One thing I’ve learned over the years from traveling and living in different cultures, is that there’s an undeniable and strong effect of our culture on how we live our lives, but at the end of the day people are still people and as individuals there are certain things that hold true no matter the culture. For example, we all worry about our kids doing good in school, our parents growing old healthy, etc.
Here’s another perfect example….
This morning I woke up early, around 6:00. I got up to use the bathroom but then decided I’d go back to sleep for a little while. Around 7:00 Patricia woke up as she normally does at that time. I stayed in bed a few more minutes.
However, for some reason Patricia decided to start folding clothes and putting clothes away in our room, which she normally does not do so early. Next thing you know, the baby woke up and started to fuss. I got up and the day began.
Since the baby normally sleeps until around 8:00, she was really fussy for having woke up an hour early. So I asked Patricia: “Why did you start putting clothes away while the baby was still sleeping and woke her up so early?” In my mind the baby clearly woke up because Patricia was doing stuff in our room.
Answer: “The baby woke up because you got up early.”
Errrrrrrgh, say again? The baby got up at 7:00 because I went to the bathroom at 6:00?
We went over the same conversation again about 3 times and the logic never did make sense to me.
The baby woke up early at 7:00 because I went to the bathroom at 6:00, but the fact that mamacita was folding clothes and putting clothes away in our room right at the very moment the baby woke up, had nothing to do with it.
And then it hit me, it was my fault that the baby woke up early, because:
IT’S ALWAYS MY FAULT, BECAUSE MARRIED GUYS ARE ALWAYS AT FAULT. EVEN IF IT’S NOT MY FAULT, IT’S STILL MY FAULT.
That’s just one of these truths of life, no matter where you are, married guys are always at fault. And that’s okay, just like worrying about your kids doing well or your parents staying healthy, some things in life should never change 😉
Life in Peru 
I had a good laugh reading your post! My (Peruvian) husband would agree with your sentiments. However from my own experience as the wife, I think Patricia was probably annoyed that you woke her early!!! You say she woke at 7 am, which she usually does, BUT she also knew you had woken at 6 am to get up to the bathroom. How could she know that if you hadn’t woken her up? And she’s tired and being woken early has made her grumpy and she can’t get back to sleep so she gets up and starts doing something – her chores! Underneath she probably knows the baby will wake and that will serve you right! Plus then she can legitimately be grumpy with you.
You see – it really WAS your fault!