Moved home

I have transfered my blog over to my new website.

Please head there for all my latest news and on going up dates

simonsparaguay.com

I look forward to seeing you there

Simon

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How I came to Paraguay

Image
Relocating from England to Paraguay is probably neither the most common nor obvious way of moving abroad so it would help if I explained a little of how it came about. Back in the later part of the last century there I was filling the days working in an English bank. All very well while there was thinking and maths involved but as the new century dawned things requiring a bit of thought became centralised and the place slowly turned into a shop. All very well for some people, but not for me. I spent a while looking for something else in the UK but could see nothing that looked any better than where I already was. So getting away from jobs and the UK began looking better and better. At first my thoughts were to take a year out and go travelling the world. My problem with that though was that I felt I would be forever travelling through without ever getting more than the most superficial insights into anywhere and would never really get the chance to meet the local population any...
Read more

Empanadas, Paraguayan street food

Image
Firstly before going any further it must be said that there is nothing particularly Paraguayan about an empanada. These little pasties are in truth a Latin American snack. However in Paraguay at least they are the street food per excellence. In Paraguay they are ubiquitous. For sale freshly cooked in every bar, café and on every street stall in the country. They are simple tasty snacks. A half moon of flaky pastry with an one of several different fillings inside. The traditional cooking method was deep frying which did make the empanada rather greasy and unhealthy. Fortunatly though these days they tend to be cooked with slighly less oil of baked in the oven. Three fillings are always available. These are beef, chicken or cheese and ham. Beef with this being a land of cattle is the most tradicional filling and is mixed with onion and a little egg. Of the other two options I personally find chicken to be a little dry. Cheese and ham however is what I usually opt for, the mel...
Read more

The Paraguayan Ox Cart

Image
The ox cart is a familiar sight throughout the Paraguayan countryside. It exsists not as a tradition preserved by enthusiats or as cultural heritage for tourists to enjoy but as working part of farm and countryside life. A basic description of an ox cart is a wooden box with a large wooden wheel attached to either side. These large wheels can be as high as the cart itself. In front of the cart there is a long wooden plank to which at it's far end the yoke is attached. With the yoke the cart is tied up to the two oxen who will draw it. These oxen are large beasts and also very calm ones. Long before they are placed with a cart they receive an extended training, walking up and down attached just to reigns learning their drivers commands and what is expected of them. Once fully trained an oxen can be hooked up to a cart and controled by the words of the driver and a few pulls on the reigns alone. An ox cart is not the quickest way to get from place to place but it is one of ...
Read more