Ixchel's Peruvian Adventure

Fotos Verano 09

2009-08-20T20:37:00.002-05:00

Honduras Para Todos

2009-07-12T16:03:00.003-05:00

For analysis, statements, and updates on the military coup in Honduras and the resistance movement inside and outside of the country visit hondurasparatodos.wordpress.com

Two Weeks Notice: A Latin American Politics Blog: Honduras and the OAS

2009-07-05T11:43:00.000-05:00

Two Weeks Notice: A Latin American Politics Blog: Honduras and the OAS

Open letter from Jorge Varela, Honduran Enviromental Activist

2009-06-30T10:35:00.000-05:00

COUP D’ETAT DISGUISED AS “SUCCESSION”

Jorge Varela Márquez / International Goldman Prize 1999

A glimmer of hope for redeeming the extremely poor and humble people of Honduras is dying out. I write from a strictly personal view and assuming responsibility for my opinion on what has happened in Honduras. First some history:

The constitution of a country is a document prepared by members of congress to regulate the life of a people. It is something that is considered sacred and afforded the utmost respect, protection and obedience on the part of all citizens. But this noble document has been tarnished by those same Congress members who developed it, leading one of them to say "the Constitution is pure babosada (babosada = silly, stupid ...)” and another: "The constitution can be violated as often as necessary." And in keeping with these statements, a few groups who have enriched themselves by applying bits and pieces of rhetoric to their own convenience, have seized the country's political and government system for their own benefit.

Groups of businessmen and bourgeoisie govern the actions of the two traditional powerful political parties of the country. These groups name, finance or facilitate the ascension of their cronies into Congress, who once established act under the dictates of business interests serving as their sources of power. Using this Congress, they introduce laws, decrees, agreements, treaties, contracts ... and block any provision that goes against their own interests. Also significantly, they appoint the members of the Supreme Court and the Attorney General's Office, and the National Commissioner for Human Rights. If these appointees wish to remain in office, they need to be in good terms with Congress and of course to tacitly submit to those groups in power. In addition, these "factual" groups as the president, now out of power, Don Manuel Zelaya calls them, have lawyers who "advise" the Armed Forces exerting a conservative influence over them, to the extent that most or almost all the coups d'etat that have occurred in Honduras, have been initiated or encouraged by those power groups operating in the shadows. What is worse, these groups have realized that there is a "fourth estate" and have also taken over the mainstream media, thus keeping the population under a strict and daily indoctrination against any opinion that could damage the status quo, hence the systematic criminalization of any person or idea that questions the current system.

And that was the mortal sin of President Zelaya, against whom all the infrastructure referred to above has been launched with all the fury of a wounded hyena. Zelaya wanted a "public consultation" aimed at asking the people if they agree with the current Constitution. Such consultation was attacked from the start by the groups in power, who with surprising speed convinced the Attorney General, the Supreme Court, The National Commissioner of Human Rights, the Voting Comission (formed by the main political parties), the National Congress and others to declare the initiative illegal, although it was not binding, ie it was only a poll of public opinion.

It was at this moment that many of us decided to exercise our right to say whether or not we agree with the constitutional change. We had not done so before because the poll was non-binding so we felt it unnecessary to invest much time and thought in this discussion. As things were, the media did not believe in the President’s campaign, although it was supported by grassroot groups. But when we realized that powerful groups along with the church were launching a furious attack against an administration that had rebelled against them, we decided to voluntarily and freely give our opinion on the "consultation." But the Armed Forces, under pressure from the "factual" groups, by the power structure under them, and by the intense media campaign aimed at derailing the President, prevented the exercise of the constitutional right of the people to be consulted, and with the force of the weapons that the people themselves have given them, carried out an unequivocal "coup d’etat" and not a shameless "succession" based on a false letter of resignation attributed to President Zelaya.

Now, why the terror of those groups to the above consultation? ... Maybe because some members of congress could be found responsible of passing unconstitutional laws such as the Mining Act to name a case? Perhaps because from the presidency of Congress they have attacked fundamental constitutional articles that today they defend with their lives such as art. 107 to name one case? Perhaps from that position they have defended a corrupt Attoney General’s Office accused of corruption by its own attorneys? Perhaps because they have coerced the Supreme Court to "interpret" the "constitution" in their favor, such as the prohibition that the President of Congress (Micheletti, who was overwhelmingly punished by voters in primary elections) or a Vice President of the Republic (Elvin Santos) run for president?...

Why are they terrified of public consultation? ... Perhaps because the degree of disgrace they have brought to the Constitution and the institutions they now claim to defend makes them vulnerable to a genuine popular consultation, and exposes them to a true change from the "representative power " of themselves, their families and lackeys, to the participative power of organized groups of civil society who have seen dashed their hopes to participate in state institutions that decide the destinies of the people?

While at other times we have defended the Constitution in the streets and in those times we have succeeded, the groups in power have always cleverly turned things in their favor. In the face of that reality, I have felt old and have stayed away from those types of actions. But even at the expense of my well-being and personal safety and that of my family and friends, even knowing that I expose myself to personal vilification false and induced, today I’m sending my personal public protest to the world for an act so vile and despicable perpetrated against the people by the groups in power and the bourgeoisie. Today, they subjugate us using the traditional instruments of domination. Today I join in solidarity with my Honduran brothers and sisters who expose their lives in protest because a glimmer of hope is dying out.

Military Coup in Honduras

2009-06-28T23:57:00.002-05:00

The military has overthrown the president of Honduras. Ask your representatives that democracy be restored in Honduras. See the sample letter below.

Sample letter to your representative

2009-06-28T23:38:00.003-05:00

Honorable -----

We respectfully ask the US government to oppose the removal of the democratically elected President of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya. Mr. Zelaya was ousted from power by the Honduran military on June 28, 2009.

The US Government must push for the return to democracy and abstain from accepting the illegal ouster of President Zelaya. The US Government must demand the return of democracy to Honduras. The Honduran military gave up political power in 1982 due to pressure from the United States. It is time again for the US to be a partner for democracy in Honduras.

Sincerely,

Rain in L.A.

2009-06-03T23:16:00.001-05:00

We had an unusual summer rain today together with thunder. My mom says the weather in L.A. has been strange the last few years. I guess climate change is happening here like everywhere else. Things are becoming a bit unpredictable though some researchers are saying we're in for a drier climate overall in the southwestern U.S., certainly not something which would lead me to expect rain in the summer.

Vimos a mi tia Vicky ayer. Se ve muy bien, rejuvenecida. Le digo que eso se lo tenemos que agradecer a Fidel y a la revolucion.

The kids have been a bit sick with fever. They did better today, but both went to bed early--must've really been tired and needing to recover from days of travelling and not sleeping regular hours.

We saw the movie "Up" today. A tender though sometimes violent movie (paradoxically?). I think the improbable plot was well thought out and the parts seemed to fit together well. Overall a pleasant experience though it can be scary at times for kids.

She made it!

2009-05-28T22:14:00.000-05:00

Stephanie made it! She's now a newly-minted PhD. Nos sentimos muy orgullosos de ella. Cheers, Dr. Moore!

