Impressions of the interior

Culture

The racial blend here couldn't be more of an inversion of BA if it tried! There are very few white people, apart from a third generation German community or two (who still speak German). Almost everyone has Guarani indigenous blood and speak Guarani.

Language

Imagine a foreigner visiting the East Coast and someone fires out a local phrase with their best Beached-as accent in rapid time:

“Kia ora bro, hows your whanau? Wanna have some kai at my whare? Sweet as.”

Thats the Kiwi parallel of Jopará, combining Spanish and Guarani. The Guarani accent carry's over to Spanish. This has meant very little understanding on my part. I had a few attempts on bus rides but usually it came down to me doing most of the talking and asking yes and no questions.

Rain

If you look at my photos, you'll see I experienced the typical campaña (the name for the country side) rain. Locals hang out for this weather, it brings a large drop in temperature but also the end of any activity for the day. Storm water drains flood, houses often rain on the inside, streets get covered in water and become very slippery if they aren't paved (which they often aren't) and generally no one goes anywhere, at all. Even if they think its going to rain and it doesn't (don't trust the weather forecast) they stay where its safe.

Dogs

Dogs have one use only in Paraguay. Security. Its not a pet, its a way to scare off anyone who gets the wrong idea. And Paraguayans hate dogs, so it works. In fact, you won't ever hear someone telling off a dog for barking, that's what they're supposed to do! But, in the evening, the dogs are often let off duty and allowed to catch up with their mates, wandering round town in gangs, barking at anything/nothing. However, if you do want to come on to the property, stand at the gate and clap five or ten times. This is the accepted method of getting the occupiers attention.

Superstition

Never eat water melon with anything else, it should always be eaten on its own. If you get sick, it was because of the water melon. If you don't get sick, its because you're a foreigner.

Milk should be drunk only in the morning.

Look out for a blond blue eyed legend “The Jasy Jateré is an elflike childish figure with blonde hair and blue eyes. He likes to eat wild honey and is sometimes said to carry a golden staff. "Jasy jateré" means "piece of the moon," perhaps referring to his bright aura or fair complexion.” Taken from Guide to Paraguay. This legend has been passed down through the generations and is often conveniently used by mothers to scare their kids into taking a siesta or doing their homework.

Mindset

Its sometimes hard to understand the mindset of the locals here. Due to decades of dictators, no one trusts anyone else (which is fair enough, I wouldn't want to disappear!). So the idea of setting up a collective to share resources and get ahead, isn't that appealing. And due to always being told what to do by someone in authority, leadership ability is in limited supply.

As its really still an oral culture, education is focussed on rote learning. In fact, for the big end of year tests, they'll often have someone work out the answers for the students, and their job is to memorise them...! So kids don't learn to problem-solve or analyse. This often means people don't consider improving what they have and are unlikely to take on new ideas.

They often have large families and one kid will be the chosen one. Food will sometimes be taken from the other children, to make sure the chosen one is fit and healthy. They will be the one that attains their subsistence farmer, father's aspiration to get out of hard labour and go to University. And probably never return.

Its a virtue to cheat and not be found out here. I don't understand. Who's idea was it that cheating was a good idea...? The Spanish? The Catholics? The indigenous people? More recent immigrants? After writing that, I heard some people considering the impact of dictators and how cheating could be one way of getting one over the hegemony that rules you. I know if I was ruled by some heartless and corrupt dictator, I wouldn't be too keen on following the rules either!

Corruption

Speaking of cheating... I've heard multiple stories of locals complaining about the corrupt government and then in mid-sentence, doing something dodgy themselves. Mechanic needs petrol so syphons it out of a customers bike. Airport worker is in a rush, so they bribe someone to get their bag out first. U.S military leaves masses of medication in a hospital and within days it disappears. And yet, they don't see a connection between small person cheating a small amount and big person cheating a big amount... but perhaps this has something to do with the recent remnant of dictators.

Rules

As with the rest of Latin America, rules are ideals only [see mindset and corruption]. If you get caught, its because a cop wants to top up his salary, flick him some notes and no one's the wiser. Seat belts? Helmets? Smoking inside...? Road rules? Petty theft...? Nah.

National assets

Paraguayans have time and strength. This is their greatest asset. Here, there is no need to figure out ways to reduce employment cost, its the cheapest part of the equation. You only have to look at the process of manually stone paving the roads to understand how cheap labour must be! So improving agriculture for the everyday local doesn't require mechanisation (and if you're Monsanto or one of their cronnies, please, go somewhere else!), it just needs someone to employ some of these people with a few more efficient practices (rotating paddocks, less cattle = more meat etc). However, finding that person could be a mission in itself... (see mindset).

There's plenty of time to hang out. Locals stop at least twice a day for long tereré sessions. Sitting outside under a tree, chatting away and escaping the stifling heat. They'll often get up at 4am or earlier to work on their farms so they can stop during the heat. And they can be very friendly too.