rod mclaughlinThe homogeneity of Latin America (07 feb 10)
Here I am in Costa Rica. Seems like years since I was here. But I´ve never been here before. I´ve been all over Mexico, to Guatemala, Peru and Bolivia, and its all pretty much the same. Same crowded, noisy streets full of short people selling tack. Same food - scrawny bits of chicken, tortillas, beans, rice and a few vegetables. From just south of San Diego all the way to Tierra del Fuego - they even rhyme. Everything is named after Catholic saints. Maybe it´s different in Brazil, where the culture is so totally different, being from Portugal rather than Spain, or Argentina, which has an Italian influence. I remember a party in Berkeley a few years ago where I told a young woman that, hiking in Peru, you can always tell if South Americans or North Americans had been to the campsite recently - South Americans leave a mess. She was shocked, of course - how dare I say something positive about white people who speak English? I´m going to enjoy diving and maybe kayaking, but let´s not pretend I have any respect for the culture. Have I turned into an ugly American? Back
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