Customs and Traditions

DRESS CODE

Lima is informal and there is no strict dress code.   What formal and informal dress means, of course, depends entirely on which socio-economic circle you are moving in, but at every level casual does not mean scruffy – you’ll find that people take pride in looking tidy and clean, and even teenagers in gothic or ‘grunge’ stages tend to wear their clothes ironed (although, as one of our female contributors observes, that most probably is because their maids, mothers or wives do the ironing!).

HIGH WALLS AROUND HOUSES

Although front walls have become more prevalent in recent decades, the tradition of keeping the best away from the public eye comes from Spain and the Moors, who considered it to be in poor taste to boast or provoke envy. The seclusion also fosters exclusion, of course, but people generally have a strong sense of privacy and don’t like strangers or neighbours peeking into their lives –the idea of a backyard and barbecue open for all the neighbours to see is anathema to most Limeños. Nowadays, of course, security reasons (namely against theft) are also why there is an increasingly widespread use of high walls and wrought-iron fences.

FAMILY

The family unit is very important in Peru, as everywhere in Latin America. Relatives and the relationship of co-godparents (compadres) take precedence over any other relationships. Family events and most social gatherings at home tend to include all generations, from grandmothers to toddlers and everyone in between.

MAÑANA

Mañana does not always mean tomorrow. It means “not today.” If you need something by a specific date (translation, carpentry work, a suit made), order it ahead of time or give the person a deadline that is actually a couple of days ahead of your own deadline.

GREETING

• Buenos días, buenas tardes or buenas noches are the standard forms of greeting people at every level and in every situation. You are expected to be the first to offer a greeting when you arrive or enter a place, whether it is a small shop, a service counter, an office, a doctor’s waiting room or a living room. Some people still give a general greeting to fellow passengers when they enter an elevator/lift.
• When using the telephone, the above rules for greeting very definitely apply.
• Reserve the greeting of hola for friends or close associates only, and for social gatherings. It means “hi” or “hi there” rather than “hello.” Uninvited familiarity is looked on with certain ridicule in Lima’s class and status conscious society, and it works at both ends of the scale – you will be taken more seriously if you are formal when addressing government or business officials and also your plumber or carpenter.
  
• You or thou – the eternal confusion between usted and tu. Unless you are meeting people socially who are your peers, you will be safer in most situations if you use the more formal usted form of address, at least initially or invited to do otherwise —and this applies across the board, from people older than yourself in a social gathering to meeting a potential business associate or dealing with a carpenter or electrician.  In the case of a business associate, the form may quickly change to tu, but in the case of business negotiations or in dealing with the carpenter it is advisable to remain formal – usted not only conveys respect but creates a formal situation, a certain distance, which is helpful when negotiating or demanding a service. As in greeting, familiarity is a gentle rather than immediate process.