We are all NERDS

I have been in South America for about a year now, but everyday I learn new things about this place. The people are so much different than us Gringos that it is outrageous sometimes. But there are also many things that all humans have in common,

No matter the situation, if somebody is from out of town, we have to add in our two cents about the place where they are from, whether we actually have two cents about the place.

Since everyone thinks that I am from the capital, Washington DC (I usually just let them believe that, I sound way cooler that way.) I get a lot of really uninformed remarks about the government. As far as people down here are concerned, our country is still right in the middle of the racism conflicto, we might as well still have slaves. Also having a black president is kind of something they like to throw in my face, like ¨what now? The negroes beat you¨ Little do they know…

Also they all seem to think that being ¨from the capital¨ I have some connection to government, which is super funny because especially lately with the Osama bin Laden issue, leads them to think that we are blood hungry war lords. you learn pretty fast not to bring up the subject of war.

And almost everybody in Uruguay has some long lost relative in the United States, which they always bring up, as if there was any kind of chance of me knowing them, haha, I had never even talked to a Uruguayan in my life before the mission, but its cool, I get to act as though I own the country, and as though I know where everything is.

I mean I am related to the president, right?