Cipro And Urinary Tract Infection, It's Friday, November 26, the day after Thanksgiving in the United States but which, in Peru, is just November 26. We don't celebrate Turkey Day or Black Friday in this Andean nation of 30 million people. No pilgrims landed here. Just conquistadors. The locals were eating cuy, not turkey, when Pizarro invaded the place and smashed the Inca Empire. The conquistadors weren't big on saying Thanks, Cipro And Urinary Tract Infection. They just grabbed, Cipro And Urinary Tract Infection india.
[caption id="attachment_2385" align="aligncenter" width="319" caption="A cuy (guinea pig) dressed up like a pilgrim. Don't ask me who dreams up these cards. "]
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I was feeling unexpectedly sad yesterday morning. Cipro And Urinary Tract Infection, It was my third Non-Thanksgiving Day in Peru, and you think I would have gotten over it, but I hadn't.
What made my disappointment a surprise is that I've never been big on the holiday. Back in the States, I'd viewed Thanksgiving as a stressful exercise in hurried long-distance travel and overly elaborate meal-making. All that fuss and...no costumes, 50mg Cipro And Urinary Tract Infection, no candy, no presents. Thanksgiving doesn't have the razzle-dazzle of other holidays, just an enormous feast full of arcane recipes that bear little resemblance to how Americans eat nowadays. And seeing family -- well, we were going to do that again in another month anyway, on the 25th, so why the big schlep just to turn around and fly/drive back home the next day? The pragmatic workaholic American in me couldn't quite see the payoff, Cipro And Urinary Tract Infection us.
Well, as Joni Mitchell once said, "You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone."
I found myself missing Thanksgiving yesterday and realizing what it is that is so resoundingly good about the holiday -- all that stuff that I had overlooked before, Cipro And Urinary Tract Infection. Thanksgiving is not commercial. It's not about buying stuff. It's about making real food by hand and eating with your family and asking them how they're doing.
In other words, it is what America used to be, at least though the 1970s. Cipro And Urinary Tract Infection, So I was feeling mopey yesterday, and so was El Fotógrafo. Cipro And Urinary Tract Infection mexico, He was born in Peru but lived in the U.S. for 25 years so he is deeply Americanized, to the point that some of his relatives now call him a gringo, and that's not a compliment.
El Fotógrafo makes kickass homemade mashed potatoes and can cook a turkey perfectly, plus carve it really thin without the turkey flying off the carving board. When we lived in Florida, he and I made the Thanksgiving meal together each year, 1000mg Cipro And Urinary Tract Infection. We would have cooked a turkey yesterday, except I didn't have the day off from teaching, and Thanksgiving dinner needs at least 24 hours' preparation, Cipro And Urinary Tract Infection.
The saddest thing about going to teach yesterday was that no one at UPC, besides me, cared that it was Thanksgiving.
EF gave me a hug before I went off to teach, and all yesterday morning I felt mopier and then, grumpier. Cipro And Urinary Tract Infection australia, All my friends and relatives in the States were eating stuffing and turkey, and I was missing Thanksgiving. Screw Peru. Cipro And Urinary Tract Infection, Screw the university.
I would have kept on digging deeper in that trench except Peru snapped me out it.
I went to a nearby restaurant to eat lunch. I was by myself, as usual. Inside the restaurant, 40mg Cipro And Urinary Tract Infection, there were all these large groups of Peruvians -- office workers, professors from UPC -- eating together. What struck me, looking at these jovial groups, was how generally pleased these people seemed at being able to sit together for an hour and chat and eat and laugh their heads off, Cipro And Urinary Tract Infection. Peruvians love to laugh. They love to tell jokes (except the sourest academics) and they love, love to eat.
It wasn't like those office lunches I used to have with my coworkers in the U.S. Cipro And Urinary Tract Infection usa, -- slightly awkward, hurried affairs with people glancing at their watches, afraid of being late to the office. In general, Peruvians like being with each other and make time every day for relaxing almuerzo, whether at work or at their homes. Cipro And Urinary Tract Infection, They also (in general) like being with their families. Most Peruvians spend Sunday afternoon at a big family almuerzo and not only do they not resent it, they (gulp) like it. The food is made (generally) by hand -- by an empleada or by the family itself, 750mg Cipro And Urinary Tract Infection. After the meal, people hang out and talk and maybe go for a walk in the neighborhood, and that's considered a successful day. And people are (generally) thankful for what they have -- food, time to relax, each other.
I was thinking about this yesterday, Cipro And Urinary Tract Infection ebay, as I observed the Peruvians very pointedly not observing "my" American holiday. And it occured to me: They didn't need it.
In their own quiet, un-remarked-upon way, Peruvians do celebrate Thanksgiving -- They do so every day of lives. Only they call it "living.".
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11 responses so far ↓
1 Gorda // Nov 26, 2010 at 7:19 pm
Love your article!!!!
I didn´t know you felt so sad….
Hugs & kisses!!!!
Pelao & Gorda
2 Barbara // Nov 26, 2010 at 7:47 pm
Oh, thank you Gorda! You are a sweetheart. Hugs to you and Pelao.
3 El Turkey // Nov 26, 2010 at 9:13 pm
Yum; turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, yams, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, pumpkin pie, mmm….
4 Mitch // Nov 26, 2010 at 11:49 pm
Great point about Peruvians not needing thanksgiving! Yes, here, getting together with family is a big deal, “special.” But there, it’s normal. You perfectly described my Sundays in Peru.
5 Tweets that mention A Peruvian non-Thanksgiving | An American in Lima -- Topsy.com // Nov 27, 2010 at 2:09 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Barbara Drake, Diana Patricia. Diana Patricia said: Great post! And so very true. RT @barbaradrake: An expat's epiphany abroad on Turkey Day: http://wp.me/pgUEk-Co #expat #thanksgiving #Peru [...]
6 Barbara // Nov 27, 2010 at 7:42 am
Thanks, Mitch. You have blogged regularly about the great meals that your wife has made — those posts have made me hungry just reading them.:)
7 Mitch Teplitsky // Nov 27, 2010 at 9:49 am
What a compliment to my wife Barbara! she’s getting the link to your comment, pronto! Of course at least once a week I have to endure the comment “The chicken has no taste here.” (mostly true). Then again, we have Trader Joes.
8 Kelly // Nov 27, 2010 at 10:20 am
Other than a little rumbling for some turkey and stuffing, I didn’t miss Thanksgiving at all… and now I realize why.
9 Barbara // Nov 29, 2010 at 8:42 am
Glad you didn’t have Turkey Day withdrawal pains, Kelly. I guess we’re so well fed here, the weaning process is painless.
10 Fiorella // Dec 4, 2010 at 4:31 pm
I always read your blog, and I didn’t know you teach at UPC. May I ask what you teach?Is it on the field journalism? I always wanted to take a class there, but I live in California and can’t make my vacations longer than a month.
11 Barbara // Mar 7, 2011 at 9:13 pm
Hi, Fiorella, I teach English (intermediate, advanced, conversation, business) at UPC. If you’re looking to take workshops in Peru, check out the photography and art classes at Centro de la Imagen, in Miraflores. They have month-long classes, some of which are taught by my DH, el Fotografo.:)