So… I knew I would be out of place here, but it is just now hitting me how strange I am. Whenever I am out walking with someone on visits or to run errands, there are constantly whistles and other forms of catcalls, most of which I don’t yet understand…nor do I want to. One of our friends, Victoria, and others as well, constantly greet me by telling me how beautiful I am and things along those lines. That type of flattery I can handle, it’s respectable and I understand that a lot of our friends have probably never had an American talk to them.
However, on the other hand, I am also a freakshow down here. People will see me and gawk at me. Some kids in the neighborhood will say hi to everyone else but me…pretty sure it’s because I am blonde and extremely pale. Even the dogs will only bark at me instead of the others…which is no good since I am terrified of stray dogs (something I am quickly getting over).
I forget at times that I am quite the sight here since I am not constantly looking in a mirror. At mass this past Sunday, there is another volunteer here with some other organization, but he is from Germany and is just as white as me and more blonde. I was looking at him and thought of how strange he looked among all of the Peruvians. I am determined to go up to him when my Spanish is better (not even going to try to speak German…) and hope we can form a bond over being so out of place. However, we don’t typically go to that mass on Sundays so we will have to see if he is at a daily mass someday.
There are some areas where I am not so out of place. One includes El Centro, which is close to the other Punto. It is the historic part and a little touristy. Apparently, I will not be out of place when we go to Miraflores (if nothing else, I am asking to go for my birthday…). Edgardo informed me that there are a lot there. Hooray for not being alone!
Its all something that I am just going to have to get used to because it will be my life for the next 13.5 months.
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