Hi, y'all. Just wanted to re-post a story I read from the Susan B. Anthony List.
"As Mother’s Day approaches, I am reminded of a beautiful story I once heard. While serving the poor in Calcutta, Mother Teresa once found a young boy on the streets and brought him back to Shishu Bhavan—one of the homes she established for impoverished and disabled children. There, the boy was given food and clean clothes—but he ran away! The next day, again the boy was brought back to Shishu Bhavan, and again he ran away. Three times, the boy ran away, until on the third day, one of the Sisters followed him.
“Why do you keep running away from home?” the Sister asked when she caught up to him. The boy pointed to a tree, under which a woman was standing, cooking a simple meal of food she had found in the garbage. “But this is home,” he said, “This is where my mother is.”
Every time I hear that story I am struck by the pure, simple meaning of those words. “But this is home. This is where my mother is.” Our mothers are our first home. A mother’s love for her child is so powerful—I really do believe it can accomplish miracles. Despite all poverty, loves conquers all."
If you are reading this, the woman who is your biological mother did at least one thing right - she gave birth to you. Thank her for it if you can! And of course let's all thank the mothers, biological or not, who have raised us, fed us, clothed us, loved us and given us a chance at life.
As I write, I am aware that some of you never had a mother, and some had one that was a terrible influence in your life. Maybe this can be a time to strengthen your resolve that you will be a different kind of mother to your children, or that you will raise your daughters to be different kinds of mothers to theirs. It is never too late to bring goodness into the world. Though circumstances and people may seek to change us for evil, let's seek always to change them for good.
Thank you, Mom, for choosing to bring me into the world, and for loving me through it all!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Is Revolution Inevitable?
I have been feeling compelled recently to discuss several issues that are relevant to our lives today. I will start with a perspective on the current health care legislation to springboard into my thoughts on what seem to be some underlying issues we have long overlooked that have contributed to where we are today.
Simply put, the current legislation needs to be defeated for several reasons, which I am sure we are all aware of by now. They are common sense and illustrate the points that will follow. I will list a few of them.
1. Financial Disaster. A simple principle we've all seem to have forgotten is don't spend more than you make. This legislation not only spends more than it makes, it does so with math that wouldn't pass the third grade. Who decided comparing ten years of income with six years of expenses was a sound way to balance the budget? No wonder our country is owned by China.
2. Prior History. If you give a kid 10 bucks and tell him to buy shoes for school and he spends it all on candy, you'd call that immature. If you give him ten more bucks and he does it again, you'd call that rebellious. If he comes to you again and says he's gonna buy shoes this time, really, you'd tell him to take a hike. Congress has never paid for a social program it has started. Now it wants to start another one that dwarfs the prior ones in size, AND pretends that it will pay for the latest one with funds from the first ones, which already have a negative account. And then it tells us not to worry, it will really work this time. The kids in the Congress are playing with our money. It's time we tell them no.
3. Overreaching Power. Citizens of the United States cannot be criminally or otherwise penalized for choosing not to purchase a product or service. If they are, they no longer live in a free society.
4. Perpetuation of a Welfare State. When the government insists on giving some of its citizens something without requiring anything of them in return, the rest of its citizens are forced to pay for the poor choices of others. As the government expands it reach to accommodate more and more of it's citizens problems instead of requiring them to contribute to the solution, it strips the right and the motivation for personal responsibility from all of its citizens. The more money it demands from its citizens to implement its programs, the less control they have over the profit of their own labor, and the more the society trends toward a collective state with a way of life dictated by those in power. Utopia is an unsustainable ideal.
The above are strong reasons to defeat this bill. However, even were all of these reasons absent, the bill should be defeated because it promotes the devaluing of life as well as the restriction of dissent against that devaluation of life. It does this in the following ways.
1. Expands funding for abortion through massive increase of funds to Planned Parenthood and subsidies to private insurance plans that contain abortion coverage. For those who argue this is not the case, let me pose a simple question: If this were not the intent of the bill's architects, why do they refuse to include language in the bill explicitly excluding abortion funding? The answer is simple. They want abortion coverage included in the bill.
As an illustration, if I were to consider buying a car from you and you told me you replaced the timing belt and water pump, I would ask to see the receipts. If you told me you had the receipts but you didn't want to show them to me, what would that tell me? It would tell me you were lying, and I'd need to find another car to purchase. If something looks like a monkey, and smells like a monkey, and acts like a monkey, well, it's probably a safe bet that it actually IS a monkey.
2. Has a lack of conscience protections for healthcare workers other than doctors who oppose abortion. So workers are being forced to choose between an immoral act and their jobs. This is an incredibly coercive misuse of power, and should not be allowed.
For these reasons, we should pray heartily for the bill's defeat. If it passes, we must also seriously consider our response to it's passage. In the beginning of our country, revolution was stoked by the idea of taxation without representation. Citizens were being told by their government what to do with their money with no right to disagree. Ironically we are in increasingly similar circumstances with the leaders of our country. Although we have a representative form of government in structure, those who claim to represent us are increasingly arrogant and unaccountable in the use of their political power. They are shaping the future of our country and our lives without us. This is unacceptable, and it is the right of every citizen to not only protest, but also to remove from power those who are no longer acting on behalf of the peoples' voice.
