encarnación, paraguay (part ii)

So, we set off for the second mission near Encarnación, Jesús de Tavarangue. We walked along a scenic road and along the highway for a bit before we found a bus that would take us down the next dirt road to the mission.

The bus was a trip in itself.

It really was a case of the journey being as enjoyable as the destination:

We saw several trucks and cars in this pretty blue that matched the bright Paraguayan sky:

When we finally reached the mission, we were the last ones on the bus:

This mission felt newer with neater stonework than the first one, and the doorways were beautiful.

It seemed like all it needed was a roof, and it could be a lovely place to worship again.

But we liked it most for its scenery. While La Santisima Trinidad del Parana was situated on an open expanse of lush green grass, the Jesús de Tavarangue was perched on a more dramatic hillside next to rolling hills with different shades of yellow-green, blue-green and our more standard Crayola green.

One of the best parts of seeing ruins is the openness, how the sky acts as the ceiling, and there are no doors or windows separating you from the nature outside.

After a peaceful picnic of ham and cheese sandwiches (all we seemed to eat in Paraguay), we said goodbye to the old mission and started our journey towards Argentina.

We crossed the border on foot from Ciudad del Este and made our way towards Iguazu falls. At this intersection of Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil, it was a mob of buses, people and vendors.

And Pringles.

And soon, we were leaving Paraguay and entering Argentina.

encarnación, paraguay (part i)

Being a graduate student, living in a dorm and traveling are great ways to avoid real life, but I'm really excited to start real life now. Hence this crazy swirly celebratory orange new blog. I'm also streamlining, and "monchichi and the serendipity berries" sounds kind of like a rock band for kids with big vocabularies, but serendipity berries is simpler. So, back the blog roots and where it all started.

Now, back to the travels.

So, while Asunción is Paraguay's official capital, Encarnación is both the country's Carnival (read: party) capital and where its most famous historic missions are located. With a population of about 75,000, it is also the nation's eighth largest city. (Yay, random factoids.) And like Asunción, Encarnación has great sidewalks:

And thermoses everywhere:

But the main reason we went to Encarnación was because my history-buff partner had to see these missions in nearby Trinidad that were 300-500 years old, so off we went on more bus rides through the Paraguayan countryside.






The bus dropped us off at a random point on the one-lane highway, and we walked down a scenic road (they weren't big on signage) until we got to the end, which led to a small path to the first mission.

There was a small UNESCO sign that said Misión Jesuítica Guarani de La Santisima Trinidad del Parana, but otherwise, it just looked a large grass lawn with a few palm trees.

As we approached, we began to see rows of red arches.

We were the only ones there, aside from one other couple we saw maybe half an hour later, and we walked across a giant lawn to reach this red stone watchtower. We were happy to discover we could go inside and climb up to the top, and we were rewarded with great panoramic views of the grounds.

It was nice that they let us walk about freely and get as close to all the structures as we wanted, too.

Most of the detailed carvings on the walls were in really good shape, and many of the freestanding sculptures looked great, too.

It's funny to compare these with buildings in California, for example, that were built in the 1960s, and people are saying things like, "Well, that building is so old, it'll have to be torn down soon." Or when we were looking for a place to live, and people would say things like, "Well, what do you expect? This was built in 1970!" Ha!

Well, this post has gotten quite long, so I'll stop here. Hope you're having a good day, and I'll finish up with the other mission near Encarnación next time.

asunción, paraguay

Back to the travels! It feels like ancient history now, but I'd still like to share some of what we discovered. We started our South America trip with Paraguay, which is not an obvious destination but is definitely an agreeable way to pass a few weeks (or however long you have).

Paraguay doesn't boast many tourist destinations, its cities are tiny (and bus rides between them long), and even the food isn't something to write home about, BUT the people are lovely, the music and crafts are unique and lovingly created, the architecture is charmingly colonial and vibrantly colored, and there seemed to be no tourists anywhere. (Unless you count the Argentines, who cross the border to shop because goods are cheaper in Paraguay.)

When we arrived in Asunción, we liked that the airport and city were so small, we could just walk out of the airport and hop on a bus to the downtown.

And one can't help but love a country in which everyone carries their own thermos of tea around with them (hot for winter and iced for summer). Since thermoses are so ubiquitous, you can personalize and find just the one to suit you.

Here are some colorful doilies I've never seen anywhere else:

There are random murals everywhere, like in this park:

Even the sidewalks seemed to have personality:

We enjoyed just wandering around:

It just seemed like everything sparkled with quirk and life. Even our snacks were charming. Here's what a fruit salad and ham and cheese toast look like:

Here's their lovely senate building:

There's a neat blend of old and new in the culture, as nicely embodied in this old red brick mission-turned-mirrored-glass-office building downtown:

And the long bus rides are made palatable by a constant offering of food. When you board the bus, when the bus stops, and at random intervals, people will appear out of nowhere and either sidle up alongside the bus or board the bus with baskets of chipa (chewy, cheesy bread-- yum), sweet pastries, fruits, sandwiches and sometimes even little take-out boxes of meat and rice.

And you can say what you like, but the Irish presence in South America cannot be denied: