Great point Montanero. I completely agree. Do you know if a civilian can attend some of those courses?

benjammin, I glad some people out there are reaching out and engaging the local people. I've traveled/worked/studied a lot in Central and South America and examples of "Ugly Americans" are everywhere. And just like stereotypes of any kind the extreme is what sticks. One jerk can ruin it for everyone else.

Not to get to political, on a recent trip to Eastern Europe I was talking with a guy on a long bus trip. He said he was always surprised to meet Americans because they never seem fit the stereo-type his culture has for us. In general (in that particular part of Europe) it is assumed that Americans are all rude, rich, cowboys who don't care about anything but sex, money and oil.
We spoke about US foreign policy, and I had to point out that most citizens (of any country) don't agree with everything their government does.