Observing people in Central America is really interesting. First of all, there is a true melting pot of cultures: Asians, Blacks, Hispanics, indigenous people such as the Kuna in Panamá…
People have different activities than in North America and in Europe too. The market is often at the center of the community and it´s packed at lunch time, while there is always something happening in the street. In San José, Costa Rica, we would always walk the same pedestrian street. Many vendors displayed their goods in the street: socks, hats, CD and DVD etc. Every hour or so, the police would come and everybody packed in a hurry… to start selling again five minutes later!
Downtown, you can also find people playing music, hanging around, selling stuffs, playing, eating… basically living. It struck me how much of an indoor culture we have become in North America. Sure, the weather is colder and does not allow us to hang out in the street in the middle of January, but I think we have become housebound too much. We always seem to go out with a purpose: eating, working, or going from point A to point B. Loitering is frowned upon, or even forbidden. It´s a bit sad, really.
You are quite right about US and Canada becoming indoor cultures. When I was a kid I’m 67) in Oklahoma people sat out on the front porch and visited with their neighbors. We kids went out in somebodies back yard to play touch football or “work up”, baseball for however many players were there, and didn’t come home until it was dark or our mothers called us in. Now houses are built with no sidewalks, no front porches, and the back yard is enclosed by a privacy fence. The kids come home from school and play video games until their parents get home from work. It is a different society and we are the poorer for it.
I love the street life culture depicted in the pics. What an interesting eye-opener! What we normally see here in M’sia are beggars and old folks making the streets home. A sad sight, really.
I can feel the vibes there with all the activities going on there Zhu. I can see that you are having fun, what a great tour 🙂
Have fun & be safe.
My country (Malaysia) is a hot tropical country, so it is no wonder that we spend lots of time indoor, in air-conditioned room. The sad thing, however, is that we no longer know our neighbors.
Also, I found that there are more and more gated/guarded communities in Malaysia. Perhaps this is due to security issue, or ‘perceived insecurity’…
Y qué colorido es todo! Ahora que vivo rodeado de blanco me doy cuenta! 😉
Saludos…
Salut Zhu,
I also like to observe when I travel. You said some interesting things there. You see; you had to leave your normal environment relaize somethings… otherwise, we don’t really think about this.
I love the color and animation in your pics. He he; the Police coming every hour to do their thing and the vendors do their thing and come back.
Stay safe & have fun.
Bises 🙂
I sure cant spell today; I meant :
“You had to leave your normal environment to REALIZE some things”.
Duh… Blame it on the cold weather, I guess
I really like the hot colors of South America! I also think that the people look very happy even though they don’t have everything which we have…maybe we have too much?? I don’t think I would play with the pigeons though, yuck!
I love the photos. I really like C/America. It’s a whole different world.
Chicken in a box?