An Ousider in My Own Home

Supermarket in Vega Baja
                 Photo taken by me

Standing in a little supermarket in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, I’m nervous on doing anything to stand out. Yet, today, I am an outsider. As an English class assignment, I have to act like a tourist and gauge people’s reaction. I knew that if I acted like an American, especially here in a small town, I would definitely get curious looks. But how would I act like an outsider? I considered my options that morning, remembering all the American stereotypes. I didn’t have Hawaiian shirts, or a safari outfit, and I didn’t know how to act differently, but I did know the English language well enough. I knew that to pull this through and make people believe me, even when I looked Hispanic, I’d have to react like I didn’t recognize well-known items in Puerto Rican culture. So, when I entered the supermarket that afternoon, I went in line to buy several food items, some fried food and a couple of typical candy from Puerto Rico. When my turn came, and making sure nobody was in the line behind me, I asked the cashier some questions on the food. The cashier was a young women that looked not much older than me. She looked at me confused and struggled with the English language while answering my questions. I was surprised by her patience with me, and her eagerness to help. I also got more strange looks by the customers that walked by.

After I left, I started thinking on how uncomfortable the stares made me feel. I knew most weren’t looking at me to judge, but where just curious. I knew that I’ve done the same thing to others when I go to a tourist location and I hear people talking in other languages. I look at them, my eyes filled with curiosity, just because I find them interesting. Yet, being the one stared at didn’t feel good to me, even if I knew the reasons weren’t negative ones. I don’t enjoy being in the spotlight. Still, I felt such gratitude towards the cashier. I’ve seen Puerto Ricans helping others, including tourists, pretty often. This is why I wasn’t surprised by her reaction, but it still made my day. I have felt like an outsider before, while visiting other states. Yet that day, I felt like an outsider in my own home. At the end, I learned how a tourist must feel in Puerto Rico, with all the positive and negative feelings that come with that. I’m glad that it was mostly positive, and that I was able to learn a new perspective.

While doing some research online, I was surprised to find that there is a negative connotation to the term “tourist”, a person who takes pictures of everything, only visits touristic places, and doesn’t interact much with the locals. Yes, I think it is important to travel to some less visited places of the countries you visit, and to interact with the locals and learn their culture. You should never limit yourself, but that includes doing things that a classic tourist would do. I recommend you read this article, which goes into 7 reasons when you should embrace being a tourist.