I was told apparently you cannot distinguish where someone comes from in LATAM based on their looks. What is a phrase or behavior that instantly reveals where someone is from?
My friend from Colombia says that in her country there is a lot of victim blaming. For example when a young woman is unfortunately murdered or a victim of SA/abuse, they'll say she was looking for trouble and found it or she was not very smart to get into that situation etc. Here in the UK you would face strong social outrage for this. I'm curious what opinions are commonly held in your country that would turn heads abroad?
For example a French friend of mine told me that Quebec are North Americans that just happen to speak French and there is nothing French or European about Quebec. I notice Spaniards despite dismissive comments will acknowledge that Latin Americans came from them and they share things in common. Portuguese refuse to talk to me about anything Brazil related so idk. As for me as a Brit I think the United States has a culture of its own that obviously came from British culture and just evolved. But other Brits will tell you American culture is completely different except for southern states. Same as Canada and NZ. As Latinos do you consider yourselves culturally closer to Europe (Southern Europe especially) or North America or somewhere in between?
How have things changed for your country in the last 20 years? It can be culturally, politically, infrastructure and safety wise etc. Will you still be able to recognize your country after the next 20?
Does your country today feel the same or very different from how it’s usually portrayed in older media or even from stories people told 20 years ago. Whether it be tech, infrastructure, fashion, modernity, safety, wealth distribution, or culture, customs and moral values. How has your country changed the most in the last 20 years?
What is a major turning point that derailed your once successful and promising country to the path of political and economic turmoil. The "if this never happened we would be a well off country" type of situation.
As a Brit, Americans from the USA are seen as our cousins across the pond. We begrudgingly respect, admire, and are proud of them but we'd never admit it. Winston Churchill famously told DeGaulle that he would always pick the Americans any day over the French. For better or for worse we're their closest ally and have been dragged into numerous escapades with them. Canada, Australia and NZ are like our children. Canada is the child that moves near their parents or lives with and takes care of them. Canadians and Brits view each other as one nation separated by an ocean. They never really "left" the British Empire and our late queen, which was their queen also is still on their money. Australia is the more distant child that moved out at 18 and never calls unless reminded. They're great allies but have been trying to move out of the UK's sphere of influence. Can't say I blame them. NZ is the baby of the family often forgotten. The Caribbean nations give us flavorful food and nice get away destinations.
How is Spain, Portugal, France, Netherlands etc viewed in the countries they colonized? Do you guys obsess about the Spanish accent and royal family the way Americans do with the British? Do your countries have special defense pacts or political rights etc?
I remember in University one day a half Lebanese half Morrocan girl was telling my mexican classmate that their cultures are similar because they both have Mediterranean origins. The Mediterranean includes countries and regions like Spain, South France, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Western Turkey, Morroco, Algeria, Tunisia, the Levant (Lebanon, Palestine, coastal Syria). All these countries share cuisine/ingredients, the importance of Olive oil, history and of course geography. Personally I didn't see any similarities, but I'm not Latino. What do you guys think? Do you share any similarities with Mediterranean countries culturally?
Edit: Europeans don't like to admit this but North African and the Levant can also be considered as part of the Mediterranean.
Edit #2: Not sure to include Portugal as geographically it's considered Atlantic, but it does seem culturally Mediterranean.
A half Lebanese half Morrocan friend of mine said she felt Puerto Ricans and Cubans were very similar to Mediterranean countries culturally. For example friendly/hospitable, extroverted, strong sense of family etc. Also Arabs do very well at integrating in LATAM.
When people think of the Mediterranean they think of Spain, Italy, Southern France, Greece, Malta, etc Contrary to popular beliefs Mediterranean countries also include countries like Lebanon, Parts of Syria, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Turkey.
All these countries have shared history, climate, cuisine and culturally similarities. I'm curious if Carribean people especially Latin American Carribean people feel the same way or see similarities between their culture and Mediterranean culture.
Edit: Why the downvotes? 😭
I've noticed outside the Middle East Arabs as a diaspora have been successful and have a good reputation in LATAM as opposed to Europe. Producing business tycoons, artists, politicians and even presidents. Why is this the case?
Both in real life and on social media I noticed Latinos tend to make jokes or remarks that tend to be seen as funny in LATAM but could be career or reputation ending in the Anglosphere. I saw a video on social media of a Peruvian guy getting a haircut and people said things like "peruano premium" or "le devolvieron sus derechos" or "peruano a mexicano", "desbolivianizo" etc. I saw another video of what canelo would look like if he was born in other countries & comments under the video said "now show canelo as Mexican" or that "canelo doesn't look Mexican" leading to people to fight amongst themselves in the comments etc
I was chatting with an Argentine and he told me United Statians are too sensitive and that in Argentina they can talk however they want about Muslims, Jews, blacks, gays etc and no group is too sacred to criticize. What shocked me the most is when I was in Guatemala and I saw some méstizo guy saying "a callar indio" to another guy who looked similar to him but a couple shades darker.
I also see this in Brazil. An indigenous girl from the North posted a viral selfie and people were saying she came from the ice age and these type of girls usually put "japinha" in their profile etc
To me it's a bit ironic, because most of LATAM contains POC and normally in UK or the USA these types of jokes and comments would not be tolerated and cause widespread outrage.
