Living in Asuncion
I never imagined myself living in another city but Asuncion, never wanted, never thought about, never needed…It is strange how life works…one is never happy about its own situation, who live there want out, who is away want to go back to live there…
Anyway…what I certainly most miss about Paraguay or in this case Asuncion is the way you go around and do things, the pace of living there, the agro feria on tuesdays, the zillions of Pharmacies around the city, the creativity of people trying to earn some money on the streets (car watchers, terere set renters, empanada stands, parking ticket sellers, quiniela sellers, windshield cleaners, gum and candies sellers on the street lights or inside the buses, etc), the coffee houses, the breaks, the chats, the text messaging, the friends, the community, the laid back attitude, the terere, the unexpected visits, the dinners, the lido bar food, the mate cocido , the super centro ambience, the “despensas”, the malls, the short distances, the tropical rains, the mercado 4, and the eternal sunshine …
Asuncion has a good size, it lays in the border of a small town and a chaotic big city.
Downtown is pretty easy to tour around and mostly all banks and shops and restaurants even public offices are nearby, and its easy to remember the streets and the patterns. Most blocks are square and there are a few main streets. Calle Palma, Estrella and Oliva are the main streets of downtown.
The days are full of different things to see or do, now that our Municipal theather is open again after 10 years we even can see operas and a lot of new plays, arts is growing in Paraguay, there are many talented artists in town, new and more activities everyday.
People go out a lot even during week days because there is always something going on in Asuncion…
November 14th, 2007 at 4:00 pm
Hola Muna,
Allow me to add to your list of wonderful things about downtown Asuncion. I like the craft vendors; in stores, in stalls, on sidewalks, and in the streets. I also like the clean streets. If you get up early enough you can see an army of jumpsuited men and women with a broom and wheelbarrow out sweeping the streets, picking up the thrash, getting things tidy for awhile. Oh and the bookstores, must be a dozen in the downtown area. Two things I don’t like about the downtown area is the noisy, smelly buses constantly rumbling by and the ugliness that is the old Hotel Guarani.
Peace,
Terry
November 14th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
Hola Terry
It seems you know Asuncion well, its like describing it to me…maybe there is not much to see, but there is a lot to observe, things you wont find anywhere else (I have travelled a lot and can tell) and I love your new additions to the wonderful things about downtown Asuncion, also you can see old and abandonated building, and some destroyed colonial houses and that is a terrible crime for me, those buildings are just awesome and part of our history, it is a pity…and as you said the smelly buses are a bad asset, but you know for me the ugliness of the Asuncion icon what someday was the hotel guarani nowadays just means a representation of the decadence that is reflected by the ugliness and abandonment, but obviously it is a major problem that comes from above, from the Government per se and all the rotten surrounding things, the Hotel Guarani now as is, its just a image of the present 2007 Asuncion…We are awating better days for sure.
It is always great see you commenting, Saluditos.