break it down for me, tell me how you see it...

One of the shortest but funniest conversations that I had while I was back in the States was with an old high school friend who I hadn't seen in years but ran into while grabbing coffee at Starbucks back in the WB...

Tom: So, you graduated, right? What have you been up to?

Me: I am actually working down in Colombia right now, teaching English and French at a university there.

Tom: Are you serious?! That's awesome. Ok, so I will be the first to admit it, most Americans don't know shit about a place like Colombia. But you're living there, you know what it's really like, so tell me the truth....are the stereotypes true?

(pause...as I was waiting for the ever so common drug related questions that I had been posed so many times...)

Do the guys all walk around dressed like that Juan Valdez coffee guy and ride donkeys??

Me: (once I stopped laughing) No, no they don't.

Tom: Dammit. That would have been pretty sweet.

Me: But we do have guys that ride up and down our street every morning in donkey-drawn carts selling fresh avacado and yelling "AGUACATE!!"

Tom: Awesome.