tiempo

I’ve only been in Peru for a week, but it feels like months. I have accustomed to the culture and everyday life in Peru much faster than I anticipated, and with little culture shock. I think the biggest transformation I have undergone (and will continue to experience) has to do with my concept of time. I am so accustomed to the mono-chronic sense of time that majority, if not all Americans, share. In America, our time is precious and promptness is expected. We orient our day around how much time we have, giving ourselves small windows to complete each task at hand. Day in and day out it’s: wake up at 6, eat breakfast at 6:30, leave for class by 6:45, learn from 7-11, work from 12-5, eat dinner at 6, homework from 7-10, and finally, I squeeze in a two hour workout before the day is done. Because of my task orientated and time structured lifestyle, there is little time for enjoyment.

Our concept of time affects our relationships as well. If someone is an hour late to an event or changes plans last minute, we consider it an insult. We become frustrated and those precious thirty to six minutes that we were forced to wait quickly escalate into 120 minutes of fighting.

In Peru, as with most Latin American cultures, their concept of time is much different and certainly more tranquil. Los Peruanas prefer spending two hours for lunch with their family, rather than rapidly scarfing their food down while driving or working at their office. In fact, practically the whole town shuts down from 1-3, so they don’t even have the option to eat while at work. Their poly-chronic sense of time indicates that they can be easily distracted, without a schedule to follow. Plans are often made and changing right until the very moment. Los Peruanas are more concerned with finishing a task or engagement and completely disregard the time it takes. Dinner Monday night with my family is the perfect example. It was the birthday of mi madre peruana and we had family and friends over for dinner. Dinner lasted until 11 at night, and not once did the kids ask to be excused to finish their homework. Their time with the family was more important than finishing their homework, and if there wasn’t time to do there homework, they weren’t going to try to squeeze it in.

Although I see the benefits and downsides to both a mono-chronic and poly-chronic sense of time, I’ll have to admit the poly-chronic sense of time is much less stressful. And while I am enjoying this new sense of time, when I return to the States I’m certain I will continue with my mono-chronic sense of time because there is nothing more satisfying than crossing everything off on your to-do list; however, I will take back with me a better understanding for the concept of time. Hopefully, I will remember that it is not so important and to not stress out or become frustrated if someone does not return my call promptly.