Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Colombia anymore.

Colombians and foreigners all dressed up for Carnaval.

Every Latin American country shares some similar cultural traits. They mostly share a common language in Spanish, a common history of colonialization, and a common genetic makeup .

But to say they're all alike would be a mistake. The indigenous groups are different, their dictators, revolutions, and politics are different, their geographies and climates are different.

But one of the most striking differences we noticed when we arrived in Pisco, Peru when we happened upon a band playing in the central plaza of the town.

Get a load of those dresses !

A small crowd was watching. That's the difference right there ! They were watching. In Colombia, my dear Colombia, the crowd wouldn't just watch... they'd get up and dance.

No Colombian ever had to be in the right mood to dance. Even in Science class, my students would, at very random moments, stand up spontaneously and start to boogie.

I'm guessing that the sentence, "Okay kids, let's stop dancing and get back to the function of the kidney's loop of Henle," has never been uttered outside of a science class in Colombia.