Here in Paraguay greetings are a little different! The first time you meet someone, you shake hands. Generally, after that, you would give that person a kiss on each cheek.
Here are the rules (as I understand them):
Man to man - shake hands or hug if a close friend
Woman to man - man waits for women to lean in, then he knows it is ok to give the kiss greeting. If woman is uncomfortable for whatever reason, she offers her hand instead. Normally, however, here is no problem with giving the kiss greeting to a man.
Woman to woman - a kiss on each cheek
Dignitaries or other important people - shake hands to show respect
It's also important to greet everyone in the room when you enter. North Americans are notorious for entering a room and just giving a "hey, howdy, hey!" to everyone. That is considered very rude to a Latin. Here you enter a room, and go around the room greeting each person. When you depart from a gathering, you should generally also say goodbye to everyone individually. The handshake or kiss is repeated at departure.
The population of the Paraguayan Chaco where we live is about one half Mennonites. I just found out that they greet each other with a handshake or a hug if they are close friends. Oops! I had been giving the kiss greeting for about two months! Obviously being Paraguayans they are familiar with the kiss greeting so as far as I understand it wasn't offensive, just not the way they normally do it.
As a side note, Honey and I found it difficult when we were home in the US last year to remember NOT to give the kiss on the cheek at greeting. It's funny how you get so used to one way of doing things, you don't even realize it's become a part of you!
See you next Wednesday for the next installment of What's Different! If there is something specific you are interested in, let me know in the comments! I love comments! :)
Photo:dailymail.co.uk
