Worlds Apart

Worlds Apart

After looking at the photos from my last trip south, and realizing that I had not included any from the wedding, I started looking at the photos and realized something. The contrast between the wedding photos in this blog and those from the Altiplano in the previous blog really say about all anyone needs to say about the vast difference between cultures within Peru. Many years ago, a friend of mine from a distant remote mining town in the high desert of Nevada said that she could never live in Peru because she hated Mexican Food. Now, while that level of ignorance is shocking, I think it even more striking that the people of Peru often show the same level of unawareness of their own people and cultures. When I showed these contrasting photos to people, I asked if they imagined that they could be from the same country… Of course they said, “No.” As a joke, the Arequipeños claim to be from the Republic of Arequipa and not a part of Peru and while they would love to secede from Peru, the facts are that they are 100% Peruvian. So here they are in full ball gowns and all.