Maras, Peru is a small town about an hour or so outside of
Cuzco. While we learned so much from the activities and lessons from locals,
what also fascinated me was simply watching the people of the town, the children
in particular. The first thing that struck me about these kids was how much independence
and responsibilities they had – at least in comparison with their counterparts
in the US. For example, we saw several little boys no more than 9 years old
herding donkeys by themselves throughout the village. Later, while others were napping,
Ellen & I sat in the plaza and we saw some donkeys and sheep. We went over
to them to take pictures when a young girl approached us and started talking to
us about her animals (the ones we were taking pictures of). She had no reservations
in coming up to us and telling us about herself. The next day, while waiting to
go on our hike, we saw a girl with her little brother. He started crying and
she quickly came to comfort him and shared her food with him. I’m pretty sure
if that were me and my little brother, I would’ve called my mom to make him
stop crying because it was annoying me. When we would stop at small shops for
water and/or snacks in Maras or in Moray, there were always children working
alongside adults in the shops, eager to help us out. Even in Cuzco, the
children have more autonomy as we saw when we were loading the bus in the
airport parking lot after arriving in Cuzco. A little girl probably around 4
years old rolled down her window and was just talking to us. She asked where we
were from and we told her. Then, we asked where her parents were and she told
us her mom was at home and her uncle was somewhere around here doing something.
I think it was Paige who said something along the lines of “I’m glad we are not
the type of people who steal little children” because she seemed so comfortable
talking to strangers and like she wasn’t worried at all. Meanwhile, I couldn’t
order my own food at McDonald’s until I was 12 because I was afraid to talk to
the cashier. It’s so interesting to observe the differences in social norms and
what is expected of children in the United States vs. in Cuzco and small town
Peru.
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