Argentina vs Americana

Two pretty similar words, right? Both are 9-letter Portuguese words that begin with the letter A and refer to nationality.

Well here in Brazil, these words make a big difference for me on a daily basis.

When I lived in Peru, Peruvians always thought I was Israeli (because many of the tourists there are). Here, though, everyone thinks I'm Argentinian. Never once has anyone guessed I was American. Why? I think for a number of reasons:

1. Backpacking is not exactly an American thing...I've only met a few other Americans on this entire 9-month trip and only three (that I can think of) here in Brazil.
2. I speak Spanish and, when I speak Portuguese, I speak with more of a Spanish speaker's accent/intonation than an English-speaker's.
3. My hair, eye and skin color are extremely common in Argentina.
4. Argentinians backpack a lot and especially in Brazil.

Because of this confusion, I've involuntarily gotten to do the social experiment I had already discussed with my friend, Verenice. We'd been wondering if people would treat us differently depending on where we were from and I've now found over and over again that that is, in fact, the case.

Brazilians and Argentinians have a huge soccer rivalry and some people say that that's all it is--soccer. For many others, though, it goes far beyond that. (There are also people who say it's only about soccer and then, all in the same breath, go on to tell me how horrible people from Argentina are.)

Time and time again, I've watched people's facial expressions and energy completely change when I tell them that I'm American, not Argentinian. It always starts with a blank stare, a casual, half-assed hand-shake or kisses on the cheeks and a bored, "You're from Argentina, right?" I answer with "No, I´m from the U.S." and suddenly everything changes. Their eyes light up, a big smile spreads and their whole demeanor snaps to the other extreme. "Que legal!" ("How cool!") they say and then go on to tell me that it's their dream to live in the US, where "there is no corruption, no one is poor and everything is cheap." New York is usually their destination of choice.

A number of times, it's gone further than this typical conversation. Once, I was on the beach with a Brazilian friend of mine and one of the dozens of guys selling henna tattoos came by.

(In Portuguese, of course:)

Vendor: Do you want a tattoo? Just 15 reals.
Me: Sorry, I don't have any money.
Vendor: Okay, 10 reals.
Me: I really don't have any money.
Vendor: 5.
Me: How can I pay if I don't have any money?!?

By the end of the conversation, my tone had risen a little and I started laughing which apparently pissed this guy off. He took his tattoos and stormed off, yelling "You don't have any money because you're Argentinian!" I was so dumbfounded at first that I couldn't even get the words out to ask Raquel if I'd perhaps misunderstood the Portuguese. Raquel confirmed what he had said though and I just couldn't believe it. By the time I was ready to say something about it (since, in my opinion, people shouldn't walk around saying crap like that to other people) he was long gone.

The dumbest part is that I'm quite sure that if he'd known I was American, he would've been all smiles and told me that he wants to move to New York, too. This and countless other times, people have been extremely nice to me or very quick to write me off based solely on where they think I'm from. It goes to show, once again, that these prejudices are absolutely pointless. I'm me either way, looking how I look and doing whatever I'm doing in that moment, but people see me in such a negative light when they think I'm Argentinian and a completely different light when they know I'm American.

This type of prejudice is obvious in every country I've been to (definitely including my own) but the group being hated changes depending on  criteria that never seems anything but arbitrary to me.