La ciudad de tres fronteras (Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay) is a bustling, chaotic border town. Located just minutes away from Brasil and Argentina, Cuidad del Este, Paraguay, is notorious for being a lawless, dangerous, and contraband ridden city. My brief half-day experience in Ciudad del Este confirmed the very stereotype. According to rough estimates, Ciudad del Este generates 60% of Paraguay’s GDP and is the third largest tax-free commerce center in the world. Ciudad del Este is a Mecca for cheap electronics- the majority smuggled in or purchased on the black market. Nonetheless, low prices and the plethora of options entice thousands of Brasilians and Argentines daily, as they head to Ciudad del Este for bargain-shopping sprees.
Set among congested dirt roads sit thousands upon thousands of stalls selling everything imaginable from blankets, socks, phones, computers, to food. The sight and sounds of the city is an affront to the senses- mototaxis overwhelm small roadways, strange smells penetrate the air, vendors haggle aggressively with potential customers, and money changes hands constantly. Street vendors hawking in three languages- Guarani, Spanish, Portuguese- and four currencies- Brasilian Reals, Argentine Pesos, Paraguayan Guarani, and US Dollars- sent my head spinning and left me perplexed as to what country I was actually in.
Despite my promises to self to limit my spending, the allure of the goods (mainly Brasil jackets and track suits) proved to be irresistible. With three currencies at my disposal, crafty vendors mistakenly lured me into thinking I was being given discount prices. Several hours later, exhausted with empty pockets, I stood weighed down by bags full of purchases. The evaporation of my money and the realization that my parents would have my head for buying new clothes despite the five trashbags of clothes we had just painfully discarded during graduation clean out, left me running to the bus terminal to find the first bus back to Asuncion with a commitment not to return to this land of temptation.
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