Translation of pulgar

I grabbed a burger from an American fast food chain and swallowed it immediately, as I had not eaten for a while. I boarded the machine and could feel a slight stomachache but decided to ignore.
Usually in a place with a homegenous society hatred towards foreigners can grow much more easy as a small disturbance to the homogenity may upset the entire society. People are not used to changes.
On the way we visited many small hill tribe villages. The walk was through green, wet rice fields. We really enjoyed it. Our guide explained us about the region and taught us some Vietnamese.