I had an interesting little moment yesterday that very starkly made me aware of the fact that I am a gringo and will never quite fit in completely down here (although I do not see this as a depressing thought, but rather just a reality).
I was sitting next to my housemate Christa in the Cathedral as mass was beginning (the celebration was to mark 75 years of a consortium of religious high schools and so the church was filled with people and school kids all decked out in their finest. Each school also had its color guard complete with Peruvian flag and school banner - and these militaristic little units lined the side naves). Out of the corner of my eye, I see the local crazy man (my host mom calls him Tarzan - check out a new favorite of mine that I hear a lot down here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r0n9Dv6XnY - but he is just a sort of odd, roundish and bald loco who can be often seen around the center doing odd things) walking up the side aisle. He was behaving like nothing was amiss and he was simply taking everything in and coolly observing the whole endeavor.
He continued until he came all the way up to the front of the Cathedral and then slowly crossed to the middle aisle and in front of the bishop, who was beginning the mass. As he turned and walked back toward the back of the church, he had about a ten second staring match with someone in the front row. Just as this finished and he turned his head back toward the entrance of the church, he spotted Christa and I. In a loud (almost shouting) voice, he bellowed something about ¨ahh, allí están los norteamericanos mumble mumble mumble¨ (I could not quite make out what he said after that).
I probably blushed and was feeling very awkward. As he continued on his way, everyone turned around or gave us a good stare. In a great moment of realizing I have been making some progress on the culture shock in my 11+ months here, I had to grin just a little bit and take the moment in.
The whole experience served as a good reminder that even though I may feel like I am growing accustomed to life here in Tacna and know more of the ins and outs of the city and parts of its culture, I will always be a little bit of a celebrity or an ugly duckling (depending on how you view the foreign influence) and that is something I must keep in mind.
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Ah,, that is nothing new to anyone who lives in many places, as the "locals" have to somehow retain their pride of being born there, and it is in many cases by creating an artificial barrier. People in New England seem to have the same pride in many cases.. Maybe with as more people travel around, there will be less local people who were born and raised there all of their lives?? I like your point of view though!
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