Showing posts with label Gabby. Show all posts

0

Posted on Sunday, June 9, 2013


As we are getting ready to leave Lima and move on to Cusco, I am analyzing observations I have made here in Lima that I have not seen elsewhere.  I have traveled to many U.S. cities, but there are certain observations in Lima that I have not experienced in any city in the United States.  The first example that comes to mind is the abundance of law enforcement here in Lima.  I was surprised to see so many police officers on the streets and surrounding downtown.  From my own personal perspective this makes me question the safety of the city.  I asked one of the guides we were with about the amount of police everywhere and they told me that it was mostly for show to make people feel safe.  However, I found it did the opposite for me.  The presence of the police made me think that the city was so unsafe they needed officers on every street.  This thought then led me back to acknowledging my ethnocentrism and realizing this interpretation came from my own experience and culture. 
                Another aspect I found intriguing was the presence of graffiti on almost every building I saw.  In the United States graffiti is illegal and is very much frowned upon.  It was a surprise for me to see how much graffiti was all over the city.  From my own perspective this was unacceptable and indicated an area of crime and poverty.  Unfortunately I did not think to ask about this phenomenon, but it would have been very interesting to hear an answer.  I am trying to see this from a different perspective and am questioning my assumption that graffiti is “wrong”.  In reality my ethnocentrism is limiting my view of it and it is likely that I am completely wrong about how graffiti is perceived here.  However, I still think it is interesting to note.
                An additional observation in Lima was the amount of street vending present in the city.  To me this seems like a very unreliable source of income and I would not want to choose it as a job.  However, it seems to be fairly common here and I am not sure of the reason why.  I have considered that it is in fact a reliable income here because the city is so busy with so many people.  On the other hand, poverty is common, so do people really spend money at street vendors?  I wish I was able to see the situation from the locals perspective better, so that I could understand the how and why.  However, even though I do not always know the answers to my questions and observations I feel as if I am still getting a lot out of this experience.  I am learning to think twice about things and really try to come up with alternative reasons other than my initial assumptions.  The downside to this is that I often leave the topic more confused than when I started it.  I wish I had all the answers. 
Example of Graffiti

Law Enforcement downtown.

0


This experience in Peru has been loaded with novel experiences and has been eye-opening for me.  In particular my experience in Ate was something I will remember for the rest of my life.  Ate, while enjoyable, was also a bit of a confusing experience for me.  I saw and heard a lot that I did not necessarily understand and was surrounded by many stimuli.  Our class discussion concerning ethnocentrism helped me during the Ate experience to question my assumptions and think twice about the things I was seeing and hearing.  I must admit it was hard for me to step back from my own culture and try to see their culture with unbiased eyes.  It is a habit to see something and think you know what is going on and why, but many times that is not the case.  For example, there were a lot of kittens and dogs running freely around Ate, and I tended to assume they were strays.  If they were in the United States they would likely be abandoned animals, so that was my natural assumption.  However, they may not be and it isn’t fair for me to assume they are strays when I do not truly know what is going on.  Another assumption I made was that the people living in Ate would not be very happy people because of the poverty they live in.  In America I think it’s common to see that poorer individuals are often stressed and unhappy with their circumstances.  However, my observations contradicted this assumption.  Many of the locals in Ate that I interacted with were very enthusiastic when communicating with me and had big smiles on their face.  The children especially seemed extremely excited to play with us and interact with us.  It was hard for me to imagine myself that happy if I were living in those circumstances.  Money and poverty is a stressful struggle and I am not sure I would cope with it as well as they seemed to.  However, I also am trying to keep in mind that that is my view of it and probably not how they view it.  My suspicion is that they view their lives much differently than I do, and probably have different values and measures on quality of life.  I wish I could have asked them more about this but with my lack of Spanish, I could not think of an effective way to express this train of thought.  My experience in Ate was irreplaceable and I am thankful that I got to have that opportunity.  The people were so friendly and genuine, and were fun to talk to and interact with.  I also enjoyed the food they prepared for us and was very impressed with the way they cooked it.  I spent a good part of the time watching them prepare it and asking questions about how they did it, and what was in it.  The locals answered my questions enthusiastically and seemed to really enjoy my curiosity about this special dish they prepared for us.  This experience in Ate has improved my ability to step back and try to analyze circumstances from a different perspective, which I think will help me throughout this trip and life in general. 

Powered by Blogger.