In 2013, my friends and I traveled to Peru to hike one of the wonders of the world – Machu Picchu! I had studied Spanish in college and was excited to converse with the locals. Interestingly, when I arrived in Peru and spoke the language, some people understood me and others looked at me in bewilderment. I admit I have an American accent, but thought that couldn’t be the sole reason for why I couldn’t completely communicate. I was curious – why did some Peruvians not understand me and how could our group of adventurers communicate with them?
Local Identity Insight: Encounter with Tiffany Wong, a Chinese-Peruvian Fashion Designer
One of my friends on the trip, Danielle, found a Peruvian shopping guide in the LAN Airlines in-flight magazine. One of the featured boutiques was Fiu Fiu located in Lima. Thus, when our group traveled to the capital, Danielle and I went to the boutique.
When we arrived, I greeted designer, Tiffany Wong, in Spanish. I mentioned that we were visiting from the United States and discovered her store in the airplane magazine. Tiffany was impressed with my command of the language!
As we were both Asian, she’s Chinese-Peruvian and I’m Japanese-American, we bonded. She shared that when she travels to Spain and speaks Spanish, some people respond to her in English. She explained that since she’s ethnically Chinese, people don’t expect her to speak Spanish. Ah-ha, I thought – this could be a reason why some people didn’t understand me! Since I don’t look Peruvian, the natives didn’t expect me to speak Spanish and thus, their antennas weren’t primed to listen to me when I spoke.
The Birth of the Stephanie-Roland Communication System
At dinner one night, I was ordering my meal and the waitress did not understand my Spanish. In our group, there was one person, Roland, who is Mexican-American and looks Peruvian. To test Tiffany’s theory, I told Roland to ask the waitress what I said in Spanish. When Roland asked her, the waitress understood perfectly!
Based on our discovery that night, in times when the locals could not understand me, Roland and I used our communication system:
- Peruvian speaks
- I listen to what was said in Spanish
- I translate the message into English
- Our group discusses what we want to do
- I dictate to Roland what to say in Spanish
- Roland says the information
- Message is understood
The communication system helped our group stay safe while traveling. One late afternoon, we were taxing to the garment district. In Spanish, the taxi driver said the area is dangerous and home to many robberies. I translated this for my friends and we decided we wanted to turn around. Instead of risk being robbed in the fashion district, we visited the Circuito Mágico del Agua and had a blast playing in the dancing water fountains! With my knowledge of the Spanish language and Roland’s perceived local identity, we were able to create a complete voice to navigate Peru.
Stephanie Lang 