"Pis(s) and pee" Ciudad Melchor de Mencos by Assenczo

This "little" town is the border crossing between Guatemala and Belize. While this fact makes it an important location, it was the expressive “Latino” character that attracted my attention. As if to underline for the “thousandth” time and just before leaving the last inches of ex Spanish America Empire, a boy summarized a common thread that goes through it from Buenos Aires to Melchor de Mencos. Still sleepy from the early morning departure of the San Juan bus linking Flores and Belize City, the crowd, full of anticipation for what is ahead, dismounted to buy refreshments and use the toilet facilities. Apparently the foreigners had not immersed themselves enough in the local culture since they were acting strikingly different from the local boy who had just left his bed and for the sake of pure pleasure started peeing in full view of the tourists. This behavior would have been easy to classify in the folder” bad boy” performance if I had not noticed the similar action perpetrated by adults in Argentina and Bolivia. The citizens of the former were peeing between the cars waiting for the traffic light to change on a major intersection of Buenos Aires. The citizens of the latter were relieving themselves on bus tires while waiting for the vehicle to be ferried over the waters of Lake Titicaca. The general trend seems consistent from one end of Spanish America to the other. Chances are that one might assume the trait is native but based on its huge geography and impressions from earlier visits to Spain suggest that the conquering power has a lot to do with it. While Spain of Iberia has moved forward somewhat the ex dominions have clung jealously to a custom with lots of flavor.