cusqueños

The Cusqueños have a very interesting life. From what I have gathered from those that I have met thus far, it is a city with an interesting dynamic...and it is visible instantly.  They live in this historically rich and internationally popular location that acts, among other things as the landing pad before Machu Picchu. For this reason, their economy has grown to depend on tourism and the people have grown to resent that.  Non-Peruvians, whether you are a tourist or not, are treated differently no matter what.  Even Ex-Pats that have lived here for 20 years have to deal with it to some degree.  Being a non-Peruvian means you will encounter higher prices (unless you happen to know better and have great bargaining savvy), constant begging and persistent salespeople.  

I have found that after living in Quito, similar in many ways, I have developed an ability to distance myself from it and not let it bother me so much. It still is annoying, I admit, but I just try to be aware and accepting of it. That being said, I have no problem standing my ground when I know someone is trying to rip me off.

One thing worthy of note is that it is quite a safe city.  There are policemen and security guards all over, keeping watch over the dark little alleys and the touristy plazas - all day and all night.  They work very hard to keep this city safe because it does rely so heavily on tourism, and tourism will trickle if crime rates increase substantially.

There is no one statement you can say about Peruvians in general, as the men are so drastically different from the women. The men are out all night long and constantly trying to get me to pay attention to them.  Machismo is so very alive, it is shocking. The women are, on the whole, no where to be found. They sell things on the street, but very few go out at night and even fewer seek to become friends with "touristas" (aka everyone that looks non-Peruvian).  

This is sad news for me, as I would hate to leave here without having made some friends.  

That being said, I already have about 20 Peruvian male "friends" that have proposed marriage, begged me to be their girlfriend, etc. We will be having a perfectly delightful conversation, Spanish just rolling off my tongue, I am happy as a lark and then they begin with the faux compliments and the reciting of poetry and then comes the declaration that "you are the most beautiful woman I have ever met!"  So, moral of the story, I can no longer carry a conversation longer than 3 minutes with a man because after that point, they assume I will hop into bed with them.  What am I saying! Sometimes before I even UTTER A SINGLE WORD, they have convinced themselves that they will somehow convince me that we are meant to spend the rest of our lives together.  Very interesting approach.  I wonder who falls for that crap.

Nonetheless, every man I have met has also learned that I have a boyfriend and am not interested.  While that does not always deter them, it may sink in eventually.  So don't worry mom and dad - situation totally under control.  It's quite funny, actually.

To summarize, there is only one similarity that I can detect between men and women here - everyone loves Che Guevara.

In the meantime, I am going to try to make a female Peruvian friend...somehow.  

Wish me luck!