Everyone's Famous in a Small Town

"Suddenly everyone is staring at you.  They point you out, analyze you and share opinions.  You're the new kid in town, and you made quite a splash when you landed. Who said being the center of attention was easy?  I'm not talking about the sort of fame that's short-lived and fleeting, but the kind that endures and makes you an icon. It's quite a task."

I read the quote above in an architect magazine on a flight from Cuzco to Lima.  That description really struck me as an accurate way to describe moving to an indigenous rural pueblo as a white Peace Corps volunteer.  I am stared at, gawked at, laughed at, admired, and watched with regularity. And this does not fade away, but after 10 months remains constant. To go into capital cities is to loose this.  There I am able to blend in more.  I don't feel the stares as I walk or the constant questioning of "Where are you from!?!"  To be white in a rural pueblo is to make a splash when you land there, a splash that endures and makes you an icon, wanted or not.