Sleeping on the job, or on the sidewalk.

Everyone has had an awkward or embarrassing moment when you realize that you have nodded off at an inopportune time, jerking awake, finding that slight bit of drool on the side of your chin, or perhaps a gasping snort for air that announces to the room what just happened. Peruvians on the other hand seem to have mastered this art of sleeping in a wide variety of situations and places.

Of course this scenario comes with a variety of extremes, and through extensive research, I have narrowed down day sleepers into two categories:

The Over Worked: You can find these people in meetings, attending to their kiosk, during class, or general groups of people. Having seen how hard my host mothers and a wide variety of Peruvians work, it is more than understandable that they would find any spare moment to sleep. Yet, I am quite surprised by the over worked that are able to wake up and offer you great deals on toilet paper or rice when walking by a busy market.

The Overly Drunk: While most of the Peruvians I have met in my town are quite respectable and work very hard, there are always some exceptions to this rule. A number of times, while casually walking down the street, I’ve narrowly escaped from walking over a gentleman taking a siesta…in the middle of the sidewalk. The first time I was quite shocked, but after I realized (the third time) that no one else was reacting, I assumed this must not be all something to get in a huff about.

I have even begun to try and perfect my own ability to sleep while in longwinded conferences, but no worries, I am quite positive I will be using my bed for any future siestas.

Daily Dinámica:
Social experiments are always a good time, so try and find a friend to help you out with this one. Lay down on a sidewalk and pretend your sleeping and have your comrad record the time it takes for you to get some type of reaction…or for the police to come.