Have you tried everything in Asunción?

Cassava-cheese bread for 2,000-3,000 PYG, eaten hot off the stall like locals do on their way to work.

Tapioca flatbread fried until shatteringly crisp — families argue for years over whose recipe is right.

A corn-and-cheese soufflé nobody can classify as dessert or side — just eat it and stop asking.

Stand at a lomitería counter post-party for the meat-cheese-egg-lettuce sandwich locals swear loyalty to.

Every afternoon locals set up thermoses and yerba right on the plaza benches — pull up a curb and sit in.

Men guard the fire for hours while the whole extended family shows up — refusing an invite is genuinely rude here.

Around 5pm the promenade fills with families dragging out folding chairs to watch the Paraguay River glow.

Ask a market vendor to show the spider-web stitch grandmothers still teach granddaughters by hand.

Say "Mba'éichapa" (mbah-ay-ee-CHA-pah, how are you) and answer "Iporã" (ee-po-RAH) — instant local approval.

Ask the shopkeeper which herb mix fixes what ails you — every tereréria has its own house remedy.

Nearly everything shuts down midday by unspoken law — locals joke they'd riot if anyone tried to cancel it.

Thursday to Saturday the strip fills with live music and dancing crowds that don't quit before sunrise.