Random Peruvian Quirks That I Find Amusing

Bras as storage centers: It didn’t take me long to notice that the bras in Peru are different. Not only do they appear to provide a complete lack of support and shape, but they also seem to have the strange ability to create unpleasant distortions. However, do not despair; the women of Peru have discovered a practical use for their bras. They use them to hold pretty much anything you can imagine. No joke, I’ve seen women whip out everything from cell phones to coin purses.

Tupperwear: Plastic containers are highly sought after and once obtained they are considered to be precious commodities. Here they are known as Tuppers. I would venture to say that a typical Peruvian mother knows her Tuppers about as well as she knows her own children. I didn’t think this was that strange until I recently spotted a Tupper booth at the local fair. By this I mean to say that rather than winning the typical obnoxiously large stuffed animal you could be so lucky as to walk away with a brand-new Tupper.

Free calendars: Around the holidays businesses start handing out free calendars to their customers with a purchase. This sounds harmless enough but no one is satisfied with just one calendar. In fact, one calendar appears to be highly insufficient. In my house alone we currently have seven 2008 calendars, all of them displayed proudly on the walls. These are mixed in with a few 2007 calendars which apparently aren’t coming down. People keep track of what businesses should be handing out calendars to avoid the dreadful misfortune of not receiving as many calendars as possible. My host-mom insists that she is still owed a calendar by the shoe shop and I imagine she’ll get that calendar one way or another. I should also mention that these calendars are large and require a fair amount of wall space. They depict lovely images such as parrots, fish, gringo babies, and Jesus.

Gringo babies: It has been my experience here in Perú that the gringo baby is one of the lovelier images one can behold. In fact, I have been to more than a few houses with framed posters of gringo babies hanging on the wall. Typically, they have earned a prominent position adjacent to the requisite bad copy of The Last Supper.