Paraguay is a country steeped in tradition. It proudly keeps alive its native arts, crafts, music and dance.
The original inhabitants of eastern Paraguay were the semi-nomadic Native Americans of various tribes collectively known as Guarani because of their common language. In the 16th century the first Europeans arrived. Spaniards settled down and established flourishing colonies in South America.
As Native Paraguay became part of the Spanish Empire, the Guarani people established alliance with the Spanish soldiers by marriage -as their tradition dictated. Gradually the Spanish and Guarani cultures absorbed each other. As in all Spanish colonies, Spanish became the language of business and government, but in Paraguay Guarani was the language of friendship and love.
Spaniards partially adopted Guaraní language, food and custom, while Jesuit missionaries arrived to “civilize” the natives. The early history of Paraguay combined turbulent political development, expansion, and civil wars; later, dictatorships established. But a peaceful, slow life, sometimes seeming to be preserved in time, emerged.
VIDEO SOBRE PARAGUAY
About 95% of the people in Paraguay are mestizos, a word which describes people of mixed European and Native American descent. Most of them are bilingual in Spanish and Guaraní. Paraguayans are very hospitable and conversation is a national pastime.
Even in more modern cities like Asuncion, Ciudad del Este or Encarnacion, life develops rather slow. Paraguayans enjoy meeting friends, hanging out, drinking terere together and having long talks.
Families are quite traditional. Still today, supervising the children and managing the household are typically wife’s responsibilities, while husbands are more occupied with work outside the home. This has been changing in past years, though. Women have stepped into the productive world, and today, most women combine careers and home responsibilities quite successfully.
Paraguayans are usually protective of their children, especially young women. Teenage males have much more liberal curfews than their sisters. Parents expect to know when their children are going out and where they are going. Most social activities, vacations and weekends are family events.
Paraguayan host families, like AFS host families worldwide, are not paid. They open their homes to students in order to share their community and culture as well as to enrich their own family life.
The majority of placements are in small towns, but all of them have easy access to larger cities. Almost all families have pets that spend at least part of the time indoors. Paraguay has a strong meat production part of it is exported to many markets abroad. Meat is a daily component of Paraguayan diet.
