time is relative.

Living in a Latin American country has its perks, its negatives, and its learning curves. I offer up to the blog world a couple ideas and some funny experiences I've had while living in Peru concerning TIME.

Time. Hours. Minutes. Seconds. Days. Weeks. Months. Our time is precious and valuable, and growing up in the United States, I was taught that being on time is important. Since coming to Peru, my being-on-time obsession has lessened, and the idea of time has become somewhat of an anomaly. I no longer wear a watch. I've become really Peruvian in saying I'll be somewhere at 3:30, but I don't show up until 4 (still only to wait 30 more minutes on the Peruvian). Church starts at 11 am, which means it's okay to stroll in around 11:19 or later--it may have started by then, but probably not. Class starts at 7 pm, but people still walk in at 8, 15 minutes before it's over.

There are certain words in Spanish to indicate when something is happening. Some examples are "ahora," "un rato," "un toque," "un minuto," etc. We have some derivatives that come from these words as well. Let me explain.

I was recently in Lima and ran into my friend Ernesto. We chat and say we're going to catch up later, after he's done with work at 8 pm. I send him a text message about an hour later (approximately 3 pm) that says "Ernesto, call me later so that we can figure out what we are going to do." The text I receive in response reads in Spanish something along the lines of "Claro, podemos hacer algo AHORA" (gringa translation: "Sure, we can do something NOW."). I, the silly gringa, call Ernesto (aka Ernie ;) and comment that I thought he was still working.

"Si, estoy trabajando." (Yeah, I'm working.)

"Ah ya....entonces hablamos mas tarde." (Ok, then, we'll talk later.)

"Ok, ciao."

Hmm....

Later that evening we get together and I ask about this "ahora" business. How is "ahora" ("now") also later? Big question, one that opens a door for a HUGE discussion on vocabulary, context, and meaning. Here are my findings:

Ahora: "Now," as in a time period over the next 12-24 hours. Or in Daniel's case, 20 days when referring to his birthday. :)
Ahorita: Also "now" (perhaps even "right now"), as in the time period over the next 2-12 hours. (Marta ALWAYS says she is leaving "ahorita." After about seven times hearing this and counting the hours that define her "ahorita " [usually 1-2], I finally started to catch on that her "ahorita" is very different from my "ahorita.")
Ahorititita: Yet again, "now." Except given the amount of "tita's" tacked on the end, this could mean any number of definitions of now. Right now in a second, in a minute, in five minutes, in 30 minutes. Who knows.

Within this word group used to define a period of time, you have the same type of guidelines with the following (once again, context and person saying these words make the meaning):

Rato, ratito: Any given time; a little time.
Toque, toquecito: Even less than "rato" or "ratito." Literally, a little touch, a little time.
Un minuto, minutito: I can't even tell you how many times "Espera un minuto" (wait a minute) has turned into an hour.

Finally, we have another interesting thing happening in Latin America. I have yet to really figure out when "good day," "good afternoon," and "good evening" begin and end. In my very North American mind, morning ends at lunchtime, if not before. The afternoon begins around lunchtime and continues until 6 pm or so, and the evening commences at this time (we'll say sundown-ish) until you're partying late into the night.

Not so in Peru. Let's address this idea of "Buenos dias," Buenas tardes," and "Buenas noches." Here's a typical week with my watcheman (pronounced "watch.e.man," which the long "e" sound in the middle :) as I'm walking in and out of the neighborhood:

Sunday, 11 am. "Buenos dias, senorita." Fine.
Monday, 11 am. "Buenos dias, senorita." Monday, 3 pm. "Buenas tardes, senorita." Fine.
Tuesday, 3 pm. "Buenos dias, senorita." Huh?
Wednesday, 5 pm. "Buenas tardes, senorita." Same day, 8 pm. "Buenas noches, senorita." Okay.
Thursday, 5 pm. "Buenas noches, senorita." Oh my gosh...

I could go on, but you see what I'm getting at. There is no definition, and I'm just plum confused. Even after a year-and-a-half. I mean, sure, I hold to what I'm thinking is the "proper" separation of time. And I obviously respond in whatever manner they want me to out of cultural respect (I may be confused, but I have learned to not try and change the norm here based solely on my confusion). The thing is, we just need to get some continuity going on here in my opinion. I've now just gotten into the habit of saying "Buenas." Punto. No mas. I don't know what time it is, nor do they, so we'll just go with the generic greeting. Plus, it makes more sense to just go with the flow instead of laughing at the woman at the bank who has now just said "Buenos dias" to me at 4 pm. Maybe she's just tired after a hard day's work.