Leavin Lima
Mariana Gledhill from Wellington, N.Z spent 7 months in Peru in 2005 doing voluntary work. She shares her experiences.
Holas from Peru
I am really excited because I am off to Chincha tomorrow to meet my host family and finally start on my project. I have finished studying Spanish- it wasn’t as useful as it could have been as the focus was on writing when my weakness is talking (Very unusual for me). There are
some interesting things about Spanish here that I should mention. Here, Spanish is called Castellano, rather than Español. Español is what the people who talk funny speak, like the people in Spain, who talk with lisps, and the people in Argentina and Chile who also talk
really funny. Peru is apparently the best place in the world to learn Spanish because they talk in Castellano here and not Español like the others! Funny, I was taught that Castellano is what people in Spain talk. But anyway, I have finished my Spanish course, and I can now tell those who will listen that I have studied Spanish at the University of San Marcos, which sounds pretty impressive. I have a certificate to prove it.
There are some things about Lima that I will not be sorry to leave. The traffic is shocking. If the NZ police were here, they would double the surplus in a day with the tickets that could be issued here under NZ law. Cars don’t need registration. Traffic lights and pedestrian crossings are a rough guideline, and conversations with horns occur every day. You flag down buses, and you don’t need to flag down taxis, they stop for you because taxi drivers always assume that Gringas (white girls) need taxis. The amount of beeps, whistles and other things that I have recieved has been amazing. Returning to NZ, the streets are going to seem so quiet without my fanclub. There is one boy who has decided he is my boyfriend (I have no say in this, I am a
women so I cannot make decisions). My host mum won’t let him take me out (I love my host mum, and the fact that he asked her, rather than me!). He thinks that we should break up tomorrow. I am sure that I will bear the deprivation there quite well. I have heard men
discussing me, and I have tried me stop understanding Spanish in those situations. I don’t want to.
However, I love Lima, especially the people here. I am really going to miss my host family who have been very nice to me, and I am going to miss my friends from Spanish class too. Celine and her family in Lima have invited me out so many times, and treated me like a second
daughter. I shall miss my conversations with Afeah too. At AFS we had a few nights in Lima. I went once but I was on pills that did not allow me to drink anything. It was ironic because have been warned about drinking too much, as a NZer, and I was the only one who DID NOT
get drunk that night, and the only drink I consumed was coke. The dancing here is impressive. Everyone can dance. Parties are so fancinating. People literally dance all night. The neighbours do not call noise control, they dance in the streets or in their houses and enjoy the music themselves.
The poor people impress me too. They are so enterprising- they can sell anything. They have the minds and determination to better themselves but there are no resources for this. Peru has so much possibility but this possibility is yet to be realised.
I went to a party for my grandmothers sister in Law. It was great. The birthday women’s grandaughter decided to paint my nails blue. Her name was Maricielo, I have to write to her because she was so nice to me. Happy birthday here is sung twice, once in demented english really slowly and once in fast Spanish with claps and dancing.
Oh, and coca cola is meant to cure everything. When I was sick, my host mum kept giving it to me. When my friend got a cold, her mum gave her lemon coke. There are a lot of sterotypes here. Gringas are loose and rich. Chileans are robbers, of Pisco and Arica (I am trying to
imagine my Chilean friend stealing, and it makes me laugh, in the net cafe, and everyone is staring at me, how embarrassing!!). Argentines want to be European… Brazilians are always dancing.
Should love you all and leave you now. Next Time I write, I will be in Chincha.
Mariana
