I love Latin America. After graduating from college, I sailed from Texas to Guatemala, and basically never came home. I am 39, and I have been in this part of the world for 14 years now, which means I have spent more than a third of my life here. I have lived in Ecuador, Brazil, Mexico, Nicaragua, and now Uruguay. I have traveled to almost every country in the region, and I know Latin America better than any gringo I’ve met. Probably because I am married to a Colombian, and I have been on the frontlines fighting it out as an entrepreneur every since I arrived.
Why do I love Latin America? In Ecuador it is the dramatic landscapes; 20,000-foot peaks. In Brazil it is the energy—it’s hard to imagine a place where people have more fun. In Mexico it is the food. In Nicaragua it’s Flor de Cana, the local rum.
In the early years I think my fascination with Latin America was the fact that it is not all served up in a neat little package. It is a little dirty…rough around the edges…real. That gritty reality makes you feel alive. But it also has a shady side that can sometimes be difficult for gringos cope with, myself included.
Probably the most frustrating thing about daily life in Latin America is that Latinos—who in general find it hard to admit in public they are wrong—will lie to save face, often in situations we gringos would find absurd or trivial…where it makes no sense to lie. It’s their way of smoothing things over any time someone does not meet a commitment.
Another annoyance is the culture of bribery that remains alive and well in Latin America—it’s an art that must be learned to survive. With cops it is protocol. The key is to be polite, use phases like jefecito (meaning affectionately the boss man), and always negotiate. The good news is that normal traffic violations are cheap, and generally, cops will accept a fraction of what they ask for, depending on the offense.
My personal stories of the hard lessons would be comical if they had not happened to me. In honesty, I can already laugh about most of them, but at the time they were not easy at all. I had my car stolen, the taxi driver overcharged me, I was pick pocketed on a bus, and I had my first business swindled out from under me.
After a decade or so of living in Latin America, I was beginning to wonder if it was time to pack my bags and return to Texas.
And then I found Uruguay!
Uruguay is the kind of place that is impossible not to like. From the moment of arrival you notice a huge difference. The lack of security and armed guards…the cleanliness of everything…the modern infrastructure.
A few days into your trip, you gets a sense that the Uruguayans are living in a different time, a simpler time…it feel like how I imagine it was like in the 50s in the U.S. Families playing in the park. No beggars on the streets. The worlds last utopia.
Uruguay is a middle class country, so poverty is not a big part of the equation. I don’t know why or how it happened, but the wealth of the country is spread fairly evenly throughout the population. There is no feeling of desperation that a division of wealth creates.
Honor is alive and well. If a Uruguayan says something, you can count it. They can even be a little too strait-laced. I have been scolded on more than one occasion for not following the rules.
I must admit, I have bribed traffic cops in Uruguay. Like everywhere else, cops are not paid well. But I think in offering the bribe, Icorrupted them. My Uruguayan friends tell me they would never bribe a police officer, and wouldn’t know how.
Uruguayans complain things have changed. Ten years ago they slept with the doors unlocked. That may be true, but I dare say it has been 50 years since Americans slept with the doors open. The only crime I know about in Uruguay is the occasional pick pocketing in the tourist section of Montevideo (Ciudad Vieja). Theft is practically unheard of in the rest of the country.
So thanks to Uruguay, I still love Latin America, even the rougher parts, if only for a visit.
Tip: The hard part of bribing government officials and politicians is knowing when and who to bribe. Generally, when everything is done by the book, but for some reason the permit keeps getting held up, a bribe may be necessary. And it’s likely everyone from the clerk to the President will want something, so aim high. You will get things done much quicker that way.
http://www.olauruguay.com/2009/02/26/an-expat-account-of-life-in-uruguay
Why do I love Latin America? In Ecuador it is the dramatic landscapes; 20,000-foot peaks. In Brazil it is the energy—it’s hard to imagine a place where people have more fun. In Mexico it is the food. In Nicaragua it’s Flor de Cana, the local rum.
In the early years I think my fascination with Latin America was the fact that it is not all served up in a neat little package. It is a little dirty…rough around the edges…real. That gritty reality makes you feel alive. But it also has a shady side that can sometimes be difficult for gringos cope with, myself included.
Probably the most frustrating thing about daily life in Latin America is that Latinos—who in general find it hard to admit in public they are wrong—will lie to save face, often in situations we gringos would find absurd or trivial…where it makes no sense to lie. It’s their way of smoothing things over any time someone does not meet a commitment.
Another annoyance is the culture of bribery that remains alive and well in Latin America—it’s an art that must be learned to survive. With cops it is protocol. The key is to be polite, use phases like jefecito (meaning affectionately the boss man), and always negotiate. The good news is that normal traffic violations are cheap, and generally, cops will accept a fraction of what they ask for, depending on the offense.
My personal stories of the hard lessons would be comical if they had not happened to me. In honesty, I can already laugh about most of them, but at the time they were not easy at all. I had my car stolen, the taxi driver overcharged me, I was pick pocketed on a bus, and I had my first business swindled out from under me.
After a decade or so of living in Latin America, I was beginning to wonder if it was time to pack my bags and return to Texas.
And then I found Uruguay!
Uruguay is the kind of place that is impossible not to like. From the moment of arrival you notice a huge difference. The lack of security and armed guards…the cleanliness of everything…the modern infrastructure.
A few days into your trip, you gets a sense that the Uruguayans are living in a different time, a simpler time…it feel like how I imagine it was like in the 50s in the U.S. Families playing in the park. No beggars on the streets. The worlds last utopia.
Uruguay is a middle class country, so poverty is not a big part of the equation. I don’t know why or how it happened, but the wealth of the country is spread fairly evenly throughout the population. There is no feeling of desperation that a division of wealth creates.
Honor is alive and well. If a Uruguayan says something, you can count it. They can even be a little too strait-laced. I have been scolded on more than one occasion for not following the rules.
I must admit, I have bribed traffic cops in Uruguay. Like everywhere else, cops are not paid well. But I think in offering the bribe, Icorrupted them. My Uruguayan friends tell me they would never bribe a police officer, and wouldn’t know how.
Uruguayans complain things have changed. Ten years ago they slept with the doors unlocked. That may be true, but I dare say it has been 50 years since Americans slept with the doors open. The only crime I know about in Uruguay is the occasional pick pocketing in the tourist section of Montevideo (Ciudad Vieja). Theft is practically unheard of in the rest of the country.
So thanks to Uruguay, I still love Latin America, even the rougher parts, if only for a visit.
Tip: The hard part of bribing government officials and politicians is knowing when and who to bribe. Generally, when everything is done by the book, but for some reason the permit keeps getting held up, a bribe may be necessary. And it’s likely everyone from the clerk to the President will want something, so aim high. You will get things done much quicker that way.
http://www.olauruguay.com/2009/02/26/an-expat-account-of-life-in-uruguay
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