One month!!!
Last week marked our one-month anniversary in Lima!!! As of right now we have been here for 5ish weeks but last Monday was the group anniversary and we all celebrated by waking up at 4:30am to enroll in classes. One thing I was definitely not thinking about when choosing an abroad program was the matriculation process at the local university, but this proved to be a huge pain in the a$$ at Pontifica Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP) because they have foreign students enroll in classes in person the week after classes start - which means that many are already full and, for the classes that do have spaces left, you have to compete with other foreign students to fit. We were supposed to register last week but then classes were cancelled for the week in response to the massive flooding that occurred in the north of Lima - this was to accommodate students who had been seriously affected by the flooding and also so as to conserve the water that the university otherwise would have used during the week. Al fin, 200 foreign students lined up in front of the sports center at 8am (many of us had been waiting outside of the university since 5-6am in order to be first in line) to receive the numbers that would determine our spot in the matriculation process (which then lasted several hours) and all of the stressing ended up being more or less for nothing because we were all able to register for the classes we wanted. A happy ending! Myself and the students in my program are taking two classes with IFSA Butler - Advanced Spanish and Realidad Social Peruana - and two to three courses at PUCP. I enrolled in Género y Cultura and Etnografía Amazónica. For my clase de género we have to preform a project about any theme related to gender and culture - I would like to do mine about some aspect of Afroperuvian feminism or about brujeria here in Peru but we'll see how it plays out.
For the one month anniversary I'm gonna talk about some general themes that I've been thinking about while here in Peru:
Los Huaicos:
Aka the worst flooding the country has seen in two decades. We went four days without water, but that was nothing. In the northern part of the country the heavy rains caused the river Rimac to overflow, thus destroying thousands of homes and displacing hundreds of thousands of Peruvians. A video made the rounds of a woman emerging, miraculously, from a mudslide that had carried her and her livestock over 50 meters. Luckily her children were at school and weren't affected.
What has been incredible to witness has been the way that the country has organized and come together to support those affected. Donation sites sprung up across Peru and people have been coming out in droves to volunteer at donation sites and contribute in any way that they can to affected areas. Classes (at my university, at least) were cancelled for the entire week so as to allow students affected to recuperate and also to conserve the water that the university otherwise would have used that week. A hashtag was started called #UnaSolaFuerza to encourage the unity that quickly emerged amongst Peruvians throughout the country. The president, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (PPK) sent texts out through the major service providers urging people to remain calm, conserve water, and help out wherever possible. Where I live in Miraflores hordes of people rushed to buy water at the local super markets and ultimately a cap was put on the number of water bottles that each family could purchase. The municipality also set up sites in public spaces where people could come with buckets and access potable water to bring back to their houses. You truly haven't lived until you've taken a bucket shower! One girl from our program apparently stood in line for two hours for water only for them to run out right when she got to the front.
Sofia, the empleada who works and lives in my host family's house (name changed for privacy), told us that in Villa El Salvador where some of her family lives groups of people were looting stores for water. It truly was a major environmental crisis and the repercussions are still being felt throughout the country. Growing up upper middle-class in the U.S. means that I have never been exposed to a situation in which I haven't had access to basic necessities - food, water, clothes, etc. This experience, not only of not having water but also of viewing firsthand the impacts of climate change, has very much changed the urgency with which I view conservation efforts. When I return the U.S. you had better believe I am going vegetarian(ish) and will be limiting my showers to 5-10 minutes. And will be turning off the faucet in between plates as I wash dishes. And will be turning off the water as I brush my teeth (I already do this but just as an example). It really is so easy to conserve water but for those of us who have never experienced a water shortage the urgency and understanding simply isn't there. This is not to romanticize the experience losing water access, but rather to say that it really does change your mentality. Everyone who supports the Dakota Access Pipeline needs to have their water cut off for a week and then I'd like to hear how they feel.
The director of my program explained to us that Peru's ecological diversity is one of its greatest strengths, but in the face of massive climate change it also constitutes one of the country's greatest weaknesses. This can be viewed very clearly in the effects of El Niño rains. The issue of class must also be acknowledged in the flooding: Miraflores, San Isidro, Barranco, etc. (i.e. some of the wealthiest areas of Lima) were hardly affected at all by los huaicos. This was in part due to our distance from the river, but also because of the solid infrastructure that exists here in comparison to the poorer areas (mixed feelings about using the word "poor" but that's a topic for another post) of Lima. For myself and many of the students in my program, the period of time for which Miraflores and San Isidro were without water was not even very significant as many of our homes are equipped with cisterns and back-up water supplies.
