First meets third

For some time now I have been wondering what really makes the difference between a person from the first and a person from the third world, I mean in real terms. 

Personally, as someone who was born and raised in the so-called first world, I believe for better or worse that my expectations are higher, I am more spoilt if you like and I find it harder to put up with things that don't work in the way that I am accustomed to.  In plain English this makes me a pain in the arse around here. 

That being said, when we are outside of our comfort zone, are we victims of are own success, so dependent on modern technolgy, so able to buy practically all the things we desire that we have become incapable of surviving on our own.

I have lived in Maringa, a small city in southern Brazil on and off for six months now and I am supposedly living in what counts as part of the third world as my family jokingly reminds me when I complain about things and constantly compare them with my own city or country. 

I realise that this is unfair but it seems fairly instinctive and also vaguely patriotic.  Why do we feel the need to wax lyrical about the benefits of our own country, especially when we are living in someone else's?  Is it because we are homesick?  Is it because we regard ourselves as superior?  Or is it because we enjoy boasting about a higher standard of living?

At this point I still don't know the answer but all the expat blogs that I read inevitably make comparisons between their native country and their new place of residence.  So based on this evidence I can only assume that it is human nature and nothing more.

Hopefully one day I will find out what the answer is.