Asuncion, Paraguay

Having had a look at the post I put up last about Puerto Iguazu I'm horribly disappointed in my grammar and expression. I apologise for these and regret any such future lapses. Usually my time is rather short at the internet and I must chronicle hastily, but enough with these apologies. Today I am in Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay. I find it funny that in the time (+ a little) it takes to get from Galway to Dublin one can have been in 3 countries. Border control was surprisingly lax in Parguay, I'm wondering how easy it'll be to escape from here though.After having had an interesting converstion with a gentleman in the Paraguayan parliament today we have a better idea of what Paraguayan admin is like - it may not be a problem. A very interesting tour and perhaps refreshingly representative. The congress is apparently one of only 2 in the world that visitors can come in and look around properly and sit in the speaker's chair (which I did) and look belligerent (which I did). We have also discovered that Paraguay may be a haven for Paddies too. A street very near our hotel is called Juan E. O'Leary street after a Paraguayan of Irish descent who wrote a disparaging poem about the then leader who brought Paraguay into a war between (tiny) Paraguay, (bigger) Uruguay, (even bigger) Argentina and (gigantic) Brazil. Silly Paraguayans! As one goes futher south so the Irish, Germans and Swiss emerge. There's a town in the Andes where chocolate and fondue is very popular. I look forward to seeing it. So far Paraguay is to my liking and not at all the scary awful place that Argentinians have made it out to be. Maybe it's part of the Neighbour syndrome that dictates that every country that borders another must hate eachother, its hard to know. Doubtless there are some slightly more dangerous elements and strange incongruities (I hope that context is right) such as the fact that the parliament buildings (containing all the civil service, senate and lower house) has a shanty town in its front yard, quite literally, about 50m from the entrance. We were told by our lovely and informative guide not to go too close because not even our clothes would remain let alone wallets etc. Hmm. All in all though very interesting and appreciative to be able to get lunch for about 40,000 Guarani (about 5.50 Euro). Perhaps we away to a ranch in the next couple of days. Reports will be forthcoming. Another thing I have discovered. Peru is portuguese for turkey and if I see another peru cracker as long as I live it'll be too soon. Be warned. Hasta lluego!