Snow, schedules, & warmer cultures

It's snowing and blowing in Frisco, Colorado today. I had a client here from Florida, and we went out to look at some properties this morning. Not only was the poor guy freezing, but he took one step off a footpath and ended up in snow deeper than his knees. It was a wet socks, cold feet welcome to Colorado. I held back a chuckle, and remembered that in two short days we will be in a much warmer place. Not just warmer in temperature, but in many less measurable ways too.

This week we finally received our schedules of events and meetings for our first week in Central America. The nice Rotarians in El Salvador have clearly taken our visit seriously, and they have put together an action-packed week for us. I have been pestering them for over a month to send me the details, and I was beginning to get nervous when I got no reply. Turns out that this is just an early example of the kind of cultural differences which we are about to experience. How presumptuous of us here in the USA to expect anyone else to agree that plans need to be firmed up weeks in advance. They came through, probably thinking that they actually delivered ahead of time. And then yesterday we got the schedule from the Nicaraguans, for the next week. Same deal:"in-the-nick-of-time" for us might just be extreme advance planning down there. Reading their emails and the descriptions of their plans for us, I can already feel their warmth and friendliness.

It seems almost too simple: cold climate equals uptight, and warm climate makes folks easy going. Maybe there's more to it than that, but then again, maybe not. OK, if you know me then you're wondering how a half-Cuban-raised-in-Miami-married-to-a-Mexican can claim to be a product of a cold climate. Good points. I'll have to look into that.

It's easy to put on a sweater or coat to take off the chill when it's cold outside. Over the next four weeks, we are going to be forced to learn how to slow down and take off the schedule-obsessed chill we have inside. The hard part might be relearning promptness upon our return. By the way - the dude with the cold wet socks - he was early for our appointment. And so was I. Now can someone explain why "chill" means relax?

My next post will be from El Salvador...

Rolando