ollantinos, like all communities i'm sure, have quite a few practices and behaviors that are astonishingly novel to the outside observer. i'm trying to remember them all, but i'll just note a few here:
first of all, if i could summarize this culture in one word, it would be "apúrate," which means "hurry up." it is the command i wake up to every morning at 6 am (or earlier), used to rouse children (unsuccessfully) out sleep, and it is the emptiest expression i have ever heard. everyone is constantly demanding that everyone else apúrate in the most panicked voice. it's like everyone's home is always on fire and we all need to grab whatever we can and get the fuck out of there before we roast to death. and yet....no one ever hurries up. the house is never going to burn down. the child is always going to be late for school. dinner will never be eaten in under an hour. now, this isn't quite the same as the cultural phenomena of latin american time where things always start late or people just don't show up. it's really just that everyone is panicked and no one is ever getting anything done. this basically leaves me in a constant wet blanket of stress.
additionally, there are very widely held beliefs about health around here. i can probably count on my hands how many times i've had cold water to drink here because it's so unhealthy? rather, water is always piping hot, which is why getting an aluminum water bottle is number one on my list of items to buy when i come home for christmas. i've gotten used to tea at every meal, even to the point where i'm starting to believe that the only way to keep my stomach from rupturing after five pounds of starches is with a little chamomile. but to think that having cold water at night, eating fruit after dinner, or taking a shower within an hour of a meal all cause infirmity is another matter. every time i tell my host parents that i'm feeling ill, they have some unheard of explanation, as if the fact that i'm adjusting to new water, fruits, vegetables, and hygienic levels had nothing to do with it. i also enjoy my host father's anecdotes about natural curatives. for example, did you know that women with frozen ovaries should just drink this certain herb in tea for three days and then they'll have babies? it's true. he knows someone who got pregnant just one month after drinking the special tea. also, if you have a "scared" baby (which i think means they cry during the night?), you should grind up this other plant and corn and mix it with alcohol and bathe your baby in it on tuesday, friday, and then tuesday again, and they will be better. but it has to be on those special days.
there seem to only be three songs at a time that everyone in peru listens to. my host siblings listen to the three songs on repeat all weekend long. also everyone here is tone deaf, which only elevates the painfulness of listening to huayno (appropriately pronounced "whine-o"), which is the indigenous musical style that traditionally involves some heartbroken old lady wailing as mournfully as possible with gentle harp in the background. contemporary huayno has keyboards and a bunch of other synth shit, making it nearly intolerable, but for some reason, everyone is always blaring it with their speakers out to the streets. on repeat. i actually kind of like the classical huayno (it's the joanna newsom side of me), but holy shit, not at that volume and frequency. i have also heard reports of host families playing U2's "new year's eve" or whatever on repeat for hours, and i thank god that i've avoided that fate.
people here rarely have toilet paper in their bathrooms. my host family will go a week or more without it in the house. i can't explain what they are (or are not) doing in light of its absence, but i have certainly taken to buying my own tp and stealthily tucking it into my pocket every time i go to the bathroom.
it's election day today. since before i arrived here, there has been a constant loud drone of election jingles and propaganda from cars and rooftops, not to mention candidate graffiti on walls, rocks, and bridges. it is more than a little disheartening to see large boulders spray painted with propaganda about how environmentally-friendly someone claims to be. it seems harmless, although there has been a ban on any peruvian purchasing alcohol for the last couple days, as apparently tonight when the winner is announced there will be fights, fires, and bottle throwing. people look at me in astonishment when i tell them that it is not illegal to drink on or during the days leading up to election day in the states. because we're so civilized.
so those are just a few of the amusing novelties of my new life. and now it's time to go to a pig roast.
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