Given that I was already more than five months into my nine-month grant, I was a little skeptical walking into a session entitled “How to Deal with Culture and Cultural Shock.” However, the seminar, presented by the Executive Director of the Fulbright Commission in Ecuador, proved to be immensely informative. While I feel like most of us living abroad eventually learn to make peace with any quirks that we find irritating, this session allowed us to move beyond acceptance to an understanding of deeply engrained cultural traits that manifest themselves in behavioral differences between people from the United States and people in Latin America.

We were introduced to the concept of Monochronic and Polychronic time and how they influence priorities. Monochronic people – those raised in the United States, for example – see time as a line with concrete progressions. Agendas mean more, as do appointments and tangible plans. Latin Americans experience time a little differently; under a Polychronic perspective, time is more circular and flexible. Plans can be changed often and easily, multiple things can be attempted at once. Interruptions are a way of life.

'Be flexible' - the catchphrase of my experience abroad, learning to slow down and go with the flow (photo by Eric Buley)

The differences continue. In the United States, we learned, the focus is first on the future, then the present, before finally reflecting on the past. We are taught from a young age to look ahead: to college, a career, and beyond. To plan for what may come tomorrow. In Latin America, the focus is more reflective: people look first to what has happened, then to what is happening now, before finally turning to what may lie ahead.

It finally clicked; a sociological explanation for our culture shock. When we arrived in our countries, bouncing with enthusiasm, many of us were taken aback to find what appeared to be an absence of tangible support. It manifested itself in different ways – verbal enthusiasm with no follow-through, requests being forgotten, lack of response to proposals or requests for weeks or months. For many of us used to a lifetime of looking to the future, to emails being responded to in hours instead of days, to enthusiasm being rewarded with support, the abrupt change was hard to adjust to. Frustrating? For sure! But gradually we did adjust, becoming more flexible, and making it all the more rewarding when we accomplished something, and did so by looking beyond our own cultural expectations and peering through the lens of the cultural norms of our new homes.

Lianne Gonsalves is currently a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant at the Centro Venezolano Americano. To hear more about her experiences, check out her blog. This is not is not an official Fulbright Program blog. The views and information presented are Lianne’s own and do not represent the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State, or any of its partner organizations.

Photo from Flickr user Julia Smith

The business of haggling is a sticky subject. On the one hand, you’re probably going to get a better price than anything you’d find in your home country. I often ask myself, do I really need to save that extra two bucks? But then there is also the desire to adapt to the local culture, and the immense pressure to get a fair price. How does one negotiate in these circumstances without seeming like a total jerk?

Having sought advice from friends here in Ecuador, I’ve found that following some basic rules can make the experience of visiting any local outdoor market much more pleasant and civil.

1) Try to begin the conversation with anything other than, “Cuánto cuesta?” A short pleasantry should suffice.

2) As a general rule, going lower than about 20-25% of the asking price is going to seem rude.

3) Your local dealer will not be offended if you ask for a discount in exchange for buying in bulk. Try purchasing a few extra alpaca hats to get a better price. They make great stocking-stuffers anyways.

4) It’s acceptable to haggle more aggressively over obviously mass-produced items. I think that T-shirts (especially the same ones you see everywhere) are fair game.

5) If you visit the market later in the afternoon, most vendors will already have mentally lowered their prices if business has been slow, making bargaining much easier.

6) Finally, and this is my opinion, I like to buy from vendors who are friendly, who readily explain how their goods were made and who don’t try to drag you into their shop.

If you can’t remember these suggestions when the time comes, just try to follow the golden rule: be nice. Smile, say please and above all else, don’t shout prices at people.

You can read all about the other cultural mistakes I’ve made in Ecuador on my blog at http://danmalin.wordpress.com/