a breath of fresh, contaminated air

"So is this what a bar in Puno is like?" The other Fulbright researchers from the provinces just laughed. Where or how to start to describe the differences? Alex, who probably dropped the fact that he went to Yale in every conversation he had during the week, was curious about what life was like outside the city of Lima. Most of the Fulbrighters agreed that he had not adapted very well to Peru living. The funny thing is that the idea of cultural adaptation is so relative. His complaints and frustrations of Lima seemed so trivial when I thought about the living conditions, politics, and conflicts I witnessed in Puno. Moreover, for all his negative commentary, he hardly had anything positive or good to say about his experience. I pittied him for not enjoying the past three months. Of course, we have all seen the good, the bad, the ugly, and the beautiful in our respective regions in Peru. I get the sense, though, that the students who stayed in Lima were not as fulfilled or happy as those who lived in smaller communities throughout the country.

It was quite amazing, actually, how very little the Limeñan Fulbrights knew about the lifestyle outside of the capital. Don't get me wrong, the city of Lima is a totally different world, in comparison to the United States. But, it's really a buffer in terms of cultural differences for a foreigner. As we sat in the bar named Sergeant Peppers (or Sargento Pimienta) in the upper class district of Barranco, I looked at the clientel that surrounded me. To be honest, I felt like I was one among a multitude of tourists. Unlike in Puno, I wasn't the only light-skinned, blue-eyed youth in the room. We were definitely in a pituco bar. The term refers to the rich population of the capital city. Often, people from the provinces refer to the Limeñans, in general, as pitucos, though it primarily defines the population that live in the city's districts of Miraflores, La Molina, Sucro, Barranco, and a few others. For the first time in three months I felt underdressed....no, under-fashionable in a bar scene.

The week has been a refreshing break from Puno. On Monday and Tuesday, I had meetings with the top advisor of the National Council on Decentralization and worked at the library in the Catholic University of Peru. Wednesday was spent in a researcher's workshop to present our projects and get feedback from Peruvian scholars. Friday, I traveled to the US Embassy to have pages added to my passport (yup, I have travelled that much) and had a turkey feast with Embassy staff and Fulbrights. In between, I did some shopping, walked around the city, and got a much needed hair cut. All in all, a worthwhile trip.

It has definitely helped to gain a bit of perspective from the other Fulbrighters as well as share knowledge about Puno to people who are unfamiliar with its culture (I even taught people from Lima things about Puno they didn't know!) Additionally, I was able to enjoy some comforts that made me feel a bit closer to the States: hot showers, comfortable sofa-chairs in coffee shops, movie theaters, big-red gum, walking around shopping malls, political conversations over dinner with other researchers, big red gum, libraries, cable tv in my room, NFL sportsbar to watch Thanskgiving games, soy milk, mexican and sushi restaurants...

Still, Lima is neither where I belong nor what I love about Peru. I know from that list I make Puno sound like it is in the middle of nowhere. These are just little things that are not in my life in the highlands. On the flipside, there are things about Puno that I miss and really look forward to having once I return on Sunday: clean air, a sense of security on the streets and taxis, greeting people I know as I walk around town, great meals for 5 soles (average price for a meal in Lima's tourist district is 20-30 soles), my friends, not feeling under-dressed all the time, daily parades...

I just stopped a moment and took in what I wrote in the two paragraphs above. Almost all the little bonuses of Lima were materialistic in nature, whereas my pluses of Puno were more subjective and in reference to a sense of community. Maybe that's what I forgot to share with Alex from Yale :

The difference between a bar in Lima and a bar in Puno isn't based on the kind of drinks you have, the music they play, or the clothes people wear. The real difference is that, unlike in sprawling city of Lima (population 9 million) you have had the opportunity to insert yourself in the a community of a bar's clientel...where everybody knows your name (is the theme song ringing in anybody's head?)

I think the other province Fulbrights would agree.