Is revolution inevitable? It depends on what you mean by revolution, but what I mean by it is that we have relinquished too much power to the federal government and must regain our voice in the political process. First, by actually interacting with our leaders, and second, by holding our leaders accountable to a path of government that is morally and fiscally responsible, that increases the personal responsibility of individual citizens and decreases dependence on the government for the sustenance of our lives. If we demand these things and there is no response, then I would say that yes, revolution by every definition is inevitable, and the United States of America as we know it will be no more.
In my next post, I want to discuss underlying problems to the symptoms of government we are now experiencing, as well as some solutions to these problems such as a balanced budget amendment to the constitution, the role of the individual in society, etc. Until then pray for the defeat of the current healthcare bill, and pray for the instigation of healthcare legislation that actually makes sense and is morally and financially sound.
Simply put, the current legislation needs to be defeated for several reasons, which I am sure we are all aware of by now. They are common sense and illustrate the points that will follow. I will list a few of them.
1. Financial Disaster. A simple principle we've all seem to have forgotten is don't spend more than you make. This legislation not only spends more than it makes, it does so with math that wouldn't pass the third grade. Who decided comparing ten years of income with six years of expenses was a sound way to balance the budget? No wonder our country is owned by China.
2. Prior History. If you give a kid 10 bucks and tell him to buy shoes for school and he spends it all on candy, you'd call that immature. If you give him ten more bucks and he does it again, you'd call that rebellious. If he comes to you again and says he's gonna buy shoes this time, really, you'd tell him to take a hike. Congress has never paid for a social program it has started. Now it wants to start another one that dwarfs the prior ones in size, AND pretends that it will pay for the latest one with funds from the first ones, which already have a negative account. And then it tells us not to worry, it will really work this time. The kids in the Congress are playing with our money. It's time we tell them no.
3. Overreaching Power. Citizens of the United States cannot be criminally or otherwise penalized for choosing not to purchase a product or service. If they are, they no longer live in a free society.
4. Perpetuation of a Welfare State. When the government insists on giving some of its citizens something without requiring anything of them in return, the rest of its citizens are forced to pay for the poor choices of others. As the government expands it reach to accommodate more and more of it's citizens problems instead of requiring them to contribute to the solution, it strips the right and the motivation for personal responsibility from all of its citizens. The more money it demands from its citizens to implement its programs, the less control they have over the profit of their own labor, and the more the society trends toward a collective state with a way of life dictated by those in power. Utopia is an unsustainable ideal.
The above are strong reasons to defeat this bill. However, even were all of these reasons absent, the bill should be defeated because it promotes the devaluing of life as well as the restriction of dissent against that devaluation of life. It does this in the following ways.
1. Expands funding for abortion through massive increase of funds to Planned Parenthood and subsidies to private insurance plans that contain abortion coverage. For those who argue this is not the case, let me pose a simple question: If this were not the intent of the bill's architects, why do they refuse to include language in the bill explicitly excluding abortion funding? The answer is simple. They want abortion coverage included in the bill.
As an illustration, if I were to consider buying a car from you and you told me you replaced the timing belt and water pump, I would ask to see the receipts. If you told me you had the receipts but you didn't want to show them to me, what would that tell me? It would tell me you were lying, and I'd need to find another car to purchase. If something looks like a monkey, and smells like a monkey, and acts like a monkey, well, it's probably a safe bet that it actually IS a monkey.
2. Has a lack of conscience protections for healthcare workers other than doctors who oppose abortion. So workers are being forced to choose between an immoral act and their jobs. This is an incredibly coercive misuse of power, and should not be allowed.
For these reasons, we should pray heartily for the bill's defeat. If it passes, we must also seriously consider our response to it's passage. In the beginning of our country, revolution was stoked by the idea of taxation without representation. Citizens were being told by their government what to do with their money with no right to disagree. Ironically we are in increasingly similar circumstances with the leaders of our country. Although we have a representative form of government in structure, those who claim to represent us are increasingly arrogant and unaccountable in the use of their political power. They are shaping the future of our country and our lives without us. This is unacceptable, and it is the right of every citizen to not only protest, but also to remove from power those who are no longer acting on behalf of the peoples' voice.
Is revolution inevitable? It depends on what you mean by revolution, but what I mean by it is that we have relinquished too much power to the federal government and must regain our voice in the political process. First, by actually interacting with our leaders, and second, by holding our leaders accountable to a path of government that is morally and fiscally responsible, that increases the personal responsibility of individual citizens and decreases dependence on the government for the sustenance of our lives. If we demand these things and there is no response, then I would say that yes, revolution by every definition is inevitable, and the United States of America as we know it will be no more.
