OC Paraguay or casa y familia

The house

On our way from the airport we passed countless houses, some huge villas, others were decent shacks, some without windows - more often than not we wondered, ok hopefully we're not there yet...

And then we arrived at 'La casa de Oscar'! (Yes, we also wondered, who is this Oscar?) Across from a gas station and surrounded by 2.5m high walls with barbed wire, electric barbed wire.
But then you enter the house and you're standing right in the living room. Everything is lovingly furnished, super clean and the huge television is on (always).

Continuing through the kitchen, you enter a hallway with several doors and the thought comes to mind, 'uh oh, which one is ours?'... But no! At the end of the hallway is a door that leads to the garden, the pool, and our humble abode...

Actually, it's the pool house of OC California but in Paraguay!! Our room with its own bathroom is upstairs. In addition, there's a room with fitness equipment, clearly set up only as an alibi at some point :D

Below is our living room, the beer hall, with disco-sized speakers and the obligatory, oversized television. It's often used for BBQs (Asado), parties, and of course drinking.

In our room, we were greeted by a fridge full of goodies from Paraguay (which actually isn't necessary since we're served massive amounts of meat with rice or bread three times a day, but more on that later...), a bed that sinks about 4 meters, and believe it or not, a new cellphone for us so we can be mobile here! The TV may have also been new and bought specifically for us...

The Family

When we arrived, we only knew that we were staying with an Oscar (age and life situation unknown, of course). However, it turns out he has a wonderful family: Lidia (45), the mom, Vale (12) and Oscarcito (17). (By the way, the grandfather's also named Oscar and he's a real boss!)

Our first evening eating burgers, left to right: Lidia, Ari, Hansi followed by Oscar and Oscarcito, and the selfie taker: Vale

In addition, during the week, the housekeeper Gladis and her little son Nicolas (around 1 year old and always on the go in his walker) spend their time on the property, sometimes with their husband. There are also two guard dogs, with a strong desire to bark. We haven't met them yet because they need to get used to us, but they seem very sweet and all we want to do is pet them.

Oscar and Lidia on our first outing to the old town

The whole family is incredibly helpful, friendly, kind, and solely focused on our well-being (So far, we're not allowed to go out alone in Asunción or even take a bus until we've settled in properly :D ) Lidia, the mom, speaks really slowly to us and always tells everyone to do the same. Vale, who is 12, is as open-minded as an adult. She talks and talks without hesitation and sometimes shows us around the neighborhood because we weren't allowed to go to the supermarket by ourselves yet! Oscarcito will start his studies soon and during conversations, he somewhat takes a backseat to his mom and sister. Oscar, the dad, is unbelievably nice, loves to drink beer, and loves to tell funny anecdotes (like how he once took the train from Amsterdam to Berlin while drunk and couldn't believe how fast the trees were moving :D ).

They just really love taking selfies, but who doesn't! PS take note of Ari wearing the stylish pink cap, a gift to her because of her fair skin, and something she should wear from now on....

So, we're in good hands! The whole family is very committed to showing us everything about Paraguay, doing all the typical things with us, and even teaching us a bit of Guarani. That's why it was important to them to teach us the following as the first and most important word:

Ja'umina - let's drink, let's party!
or according to the internet definition: 'Ja'umina - expresses the desire and willingness to consume as much alcohol as possible' :D

Hansi and Oscar in Casa de Mojito with the extra large bottle of whiskey.. Ja'umina :)

In this sense: Hasta pronto :)