Travel Report Paraguay 2016 – Asuncion & Independencia
Mai 7, 2016
Goodbye Germany – Departure for a new life
On 15.01.2016, I went on the trip to South America, to be exact to Paraguay, where I wanted to live from now on. This decision was preceded by a plan which was becoming increasingly apparent in 2010, and which should now be implemented. Due to the political misguided developments in Germany and Europe, which have been apparent for years, and the ever-increasing tax burden, the decision to leave my home country was not too difficult. Together with my friend Nils, who has been to Paraguay several times and already had the Paraguayan visa, I flew to a country completely unknown to me at that time, which was on a continent about which I knew so far only what I in some Books, the internet and stories.
Fate meant it well with us
From Frankfurt, we went to Sao Paulo (Brazil) and from there to Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay. We were fortunate enough to have a plane from Brazil to Paraguay next to a Paraguayan of the same age, with whom we quickly got into conversation. We exchanged our contact information and met her in Asuncion a day later. On this day, we got an exclusive city tour + an introduction to the Paraguayan cuisine. Analia (seen in pictures 2 – 3) introduced us to her family and friends so that we quickly found a connection in our new “home”.
Asuncion – on the river and in the market
As part of my city exploration, Analia led me to the river Playa De Aregua, a tourist destination located in Asuncion many locals (pictures above) and the market, Mercado 4 (pictures below). Many Paraguayans prefer to make bulk purchases in this market, as prices here are lower than those of supermarkets. In addition to fresh vegetables and meat (the latter does not always look fresh and does not smell that way), you can find here all the articles of daily use.
Colonia Independencia – 3 months at the a.. of the world
Since Nils has been to Paraguay several times and has made contacts with German emigrants in Colonia Independencia, we have decided to spend a few months there. CI is located 200 KM from the capital Asuncion, inland. The infrastructure (in particular the Internet and the streets) was far behind the standard used in Germany in 2016 and certainly will be even years later. Geteert is only the main road, all access roads to land are so-called “pistas”, which consist of clay and earth. After heavy showers, these roads are in the worst case for several days not passable. The slow internet was our biggest problem, for which we found a “solution” after about 14 days. We used our cell phones as a modem because the mobile connection was 10 times faster than the Internet line of our landlady. It was billed to MB, which of course meant that you wanted to cause as little traffic. We felt beamed back to the late ’90s when there were no internet flat rates and after minutes, or after MB was settled. Also in Colonia Independencia, we found fast connection and new friends, but the average age were all at least 50+. The communication with the few same-age natives was unfortunately not possible because of our bad Spanish at that time, which is why I decided after 4 months stay in Paraguay, I decided to fly back to Germany. The project Emigration to Paraguay was put on hold for the time being, but I was impressed by many impressions, friends and the Paraguayan visa holder.
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