The world is my oyster, and I am kind of proud of it. I am not partial to any region. Or country. But I do have a blind spot of sorts. Broadly speaking, this is the Americas minus the United States. And possibly Canada, too. Whenever I stumble upon something having to do with the rest of the Americas, I am liable to skip it. With one important exception, however. And that is the pre-Columbian world. The Maya, the Aztecs, and the Inca, in that order, have always aroused my interest. Much of it, too. And thus I cannot but wonder. Why is this so? Why am I so oblivious to an entire continent peopled by so many? The first thing that comes to my mind is familiarity. The single country south of the United States I have ever visited, albeit briefly, is Brazil. Even Brazil leaves me rather cold, though. But the familiarity argument can go both ways, of course. The Americas could be so much more enticing to me than the rest of the world precisely because I have so little experience of it. Could it be that there is little of intrinsic interest south of the United States and after Columbus? Hard to believe it, but this is what I am forced to conclude. At least for the time being. My poor oyster.

Addendum (December 13, 2016)

When I wrote this piece, I kind of hoped that the very act of writing it might change my attitude toward the Americas minus the United States. But I have noticed no change over the years. None whatsoever, as a matter of fact. Whenever I come across a piece of news about any other country in South, Central, or North America, I skip it without much ado. So many countries there are mere names for me. In this respect, South America fares the worst. In my mind, it is a cul-de-sac of sorts, where nothing of any interest has ever happened until Columbus discovered it and put it on the map, as it were. In a sense, the prehistoric movement of the human species defines my oyster. Having come out of Africa, humans ricocheted across Asia and Europe in most surprising ways, many of which are puzzling to this day, while their ventures toward the Americas and Australia are of comparatively little interest. They were dead ends, indeed. Be that as it may, here is yet another attempt of mine to get to grips with my poor oyster. I can only hope that it will grow as years go by. Sooner or later, it will encompass the entire planet, as it should have done from the very start. Fingers crossed.