Culture is the aquired knowledge that people use to interpret, experience, and generate social behavior.
Culture is learned by viewing beliefs and customs within the culture and we extrapolate meaning systems by observing what people do, what they say, and the artifacts people use. In class, we studied Peru's culture through college students at USIL, a university in Lima. We were able to talk to them through video,e-mail, and chat discussion.
My partner was Fiorella and from her I learned many things about her culture: College life, family tradition, religion, meaning of life, stereoytpes, and predjudices. From talking to Fiorella, I found that some things about the university in Lima were similar and some were different to the college life here in Greenville, North Carolina. On our first linking day I was able to chat with Fiorella about college. Most students live close to the university or about fifteen to twenty minutes away with their parents. I found out that have the same break between classes as we do here at East Carolina University.
From when class ends, Lima students are given ten minutes to get from class to class just like here. From chatting with Fiorella and her classmates, a majority of the students were majoring in tourism and business management. Lima has started to attract more tourist which has increased the country's income, so tourism and like hotel management have been considered demanding jobs. Along with college, comes parties and it was interesting to learn that the university students in Lima "party" similar to the students at East Carolina University. At college parties in
Lima, students dance, talk with each other, drink, sing, and listen to all kinds of music. Fiorella also told me that there are fraternities and sororities at the university. Family culture and traditions are very important to Peruvians. Peru is a very diverse nation and has many cultures that have been incorporated by European, African and Asian migrants. Even though Lima is very modernized, there are small villages outside Lima that still practice traditions from major pre-Hispanic civilizations and still dress similar to what their ancestors used to dress. Lima is a major city bustling with living history and movement.
Lima features pre-Hispanic, colonial, and modern elements. It is also surrounded by every aspect of nature: the sea, islands, mountains, desert, and plant life. It offers an active and modern nightlife and also a well-endowed cultural scene. Lima has public transport and non-stop activities and traditional festivals. At some of the festivals that they have, everyone dresses up in traditional clothing to honor their ancestors.For example, Fiorella mentioned
Month of the Lord of the Miracles which takes place October 18th, 27th, and 28th. The processions take place during the month of October, in which all Lima is dressed in purple for the most spectacular and attended to religious festivity, where the habits, pastries and scapulars of the Christ of Pachacamilla inundate the city. This procession congregates the largest number of devotees of South America, who pay homage to the Purple with chants and praises whilst the image makes its way through the city. The history of this procession goes back to the Colonial period, when a slave brought from Angola painted the image of a black Christ on the walls of a humble precinct of the hacienda of Pachacamilla, close to Lima. From talking with Fiorella, students there think and do some similar things that students here do.
She and her classmates enjoy watching MTV and are very much into sports like soccer. They celebrate holidays such as independence day, teacher's day, and mother and father's day. Most teenagers are not able to work until they are about eighteen years old and they usually marry after college or in their mid twenties. Our asked the students from Lima what is the typical food dish, and the students told us that is was fish, potatoes, bananas, and rice. Their dishes are traditionally spicy and natural. I learned many things from the students about their traditions. Religion, stereotypes, and prejudices were topics brought up during our experience with the students of
Lima. The major religion in Peru is Catholicism and it is very important to go to church every sunday. For example,
Fiorella's most important tradition is to go to church every sunday then eat lunch with her grandparents. The most popular tradition in Peru, according to the students, is Thanksgiving and New Years. It is a tradition to wear all white clothers. Another thing that I learned is that Peruvians do not celebrate Holloween because it is the same day as the criolla song, which is where people celebrate the country's songs. They call this day The Lord of Miracles. I learned some interesting things about stereotypes and prejudices. To them, America is too proud or patriotic. Some of the students said that America is not educated enough about Peru's culture. Peru is not considered a third world country like some of us thought they were. Even though Peru is not a third world country, it is a developing one. Just like here in the United States, the students from the university told us other cities and people were discriminated against for what they believed in and how they dressed. Through this lesson with Peru, I learned very much about their culture and way of life. In and out of class we e-mailed our partners, chatted online, and talk with them through video messaging. The students at the university in Lima shared with us about college life, religion, traditions, stereotypes, day to day routines, and family values.