It was cold last week_.  The temperature got down to 34 degrees Fahrenheit and the apartment got cold for a few days.  It appears that that was winter’s last hurrah.  We were in the upper 70’s today with a low of 60 and the skies are clear.

     I went for a walk to the main downtown mall with my coworker and we enjoyed a leisurely day.  It was a 7km (4.5 mile) walk round trip and quite enjoyable. They had massages in the mall where you kept your shirt on while getting a ten minute massage.  It was well worth the $4.50 that it cost.  

     We were cautioned to stay away from the river when we first arrived. The government built a “River Walk” in that area and moved the people out of the shanties. Well, we came to the edge of where there were moved and I was glad to get out of the area.  It was the middle of the day and we were safe, but, I didn’t like being in the area.  There were shanty houses built in and around an arroyo.  People have to live somewhere and they were there.  I don’t know what they do during the rains, but they seem to know what they’re doing.

     In my taxi rides, I noticed stop signs with arrows pointing straight, to the right, or to the left. The taxi drive seemed to ignore them and I asked, “Why?”. His response was that they didn’t mean anything.  Well, I asked a trusted taxi driver and he told me that people just don’t like to stop.  Stop signs do not mean anything here.  If you want to go, you go.  Then I started noticing speed bumps before stop signs.  At least they had to slow down.

     Here are some more photos of Asuncion streets:  

 _{The photos were taken on a Sunday afternoon, so, there aren't many people and cars in the streets. Like many cities, the sidewalks are the responsibility of the property owner.  Some are decent and most are not.  You do need to watch your step.  The streets are in fairly decent shape.  There are not many potholes.  More to come.....} 

Construction Labor Practices, Transport, and Getting Around Asuncion

The weather is turning cooler with the high in the 50s and the low tonight somewhere around 34°.
The building that I live in has guards 24/7/365. The day guard lives 2-1/2 hours away from here by bus. He works seven days a week. Occasionally, a replacement guard replaces him so that he can go home.
Construction companies operate differently here than in the States. Professionals and management are not true employees of the company for which they work. The companies do not like to pay for health insurance and benefits required by the government for regular employees.  The companies pay the supervisory and engineering professionals monthly by contract.
These professionals pay the government 10% of their salaries for income tax and benefits. They have to pay this 10% at their bank and they do not have the option to have it withheld from their pay.
The construction companies do not have a regular labor force. They will hire a foreman (independent contractor) to do a job and pay him by the job. The workers are paid by the foreman. Normally, the workers pay is unregulated because the independent contractors do not usually declare their income. (You have to have assets for the tax collectors to come after their money.) Most people do not have many assets. US companies are not used to working this way, especially in projects where background checks are required for project access.
The Paraguayan Government is getting ready to change hands. The Colorado Party is coming back into power after being out. They held the reigns of power from WWII until five years ago. All of the government agencies and bureaucracies will change leadership. That could affect our project because we will receive some materials from the States. We do not know how long it will take to get materials through Customs.
There is a limited time for shipping materials through the river.  The river gets too low for shipping during the hot months. There are no railroads that come into Paraguay from the outside. I do not know why things cannot be trucked in (that is a question that I need to ask).
The country does not have a system of payments such as we have in the USA. You cannot pay online. You can pay your phone bill, your electric bill and water bill at banks and at payment houses. You can pay by check or credit card.  Most merchants charge an extra fee for credit card usage.
I get around town by taxi or I walk.  The buses are not recommended for us to use because of pickpockets. I talked with a fellow that was born in the States and raised here because his parents are missionaries.  He rides the buses regularly and speaks both languages like a native.  He has a "geek" job, but, refuses to take an expensive smart phone on the buses.
I went to a new shopping center yesterday hoping to find a big box store or something like that.  There is no such thing here. It's mostly mom and pop stores.  If you want something from the hardware stores, you go to the front desk and ask for it.  The clerk goes to the back and brings you what he thinks you asked for. You can't see what you want and get that.
The walking is fun and healthy.  I walked five kilometers (three miles) yesterday and enjoyed it. The weather was pleasant and I saw things that I hadn't noticed when I was passing by in a cab.
The movie theaters are either dubbed with Castilian Spanish or subtitled.  All of the animated films are dubbed for the children.  I'll have to wait until I get back to the States to see Despicable Me II.  I've been told that the evening shows are in English with subtitles and the earlier shows are in Spanish.
I haven't been taking many photos and hope to have some by the next post.....More to come......

Mosquitos, Skype, and other tidbits.....

