Living in Peru : your everyday companion

http://filer.livinginperu.com/features/limalove2.JPG900675 Lovey dovey in Lima. click to enlarge

http://filer.livinginperu.com/features/limalove3.JPG900675 "I love you Tessy." click to enlarge

Essay and photos by Rodney L. Dodig

Love can be seen everywhere, whether you are in New York, Paris, Lima or any other place in the world. Be it the mating dance of a couple of birds or the sweet embrace of lovers in a park, you see it where ever you go.

Peruvians seem to take amour even more seriously than the French. You can’t walk though a park or down a street without seeing people holding hands, hugging or kissing. Low secret conversations are whispered in lover’s ears accompanied by long soulful stares into each other’s eyes. Young men possessively drape their arms either over their girlfriend’s shoulders or hold them by their waste as they walk down the street. The young ladies shyly avert eye contact and giggle at any comments made by the young man. Older couples hold hands and give each other loving looks, sharing the occasional kiss as they walk along the street. Their lifetime together is a testament to everlasting love.

There are demonstrations of love everywhere you look. It may be a simple spray painted quote of affection on a wall or a heart built of stones around the initials or names of those in love. The Park de Amor symbolizes the outward expression of this for all Peruvians with its poems in tile and the large statue of “The Kiss” by Victor Delfin.

The displays of affection here are more overt than what I am used to in the United States. It may have something to do with the Puritanical origins of my native country or the church my parents took me too as I was growing up. It has taken me awhile to get accustomed to seeing this, no matter where I am walking. In the end though, I have come to revel in the scenes of affection that accost my eyes on any walk down a street, through a park or sitting in a restaurant here in Lima, Peru. It is wonderful to see everyone so comfortable with their displays of affection in public. It shows the warmth and vitality of the people here in this city of amour. It demonstrates that love is to be shared with the world and not hidden away behind closed doors. Love is to be cherished and respected. To find it with another person is one on the most uplifting and spiritual things that can happen to you as a human being.

http://filer.livinginperu.com/features/limalove1.JPG262197 click to enlarge

http://filer.livinginperu.com/features/limalove4.JPG900675 "The Kiss" by Victor Delfin. click to enlarge

So, I celebrate the love I see here in Lima between couples. Whether it is the first between newly discovered lovers or the lasting love of a couple who have been together for most of a lifetime, here is to love and all that it means to humanity.

tags : Love public affection streets Lima

Add to del.icio.us | |

2 Comments

# Banesita says :
22 March, 2010 [ 10:21 ]

Yes, I notice this.  But I do not think it is any different from what I have seen in Mexico.  I have also visited Guatemala and Costa Rica and you do not see this there as much, but Peruvians and Mexicans seem to be very public with their displays of love.

I am American and my boyfriend Peruvian and it was an interesting conversation for me to explain what it is like in the United States.  His reaction was "wow, this is very different!"  I told him that we even have a TERM for a couple that shows too much affection - PDA or Public Display of Affection.  I have friends back in New York who are both American born & raised and they were BIG on PDA.  You would be talking with them and midsentence they would start kissing and totally ignore you, it got so bad that our group of friends was pretty tired of being around these love birds.  jajaja its pretty funny to try and explain this to a Peruvian... that you would actually get upset at your friends for displaying TOO much of their love for each other in front of you?

Pretty funny stuff...

I have to say that I do enjoy my boyfriends affectionate demeanor, but at times I have to say "too much" because I am also very independant. Sometimes walking arm in arm or with his arm around my waist is limiting, or it makes me feel on a leash.  Luckily he is very understanding and does not take it personal. 

# Barbara Wolff says :
25 March, 2010 [ 05:57 ]

I've come to believe that you see more public displays of affection in cultures where children tend to live at home with a big extended famiily until they are married.  In a sense, kissing on a park bench, in public, where you are anonymous, is a way to get out from under the watchful eyes at home!

---