Who is Candy Gaucho?
Candy Gaucho, a.k.a. Amy Mennot, is a 1970′s-born Torontonian who, when bored out of her mind one day during an excruciating meeting, scratched a list of all the countries she had visited. As she looked at this list of 40+ countries, memories began to flood in. She realized she housed a decent collection o travel adventures deep in her head. In an effort to ward off cognitive erosion, she has willingly sacrificed her pride (and privacy) to capture her recollections for future reference and hilarity, and to share with those lucky enough (or not) to stumble upon her stories.
Why “Candy Gaucho”? Amy loved the ridiculousness of combining an uber girly word with one of the most macho labels in the world.
candyguacho (at) gmail (dot) com
May 2009
Hi there,
I love to tell all my wacky and embarrassing travel stories too. I guess we’re kindred spirits that way…
Hi Mary,
Self-respect is overrated, eh? ; ) Glad to connect with someone else out there who loves to laugh and travel.
I enjoyed reading about your trip to Jakarta w/ Kim. You sound like fun. Let me know if you ever come to the UK.
Bill, thanks for the comment! That night in Jakarta was a riot; Kim’s a great guy. Have you read my Kenyan adventures? Some good laughs there.
No plans at the moment to hit the UK (I’m dreaming of Mongolia right now) , but I’ll let you know.
hai,
i am from india candy ur reviews are so nice,explantion to clear its shows that ur very gud traveller around world
Vicky, thank you so much! I’m glad you’re enjoying the stories. India is such a wonderful country!
I read your stories about your India trip, well your experiences has been very well described. I dont know what exactly was carried in your mind when you thought of visiting India. You come from Toronto and from a country where 60% of the land mass is forest, well I have been to Canada and I do have my friends there and I really loved that country as it has a hassle free immigration process.
So, what I meant to say is that you come from an established country to visit India where you are welcomed and treated as God as we say “Atithi Devo Bhavah”
You said “Its a relief to be ignored in India”, then I must say you don’t know what ignored actually means….. You think that Indians keep gazing at you just because you are some superior breed.. NO they look at at you because 80% of the people dont know about your life style and they just think- Oh man they belong to which country? she must be rich? what a fate they have? The Indians I am talking about haven’t seen any white beggars so its all dream, fun and imagination for them to watch you.
Ask me who you whites are? See I just don’t want to show any frustation here, the only thing I would like to say is that- whenever you visit any country or place try to enjoy the trip rather than cribing or writing some crap for the country where you have been welcomed.
I really do apologize if I hurted you but it’s not about me it’s about my country, I know we have to go a long way, may be my great grandchildrens will be enjoying their lifes as you did.
Keep writing……..
Regards,
Rahul Kumar (RTI ACTIVIST)
Dear Rahul;
First, let me thank you for taking the time to write your post, and for providing me an opportunity to address your concerns.
Let me be clear: I loved India. In fact, it’s one of those places that creeps into your heart while you’re there and grows after you are far away from it. I hope a find a way to go back.
“You think that Indians keep gazing at you just because you are some superior breed..” – Actually, this is not what I think. I think Indians stare because it is culturally acceptable to do this, to make it obvious that you are looking at something intently because it’s different, because you are curious and have no reason to hide it. Canadians, and particularly Torontonians, do not stare. In fact, staring is considered very rude and children are regularly chastised by their parents for doing this. Culturally, Canadians feel their space is being invaded if someone stares at them. Next time you’re in Canada, walk down the street and observe how many people meet your eye. Even if you are dressed extremely oddly (and I don’t mean salwar kameez, etc.), you might get a few quick looks but very few will stare.
Given this cultural context, it is a different sensation for a Canadian to be in a place where this staring is overt and unrelenting. This is why I found it worth observing that by sheathing my white skin in local garb I went virtually unnoticed. My goal when travelling is to experience as much of the local culture as possible; wearing the Punjabi suit made that much easier.
I’m sorry if you misunderstood my sentiment; I hope I’ve explained it better in this response. I also hope you continue reading and participating – it’s nice to have someone who cares enough to speak out.
Hi Candy,
I appreciate your response, well believe me I never thought that you would be responding to my post. I do understand your sentiments and i am aware of the Canadian culture, not only in Canada, I would say staring at anyone is not appreciated anywhere.
The count of Indians I am talking about are illiterate, ok in your whole trip have you ever seen a well educated person staring at you, conditioned if he is not drunk? It’s all about education and literacy.
Once again I seriously apologize if in any case I have hurted your sentiments, and as far as your post are concerned they are very expressive and full of fun and by these posts I somehow feel that I am visiting countries where I have never been and watching the places by your eyes.
I’ll appreciate if you can think of visiting India again and I can show you some hidden aspects of Indian culture including tribal life and hopefully the next time I am in Canada I would admire to visit you.
Cheers and keep writing
Rahul Kumar (RTI ACTIVIST)
Rahul, your words have warmed my heart. I couldn’t imagine a better compliment than being told you feel like you’re experiencing my travels with me. Wow.
Thank you as well for your kind offer to show me secret India. I will definitely be in touch should I make it back to India, and please let me know of your upcoming travels to Canada.