#weirdess

Amelia: You're welcome babydoll ;)

I live in a small-ish town in the Andes with a significant number of predominantly American expats. Everyone here greets everyone, on the streets, in the stores, in the restaurants, everywhere. As long as you make an eye contact, you are supposed to say some greeting: “hola”, “como está”, “buenos días”, etc. etc. It was similar, to a lesser degree, in Canada. There are Americans who I cross on the street almost every day; they studiously avoid eye contact, never respond to my greeting, and pretend I’m absolutely not there. They know I’m another “gringa” just like they are (blue eyes, light skin). The same treatment apply to the locals. This comes across as INCREDIBLY rude. When I asked my American friends why is this happening, the answer was “they are afraid”.  ???????????????????