Curious to hear opinions of any travelers of Asian descent
who've been to Central America (particularly Costa Rica,
Ecuador, Belize) -- I read a post by someone who spent a
month in Belize and reported that she was treated pretty
much like shit because she was "Chinese-looking". So am I,
and I sort of want to avoid that kind of vacation. I
traveled through West Africa for two years where I became
familiar with having people pick on my identity in ways
more offensive than the mere "gringo" epithet, so it's not
as if I don't have a clue; I just want to get a feel of
Central America's take on non-Anglos. And while I'm at it,
I might as well ask on behalf of one of my traveling
companions how African-Americans are received in CA.
Thanks!
[There are 11 posts - the latest was added on Sat 15 May, 2:46]
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If you are not comfortable with your race, why should foreigners (who will be natives when you visit them) get excited?
We live in a a multi-race world, and anywhere you go you can find bigots and racists if you look for them. Concentrate on being the absolute best visitor to foreign shores as a representative of your own proud race, and you will have no problems. Your concern with race is not worthy of you---get over it and enjoy the world!
I haven't been to Belize so can't speak for that country. But i just got back from three weeks in Guatemala and Costa Rica and had no problem at all on this score. (I'm Filipino.) I also met a good number of other Asian travellers and heard nothing negative from them. As for African descent, both countries have predominantly black populations on their Carribean coasts.
Whoa, was there something that I wrote that made you think i
was not comfortable with my race? Who said anything about
getting the natives excited? You're absolutely right that I
will "concentrate on being the best visitor to foreign
shores as a representative of my own proud race," but harpor
baby, get with it, there are times when people aren't
looking for bigots (and most of the time I assure I'm not)
but the bigots come anyway. My "concern with race" is a
matter of informing myself of possible situations so that,
yeah, I'll be prepared to handle it in a mature manner.
It's like being aware of mustard scams or of the dangerous
quarters of a foreign city to avoid. If there are certain
places where the locals won't look me in the eye and I don't
get the same treatment that my Caucasian traveling mate
does, I'll go somewhere else. I'm not trying to start a
revolution. I'm trying to maximize a vacation. Furthermore,
the phrase "get over it" is not helpful.
But Art, I do thank you for your contribution.
Dear SAF,
I agree with you, the first respondent was totally out of
line. You were asking for an honest, informed answer to a
justifiable question and he had no right to respond in such
a way.
I found his reply very presumptive and patronizing.
Sorry, I cannot help you with your question but I wanted to
give some support against jerks like him.
I've traveled with Asians who never had any problems. One
thing that may catch you unaware is the habit of calling
someone by a physically descriptive phrase. It is not meant
to offend. Thus you may have someone call you China just as a
heavy set person may be called Gordo, or a thin one flaco.
I'm half asean half european and I went to Guate last
year. With a good tan, many Guatemalean thought I looked
like a native ... until they heard me try to speak
Spanish. :-)
But as the others said, there are a lot of Asean there and
they didn't seem to complain about any negative experiences
due to their origine.
Harpor : What are you talking about ?? As if we are to
stupid to figure out by ourself what you said ...
There's a sizeable (not huge) Asian population here in Costa
Rica so nobody will bat an eye, they'll probably think
you're local before they think you're a gringa unless you're
wearing a backpack. And the post about somebody calling you
a china or chinita not being an insult is absolutely right
on. I do know that one of my co-workers tries to tune down
speaking Chinese to her folks on the phone because she
thinks it makes her less "tica" but I know nobody treats her
any differently than anyone else.
SAF
It's dificult to gauge what experience you'll have (I've
spent six months in Guate as a gringo caucasian) but I'm
sure it will be positive. As an experienced traveller I'm
sure you'll be able to cope with the curiousity of the
locals but I can't really imagine you'll have to deal with
outright hostility. I met a Japanese girl who encountered no
problems. As another listero mentioned, there is a small
community of Asians in Guate, some Koreans who run factories
in Guate City and Chinese who run restaurants in many towns
in the country, there are many in the the eastern highlands
around Chiquimula. Remember too, the Mayans are originally
Asian!
To that jerk Harpon, or tosser as we say in the UK, I
suggest you take your insecurities, phoney altruismn and
opinions to the next NRA or KKK conference instead of
Central America or this website.
Iain
Hi, I spent a summer touring Guatemala learning spanish
two summers ago and I have have to disagree in part with
some of these posts. Being asian, I was constantly annoyed
by the assumptions that I was japanese (most people that all
asians are japanese with no differentiation) and the
offensive (in the US anyway) movement of the hand to the
eyes drawing the sides out to create a slitted eye. Very
annoying. In many areas I was treated as a second class
citizen, but that was usually quickly dispelled once I used
my good spanish to assert myself. Needless to say, I can
empathize with your Belize friend.
So, you'll be annoyed quite a bit but it still is a
worthwhile country to visit. I'm not quite sure I love the
entire population enough to do volunteer work there, but I
had a fabulous time (I like the mayans up in the remote
villages of the western highlands the most).
Feel free to e-mail me with specific questions, I know the
country very well. Oh, you'll be fine if you speak english
because there are lots of europeans around who you could
hook up with to travel. As for your african-american
friend, tell him/her to get ready to tolerate a lot of overt
racism (second class citizen). He'll/she'll need to be very
assertive with spanish a plus for him/her. The more trail
trodded path you take, the more shit you will get (because
more japanese travelers go through there, and of course the
crass culture of city life affects people's
actions/perceptions).
Good luck with your trip!
In Ecuador, if you have even a slightest angulation of the
eyes your name is always "Chino" or "China". Since there is
such a large population of indians
and heavily indan blooded mestizos, countless people have
been given this affectionate nick-name. Not to mentionm,
there is a large, and rather sucessful chinese population
in Ecuador. A country like Ecuador, with such a
comparatively small population, cannot afford to be so
racially divided. The current President, a previous
President, a many of the countries most powerful families
are Lebonese. And if you've ever considered Peru, it is in
a since an economic comonwealth of Japan. There is a large
Japanese population in Peru. Their current President,
Fujimori, is of course Japanese.
I am not of Asian descent, but I travelled with Brazilian
girl who was actually born in Japan (and is 100% japanese)
and she had a great trip. No problems. This is just Costa
Rica by the way. Have a great trip and ignore self-
righteous, opinionated people like the first guy who thinks
he knows everything. They are the people most likely to
ruin a good trip. !Buen viaje!