Am I still a Gringa?

How many gringos are in this photo?
Answer: 3



This photo?
Answer: 1



How about this photo? How many gringos can you spot?
Answer: 3



Or this one?
Answer: 1


But how can you tell? For the most part, everyone blends in! Click on each image to enlarge it to see if you can tell who is gringo and who is not. If you look closely at each picture, you can obviously pick me out of the crowd since you know me. But, surprisingly enough, the people you might pick out as gringos are actually Brazilians and the other gringos look like Brazilians!

So, if it's not a term based on looks, what defines a "gringo"? Well, most of you have heard of the term "gringo" (gringa for females) before. And, at least from what I saw in Mexico, it seems to be used as a term to separate white U.S. Americans from the native population in the area. Well, let's see. I'm tanner than I've ever been in my life, can pass as a Brazilian in the street, and can certainly speak enough Portuguese to survive. Am I still a "gringa"?

The funny thing is, to Brazilians, those things don't matter. Brazil's term for "gringo" differs from any other definition I've ever heard before in any other country. To Brazilians, any foreigner in Brazil is a gringo. It doesn't matter where you come from or your ability (or inability) to speak Portuguese. To Brazilians, if you are a foreigner in Brazil, you are a gringo. Period. I've known Colombians, Japanese, Canadians and South Africans to all be called gringos. At first, hearing an African or an Asian called gringo seemed funny to me, but now it's just an accepted part of the Brazilian culture.

And it can't be taken personally. Here, it's not considered derogatory as it often is elsewhere. In fact, when I'm joking around with my Brazilian friends, they sometimes call me "gringa" or "gringinha" (little gringa) as an endearing term. So are you a Portuguese-speaking, Brazilian-looking person coming to visit me from North America? You're out of luck... you're still a gringo!