Culture (Week 14)
I realized that I've spent a lot of time talking about myself and how I feel in my updates. That's not bad, but there is a lot of fun stuff involving Peruvian culture that I think we could all enjoy discussing.
Meet my freind Lucas.
What's different?
1) Everything is soooo laid back here. If you feel a little under the weather. Sleep. If you forget about an appointment. Ehh, whoops! If the house floods. So that happened. Coming from an American, this has a way of making life both less stressful and more stressful at the same time. There is less pressure to perfect and always on time. If life happens...well life happened and that's okay. But also, it can feel really inefficient, and "waste" a lot of time. Sometimes you stress about showing up somewhere, just to discover the plans were changed last minute. It's difficult to know what the locals think is important and what they think is chill. We have found that it's best to show up according to original plans even when we know we may not do anything for a half hour or more. Because, things are rarely on time, but when it's time to go... IT IS TIME TO GO! If you aren't ready, you may just be left behind.
Time and plans can be perplexing, however, as I try to think about them through the eyes of this culture and not my own, I realize that when things don't go like planned, the locals don't think of it as a waste of time, but rather an opportunity to enjoy some extra moments of spontaneity. Perhaps there is a happy balance, but for now I'm happy simply learning how to chill because let me tell ya, American's don't know what that means. It's a lesson I feel blessed to learn.
2) Spaying and nuetering animals is essentially not a thing here. There are dogs and cats EVERYWHERE, and they are rarely healthy. Often there are long haired dogs with matted fur, and short haired dogs with bloody skin. Many of the dogs are so skinny you can see their hip bones protruding painfully as they walk. The cats, on general, seem a little healthier, but they WILL have flees, sometimes missing tufts of fur, and they're often skinny, too.
I swear the dogs here are suicidal. They like to lay in the road, and are often lethargic from being sickly. Sometimes they'll move when they hear a motocar. Sometimes they'll lift their head to look. Sometimes the only way to tell that they aren't dead is to watch them inhale and exhale. It's pretty much fully up to the driver to avoid driving over the poor animals. Even so, that's not always possible. In Montana we say that it isn't IF you hit a deer, it's WHEN. The same could be said for Pucallpa and its dogs.
If you thought that hairless cats were the ungliest thing known to man... you would be right! but, hairless dogs aren't much better. I asked Papa Henrry one day if the hairless dogs were just THAT sick, or if it was a special breed. Apparently it's a unique breed here. Unique would be accurate.
3) Peruvians are OBSESSED with anything American. This took a while to get used to, and I don't think I have yet. I've been told that English accents are as attractive to Peruvians as British, Scottish, and Irish accents are to many Americans. I'm not sure why, but that is so strange to me.
I was looking forward to getting authentic clothes to show people when I got back. Welp! That won't be happening. Here, as long as it looks American and has English words, people will buy it. Most stores sell clothes that are super cheaply made. Think of the kind of clothes you would find online through sketchy discount sites. They are often sized WAY too small, and are practically falling apart before you even buy them. We were exploring a local mall one day and found a store with decently nice clothes, nice enough that we couldn't afford any. I found a cute sweatshirt with English lettering, but the grammar was so bad I couldn't figure out what it was trying to say.
Also, Pizza Hut and KFC are popular here. Favorite brands include Adidas, Nike, and Guchi, but they're rarely (if ever) the real thing.
4) I don't know how across the board this is, but I have been surprised at how affectionate and gentle dads and boys are here. Woman tend to lead traditional rolls like mothering, cooking, and housekeeping, but if there is an event where both parents are present 85% of the time the dad will be taking care of the baby. Last night Lael (14 months) was having trouble sleeping, so his dad brought him outside and walked back and forth around the compound trying to get him to fall alseep in his harms. It was so sweet.
I have, hands down, seen more 10 to 12-year-old boys carrying around babies, kissing them, and loving on them than I have 10 to 12-year-old girls. One of my sweet students in my English class is 10. He has one little brother and one baby sister, and my heart melts everytime I see him with them. He's gentle, kind, and loving, and he isn't the only one his age I've seen like that.
That being said girls become mothers very young here. I'm not sure if they actually get married young, or if there are just a bunch of single, tean mothers, but it is not uncommon for 16 to 18-year-old girls to come to the clinic with one or two kids. A few weeks ago I saw a girl who was undeniably pregnant and could not have been older than 15, but she looked more like 13.
5) People's lives revolve around rain. If it rains life shuts down. Motocars can't go far because they have no true windshields (drivers do use a makeshift plastic covering, but it only does so much), and cars can't make it far because of the mud. We are starting to head into rainy season right now, and we have already had several times where we retreated to our rooms because we could't do anything else.
Here are some shorter fun facts:
Peru has a special variety of mango that is purple. I have yet to try it, but I'm told that it is significantly sweeter than "normal" mangoes. I'm still discovering whether it's purple on the inside or just the outside.
Manequins here are scary. Like, I mean TERRIFYING. When I go to town I feel like I'm walking into a Barbie horror movie.
For some reason, it is really common to see women wearing bras that CLEARLY do not fit properly. (This is if they choose to wear a bra at all.) I don't mean, they just aren't the best fit, I mean they are vastly incorrect sizes. I don't know if it's because clothes stores are set up differently and finding correct sizes is harder, or if it's because they simply don't know how to correctly fit a bra. I truly don't know, but it's a thing.
Chinese food is super popular here, but it is definitely Peruvianized. It makes me wonder just how Americanized our ethnic food is.
Well, that's all my pocket has today. I would love it if you leave a comment below and tell me what you thought was the most interesting. Thanks for tagging along on my adventure.
~TBS~