Before meeting with my friend Leticia from Honduras, Central America, I would ask her if she was arriving according to North American time or Latin American time. This meant that she would be late. The concept of time is very different for Latin Americans than for North Americans. Life in the United States is fast-paced. There are fast food restaurants, overnight delivery services, shuttle services, instant cash machines, fast weight loss plans, and even instant minute rice.
Microwaves help nuke their early breakfasts, noon lunches, and five-o'clock dinners.
Everyone follows set agendas. Minutes are taken at meetings that are precisely scheduled. North Americans take pride in juggling busy work schedules and still finding time to spend with family and friends. Latin Americans stroll leisurely through life. They amble past open-air restaurants, across shaded patios tucked behind walls of Bougainvillea.