Dissertation rush

2009-05-26T18:23:00.002-05:00

Wow, we haven't posted anything since 2006! But well, it's never too late to restart a blog. Everything is crazy around here because Stephanie is trying to finish her dissertation like a mad woman. This morning she had the formatting blues as anyone who has written one knows, the formatting of the dissertation is the final form of hazing that graduate schools make people go through before they can be called "doctors." Stephanie's taxi will pick her up at 4:30 am tomorrow morning as she heads out to San Diego. We'll catch up with her on Saturday. I have to think of ways to keep the kids entertained while she's away. Ixchel already said that she won't let her mom leave without her. Fortunately, she'll be asleep at that time. Last time Stephanie went on a trip by herself, Ixchel blocked the door trying to physically stop her from leaving, and then begged her on her knees to take her with her. I didn't elicit such a reaction when I went on a trip, but of course, her mom is her mom. Anyway, Stephanie defends the day after tomorrow and after that we'll be living in paradise (at least for some time).

Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and the Badlands

2006-07-21T22:12:00.000-05:00

We visited the sights of western South Dakota today. The sculptures at Mt. Rushmore are truly impressive. It's amazing how rock at that scale can be carved mostly by using dynamite. We also visited the ongoing super-giant sculpture of Crazy Horse being carved out of a mountain of granite only 17 miles from Mt. Rushmore in the Black Hills. The finished sculpture will consist of the torso of the native Amrerican chief Crazy Horse mounted on his horse. At this time only the face has been finished. We had to see this one from pretty far away because we didn't have time to take the bus that takes you to the base of the mountain. But we enjoyed visiting the exhibits in the museum of Native American culture. We rounded up the day by visiting Badlands National Park. Before going in, Stephanie thought they were called Badlands because they were boring, but she changed here mind when she saw them. They are called Badlands because they were extremely difficult to traverse by the early French explorers and besides, they could not be used to produce anything. They are an eerie landscape of eroded formations: buttes, canyons, cliffs, etc. with beautiful earth tones.
Ixchel has been holding up pretty well, but we can tell we're reaching the end of her tolerance for riding in a car. Now she says she wants to walk everywhere instead of going by car. Fortunately, we only have a couple of days left before we get to Illinois where will take an 11-day break.

Mt. Rushmore!

2006-07-21T18:16:00.000-05:00

Home loan blues

2006-07-20T08:43:00.000-05:00

After spending some time in the am running around copying and faxing some additional docs that we just found out are needed for our home loan, we had a long day of driving. Alex is exhausted which is why I’m the blogger, for better or worse. We drove through the Big Horn Cloud Forest – wow! I recommend that area to anyone going through eastern Wyoming. It’s very popular with bicyclists; we saw hundreds (really) and let me tell you, they are big mountains. Beautiful forest, incredible rock formations, etc. They even identify the period of the rock formations (how many millions of years old). We arrived, worn out, in Rapid City. BTW, we can get zero phone reception on our cell phones (seems that Cingular is not a known entity in this part of the country), so hope you haven’t called us.

Carseat rash

2006-07-19T08:42:00.000-05:00

We finished up our stay in Yellowstone with a trip to Mammoth Springs were sulfur and other mineral deposits have formed all sorts of funky formations, orange and white, and there is often steaming water flowing over them, creating these amazing little waterfalls. Alex looked desperately for grizzlies as we left the park (they were only bushes and more bison) and made me grow cross-eyed looking at everything through the binoculars, but to no avail. As we drove across Wyoming, I must say that it was much more memorable than southern Idaho (Alex said that northern Idaho is more impressive). We drove through mountain ranges and exposed red rock and mesas (somewhat like Utah, but bigger) after leaving Yellowstone on our way to Cody, WY, home of Buffalo Bill. Ixchel was clamoring for a swimming pool and her daily ice cream, and we stayed at a great little hotel where the owner has miniature (as well as regular) horses. Ixchel kissed one of the horses and fed them all hay. She still has a little bit of a runny nose at this point but she’s better. You’re probably thinking maybe she shouldn’t be swimming and eating ice cream, but it’s very hard to deny her these pleasures after so many hours in the car. She actually has a rash on her little behind from sitting so much!

Are we there yet?! ¿Ya llegamos?

2006-07-19T08:30:00.000-05:00

Mammoth springs

2006-07-19T07:49:00.000-05:00

Yellowstone day 2

2006-07-18T08:41:00.000-05:00

The moment had arrived for us to make one of the most popular tourist treks of the U.S.: Old Faithful. Alex was lucky enough to see the geyser Beehive erupt, which actually was bigger and longer than Old Faithful (it only goes off 1 – 4x/day and is unpredictable). Ixchel and I (as usual) were in the bathroom. Old Faithful was true to the prediction and we saw the geyser go 2x, always w/in one minute of the prediction. It’s quite a sight, and we were among hundreds there to see it. From OF, we went south to the Grand Teton National Park. As we drove through the southern end of the park, it became clear that Yellowstone is very popular because you can see the gorgeous attributes of the park (lakes, waterfalls, geysers, etc.) often without leaving your car and, at most, after a 20-minute walk. It’s sort of strange that natural wonders can so easily be served up on a platter. The same goes for the wildlife! We ran into two traffic jams: one which was following a bison cruising down the road and another of people stopped to take photos of an elk. Mind you, we were right in the mix, with Alex out of the car, jogging down the road with his camera in hand. Luckily he wasn’t gored by bison. The grizzly bears were not so compliant and we didn’t see any. The Grand Tetons are impressive peaks and the forest in that park is much older forest, so it seems the fires didn’t go that far.

Watch out for the bisons!

2006-07-18T07:51:00.000-05:00

Yellowstone

2006-07-17T08:39:00.000-05:00

We arrived in Yellowstone in the pm and had a great camp site that Alex had managed to book online that am. Ixchel is getting good at setting up camp; she’s an actual help, especially with the tent. She runs around saying, “Con que puedo ayudar?” I was thrilled to be staying in the same place for two whole nights. We took a nice hike through the boiling mudpots and steaming fumaroles that afternoon. Ixchel stopped frequently to play in the dirt to make “pasteles” (cakes) for everyone. On the way back to camp, we visited a lake where Ixchel’s fear of bugs turned into panic at the sight of flies the size of my thumb. We were sprinkled upon briefly that evening, just enough to cool us off. Alex is most impressed to see the devastation caused by the 1988 wildfires that spread through Yellowstone, after which the Forest Service revised its policies on total suppression of forest fires in the park. We saw very little old growth forest in Yellowstone, as the 1988 fires burnt most of it. Of course there is regeneration, but it’s a slow process.

Across Idaho on 84

2006-07-16T23:06:00.000-05:00

We decided to let Ixchel sleep in, so we didn’t get out till noon (the hotel’s checkout time). She seemed to be doing well and did not complain about her ear anymore. Because of the late start we were only able to reach Idaho Falls as we crossed the state from west to east. Because of time constraints we were not able to see some of the sights in Idaho such as the Bitteroot wilderness, the largest roadless area in the lower 48, and had to content ourselves with watching farmland and scrub from highway 84.

Boise and Ixchel's ear

2006-07-15T23:00:00.000-05:00

We finally started heading east into eastern Oregon. This part of the state is very dry and covered mainly with sparse scrub vegetation though on hillsides you see junipers. Ixchel is a very good traveler though at the end of this long trip that ended in Boise, Idaho she said “me duelen las pompis y la espalda (my butt and my back hurts).” She was very happy that we checked in into a hotel with a swimming pool. It was a very hot day and even at 7:30 pm the temperature hovered in the mid 90s. We keep Ixchel entertained by playing her CDs though she only a likes a few songs and never gets tired of them so we have heard “los tres cochinitos (the three little pigs)” about a thousand times now. We’ve begun negotiating with her so that for every time she listens to a couple of her songs we can hear one of ours. She doesn’t like that. Ixchel is still sick (a runny nose and cough) and tonight she started saying that her ear hurt. We got concerned suspecting an ear infection because of all the mucus she’s been producing. But being Saturday evening we couldn’t take her to a doctor and we didn’t want to risk letting an ear infection go without treatment. So, we got ready to take her to the emergency room of the local hospital. As we got in the car all ready to go Ixchel said her ear didn’t hurt anymore. Her pain had magically disappeared and she was in very good spirits. So, we decided to wait. I called my doctor brother (Felix) and he said he didn’t think she had an infection. He prescribed some drugs and said we should keep an eye on her.