In my next post, I want to discuss underlying problems to the symptoms of government we are now experiencing, as well as some solutions to these problems such as a balanced budget amendment to the constitution, the role of the individual in society, etc. Until then pray for the defeat of the current healthcare bill, and pray for the instigation of healthcare legislation that actually makes sense and is morally and financially sound.
Monday, October 12, 2009
The Rest of the Trip Part I...
Not very exciting titles to the blogs, but honestly when I'm typing, I'm too tired to be creative...
This is the first opportunity I've had to actually sit at a computer since I've been in Peru. I'm at the moment in the office of our tour guides and new friends Percy and Brady in Cusco, Peru. They've been more than helpful since we've been in Cusco, and we are thankful for them!!
Before the trip began, I bought a small external hard drive to take with me and dump images to as I went along. The only problem is, yes, I have a Mac, and in the internet cafes and most offices of Peru, PC's reign supreme. What does that mean? My drive can't be read by them, and I can't dump my images. So instead, I've been dumping my images to Percy's computer.
Of course, I have to have a way to get them back home so now I'm sitting in their tour office in Cusco burning DVD's...I'm constantly reminded that when traveling, be prepared for everything to go wrong that can. For this reason, I'm thankful that they've been more than gracious to work with me in every way possible to figure out a way to save the images I've been shooting. Eventually I'll have some to share with you all thanks to these guys. uh, gotta go...I'll write when I get back to the States I guess.
The Clothing Journey
We spent Sunday going to a church in Miraflores with some friends, then talking clothing business with our new friend Anny Tuipe. After a few hours of talking business, we aired out our minds with a stroll along the beautiful cliff line overlooking the ocean at the Larcomar. Monday morning we met with some other friends interested in helping with the business, Samuel and Marta. They took us to the clothing district in Lima, a writhing mass of handcarts, tricycle carts, cargo, signs, color. It was a great learning experience, especially in regard to what is available in Lima for textiles, etc.
Check out the album HERE.
Stuck In Lima - Guess we'll visit La Punta...
As with everything else on our trip, getting to Cusco proved to be harder than anticipated. To all considering traveling overland to cusco from Lima, plan on three or four days enjoying the stops along the way, or a 22 hour bus ride straight through. We had an entire route planned out going down the coast to Paracas, Nazca, inland to Huaycucho, Cusco, through Arequipa, and ending in Lima. By the time we had figured out how much time and money it would take to get to all these places, we had narrowed the list to Lima-Cusco-Lima. So much for the sweeping travel plans.
Rather than spending the 22 hours on the bus we bit the bullet and bought tickets for Wednesday morning. Since we were stuck in Lima until then, we decided to pass the time by taking a side trip via taxi and combi (bus) to la Punta Callao, a port about 45 minutes outside of Lima.
Check out the album HERE.
Rainstick Beach and the Point
While there we checked out the beach. It was cold, windy and gray. The only other person there was an old man sitting in a plastic chair hunched against the wind. He was guarding the outhouse, making sure all who entered in paid what I now call the pee tax. Fortunately I didn't have to use his service and left him sitting in peace.
The beach in the area actually consisted of grapefruit size rounded stones that knocked against one another like a giant rain stick as each wave receded from the shore. We wandered around listening to the strange sound and taking pictures of dilapidated row boats weathering away on the beach.
Listen to the Beach HERE.
After ample picture time we checked out the municipal library on the tiny square. They happened to be having senior citizens lunch at the time, so we snuck up the Victorian stairs and plopped down on an ancient black leather couch in the stairwell to rest. We had a jolly time there contemplating the ceiling, and when we rose to leave, noticed two body prints that hadn't previously been there...uh, we're still not sure where they came from, but if you're reading this and you're from the library, our sincere apologies.
Just around the corner next to the sea, we perused the row of empty restaurants waiting for hungry people. There was definitely a lot of traditional Peruvian food like cow heart kabobs, chicken balls and things like that. While contemplating our culinary choices, a couple of local musicians strolled by. I asked them to play a couple of traditional Peruvian tunes, which I happjly recorded with my iPhone. 5 soles and some good music later, we decided to wait on dinner and backtrack to a very colorful little town a couple of blocks from La Punta called Chucuito. We snapped some shots on the street of all the different paint schemes, talked to a very nice older lady working there as an information person who told us chucuito was painted like that for tourists, and spied on some welders showering sparks in the adjacent ship yard as the evening grew.
Finally we wandered around a colonial era ammo depot with a ton of canons and slipped into a tiny restaurant just as the doors were closing. We got the usual-grilled chicken with rice, and beef with rice. We ate while Dad did the books and the kids teased each other. Kids are the same where ever you go. "He's picking on me!" complains the girl to Dad with that little girl look hard for dads to resist. "Not unh, she's picking on me!" retorts the little boy. And around the tables they go chasing and laughing. I sneak a few shots with my giant camera sitting on the table.
