Another day another Country - today I am off to Paraguay which is literally 10km away from Sheila's house. Luckily Leon - Sheila's adopted brother has offered to come with me. At around 10am we headed to the boarder crossing which consists of a huge bridge known as the Friendship Bridge. The immigration is known for being quite slack as thousands of people cross the boarder every hour and it would be impossible to check everyone's papers and all the cars. I couldn't help but feel nervous as I was literally crossing into Paraguay illegally because as an Australian I need a very expensive ($160) visa to gain entry to Paraguay. When we crossed into Paraguayvwe were met by extreme chaos, shops, people everywhere trying to sell you crap, cars and pollution - it kind of felt like being back in Bangkok. I also found that crossing the boarder meant winding our clocks back 1 hour which meant i had 2-3 hours before my meet-up so I followed Leo around 100 different electronic shops whilst he looked for an MP3 player. I ended up loosing Leo among the crazy shops but it was nice so that I could go have a look in a typical Paraguayan supermarket. I found some very interesting things that I had to try from shredded and toasted peanut powder, caramel soy mince and cane sugar and peanut slice. At midday I met the absolutely beautiful Patricia who had agreed to meet up with me and show me around the area. Patricia had a car which was unexpected and we headed straight to her families house; on the way stopping off at a small resteraunt to buy a typical Paraguayan food Chipa (corn cake) - similar to Humitas. We had a really nice chat in the car and I was so excited to be meeting her family and get a glimpse at the daily life of a Paraguayan. We arrived at Patricia's beautiful home and I met her two sisters, brother-in-law and her lovely Mother. The first thing that came out was the Tedere: Paraguayan cold Mate - a refreshing green tea drank with ice cold water; quite different to the Argentinian Mate which is drank warm. We tried the corn cake Chiba Guazu and it was mouthwateringly delicious (made of corn, eggs, oil and cheese) served warm. I felt so welcome and the whole family was so eager to teach me about the beautiful country and culture - I actually had to pinch myself at one point to make sure it was all real. A delicious dinner was served of casserole chicken, gnocchi and salad with this very interesting flour and spice seasoning - we ate, laughed, told stories and made the most of our time together. After lunch we filled up the thermos with cold water, got the Yerba ready and then Patricia, her sister and I jumped in the car and headed out to Itaipu - The Hydroelectric Dam. I couldn't believe my luck now we were going to see another city and what was the biggest Hydroelectric Dam in the world which produces over 18 x Paraguays electricity needs. Oh and the amazing thing the tour which included a bus up and around the plant and dam, photo stops and a guide was completely free (they even gave us free cold water) where as on the Brazilian side of the dam the same tour you had to pay. Patricia also brought me a nice key ring from the dan so i wouldn't forget my visit. I had been asking about typical snack foods and sweets here in Paraguay so next thing we did was go to the markets where I got to see just how mad the drivers are here (specially the Brazilians haha), in Brazil it is always the Paraguayan drivers that are terrible and this comes from the fact that they simply buy there licenses. We stopped at a market and Patricia explained some of the wonderful treats and brought homemade peanut and cane sugar slice, cake, soy cafe and a few other things. We then went back to the house and drank more of the cold mate and tried the delicious sweet peanut slice of which Patricia insisted I take the remainder of back home with. It was soon time to go so I thanked the beautiful Patricia and promised to return one day. Patricia's Mother and Sister needed to go over the boarder to get fuel (much cheaper in Brazil) so they gave me a lift. Crazy that all the Brazilians come from all over Brazil to shop in Ciudad del Este Paraguay and all the Paraguayans go to Brazil to but fuel and other things like soaps and washing detergents. They drove me literally all the way back to the house and with a hug and a kiss I said my thanks and goodbyes again. I arrived back at Sheila's around 7pm, did my yoga routine quickly and then showered ready to go to Sheila's sisters for dinner. For dinner Sheila's brother-in-law was cooking another very typical BBQ - same style of grill cooking as we do in Australia - however the quantity and cuts of meats was astonishing. He had slabs of flank steaks, fillet minognes, pork ribs and about 3 other cuts of meats. The girls prepared salad and pressure cooked the yuka (a root vegetable). At the dinner was Sheila's sister and brother-in-law, Sheila's cousin and his partner and one other cousin - they were all lovely and very friendly but spoke no English, however they could speak a little Spanish so we could converse a little in Spanish. As the meat was cooked it was brought to the table and wow just like lastnights churriscaria the meat was mouth-watering and delicious - literally falling apart in your mouth. The Brazilians are famous for using a lot of salt (sea salt) on their meat and tonight was no exception - far to much salt for my liking but incredibly delicious none the less. We ate and ate and ate some more - the yuka was so soft and delicious, the meat with its marbled fat and so so tasty and once again I couldn't stop myself eating. I ate until I had no room left and then found some more space for the pork ribs - my body is reacting badly I think to either the excess of meat or salt and my glands in my neck have swelled up again - good sign to take it easy. After some more chatting and laughs we agreed to all have Sunday lunch together at Sheila's sisters and this meal would also be a very typical Brazilian meal of bean soup. After some photos I thanked my new friends and said goodnight.