Politeness

This picture has nothing to do with the subject of this post, but I never tire of the beauty of town squares in Latin American at night. This is here in Ibarra.

What I am moved to post about is the difference between Latin America and the rest of the Americas when it comes to politeness. Politeness is part of the culture down here to a degree that seems very strange to a gringo. For example when I am blogging here in the lobby of the Hotel Madrid and people enter, they often greet me, a stranger, with a "buenos dias." Just walking down the street you can be greeted with the same. When greeting people yourself you have to remember if it's dias, tardes, or noches. Sometimes people just mumble the "buenas" by itself.

One of the most charming examples of politeness for me happens more often than not in restaurants. When someone seated next to you gets up to leave he/she commonly tells you "buen provecho" literally "good benefit" but meaning the same as "bon appetit." When this happens you need to reply "gracias."

What it comes down to is that the Latin American culture is geared to breaking down separation between people, even people of different classes. How different our culture would be if we started practicing these habits.