Crater Lake NP

2006-07-14T23:04:00.000-05:00

We left Klamath Falls at 10:30 am after stopping by Safeway to buy food. I’d like to get an earlier start, but it’s difficult with Ixchel especially since she’s still sick (cough and runny nose), we let her sleep all she wants. We wish she would sleep more in the car but she only takes a nap about an hour long. Soon after we left, of course, Ixchel had to go “poofy.” But with no bathroom in sight we had to stop by the side of the road and take her behind some bushes. We have to make frequent stops with Ixchel either to do “poofy” or “pichy” or because she’s just tired of being in the car and needs a break. After about an hour we reached Crater Lake National Park. We were first welcomed by the sight of a deep canyon (Alice canyon) with a river running down the middle. But the main attraction is the huge deep blue lake in the middle of an extinct crater. It’s truly an incredible sight, to stand at the rim of a huge volcano and to see a caldera filled with water and an island in the middle. After a pic-nic lunch with a view of the lake and a bit of hiking, we said goodbye to Crater Lake and headed north. We wanted to camp, but it being Friday and close to six pm we were not sure if we could find a spot. We pulled into La Pines camprogund just south of Bend, Ore. We were behind a truck and hoping they wouldn’t take the last stop. As we had feared, the camp was full but the people in the truck we following were there to cancel their reservations, so we were able and lucky to take their spot. The campsite was nice and it even had an electric outlet where I was able to recharge some of the many batteries I have (camera, camcorder, laptop, cell phone). Before going to bed we went to see a talk on star gazing led by park staff. We learned that central and eastern Oregon have very little light pollution (very dark skies) because the big population centers in the state are located more towards the coast. Ixchel was one of the most enthusiastic attendees, jumping up and down and exclaiming “wow!” at the slides of planets, comets, etc. from the nearby observatory. At one slide (a crater on Mars), Stephanie commented to Ixchel, “That one looks like a big eye.” Ixchel responded, “That’s not a big eye. That’s a volcano that exploded and left a big hole.” She got her volcano geology down at Crater Lake and Mount Lassen obviously (in spite of the fact that Mr. Physical Geography – her father – responded to her question of why the volcano exploded with “because it got angry”).

Ixchel and Crater Lake / Ixchelita y el lago

2006-07-14T23:02:00.000-05:00

Lassen and the baby volcanoes

2006-07-13T22:33:00.000-05:00

Lassen is located over a hot spot and it’s famous for its geological activity. Ixchel was introduced to sulphur-smelling mudpots that spewed gray mud. We told her they were baby volcanoes and she asked where their mommy and poppy were. The drive across the park is filled with awe-inspiring views, especially that of Mt. Lassen itself, a sleeping giant. We had lunch next to Manzanita lake where Ixchel went for a skinny dip along with Stephanie (who kept her clothes on). As we left Lassen behind we took a route that took us across Modoc County in California’s northeastern corner. I had always wondered what this remote section of the state looked like. We went through high elevation conifer forests, brushland and agriculture. It was much greener than I had imagined. Due to a train derailment we took an unexpected detour that took us through some backcountry unpaved roads. I became a bit worried because with all the weight our clearance is pretty low, but fortunately though unpaved, the road was even and we got to enjoy views of rustic farmland. After crossing the Oregon border we finally reached our destination of Klamath Falls where we spent the night at the Maverick motel where we had a chance to shower and organize ourselves and I used the wireless connection to post to our blog.

El parque Lassen se encuentra sobre una zona geologica muy activa. Ixchel quedó muy impresionada de ver un “volcancito” que escupía lodo con olor a azufre. La carretera que cruza el parque sube hasta una altura de 8000 pies (2450 m) donde disfrutamos vistas panorámicas de un denso bosque en el valle y de la imponente montaña Lassen que es un volcán dormido. Antes de salir de Lassen almorzamos al lado del lago Manzanita donde observamos a pescadores en busca de truchas. Ixchel y Estefany decidieron darse un chapuzón. Metí los pies pero el agua estaba tan helada que hasta dolía. Seguimos nuestra aventura en el condado de Modoc en el extremo noreste de California. Cruzamos bosques en zonas de alturra y agricultura en los valles. Después de un rato finalmente llegamos a la frontera y entramos al estado de Oregón. Esa noche nos hospedamos en el pequeño pueblo de Klamath Falls. El pueblo tiene un bonito centro histórico donde cenamos en un restaurante italiano.

Snow! ¡Qué frío!

2006-07-13T10:27:00.000-05:00

Camping in Lassen Volcanic NP

2006-07-12T23:37:00.000-05:00

We made our first big outing to Lassen Volcanic National Park. We left Sacramento by 10:30 am and made it to Lassen by 4:30 pm. In the process we crossed the 39^th and 40^th parallels. Lassen VNP is surrounded by Lassen National Forest, so pretty much as soon as we got off the 5 Fwy we started enjoying a beautiful landscape of open dry forest and meadows. Then as we gained elevation, it became a denser pine/fir forest. We thought summer was in full swing but apparently it’s still early in the season since only three out of six campgrounds were open due to snow conditions. We decided to stay in the first campground since Ixchel was by this time pretty tired of being in the car (and she has a way of showing it!). From the campground we had wonderful views of the surrounding peaks. While Stephanie took a nap in the tent, Ixchel and I went for a short hike to a snow patch and to a stream. Later we roasted marshmallows. I ate mine with “smores” but Ixchel and Stephanie like them alone. Ixchel has been having a persistent cough. Besides her usual nighttime “kickboxing” (Stephanie calls her “squiggly-wiggly) she woke us up coughing. We’ve been giving her cough medicine to help her (and us sleep). Anyway, we’re off to an exciting start of our cross-country road trip.

Hicimos nuestra primera gran salida al parque nacional Lassen. Este parque queda como a 200 millas (320 km) al norte de Sacramento. Para llegar ahí tomamos la autopista 5 que corre en dirección norte y sigue el valle central, o sea que en el camino se ve mucha agricultura, pero al salir del 5 y encaminarse hacia el este ya se comienzan a ver bosques y llanos porque uno pronto entra en el Bosque Nacional Lassen. Luego se va aumentado de altura hasta llegar a la entrada del parque. Acampamos como a 6300 pies de altura (1900 m) así que comenzó a hacer frío en cuanto se puso el sol. Hicimos una fogata para calentarnos y rostizar malvabiscos. Ya en la tienda, Estefanía arropó muy bien (quizás demasiado bien pues creo que le dió calor) a Ixchel pues ha estado con una tos persistente la cual al principio creíamos que se debía a una alergía pero ahora no estamos seguros. Además de la tos su comportamiento es normal aunque hoy tenía una leve calentura. De todos modos Ixchel la pasó muy contenta en una pequeña caminata que tomamos donde jugamos en la nieve y visitamos un arroyuelo. A Ixchel le encanta acampar pues le gusta estar afuera y correr libremente. El primer día de nuestro viaje através de los EEUU fue divertido y prometedor.