One of the biggest factors to blame for the severity of the destruction caused by the huaicos was is the informality of the infrastructure in many areas of the country. Lima is a city that has positively exploded due to internal migration caused by terrorism and natural disasters over the past 30 years. Nearly 1/3 of the ENTIRE population of Peru is located in Lima. ONE THIRD. Seriously. As a result, Lima has expanded far more rapidly than any city was ever meant to. People flock to the capital without space actually existing for them to move into. And so, what happens? Developers bribe government officials to allow them to build in areas where building is technically prohibited - such as next to the rivers. As a result, these developments are constructed outside of the law and thus are not built according to safety regulations. According to our director, many people who live in these areas do not have access to electricity or running water in their homes. And of course, who is moving into these areas? People without other options - i.e. the most vulnerable and poor segments of the population. They were the first to lose their homes in the flooding. Those with the least stand to lose the most in the face of climate change.
Domestic workers:
My family has an empleada who lives cama adentro, or within the home, and helps with cooking, cleaning, and various other things around the house. In this blog I'll refer to her as Sofia. It's been interesting for me to be able to witness the dynamic between her and the family, especially after doing a bit of research and writing a pre-departure commentary on domestic work within Lima. In the case of Sofia and my family a few statements from my pre-departure commentary hold true; however, much of it does not and after re-reading my commentary I'm honestly embarrassed to have spoken about domestic work, the women and men employed in this field, and the families that they work with in such general terms.
There is a definite separation between her and the family, she does not eat with or go out with us (typically) and she has to do the cooking/cleaning that the family asks her to do. I am not accustomed to having a domestic worker in the house and to me the separation between her and the family is difficult to eke out, especially since she lives in the house. My mom joked that I'm returning to my roots since she grew up in Goa/Nairobi with someone living in the house to do the domestic work. But really, I feel like such a brat just sauntering into the house and suddenly she has to cook my food and serve me my meals and do my dishes I mean seriously she's been living there for five years and legit I just walk in and now suddenly she has to make me food when I ask for it?? The power imbalance feels strange to me. Let me clear though that when I say this I don't mean that my family is power tripping or that they treat her badly in any way, I am simply referring to the dynamic that exists in any situation in which someone you have hired is preforming a service for you. I think that that dynamic doesn't normally feel as strong, for example the dynamic between you and a waitress/waiter at a restaurant, because you are in a restaurant where you expect that dynamic to exist and ultimately you exit from it. Whereas in this situation, Sofia lives in the home so I just don't know where the dynamic ends.
All of that being said, I am embarrassed when re-reading my pre-departure commentary because I feel that in it I painted an image of domestic workers without autonomy and personal will. I portrayed them almost exclusively as exploited women at the bottom of the hierarchy of power and respect. And, while some dynamics I spoke of in the commentary hold true with Sofia and the family, such as differences in skin color, origin (being from Lima vs. being from the "sierra" or "provincia), socioeconomic status, and being Quechua-speaking vs being native Spanish speaking, Sofia very much has her own goals, ambitions and autonomy outside of my family's home. Her identity does not begin or end with the fact that she's currently working in the field of domestic work.
Academics:
Last Wednesday, the professor for one of my classes arrived 30 minutes late for class. And no one batted an eyelash - in fact, students were still streaming in at this point. In the U.S. students would have revolted and left by this point. Students here ask a ton of questions in class and generally seem more focused - probably because it is not typical to use laptops in class. What's more, professors seem to love to answer questions and will often go on long tangents when doing so. Professors in the U.S. love to answer questions too (I think) but typically will cut off questions after a certain point for the sake of getting through the course material. Here, each class of course has a curriculum but the notion of "getting through the material" at all costs doesn't seem to grip students and teachers as tightly. Finally, the thing that most blows my mind is that many of the readings we have for my classes are in English!!!! This is crazy to me because if, for a non-Spanish class at SMU, 30% of the course readings were in Spanish people literally would have no idea what to do with themselves. But here, English is so normalized that it is 100% typical to have lectures in English in a class that has nothing to do with language acquisition.
