Hello, everyone!
Welcome to the summer 2018 leg of our South America journey. Actually, it’s winter in South America, so maybe I should say welcome to the winter 2018 leg of the journey.
Continue reading “1: On the Road Again..”2: Prepping for the Ties Trip
The next few days were spent running errands, prepping for the adoption trip, and dealing with the car. Tracy had some work to do for this trip, including confirming reservations for some of the activities. There are definitely some cultural differences between the U.S. and Paraguay when it comes to planning. Many Paraguayans don’t think a request is serious if it is made months in advance. They are used to working more in real time. So, Tracy has to constantly follow-up with hotels, restaurants, artisans, etc to make sure she is still on their schedule.
Continue reading “2: Prepping for the Ties Trip”3: A City Tour and an Action Movie
As I mentioned in a previous post, the first major activity of the trip was the adoption tour. There was a welcome dinner on Saturday night and then things got down to business on Sunday. Tracy’s daughter Maliya played guitar and sang for the group during dinner.
The first activity on Sunday was a tour of Loma San Jeronimo, which is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the capital city of Asuncion. The neighborhood was restored a few years ago and the residents are very proud of it. The area is very colorful and picturesque. The neighborhood’s local tourism group insisted they be a part of our tour to provide as much background information as possible, as well as generate some revenue for the neighborhood.
Continue reading “3: A City Tour and an Action Movie”4: Asuncion City Tour
Monday was Asuncion city tour day. Downtown Asuncion is small enough to be explored on foot, but avoid driving there if you can.
Sites included:
- The House of Independence, where secret meetings were held to plan emancipation from Spanish rule.
5: A Sampling of Culture
Tuesday was an exciting day.
The first stop was a harp makers workshop. The harp is the national instrument of Paraguay and the harps handcrafted in Paraguay sell all over the world. It is a huge point of pride for the country.
Not surprisingly, the harp maker was not there when we arrived and had to be called in by his team. It took some convincing, but Tracy was able to get one of his assistants to answer some questions about the process of creating the harps. All of the harps are handcrafted by a small team of artisans. Even the detailed designs carved into the instruments are all done by hand.
Continue reading “5: A Sampling of Culture”