I´m so bored of the U.S.A.

An Argentinian couple and one lovely lass from England have joined our little international group of misfits. This in addition to the Colombian, the Chilean, the Slovak and of course the Gringo. And luckily my Spanish is better than Lisa´s, the girl from foggy old London, so I am no longer the one slowing down the group!

There´s something about hanging out with such an international crew that I just love. Everyone has their own perspective on the world, and what´s truly amazing is that perspective generally fits the stereo-type of the country they are from. And I guess I realize that as much as I hate to admit it, my view of the world is strongly colored by living in the US my entire life.

José, the Colombian, and I got into a discussion yesterday about our countries. He started asking me what the US was like, what was good about it and what was bad. The majority of his knowledge about the US comes from Hollywood and what he´s heard from friends of friends who have been there.

Well I started with what was good. I told him that after being in Latin America for a couple of months and seeing some of the abject poverty first hand, you really appreciate the amazing wealth of the US. There are not people starving to death in the streets on a daily basis in the US like there are in every other country in the America´s (except maybe Canada).

I went on to say I have an amazing amount of freedom. I can sit back and critize my government and its policies without fear of reprisal. I don´t have to worry about a military coup or rigged elections. Ok, maybe that last part isn´t true. The rest of the world is still wondering how the state who´s governor is the brother of the guy who was running for President just happened to be the one with the controversial results that swayed the entire election.

And then I kinda ran out of stuff to say. The close-knit family structure I´ve seen in every Latin American country I´ve been in seems far superior to how we in the US deal with our families (move far away and only go back for holidays). Everyone I´ve met here also seems to have great friends who drop on by at all times and just have fun drinking and dancing and talking and laughing.

I certainly wasn´t going to refer to our military might or ability to affect change on the world map. The rest of the world already thinks we´re arrogant enough. And I guess I don´t see being the biggest kid in the playground as something to be proud of.

The truth is, I don´t remember why I love the US anymore. Having the passport is really nice, it gets you into a lot of places. But other than that, the US is kinda boring. And simply being able to earn more money here than anywhere else in the world isn´t a good enough answer anymore. Our culture seems incredibly shallow and vacuous, although I think I might have just made up that word.

Lately I´ve been thinking about just making it as far as Buenos Aires and stopping. I had thought about Colombia, but I figure the beautiful women are a wash in both countries and they´re equally cheap, but Argentina wins with the fantastic wine and heavenly steaks. Although Colombia does have a natural beauty that is literally beyond compare. Don´t worry Jeff, I´ll still be back for all my crap at some point.