Americas

[Visited: January 2023]

I wake up in the middle of the night, and hear torrential rain coming down on the roof. Finally, after ten days of scorching heat and blue skies, some relief and cooling down. It is still raining when I wake up, so I decide to leave a little later. A driver is quickly arranged, and at noon, his father shows up in a sturdy fourwheeldrive. He turns out to be a most friendly guy, and we immediately click. I am worried a little bit: will the museum be open? According to my phone, it is "temporarily closed". And the opening hours of the church: I have seen conflicting information. The drive is short, and when my new friend parks next to the museum on the central square of Isla Umbú, we see that both the museum and the church are closed. I call the number of the museum, and the lady tells me that it is closed because of holidays. That she is working a field, and that the roads are muddy. Then she says that she will take her motorbike and will open the museum just for me. I try to tell her that that would be very nice, but that I really don't want to disturb her work. However, she is adamant. The driver takes over, and asks her for the number of the key holder of the church, and calls her as well
We walk to the church, which is the style I have seen before in Paraguay. A rectangular building with whitewashed walls and a wide roof, slanting and supported by columns. I see a separate bell tower, and climb the stairs. At the top, I find two bells. One of them made in 1928 in Varese, Italy, and the second is from Paraguay. A young woman drives her motorbike to the church, parks, and opens the door to us. She switches on the lights, and starts telling us the story of Isla Umbú and its church. How it was founded in the 1860s, and that the building as we see it is actually the original. Only a few parts have been renovated in all those years. We walk the only aisle to the reredos, which is still a little dark. When the lady switches on that light as well, I see the most beautiful reredos I have seen anywhere in the country. Totally made of wood, it is painted and depicts Jesus and Mary, an a seated religious figure. A true treasure. A couple walks in: they have arrived from Asunción and happen to be visiting Isla Umbú as well. We thank her again for coming to open the church for us. When we leave her, we see another woman opening the doors of the museum just across the square.
The museum is in a similar building compared to the church, albeit smaller. The different rooms all have their separate doors, and the lady makes sure they are all open. When the couple arrives, the lady starts to tell us the history of the museum, and Isla Umbú. We see utensils used for cooking, hammocks, traditional clothes, a bed, paintings and flags. Then three paintings with Francisco Solano López, his lovers Madame Lynch and his wife. The woman explains a little more about his juicy love life and the fact that both women were pregnant at the same time. The War of the Triple Alliance is never far away, even in this small museum in the far south of the country. We thank the woman for her passionate explanations, and her coming to open the museum and give us the background information. We then cross the square, and find an old lady who has been living in one of the oldest houses is Isla Umbú since 53 years. She invites us into her shop and restaurant, and tells us to sit down. She gets some home made pudding, and while we eat the delicacy, she tells us her story. How she lost her husband ten years earlier, how a friend of her died of sadness during the pandemic, how the youth of the village leave for the city and never come back. She must be the liveliest 77 year old I have ever seen, with an optimistic mindset, radiating positivity and energy. She shows us the backyard, where she has a homestay, and a firewood oven. A fantastic character. We thank her from the bottom of our hearts, and are on our way to Humaitá.

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Isla Umbú (Paraguay)

Isla Umbú > Paraguay > Americas

[Visited: January 2023]

Around the World in 80 Clicks

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