By mfretes93
To most Americans, the word "gringo" is an attack on everything that our country stands for, from eagles to apple pies to making sure that there's a McDonald's on every corner of the earth. We hear the word in movies and on television, when dim-witted Americans encounter Latin Americans, usually in or around Mexico, generally being unaware of cultural norms outside of the U.S. And so what's what we think when we hear the word--"stupid, stupid Americans."
When most Americans hear the word gringo, or even worse, are called a gringo, I've found that most of them get angry. Hearing the word means that they've failed at being a tourist, unable to truly fit in with the culture, maybe hilariously failing at speaking Spanish, or drinking too much tequila and doing something even a college student would find embarrassing. Either way, they obviously don't belong, are obviously from somewhere else, are so obviously "American" that a native felt the need to call them out on it.
I hadn't been called a gringo often before coming to Brazil, and I was proud of that. Obviously I'm just better at fitting in places, right guys? (This thought is what lets me sleep at night.)
But when I came to Rio, the word was thrown around from the second I stepped off the plane and into the humid Rio heat. The two women helping me get my SIM card at the airport talked about the gringoes that they encountered, and were actually speaking to in that exact moment. Shopkeepers would stop me as I tried speaking to them in the most broken Portuguese imaginable--and then welcomed me to their country. And one of my professors, on the very first day of classes, to a room full of scared and confused international exchange students, announced that we were, in fact, all gringoes--and that it wasn't a bad thing!
The "gringo" has a place in Brazilian society. After all, the country is a melting pot of melting pots, and the mixing of cultures, languages, and people is entrenched into their history, and thus, is an integral part of the culture here.
Brazilians will ask you where you're from, and then will rarely be surprised by the answer. Especially in Rio, one of the biggest tourist destinations in the world, people are used to the presence of foreigners. "Gringoes" take the bus with them (and get off at the wrong stop), gringoes sit on the warm sand of the praia and order street food (usually with names they can't pronounce). Gringoes shop at the same stores that Brazilians do, go to the same restaurants and bars, walk down the same streets.
So when a Brazilian calls you a gringo, it really isn't a bad thing. They're used to foreigners, and in fact love meeting them. Their culture is one that already is composed of so many different cultures, and so meeting you isn't strange for them; it isn't new. The foreigner--the gringo--and all of their associated interactions are just a part of life here.
Yes, maybe it means that you did something slightly wrong. Maybe your Portuguese grammar was a little off; maybe you brought a towel to the beach instead of a kanga, maybe you're eating your food while walking down the street instead of sitting down and enjoying it, as the cariocas do. Maybe you did mess up at blending into society. But here, that mistake isn't really a mistake, and being called a gringo is less offensive, more endearing. More normal.
So yes, when I get called a gringo now, I don't get offended. Because I know that it wasn't meant with offense. It's just an acknowledgment that, yes, I'm not from here. But it means that I still have a part here in society, even if that part is making mistakes with cultural norms and language that most Brazilians will find either hilarious or adorable. Hopefully the latter.
But what it really all means is this: now, I'm proud to be a gringo.