Accredited writing gigs don’t always go as planned. Not because an event in itself wasn’t perfect, but because right on that day all other conditions fail you big time. This happened to me at River Sounds music festival in Asunción, Paraguay. Therefore, although I was supposed to write an article about the attendees of the event and about the experience of a foreigner at an asunceno festival, I decided to try and go gonzo and pretend I’m Hunter S. Thompson just for a little while.

In February 2017, I was asked to participate in the Paraguayan TV show Mandiorama. Now, six months after the episode Viajeros (Travellers) came out, I finally got to see it myself! And just in case you all also want to see what me and fellow traveller, Favio Patiño were asked by Patrick Altamirano, here you go with our spectacular (!) TV appearance (in Spanish).

Paraguay is definitely not the most eco-friendly or sustainable country I know. In fact, due to its rich and fertile soil, it should be a country with no lack in food, health or wealth, but this is not the case. Instead, it’s a country where much of the land is owned by foreigners, where people throw most things away without recycling and where the main basis of nutrition is meat and wheat products.

Paraguay is definitely not a country known for its gender equality. Quite on the contrary. It is speculated that due to historical happenings, it’s one of the most chauvinistic countries in whole South America. Why? Because during the War of Triple Alliance (1864–1870), most Paraguayan men were killed and the country was left with a nearly all-female population who would do anything to win over the hearts of the few remaining men.

On the day I left Paraguay, the Red Paraguaya de Comunicacion (RPC) conducted an interview with me on my whole trip (so far) and filmed me step onto the ferry crossing over to Argentina (so, no turning back!). Here’s the 15-minute documentary journalist and producer Diego Marini compiled for his Invisibles series! Enjoy!

Mate (a hot herbal drink) is just as an essential part of the Argentinian culture as is asado (barbecue). It’s drank by everyone everywhere and each gas station has its own spot for filling up your thermos with hot water (which of course, is carried along on road trips of all lengths). But how to drink it the right way?

Tote Pascual is a man who many asuncenos know by name. A hairdresser, hair stylist and barber, he’s the owner of Raio Bemba – perhaps just the hippest hair studio in Asunción. What’s more, over the past five years of the existence of Raio Bemba, Tote has definitely made his way into the hall of fame of the creative souls in the city. He has become a social influencer that local magazines write articles about and national tv channels love to interview. Yet what exactly is it that Tote has done what other people haven’t?

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