Thursday, December 30, 2010

"Dog Days of Summer" ...... in December?

Boy, it's hot! The "dog days of summer" are upon us. You know, the type of day when the heat just drags you down, like it does every ...... December? These kind of days are usually encountered in August, not in December! But, in South America where the seasons are the opposite of the USA, we're now getting into some hot weather. So hot, that the ice cream trucks, er .. I mean peddlers, are roaming the neighborhoods. They blow this little whistle, which is really more like a cheap, out-of-tune, plastic version of Zamfir's pan flute. I kept hearing someone blowing a whistle and thought it was some kid playing with it when I noticed it getting closer. When I looked out the window, I saw the Paraguayan equivalent to our North American "snow cone" man (ice cream, whatever your choice)!

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Finally Found Our Way to the FALLS

We have lived in Paraguay for almost a year now, I had visited twice before, but, in all that time I never had the chance to visit Iguazu Falls. I always wanted to, but it just never worked out.
This past week, it finally did!!
Iguazu Falls! (also Yguasu, or Iguassu) Whether you say it in Spanish, Portuguese, or Guarani, it all means the same thing BIG WATER! That is exactly what we found at the world's second largest waterfall. There are some 275 distinct falls within the water system that is almost two miles wide and some 270 feet high, within many levels. It is AMAZING!
Legend has it that a god planned to marry a beautiful aborigine named Naipí, who fled with her mortal lover Tarobá in a canoe. In rage, the god sliced the river creating the waterfalls, condemning the lovers to an eternal fall. The first Europeans to find the falls were the Spanish conquistadors in 1541.
If you ever get a chance to visit, don't miss it!