Our blog has moved!

For anyone who might still be checking in on us every now and then, I decided to merge this blog with our Wordpress one that we had used for World Wise Schools back in our Peace Corps days. 2017 and 2018 really didn't have any blog posts, but I hope to share more in 2019.

Find us at: https://adamandemily.wordpress.com/

Olivia's Picks for Playgrounds & Parks in Asuncion

After living in Kingston, a city that had pretty much zero playgrounds, it’s been great to have access to so many in Asuncion. They aren’t as amazing as parks in the US (especially some we visited in California- seriously, many were five stars!) but Olivia loves them and they seem generally safe (I do have to check for rust and shards of wood, but generally speaking- not bad).

There's a playground in the Embassy compound, which will be taken out when they start construction on the new buildings. It’s not huge, but it’s close to our house and there’s a lot of green space at the Embassy for Olivia to run around when she gets tired of the playground (there are also lemon and tangerine trees that Olivia likes to pick!). There are a few parts of the play structure that are a little awkward (like going down the little slide, you have to lean down and bend/squeeze through to the platform).

Since the weather has been awesome in recent weeks (SoCal winter weather), we've been going to lots of other playgrounds too- a few favorites that we’ve been to include the playground at Parque de la Salud. It’s a free park with running trails, parcourse equipment, and a decent sized playground. There’s even a God’s Pan bakery right next to it, perfect for a coffee and snack to bring to the park while Olivia plays! Olivia likes this one because there are lots of ladders and ramps to climb.

The Plaza Infante Rivarola, which is next to a few of the malls in town, has some parcourse equipment and vendors selling goods, as well as a small playground. What I like about this one is that the equipment is just Olivia’s size and it’s made of recycled plastic, so no fear of rust or splinters (or tearing of pants like what happened to Olivia one time going down a slide at Parque de la Salud). Olivia likes their teeter totter and slides.

Last weekend, we went to a huge park called Ñu Guasú Park. It has cycling and paved walking trails, soccer fields, tennis courts, and a playground. Apparently it also has some Taiwanese gardens and a lake, but we only made it as far as the playground. Olivia seemed to really like this park, since there were lots of bridges to run across.

We have seen small, random playgrounds scattered around the city, as well. For example, there is a small plaza next to the Superseis by our house. It has one semi-rusty slide that I’ve let Olivia go on and a handful of functional swings. When she sees it on the walk to the store, we end up stopping there for a few minutes.

It's true, these parks pale in comparison to the fancy Carlsbad and Irvine parks. However, at the end of the day, Olivia likes to run around, climb, and be outside...and these playgrounds do the trick. Once summer comes, I am sure we will be hitting the pool instead of the playgrounds, but until then, these ones are awesome!

My little preschooler!

Olivia started at a preschool in May! It’s been great so far- every day she comes home super happy, covered in paint and with lots of sand in her shoes! She cried during the first few weeks when I would drop her off, then we had several weeks where she was happy to go, but this past week she started crying again at drop off (I think it is having all her toys and books finally here and wanting to stay home to play).

Lots of paint!

Her classroom

The daily log that they provide to parents

Her preschool is walking distance from our house, which is super convenient! At first she didn't want to walk and would eventually need to be carried, but now she's used to it and she knows the route to preschool. She always pauses at the houses that normally have dogs or cats for her to say hello to (like the neighbor's big dog below who always quietly sits and watches from the door).

Her two teachers Angie and Gianny are super nice and friendly (never mind that I thought their names were Andie and Dani for the first month....). All the teachers at the school are very enthusiastic, and she gets greeted with a boisterous “HOLA OLI!!!” every morning and cheerful “HASTA MAÑANA OLI” in the afternoon. Yes, they call her Oli at school (easier for the other 2 and 3 years olds to say her name, I suppose!).

Olivia and her Teacher Angie

Teacher Angie bringing out her and her classmate Fagu (?)

Teacher Gianny (the assistant for her classroom) bringing out Olivia

I love that they do lots of arts and crafts projects, especially since I have been reluctant to introduce paint and other messy activities at home! Here are a few samples of her work she’s brought home, as well as photos from their recent Art Expo!

Her very first art project she brought home

Mother's Day art project (that they laminated for us!)

Art Expo!

Can you see Olivia's little worm?

