I'm just going to say it straight –
everybody is seriously kissing everybody down here. Now me, being a
touchy-feely person, at first, did not mind this. However, I found
myself in some strange and rather awkward encounters with this ever
so normal complementary peck on the cheek. To put this in
perspective – think about how occasionally awkward it is to meet
someone for the first time anywhere. In the U.S., it's customary to
shake hands, but even now, especially with people my age, the gesture
seems too formal. Instead, we wave or mutter a polite “nice to
meet you.”
The same is true for down
here...apparently the younger generation sometimes feels it too
formal to greet with a kiss, which is fine, if you understand these
inaudible social cues, which I don't. Every time I meet someone my
own age, I wait to see if they do the “lean in I'm about to mooch
you” move, or just offer a friendly “mucho gusto.”
When I first arrived in Costa
Rica, kissing my host mom and brother was fine...but when I arrived
at school and met my twenty-something, recently married, male teacher
and he leaned in for a kiss, I was a smig taken aback. Not only
that, but every time a mom comes into visit, he kisses her on the cheek,
because it is honestly rude not to.
Two blunders come to mind with this
whole kissy kissy situation. One time, when I went to the movies
with my host mom (to see movie in Arabic with Spanish
subtitles...that's a story for another day) we ran into an older
couple whom she knew. She introduced them to me, and they spoke
English. I immediately introduced myself and started asking
questions about where they had traveled and how they learned
English...but I never offered a kiss on the cheek. That's like
meeting a precious old couple and forgetting to shake their hands.
Oops.
The other blunder came when a father
arrived at school to drop off his daughter's books. I opened the
door and greeted him with a casual “Buenos Dias,” and then he
leaned in...and I stood there. It was probably only a milla-second,
but it seemed to me like an eternity before I realized that I,
myself, needed to lean in and kiss his cheek. This was a FATHER of
one of my STUDENTS...here I was trying to remember how to say “Who's
father are you?” in Spanish and he was leaning in for the kill.
Whoops-a-daises (said in a Notting Hill British
accent).
My last thoughts on the subject are
these: Tico men certainly are some lucky guys, within the first
few seconds of meeting them, they receive a complimentary kiss.
Secondly, if I kiss you when I return to the States...you're welcome ;)
Xxoo (litearlly),
A kissable little darling
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