Food = Identity? English Version

When I was first researching places to study abroad, the first thing I read about Peru was the quality of its food. Indeed, in my Lonely Planet travel guide to Peru, one of the first things it mentions is how Peru “is a country devoted to the art of keeping the human palate entertained.” At first, I didn’t really consider this to be anything really significant; many times resources like these tend to glorify the gastronomical aspects of certain countries in order to make the country seem like a place one would want to visit. However, once I came to Peru, I certainly thought that the food was indeed amazing; every time I went out to dinner or opened my lonchera at school, I couldn’t help but have my “palate entertained.” Yet having lived here for more than two months, I have come to the conclusion that this culinary trend is something more than a characteristic: there is a cultural significance to Peru’s gastronomical superiority.

One of the first impressions I made about Peruvians were that they are a people that seem to be very proud of their food. This is a country where people take minimum two hour lunches, where families actually eat together, where preservatives are blasphemy. If you want juice, you actually get juice: straight from the orange itself. If you’re in the mood for some chicken, you can practically pick the one you want… when it’s alive. Whenever a local found out that I was a foreigner (not too difficult considering my physical stature compared to an average Peruvian…), the first thing they ask me was if I liked the food here. Not only that, if you take a stroll around Lima today, probably at least two-thirds of the small businesses you will find will have something to do with food: restaurants, convenience stores selling sundries, fruit and vegetable stands, or food markets displaying the freshest produce from around the country. This may not seem too strange if you consider that most cities have a wide range of food to choose from; what sets Peru apart is the value they place on it, and because of this, the surprising amount of issues it becomes a part of.

Peru is widely considered to be a nation of mixed races, but that does not mean all cultures are immediately accepted into the Peruvian mainstream. During the period of Chinese immigration, for example, racism was rampant throughout the country and especially in the main cities like Lima. As with “normal” cases of racism, citizens didn’t want the Chinese culture to “contaminate” the “authentic” Peruvian one; they were afraid the sheer number of Chinese immigrants would change what it meant to be a Peruvian. However, what is different about the Peruvian case is the fact that one of the main concerns during this time period was culinary. Peruvians were terrified that the dispersing of Chinese food, especially in population hotspots like Lima, would consequently lead to the changing of the national psyche. This fear was not sated when a group of Chinese migrants opened the supermarket Wongs in 1942 in the district of San Isidro, thus proving that these immigrants meant business when it came to providing food to the city. Thus, Peruvians considered food to be synonymous with identity, a concept that has not been lost to this day. And as for the racism against the Chinese, well… let’s just say there is no “Chinese food” in Lima. In its place there is “chifa”, a mixture of both Peruvian and Chinese styles. Hopefully this cultural blending can continue in this country for years to come.

And while that is going on, I’m still going to sit back, look out over the ocean and enjoy my ceviche and pisco sours!

Observations Part 1

Driving
Traffic rules do not exist. Red lights? Optional. Stop signs? There are none. Speeding? Go ahead, as long as the micros don't cut you off. If there's one thing limenos do consistently when it comes to driving, it's honking their horns. At cars, at people, at NOTHING.... it doesn't matter. I've seen drivers conduct horn musicals just for the hell of it. Yes, nothing says "home" to a limeno than the sound of honking automobiles.

Eating
Peruvians are viciously proud of their food. In a recent study, when asked what Peruvians were most proud of about their country, the number one response was their cuisine. Number 2 was Machu Picchu. Compare this to, say, Canada's answer of health care and education, and once can see that Peruvians take their meals very seriously. And they should. In the month that I have been here, I've only encountered one dish that I haven't liked -- and I've had something different to eat pretty much everyday. Who knows why this is -- maybe it's the magical combination of having access to food from the ocean, rainforest, and mountains -- but all I know is it's DELICIOUS.

"Third-Worldness"
Many people I've talked to have this conception that Peru is entirely a third-world country -- and, in some respects, it is -- but that does not in any way mean that I do not have access to most, if not all, of the resources I have back home. Lima is a huge, bustling city with all of the amenities an American city has: department stores, restaurants, libraries, art markets, parks, and even a Starbucks and McDonalds here and there (although Walmart has not yet reached here). Thus, there's everything you could possibly need here, if you know where to look... although it IS quite hard to find pants and shoes for a person 6'0"...

Time
Unlike Americans, Peruvians are, for the most part, pretty lax when it comes to time. No one ever freaks out when someone is a couple of minutes late to something; they live by the phrase "better to be late than not be here at all." Even most of the professors at my university don't show up to class until 15 minutes after the class is scheduled to start. Likewise, if you schedule a fiesta for 21:00 (they use military time here), don't expect anyone to show up until at least 22:30, and expect to get weird looks if you show up at 21:00. Even their word for "now", ahora, translates as "to the hour"; thus, you have an hour window to show up "on time." This cultural difference can be a little hard to deal with at times, being conditioned in a society that lives and dies by the clock, but at the same time it is strangely liberating. It all contributes to the Peruvian psyche: everyone is much more relaxed, not having to worry so much about being late.

How Peruvians View Lima
If you ask a random Peruvian on the street what they think of their city, most likely they will respond "Nuestra ciudad...es fea, pero tratamos de mejorarla." Translated: "Our city is ugly, but we try to make it better." Indeed, there are many parts of Lima that could be considered "ugly" upon first glance: in the poorer sections especially there are some slums, beaten-up sidewalks, junked cars, and just overall grayness that matches the weather almost 300 days a year. But the real beauty in Lima, at least to me, lies in the hope of it's people. Flowers and palm trees are everywhere; most streets pass by 5-6 parks in any given direction; and all around, at almost every corner, you can see a Peruvian fixing a broken bench, or planting some flowers, or painting over graffiti. In a country where almost a third of the entire population lives in one place, it's astonishing just how colorful, vibrant, and happy the city can be once the sun shines. And when it does, you'd be shocked to see just how many Peruvians some out to enjoy the light and natural beauty they themselves placed there. Even in the slums, the "ugliest" parts of Lima, there are meticulously cared-for gardens in front of the broken-down buildings people call home. So is it ugly? It all depends on if you're on the gray or not. Because there's certainly things you can miss when all you're used to, when all you're able to see, is blandness.

Racism?
Surprisingly, I have found that here in Peru, there is no "racism" as defined in the US. This is because Latin Americans in general, and Peruvians in particular, are very proud of their "mestizo" heritage; they believe that having a mixed background allows for a stronger people because of the inherited experiences of all the cultures. However, this does not mean that the European ideal of white supremacy is completely eliminated here, or that every region in Peru has equal standing. Indeed, Peru has "racism" in the form of language. If you speak Quechua, for example, you are generally viewed as being lower-class because it is the most popular idiom of the Andes, where people are generally poor. In fact, most Peruvians who move to Lima to try and make better lives for themselves usually try to hide where they are from because they want to be viewed as equals to those who speak Castillian. Likewise, being able to speak English is a sign that you were wealthy enough to afford a good education, and thus are of a higher social status.