Returnednds said:
maybe they can measure the amount of tapatio in your blood
I laughed when I read this and can appreciate that it's a joke, but it's kind of my point. Latin America, like Asia, is far more diverse than people realize, and lumping dozens of countries and cultures together at a time can have real consequences in delivering health care.
Our perceptions of these places are very colored by the immigration patterns from these places, which in turn are shaped by politics and culture, both here and in these other places. For decades this century we had strict limits on Asian immigration to this country, and these quotas allowed disproportionate numbers of professionals to enter. Many Asian-Americans we know are these people and their children. There is a sterotype of Asians as studious, professionals, doctors and engineers, etc, you can add your own. Much Latino immigration to this country has been less well controlled and poor people coming, sometimes illegally, for economic reasons from the country that borders us, Mexico, because its easier to come from Mexico which borders us, than, say, Chile, which is thousands of miles away. So, we stereotype Hispanics as poor, often lawbreakers, and salsa eaters, because that is what people eat in northern Mexico.
When we think about it with our head, we all know there are poor people in Asia, and I'd hope most people know there are doctors, lawyers, engineers and businesspeople in Latin America, and also that many immigrants from Mexico and the rest of Latin America are, in fact, legal. But these stereotypes are a product of what we see, it has nothing to do with how things actually are.
I went on a little longer than I planned, but the point of this is that Cubans, nor the other Spanish-speaking countries in the Caribbean, nor lots of south americans, don't eat much tapatio. Nor do they eat tacos or burritos, nor is anything especially spicy. Tequila is not only just from Mexico, it's largely from one particular part of Mexico (Tequila). I could go on.
so sorry, I do realize it was a joke and I hate to be the uptight guy, but I have been on a 'cuban food isn't tacos!' crusade for years and just wanted to make a point.
