One of the most striking differences between my wife's country and mine is the fact that, while in the Philippines you can immediately tell who is rich and who is poor, here in Italy it is almost impossible, at least in most cases, to determine if a random stranger you meet on the street, or who is sitting next to you on a bus or a train, is rich or poor.

Granted, here the very rich have Jaguars, Ferraris, yachts, Rolexes and so on, but rarely do they show these things off on a daily basis and in a public setting.

Maybe they have Ferraris but they go to work either by bus or driving a very ordinary city car.

For example my wife's employer drives a second hand city car. She used to have a Mini (which was not a very expensive car either) and, since her Mini got stolen, she never bought a new one (but she bought a horse to her daughter and she travels around the world 5-6 times a year....).

Nor do many rich people here live in heavily guarded house compounds: many live in apartments and in neighborhoods that don't look too different than the ones where ordinary people, or even immigrants, live.

Maybe one of the gauges to measure the development of a country is the degree to which you can easily and quickly tell rich and poor people apart...and the Philippines is one of those places where the rich like to show off their possessions and gadgets at all times....

Collina Fleming: one of the wealthiest neighborhoods of Rome where famous journalists and even football players live...but the buildings, the sidewalks and the cars you see around look no different than those you would see elsewhere around Rome
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