     Unlike Panama, mosquitos are not controlled here and they have plenty of them. I was raised with mosquitos, but haven't had to put up with them for years.
     One good thing about living up so high in the apartment building, besides the view, is that mosquitos tend to live and play near the ground.  The locals say that they stay on or below the third floor, that's the fourth floor in the US.  They don't count the ground floor here. I live on the fifth floor.
     Hello, my friend, DEET.  It's sunscreen and DEET for the next year.
     In other news, I found out how to get water delivered to the apartment.  It costs about the same as the grocery store, but, I don't have to carry the equivalent of a gallon a day into my apartment.
     Skype works off of my cellular service when I have over three bars on my phone.  That's nice.  It's amazing that I can communicate with home all that I want to for $3/month extra.
     I don't use it much, but, Google has a free iPhone app that lets you speak Engligh into the phone and it will translate what you say into Spanish (or other) languages. It can even speak Spanish back to you.
     A coworker back in the home office is my "ambassador". That's a neat concept. My ambassador keeps in touch and offered to send a little something that I may miss such as peanut butter. Well, I got to thinking and it's the intangible, little things that I miss besides my family. Driving, clean and nice roads, no horns blaring when the lights change and (this is a little crass, but true) I really miss American plumbing! Most, if not all, of the third world does not have the sewer systems to handle tissue paper.
      The project is slow to get started and this would be one of the best times to go see the Falls do Iguacu. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iguazu_Falls) When I started to check into the best way to go, I found out that we may have to leave the country every 90 days and then reenter for another 90. This is Paraguayan law.  So, there is a decent chance that I may have reason to go to one of the surrounding countries.  We'll see.  It would be nice to be able to visit without having to pay for the visas and travel.  It looks like the costs are similar to go to the Falls or Buenas Aires. The bottom line is that I will probably hold off going to the falls until September. They are awesome.  I went there with Natalie and John Mihai when he was a year old.  I definitely want to go back.
     More to come......
    

Fourth of July Week

This was a good week. The Fourth of July was on Thursday and I was free to walk around the city and go to “Mercado Numero Cuatro”. That is the main downtown market and they sell everything that you need there.  The only thing is that you have to go to different shops for different items.  I even found a 220V coffee grinder that I couldn’t find in the regular shops. The fruits and vegetables are much less expensive than in the grocery stores.  There are more cell phone stores than I can count, hardware stores, clothing, leather, saddles, cloth, knitting, etc…  There was almost as much selection as WalMart, except that it was in 500 different stores.

I went to a missionary church and school later in the afternoon to visit with Brother and Sister Bir.  The dictator, Stroessner, was overthrown three weeks after they arrived in 1989. They brought their two sons with them.  One was six and the other was nine.  The sons married Paraguayans and have families here.  This is more their home than the U.S.

One thing that I was happy to see is that they do not live lavishly. The Birs have a nice home, but, they bought it with their life savings at the time which was $13,000. They have a school for kindergarten through the eighth grade which is almost totally funded through donations from the States.

Education in Paraguay is for the rich.  As is typical in Latin America, the government provides non-mandatory schools until the sixth grade.  For the most part, the only reason a child learns to read and write is if they want to learn. 

There are two socioeconomic classes here - the poor and the rich.  There are super rich, but there is not much of a middle class.  Business is fairly unrestricted, so, a poor person could climb out of their poverty.  We are so blessed in the USA to be able to change socioeconomic classes and for a common worker to own a house and cars.

In 1865, there was a war between Paraguay and its neighbors, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay.  At the end of the war, there were only 20,000 men left in Paraguay.  Also, there is a Mediterranean macho factor.  Most men have more than one family here. There are many who do not think twice about having a wife and girlfriend(s). This causes a lot of societal problems when the father is not responsible for the children. There are many men who do take responsibility for their children, but, it is not uncommon for them not to.

Paraguay is the only South American country to have the native language to be an official language.  Most countries only accept Spanish or Portuguese to be the official language.

Guarani is an official language here.  Most people speak it.  They say the language is similar to Japanese. Guarani is also the name of the currency here.

There is a Fourth of July gathering at the embassy for employees.  I’m headed there in a few minutes.

