Wishing I knew what I didn't know
Posted on Saturday, June 15, 2013
Ethnocentrism: a word we as a nation rarely think about
until forced to. Ethnocentrism embodies an attitude that glorifies one’s own
society. According to Ken Barger, ethnocentrism can be defined as “making false
assumptions about others’ ways based on our own limited experiences”… “we don’t
understand that we don’t understand.”
Before we left for Peru, we met as a group several times to
talk about any concerns or questions regarding our stay throughout the first
two weeks of June. Some questions regarded the campesinos that we would be
staying in.
Will they have blankets?
Yes
Will they have beds?
Yes
Will they have a toilet?
Yes
Will it be warm?
Yes
After about three hours, our concerns were diminished. From
my perspective, concerns grew like wildfire the millisecond that we pulled up
to our future housing. From the highway, we could not see any nearby housing.
Gabby, Claudia, Kristin, and I were instructed to follow the pathway up to the
house. We traveled downhill slightly and crossed a bridge over a river. We
continued up a seriously steep, single-file line path of rocks, crouched under
trees, and over tree stumps. After a roughly seven minute hike, we arrived at
our destination. A little red door led to a dirt-floor patio. At the middle of
the patio was a multi-purpose sink with four doors facing towards the sink. One
door led to our four bed bedroom. The day went on and we returned to sleep. The
first sign of ethnocentrism: assuming that because the family had a “toilet”
they had toilet paper to accompany. Not every family had a traditional toilet
that we, as Americans, pictured in our minds. Some families had holes in the
grounds for their bathroom. Additionally, we assumed that toilet paper would
naturally accompany an outhouse, hole, or toilet but quickly learned to carry a
roll with us wherever we went. The two foregoing examples show that we clearly
did not know what we did not know; we were in the light of ethnocentrism.
This is me preparing for my first night at the campecinos. I had several blankets and this sleeping bag and was still frozen the next morning! Quite a slap in the face from the noun ethnocentrism.
After the first night, breakfast the next morning was spent
under blankets. The night before was so cold that we were still stunned from
the temperature and the fact that these rooms were “heated” and “warm” rooms.
Needless to say, the majority of us were ill-prepared for the near-freezing
night under three wool blankets. The interesting thing about this experience is
two-fold. i) We were given the opportunity to experience the life many people
lead in the campesinos of Peru. ii) We fell guilty to ethnocentrism again: we
assumed there would be a heated room, just as we heat our homes in the winters
of Omaha, and a warm bed to sleep well. The second night’s sleep was better,
although we were guilty of ethnocentrism as a whole group.
This is a cheese plant by a Peruvian that lives in something similar to the campecinos we stayed at. This plant is one of the nicest buildings in the region, with adobe walls that are painted, a front door, and a floor not made of dirt.
To reiterate, ethnocentrism is an assumption by people who “do
not know what they do not know.” I feel guilty to the concept of ethnocentrism
several times, even before the trip began. For instance, why didn’t any student
ask “Do they have toilet paper?” It is because we had no honest realization of
the standards in Peru: we did not know what we did not know.
Best,
Lauren
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