Baby volcano

2006-07-12T10:20:00.000-05:00

Un volcancito bebé en el parque nacional Lassen. A baby volcano in Lassen National Park.

Sacramento

2006-07-11T23:34:00.000-05:00

We made it Sacramento to our friend’s Bruce and Nancy’s house. Bruce teaches Geography at Sacramento State and Nancy is a speech pathologist. They have two-year old Catherine and a one-year old Natalie. Ixchel and Catherine had a blast playing together. I brought Bruce some pine cores I collected in Honduras as we’re thinking about putting a research proposal together.

Llegamos a Sacramento donde nuestros amigos Bruce y Nancy. Catherine tiene dos años y la pasaron muy bien con Ixchel jugando en la piscinita y en los columpios. Con Bruce esperamos colaborar en un proyecto en el cual buscariamos los árboles más viejos de Honduras para ver si podemos reconstruir el clima de los últimos 300 o 400 años usando dendrocronología (anillos en la madera).

First Day

2006-07-10T23:38:00.000-05:00

After three hectic days of packing and cleaning, we're tired but happy to start a new phase of our lives. The moving truck came today and took all our stuff away. We packed camping gear in our new carrier on top of our car and set off to see the country. However, it being almost 9:00 pm, we only got half a mile away, and decided to spend the night at our friend Elisa's apartment. Stephanie who had been in high gear all day promptly crashed along with Ixchel who'd been impatiently waiting to see Catherine, our friends Bruce and Nancy's little daughter in Sacramento.

Finalmente terminamos de empacar (o de hacer cajas como dicen nuestros amigos españoles Isabel y Javier). Cansados pero contentos, nos embarcamos una vez más en otra etapa de nuestra vida. Luego de cargar el carro salimos hacia nuestra primera parada la cual resultó estar a menos de un kilómetro, pues cansados y siendo tarde decidimos pasar la noche en la casa que nuestra amiga Elisa tan gentilmente nos ofreció.

?Es pasto o zacate?

2005-10-14T22:41:00.000-05:00

Aqui estamos en el norte de CA (condado de Sonoma), asi que ya regresamos del Peru. Estamos bien, Alex trabajando mucho (el te puede contar mas cuando tenga un momento pa' escribir!), yo preparandome pa' mis examanes (marzo), e Ixchel jugando lo maximo posible. Despues de una busqueda de varias semanas, por fin encontre una guarderia pa' ella en la casa de una senora mexicana. Le gusta mucho, aunque a veces se confunde con los cambios de vocab. Me pregunto ayer "?Es pasto o zacate?" Aun sigue diciendo "choclo," "palta," etc. frente al elote, aguacate, etc.

Safety

2005-04-20T18:05:00.000-05:00

All is well here in Lima. Ixchel is growing by leaps and bounds and learning lots of Spanish. She now pretty much repeats anything we tell her. We've been here for seven months now and haven't had any problem safety-wise. Of course, like in any big city (or anywhere for that matter) you have to take precautions such as not walking alone at night or leaving your bag unattended, and always being aware of your surroundings. Also, like any big city, Lima has some areas that are safer than others. We live in theMiraflores district which is one of the safer ones. I don't think that here in Lima you're in any greater danger than you would be in NYC or LA (if that's any consolation). I think that nowadays (unfortunately) the capital cities in Central America (which are much smaller than Lima) are more dangerous. People here don't complain so much about the security situation as they do about the economic situation.

Actually, the main problems we've hadhave been health related especially for my wife. There are hundreds of small restaurants everywhere you go, most of them offering very tasty food at rock-bottom prices. We have succumbed to the temptation and paid with our stomachs. The lesson learned is that you have to be careful where and what you eat. Also, Lima has lots of air pollution which has done a number on my wife'sasthma. She has also been suffering from allergies due to yet-to-be-identified particles in the air. Back to safety, you need to be very careful with the heavy and disordered Lima traffic. The golden rule is: Pedestrians NEVER have the right of way. Before crossing any street (I don't care if it's a quiet little street) you need to look in all directions because a car, a truck, or a bus may come careening through out of nowhere. If you're not careful, getting runover is a real possibility here in Lima. All that said, Lima is a fun and exciting place to live as there are always a myriad cultural happenings, the people are warm and welcoming, plus as I said earlier, the cuisine is great (just be careful).

Ixchel hace pilita

2005-04-04T11:36:00.000-05:00

Ixchel has initiated her own potty training. We were in no hurry given the fun it is finding clean bathrooms for touch-everything little ones when travelling. "Hace pilita" is the term used here for "going potty." At school Ixchel "hace pilita" every hour, so she's in pull-ups. At home is different story. She does like to sit on the pilita (a mini one we bought) and she calls it "pishy" (for "pee-pee"). Her sound effects are great...you might think she was going "pishy" if you weren't watching. In fact, she's taken a greater interest in potty training "osito" (teddy bear) than going herself. He goes pishy regularly and Ixchel patiently sits beside him for as long as 10 or 15 minutes. He also seems to suffer from a bit of nausea because sometimes we find him face down in the pilita.

2005-03-06T15:50:00.000-05:00

Aló, soy Ixchel y la estoy pasando bien en el Perú. Hello, I'm Ixchel living the vida loca in Peru.

Ixchel at 18 months

2005-03-06T14:57:00.000-05:00

El 16 de febrero, Ixchel cumplió 18 meses y celebramos con "pichi" (pizza) y helado (sorri -- como dicen los peruanos -- a los hondureños: ixchel no dice "ays crim"). She just had a check-up a week ago and weighed in at a whopping 23 pounds! She's on the slim side, but very healthy. She is renowned throughout the parks in Miraflores for her fearless climbing and sliding (and slides in Peru are at about 80 degree angles!) on the playground equipment. She still gets distracted now and then on the swing and lets go and falls off, but there's plenty of sand luckily. Su vocabulario crece cada día (quien sabe, tal vez tiene 100 palabras, dichas de su manera) mas y ha empezado a formar oraciones cortas como "Ahí está papá". Está utilizando liberalmente las palabras "más" y "otr@"...más 'tas (galletas), por ejemplo, y "ota mamá' y "oto papá" a todas las mujeres y los hombres en calle...me maravilla, como angloparlante, que dice bien el género de las palabras cuando a veces todavía me equivoco! At this point, you can have little conversations with Ixchel (she answers questions like ¨Como te llamas¨ '' what´s you name¨ and Como estás¨¨how are you¨) and with her Ixchel-style Spanish, she can get her point across most of the time. If you ask her about certain things, she´ll even re-enact them, peppering the story with pertinent words, i.e. falling off the swing will include falling down, rubbing her head, ´ouch´ and she might throw in the ´avión´ and ´nanyas´ which she also saw at the park. Tambien habla español como suramericano, dice ¨palta¨pa´aguacate, ¨plátano¨ para guineo, y le dijo ¨toma¨ (o sea, la tuteó) a su mejor amiga Dora la Exploradora cuando le dio un juguete.
Her best friend is Dora la Exploradora, an Ixchel-sized doll that her grandma Orbe gave to her at Christmas, who lets Ixchel have her way on everything (why can´t all the nanyas be like this, Ixchel wonders). Por lo general Ixchel es un encanto, pero como dice acá, tiene su genio y es muy capaz de hacer un berrinche ocasional. And unfortunately, she is fully immersed in the "mío" (mine) stage which I was hoping to avoid...but I guess total isolation from society would be the only way to avoid it!
Le encanta andar en la calle, en el parque, en la playa ... siempre quiere estar afuera! Reguarly throughout the day, she throws herself against the door, screaming ¨allá!¨ (there!) and pointing to go outside. She LOVES her nido and tried to go unnoticed by Alex when he went to pick her up the other day. Es famosa en su nido por su afán por la canción criolla y es una gran bailerina.

