Cataracts and Christians

Though I haven’t yet made it into one of the major cities in another South American country, I did make it to some of the best travel destinations here in Paraguay. I left town originally to see the falls of Iguazu. Across the border in Brazil, the name means “big water” in Guaraní, which is an understatement. I was imagining coming across it after wandering the rainforests for years and seeing such a marvel. A couple of Canadian professors here to sign an agreement with Stael were going and so I tagged along. It turned out to be good company. Americans are supposed to have visas to cross, but they don’t stop cars or really care, so we cruised across the bridge without any trouble. The falls
were truly incredible, an attraction that actually merited all of the “you have to see it,” exhortations which are often for me insincere. Photos do some justice, but it is quite exhilarating to on the bridge that extends over the top of one set of falls...seriously something you must see if traveling near the triple border of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.

After a couple of beers Francisco (Stael's brother) dropped Stael and the Canadians off at the bus station. I went to Itaipu dam, also, which is the largest in the world at this point. They are building a bigger one in China somewhere—I am unsure whether it is Three Gorges or whether that is constructed. There are some pretty staggering facts about the production, and you almost feel bad to see it happen, since the environmental impact was quite disastrous. Of course, now they promote their wildlife preserves and all that they did to save the hundreds of species which used to live in the area of the embalse. I did see a zoo there and a museum, but the fact that they increasingly talk about the environmental impact—rather than had it mind at the very start—indicates that most of the damage is done. Now one of the biggest (black) markets in the world, Ciudad del Este boasts very cheap electronics and supports much of the Brazilian market: there are stands that sell packing tape and boxes alone. I found a couple of CD's with some 100 tracks per disc, and ran to catch the bus out of town, stopping first to be somewhat responsible and check out the municipal library.

I stayed the night and continued alone to the southern part of the country and arrived at a city called Encarnación. The drive reminded me of traveling on the highway through Nebraska. Silos and combines are parked all along the road, and the soybean is by and large the greatest export from the country. The obnoxious cachaca on my bus, though, was unlike anything I’ve heard near the state of Nebraska (and the anti-representative of my music diva from that state). The quality was not as frustrating as the repetition—the driver had 128 songs on one CD and to me each sounded the same. I was pretty happy to debark, and happy to be in Encarnación, a relatively sleepy town where you stay to visit the Jesuit ruins.

The reducciones were built in the 17th century as part of a mission to convert the Guaraní people to Christianity. They were certainly worth a look, and compared fairly with other ruins I’ve seen in Latin America. One set, called Jésus, is further from the main road and therefore visited much less than the other. I thought that it was better than the other, and was glad that I went there first so that I didn’t lose the notion with the arrival of the midday heat. On the way back, in keeping with the Nebraska metaphor, I got a ride from the ruins with some semi driver who apparently saw me waiting and waved to have me climb up. Guess what? He was carrying soybean seeds from the north of the country. I’m really not even sure why he picked me up, but I’m sure it was clear that I was a tourist, and after driving for over 10 hours, perhaps he just wanted the company. It probably saved me about an hour, though, and it just rules to ride in an 18 wheeler.