nerd on the surf(ace)

Central and South America

I’ve always had a weird fascination with Central and South America. I’ve been this way ever since I was a kid.

When I was little, I had a “Big Blue Marble” Atlas. I loved that book. And I really loved maps and learning about the people who lived in different parts of the world.

As I grew older, it seemed like the default “stand-ins” for foreign countries were safe, vanilla places in Europe, Australia, or Asia. For example… go to Epcot’s “showcase of nations.” There’s one country in Central America, and that’s Mexico. It’s probably only there because it’s next door. South America isn’t represented at all.

Growing up, I’d hear about people (friends, family members, whatever) traveling to the Caribbean or Europe. You’d never hear Bolivia or Uruguay.

I guess that gave these two regions their mystique. The fact that they seemed perpetually ignored made them that much more exotic and mysterious. Why the hell NOT go to Paraguay? Or Venezuela? Or Honduras? They’re RIGHT THERE on the map - connected to us even!

As I grew older I “learned” that these places were known for corruption, or war, or crime, or generally lacked the niceties of civilization that other places had. Sadly, a lot of that is because of the (at best) misguided practices of my own government (e.g., go read up on the 20th century history of Nicaragua sometime).

But that hasn’t deterred me quite yet. I’m happy to say that I just got back from a family vacation to Costa Rica. Costa Rica is hardly one of the more exotic or dangerous places in the world. In fact, it’s fantastic! The people are helpful and friendly, my Spanish is better than I thought it’d be, and the country is gorgeous.

So perhaps I’ll get more daring and venture to some more interesting places south of the border. Argentina’s on my bucket list…