Was in the armed services and stationed in Central/South America. Knew Spanish before I went so it was a fairly easy transition...plus I got a lot of requests from my buddies to translate their amorous feelings to the local young ladies. It also turned some friends into enemies as those same young ladies dumped them in favor of me because I was easier to talk to. All's fair in love and war....

Capitalism has its faults to be sure, but one thing in its favor is the relative efficiency it engenders in delivery of services by competing companies. That made me appreciate the comparable ease here in the U.S. with which we establish telephone service, for example. In those countries where the utilities were owned by the government, demand often exceeded supply, and you were put on a waiting list or expected to grease someone's palm to make things happen a little faster.

Living in Central/South America influenced my taste for salsa music. Before that I had not much appreciation for bands with brass sections. They always sounded too loud and harsh. But being exposed to salsa on a daily basis forced me to notice its redeemable qualities. Intermingled with the inevitable, bastardized pap cranked out for mindless consumption were compositions that had all sorts of jazzy chords - minor ninths, flat sixths, seventh chords with sharped ninths - which demanded you pretzel-twist your fingers in order to execute. And sizzling underneath it all were those erotic, syncopated rhythms. No wonder the dancing focuses on a lot of hip and pelvic action.