In my family we kiss. When ever you see a family member no matter how removed you kiss them. I mean you know the cheek to cheek, pecking sound. When arriving at a family function it is expected you will kiss everyone, even your great great aunt with the hairy chin. So I get social kissing. But up until this point in my life kissing was strictly a family thing. There was a clear and definite line. You always kiss anyone related to you or kind of related to you but you don't kiss teachers, co-workers, acquaintances, friends, neighbors, bosses, etc...
Since being in Colombia that has all changed. Here you KISS everyone all the time. In the beginning this was weird and took some getting use to but now I think we have lost all perspective and I worry how we will function in the normal kissing world.
We are so accustomed to kissing everyone that I know wonder what we do if we don't kiss. Do we shake hands? Do we hug? For example, the other day I was working in the library with my kids and one of my kids dad's was there. He entered the room and we kissed hello. We talked for less than a minute and we kissed good-bye. When we were at the school musical Friday night I saw many parents and kissed them all. I saw my kids who were in the show and kissed them. I saw my boss and kissed him. I found myself wondering what would I have done if I were not in a Latin country....would I just said hi? Or hugged? Or shaked?
I have lost perspective and worry how wI will transition out of the kissing culture back into the world of shaking hands and just saying hi. I mean I am really worried.
Un Beso!
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