Do you wear shoes in your home?

[chi chi]

I never do because you never know what you step on during the day.

Many bugs are invisible.

I will neither step on cockroaches. If you step on them, the eggs will be stuck to the sole of your shoe and you will carry them home. The eggs can survive for some time.

[Lloyd007]

Good topic, Chi Chi! This one always baffled me. I never wear shoes at home but ALL peruvians wear their shoes outside all day and then in their homes all evening, too. Weird. I tried to explain to ex-wife (who had a fetish for bacteria) that wearing shoes outside all day and then coming through the house with the same shoes on brings all kinds of crap inside. Maybe my Spanish was bad, but she never really understood it.

It's nice to get home, kick off your shoes, put your feet up and relax a bit - very different with shoes on.

Cultural norms, I guess. Maybe it's because nobody here has carpet? That means feet on a hard wood or tiled floor get cold fast. Who knows. Misterioso.

[chi chi]

Cultural norms, I guess. Maybe it's because nobody here has carpet? That means feet on a hard wood or tiled floor get cold fast. Who knows. Misterioso.

The floor is a bit cold but we have sandals that we only wear inside the home.

I like it that there isn't carpet. Especially in hotels.

I remember staying in motels in the US and walking around without shoes in the room and the sole of my feet was black.
In the UK, I have seen many places that even have carpet in the bathroom.

[SilverbackPeru]

Yeah there'd probably be carpet in the bathrooms because of how cold it is in the UK. My bathrooms always had carpet in, it beats icey cold tiles any day.

[victmanu]

Good topic, Chi Chi! This one always baffled me. I never wear shoes at home but ALL peruvians wear their shoes outside all day and then in their homes all evening, too. Weird. I tried to explain to ex-wife (who had a fetish for bacteria) that wearing shoes outside all day and then coming through the house with the same shoes on brings all kinds of crap inside. Maybe my Spanish was bad, but she never really understood it.

It's nice to get home, kick off your shoes, put your feet up and relax a bit - very different with shoes on.

Cultural norms, I guess. Maybe it's because nobody here has carpet? That means feet on a hard wood or tiled floor get cold fast. Who knows. Misterioso.

Most of the peruvians I know and myself use flips flops or babuchas inside the house.

[captcosmic]

My wife insists we wear shoes in Lima. I understand fully why. It is so hard to get control of your environment in Lima. No matter how much you mop the floor dust gets into the house rather quickly. This is especially true in summer months when the windows are open. Not sure about the rest of Lima, but dust is a serious problem where we live.

However in the states we have the A/C on all the time or in our short winter the heat. Only in spring and fall months do we really open the windows. There is a nice manicured lawn, which helps a lot in the scheme of things. In turn the house stays cleaner and the kiddies can run around on the hardwood or carpet without having their feet get dirty!

[ironchefchris]

I love camping so I'm not worried about the 'ick' factor of traipsing things into the house but I'm usually wearing slippers to give my shoes a breather and for the comfort. It's the closest I'll get to living Hugh Hefner's lifestyle.

[Danny55]

My wife insists we wear shoes in Lima. I understand fully why. It is so hard to get control of your environment in Lima. No matter how much you mop the floor dust gets into the house rather quickly. This is especially true in summer months when the windows are open. Not sure about the rest of Lima, but dust is a serious problem where we live.

San Borja barely has any dust compared to Sol de La Molina. Here the dust is the biggest issue - it comes down in bucket loads daily from the cerros. I lived in San Borja for a while so I can make a fair comparison.
Overall you are right - Lima is dusty, it reminds me of the Middle East.

[captcosmic]

I love camping so I'm not worried about the 'ick' factor of traipsing things into the house but I'm usually wearing slippers to give my shoes a breather and for the comfort. It's the closest I'll get to living Hugh Hefner's lifestyle.

So you don't have multiple twenty year olds living in your house? Or walk around in your PJs all day?

I do love walking in my yard in the states barefoot. I have the nicest zoysia grass!

[ironchefchris]

So you don't have multiple twenty year olds living in your house?

Not since I got married. Actually, not since sharing a house with a bunch of other college students.

[captcosmic]

So you don't have multiple twenty year olds living in your house?

Not since I got married. Actually, not since sharing a house with a bunch of other college students.

