August 5, 2024

20 Random Notes on Asunción, Paraguay

By In Random Thoughts

Here are some of my random notes on Asunción, Paraguay, after being here for two months. You can read my other posts on Paraguay at this link. Let me know your thoughts in the comments. Enjoy!

  1. Maté culture is real in Asunción but not nearly as intense as in Uruguay.
  2. Paraguayans are super nice. We didn’t meet a single unfriendly person during our two months in Asunción.
  3. Who knew there was a small but prominent German community in Asunción? Apparently, German culture is much stronger in Southern Brazil, but Asunción’s German population isn’t obscure. We saw many reminders of Germany throughout the city.
Elementary school #409 in Asunción, named after the Federal Republic of Germany.
  1. Empanadas are wheat-based in Paraguay, like the rest of Southern South America. They are not corn-based, like in Ecuador and Colombia.
  2. If Asunción was located in the United States, it would be located in Central Texas. It is flat, landlocked, hot in the summer, and freezing in the winter. There is also nothing to do here. And it is always out shadowed by the bigger cities of Dallas Buenos Aires and Houston São Paulo.
  3. Unfortunately, living in a rich neighborhood of a South American capital city doesn’t guarantee paved roads. But it does guarantee a lovely river after a torrential rain storm.
Many residential roads are not paved in Asunción and turn into rivers when it rains. Here is a photo of the morning after a moderate rain storm the day before.
  1. Kevin says Asunción has more new residential construction than Quito; I say the opposite. But we both agree that many new residential towers are being built in Asunción. To help local residents, we recommend that the City Government require street paving by the developer for each new tower built.
  2. I have mentioned it in two other blog posts, but I am still amazed that there is a genuine Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (CBTL) in the middle of South America.
  3. Paraguayan guys are hot, but like maté, not as hot as Uruguayan men. Ecuadorians are cuter than both.
  4. Food prices are probably as low as in Ecuador, which has some of the lowest food prices in South America. However, I felt the food quality, especially fruits and vegetables, was better in Ecuador.
  5. Mostaza is a popular South American hamburger chain that is similar to McDonald’s. Unfortunately, we ate there once, and it was terrible. We don’t understand why it is so popular.
Mostaza is very popular in Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina.

A Newsletter for People Who Love the Behind the Scenes of Travel! Subscribe!

* indicates required
  1. Paraguayan men have larger bodies than Ecuadorians. We noted that men’s pant sizes start at size 30 in Paraguay, compared to 26 or 28 in Ecuador.
  2. I never once felt unsafe or scared, but of course, we didn’t go to unsafe or scary areas.
  3. In the past two months, I learned more about soccer in Paraguay than in the previous 37 years of my existence. It started with our first Airbnb in Asunción. The bedroom TV didn’t work well, so I could only watch YouTube on it, and YouTube ran slowly. Thus, to go to sleep, I put on soccer clips from ESPN’s Latin America channel. I did this every night and learned the teams, the major players, the rules, and even some plays. Then, combined with the soccer quadfecta of the summer of 2024 – Copa América, Euro Finals, Paris Olympics, and the Copa de Primera in Paraguay – I have watched a ton of soccer in Paraguay.
  4. Asunción might be home to the weirdest architecturally-speaking Fed Ex store in the world.
Fed Ex store in Asunción, Paraguay.
It gives me Egyptian pyramid vibes combined with notes of futuristic spaceship and underground bunker.
  1. RE/MAX and Century 21 dominate international real estate for American companies. But there are a couple of Keller Williams offices here in Asunción, which is cool to see.
  2. Like every other South American country, Paraguay has its share of companies whose sole business is importing Amazon packages from the United States for local residents.
  3. The best lactose-free ice cream I have had in a very long time is in Asunción. We randomly found this ice cream store tucked into a residential neighborhood. We have gone there several times, and I always get the same flavors: pistachio, mint chocolate chip, and a chocolate-based flavor. Kevin mixes and matches but loves his key lime pie ice cream!
  4. Downtown Asunción and the roads leading to Downtown have a lot of cool colonial architecture that desperately needs rehabilitation. In another life, it would be fun to buy up these properties on the cheap, rehab them, and revitalize these areas.
This building isn’t even that bad, but it could use some freshening. Other buildings are in much worse shape.
  1. Casinos and gambling are legal in Asunción.
  2. Bonus Thought #1: We have heard more than a few people speaking Brazilian Portuguese, even though Asunción is not on the Brazilian side of Paraguay (that is Ciudad del Este). We have also seen a fair number of Argentine license plates. Note that Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay are all part of the Mercosur union (along with Uruguay and Bolivia).
  3. Bonus Thought #2: A few years ago, South Korea donated a large number of traffic light signaling devices to the Government of Asunción. KOICA is the (South) Korean International Cooperation Agency, similar to USAID.

A Newsletter for People Who Love the Behind the Scenes of Travel! Subscribe!

* indicates required
1 Comment
  1. DA August 5, 2024

    Interesting thoughts!!! I had to look up “mate culture” because I’d never heard of it before, and now I know what it is! It’s really nice to hear that Paraguayans are so nice, and I wonder why there is such a prominent German culture there. What was the attraction in the first place? Are there many German companies/corporations there? Since the Empanadas are wheat-based there, now Kevin can’t have them? I’m picturing the size of Asunción, since you compared it to Central TX. The paved road debacle really got me; the road is flooded after the rain, but it’s located in a high-end neighborhood. Yes, I think that the developers of any new construction should fix that part of the road they’re on. By the pictures you post, I see a lot of construction going on in Asunción, and I also remember all the construction in Quito. It seemed like every block in Quito had new construction going on.
    “I have mentioned it in two other blog posts, but I am still amazed that there is a genuine Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (CBTL) in the middle of South America.”………..I’ve seen you mentioning that a few times here and there, and you’re really amazed by it!!! Hahaha. CBTL is my favorite. I like it more than Starbucks. Their regular coffee has a great taste. There’s an Ecuadorian guy on “90 Day Fiance” that I see every Sunday (he’s here now, I believe they got married in Florida; Manuel Velez & Ashley are their names). Interesting how the pant sizes start at 30, compared to 26 in Ecuador. Too bad the Mostaza place wasn’t that great, and I can imagine the low food prices! I had no idea you learned so much about soccer!!!!! It’s great that you’ve never felt unsafe or scared, and yes, that FedEx building is the strangest FedEx building I’ve ever seen!!!!!! I wondered about that bldg when I first saw the pictures of it!!!

    Reply

Leave a Comment