They also have “cooking class” and lots of birthday parties on Fridays. Olivia’s brought home a few fun treats- most recently she made a chocolate banana pop and she was thrilled!

Speaking of birthday parties, there have been lots of birthdays so far at preschool. In her short time in school, there have been 5 birthday parties already, so I have started to stock up on gifts. I have also been surprised by the favor bags that she brings home- she's already gotten a stuffed Peppa Pig, a jumprope, a Disney Prince Nail Polish kit, and a mermaid doll, as well as lots of cupcakes and candy.

Fancy homemade invitations

She was so excited to get a Peppa Pig as a party favor!

Her preschool has a great little playground so Olivia gets a bit of outdoor time every day, whereas if she was at home with me, I think it would be mostly inside play because we don’t have any outdoor toys!

Can you find Olivia?

I am really hoping that she is picking up some Spanish. I have heard the teachers sometimes say “How are you?” and other English phrases to the kids, but I’m hoping and assuming that they mostly speak Spanish. Olivia has said a few words she’s picked up at school without any prompting- she loves to point at small things and say “Chiquitito!!!” 

The downside so far to preschool has been that Olivia has been sick almost weekly. She had a sore throat and cough one week, we picked up a second round of Hand Foot Mouth, she had a fever and vomiting another week...but hopefully she's building up her immune system! 

Shopping in Asuncion (no Target or Trader Joe's here!)

Shopping in Asuncion has been very easy and convenient- the biggest challenge is discovering and exploring all the options. There is everything from small neighborhood bodegas and shops to large supermarkets and stores, as well as several large shopping malls.

Olivia liked the Ace Hardware for their fancy rolling baskets

One of the things that I have liked so far about the supermarkets is the bakery. In every grocery store we’ve been to, there are fresh breads in big giant bins that you can select from and then they charge you based on the weight. It’s also incredibly inexpensive! We’ve gotten baguettes, rolls, and rustic breads. Most recently, I bought a loaf of crusty rosemary bread for 20 cents and it was delicious!! They also have large meat and produce sections, endless aisles of pasta (but no boxed mac n cheese like in the US), and a very large tea/mate section.

Similar to Kingston, you can't bring the shopping carts out of the grocery stores we've been to, so there are employees that push your groceries to your car and then we give them a tip

The deli line at one of the local supermarkets

We found one supermarket that has the car shopping carts! Now if only we can find one that has those "shopper in training" carts like some Trader Joe's in the US

Olivia wants to buy a package of chipa paraguaya mix

We also checked out a gourmet meat shop called Punto Carne, as well as several Asian grocery stores, including Hannil (Korean market), Sakura (Japanese market), and Casa China (Chinese market). The Asian grocery stores are very, very, very tiny but I’m grateful they even exist- they are definitely not 99 Ranch or HMart.

We have also had the chance to visit a few markets. There’s a weekly market that is held on one of the levels of a shopping mall parking garage. It’s called Agroshopping and though the prices seem higher than the supermarket, I have been told that the produce lasts longer. I’ll be curious to see what they have once we are out of winter.

I love those little bananas- they call them bananas de oro here but they are pricier than the normal bananas. The produce above was about $12...and the corn was disappointing. :(

We also went to Mercado de Abasto where everything comes in gigantic sacks and huge crates. My guess is many people shopping there are buying for small bodegas or to take to smaller towns. One of my friends bought onions, bananas, and potatoes there, but it was so much that she gave me several pounds of what she bought. If I were feeding a huge family, perhaps I would shop there but I don’t anticipate needing 50 lbs of potatoes anytime soon!

We walked around Mercado 4, a very busy and lively market where you can find all sorts of things, including food, live animals, clothing, fabric, and spices. When we went, we were in the tea and herbs section of the market before we ran out of time and had to head out. We plan to check it out more another time. I didn't take any pictures because I didn't feel comfortable whipping out my phone, but maybe another time. Apparently there is a movie called 7 Cajas that is based in Mercado 4 that I’ll have to track down and watch.

There are also several malls in town, including one that is expanding and a new one that just opened up.  They are super fancy and have huge food courts, movie theaters, ice cream shops, and expensive stores. Olivia’s favorite part- riding up and down and up and down and up and down the escalators!

We bought Olivia an ice cream cone for $1.50 and I didn't realize it was a double scoop!!

The brand new fancy shopping mall

Olivia could just spend all her time riding escalators