Bummer. My wife won't me walk around in my PJs either. Or did you mean the 20 year olds??

[caliguy]

we have our floors lined with newspaper all the time. also have a major problem with dust, but is due in most part of the buses and cars kicking it up along with soot from diesel exhaust. i never take my shoes off in the house, but will before entering our carpeted bedroom

[chi chi]

San Borja barely has any dust compared to Sol de La Molina. Here the dust is the biggest issue - it comes down in bucket loads daily from the cerros. I lived in San Borja for a while so I can make a fair comparison.
Overall you are right - Lima is dusty, it reminds me of the Middle East.

In my home in Tarapoto, I also have an issue with dust. There are mountains in front of my home and there's often wind coming from the mountains. Every 2 days, I have to wipe the furniture and clean the floor.
I am often wondering how in enters the home. I always keep my front door and windows closed.

[captcosmic]

San Borja barely has any dust compared to Sol de La Molina. Here the dust is the biggest issue - it comes down in bucket loads daily from the cerros. I lived in San Borja for a while so I can make a fair comparison.
Overall you are right - Lima is dusty, it reminds me of the Middle East.

In my home in Tarapoto, I also have an issue with dust. There are mountains in front of my home and there's often wind coming from the mountains. Every 2 days, I have to wipe the furniture and clean the floor.
I am often wondering how in enters the home. I always keep my front door and windows closed.

There is an old wive's tale about dust being 70 to 90% dead skin. But this tends to say, not true.

http://www.livescience.com/32337-is-hou ... -skin.html

[panman]

i never take my shoes off in the house, but will before entering our carpeted bedroom

But the big question is, do you keep your socks on?

[chi chi]

i never take my shoes off in the house, but will before entering our carpeted bedroom

But the big question is, do you keep your socks on?

The best thing is to wear white socks. Then after walking around for a while, you can easier check if the floor is really clean.

[caliguy]

i never take my shoes off in the house, but will before entering our carpeted bedroom

But the big question is, do you keep your socks on?

oh yea. white socks to boot.

[lij317]

No way! The streets and sidewalks here are so dirty, I don't want to bring that stuff inside. I take my shoes off immediately and slide on some comfy house slippers.

[rgbjr]

We always take off our shoes as soon as we enter the front door and put on slippers. We keep 6 pairs of slippers by the front door for our guest also if they so desire to take off their shoes and use them.
Bobby

[NickCasper]

We do live in a desert guys. A wet one, but a desert nonetheless. Barely any rain and so forth. Plus tools for cleaning, the effort exerted to clean, the fact that garbage bags here are either a "piece of garbage" in the metaphorical sense or a bag from plaza vea, the fact people pee in public that small most likely some 10-15% of people dont clean up their dog excrement, watching young and old alike start eating galletas in street and shamelessly toss the wrapper in the air to fall to the earth,poor vehicle emmissions policy and enforcement, or any number of unhygienic third-worldly idiocies all people observe here are all plausible and justifiably understandable reasons for Peruvians to wear shoes.

That being said, I go barefoot at home. I would rather clean my blackened feet and wash them then get foot rot from sweating at work all day. It bothers my mother-in-law too so I am automatically obliged to annoy her when she visits.

That being said, I do love it here. It's like the wild west and the sky is the limit as far as business and creativity. Just have to go do it!

[gringo from uk]

We don't wear outside shoes in home. We also change our outside clothes to home clothes, coming home.

[NickCasper]

We....gringo from uk.....hmmmmm .....im confused.

[gringo from uk]

We - our family

[NickCasper]

Oh. Makes two of us.

[emanaku]

I like house shoes, pantoffels or however you want to call them - and near the main entry door is a place where you can change from outside shoes to pantoffels - or vice versa And in the sacred valley it is too cold (for me) to walk barefoot or just in flip flops inside ...

The dust in the house here comes through the gaps in the windows - there is no insulation or rubber edges. The advantage is the house is always pretty well aired - even if you do not open any window

[NickCasper]

Well said. And good observation on the windows. Likewise the doors do not have those aluminium things with the rubber gasket in the threshold to prevent the unwanted entry of dust. I like reading walt whitman barefoot either way. I can open my mind with barefoot.

[NickCasper]

While*