Breakfast time at our hotel in Trujillo, Peru. It seems Mai and I are the only two customers. The manager salutes us and says something to the staff in Spanish, deliberately speaking very fast so we won’t understand. Within 30 seconds a large flat-screen TV is turned on and the channel is set to CNN, broadcasting the latest news from Afghanistan. All we wanted was breakfast in silence. Although the intention was clearly to please us, I cannot help but feeling angry: does this woman think that all Americans are addicted to TV and used to watching images of war and violence while gulping their Starbucks coffee? This morning’s cup of joe leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
***
The hotel lobby calls to inform us that our ride has arrived. The minibus is taking us to the famous Chan Chan ruins for 4 hours of exploration. When we arranged for this activity the usual question came up: did we prefer an English-speaking guide or a Spanish one? As always my choice was Spanish language. This has nothing to do with my motivation to improve my comprehension skills: the sad truth is I can’t stand groups of American tourists. They are loud, they act as if everyone should speak English, they care more about the souvenir shop than about the cultural experience, and their feeble attempts at Spanish pronunciation are worthy of stand-up comedy. Some might think this reaction comes from my French roots but that’s not it: the sheer thought of a group of French tourists makes me gag. They are almost as loud, they are convinced that no one understands French so they complain and criticize people right in their face, and they constantly compare what they see with what they have at home: the food can never meet their standards and no city can ever be as beautiful as Paris. As I ruminate these thoughts, the bus driver announces a change of plan: we need to get on the other bus with the English-speaking guide. He says it will be better for us because it’s a smaller group. Mai and I look at each other in fear, wondering what the next 4 hours are going to be like.
Sitting on a bench in the shade, we wait for our guide and group. A man walks in, wearing shorts and hiking shoes. American. I’m totally expecting “Hi” but I get “¡Hola!” instead. Surprise. It turns out that John is spending several months in Peru to teach English in a local school. The 5 other members joining us on this tour are 2 young volunteer English teachers in the same non-profit organization as John, an American girl exploring South America all by herself, and an Israeli couple who obviously like to stay off the beaten path. Everyone has an interesting story, is very respectful of the people and places, and is genuinely interested in hearing other people’s stories. All the stereotypes are shattered into pieces. I feel like a jerk for having judged these people before even meeting them. I was no different from the lady that turned on CNN this morning. I’m grateful for the lesson: labels are just a trick of our mind to maintain the illusion of a predictable world. In reality life is ever changing: labels are useless, the only thing that matters is right here, right now.
Unfortunately it’s a lot easier to detect stereotypes in other people’s eyes than in our own. As Nigel Powers said so rightfully: “There are only two things I can’t stand in this world: people who are intolerant of other people’s cultures, and the Dutch!”
Cedric, 4/21/12
PS: For those who missed the hilarious movie “GoldMember” here is the famous quote in the mouth of Nigel Powers (Michael Caine)
I loved this post Cedric – I admire your courage in stating clearly what my own bias has been, that it’s better to avoid Americans/Westerners when visiting other countries. And you’re absolutely right that this stereotyping is often unfair. Still, I do think you get a more fair picture of the local culture if you try not to cluster with other Westerners. I’m glad we were lucky enough to cluster with you and Mai for the Chan Chan tour. 🙂