It's getting late so we pay for our meal and slip out onto the street. It's night, I'm nervous, and as we walk to the corner to catch a bus back to Lima, a taxi pulls up next to us. The driver leans over and starts telling us to be careful, watch out for thieves, and not to be walking around. He tells us so many times and with such intensity, he starts freaking me out! We tell him we're fine we only have to walk a block. He gesticulates and rattles off even more intensely, telling us he'll take us the block for free, just to get in the taxi. There is literally no one else on the street, and somethings smelling veeeery fishy. I'm about to punch the guy in the face he's getting so annoying. Then he tells us if we change our minds, he'll be parked at the end of the road on the plaza by the sea. Finally he leaves us alone.
We get to the little plaza and ask the police women standing there where to pick up the bus, and who should interject from the curb but our friendly taxi man. He tells us we shouldn't take the bus it's too dangerous, but he'll take us safely to Lima. He actually comes over to us again while we're talking to the women to solicit us. Man, this guy is desperate for a job, or to help himself to our stuff.
I finally tell him in a strong tone for the last time we don't want his services, and even the police woman tells him the same thing, after which he apologizes to me for bothering us. Geez, the bus sounds like heaven at this point. We finally catch the bus and make to the hostel in one piece. Tomorrow we head to cusco.
Info gathering going well
The days in Lima were spent well in terms of finding out the things I needed to know in the beginning stages of the micro-business. We've made solid contacts and new friends with people who have the right skill sets to get such a venture off the ground. Namely business licensing requirements, import/export knowledge in this area, and a good knowledge of small coops in Peru and how they work. Now it's time to visit the famed Machu Pichu.
Flight to cusco
View from the plane
Morning comes early. Like 3:30 early. We basically sleep dressed so we can just roll out of bed into the taxi. This is what we do, and a couple of hours later we're on the plane to cusco. It's a one hour flight, as compared to a 22 hour bus trip. We hardly have time to get settled before we are descending again. We skirt some fantastically tall peaks tearing a hole through the clouds and then for a second all is grey. When we break through the bottom side it's as though we've entered another world. A vast patchwork of red, brown, and yellow terraced mountains cut by deep valleys spread out beneath us. Their peaks disappear into the clouds we've just come through. Soon a pattern of red tile roofs appears in a valley. We bank sharply left as the roofs rush toward us and then we are down. We stand under a blue sky with white clouds and cool temps. Welcome to cusco.
Check out the album HERE.
Sacred valley tour woes
We've connected with a friend of a friend from back in the U.S. His name is Brady and he has a tour company called machu pichu sky. He's a fellow believer which makes our meeting that much more comfortable. In a matter of a day he's arranged the travel for our plans in cusco.
We are whisked to our hostel and have breakfast in the pretty courtyard while we discuss the schedule. First on the list is the city tour. We sleep until lunch and then board a bus with a bunch of other, um, tourists (there! I said it), and start to take in the ruins of the famous Inca empire.
Like every good tourist, we obediently follow our guide around while trying to decipher his broken English, absorb the impact of entire civilization, and take at least one photo with no one in it in a record time of five minutes before we are herded back onto the bus to see the next place we've been waiting to see our entire lives. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT ever let me get on a tour bus again.
As a consolation prize, however, we get to visit Sexy Woman, aka Saxayhuaman, the largest Inca ruin just outside cusco, and we even get to take some time here to take it all in. The immensity and precision of it really is amazing. Even if for only one hour I'm glad for the chance to see it.
Check out the album HERE.
More to come later, as outlined below!!
Prep for machu pichu
After our city tour
The big day and glitches
No hot water in Aguascalientes
Concert
Ruela gets kicked off the mountain
Cold onset
Machu pichu highlights.
Saturday country drive and farm day
This is the first opportunity I've had to actually sit at a computer since I've been in Peru. I'm at the moment in the office of our tour guides and new friends Percy and Brady in Cusco, Peru. They've been more than helpful since we've been in Cusco, and we are thankful for them!!
Before the trip began, I bought a small external hard drive to take with me and dump images to as I went along. The only problem is, yes, I have a Mac, and in the internet cafes and most offices of Peru, PC's reign supreme. What does that mean? My drive can't be read by them, and I can't dump my images. So instead, I've been dumping my images to Percy's computer.
Of course, I have to have a way to get them back home so now I'm sitting in their tour office in Cusco burning DVD's...I'm constantly reminded that when traveling, be prepared for everything to go wrong that can. For this reason, I'm thankful that they've been more than gracious to work with me in every way possible to figure out a way to save the images I've been shooting. Eventually I'll have some to share with you all thanks to these guys. uh, gotta go...I'll write when I get back to the States I guess.
The Clothing Journey
We spent Sunday going to a church in Miraflores with some friends, then talking clothing business with our new friend Anny Tuipe. After a few hours of talking business, we aired out our minds with a stroll along the beautiful cliff line overlooking the ocean at the Larcomar. Monday morning we met with some other friends interested in helping with the business, Samuel and Marta. They took us to the clothing district in Lima, a writhing mass of handcarts, tricycle carts, cargo, signs, color. It was a great learning experience, especially in regard to what is available in Lima for textiles, etc.
