83 Interesting differences I´ve encountered while living here

Disclaimer- My observations are mere opinions based on my limited time here and are not intended to generalize about Peru and Peruvians. Peru is a country as diverse or more diverse than the United States. With that said here are some funny observations of mine.

1. There are more Taxis than automobiles
2. In Peru you can fit atleast 7 people into a taxi the size of a Geo Metro...normal
3. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day unlike dinner in the US
4. When people put gas in their tanks they never fill them completely, only a dollar or two max.
5. The concept of lines doesn´t really exist, people cut all the time and its not considered rude.
6. Girls and Boys express their affection in public and rarely in the house. No one is allowed in bedrooms of the opposite sex. It´s common to see people kissing in the parks (can´t do it in the house)
7. Most people take taxis, walk, buses, or ride their bikes to work
8. Most people don´t own cars only the rich people.
9. Everything is a lot less expensive except gas, and technology (TVs, CD players, etc)
10. When greeting someone you give them a kiss on the cheek (Male-Female) Males shake hands with other males.

11. Everyone eats together for most meals
12. There is always someone home at the house (grandma, dad, uncle, or maid) Always
13. A typical good meal will cost around a dollar to three dollars
14. Most houses are made out of concrete blocks or mud bricks (coast and highlands) In the jungle the houses are made of wood and are built on stilts. The roofs are made of palm branches
15. 16 is the age to graduate highschool.
16. There are people who live in parks and are paid to protect the parks from people from stealing plants and grass. They are also in charge of watering.
17. If you leave something laying around and take your eye off it for a second, it will be taken.
18. Most people live with their family until they marry.
19. It is common in some areas for people to mow their lawns with scissors or machete.
20. There are a large amount of counterfeit money and coins. You have to know the difference or you will be ripped off.

21. In Peru there are very distinct cultures depending on the geography (coast, Andes, jungle)
22. You will probably eat rice atleast two of the three meals you have everyday
23. Peruvians prefer not to sunbath. Most Peruvians don´t like being in the sun.
24. If you want to study at a University after you graduate you must first go to a prep school.
25. Soccer is everything. There are few other sports practiced here.
26. It is extremely important to learn how to dance.
27. It is considered very strange and even dangerous to drink a cold beverage when its hot out. Most people prefer room temp.
28. It is common to be on a hot bus and no one wants to open the windows. You will get sick.
29. There are many places where there still is still no electricity, clean water, or bathrooms.
30. If you go to the poorer areas and are white skinned you are automatically considered rich and intelligent.

31. Flossing your teeth is not practiced, only brushing.
32. The buses here are very nice. If you have a little bit more money you will enjoy first class comfort on a bus.
33. There are vigilants in the nice neighborhoods who stay up all night blowing whistles. They are armed with sticks to keep the neighborhood safe.
34. You have to share everything you buy.
35. Nobody buys a beer for themselves. You buy one beer and drink it out of one glass. When done, you pass the glass to the next person.
36. This goes for cigarrettes as well. One pack is for everyone. You even share one cigarrette if there aren´t enough.
37. Friends always borrow money from each other.
38. Everyone tries to speak English to an English speaker. Everyone wants to learn English.
39. Halloween is celebrated here.
40. Christmas is celebrated at midnight initiated by bringing in a Jesus figurine and is placed at the manger in the Nativity Scene.

41. Christmas is celebrated during summertime (December is summer in Peru). During Christmas its always hot and sunny.
42. Everyone buys fake Christmas trees. Nobody uses real ones.
43. Peruvians don´t really care about puntuality. The ¨Peruvian Hour¨ exists.
44. Most people don´t wants to look indigenous look more European discent.
45. Chinese Peruvian food called ¨Chifa¨ is very popular.
46. Parties start very late and end very late. Most parties don´t start until midnight and end around 4 or 5 am.
47. Discotechs (dance clubs) are more popular than bars.
48. It is common to store new kitchen appliances in their original boxes and place them out for display in the kitchen. (Blenders, waffle irons, etc).
49. You are not allowed to use cell phones inside the bank
50. If something breaks you fix it. There is always a place to fix things. You never throw stuff away.

51. In Peru you can go Sandboarding and Snow boarding all in the same season.
52. On the coast, one of the most popular dishes called ¨Ceviche¨ consist of raw fish marinated in Lime juice. Very good.
53. Most middle and upper class families have atleast one or two maids that work full time and may or may not live with the family. Usually young adolescent to young adult females.
54. It is very common to see little kids, some as young as 5, working in the streets washing cars, shoe shinning, and selling candy to support their family.
55. Fruit juices here are fresh squeezed and natural. Uncommon to buy bottled juice.
56. Peruvians buy food at the market just to last a day or two unlike in the States we buy for a week or two.
57. It is very common for the male of the house to be control of the money. There are very distint gender roles.
58. The minimum wage in Peru is around $150 dollars a Month
59. A decent job pays around $300-$350 a month
60. An upper level government worker such as a Congress man or woman earns around $7,000 dollars a month.

