If a person often travels around the world, it is inevitable that he/she starts to compare even the most insignificant things. The material aspects may be very similar, but we can verify the difference between what we hope, what we think or we do not think always and only in the social habits, that are the element capable of describing the character of a people.
Usually, Latin America is a very educated country and sometimes, this education is not used as a way of distancing. In Europe you may use the polite form (Lei) both as a way of respect and as a way to point out the distance between you and your partner.
In concrete terms, Paraguayan population is polite and discreet, without the expansiveness of the Caribbean population or the moderation of the inhabitants of Anden, but with a perfect balance between these two aspects. Paraguayan people can be close and fair, without being intrusive. But you can discover this peculiarity only with time.
If, as it happens to LIP’s consultants, you often travel around the world, you start to trust on small details, that reveal much about Paraguayan people, very quickly and with minimal effort. Un particolare piuttosto personale riguarda i tassisti:
There are countries where you are always afraid that the taxi driver makes you pay some additional fee both with a rigged taximeter (so it marks a biggest expense) and because they immediately understand if their passenger is foreign and so they make a much longer drive (a “millionaire” drive). We all have heard similar stories in European countries, and it does not mean that it is acategory different from all the other.
All this is a quick indicator, because with a few trips we will be able to evacuate what everyone considers usual..
In Paraguay, after many trips, used as a statistical sample, we can say that:
- Taxi drivers often take a shortcut, to shorten the path and arrive before, not after.
- The costs of different paths for the same itinerary were identical, with the only occasional difference due to the rush hour traffic. Since traffic is much smoother, compared to that we are accustomed, in our big European cities, the difference was minimal.
- Taxi drivers proved to be diligent and careful: they were silent if passenger kept to himself, and they were pleasant talkers if passenger wanted to talk, but without digressing from the subject (for example specific tips about place to cycle, tips about where and what to eat, tips about urban planning and so on…).
- Secure: since Paraguay is a country with a very low crime rate, additional security measures are not required, as in other South American countries.
- When taxi drivers are called to pick up a client, their taximeter is off: they turn it on only when they are leaving and know the destination.
For all these reasons and for many other details, as for instance the professionalism we note everywhere regarding the application of the measures to prevent Covid-19, we can say that Paraguayan society shows an admirable rigour and it does not tolerate excesses, like those that may occur in other most insecure places in the world. This country embodies an enviable combination of factors, to know, to live and to invest and the character of its inhabitants fully contributes to its success and to its great potential, currently in full development.