Check out the album HERE.
Stuck In Lima - Guess we'll visit La Punta...
As with everything else on our trip, getting to Cusco proved to be harder than anticipated. To all considering traveling overland to cusco from Lima, plan on three or four days enjoying the stops along the way, or a 22 hour bus ride straight through. We had an entire route planned out going down the coast to Paracas, Nazca, inland to Huaycucho, Cusco, through Arequipa, and ending in Lima. By the time we had figured out how much time and money it would take to get to all these places, we had narrowed the list to Lima-Cusco-Lima. So much for the sweeping travel plans.
Rather than spending the 22 hours on the bus we bit the bullet and bought tickets for Wednesday morning. Since we were stuck in Lima until then, we decided to pass the time by taking a side trip via taxi and combi (bus) to la Punta Callao, a port about 45 minutes outside of Lima.
Check out the album HERE.
Rainstick Beach and the Point
While there we checked out the beach. It was cold, windy and gray. The only other person there was an old man sitting in a plastic chair hunched against the wind. He was guarding the outhouse, making sure all who entered in paid what I now call the pee tax. Fortunately I didn't have to use his service and left him sitting in peace.
The beach in the area actually consisted of grapefruit size rounded stones that knocked against one another like a giant rain stick as each wave receded from the shore. We wandered around listening to the strange sound and taking pictures of dilapidated row boats weathering away on the beach.
Listen to the Beach HERE.
After ample picture time we checked out the municipal library on the tiny square. They happened to be having senior citizens lunch at the time, so we snuck up the Victorian stairs and plopped down on an ancient black leather couch in the stairwell to rest. We had a jolly time there contemplating the ceiling, and when we rose to leave, noticed two body prints that hadn't previously been there...uh, we're still not sure where they came from, but if you're reading this and you're from the library, our sincere apologies.
Just around the corner next to the sea, we perused the row of empty restaurants waiting for hungry people. There was definitely a lot of traditional Peruvian food like cow heart kabobs, chicken balls and things like that. While contemplating our culinary choices, a couple of local musicians strolled by. I asked them to play a couple of traditional Peruvian tunes, which I happjly recorded with my iPhone. 5 soles and some good music later, we decided to wait on dinner and backtrack to a very colorful little town a couple of blocks from La Punta called Chucuito. We snapped some shots on the street of all the different paint schemes, talked to a very nice older lady working there as an information person who told us chucuito was painted like that for tourists, and spied on some welders showering sparks in the adjacent ship yard as the evening grew.
Finally we wandered around a colonial era ammo depot with a ton of canons and slipped into a tiny restaurant just as the doors were closing. We got the usual-grilled chicken with rice, and beef with rice. We ate while Dad did the books and the kids teased each other. Kids are the same where ever you go. "He's picking on me!" complains the girl to Dad with that little girl look hard for dads to resist. "Not unh, she's picking on me!" retorts the little boy. And around the tables they go chasing and laughing. I sneak a few shots with my giant camera sitting on the table.
It's getting late so we pay for our meal and slip out onto the street. It's night, I'm nervous, and as we walk to the corner to catch a bus back to Lima, a taxi pulls up next to us. The driver leans over and starts telling us to be careful, watch out for thieves, and not to be walking around. He tells us so many times and with such intensity, he starts freaking me out! We tell him we're fine we only have to walk a block. He gesticulates and rattles off even more intensely, telling us he'll take us the block for free, just to get in the taxi. There is literally no one else on the street, and somethings smelling veeeery fishy. I'm about to punch the guy in the face he's getting so annoying. Then he tells us if we change our minds, he'll be parked at the end of the road on the plaza by the sea. Finally he leaves us alone.
We get to the little plaza and ask the police women standing there where to pick up the bus, and who should interject from the curb but our friendly taxi man. He tells us we shouldn't take the bus it's too dangerous, but he'll take us safely to Lima. He actually comes over to us again while we're talking to the women to solicit us. Man, this guy is desperate for a job, or to help himself to our stuff.
I finally tell him in a strong tone for the last time we don't want his services, and even the police woman tells him the same thing, after which he apologizes to me for bothering us. Geez, the bus sounds like heaven at this point. We finally catch the bus and make to the hostel in one piece. Tomorrow we head to cusco.
Info gathering going well
The days in Lima were spent well in terms of finding out the things I needed to know in the beginning stages of the micro-business. We've made solid contacts and new friends with people who have the right skill sets to get such a venture off the ground. Namely business licensing requirements, import/export knowledge in this area, and a good knowledge of small coops in Peru and how they work. Now it's time to visit the famed Machu Pichu.
