When we had completed our downtown, street-side shopping, we went to “Jorge’s” office. Inside, I met two secretaries and Jorge Sr., who was Meli’s husband’s father, which I was unaware of – hence the quotes around the previous two mentions of her father-in-law.

My ignorance led to a little bit of an awkward feeling, because he had a lot of pictures of Olivia around his office. The mystery was solved shortly after leaving when the rest of our group informed me Jorge Sr. was Jorge’s father.

In addition to pictures of Oli, there were two pictures of Jorge Sr. with President Clinton. He didn’t speak much English to me, until I told him I was visiting from Texas. He then asked if I was a cowboy.

He extended an invitation to take us to the rooftop to see the entire city, which was awesome. Got some great photos from up there, including several of the Paraguayan President’s “White” House.

After cooking on a shiny metal roof for a few minutes, we got back down to the car and continued the driving tour of downtown Asunción, via a ride to lunch.

Even with Meli driving, which Jorge would concur is slightly questionable at times, I was able to snap some amazing photos of several landmarks from the car window.

Saw a church, train station, the U.S. Embassy, the “Paraguay to Kansas” program building, (point A of how I met Meli & Baba), a train station, a brothel, the President’s “living” house and Paraguay’s Congress building.

After the tour, we arrived at Quattro D for a milanesa. Delicious. Side note: don’t confuse “milanesa” with “merienda,” which is not a sandwich, but the traditional, late afternoon meal.

4-D is also known for its ice cream, so we had to get some scoops. I chose by taste and selected vanilla, chocolate-chip. Olivia chose by what appealed to her eyes and chose pink (berry flavored). I tried hers. She tried mine. We both agreed mine was the best, so after three spoons of her pink pile, she discarded it and shared my white and black scoops.

We dropped off Tad & Baba and headed to Meli’s to get our bathing suits, so we could again enjoy the weather by sitting at the pool. We stopped by her house for a few minutes and then went back to the Perrella’s house for some snacks and pool, which by now I had learned is any of the following: piscina, pilé, pileta, or the familiar pool.

After leaving the pool, Meli and I took Oli back home because we were going to shower and change for dinner at a very nice local restaurant that they frequent. En route, I saw two things worthing of my memory card.

Two: Meli decided to take a shortcut because it was rush hour and the streets were crowded. This only meant there would be more than the normal amount of bumping and bouncing on the ride…

After a quick shower, I went downstairs and had a few beers before Meli, Jorge and I went to dinner. I had a glass of really good wine with my meal, which consisted of three courses.

The first course was a bread stick type food with a dipping cream, bread and some baked cheese. Then, Jorge and the Perrella’s insisted that we try carpaccio, which is basically raw meat. As nervous as I was, it tasted awesome.

After devouring the oiliest appetizer I’ve ever had, I had two huge lamb steaks with a side of arró quesú, which is a Paraguayan rice dish mixed with a creamy cheese.

I’m still not sure how I was able to finish it all.

I loosened my belt, sat back and enjoyed a dessert of espresso, a piece of sugar-coated gummy candy, and a small piece of white chocolate-ized nuts.

Part three of today’s amazing adventure is soon to follow…