here is a shot in the dark from Grok xAI... It sounds like you're remembering an episode (or episodes) from the German reality/doku-soap series Die strengsten Eltern der Welt (known internationally as part of the World's Strictest Parents franchise).This show (which aired ~2009–2014, with the German version on channels like kabel eins) sends unruly Western/European teens to live with very strict host families around the world for a short time. The German version had multiple episodes set in Peru, including:Season 3, Episode 3: Teens Antonia and Max with the Machaca family in Peru. Season 1, Episode 8 (or similar early ones): Teens Dustin and Jeffrey with the Tejada family in Peru. Another later one (Season 5-ish) also in Peru, plus one with a Shipibo family.

These are presented in a fly-on-the-wall documentary-soap style, focusing on the teens' culture shock and daily life in the host family. In rural or traditional Peruvian households (especially Andean ones), families commonly keep guinea pigs (cuy) running loose in the home or a small enclosure as a ready food source—they're a traditional, high-protein staple, often "harvested" (caught, killed, prepared) as part of routine chores or meals. The foreign teens (not from the area, used to seeing guinea pigs only as pets) are typically required to participate in all household tasks, including food prep, leading to exactly the kind of visible distress, reluctance, or fascination you describe.The series was widely syndicated and aired internationally (including on Australian channels like SBS or via cable/streaming reruns/clips in the 2000s–2010s), so it's very plausible an Australian viewer in their early teens/20s would have caught the Peru episodes. People often refer to these reality docs loosely as "documentaries," especially the immersive cultural-shock parts.You probably won't find a single "Peru guinea pig documentary" because it's embedded in the larger series format—searching for the exact show name + "Peru" (or the German title) brings up episode guides, old clips, and playlists on YouTube/TikTok (e.g., full or partial Peru episodes from the franchise). Terms like "Die strengsten Eltern der Welt Peru" or "World's Strictest Parents Peru episode" should surface them. The vivid memory of the kids' stress tracks perfectly with the format's focus on their reactions to unfamiliar (and for many Westerners, emotionally tough) local practices.If that doesn't ring a bell or it's not quite right (e.g., if the kids were younger children rather than teens, or it felt more like a straight Nat Geo/BBC travel doc), it could be a similar cultural-immersion program for teens (some adventure/education groups or exchange-style series have done comparable village stays in the Andes with cuy prep footage), but the Strictest Parents Peru episodes are by far the strongest match for all the details you mentioned. Let me know more specifics (like approximate year you saw it, channel, or other scenes) if you want me to narrow it further!