Living on Peruvian Time
The whole concept of time in Peru is very different than western standards. There really is no “on time” or “late.” Things just sort of happen, and they happen much slower than I am used to. Luckily, it’s not as slow as Spain, where you can barely accomplish one errand a day. There is no 4-hour siesta here, but stores do randomly close during the day and I have yet to see any posted hours. Matt and I tried to go to a bar last night and on the door read a sign: If the outside light is on, come inside. The light was off, so we headed to another place. We just wanted a burrito so we returned to the place we had our anniversary margarita in. The same 8-year-old kid was serving us and we ordered a drink and a burrito to share. Well, he must have made the drink himself because the cook wasn’t even home (the restaurant kitchen is the house kitchen). We finished our coco loco and waited…and waited. The restaurant is also a surf shop and a group of people came back from a surf trip while we were waiting. One of the guys happened to be the cook’s son and we started talking and realized that his mother wasn’t home and he had no idea where she was. The kid didn’t tell us any of this and just assumed if he waited she would show up and he wouldn’t have to tell us anything. In the US this would be unheard of, a cook missing and a little boy taking in orders like she’s there. We must have waited a half hour before she finally showed up to make us a burrito.
But in Peru, no worries. Time does not matter like I think it does. Hopefully I can adjust.
Another interesting thing is that most houses and restaurants (which are really people’s homes) are open-air. There’s usually a roof over the kitchen and bedrooms, but our whole hallway in our house has no roof. I find this amazing because everything here is painted with water-soluble paint. Huanchaco does not rain and people have faith in that because if it did, anything that was painted would melt right off.
I had my first day of work today and I showed up and sat down to speak with Marilyn, the head of the restaurant (who I think is just a few years older than me). We talked for a bit and then she told me she didn’t need me today. So I have another day off (the restaurant is closed Monday and Tuesday), but I shouldn’t be frustrated because it’s on the Peruvian timetable. Hopefully I’ll work tomorrow and today I’m just going to rest because I’ve had a nasty head cold for the past few days. Sra. Wilma cut a giant stalk of her aloe plant in the garaje and soaked it in water. I’ve been chewing up the pulp and gargling it. She swears by it. I still feel sick, but I’ll keep trying.