Gender:
As soon as the beginning of March hit, I was presented with at least 20 different events celebrating Mes de la Mujer. From events on campus to a march in Lima celebrating International Women's Day to free events at a local theater, Mes de la Mujer was a far bigger affair than anything I have ever experienced in the U.S. for Women's History Month. This being said, feminism has caught on in pop culture in the U.S. and has gained a certain level of acceptance that it has yet to achieve here in Lima, and in Peru in general. Because of this, self-identified feminists that I have met in Lima tend to be more out-there (for lack of a better term) with their feminism than feminists that I've met in the U.S.
At my university there is a group called Manada Feminista (basically the feminist club) and on Monday they held an event where they gave out a free lentil, rice, and egg lunch to everyone with a tupperware or plate (more ecofriendly) to protest the steady hike in prices of school lunches at the university. I really enjoyed this protest because it was very relaxed (and there was food involved) and it sent a message. Even though the price hikes are by increments that are seemingly innocuous to me, it was interesting for me to see them use their voices in a way that I don't think we do in the U.S. Every year, SMU tuition rises by hundreds to thousands of dollars and nobody says a word, but here lunch prices rise by a few soles (the equivalent of $1) and students use their voices and hold a demonstration. To me, this feels like a more intersectional form of feminism than that which we practice with SMU's feminist club, SMU FEM. FEM's events typically revolve around topics that are explicitly tied to gender - i.e. tampon drives, pro-choice discussions, rallies against sexual assault, etc. In contrast, this Manada Feminista event was one that rallied around economic disparity, an absolutely feminist issue, without explicitly mentioning gender. Themes of economic disparity are not ones that we typically focus on within SMU FEM, I'm guessing because the environment of SMU and of Highland Park is one in which we're rarely exposed to economic or class-based diversity. And, while I don't know much about the backgrounds of my fellow FEMinists, I would be willing to bet that we as a group are lacking in socioeconomic diversity.
Another interesting gender issue: there is currently a movement in Peru to add the notion of gender equality into the public school curriculum - which has sparked an opposition movement called "Con Mi Hijo No Te Metas" which is fighting against the ~IDEOLOGÍA DE GÉNERO~ "ideology of gender" (said in a spooky voice) or i.e. adding the language of sex, gender, and gender equality into the national curriculum. Their argument is basically that teaching young children about gender and sexuality will turn them gay. The gay agenda strikes again!!!!!!!
Here are some pictures from their website and from their protest that they held in March:
According to them, the "ideología de género" says that: gender identity exists, gender equality exists, you can "construct" your identity, and that you should live your sexuality "fully and responsibly". I don't know about you but that sounds pretty amazing to me?? But anyway they think it should get rid of the whole notion of gender bc identity is apparently only based on biology, there shouldn't be "gender equality" but rather, an equality of opportunities. Children should "recognize their identity" rather than "construct" it (no one constructs their identity out of nowhere but ok) and they should "understand their sexuality in accordance with their stage of development" - i.e. if you teach kids about sexuality too young it might turn them into sex maniacs!!!!
Stay tuned for notes on how the March for Life goes later this month. Given how overwhelmingly Catholic this country is, this march is supposed to be pretty big.
Life in a Spanish-speaking country:
I love it but I also feel like an idiot all of the time. Very basic things become very difficult when a language barrier is thrown into the mix. Want to order a coffee? Want to buy a metro ticket? Want to make conversation with your host family? Haaaaaa think again!! You will probably have to go through several iterations of the same statement or question because 1) you can't understand what people are saying 2) people can't understand what you're saying 3) this leads to a cycle where you feel more and more embarrassed until finally you just end up nodding and smiling with the air suddenly tinged with the smell of defeat. Learning is wonderful but it's also exhausting. Sometimes you'll feel like you're on a roll with speaking and then suddenly it becomes clear to you that the person you're talking to has no idea what you're saying. On the flip side, making a contribution in class or successfully getting through an entire conversation suddenly seems like a huge victory. Add trying to make new friends and acclimating to yourself to your family, the transportation system, your city and your university into the mix and you have yourself a regular emotional rollercoaster! But I really do love living here and I imagine (hope) that it will get easier as my time here goes on.