Osama's Shoes

I'm having a good time playing soccer with the boys in the neighborhood. We play in a narrow street with stone walls and house as boundaries, so the play is often interrupted by cars, motos, or pedistrians. A sewage lane runs down one side of the street, filled with trash, water, and other mysterious material. We make extra effort not to put the ball in the cuneta.

Sometimes, the parents watch the game, chatting to each other and making an occassional comment about the fútbol. Usually I focus on the play, just so I can keep up with all of the other muchachos. I had to stop and laugh when one of the mothers declared that there was something different about the shoes I was wearing. "Los zapatos de Osama! (Osama's shoes)," she announced. I later told her that I had stolen them from Bin Laden himself.

Just an interesting story about how a Latin American views a North American clothing item. I would guess that her view is probably influenced by North American presentations of Middle Eastern clothing. I wonder: How does a Honduran perceive the Middle East, and how has this been affected by the U.S. media?