Paraguay is a land locked country in South America. Part of our family will be living there for the next three - five years! My brother-in-law and sister-in-law both work for the U.S. government. They work at the U.S. embassy in the capital of Asuncion. They have two little boys, both of whom are now fluent in Spanish! My nephews go to a school near their house where only Spanish is spoken. They like school and have made friends.
Since Paraguay is located in the Southern Hemisphere, their seasons are the opposite of ours. When we visited in December over our winter break, my nephews were on their summer break! It was hot, so we went swimming daily! Our summer, is their winter, so it's cooler with rain. But, it is never cold enough there to snow.
My husband and I enjoyed touring Asuncion with its' Spanish colonial architecture. For a weekend, we all traveled to the see the 17th century Jesuit missions. They built beautiful communities and taught the Guarani people (Natives of Paraguay) skills such as agriculture, architecture, carpentry, pottery, calligraphy and music. The Jesuits also saved the Guarani's native language by creating an alphabet and dictionary. The language still exists today. The Jesuits were to convert the Guarani to Christianity, but that did not work. Today, there are three large Jesuit ruins or "reductions" in the countryside. It was about a five hour car drive from Asuncion.
The pictures include beautiful buildings in Asuncion and some of the Jesuit ruins.
The Presidential Palace
A Jesuit ruin
The tomb of the unknown soldier, modeled after Hotel des Invalides in Paris, France.
Our family at a Jesuit ruin
Matte containers! Most people in Paraguay drink a tea called matte.
