground in BA and to an American bar to watch the Super Bowl.

We are with Jose at the headquarters of the South American Futbal Confederation.

We made it to a sports bar at half-time of the game (not sure it was particularly American, but the clientele was certainly interested in and familiar with American football). We ordered from the Super Bowl menu, which was a small piece of paper with a list of sandwiches that you could get with two drinks for $15US. What a deal.

Of course, the game was broadcast on ESPN Ocho so only Bob could understand every 5^th word of what the announcers were saying. AND it was boring and only something a New England fan could enjoy. AND, we got Argentinian commercial instead of the American commercials – although I read that the usually boisterous commercials were bland and were steering clear of ANYTHING that cold be construed as controversial or politically incorrect. Apparently, America has lost its ability to poke fun at itself and have a sense of humor.

We walked back to the hotel at midnight along well-lit streets and safe (and some familiar) surroundings. At least the temperatures were subsiding, and it was a pleasant walk back to the Algodon Mansion where we were staying.