There were more people at the bus stop when I was going to work on Tuesday. I also noticed an army truck with benches (really, they were nice lawn benches) in the back and I thought, "That sure would be dangerous if they got in a wreck."
I went to work and the normal workers were not at the site. Strange. I went to the yard gate on the guard mentioned something about the workers' bus being late. Come to find out, some of the bus lines were on strike. The standard bus fare is 2000 Guarani, but, it costs the bus companies 2600 Guarani for each passenger. The government subsidizes the bus fares that 600G and they hadn't paid in a while. The bus companies were owed $2 Million dollars by the government. The government was willing to pay it in installments or, if the bus companies bought new buses, they would pay it all at once. The bus companies didn't like that and went on strike. Some bus lines were running, but, there were not near the same amount of buses. The military is using duce and a halfs (2-1/2 ton trucks) to transport people along the bus lines to help.
There are varying opinions from the locals. Some say it will only last a day and others say it will last two weeks. We'll see.
The "strike" only lasted a day. It's hard to call it a strike because it was more like a work stoppage. The buses went back to normal on Wednesday.
I pass by some very interesting brickwork on the way to work. I have not seen so many angles made with brick.
The weather has been cool with high in the 60's and lows in the low 40's. The sun comes up at 6am and goes down at 6pm. It's still winter down here. We are expecting things to warm up to the 80's next week. There are some blossoms in the trees and some are losing leaves.
Good news is that my son, John, and daughter, Anabeth, are on a plane coming down to live with me. We plan to send them to the Asuncion Christian Academy which has a US student schedule and are accredited in the USA. They are 17 and 15. They've flown a fair amount and know how to get around airports well.
It was a long flight for them and the layover in Sao Paulo was tricky. At least they were able to tie in to WiFi and Skype. They arrived at 1400 and made it through customs. As normal with an overnight flight, they didn't get much sleep on the plane. They were in bed by 8pm.
We bought SIM cards for their phones as soon as we could. They have plans that cost around $30 per month. The main reasons for the phones are communications around here, Google Maps and Google Translate. You can speak into Translate in English and it will come out verbally in Spanish.
We went to Mercado 4 yesterday and then walked down to the Lido Bar where they have great empanadas, fish soup, and fried fish. I stay away from the soup because of polluted waterways, but, the locals say it is real good.
We walked back to the apartment in the early afternoon and rested a little before going out again. We had to get passport photos for the kids school and went to a coffee shop to wait for the photos.
One very nice thing about the restaurants and coffee shops here is that they do not care how long you stay at a table. You will not be forced out of your table even if there is a crowd waiting to come in.
I called one of the best taxi drivers here, Ruben, and he brought us around in the evening. He speaks some English and has been driving taxis for twenty years with no accidents. The kids have his number and can call him to get where they need to know.
We ate at La Paulista which is a Brazilian style restaurant. We arrived at just before 8pm and there were a few people sitting at the tables. For the most part, Paraguayos like to start eating from 8 to 11 in the evening. There is a buffet with fruits and vegetables and another with deserts. A few minutes after you sit down, the waiters come with skewers of roasted sausage, rib eye, chicken, roasts, pork, and all kind of meats. The style is translated as "Running Waiters" because the waiters come at you constantly until you have to say, "NO MAS!".
My favorite was the roasted pineapple. They cut the outer skin off of the pineapple and cover the pińa with a light coating of sugar and cinnamon, then they roast it over the fire. The outer part of this is cut 1/4 inch thick and it produced one of the most succulent things I ever ate.
I went to work and the normal workers were not at the site. Strange. I went to the yard gate on the guard mentioned something about the workers' bus being late. Come to find out, some of the bus lines were on strike. The standard bus fare is 2000 Guarani, but, it costs the bus companies 2600 Guarani for each passenger. The government subsidizes the bus fares that 600G and they hadn't paid in a while. The bus companies were owed $2 Million dollars by the government. The government was willing to pay it in installments or, if the bus companies bought new buses, they would pay it all at once. The bus companies didn't like that and went on strike. Some bus lines were running, but, there were not near the same amount of buses. The military is using duce and a halfs (2-1/2 ton trucks) to transport people along the bus lines to help.
There are varying opinions from the locals. Some say it will only last a day and others say it will last two weeks. We'll see.
The "strike" only lasted a day. It's hard to call it a strike because it was more like a work stoppage. The buses went back to normal on Wednesday.
I pass by some very interesting brickwork on the way to work. I have not seen so many angles made with brick.
The weather has been cool with high in the 60's and lows in the low 40's. The sun comes up at 6am and goes down at 6pm. It's still winter down here. We are expecting things to warm up to the 80's next week. There are some blossoms in the trees and some are losing leaves.
Good news is that my son, John, and daughter, Anabeth, are on a plane coming down to live with me. We plan to send them to the Asuncion Christian Academy which has a US student schedule and are accredited in the USA. They are 17 and 15. They've flown a fair amount and know how to get around airports well.
It was a long flight for them and the layover in Sao Paulo was tricky. At least they were able to tie in to WiFi and Skype. They arrived at 1400 and made it through customs. As normal with an overnight flight, they didn't get much sleep on the plane. They were in bed by 8pm.
We bought SIM cards for their phones as soon as we could. They have plans that cost around $30 per month. The main reasons for the phones are communications around here, Google Maps and Google Translate. You can speak into Translate in English and it will come out verbally in Spanish.
We walked back to the apartment in the early afternoon and rested a little before going out again. We had to get passport photos for the kids school and went to a coffee shop to wait for the photos.
One very nice thing about the restaurants and coffee shops here is that they do not care how long you stay at a table. You will not be forced out of your table even if there is a crowd waiting to come in.
I called one of the best taxi drivers here, Ruben, and he brought us around in the evening. He speaks some English and has been driving taxis for twenty years with no accidents. The kids have his number and can call him to get where they need to know.
We ate at La Paulista which is a Brazilian style restaurant. We arrived at just before 8pm and there were a few people sitting at the tables. For the most part, Paraguayos like to start eating from 8 to 11 in the evening. There is a buffet with fruits and vegetables and another with deserts. A few minutes after you sit down, the waiters come with skewers of roasted sausage, rib eye, chicken, roasts, pork, and all kind of meats. The style is translated as "Running Waiters" because the waiters come at you constantly until you have to say, "NO MAS!".
1 comment:
What kind of fire did they use? Charcoal? We need to figure out how to do that for ourselves. I just showed it to JoLynn. She said I bet that is delicious. Well, we need to find out first hand.
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