61. Most peruvians will do anything and work anywhere to earn money to support themselves and their family.
62. Peru (and Chile) has the dryest place on earth (Tacama dessert) the wettest places (Amazon Jungle) and the coldest places on the planet (Andes Mountains)
63. It is very uncommon to find or buy anything original usually its is a fake or a duplicate (DVDs, MP3s, anything technology.
64. If you get your cell phone stolen you may have the opportunity to buy it back from the theif for a cheaper price than buying a new one.
65. You can negotiate just about anything in Peru.
66. There are no building codes for houses. You can do whatever you want.
67. It is very uncommon to sue or get sued based on the justice system. If you fall or spill coffee on your lap and get hurt its your own fault. Sorry, should have been more careful.
68. It´s cheaper to call a cell phone from another country than to call a cell phone in the same country.
69. Everyone uses calling cards to call other phones.
70. It is very common to ride on a bus and have goats tied to the roof and sit next to someone carrying chickens or turkeys tied up in a sack placed on the floor next to your feet.

71. In some family style resturants in small towns you will see chickens and other animals running around on the floor. They raise those animals to cook for their buisness.
72. Guinea Pig or ¨Cuye¨is a very common dish in the highlands
73. Lake Titicaca in souther Peru is the highest lake in the world. There are people that live on floating reed islands that speak a different language than people living on the shore.
74. Peru has more varieties of fruit than you could imagine
75. Burping and farting is considered very crude and disgusting even among guy friends
76. The peruvian napkin consists of a single ply that is folded in half. You have to use a napkin for every bite.
77. When walking in the highlands the concept of distance is very different. If your with a native and ask him or her where something is they would say, ¨oh right over there just a little bit further¨ even though it could mean another 4-6 hours of walking. People in the highlands walk many Kilometers every day.
78. Most people wash clothes by hand. Having a dryer and washer is very rare and unpracticle.
79. While owning a plot of land you have to be aware of people building on your land. Squating or envading land is common here.
80. People who own more than one house often hire people to live on the property and protect it while they aren´t the owners aren´t there.

81. There are 4 or 5 golf courses that I know of in the whole country.
82. Peruvians often call people by how they look. Fat, skinny, Chinese, white or black and it is not meant to be racist or rude. You will here, hey...Gordo, hey...Chino, hey...gringo o negro all the time.
83. If you are a girl from another country 9 out of 10 times you will be whistled at by Peruvian men.

Yes, I love my pets

Pet update: Duke my dog continues to get every single one of my pants and shirts dirty before I go to work. I guess I shouldn´t greet him in the mornings but it has become habit to go see him as I leave. Pocho the Parrot, and I have really gotten a lot closer as you can tell. He doesn´t bite me anymore and lets me rub his forehead. Pocho continues however to be a bad pet investment. He doesn´t sing and wakes me up everymorning with his horrible ¨squaks¨. Pancho the Tortoise has really been bugging me lately, but whats new. My family and I have engineered a compost pile in the corner of the backyard, Pancho´s territory. He refuses not to leave it alone. As I mentioned earlier, Tortoises don´t move for anybody. They are God´s most stubborn animal and not recommended for a pet. Pancho has a small yard in the first place and when he got wind that I was going to take up a few feet of his space to build a compost, he got pissed off. For the few days I was building the fence, concentrating on trying to reinforce the durability of the fence to make it ¨turtle resistent¨, Pancho would not stop bugging me. He literally would climb down the hole and try to bite my toes as I was digging. There were a few times when I got so frustrated that I tossed him several feet out of the hole and onto the dirt pile. He would immediately return back to the hole and try to bite me. ¨Absolutely incredible¨I thought. He is a fearless, utterly stubborn animal that annoys the heck out of me. Our newest pet is another parrot, yet smaller one, named Harris. He is not domesticated yet and has chewed his way out of two wire bird cages we bought. I guess some birds weren´t meant to be caged. Luckily his wings are clipped and hasn´t escaped the bricked-in-wall yard yet. He is now living in a bush in the back yard. I think its best for him. So thats the pet scoop. In the Peace Corps there are several days you find yourself with nothing to do. For me, I like to sit in my hammock and read and hang out with the animals. I don´t get to see the chickens and donkeys and stray dogs on a regular basis like the volunteers that live in the campo. I miss out on a lot of the nature campo sounds and smells. However, my next-door neighbor has a turkey that always gobbles. If you are standing in my backyard and make any kind of noise that resembles a turkey call, he repeats you. I sit in my hammock sometimes and make turkey calls to pass the time away. It´s very entertaining to me but has to be quite a view looking through the back window of the house and listen to Noah sit in his hammock while turkey sounds. That has to look wierd.