Flight to cusco
View from the plane
Morning comes early. Like 3:30 early. We basically sleep dressed so we can just roll out of bed into the taxi. This is what we do, and a couple of hours later we're on the plane to cusco. It's a one hour flight, as compared to a 22 hour bus trip. We hardly have time to get settled before we are descending again. We skirt some fantastically tall peaks tearing a hole through the clouds and then for a second all is grey. When we break through the bottom side it's as though we've entered another world. A vast patchwork of red, brown, and yellow terraced mountains cut by deep valleys spread out beneath us. Their peaks disappear into the clouds we've just come through. Soon a pattern of red tile roofs appears in a valley. We bank sharply left as the roofs rush toward us and then we are down. We stand under a blue sky with white clouds and cool temps. Welcome to cusco.
Check out the album HERE.
Sacred valley tour woes
We've connected with a friend of a friend from back in the U.S. His name is Brady and he has a tour company called machu pichu sky. He's a fellow believer which makes our meeting that much more comfortable. In a matter of a day he's arranged the travel for our plans in cusco.
We are whisked to our hostel and have breakfast in the pretty courtyard while we discuss the schedule. First on the list is the city tour. We sleep until lunch and then board a bus with a bunch of other, um, tourists (there! I said it), and start to take in the ruins of the famous Inca empire.
Like every good tourist, we obediently follow our guide around while trying to decipher his broken English, absorb the impact of entire civilization, and take at least one photo with no one in it in a record time of five minutes before we are herded back onto the bus to see the next place we've been waiting to see our entire lives. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT ever let me get on a tour bus again.
As a consolation prize, however, we get to visit Sexy Woman, aka Saxayhuaman, the largest Inca ruin just outside cusco, and we even get to take some time here to take it all in. The immensity and precision of it really is amazing. Even if for only one hour I'm glad for the chance to see it.
Check out the album HERE.
More to come later, as outlined below!!
Prep for machu pichu
After our city tour
The big day and glitches
No hot water in Aguascalientes
Concert
Ruela gets kicked off the mountain
Cold onset
Machu pichu highlights.
Saturday country drive and farm day
Friday, September 25, 2009
Day 7
I'm still typing these updates on My iPhone as i haven't had the time to find coMputer access but when I think about it the technology is amazing. I mean, I'm updating my blog on the Internet from my cell phone in Peru!
It's hard to believe how fast the time has gone-arts camp for the kids is already gone. We had our finale tonight. A mass concert with probably 100 kids singing, dancing, and beating buckets and trash cans with drumsticks. Even though I was shooting pictures I was moved by the force of joy with which they worshipped.
Ask me if it is worth coming down to this place to instruct kids in the arts, and the use of the arts in worship, and I will tell you yes, without a doubt. It's not just about having enough supplies to be able to express themselves through art - it's about forever impacting these lives through the power of relationship. Ultimately materials don't impact people. People impact people. This is one small way of doing just that. All of the supplies used were brought down by our team, and for this week we've spent our days pouring our knowledge, passion, and love into these young lives. At the concert there were several hundred people-family and friends of the students who were able to see the power of artistic expression in their childrens' lives. In Peru many people look down on art as a legitimate job or career. Espcially on the expression of art in spiritual contexts. The president of the national endowment for the arts has said that the greatest challenge of this century is to reconnect the arts with the expression of faith. This task is evident in Peru as well, and is what we have been striving to help accomplish.
The film experience
I have been struck by the number of times we were thanked by the people we have filmed for coming to visit them. As I've seen before, so many of these people feel so honored by our presence. They feel as though someone in the world knows they exist and cares enough to come. It is a humbling experience and always hard to leave each person or family we have visited.
This week we've run ragged filming. Monday was scout day. We drove to each of the locations to scope them out for lighting and angles and ambience. We wanted each place to tell the best story possible. Along the way I shot over 600 images. The next day we filmed the daily process of the feeding program three of the churches have in their communities. Altogether they serve over 250 children breakfast or lunch every day. They are up to Start breakfast at 4:30 a.m. every day. Then the kids come, answering the call from the man with the portable bullhorn running through the hills announcing breakfast. They come out of their homes with dirt floors, particle board walls and plastic or tin roofs. And for a moment in their day, they find warm hugs and happy faces.
At one house, I introduce myself to a neighbor watching our interview. I stand on one side of a tall particle board wall and she on the other with her little 9 month old girl. Her baby is more bold than she is, leaning over the fence while her mother hides behind her. I find out her name is Juana and her baby is Estefanie Valeria. I comment on how much I like the green color of her fence and she says the fence would be ugly without it. As it is, it's one of the few green things in the area, a splash of much needed color in a dreary brown world.
Julia, the lady we are interviewing, is very pregnant, and when we ask her the due date she says today...uh maybe she shouldn't be sitting on that small stool...she asks everyone their names and seems to decide that Benji's is the one she wants to use for her own child. Influence is strong here.
At another house, the last one for the day, we interview a mom who has been involved with the feeding program for some time. She cooks meals for the children, her own eating there as well. In their meager home there live four families, all related. The grandma, who is 83, thanks us for coming. I thank her for allowing us into her home. I am acutely aware of their vulnerability as they open their lives to us. They allow us to come in with our cameras and film pictures of everything. I wonder how I would respond if a film crew came into my house and asked to film in my bedroom and everywhere else. But they are all glad we've come to be with them.
