I had the awesome opportunity to visit 2 of my good friends in Encarnacion this past weekend. They too are volunteers but it was only after I spent a little time here in the city that I really realized how accustomed I had become to rural life.
The grocery stores were huge with a dozen or more aisles. I was mesmerized and I could have spent an hour there just looking at all the products and thinking about what I could cook.
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| My grocery store. |
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| Encarn grocery store (not actual photo but you get the idea) |
Then there was the pizza. Most pizza in Paraguay is terribly disappointing. Especially in the campo where the crust is prebought and is more like bread and the topping was usually queso paraguayo (homemade very distinct tasting cheese and what amounts to mystery meat bologna) Even in the cities the pizza from restaurants would be laughable if you got it in the states. This excludes Bendo's Pizza
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| Pizza Win. |
What was even more incredible? That it could be DELIVERED.
Check out my facebook for night life photos.
All in all, there was a difference in lifestyle, income, education, sophistication, everything. I spent a part of my last evening walking along a super clean, groomed boardwalk along the beach watching the sunset as couples and families strolled by. There were people biking, running, rollerblading, and skaters in a skate park, it was kinda trippy to me. It was like strolling the Shanghai Bund (not that fancy but you get the idea) or Fisherman's wharf in SF(actually Encarn's boardwalk was nicer) I was so used to my community. The weekend was a blast, got to watch my friend, the Epic Rob Watson do some of his legendary work as well as some legendary bro time that included eating at awesome restaurants, meeting new people and visiting some raging night spots. There is so much more to say about Encarn but I am way to lazy to do it right now so we will see. Below are some pics.
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| Waiting at the bus stop outside my site. |
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| A Chipa vendor on my bus. It was sooo good. |
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| I sell ice cream: like a boss. |
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| Best pizza I have had in PY. Mexican and Italian Garlic were our choices. |
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| Small rock concert. Good music! |
