[mothballed]

It was close to "New Italy" (in Spanish), somewhere within 50 miles of Asuncion.

I don't know much about Agriculture Engineering but there were a bunch of big milk vats, a couple electricians, and then a bunch of officials sitting around drinking the cold Yerba Matte stuff.

I assume they brought me because they heard I was an electrical engineer and I saw they were wiring the place up.

[marcosdumay]

> I assume they brought me because they heard I was an electrical engineer

Yeah, that adds up. Small cities in South America usually have difficulty attracting qualified people to work there. It's a bit better now than it was 10 years ago, though.

[sombragris]

Oh yeah, I know Nueva Italia. Will try to locate the project. Thanks for the specifics!

[sombragris]

> they heard I was an electrical engineer

Just an add to what has been said. This might be because they heard you are an electrical engineer. I really don't know your qualifications, but here (in Paraguay), electrical engineering is a different degree than electronical engineering.

You might be versed in electronics as your primary field, but since they heard you are an electrical engineer, they thought you could check out the facility's electrical wiring setup.

Thus, if you do mainly electronics, you might want to present yourself here (in Paraguay) as an electronics/electronical engineer.

[mothballed]

Yes I was totally unqualified for what they were doing.

Also pretty big language barrier because my Spanish is pretty bad. And Guarani, forget it.

I could probably "fake" it enough to do it now, but not back then.

They were extremely nice though and it was cool to check out a farming project. I would have liked to see some of the more remote farms but never got around to it.

Paraguay felt very much to me like the midwest / "Iowa/Ohio" of South America. Extremely practical hidden gem that is easily overlooked, but makes you feel right at home. Even in Asuncion I felt quite safe. Seems like the country is very active in fostering getting agricultural investment and development.

[sombragris]

> Paraguay felt very much to me like the midwest / "Iowa/Ohio" of South America

Funny that you say that. I am by no means a countryside person, I'm as urbanite as any other. But while I never was in Iowa or Ohio (save for a short layover), I lived in West Michigan, and therefore in the Midwest, for some time; and yes, despite the climate being quite different, things seemed somewhat familiar to me in many aspects.