During my recent trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, I expected to experience a bit of culture shock. It was my first time in the country, after all, and my Spanish was rusty as hell. I figured it would take at least a week for me to get a feel for things.
For the first three days, most of the guests seemed to be Mexican and Canadian – and while we were different in many ways, we shared the same general traits of being community-oriented, considerate of others in shared spaces, and gracious to the staff.
Then the weekend rolled around, and hundreds of American tourists checked in. That’s when the culture shock set in. And lowkey, I was shocked to be shocked.
Throughout my life, I’ve spent extensive amounts of time in the United States – New England and South Carolina in particular. I thought I was familiar with the good, the bad, and the ugly of American culture.
But the thing is, I’d only really seen how Americans behave at home. I’d never stayed under the same roof as hundreds of them abroad before. And let me tell you, it was a real eye-opener.
Here are just a few habits the American tourists had that nearly sent my Canadian self into a coma.
They spend all day by the pool
All day, every day, the pool deck was dominated by American guests, with few if any venturing down to the resort’s private beach.
This confuses the hell out of me. Why travel to another country, to a region on the Pacific coast, to a resort with a private beach, only to spend most of your waking hours lounging by a pool?
You can hang out around by a chlorinated pool anywhere in the world – you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. You don’t have to take an international flight to do that.
But swimming in warm Pacific waters in the dead of winter? Lounging under a palm parasol, air-drying in the ocean breeze, as a waiter serves you a margarita prepared with tequila that can only be had in the State of Jalisco, Mexico? That’s why you fly to Puerto Vallarta.
Though, to be fair, it was a gorgeous swimming pool.
They complain – loudly and constantly
The line at the buffet is too long. The sun is too hot. Their beer is too cold. The food is too ‘weird’. People are speaking too much Spanish. There are iguanas sunning themselves on the tiled walkways. It seemed like every time an American met up with their friends or family, they greeted them with a complaint.
And since Americans are famously louder than many other cultures, everyone heard these complaints – including the hotel staff, who I should mention were doing an excellent job.
To my Canadian ears, it just came across as rude. Of course, if someone has a real issue, it’s appropriate to speak to a member of staff. But travelling to a foreign country and then complaining that things are simply different from what they are at home is wild work, truly.
They party HARD
While posted up at the pool, the Americans spent most days getting totally sloshed. And to be fair, this is totally their prerogative. But the intensity of their drinking definitely surprised me.
This isn’t to say that Canadian and Mexican tourists weren’t drinking – we totally were. But we were slowly nursing beers and cocktails, or maybe having a glass of wine with dinner.
To my Canadian sensibilities, this is what ‘cutting loose’ looks like for grown adults. We were lowkey tipsy because we didn’t have any responsibilities, but we weren’t looking to get completely trashed on Tuesday afternoon.
Not the Americans, though. They were throwing them back, getting rowdy, and keeping that pace up day after day. Jokes aside, I think if I’d tried to keep up with them, I would have been in an actual coma by Day 3.
But maybe the hard drinking helps to explain some of the other things I saw.
They escape their ICE anxiety… by going to Mexico?
Despite my confusion (and annoyance) with American tourists, this trip really gave me more compassion for what everyday Americans are going through. They’re really hurting, and even the white Republicans are getting scared.
The Americans I spoke to all mentioned how freaked out they were about ICE’s presence in their cities. They all said they were relieved they could take a vacation without having to think about their troubles for even a few days.
While I think everyone deserves some respite from everything happening these days, what they said sounded a bit surreal to me. Like it or not, the American people let Trump into the White House twice, and a huge part of his platform both times was anti-Latinx and particularly anti-Mexican rhetoric.
Now these Americans are grateful that they can avoid their problems by partying in Mexico. The weird, privileged hypocrisy of this did not seem to occur to them.
I can only imagine what the hotel staff felt every time they heard an American tourist say that the food was ‘too Mexican’. Were they angry? Scared? Resigned to just another daily occurrence in an already-difficult service job?
I wish I were less critical of Americans. I wish my biggest gripe with them, as a Canadian, was their use of the Imperial System. But these days, it’s virtually impossible to not be deeply frustrated with the actions (and the inaction) of Americans. No matter where you come from.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media.
