Gringa says what?

I may not look like a gringa but I sure sound like one; people assume before they here me speak that I'm Peruvian until I start speaking and then they are like, "oh where are you from?" That being said communication is probably my biggest challenge here. I am constantly repeating myself-I am more frustrated by not being understood than not understanding others. One of my socios talks very fast and he is impatient-not a good combination for me trying to understand him. He knows a little English so sometimes he tries explain in English but his English is worse than my Spanish so that rarely works.

Also, I think I’m being punished for being late all the time in my United States life.  Hora Peruana-is a term which signifies NOTHING, I mean NOTHING starts at the time it is scheduled. If Hora Peruana was a person I’d punch them in the face; ok maybe that’s a bit harsh but it gets frustrating arriving on time (which honestly isn’t something I really did in the states) and just waiting until things actually start.   I’ll give three examples of three completely different situations so you see what I mean:

1)I was invited to a meeting at the municipality, it was scheuled at 7pm; it didn’t begin until after 8pm. I actually got guffawed at when I arrived at 6:55pm.

2)My host family told me they were going to start selling cebiche at 10 yesterday morning-it started around 11.

3) I was told to be at my colegio at 8:30am one morning for an event; the event didn’t start until about 10:30am.

There are many more examples I could give you but then I don’t want to bitch too much about it. Just vent a bit. Maybe they have it right and us gringos in the states have it wrong being slaves to the clock. Peruvians enjoy the time they have together instead of staring at the clock waiting for the next thing to happen.  Just some food for thought.  

Love you all!!! I'll put pictures up for my next post, I don't have time now it takes like an hour for them to load!