Originally Posted by tonypct
That's absolutely not true of all participants. There are some teams who clearly make an effort to know at least some words in the local language. So, yes, while I agree there have been clear instances of the Ugly American on the Amazing Race, there have also been instances where teams have used local language and customs. And for a specific example, I refer you to the current team of BJ and Tyler, also affectionately know as The Hippies.
On last night's episode, the "hippies" picked up a young bedouin in Oman to help guide them to the airport. The Americans were not shown reacting to any strong body odor (not sure whether it was absent or they simply didn't react to it), the bedouin man spoke quite good English, the Americans thanked him in Arabic, and were eager to learn the bedouin's custom of touching noses together as a parting greeting.
I wonder how many in the show's audience realized how wildly that little episode flies in the face of a number of different stereotypes.