What countries/regions are not considered part of the Carribean but feel like they should be? For me I'd say Southern Florida and Yucatán.
I was in a conversation with a couple drunk Argentines. Apparently according to them Brazilians tend to be seen as attractive on average as opposed to one country where they told me the women are "bigoteros". I don't want to mention the country name. My Mexican friend told me he went to Bogotá and did not see anyone overweight. Which countries are seen as having more attractive people?
What is normal for you guys but strange abroad?
For me as a gringo from what I've seen in LATAM
Being overly cautious. I once had a Colombian female friend say gringos are "demasiado confiado" because our friend was walking around in London in a public area with his phone out.
Romanticizing crime & poverty. No idea why people like to brag about how dangerous their country is. I've heard countless cartel stories it became boring.
Taking a siesta. I heard this happens in southern italy too. People take a couple hours break/lunch/nap from work during the day and everything stops
Quinciñeras. If you ever had any latino friends growing up you probably got invited to these. It was considered a big deal in the Latino communities so if someone invited you as a gringo it meant they really liked you.
So my mom's a healthcare professional and ever since I was 15 years old I've been helping her with her coursework in one way or another. It started as spelling checks, to written Essays, to eventually doing entire courses online for her. Her professors never had any idea that it was a teenager writing her essays and answering discussion posts. This was way before ChatGpt. She generally got good grades A/B honor roll. I justified this by saying she was working to provide for us and while she worked in the hospital to provide a roof over our heads and meals on the table, I helped her advance in her coursework. I never got paid for anything.
Fast forward years later and my relationship with my mom has been strained. She blamed me for taking my dad's side during their divorce (which is false) and didn't talk to me for my last 2 years of university. When I graduated, I couldn't find a job and she let me crash on her couch. It wasn't free and I was paying rent to her while working a fast food job till I could find something better. She was doing an online masters and she wanted me to do her coursework. Initially I helped her complete a course, but later I objected because I was busy job hunting and it was morally wrong to cheat. She got quite angry about it. She started insulting me, calling me a failure, and she threatened to kick me out. Since I had no place to go I reminded her of how I helped her with her coursework & negative consequences if truth ever got out she had cheated. She told me she didn't care and dared me to report her. She said that people pay others to do their coursework all the time and whatever I did for her is nothing special.
One month I was a week late on rent and she had my younger brothers pack all my stuff & throw it in the front lawn while I was out for errands. When I came back she changed the passcode to the door and I was locked outside. She sent me a text that I was no longer welcomed at her residence. My conscience was guilty and I felt betrayed. I called every university she had attended and I reported her for academic dishonesty with all the receipts I had in hand over the years. This included a lot of the essays, discussion posts, exam work etc that I sent her over email through the years that I could find. So far she has been dismissed from her Master's degree program and the other university is looking into whether they will revoke her bachelor's degree or enforce other disciplinary actions. I honestly felt bad because if she loses her bachelor's degree she might lose her job & not be able to provide for my younger brothers who are teens. She will still have an associates degree to fall back on though. AITAH for reporting her? I felt like maybe I went too far.
From what I've read LATAM has a larger number of Afro-descendants than Anglo-America. What is the cultural legacy of the Afro-descendants in your country? Did they leave a significant or minor impact? Do they form an integral part of your country's national identity?
Obviously, indigenous people played a significant role in the foundation of Latin America. how is índigenous äncestry and culture perceived in your country. I noticed in some countries like Puerto Rico and Cuba it seems to be a big deal. However, in Guatemala or Peru not much fuss is made about it. Are indigenous languages still widely spoken in your country? What is the culture of indigenous people in your country visible? How are indigenous people perceived in the modern day?
I was told that indigenous people legacy only live on in the history books of the Carribean. Is that true? Or are there Carribean countries that have significant genetic, cultural, and linguistic influences from the indigenous people? Are there any countries that have a sizable indigenous population left? If so, how are they treated?
Edit: why are people down voting this post? 😭
I was chatting with my Egyptian friend who had been to LATAM and he told me Latinos are short. He says the average Latino male height is 165 while the average height in Egypt is 175. My friend is 187 making him way taller than the average Egyptian male and he says in Egypt he doesn't feel tall. In the UK he'd definitely be considered tall. How tall are you? How does your height compare to the median height of your country's population?
I'll be honest. I never wanted children. At least not so early in life. His father, who was 5 years my senior, got me pregnant when I was 17. Due to family pressure I carried the baby to full term and married my son's father. I endured 13 years of physical and emotional abuse in a toxic loveless marriage. My youth, my dreams and my sanity robbed from me. It's been 10 years since my husband or should I say my abuser met his end. He died in a car accident in drunken stupor. He was always a raging alcoholic. My son has graduated from University and now has a career in finance. He looks just like his father and has some of his mannerisms. When he graduated and got a job I sold the house and changed my number. I only know that he'd been looking for me because he got in touch with my cousin and was asking her about my whereabouts. She's very close to me and only she knows my new address and contact info. I told her not to disclose anything to him and I'd reach back out to him whenever I felt ready. After all these years I'm still filled with resentment, anger, and grief. I'd like to heal and focus on myself. Am I wrong for making this decision?