Waving a new art form?

One thing really occurred to me during our trip to Guatemala and travelling throughout that country...everybody waves at everybody.  I was amazed at how we would be travelling through remote areas and come across a truckload of total strangers and they would feverishly wave and honk their horns simply as a gesture of friendliness and sense of recognizing the presence of a fellow human.

Upon re-entry to the good ol USofA...I was struck with how few people, especially in my very suburban neighborhood, just don't wave to each other.

My son and I were playing catch with a football in the street a few days ago, which would frequently get interrupted by a passing car.  We would smile and wave at the people driving by and were met most frequently by people who wouldn't even look up from their dashboard to acknowledge our presence.  I pointed this out to my teenage son, who after about thirty minutes of waving at passing cars with almost no responses, he decided to just throw the ball at the next car that drove by just to get their attention.  After talking him out of it we ended up having a meaningful conversation about the power of presence, kind Latin Americans and the awful effects of American suburbanism.

Culture shock.  Is everybody in a hurry?  Are they afraid of me?  Are they angry or something?

I confess that I've probably been just as guilty as the next person for being a bit focused and non-relational, but my recent trip to a different context really brought this to light for me.

Why is it that travelling through one of the most impoverished nations in Latin America everyone seemed to be filled with at least a sense of otherness and acknowledgement of a stranger.  Is it that they arent' polluted by a strong sense of individualism and competition?  Is it that they realize, because of their sparse living conditions, that at any moment a total stranger just might become a trusted friend whom they might rely upon for their very existence?