GRINGO!!!!

One thing that has happened to me several times and has continued to irk me is the loud shouting of “Gringo!” in my direction. This bothers me for several reasons: (1) why would you shout that at someone? Shouting names at people is always poor manners and is generally malicious; (2) it makes a distinction between the two parties, only working negatively to reinforce our differences; (3) if anything, it should be gringA (feminine). So what have I done in response?

“Chapin!”

Chapin means Guatemalan/Guatemalteco. When I respond by calling the person “Chapin,” it tends to confuse the yelling party since they had expected me to be passive and walk away. I then follow that by opening up a dialogue. “Hi, how are you? I’m Meri. What’s your name? Nice to meet you! I live here in San Andres Semetabaj too. Where do you go to school? I’ll be visiting you soon since my job is to work with all the schools. So next time you see me what are you going to say? Buen@s dias, tardes, noches Meri! Perfect! See you soon.” This has proven to be quite effective actually. It attacks the problem directly by holding the person accountable for their actions, humanizes me in the process instead of remaining some , and starts a relationship based on mutual respect. Today I passed a little boy who I met when he shouted gringo at me by the football field one day. This time he grinned widely shouting, “Meri! Meri!” What a cutie! It gives me hope that things don‘t always have to be that way. Now the next problem is tackling the men and their catcalls. That one’s a bit more complex.