There is undoubtedly nothing that makes me feel more American than walking the streets of Cuzco with my oversized backpack, on the hunt for a café where I can settle down to do work for the foreseeable future.
I am used to the Starbucks on 21st Avenue in Nashville, which is constantly packed with people busy with whatever task life is currently asking of them. Anybody Vanderbilt affiliated likely has a story to tell you about how this Starbucks helped them study for finals or crank out an essay.
As I, along with Grace and Natalia, found ourselves needing to make some progress on our assignments, we set out in true American fashion to find a café where we could do so. We ended up at Kaldi coffee, a beautiful coffee shop whose panoramic view of Cuzco can be considered a reward after climbing seemingly 50 flights of stairs.
This was definitely no 21st Avenue Starbucks. Gorgeous view and reasonably priced coffee aside, it was clear that people did not frequent Kaldi coffee to do work. Loud pop music blared through the speakers, outlets were scarce, and there was not a computer in sight. After two hours, the three of us were the only people still there.
Curiously, after visiting the local Llama Café for the same reason we were surprised to find it studded with hard working tourists. They clearly knew their audience, with all of their signs and menus being in English. I had a similar experience at L'atelier Café, which also had a gorgeous view (pictured to the right) that we were told we could only enjoy for 45 minutes, a rule likely enforced to avoid American tourists from impeding their table turnover rate.
All three of these cafés clearly focused on curating a lively social atmosphere, rather than one that was conducive to the concentration required to write an essay or blog post. While my first reaction is to conclude that this is emblematically representative of the more relaxed Peruvian way of life, which certainly has some degree of truth, I recognize that it is also very American to taint my interpretation of a foreign culture with self-importance and by touting an "American hustle" which no other country could possibly recreate. I believe that something that likely has a large role to play in this discrepancy is that Cuzco's economy is heavily based in tourism. Locals do not have much to gain then from being cooped up in a coffee shop for hours on end in front of their computers. Rather, tending to their tourist related businesses is much more lucrative. And I will say that these views are much better accompanied with a coffee, crepe and conversation rather than a computer.
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