Disclaimer: As I’ve talked about earlier, during training we discussed “filters” and how our perceptions are created and effected by our upbringing/culture/religion/etc. So while I am fully aware I am making these comments through the filter of a girl from the PNW of the USA, and that I am generalizing a bit because I have not met every-single Peruvian, these are some observations I want to share. These are just my experiences, I’m not talking for everyone, and I do not mean to portray Peru in a negative light. Take ‘em or leave ‘em.
Probably one of the hardest parts of adapting to a new culture is dealing with contradictions and finding a way to make sense of how everything fits in the scheme of things. Here are some contradictions I’ve noted through my time here.
There’s something in the [cold] water.
Peruvians have different beliefs involving the temperature of water and its effect on the body. Drinking cold beverages makes you sick. However, cold showers are good for you. Most people don’t have access to hot showers, so it only makes sense that they don’t think cold showers are bad because that would mean they were always doing something that would make them sick. While I am lucky to live with a host family that does not believe cold showers are good for you, from what some Peruvians have said to me, as well as stories from other volunteers, I have found this much to be true:
Cold water inside the body = bad :(
Cold water outside the body = good :)
Communication
Peruvians are notorious for beating around the bush. They are not confrontational, and they do not take negativity well. You don’t say “no” in this country, you say “yes” and then don’t follow through. It’s rude to say no.
You can ask a Peruvian if they are interested in coming to a presentation or if they want to join you in doing an activity and they will say yes with a smile and assure you they will be there. A lot of times they aren’t. They didn’t want to be rude and tell you they didn’t want to come or they had something else to do. Same goes for giving directions; they’d rather give you the wrong directions than tell you they don’t know how to get there. And as I’ve said before, we’ve had entire charlas on how to turn down food nicely, which mostly consists of telling a lie of some sort to get out of eating whatever they’re offering, all with a big grin on your face.
So, with all of this indirect communication and white lies to make people feel better about food or missing a meeting, it is interesting to me that personal appearance does not fall under this category.
For example, the following conversation I had with my host cousin:
Cousin: You’re having a baby?
Me: What?
Cousin: A baby, you’re having a baby?
Me: ….I’m not pregnant.
Cousin: Oh. You look like it.
As I’ve said before, they say it as they see it, and they don’t spare any exaggeration. Fat, thin, ugly, weird; there are no limits. I cut my own hair, and when my host sister found this out she stated, “Next time you need to go to a professional.”
Real men dance
One cultural difference that I am a big fan of is the amount of dancing men do. While it is a machismo culture, a “man’s world”, and calling someone gay or homosexual isn’t only offensive but dangerous, they sure as hell love to dance. Every Peruvian knows at least three to four types of dances such as salsa, cumbia, marinera, or huayno, and choreographed modern dances are equally as popular. It’s not just acceptable for men to be good dancers, it’s expected.
Jesus, Mary, and huevos
Like most of Latin America, the majority of Peruvians are Catholic. Jesus is everywhere-- schools, tiendas, living rooms, and kitchens—and so are saints and the Virgin Mary. I grew up Catholic, so I’m familiar with many of their beliefs. They definitely celebrate and practice the religion with a certain fervor I did not witness growing up, but they are pious people. What interests me most about their beliefs is how it is coupled with traditional Peruvian rituals. Many if not all of the Peruvians I’ve met have complete belief in Tarot readings, astrology, ghosts, shaman, and old healing practices.
A well-known ritual performed to discover what ails the ill involves an egg and a glass of water. The ill person sits or lies down, and another person (either a shaman or someone knowledgeable in the practice) rubs an egg all over the ill person’s body. After a thorough rub down, the egg is cracked into the glass of water where the yolk, egg white, and bubbles are inspected. Depending on the amount of bubbles at the top of the glass and the position of the yolk in the water, the person performing the ritual can divine what is wrong with the ailing.
This same ritual can be performed with a cuy (guinea pig). A live cuy is rubbed all over the persons body, then cut open and the intestines are inspected. The answers lie in what the cuy does while it’s being rubbed on the person and the condition of its intestines.
There are other rituals as well, which include reading coca leaves, tea leaves, incense, cigarettes, holy water, and flower petals.
Many of these rituals are taken very seriously by both devout Catholics and educated people. What interests me most is that Catholics can have some belief in these rituals without being blasphemous. As I recall, there were a lot of teachings against seers, fortunetellers, and anything pagan in nature. I felt it was made clear there was no room to have belief in both. And that doesn’t just go for Catholics, but other Christians who do things like say Harry Potter is of the devil or refuse to celebrate Halloween (one of my favorite holidays, by the way).
I don’t condone gutting an animal while it’s alive to figure out why someone’s stomach hurts, but I like this dual characteristic of Peruvians quite a bit. While their superstitions sometimes baffle me, I find other aspects endearing. The other night the power went out and all of my host family gathered in one room around a candle telling ghost stories. Only they weren’t “stories”, they were spoken as complete fact. I can’t do that with many people back home, but here you’ll be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t believe in ghosts. Also, my regional capital is home to one of the largest “witch-doctor” markets in Peru (which for some bizarre reason I have yet to visit) where you can buy natural medicine, anything you need to make your own healing brew, or visit a shaman for a spiritual cleansing.
From what I gather, Peruvians find our customs and culture just as bizarre and entertaining. Like moving away from home at the age of 18 instead of staying with your parents until you marry, only having one last name instead of two (both parents last names) and a wife changing her last name to be the same as her husbands, our choice of foods, our lack of dancing skills, etc. However, each volunteer is acting as an ambassador to the U.S., and because we are for the most part just one person alone in our site, we are the most bizarre people they have ever met. And yet at the same time, they just want to be near to catch a glimpse of someone with lighter eyes, hear a different accent, or learn more about a foreign country so far away and strange. It´s like being a celebrity and a sideshow freak at the same time. Even the issue of where I stand in this country has its duality and contradictions.
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