Efficiency

If you are a very efficient, task-driven personality, my morning last Friday very likely would have driven you absolutely insane. Seven years ago, I would have been highly irritated by 10:30 that morning. But 7 years in Paraguay has taught me to deal with a slower-paced life. It has taught me to find humor in otherwise frustrating situations. It has even taught me to appreciate the fact that a documentation process that requires 17 different stops means that lots of people have jobs. Therefore, I quite enjoyed my morning.

My driver’s license expired in March of 2009. I didn’t realize that until around September of 2009, which was right before my third child was born. Needless to say, I have been rather busy and renewing my driver’s license kept getting bumped down from the top of my “to-do” list. I finally decided that I really should take care of it (I am not sure if that was more from feeling as if I was not a legitimate driver or if I just got tired of seeing it on my “to-do” list.) So around 9:30 that morning, I went to the "municipalidad de transportacion", aka- the transporation office. As soon as I walked in the door, it hit me that I had forgotten to take any form of entertainment along with me. All that I found in my purse was my wallet, my grocery list and my cell phone. I was so disappointed with myself because it would have been the perfect time to read! (lots of dead time, no children with me) I started at the desk that had a sign that said “lisencia de conducir”, or driver’s license. It seemed like a good place to start to me. (Stop #1) I was quickly told that I had to make my way to the desk near the entryway (Stop #2), where I had to show my expired license and wait for them to fill out the necessary paperwork. I was then sent to the “fotocopia”, or photocopy station (Stop #3) where I had to pay to get a copy of my Paraguayan identity document on a 1970’s photo copy machine. Then I was sent back to the entrance desk (Stop #4) to give them the copy. From there I was sent to “Venta de Valores” where I had to pay for the paperwork that I had just been issued (Stop #5). This moved me along to “Documentation and Foto”, where I handed over my paperwork and receipt of payment. (Stop #5) I was asked to wait in the waiting area (Stop #7). I was eventually called back to a room for hearing and vision tests. (Stop #8) The hearding test was fairly entertaining in and of itself. It existed of a lady making this metal thing hum in my ear and then asking me if I could hear it. I guess if I didn’t answer her question, she would have known I couldn’t hear? I am still not really sure what the metal thing was all about. I took my test results back to “Documentation and Foto” (Stop #9) and was sent directly back to “Venta de Valores” (Stop #10) to buy a stamp to put on my now “hearing and vision” approved documents. When I returned to “Doc and Foto” (Stop #11), I was hassled about not having a correct address. Apparently I need to call the owners of our condominium and tell them that they need to give our condo a street number. Despite my incorrect address, I was allowed to move on to “Liquidaciones”, the desk I originally started out at (Stop # 12), where I handed over my growing collection of papers. Thankfully they were having computer problems and I got to visit with the lady at that desk for a good amount of time. We talked about the weather, the slow computer system and the fact that I needed to pay for my license for 2009 and 2010 (oops). She finally sent me back to a desk near “Venta de Valores” where I paid all 3 of my bills (Stop #13). I made my way over to the “Fotografia” desk (Stop #14), where I was passed off to the person that would take me to the actual place where I got my picture made. The “photo studio” had a nifty little mirror nearby where I was encouraged to “freshen up” (Stop #15). I was then sent back to the waiting area (Stop #16). By this time, I was truly entertaining myself. I had turned me grocery list into a treasure hunt map, complete with drawings of the room, the desks involved and numbers explaining every destination that I had the privilege to visit. And then…..I was called to “Documentation and Foto” one last time (Stop 17), where I got my official Asuncion driver’s license!! And all of this only took an hour and 10 minutes. Not too bad for a Paraguayan document procedure. I actually got the document I went for in one day- and that is no small feat! Is this efficiency or what?