FIRST SUNDAY IN THE APARTMENT

Asuncion from my Balcony

Thank You, Jesus for a good place to live and safety in a strange land. I appreciate all the prayers from each of you for a place to live and my safety. It sure is nice to have my personal space, a place to cook, and able to do my own laundry.  It would be even better if I could have family here. 
I have an unfurnished two bedroom apartment on the fifth floor of a new building.  Memories of college flooded back when I first moved in.  How to make furniture out of boxes, etc... 
It's getting better. I have a stove, fridge, washer, microwave, bed, small dining table and chairs now.  It was tough before I got the table and chairs.  The bed didn't make a good couch.
The internet is better than what we have at home.  
The view from my balcony is nice.  It overlooks the tile roofs of the neighbors and you can see the skyline of the city a couple of miles away.
The city is relatively safe as long as you stay away from the river and away from the outlying areas of town. We get around by taxi and they are not very expensive. It costs 15,000 Guarani ($3.35) to get to work with no traffic.  The center of downtown costs about $5. I usually share taxis with a coworker.  He doesn't speak Spanish and we usually go out together. 
Most Paraguayans are friendly and many of the younger people speak English.  I met a man yesterday who was an exchange student in Atlanta when he was a senior in high school.  He said it changed his whole life.
Most people speak Guarani and Spanish.  I have to ask them to slow down when speaking Spanish because the Guarani accent is rapid fire and somewhat slurred. 
Apparently, my Spanish accent is fairly decent and people don't know that I'm an American from the States.  One fellow asked me if I was from Germany.  Many Germans and a few Italians moved here after World War II.

The food is good. It is almost always fresh. Beef, chicken, and pork are less expensive than the States.  They like tortillas, corn, onions, bell pepper, regular foods.  The breads and pastries are similar to Mexico, but, they do have whole wheat products also.
They like cafe con leche (expresso with milk), but, I haven't seen anything resembling Community Dark Roast or Starbucks coffee.  I brought some ground coffee with me and about four pounds of Starbucks French Roast whole bean coffee.  I found one 220V coffee grinder that I can order.  They don't do whole bean coffee here and there's not a Starbucks. There are coffee shops in the malls and on the street. 
There are some missionaries that I contacted here, but, they are located in Lambare which is a $75 round trip by taxi on Sundays. We are highly discouraged from taking the buses and I'm looking for a less expensive way to get there.
Lord willing, this stay in Asunción will be a good adventure. I'll keep you posted.

FIRST DAYS IN ASUNCION

June 20, 2013

Paraguay is starting the winter months now. It rains lightly most days and, occasionally, they have torrential rains that try to flood the streets. For the time being, the temperatures are between 50 and 65 degrees F. It should get down to 32 degrees before the winter is out. Temps are similar to Orlando, FL. 

The people are kind, en Español se dicen "amables".  There is a middle class here, but for the most part, there isn't much opportunity. I've been in the nicer parts of the city, but, you can tell that there is poverty around. There is a fair amount of German, Italian, and US influence. 

The markets have local goods and produce with lower prices than the grocery stores. However, the grocery stores have a better selection and all the groceries in one place. Beef and vegetable cost about 60% of the US costs and they don't have real expensive cuts like we do.  If you want bleach to wash your clothes, the cost is 2.5 time the US cost.....it's imported. Coke products cost about twice as much as at home, but local drinks cost the same. 

I spoke with the lady that cleans my room at the hotel. She makes the minimum salary of $400/month. You cannot buy a house with that kind of money. She has four sons that are 17-23 years old. When the youngest was 9, she went alone to Spain and worked for four years. She bought her house when she returned. Her transportation costs are &1 each day and she works 6-7 days a week. If the hotel is not crowded, she can get every other Sundayoff. 

My Spanish is improving. If I'm around someone that speaks English, it is more difficult to switch and speak Spanish. However, my Spanish is getting much better.

Prayers to find a good place to live, for safety, and for all to go well are appreciated. I miss the family, but, Lord willing, in a few months, I'll see them. 

Trip to Jariburi

I took a tour of the countryside to visit a quarry about 4o miles north of Mombasa. The main road was a decent, paved, two lane highway.

Once you leave the main road, the roads are rough, but passable. We didn't see any wildlife, but did see quite a few small villages. There was little or no electricity and there was usually a small store in each compound.

There were a dozen schools in the 20 km that we traveled on the unpaved roads. The children walked to school and had colorful uniforms that identified which school the children attended.

Everyone gathered water and carried it in 20 liter plastic bottles to the home. Women and children carried the bottles in whatever manner they could.

These photos remind me of how blessed we are.

The people, especially the ladies, like to dress colorfully. When you get out of the cities, the women dress in beautiful skirts and shawls.

Kenya is an amazing country. That's it for this week.

Ben