Den Andra Tiden: Aregua and cultural confusion...

Yesterday we went to a city about an hour from San Lorenzo, with the spanish class (the other AFSers in the area) It was really nice there, but unfortunately we couldn't swim in the lake because of pollution.

Waterfall sign

Why don't we have these??

The lake

A thing that catches my attention over and over is how every little part of the nature in the Asunción area is totally littered with all kinds of human waste. People here appear to just throw things at the streets or into the forest when they don't need it anymore. I hope it's different if you get to the 'Chaco' (halfdesert/forest), but coming right out of the very clean and mostly untouched Biele Vody-forests (The place in Slovakia where we've got our very cute summer house) it really catches my eye and that is one part of this country that hasn't impressed me all too much...

Very cute thing :)

Tereré-thermoses

AFS-ers and spanish teacher Susanne

Abandoned train....

Another thing that we've learned is that blonde hair is rather a disadvantage around here, with the whole macho-thing. Guys here seem to think they're very appealing and cool when they shout things or whistles when you walk past them on the street.
Me? I think it's disgusting and unpolite. But you learn to ignore it.

Gosh, aren't these fancy?

Quite nice things :)

Some kind of fruits

A nice garden, though I wish I could say
that it's the jungle just outside the house ;)

I'm a total sucker for nice buildings

In Aregua, there was this street where they were seling all kinds of nice clay things. It really iched me to buy some of them. Like an enormous flower pot. But how would I get that home?? At least I have my red and white coffee mug :)

We also visited a very beautiful church.

View from the church in Aregua

On a totally different subject, I've discovered how much healthcare differs from Sweden. I've been having a cough since I came, which don't worry me a bit, since I'm completely fine in any other way.
But here, people are really worried about it. So friday was a really mentally exhausting day. We went to this other doctor, who didn't really talk English, or at least didn't talk to me though someone said he knew English. What I gathered was that there was something wrong with my lungs (I think bronchitis, if I may add my opinion...) and if I don't take antibiotics it will only get worse.

My preferred remedies...

The thing is that I'm not so fond of taking antibiotics, or medicine in general, when I dont need it. Especially when no one tells me why I all of a sudden need 3 different (unnecessary) drugs. And especially, when I try to look the substances up myself and discover that one of the components in the cough syrup is a substance that has been banned in Sweden since 1992 because it had the small disadvantage of destroying heart tissue and blood vessels...
But the thing that I was really dubious about was breathing fumes of cortisone through a mask at a Pharmacy. A mask that other (Probably ill for real) people has used before me, and which isn't cleaned between different patients. 3 time a day. For 50 days.
Now, I really don't want to disrespect the culture of this country, but that is one thing that I'm only going to do when a doctor talks to me directly, and shows me real evidence that I either do that thing or get a coffin immediately.
Now I've settled on the heart'damaging syrup and the antibiotics though, but it was really frustrating at the time. Imagine being on the other side of the earth, no one tells you what is happening and you don't have enough words to say something comprehensive... That's kind of a situation when you feel very alone...

I guess it's because we usually don't give medicine just like that in Sweden, because our viruses and bacteria aren't so forceful here. A cold and cough is just something that passes on it's own...

Beautiful orchids in our garden

I will never tire of this beautiful art of nature

On the whole I like Paraguay very much though. It's different, but most people here are very nice, and my host family is great. I'm in awe about how much I actually understand when people are talking. Of course not everything. Not even half. But it has only been two weeks, and I understand so much more than in the beginning. It's a very cool feeling when you actually understand what is being said.
It is a bit like laying an ENORMOUS jigsaw puzzle. That has been thrown out all over the floor. I'm collecting some pieces and some patterns are beginning to show, but there's a very long way until I can see what the picture looks like. And it's a challenge. I love that.