Paraguay: First Days and Impressions, Part 1

Well, it's been a whirlwind week but I feel I'm adjusting well and moving toward getting settled.

Getting here took a long time...27 hours, but no delays and crying babies were at a minimum. It would've been much faster to fly direct from Miami, but then we couldn't have brought all the bags we did. You'll notice I'm going to write a lot of this post in the plural form, because since I got to Sao Paulo, or even Miami, I've been part of a group! I don't think anyone wants to read about this flight and that layover, so I'll skip ahead to my arrival here!

Almost the whole group arrived in Asuncion together, and the teacher liaison and elementary principal met us at the airport. I got my visa ahead of time in the US so getting through customs was a breeze! All my bags arrived, yay, and we headed over to the hotel. My first impression was of all the green and trees, even from the air. Winter here looks very different from Colorado! Another thing I noticed right away was how warm it was! It was probably in the 70's when we arrived.

The "back yard" area of the hotel...so tropical!
If you've ever been anywhere in Central or South America, you may have noticed that a lot of the cities are...well...kind of ugly and impoverished-looking. I'm sure Asuncion has some of those areas, but every part I've been in has been really nice. The school I'm working at is pretty much regarded as the best school in Paraguay. It's not cheap, and it's in a really beautiful part of town. Great because it's a nice place to be, but a little pricey when it comes to finding your own housing! Anyway I was really struck by how pretty this city is.

Our first day, we were brought to the hotel to drop off our bags, brought to lunch, brought back to the hotel to rest, and then they took us out for dinner. A pretty nice way to start out after the overnight flights and exhausting travel!
Our lunch place had a ton of ice cream flavors to choose from for dessert!

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