Love story

2005-02-14T15:33:00.000-05:00

On the boat to Ballesta Islands

¡Salimos de Lima!

2005-02-14T14:14:00.000-05:00

En febrero, viajamos al departamento de Ica, al sur de Lima por motivos de trabajo y diversión. Yo (Stephanie) estuve 4 días (¡sola!) haciendo investigaciones e investigaciones en la ciudad de Ica, la cabecera departamental. Me recibió muy bien la Asociación Peruana Japonesa y me presentó a los más viejitos de su comunidad (85+ años) para que yo los entrevistara. También les mostré una copia del libro de Seiichi Higashide (abuelo de Tami Kudo para los que la conocen) a varias personas mayores de Ica y bien se acuerdan de él, su familia, y su bazar. Por otro lado, Ica no tiene un archivo formal, así que tuve que andar tras varios funcionarios públicos para que soltaran los documentos que yo quería. La Municipalidad me ayudó bastante, pero en la Prefectura tuve que endulzar al viejito encargado con ricos postres (¡e Ica tiene muchos!) para que me atendiera. A lo mejor se dan cuenta que Alexis no tiene por qué ponerse celoso cuando ando de viaje ¡porq' sólo la paso con abuelitos (y abuelitas)!
Alexis e Ixchel pasaron los 4 días en Lima sin problema, con el único detalle que estaban un poco apurados al salir pa' alcanzarme en Ica, y Alexis no sabía que hacer con la comida en la refri, así que metió todo en el frizer...avena todavía en la olla y con cuchara, una bolsa de leche, etc. Pues, al regresar, yo tenía miedo de la leche, pero las averiguaciones de mi hermana en el internet reveló que sí, se puede congelar leche (Alex se sintió vindicado...pero admitió que la avena no tenía muy buen sabor).
Pues, una vez que me alcanzaron Alexis e Ixchel, fuimos al oasis de Huacachina cerca de Ica que está en medio de unas dunas de arena que son cerros impresionantes. Todavía no me acostumbro al hecho que la costa del Perú es un desierto, pero no un desierto como California ¡sino como el desierto Sahara! Ixchel la pasó de maravilla jugando en el lago. De ahí nos dirigimos a Pisco, en la costa, y fuimos a la Reserva Paracas y las Islas Ballestas -- conocidas como "el Galápagos de los Pobres", ¡lo cual estuvo perfecto pa' nosotros! Abundan lobos marinos y muchas variedades de pájaros incluyendo el pinguino Humboldt. Ixchel estuvo un poco confundida con los lobos marinos porque recien había visto "Los 3 Chanchitos" (títeres) y tenían que gritarle a los chanchitos para advertirlos que venía el lobo. Así que cada vez que se mencionaban los lobos marinos, Ixchel se ponían a gritar "¡Beto! ¡Beto!" (el nombre del chanchito en los títeres).

Two-story buses

2005-02-11T15:34:00.000-05:00

Two-story buses are common in Peru. En este bus nos fuimos Ixchel y yo a Ica. ¡Se puede apreciar muy bien el paisaje desde el segundo piso, pero da un poco de miedo cuando el viento menea al bus! Ixchel and I rode this bus to Ica. It's a nice view from up there but a bit scary when the wind starts blowing!

Life's a beach in Lima

2005-01-21T20:03:00.000-05:00

¡Cuidado con las olas!

Sizzling summer

2005-01-18T20:01:00.000-05:00

Summer has finally arrived in Lima! Yesterday it was 82 F with a radiant sun and clear skies. People are going to the beach. I used my sunglasses for the first time since I arrived here. At last, Lima is beginning to feel like the tropics. From what we've heard, the summer season is short in Lima, so we better enjoy it while we can!

Post-holiday health

2005-01-16T13:41:00.000-05:00

Well, I think my stomach is on the heal (battered by multiple bacterial infections as well as the antibiotics to cure the same infections) with B12 + folic acid to repair my stomach lining. But then we found out my nephew Matthew has whooping cough. We spent the Christmas holiday with him and our family in Chicago where there seems to be an epidemic. So, we all got on antibiotics again to catch it early and to avoid infecting anyone else. Hopefully this will be my last round of antibiotics for a long time!! We just found out that no one else in the household has it, so we probably don't have it either...it's not that easy to pass. However, we all have nasty coughs (which we thought might be whooping cough), so it seems that was a parallel illness running through my family over Christmas. Ixchel has a little throat/tonsil infection, so she's also on antibiotics and has not been able to go back to her nido. We're all a little stir crazy...especially since the weather is nice here now! Alex' Aunt Vicki arrives this coming week and we should be healthy and ready to show her Lima and we'll see what else.

Stomach saga

2005-01-08T11:08:00.000-05:00

I (Stephanie) have been a little down b/c I'm sick all the time. I had another stomach relapse about one week before Christmas and was nauseous and could hardly eat until about New Year's. And I was really looking forward to pigging out and getting my weight back up to normal! I'm still not ok so I'm seeing another specialist and they're doing more parasite tests. I hope they can figure it out and treat me. In the meantime, we're trying to cook at home which is a total bummer given all the good Peruvian food. Maybe once I'm feeling better I'll get a Peruvian cookbook and learn some recipes. I feel behind in my research b/c of being sick all the time, but hopefullly I'll be better and can get moving again.

Servicios Postales del Peru (Serpost)--not your friend

2004-12-14T13:40:00.000-05:00

I just returned from picking up a package from my mom which was being held at the Peruvian post office customs department. The innocent-looking notice came yesterday saying that I needed to pick up a package. Being the national post office, I thought it would be at a nearby location. Well, after a 40 minute taxi ride I finally arrived to the postal annex where my 17 lb.-package of books was being sequestered. A guard at the entrance asked for the notice and my ID. Then he directed me to window #1 where I filled out some paper work after showing my passport again. I took that piece of paper to window #2 where a nice lady took it and gave me a ticket with the number 09. Number 94 was showing on the screen. The numbers advanced painfully slowly and seemed to completely stop when they reached 01. I went up to a window where they were delivering packages to inquire why the numbers had stopped and was directed to another window . As I waited in line at this other window I noticed 02 was now on the screen. "Ok, I thought it can't be much longer, at least the numbers are moving again". So, I sat down to do a crossword puzzle.

