Colombian Face Muscles

When I was in Argentina I realized that Argentines talk a lot with their hands.  Many of their gestures are reminiscent of Italians.  Colombians talk with their hands but above all else they talk with their face.  I have found myself doing it as well and my friends have caught me doing it with even realizing. My friends and I have described this as “Colombian face muscles,” one develops them quickly here.  The most common is when Colombians scrunch their nose.  This means that they do not understand. Often instead of pointing with their hands, Colombians point with their mouth.  In actuality, it is very comical to ask where the bathroom is and to see someone purse their lips and push them to one side, almost like a controlled twitch.  I finally got used to the hand motion for “come here,” which is palm face down, instead of palm face up like in the U.S.  This was easier for me to remember because it is the same in Argentina.  However, in Colombia they also convey, “come here” with their head.  They do a quick thrust of their head downward towards their neck.  Between all the head bobs and nose scrunching sometimes it feels like we just walked into an I Dream of Jeannie set.