Zero Proximity
Length: 7:45
Description: The final for my International Studies class was a ten minute presentation on what we thought the spirit of Latin America was. I first read the following and then played this video.
Before we all came to Uruguay, we all took that week of classes in Abilene. We all gathered together and learned Spanish songs and got insight into the culture of Latin America. We were told that entering or existing a room without kissing everyone was rude. So we practiced. We all got up and walked around the room and practiced on each other. We were also told that in public situations we should make ourselves small. On the bus we should get as close to the person next to us as possible and regardless of what it looked like there was always always more room on the elevator. We were told that the cemeteries had massive monuments with giant crosses and religious icons that we all had to see. A lot of us had never been out of the country before and had never experienced what it was like to be in a different culture. A lot of us heard what we were being told but half expected it to not be true. On June fourth, we arrived in Montevideo, finally, and we all slowly started to discover something. The Latin Americans really did kiss one another when they came and went. The Latin Americans really could never fill an elevator to maximum capacity; there really was always room for more. The Latin Americans could never get close enough to the car next to them, while driving, and would always pull away at the last second to avoid what could have amounted to expensive bills, massive paperwork and a splitting headache back in the states. And lastly, the Latin Americans are in actuality really close to God. When they say they believe, they believe and they mean it. All of these thoughts got me thinking about a certain topic, a specific word actually. Space. And for the first time in my life I'm not talking about the outer space that the Battlestar Galactica flys through every week trying to escape the cylons, while simultaneously searching for the coordinates of our home planet Earth. No, I'm talking about space as in the distance between two objects. The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines space as the distance from other people or things that a person needs in order to remain comfortable. In the United States, this "space" is rather large. You typically don't touch someone, with the exception of the handshake, and kissing a complete stranger could end up getting you arrested. In Latin America, a person's "personal space" is much smaller. This can be seen through all aspects of life but especially in the people, the cars, and religious practices of Latin America. Our assignment was to answer the question, "What is the spirit of Latin America," but I'm not going to stand up here and tell you the answer; I'm going to show you.
Author: JediMstrKris
Source: YouTube
