I went to Nicaragua for Semana Santa, the Holy Week before Easter. When I told my Costa Rican students, they asked the same question: Why?
Everyone sounded shocked. They thought it was dangerous, that the people weren’t nice, and there always seemed to be a story about dangerous dogs. Then, when I was in Nicaragua, I met some Nicaraguans who slagged on Costa Ricans, calling them uncultured and never able to get to the point when talking.
Now, I’m headed to Panama. And when I’ve told many Ticos that, they all asked the same question: Why?
The knock there is Panamanians have a poor Spanish accent (the degree of agreement on this has been astounding) and that they are too brusque, not as friendly and open as Costa Ricans.
Almost everywhere seems to have somewhere else to rag on. When I studied in England, no one had nice things to say about France. The United States has Canada (good natured) and Mexico (with more ire). In Chicago, we’ve got Wisconsin. Costa Rica, home to some of the most fantastic and happy people in the world, shares this tendency for bias. I can’t set myself apart, either. After losing a girlfriend to a guy from Bangladesh, I had trouble with Southeast Asians, and when I was in high school, I had a bias against Latinos — oh life, you lover of irony.
They were both unreasonable, but the latter case is the one I’m pondering: Plain old bias, with no discernible point of origin. Is it because we don’t know the people we’re biased toward? Is it because we want to set ourselves on a higher plane, in a perverted version of patriotism?
Every time I’ve gone to a place I’ve heard people slam, I’ve found people to be interesting, unique, and at least somewhat kind. So the next time you or I find ourselves bashing a group of people or a place for no apparent reason, let’s agree to ask ourselves the same question: Why?
Kent most recently left his post as an English teacher in Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica and is currently traveling. To see what he’s up to, check out his blog or follow him on Twitter. For more on confronting bias, check out Tom Hemingway’s post, “Seeing the World in New Ways.”
Latest posts by kentgreen
- The Centries: Handing Out Awards to Central America - August 9th, 2010
- Sub-juncting Myself to a Test of Generosity - August 4th, 2010
- Nobody (At Least Not Me) Knows the Trouble Guatemala's Seen - August 2nd, 2010
- Oh No, Ojos! (or, Why Gringos Don't Make Eye Contact) - July 28th, 2010
- We Dance If We Want To (so why don't we?) - July 26th, 2010
- Getting Schooled in Spanish Schools - July 21st, 2010
- Guatemala's REAL Danger: Not Wanting to Leave - July 19th, 2010
- Living the High Life (and not even knowing it) - July 14th, 2010
- The Devils of Panama City - July 7th, 2010
- Paging Maintenance, We Have a Crisis in Aisle 4 - July 5th, 2010
