Peruvian Culture

 Millennials,

            Believe it or not but I am Peruvian! My grandma was born and raised in Lima Peru, and she soon got a student visa to come to the United States for college. While she was here she met and fell in love with my grandpa. They have three daughters who are all half Peruvian. Which would my sisters and I a fourth Peruvian. People always seem to be shocked when I point out that I am Peruvian because I have more of the Swedish features from my father. Now, in our Peruvian family three things are very important to us family, food, and hard work.

            When it comes to cooking in our family it is amazing! My grandma has made it her mission to make sure that we all know how to make cilantro, Seco, and arroz y pollo. She has passed down what she knows about cooking to my mom, and my mom has shown me. I plan to keep the Peruvian dishes alive when I have my own family as well. One thing that I have noticed when we do family gatherings we tend to make so much food that we have left overs for days. It is pretty funny because my grandma and mom will get mad if people don’t eat the food that they make. They both work hard on what they make and most of the meals that are Peruvian dishes take about two hours of prep to make. In the end the food that they serve is always good.

            The next thing I have noticed is that there are a lot of members in my family. I don’t necessarily know if we are a big family because we are Peruvian, but I love it. I never get bored because I always have someone to talk to or play with. My family all live relativity close to one another, so we are always there to support each other. With how close we all are together holidays can sometimes get crazy. My favorite holiday to celebrate with my family is new year’s because we get to do all of our Peruvian traditions. Some of the things we for new year’s include eating 12 grapes (for the twelve months), running down the block with an empty suitcase (to get rid of all our “luggage” from the past year), and lastly pouring a cup of water over our shoulder (to clean yourself).  To me it is weird that other families don’t do these traditions, but I understand that all families have their own traditions that they do.  I am thankful for my big Peruvian family and all the joy they bring me.

            Peruvians have hard work in their blood. My family has shown me what can happen if I try my best in everything I do. Not only has my family shown me what hard work is, but they have also taught me it. My family is all about everyone putting in their own share. We work together to help those around us struggling feel loved. The biggest example I have of this is all the men in our families. They all work hard to provide for their children and woman. Though none of the men in our families are Peruvian decent my grandma has talked to them about what a man needs to his wife. Because of this all three of my grandmother’s daughters have been able to find a loving hardworking husband. Because my grandmother has used her Peruvian cultural to influence our family it has made us all more loving and caring of each other.

            I can say that I love my Peruvian family so much. Without them I don’t think I would know what good food is, what hard work looks like, and I wouldn’t know what a big loving family is like. I am grateful that my grandmother has kept her Peruvian cultural and traditions alive through us. I can’t wait to have a family of my own so I can keep spreading the traditions.

           

Blogger,

Laken Nordin