Grandma has a daughter who has four beautiful daughters. One of them, Lindsey, is about to turn 15. On October 16, she will have her quinceria. It is the celebration for all girls becoming young women. While we are conversing and filming she watches intently everything we do. As I shoot I let she and her younger sisters see the photos in my camera screen. As we stand there she tells me she is turning 15 and asks if I will be her Padrino - I think I know what she is asking but I ask Ramiro to be sure and yes, I am right. She wants me to be her godfather. This is a great honor, and usually is reserved for a man in the family or a close family friend, but she has asked me. I've only known her for two hours.
The fact is that we have no idea how much hope and life we bring to these people. For us to boil down such trips to a matter of money is to have missed the heart of the matter. We can send money and things to people all day long, but there is no substitute for being with people in the flesh. This is what brings encouragement and hope.
As web are about to leave, Lindsey says, "so you can't be my godfather because you're not going to be here on my birthday?" I tell her that that is correct and tell her I am sorry but that I am honored she has asked me. I am embarrassed to have been asked to fill such a role - I don't really deserve to be asked that. It makes me realize again the impact we have on people here in these circumstances.
As we drive away I am sad again and sit quietly for awhile lost in thought. I realize how permanent these circumstances are for so many people and feel the weight of that. I have to remind myself that I can't change everything but I can just relate to people and be with them. That is what I can do.
It's hard to believe how fast the time has gone-arts camp for the kids is already gone. We had our finale tonight. A mass concert with probably 100 kids singing, dancing, and beating buckets and trash cans with drumsticks. Even though I was shooting pictures I was moved by the force of joy with which they worshipped.
Ask me if it is worth coming down to this place to instruct kids in the arts, and the use of the arts in worship, and I will tell you yes, without a doubt. It's not just about having enough supplies to be able to express themselves through art - it's about forever impacting these lives through the power of relationship. Ultimately materials don't impact people. People impact people. This is one small way of doing just that. All of the supplies used were brought down by our team, and for this week we've spent our days pouring our knowledge, passion, and love into these young lives. At the concert there were several hundred people-family and friends of the students who were able to see the power of artistic expression in their childrens' lives. In Peru many people look down on art as a legitimate job or career. Espcially on the expression of art in spiritual contexts. The president of the national endowment for the arts has said that the greatest challenge of this century is to reconnect the arts with the expression of faith. This task is evident in Peru as well, and is what we have been striving to help accomplish.
The film experience
I have been struck by the number of times we were thanked by the people we have filmed for coming to visit them. As I've seen before, so many of these people feel so honored by our presence. They feel as though someone in the world knows they exist and cares enough to come. It is a humbling experience and always hard to leave each person or family we have visited.
This week we've run ragged filming. Monday was scout day. We drove to each of the locations to scope them out for lighting and angles and ambience. We wanted each place to tell the best story possible. Along the way I shot over 600 images. The next day we filmed the daily process of the feeding program three of the churches have in their communities. Altogether they serve over 250 children breakfast or lunch every day. They are up to Start breakfast at 4:30 a.m. every day. Then the kids come, answering the call from the man with the portable bullhorn running through the hills announcing breakfast. They come out of their homes with dirt floors, particle board walls and plastic or tin roofs. And for a moment in their day, they find warm hugs and happy faces.
At one house, I introduce myself to a neighbor watching our interview. I stand on one side of a tall particle board wall and she on the other with her little 9 month old girl. Her baby is more bold than she is, leaning over the fence while her mother hides behind her. I find out her name is Juana and her baby is Estefanie Valeria. I comment on how much I like the green color of her fence and she says the fence would be ugly without it. As it is, it's one of the few green things in the area, a splash of much needed color in a dreary brown world.
Julia, the lady we are interviewing, is very pregnant, and when we ask her the due date she says today...uh maybe she shouldn't be sitting on that small stool...she asks everyone their names and seems to decide that Benji's is the one she wants to use for her own child. Influence is strong here.
At another house, the last one for the day, we interview a mom who has been involved with the feeding program for some time. She cooks meals for the children, her own eating there as well. In their meager home there live four families, all related. The grandma, who is 83, thanks us for coming. I thank her for allowing us into her home. I am acutely aware of their vulnerability as they open their lives to us. They allow us to come in with our cameras and film pictures of everything. I wonder how I would respond if a film crew came into my house and asked to film in my bedroom and everywhere else. But they are all glad we've come to be with them.
Grandma has a daughter who has four beautiful daughters. One of them, Lindsey, is about to turn 15. On October 16, she will have her quinceria. It is the celebration for all girls becoming young women. While we are conversing and filming she watches intently everything we do. As I shoot I let she and her younger sisters see the photos in my camera screen. As we stand there she tells me she is turning 15 and asks if I will be her Padrino - I think I know what she is asking but I ask Ramiro to be sure and yes, I am right. She wants me to be her godfather. This is a great honor, and usually is reserved for a man in the family or a close family friend, but she has asked me. I've only known her for two hours.