After a while, 09 finally came up. I went to window #3 where after showing my passport and handing in some paperwork I was told to wait "a little while" for my name to be called. I sat down again wondering why all the Serpost employees looked so busy behind the counters while all the clients where just sitting around holding on to their ticketed numbers. What where they looking at so intensely on their computer screens? Why did they keep shuffling through paper files? After another while, a pregnant german woman, who along with her Peruvian husband had been there longer than me, grew impatient and started complaining outloud about the Peruvian postal system, how this was the most ridiculuos postal office she had ever seen and how this would never happen in Germany. I thought "Welcome to Peru, welcome to Latin America, welcome to any place where bureacracy still serves to keep people employed". I had seen my package. I saw it behind window #3 and was able to read my mother's name on it. Only a glass window and a few steps kept me from it. I started fantasizing: what if I ran in (there was a small access door), grabbed my package and ran for life. Then I remember the security guard outside. That's why they had a security guard at the gate, I thought, to keep people from snapping and stealing their own packages. It had been much more than "a little while" and my name wasn't being called, nor was the german woman's, nor was anybody's. The german woman went to window #4 and after some untelligible haggling she came out holding a piece of paper and shouting "yoo-hoo!" with evident glee. Ok, I thought, if the german woman did it, why can't I? I went to window #4 where a small crowd had gathered after seeing the success of the german woman. After waiting in line, showing my passport, and sigining a piece of paper, I was handed the final piece of paper that confirmed that I had sufficiently suffered Serpost and had earned the right to receive my package. I was told to go to window #5.

At window #5 I waited in line behind the german woman. Then an elderly woman arrived and waited behind me. After a while, she grew impatient and moved to the front of the line. Her granddaughter called her to return to the back of the line, but she paid no attention. I told the german woman, "wasn't she behind me? what's she doing upfront?" Then an argentine woman who was now behind me said "what a conchuda she is". The german woman tapped the elderly woman's shoulder and told her to move back into the line. The elderly lady mumbled something about being in a hurry and something about her grandaughter I couldn't understand. Then, the argentine woman exploded and began shouting at the elderly woman telling her that she had been there since eight in the morning (it was now around 12:30 pm), that everyone had other things to do, and that she had kids to go feed. The elderly lady told her to be quiet, which incensed the argentine woman even more and shouted "No me joda, it's my democratic right to say whatever I goddamn please!" Fortunately, the elderly woman agreed to return to the line before things got out of hand. Also fortunately, because my package contained only books, it was exonerated from paying custom taxes. With my package in hand I hurried out of the postal annex--not before having to identify myself with the security guard again--to hail down a cab for the long ride back home. After I told my story to the porter at our building, he wisely advised me: "next time use a private carrier".

Racism

2004-12-05T19:52:00.000-05:00

Racism here seems similar and different from the U.S. I've been told, and believe, that the racism against indigenous people is stronger than that against the Afro-Peruvian population. It's true, people see the glory of the Incas as something positive in an anthro/arqueological sense, but most mestizos (or cholos) don't connect to themselves and their heritage in a way that promotes pride, especially because the descendants of the Andean/Incan civilizations are alive! and have been methodically deprived of their lands and livelihood, hand-in-hand as they were denigrated by the ruling class (of Spanish descent which then embraced other European immigrants). It's not even like Mexico, where there is lipservice to the heritage of the Aztec empire, etc., even though the actual, living indigenous people are mistreated. I've been told that the movements of indigenous people are stronger in Bolivia and Ecuador, although I'm not sure why really.

Recently, a fancy discotheque in the exclusive Larcomar shopping center was fined for not admitting non-white patrons. A sting operation was set up by the police where first a cholo couple showed up and was told that they needed to be in a special "invited-guests only" list to gain admission to the establishment. Then, a while later a white couple was readily admitted though they were not in any list nor were connected to the establishment in any way (they were part of the sting operation!). It's amazing the extent to which on TV and print advertising all you see are white faces when more than half of the population is indigenous.

Fuji, come back Chino

2004-12-04T18:46:00.000-05:00

"Fuji, vuelve Chino" -- "Fuji, come back Chino"

At 10% approval rating, president Toledo is perhaps the least popular of all Latin American presidents. Some people attribute his low popularity to the fact that he's a "cholo" or a person of indigenous origin who's being put down by the white elite. However, this is probably not the whole story. Toledo came into power with a huge mandate, particularly from indigenous and poor mestizo groups feeling that he was one of their own who would work for their interest. He made many promises that many Peruvians say he has not kept. He has given in to demands from the IMF and the global powers that be and by doing so has insured that the poor remain so. Many Peruvians now wistfuly remember the days of Fujimori (aka "el Chino"). Fujimori himself has fanned such hopes by hinting that he will return from his self-imposed exile in Japan to run again for president. Of course, both his admirers--he has a higher approval rating than Toledo, though that's not saying much--and his opponents want him to come back. The former to see his political rebirth and the latter to see him tried and jailed. The Peruvian government recently made the latest in a series of formal requests to the Japanese government for his extradition. The Japanese government drags its feet. Perhaps they see him as a prodigal son.

Adventures in the Archives

2004-12-04T17:43:00.000-05:00

Ixchel doesn't get to come along to the archives, so these are my [Stephanie] daily "adventures." Hopefully, this will be of interest to more than my history colleagues. After we dress and feed Ixchel and Alex whisks her off to her nido, I head off to catch my "colectivo" -- which is a cut-rate taxi that travels a set route w/ as many passengers that can be stuffed in (watch out for the occasional big American car; we were 8 in that vehicle one day). While Limeños are absolutely impassive during these hair-raising rides, I alternate between covering my eyes at the huge bus hurling head on into my door and letting out little frightened-rodent squeals as we cut across 5 lanes of traffic, to coughing and crying as the chama (small private bus) which DIDN"T pass the smog check fills the taxi with a heavy smoke. My fellow passengers eye me with mild curiosity over the edge of their newspapers.

I'm working at the archives of the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriors (Foreign Affairs) and the Archivo General de Nación (National Archives--AGN). The former is located closer to the Plaza de Armas in Lima and the latter in the Palacio de Justicia (the Supreme Court, etc. are also housed here), both near Lima's center. All our middle-classish Peruvian friends, as seems to be the case across Latin America, warn us of the danger lurking around every corner in the historical city centers (mind you, I certainly don't discount the possibility of crime). During my first weeks, I walked to the Palacio de Justicia clutching my backpack to my side, alert to every shoeshine man, haba-bean seller, and blue-uniformed schoolchild. As I neared the Palacio de Justicia, men came within inches of my ear and repeated some distorted (to my ear) words. Just as I had been warned: these were obviously men trying to sell me drugs...must be using some Peruvian slang for coca that I hadn't learned in my court interpreter years. I shook my head, averted my eyes, and moved away quickly. After a week or so, my ear and the rest of me relaxed and I could make out the words: "tramites" and "notario" -- in other words, assistance with legal papers. Although maybe there's something shady about it if they're whispering.

I'll end with some initial observations for my history colleagues, much of which is likely self-evident:
1 - Act like you don't understand the word "no" o "no hay" o "no se puede" and just keeping talking until the staff thinks of a way to help you get the document you want, etc. At the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, the receptionist who screens the authorization to the archives letters insisted that my letter wouldn't work because I hadn't written the director's name (it is a letter I am using at multiple archives). She thought I was daft because I wouldn't understand her and go away, but in the end she let me handwrite the director's name in, carefully directing me where to put the accents on his name (seriously indicating that a mistake on the accents would be a major problem). The director ended up being extremely helpful, as has all the staff at both archives.

2 - THIS IS A LOT EASIER THAN READING 17TH CENTURY DOCUMENTS! Some of my docs were handwritten, but NO COMPARISON. And boy do those colonialists make a mess with all the ancient dust on those documents. My docs, just the same, have enough dust to have dried out my contacts (in combo with the ferocious pollution of Lima) leading to my blinking so much that Alex thought I had a tic. I've been using my glasses a lot.

