Around the world.

Around the world I have not been.  I have been in about a dozen countries and more cities/towns that I care to sit down and count now.  Now because I didn't care about those places, but because this is not a bragging session to see who has traveled more or less.  It's a whole different beast.
While traveling I have come to realize that even though our cultures, traditions, might be quite different, that difference is shrinking faster than I am comfortable with.
I am not going to discuss or even attempt to explain why across the world we are becoming more and more alike, not (thankfully) in our core but at a glimpse.  I remember not long ago after having been traveling between 4 countries and having spent 26 hours in planes or airports that I got to my hotel, got out of the cab and had NO IDEA what country I was in.  I was that tired and even though sounds ridiculous, believe me, it does happen.  So there I was, on a sidewalk, looking around, drawing a blank.  I looked at the hotel (Day's Inn), no help there, I knew I wasn't in the States.  Then I looked across the street: Pizza Hut, Blockbuster Video and a strip mall.  Then the cab driver asked me if I was ok, in Spanish, then I realized I was now in Uruguay.  I have been thinking about that since.
Ten years ago, I didn't feel we were becoming so homogeneous as we are now.  Two months ago I was in Buenos Aires with a good friend from the States.  We ended up in a mall, we were heading to Starbucks because I wanted a dirty soy chai, we stopped at a kiosk for cigarettes my friend wanted.  She asked me how much they were in English, to which the store attendant replied: "5 bucks."
See what I am getting at? We can go to most places in the world and choose the reality we want to live in.  I realized i can travel the world feeling I have never left the United States.  However, is that traveling?
I don't travel to look at sights from behind a sterilized glass window, I travel to learn, to mingle, to be as close to the real people as possible.  It worries me that in my latest travel, the real people are more and more trying to be like other people, forgetting their ancestry, the pride they should have for their country, culture and heritage to become a not so attractive (to me) version of themselves.
While personally being from a Latin background, I have always made it a point to yes, adjust and be part of my community in the States, but I have also put a lot of effort on not loosing my identity in the process, sometimes to my detriment.
I still hug rather than shake hands, I still give you my love and trust first and learn later.  I still speak my parents languages any chance I have.  I still remember where I come from and where I want to be.
I believe that if you are not firmly rooted on your cultural and personal identity, any wind can blow you away, and there are lots of winds of change coming.
Let's know who we are, where we come from and be proud of it.
P.