Interesting dynamic observed.

[wetibbe]

Seems that lots of Americans have quite a lot of contempt for the French, always putting them down. Not me.

But when we speak of likes and dislikes in Latin America we should, of course, remember that there are whites, browns, tans, bronze, blacks and colors in between. And lots of prejudice.

When I lived in Venezuela, I was on the east Shore of Lake Maracaibo in an oil town. I was visiting an American oil company office talking to an American client where locals were present. There was a Venezuelan from Caracas called Caraqueno and one from Maracaibo, a Maracucho. The Maracucho asked the Caraqueno a question in Spanish and the Caraqueno got a funny look on his face and turned to another asking: " What did he say" ?

I think I already told this one. I was in Florida last year for a christening. My son in law took me to a little strip mall restaurant that was Cuban, bustling with activity. He wanted a Cuban sandwich which is really delicious. You had to go to the counter, look in the display cases, make your selection, pay the cashier and carry your food to a table. When we finished and went outside several teen agers, boys and girls exited, boiling mad. I asked my son in law if he knew what their problem was and he said they were protesting the presence of those "Puerto Ricans" and wouldn't stay. Apparently they were Cubans.

Spanish is my second language but I can spot a true Spaniard in a heart beat from his "accent". I travelled all of the Latin Countries and it is indeed very true that accents vary from country to country a very great deal and from one social level to another, as well as words and the meanings of some words.

I worked with Latinos, over the years, from the top to the bottom of the social, economic scale. Ingenieros *( engineers ), licenciados *( generally degreed people with a college education ), obreros *( blue collar workers ), campesinos *( peasants/ hicks, country people of low education ). The different words and composition varies enormously. Some is very proper and some is slang loaded with expletives.