3 - But you colonialists will be happy to know that your docs are much better organized than the republican period. Even early 20th century may be a problem and the indices have been virtually useless to me. If it wouldn't have been for the generous assistance of the archivists, I would be probably be slogging through a lot of completely useless info.

4 - The effect of limited resources: documents are falling apart because they can't afford the folders, etc. that would preserve them...the index of one of my 1000-page Ministerio de Hacienda Memorias had disintegrated (and it is NOT EXCITING looking at every page of the Peruvian Treasury Dept's report! Although I found great info on confiscations of Japanese properties by tolerating this tedium.); I'm not sure how I'm going to get documents that are in the (AGN) Annex "porque no hay personal" to pull them off the shelves for me; the AGN turns off the water at 5 p.m. so no bathrooms; and Pres Toledo is closing all public offices (including all the archives of course) from December 13 - Jan 3 as an austerity measure. I hope the $$ I'm paying for copies (only slightly less than the Huntington Library! Ouch!) helps. I do try to take detailed notes on my PDA w/ wireless keyboard (a must for archive work in my opinion) as much as possible rather than make copies.

I'm not always sure that I'm following a fruitful research path, sometimes looking through reams of paper to find a marginally useful document. But there are moments when I hit documents, often through a lengthy and circuitious route, that I sense are a big piece of the understanding how the Japanese community in Peru came under such attack in the 1930s and 1940s, and I get quite a rush, I must admit. And then I look at my watch, put all my books on reserve until the next day, zoom out to catch my colectivo back to Miraflores where I'll take Ixchel out to a park to chase pigeons, and scramble up loosely-constructed jungle gyms and fly down steep slides to her delight and my pounding heart.

Ixchel and her "nest"

2004-12-04T10:30:00.000-05:00

Ixchel is in a "nido," which is what they call pre-school/daycares here. She loves it. There are about 40 or 50 kids up through 5 years, but only 5 children in her aula. She loves her teacher Miss Ines. Besides having the opportunity to play with other kids, her vocabulary has taken off (I'm sure it's the age, too). The nido is only 3 blocks from our home, so Alex takes her and picks her up (from 8:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.) every day. I try to leave about that time to go downtown to work in the archives and I get back about 4:30, so Alex watches her until I get back and then I usually take her to a park or something until dinner time.

Earthquakes, keys, and locks

2004-11-24T22:38:00.000-05:00

In the few weeks since we arrived in Lima we have already experienced two earthquakes, which makes us feel like Peru is more tectonically active than California! Peru lies at the intersection of the Nazca and the South American plates. Their collision gives rise to the Andes, the second highest mountain range in the world, next only to the Himalayas. The plate collision also results in many faults, which invariably means earthquakes. The first one we felt after being here for only about a week was a sudden strong jolt which shook walls and rattled windows. The second one was completely different. It came slowly and grew with a crescendo. Stephanie asked me if it was an earthquake and I replied that probably a large truck was passing by. But then it grew stronger until we couldn't mistake it for anything else. It was very long, longer than anything I've felt in California, at least 20 seconds, which is very long for an earthquake. Fortunately neither one caused injury or damage from what we know. Peru suffered a devastating earthquake in 1970 that killed some 60,000 people. I hope we're not due for another big one.

Out of concern for things like earthquakes and fires we decided to always keep a spare key in the front door lock. Peruvian locks are made so that in order to lock the door you need to lock yourself in. In other words, you need a key to get out. So, we always left it attached to the inside lock in case we needed to get out in a hurry. The problem with that is that (and no one told us this since every good Peruvian should know it already) if you try to lock the door from the outside with another key in the side of the lock inside the apartment, the two keys may turn in different directions resulting in a stuck key. Needles to say, this happened to us last Saturday as we were heading out for a weekend outing to the zoo. Well, the locksmith had to come and drill open our front door lock and replace it with a new one. The entire ordeal took a couple of hours which Ixchel and Stephanie used to visit the Christmas Store (more on that later) and some friends across town while I waited outside our door as the locksmith struggled to get us back into the apartment. As the say, live (in Peru) and learn.

2004-11-20T21:49:00.000-05:00

Ixchel llega al Peru - Ixchel in Peru (Parque Central, Miraflores)

Transporte, moneda, y distancias

2004-11-17T17:41:00.000-05:00

Nuestro principal medio de movilidad es el Be-eme-doblepie. Ademas utilizamos los buses, chamas (microbuses), colectivos, y taxis regulares. Ademas, de vez en cuando hay tours particulares que uno puede tomar. Lima es una ciudad con una poblacion mayor a la de todo Honduras, o sea que hay de todo, lo bueno, lo malo, y lo feo. Lima tiene un centro historico muy bonito con edificios coloniales, parques, y todo. Hay que recordar que junto con México DF era una de las ciudades más importantes en tiempos de la colonia. Hay muchos museos y eventos culturales. Nosotros vivimos en el distrito de Miraflores que es como una pequeña ciudad pues tiene su propia alcaldía y depto. de policía. Está al lado del mar que es bueno pues hay menos contaminación que en otras partes. Miraflores es un lugar bien tranquilo, nosotros estamos como a 8 cuadras del mar. Las distancias son largas si uno necesita desplazarse por todo Lima, pero por lo general todo lo que necesitamos lo tenemos cerca ya que estamos en una zona bastante centrica de Miraflores. El nido de Ixchel esta a tres cuadras, el super a cuatro, el banco a cinco, y hay pequeños restaurantes por todos lados.

Estefanía va todos los días al centro de Lima pues ahí tienen los archivos que ella investiga. En taxi se llega como en 15-20 minutos. Los taxis aqui son mas baratos que en Honduras. Adentro de Miraflores no pasan de $1.50 y para ir al centro que esta más lejos unos $2. El aeropuerto nos queda como a 45 minutos y de ahí sí cobran como $10. Aqui tienen una economía bi-monetaria o sea que el dólar circula mucho y se puede usar para pagar en el super y en las tiendas y le dan el cambio como usted quiera en dolares o en soles, y como en Honduras, muchos precios se los dan en dólares como el alquiler de los departamentos por ejemplo. El cambio ahorita esta como a 3.3 soles por dolar. Cuando estuvimos aqui en julio el sol estaba a 3.5 por dólar, o sea que el dolar ha bajado en relacion al sol. Nunca ví que sucediera eso en Honduras aunque ultimamente el lempira se ha mantenido bastante estable. Los precios son bastante cómodos, especialmente la comida pues una comida estilo "menu" le cuesta menos de $2. Además la comida es muy rica pues el Perú es uno de los principales centros gastronómicos en Latinoamérica.

Cuando nos visiten nos gustaría salir de Lima pues el Perú es un país inmenso donde caberían 11 honduras (1,285,000 km cuadrados) y hay mucho que ver. Hay tres regiones principales: la costa que es árida, la cadena de los Andes (el Perú tiene muchos picos que sobrepasan los 6,000 m), y el bosque amazónico al otro lado de los Andes. Se puede imaginar que las distancias son bastante grandes. Hay buses-cama pues viajes de 20 o mas horas no son fuera de lo comun. Para ir a Cusco por lo general la gente se va en avion, por ejemplo. El clima no termina de calentar aqui en Lima. Los días siguen nublados y el clima está fresco como para andar suéter o chumpa ligera. Yo le digo a los peruanos que en Lima el único sol que hay es en la moneda. Pero las cosas estan mejorando pues estamos entrando en el verano austral. Dicen que el 15 de diciembre empieza la temporada veraniega y que de enero a marzo son los meses en que las playas se llenan de veraniantes.

