A little bit of a good attitude goes a long way. I am a firm believer that while we can’t control our environment, we can control how we react to it which is ultimately more important. I have learned during my time in the Peace Corps that some great coping and integration strategies are being flexible and going with the flow, being humble and making fun of yourself whenever you can, and finding the silver lining to a seemingly negative situation. In site I am given countless opportunities to put these theories into practice.
One memorable moment was a couple of weeks ago going to a baptism. If you haven’t heard of “La Hora Peruana” (Peruvian Time), or have any Latino friends that practice it, I’m here to tell you that it’s a real thing. And it’s frustrating. And boring. For example, my family always starts getting ready at the time the event is supposed to start. Meanwhile I got ready on time and am waiting to leave to get to the event on time! Silly me, I should’ve learned by now.
For this one baptism in particular my family was finally ready after showering and putting on heels and nice clothes. But by then it was so late there were no cars leaving our community going to Huaraz, where the baptism mass was. Already late, we start the 30 minute trek down the mountain to the main road. A few houses beyond ours I realized I forgot my wallet and ran back to get it. I guess I wasn’t really ready in a timely manner either. As it was getting to be midday in the dry season, the sun was relentlessly beating down on us. My poor sister was carrying her almost two year old son who had fallen asleep. I was trying to help out by carrying her purse and the baby’s hat. Then at one point she asked where the hat was…and I didn’t have it. So I had to run back to retrace my steps and finally found it, then ran back to catch up with everyone. Have I mentioned that I was wearing my city boots, aka not comfortable for walking? Trudging along all sweaty my sister mentions they showered in vain. I thought about mentioning we would have been on time and caught a ride if they hadn’t showered. But that’s just how life works out, ain’t it?
We finally get to the road and wait about 10 minutes for a van driving by to take us into the city. We’re all crammed in the van, sweaty and trying to dust our shoes off. Once we arrive in Huaraz it’s another 10 minutes walking to the church. But we make it! …Just in time to hop back in a van going back to our community for the meal. I’m not kidding. We missed the whole service, wasted all that time and energy, just to end up back where we started. In the moment I was pretty pissed. I knew I had a yummy meal of guinea pig and chicken and wheat soup to look forward to but I just couldn’t get over the fact that we wasted so much time and energy. I think my blisters, sweat drenched sweater and being squeezed in next to strangers on public transportation contributed to my annoyed state.
But then as our van was driving towards home I couldn’t help but kind of laugh at the situation. Of COURSE this happened. It was bound to at some point during my two years here. We’re always late to everything! And maybe it was a blessing in disguise that I, not being religious, didn’t have to sit through yet another Catholic mass. Luckily we weren’t missing the good part- the after party with food, music and dancing. So after looking at this situation from a different perspective the positives were starting to add up. I realized how funny this situation was and how it didn’t actually matter if we went to the mass. All thanks to changing my attitude from upset to light hearted by taking life a little less seriously and looking on the bright side.
But the best part is that the story doesn’t end there. The next baptism we had coming up was for my host sister’s son. My real parents were visiting so they came too and we arrived to the church a little early/on time because we were staying in Huaraz where they were having the mass. We got good seats and I was saving some for my host family. Even though it was their grandchild/nephew’s baptism, they still showed up late! Again I couldn’t help but just laugh, knowing that was how they were.
Incidentally, I started writing this post while waiting for my family to be ready for another baptism. Of course I was ready and just writing this to pass the time until we left. At one point I looked around the house to see if they were ready, but they weren’t there. I figured they hadn’t gotten back from the cows yet. We’d be late, but no worries. I’m used to this, I’m chill now! Until my host mom called me ten minutes before the baptism was supposed to start saying they were already in Huaraz and had forgotten me. At that point there were no more cars going down that I could get a ride with and I did not want a repeat of arriving when it ended. So I decided to wait for everyone to come back to the community for the after party and the. I’d join. Honestly, I was pretty upset. This was the baptism for a neighbor and I didn’t want them to be offended that I didn’t go. I also was excited to go to the mass as a cultural event. But as I have said before, I’ve already been to more masses than I can count here and I’m not even religious. So it should be no skin off my back. I had to take a break from writing this post to gather my thoughts in a more productive manner. As my friend Carter pointed out, I could now enjoy some alone time at home with my family gone. It did sting to be forgotten but in their defense I was just on vacation for two weeks, my longest time out of site. Although I knew the best way to keep my spirits up would be to look on the bright side, it was hard to do when I was emotional. Easier said than done. It may be hard to practice what I preach in terms of keeping a positive attitude and outlook but luckily I get ample opportunities to practice it, and until then I can chalk my experiences up to a comedy of errors.
My next baptism is October 15th. Wish me luck.
¡What's New in Perú! 