It might sound harsh, but the _stereotypes_ are this way: Tell your son
that he should not walk around as "hey, I'm American, you're nothing!" but
more as "Hey, I know you might have a bad picture about us Americans, but
I'm here to see and try to understand your point of view". Hope you get
the idea (he still can think whatever he wants, but presenting him the
other way makes these 2 weeks easier for him). And he should try to speak
Spanish, at least for a greeting and a good bye.

I guess I didn't make it clear that this was a Spanish immersion trip. The
kids are not allowed to speak English for two weeks. Not even amongst
themselves -- although I suspect that rule is pretty tough to enforce.

So Joe -- horrible accent and all -- will be seeking "el bano" in Spanish
for two weeks, for better or worse. I suspect he'll do well -- he's had six
years of Spanish.

(Actually, his biggest worry is that he's not well-versed in European
Spanish, having been more exposed to Mexican Spanish. Apparently the
vocabulary and pronunciations have grown apart fairly significantly.)

He might be offered a cheek for a welcome-kiss and/or a big hug. This might
be disturbing for him, especially after 20 hours or so en-route with 7(?)
hours time difference.

Nah, kissing won't bother him. Unless it's a big, hairy guy trying to do
the kissing. Being a sleep deprived wrestler and power-lifter, I'd hate to
see the outcome of that...

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"