Local traditions and culture in South America

As many South Americans have their roots in Spain some cultural customs are similar to the Spanish. Generally speaking the South Americans are more easy going than their European counterparts. There are a few unwritten rules that you should be aware of.
It is considered rude to chuck an object to someone, but should be handed to them directly.
If someone is having a conversation with you and steps closer to you it would be considered rude to step back.
At meal times don't help yourself to the last portion of chicken or whatever, ask first if anyone would like it. Not asking would be considered rude or greedy.
Do not mention a person's faults or mistakes in front of a crowd. Pull him to one side and mention the problem in private to avoid losing face.

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Have you ever heared of "Islas Malvinas" ? When taking a look at the inscriptions of maps, books or postcards in Argentina you will hardly ever find the expression "Falkland-Islands" but always instead the name "Islas Malvinas"! That is the local name for the Falkland Islands and in Fireland and other areas of Argentina you will find in almost every village and town a monument for the soldiers, who were fighting for them just a few years ago. The monument in my pictures here is the one in Rio Grande, it is actually a series of monuments along the main road N3 and is also the wall of the local army barracks.
Take a look at any map in Argentina, the Falkland islands will always be written there "Islas Malvinas (Arg.)" - just like they would be part of Argentina and GB would have lost the war...

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When driving around in Tierra del Fuego / Fireland you will see a natural phenominon in many places: old Iron might have a tiny little bit of rust, but even after decades it still looks pretty the same. And so you will see there cars and other machineries standing somewhere in the landscape, rusting just a bit but not thrown away. There are several reasons for that, first of all the fact maybe that once such a machinery was taken to the end of the world with a lot of shipping-costs,they might still sell some of its parts as spareparts to someone or use them for other machineries.
All of these vehicles are displayed in the garden around the Misión Salesiana de Santo Domingo, where I took all of these pics they might also serve to explane some functions to the pupils of the school of agriculture
The locomovil in my main picture is more than 100 years old and still not falling apart like it would after 100 years standing in the open air in rain and snow in Europe maybe.

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Reserve some extra money for a special souvenir, when you are lucky to be able to visit the San Blas Islands off the coast of Panama. Molas are these works of their art called, and the native ladies fix such molas to the front and to the back of their costumes, but they sell them also like pictures / paintings to the tourists.
These are cloths, with different colors, sewed and fixed in a very special way stripe by stripe.
I bought a lot of them and a few of them are shown in my pictures here.
Some of them are shown behind glass in my home and some others were tranferred into great & interesting cushions !

Here I have a for "latinos" probably well known list of peruvian slang meanings...

- El Peruano no se emborracha: ¡se mete una bomba!
- EL Peruano no saluda: te dice ¡Hola won!
- El Peruano no tiene amigos: tiene patas
- El Peruano no se cae: se saca la mierda
- El Peruano no se burla: se caga de risa
- El Peruano no está enamorado perdidamente: está templado hasta el culo
- El Peruano no sale con una chica: tiene un plancito
- El Peruano no está con una mujer sólo por el sexo: está enchuchado
- El Peruano no convence: tira floro
- El Peruano no se lanza: se avienta
- El Peruano no besuquea: chapa
- El Peruano no es un tipo que molesta: es una ladilla de culo
- El Peruano no molesta: jode
- El Peruano no se baña: se mete un duchazo
- El Peruano no se molesta: se pone hecho una mierda
- El Peruano no te golpea: te revienta a patadas
- El Peruano no tiene amantes: tiene calentaos
- El Peruano no sufre de diarrea: está con la bicicleta
- El Peruano no fracasa: la caga
- El Peruano no es mujeriego: es un pinga loca
- El Peruano no sale corriendo: sale hecho un pedo
- El Peruano no toma siestas: se queda jato
- El Peruano no cree que es mucho dinero: es un huevo de plata
- El Peruano no es tonto: es un huevón
- El Peruano no es un tipo detestable: es una rata
- El Peruano no tiene relaciones sexuales: se echa un polvo
- El Peruano no ríe hasta más no poder: se caga de la risa
- El Peruano no la ve difícil: está bien yuca
- El Peruano no va rápido: va como alma que lleva el diablo
- El Peruano no toma: se zampa
- El Peruano no entra en acción: entra con todo
- El Peruano no te alaba interesadamente: es un sobón, un franelero, un lameculos
- El Peruano no es listo: es recontra mosca
- El Peruano no pide que lo lleven: pide una jaladita
- El Peruano no ha consumido droga: está duro
- El Peruano no es un tipo alegre: es como la puta madre
- El Peruano no cree que algo es lo mejor en su especie: es lo máximo; ya no ya
- El Peruano no hace algo muy bien: hace lo máximo!

Mico..as they're called in Brasil...Callitrix penicillata kuhli
Otto we called him, a black- tuffed-ear Mormoset, kind of Monkey. they have no thumb, five straight fingers, catching stuff looks quite a bit of an effort. but they fast.
nowadays they are actually on the endagered spezies list. Otto was bought in Salvador da Bahia and lived with us for 2 years in Nova Lima, quite free, he knew where the food came from, quite tame too..but very spirited and territorial, forming monogamous partnerships and raising the young, while mum is doing....other things
the common Mormoset..Callitrix jaccus...is very common and when you look in the trees of Rio's suburbs, you can see many of them, and so can they.

common Mormoset

While hiking, do as the locals do and chew (chacta) coca leaves. There is a whole ceremony involved in chewing too, but for your purposes just chew a quinto, meaning five leaves together folded up. It will take care of or prevent altitude sickness and will give you energy (and NO, coca leaves are not a drug and are not cocaine). It's a hard hike but not too hard either. Go slow if you get tired, take your time and if you are already working out you will be fine. It's so amazing that the magic of the place will give you all the energy you will need. Layer up, sierra weather is tricky. One minute very warm/hot the next very cold. Bring extra pairs of socks, a hat, scarf and a great attitude.
Please don't forget to tip your porter.

of America Latina, Mercedes Sosa, born in Argentina,her songs voices socio-political questions, and the old native indian songs of South America. I meet her a couple of times a very kind and gifted woman, greatly respected by her peers..the voice of America Latina.
references can be found on the net