¿estás acostumbrada?

This morning I found myself sweeping my dirt floor. That’s right, sweeping dirt. As I was sweeping, I had to avoid the pile of potatoes that sits in the corner of my room. The pile has been there since I moved in. I’m not sure what all those potatoes are doing there, but I plan on leaving them alone until my family tells me what to do. I then walked out of my room and banged my head on the 5 foot door. All of the Peruvians easily fit under the doors here. I, on the other hand, have several bruises on my head.

At least once a day, someone in Julcán asks me “¿Estás acostumbrada a Julcán?” Are you accustomed to Julcán yet? I tell them “si, más o menos.” I am trying my hardest to get used to all of the differences in lifestyle here. Here are just some of the things I am adjusting to:

PAPAS- potatoes potatoes potatoes. For those of you who don’t know, Peru is the international capital of potatoes in the world. Julcán, my district, is the 2nd biggest potato producer in the country. Everyone in my town is a potato farmer. With not much money, they even get paid in potatoes. In the center of the main plaza, there is a statue of tools used for potato farming. No meal is complete without potatoes. Now, potatoes actually used to be one of my favorite foods, but now that I have had them in access, they are far from my favorite. The other day Jason Chris and I were riding a bus joking about how many potatoes there are here. As we were talking, a woman walked on the bus and handed out boiled potatoes to everyone.

My family sent me some Kraft macaroni and cheese from back home, after hearing me talk of meals consisting of only potatoes. I made it for my family. Guess what? They served it with potatoes.

AGUA- I don’t have running water. Water comes to the houses only twice a week, and only for 15 minutes early in the morning. (Only this week, it didn’t come at all…). It is a pretty big hassle; not only for me personally, but I find it to be a huge obstacle when I tell people here the importance of hygiene and washing hands when we don’t have water to do so.

CABRERO- There are often decapitated goats hanging in my house. They LOVE to eat goat head here. For every special occasion, goat head is served. Its considered a delicacy (kind of like a big juicy steak in the states). My host mom has a business on Sundays where she serves all things goat head. I watch her on Saturday afternoons as she brings home 8 freshly killed goat heads and cuts them apart and cleans them (that is, if there is water). It’s about a 6 hour process. The following day at 6 in the morning, at least 50 people come over to eat goat head soup, or goat head with (surprise surprise) potatoes.

CUY- In addition to the delicious goat head, guinea pig is considered even more of a delicacy. Apparently it tastes like chicken? The other day I went to Jason’s house for lunch. As I pushed around the food on my plate, trying to gulp down some bites, I felt something crawling at my feet. I looked down and saw five or six guinea pigs running around on the kitchen floor. People raise the guinea pigs in their homes so that they can be fresh when it comes time to eat them. (Luckily, what I was eating for lunch was just potatoes; guinea pig was for dinner, which I unfortunately missed).

GRINGA- I am trying my best to fit in here. I bought myself a poncho, I’m working on my Julcanera accent and slang, and learning the customs of Julcán. But no matter what I do, I’ll be the tall white girl who talks funny. As mentioned above, the short doors have taken some getting used to. But other than the doors, being a tall white girl is not necessarily a negative thing. In fact, I sort of feel like a celebrity here because everyone knows me. People who I can’t remember meeting yell out my name as I walk by. I definitely feel respected and welcomed as the new gringa in town. But it is certainly a weird feeling to be a minority.