Mold and more

2004-11-09T21:04:00.000-05:00

[By Stephanie] I've been sick for the past 2 weeks, stomach stuff. They gave me antibiotics, but they didn't work the first round so I'm on another 5 days. At this point, it's not as bad as it was; I just get a stomach ache everytime I eat and I can't eat all the good stuff, like cebiche, until I'm better. Luckily Ixchel has a stomach like a Peruana and Alex is well equipped given his 14 years in Honduras. Of course Ixchel isn't eating cebiche yet, either, although in general she likes the basic foods: potatoes, avocados, rice, quinoa, etc. There's a Peruvian vegetarian restaurant near our house where we go with some regularity. But I guess I got in trouble b/c we've been sampling everything -- how can you resist in Peru! -- in a different restaurant everyday. Oh, and we found an incredible dessert store the other day. It has choclates with pecans and manjar blanco (the caramel-like stuff) inside, to name just one item.

The other day, I was putting away some clothes in my closet and I found that the 4 pairs of shoes I have that I haven't worn here yet (b/c they're for summer, more formal) were COVERED in mold! It looked like some 4th-grade science project gone wild. Seriously, over 2 inches of mold growing all over one pair. Washed everything in bleach and have the closet loaded up with "dehumidifier balls" which will hopefully take care of things. Of course Alex, the physical geographer, assures me that the humidity can't be THAT high here because the air is too cool to hold high amouts of water. He patiently explains to me that San Pedro Sula (Honduras) has higher humidity because the air is warmer. But my clothes dried in SPS and my shoes were never covered in mold! I insist. Consequently, Alex has had to re-think the application of theory to our wet, Lima reality and has finally decided that although absolute humidity is not that high here, relative humidity is: the coolness of the air allows it to be fully saturated and eliminates its drying power. Peruvians (who have all experienced the moldy-shoe phenomenon) look at Alex like he's nuts when he tries to explain relative vs. absolute humidity in Lima.

Ixchel really likes her "nido" (daycare, literally means "nest"), especially Miss Ines, her teacher who's very nice. She's learning lots of words (dato = zapato = shoe), pie (foot), and she said "Miss" a lot after her first week in the nido. On Friday, I'll go on a field trip with her nido to a farm outside of Lima. It's a really nice nido; it's very Catholic as is almost everything here. She's already been parading around the block for one of the thousand religious celebrations they have here (the Miracle Christ on this occasion, as opposed to Christ in his other 100 manifestations that are celebrated). She enjoyed it -- got to wear a purple cape, a little purple Jesus necklace, and walk around outside looking for wow-wows (her favorite activity besides chasing balls of other children in the park...everyone is very nice and lets Ixchel play with their toys). She has picked up some less attractive habits...I'm waiting for "mio" to pop into her vocabulary, but not yet...the other day she spent a whole day sort of whining with her face screwed up for no apparent reason (we were on a nice walk in the park). Soon I realized she was just testing out what she'd seen other kids do in the nido. I nipped this annoying behaviour in the bud very quickly (although, more likely, I think Ixchel just got bored with doing it).

I've been a bit slowed with my illness, but primarily I've been working in the national archives which are located in the Palacio de Justicia (a state building just across from the Sheraton for those who know Peru). I enjoy the dusty documents and think I'm working on some relevant stuff (labor complaints against Nikamatsu Okada, the largest Japanese immigrant landowner in pre-WW II Peru, was deported...trying to see to what degree there was popular protest against different Japanese groups (ie rich/powerful like Okada) and/or if anti-J campaigns were organized by competitors -- other large landowners -- and how all this fed into state policy). Sometimes it's hard to tell how relevant it is when you start. The other problem is that a lot of the 20th c docs are disorganized. I also met with Amelia Morimoto, the most eminent Peruvian writer on the J-Ps. May go to Ica later this month, but I'm a little behind in my planning b/c of the sickness.

Alex is working on articles and applying for some jobs. Luckily it's warmed up so he's not freezing to death. He really likes the food and being in Latin America. Oh! And we went to a play the other night with a friend of Alex' who works for the UN in Peru. Our other friends' niece (she's in her 30s) took care care of Ixchel.

Ixchel, clima, y comida

2004-11-09T17:56:00.000-05:00

El traslado al Peru nos dejo incomunicados hasta hace unos dias. Aqui tienen los "cafes internet" pero como le cobra a uno por minuto, casi no puede escribir a nadie sin terminar en bancarrota. Felizmente, por fin conseguimos internet en casa, asi que puedo escribir con un poco de tranquilidad. Llegamos al Peru el 1 de octubre y todo anda bien hasta ahora. Ixchel esta de lo mas bien, creciendo, hablando...dice "datos" para "zapatos", "pa" para "pajaro", "naña" para ninos y ninas, etc. y a ella le encantan los guau-guaus. Ella se ha adaptado de maravilla. Alex tambien se encuentra bien, le gusta estar en America Latina de nuevo, pero yo creo que extraña hasta el calor de Cuba en agosto! No se calienta Lima, te lo juro. Hay una capa de neblina que cuesta quitarse. Me van bien las investigaciones, pero me enferme del estomago y he estado con dolores y varios otros malestares relacionados, asi que me tuve que quedar en cama por unos dias. Ya me estoy recuperando, creo. La comida es muy rica aca y he comido de todo, pero parece que esta panza gringuita no aguanto. Y eso que no me enferme pa' nada en Cuba.

Ixchel in the park

2004-11-01T13:31:00.000-05:00

Ixchel being Ixchel --- Ixchel siendo Ixchel en el parque del amor

The weather

2004-10-30T17:02:00.000-05:00

It’s been almost a month since we arrived in Peru and we’re finally beginning to feel settled down. I had never been to Peru until last July when we came for about a week. July was in the middle of the austral winter and Lima was cold indeed. The temperature and the weather felt very much like San Francisco which I dread to visit because of its cold and dampness. I admit that I’m a cold-weather wimp, but usually if I’m bundled up I can “weather” anything. However, in Lima you couldn’t escape the cold because no one uses heaters and if you ask anyone about heaters they usually smile or laugh out loud. So, you’re exposed the cold 24 hours a day and it’s often colder indoors (because of the dampness) than out. Humidity is very high in Lima, often approaching 100% making the cold feel worse and laundry very difficult to dry! Back in July they told us that when we came back in early October, it would be much warmer as it would be “spring.” Unfortunately, that didn’t turn out to be the case. It was still cold though not as bad as in July. The temperature then was in the 50s, which might not sound bad, unless you’re continuously exposed to it with no way to escape it. When we returned in early October, the highs were in the low 60s. My ideal temperature is in the high 70s, so this was very far from it. The low temperatures in Lima puzzled me since the city is only 12° south of the equator (about the same latitude as Rio de Janeiro) and at sea level. You would expect a warm (if not hot) tropical climate.

First Day at the Nido Welcome

2004-10-19T21:39:00.000-05:00

Ixchel en su Nido con Miss Inés & Joaquín - Ixchel at Daycare

Cheetah CD Burner

2004-10-08T20:51:00.000-05:00

The Cheetah CD Burner provides an easy to use interface for burning CD-R and CD-RW disc's. You can also Burn Bootable CD's, ISO Files, and Audio CD's from MP3, MP2, WMA, WAV, AVI and OGG files. The Cheetah CD Burner also includes an Audio CD Ripper and many other useful utilities. $15 to buy. Free 15-day demo.