Jergas

A lot of what I have been experiencing has felt at times overwhelming, but one thing that I have definitely loved while being here so far is that I feel very much like I am learning so much everyday. Whether it is simply a word here or there in Spanish (like codicioso today in the 4th grade class I observed - it means greedy) or something more profound about Peruvian culture or myself, I am always playing the role of student.

One thing that I have been really picking up on is the use of slang here. On Sunday, we had a party at the house of my host mother´s sister and as we sat around and drank Herbalife (the name my host mother gives to this delicious fruit milkshake with a splash of pisco - which is a hard liquor made out of grapes), I learned from the younger kids all about the words. As I soon came to realize, everything has to do with sex. Even the word ¨cosa,¨which literally means thing, is a word used for a woman´s vagina. It is quite astounding how many basic words relate back to sex in this culture.

What might be the most interestng, however, I gleaned from a conversation I had later with my community mates about this. In general, Peruvians are very weary to talk about sex and sexually related things - as I learned during my man talk I had to spontaneously give to a class of seventh graders the other day - and sex is sort of a taboo. But in certain ways, this sexual frustration or reticence, or whatever it is, really comes out strongly. It´s sort of like the whole culture is stuck in mid-teenage adolesence when it comes to this.

I don´t want to be judgmental about it, but it is interesting nonetheless.

Also of note lately: they really really hate fruit flies here. Last week, some people from the government (including two dressed up in a big costume of a fruit fly eradicator and one as a fruit fly) visited the school to educate the kids on the dangers of fruit flys and how to eliminate them. This entire week has then been devoted to reinforcing these things. So, if you ever cared to know: la mosca de la fruta can lay 10-12 eggs in one fruit, the best ways to deal with an infected fruit are to burn it, put it in a bag and bury it, or to drown it, and the only two provinces in Peru that are currently free of la mosca de la fruta are Tacna and the neighboring one. How interesting, no?