The fact is that we have no idea how much hope and life we bring to these people. For us to boil down such trips to a matter of money is to have missed the heart of the matter. We can send money and things to people all day long, but there is no substitute for being with people in the flesh. This is what brings encouragement and hope.
As web are about to leave, Lindsey says, "so you can't be my godfather because you're not going to be here on my birthday?" I tell her that that is correct and tell her I am sorry but that I am honored she has asked me. I am embarrassed to have been asked to fill such a role - I don't really deserve to be asked that. It makes me realize again the impact we have on people here in these circumstances.
As we drive away I am sad again and sit quietly for awhile lost in thought. I realize how permanent these circumstances are for so many people and feel the weight of that. I have to remind myself that I can't change everything but I can just relate to people and be with them. That is what I can do.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Day 3
It's 11pm and the steady um puh umbpuh of bass under high electronic riffs pushes in through the open windows. If I had been taken here blindfolded I would swear I was somewhere in Asia based on the anime-esque sound. But I'm not. I'm in Peru. Under a warm alpaca blanket on the second floor of a house in Comas.
Today we spent getting aclimated to our surroundings. We hiked up the hill to the cross overlook through the poorest parts of Comas. Two years ago when I came everything was new, but now I feel like I'm visiting an old friend. Others are here for the first time and I am reminded of the continual flow of life from new to old. I see it in the faces around me, young children with the aged. Nothing seems different here since I left but I know I've changed. Loyda comments that my Spanish has improved. There's a change!
After the hill we plan for the documEntary. When we have a rough schedule nailed down we take a short break then eat dinner. It's already 9pm. We celebrate gigi's birthday away from home then taxi it back to the house. The music pumps through the window phnctuated by distant fireworks, lulling me to sleep. So flows the river. Welcome to Peru.
Today we spent getting aclimated to our surroundings. We hiked up the hill to the cross overlook through the poorest parts of Comas. Two years ago when I came everything was new, but now I feel like I'm visiting an old friend. Others are here for the first time and I am reminded of the continual flow of life from new to old. I see it in the faces around me, young children with the aged. Nothing seems different here since I left but I know I've changed. Loyda comments that my Spanish has improved. There's a change!
After the hill we plan for the documEntary. When we have a rough schedule nailed down we take a short break then eat dinner. It's already 9pm. We celebrate gigi's birthday away from home then taxi it back to the house. The music pumps through the window phnctuated by distant fireworks, lulling me to sleep. So flows the river. Welcome to Peru.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Peru, Land of the Inca
Hello to everyone. Just a quick update to let you know I am headed to Peru in the next couple of days. I'll be working with a group of artists outside of Lima to mentor people in the arts (singing, dance, photography, etc.), to pick up some skills from them, and to do some documentary photography and video work.The second week, I will be researching for a clothing project that is underway along with making some great images of Peru and it's people.
Stay tuned to keep up with the action as it unfolds!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
The Bitter End Has Arrived...
Hey, guys! In case you haven't heard by now, the bitter end has arrived. The die has been cast, Tourism Queensland has spoken, and they've chosen Ben Southall from the UK to live in the Blue Pearl Villa on Hamilton Island for the next six months...playing in the sun...with the dolphins, and sea cows, and pretty coral, sipping exotic drinks with little umbrellas to keep the ice from melting in them - I'm not jealous, no not me! I've got much better things to do in Nashville. Uh, I'll let you know when I think of them.
Really, it's not bitterness, I just have a melancholy personality, you know Eyeore - a dark cloud behind every silver lining. Why do you think I was researching poisonous creatures in the Great Barrier Reef? Eyeore Complex. NOTHING can be that paradisical (new word), not even the GBR. I don't even really have the heart to tell you about the rest of those VPC's that I promised. The best I can do is give you a link to them HERE.
So, Ben, congratulations! I'm sure you'll be a much more cheerful caretaker than I would have been. My approach wasn't working - how do you attract people to a place by telling them all the ways they could die or contribute to medical research? No, you're the man Ben! Just wear your nylons and watch out for those tiny little invisible floaties waiting to send you to the Hereafter...
Really, it's not bitterness, I just have a melancholy personality, you know Eyeore - a dark cloud behind every silver lining. Why do you think I was researching poisonous creatures in the Great Barrier Reef? Eyeore Complex. NOTHING can be that paradisical (new word), not even the GBR. I don't even really have the heart to tell you about the rest of those VPC's that I promised. The best I can do is give you a link to them HERE.
So, Ben, congratulations! I'm sure you'll be a much more cheerful caretaker than I would have been. My approach wasn't working - how do you attract people to a place by telling them all the ways they could die or contribute to medical research? No, you're the man Ben! Just wear your nylons and watch out for those tiny little invisible floaties waiting to send you to the Hereafter...
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