I’ve been traveling between Latin America and the United States for 17 years. But in all of those years, there was only one trip. This was the first year I went back and forth four times in less than six weeks.
In April I spent five days in Guadalajara for a wedding. Then in May I spent three weeks in Peru. I never realized I undergo personality transformations in the two cultures, until I felt a little dizzy at the end of those six weeks, like coming off a roller coaster.
We all know that Latin America is a more social culture. It’s part of what attracts gringos to the region. You talk to people. You talk to the clerks at the corner store. You trade stories with the taxi drivers. You chat with the neighbors.
I take it all a step further. I become the class clown I was in grade school. I crack jokes and try to make people laugh. I get a little handsy with people, maybe a squeeze on the bicep. And I am a winker. I become gregarious, which is my natural personality. Latinos love a fast-talking payaso. Especially a foreign one who can bring shock value.
I try to subdue the gregarious side in Gringolandia. Not everybody wants to talk. They’re cold gringos. Some may talk, but don’t want to laugh. I wonder if Americans have lost their sense of humor.
Some would say that Philadelphia is a different animal. The East Coast is the coldest of regions. In New York, I’ve sensed that it’s polite to avoid eye contact with strangers! Some of my neighbors in Philly won’t say hello despite walking past you for months. But I’m not sure they’re from here. The natives are more likely to talk your ear off. They’re not so cold.
On the whole, our regional differences don’t add up to much compared to Latin America. It’s all cold gringos. You don’t crack jokes with strangers. They get scared. They get uncomfortable. I don’t know what their problem is, but you learn to leave them alone. Or you say hello and they might not say anything back. So you learn to talk to only the people you already know.
Toggling on and off from the cold gringo who leaves people alone to the in-your-face gringo payaso was natural when it wasn’t often. But this time, with equal time in each and four total toggles, I felt the LatAm-Gringo whiplash.