Before we get started, I'd like to point out that the Metro supermarket does, in fact, stock Alpaca jerky.
Yesterday, August 29, was a day I had been looking forward to for the better part of a month. As we are all well aware, Sunday marked the 101st running of the Lima Half Marathon. This race is actually the second oldest long distance footrace in the Americas after the Boston Marathon. And I was foolhardy enough to sign myself up and then try to run the thing without specific training. Granted, I have been running twice a week since I rolled into town, but I never focused on preparing for a 13.1 mile race. I usually run on the Malecon, a path along the sea cliffs of Lima. Since there are no mile or kilometer markers I never really know how far I've run, but I figure it's safe to assume that I log about 10 miles each time I go out (well, 3 miles might be more accurate, but tomato tomahto right?). While my lack of training might be considered lazy, I was mostly curious to see how well I could run the longest distance ever attempted by myself without proper preparation. When I showed up to the Plaza de Armas yesterday at 7am, I began to wonder whether some training might have been a good idea. The plaza was swarming with runners all in the yellow race shirt (we were told to wear the shirt otherwise we would be disqualified and put in an Iron Maiden. Hmm, maybe it was just disqualified, but I'm pretty sure about the Iron Maiden punishment too.) and engaged in a wide variety of race warm-ups. Some people were jogging, some were stretching, and some were receiving a blessing from the Priest in the cathedral bordering the Plaza de Armas. Don't say the Peruvians take running lightly.
I wandered around before the race began, mostly sightseeing or people watching. I never did any specific warm-ups for my normal runs so I didn't want to mess with success. At 7:50am the race organizers called us to the starting line to take our positions. I have not run a race in a few years, and I was shocked by the amount of technology people had strapped onto their bodies. I saw belts with tiny water bottles full of mystical elixirs, arms with iPods, chests with heart rate monitors, and wrists with pace setters. I'm sure there are benefits to using these tools, but it all seemed very excessive to me. After all, we were tasked with a very simple activity: run until you get to the end. I brought my watch to get an idea of how fast I was running but stopped checking it after a few kilometers because I stopped caring. I mostly just ran at what felt like my usual pace. Too fast and I might not make it to the end, too slow and I might suffer the ridicule of thousands of smug Limans. That left me with the seemingly smartest option of running just right.
We started out winding through some of the streets surrounding the Plaza de Armas. Even at my comfortable pace I ended up weaving ahead of many runners, and it wasn't until the 1st km that I found myself a uncluttered space to chip away at the next 20 kms. Throughout the race there were groups of people providing their support. I saw folks dressed in super hero costumes with signs saying we were the real heroes. I was greeted by chants of "Si se puede!" (Yes you can!) from clusters of local school children. The most impressive demonstration of support was outside a fire station in central Lima. They firefighters had opened their garage door and had the sirens blaring on the fire engines. On the opposite side of the street stood roughly 120 firefighters, in full uniform, lined up two-deep honoring us. I was taken aback by the gesture. It was quite a sight, but it also seemed sort of misplaced since firefighters are a hell of a lot more honorable than a bunch of sweaty joggers. Nice of them to get up early and see us off, though.
The race also provided a pleasant tour of central Lima, San Isidro, and Miraflores. I saw some familiar areas and some that were new to me. I would have enjoyed the sights of these districts a lot more if there weren't an impending mayoral election. The city has become blanketed in billboards, fliers, flags, and signs promoting the various candidates. And there are a lot of candidates. These ubiquitous advertisements are made worse by the fact that most of the candidates' pictures are terrible. I know that the United States is overly image conscious, but I don't think many of these candidates understand the negative impact a scary picture can have. Hmmm, should I go with picture where I look red and bloated, have the flash reflected in my glasses, and don't smile but instead look disgruntled? Maybe the one where I don't look at the camera and hold my arms out in a patronizing gesture that suggests spreading the wealth to my serfs? No, no, I know which one I should use. Let's go with the double thumbs up where I have a huge smile that shows that my jaw is crooked. Conservatively, 60% of the candidates' pictures are frightening/off-putting. Another 30% are mildly unsettling. The last 10% actually seem like the candidate put some thought into how best to present their image to a skeptical public (corruption is a big problem down here). Of course, what do I have blocking many of the unique sights along the run? Ugly campaign posters. Fortunately, this focused my attention on the pot-hole filled road and probably helped me avoid a twisted ankle or achy breaky heart.
The first 15 km were perfectly enjoyable. Along the way, I saw a clever innovation which I am sure is used in other races, but it was the first time for me. Runners wearing a "Pacer" shirt were interspersed with the mob and had a large balloon attached to their waist with a time on it. Therefore, you could huddle around the 1:50 Pacer and know that you would finish the race in 1 hour and 50 minutes (and you would know that the Pacer would provide you protection from larger predators in exchange for cleaning their gills and eyeballs.). Or, you could challenge yourself to run faster by exceeding the pace of the Pacers. I found these Pacers to be an informative and interactive addition to the race, and I was particularly happy when I passed the 1:45 Pacer. My modest goal was to beat a 8:00 mile pace, and I knew that if I was ahead of 1:45 I would be okay. Unfortunately, the general merriment enjoyed thus far began to wane around the 16 km mark. I was started to feel tired and began to wonder why I subjected myself to this in the first place. Each km until the finish was spent concentrating on reaching the next km marker. I tried to keep my pace consistent, but it was hard to tell because I just wanted the race to be over. Once I crossed the 20 km marker I turned on the afterburners for the final 1000 m. In the past I have usually been able to see the finish line a decent ways out, and therefore I am able to time my kick. The organizers had other plans. They had us finish the last 750 m or so in the Lima Water Park. This is a park dominated by elaborate and colorful fountains, fountains which due to their massive size obscured any view of the finish. So I wound through the park praying for the finish line to appear soon, and once I saw it I sprinted the last 150 m to cheers of adoration and awe (read: cheers for other people's family members). 141:34...nothing too flashy, but better than I hoped for. That gave me a 7:45 mile pace which was good enough to place 361/2674. Beating my goal felt good, but not as good as the babes that came to congratulate me on my achievement. By "babes that came to congratulate me," I mean the relief in my legs not to have to run any more. I would like to run a marathon some day (perhaps the Boston marathon for historical relevance), but given how I felt after only 13.1 miles, I imagine 26.2 is much worse. So I applaud you marathon runners out there for grinding it out twice as long as me and probably quite a bit faster. However, I think I deserve some credit for suffering through 13.1 miles of creepy mayoral candidates. After the race, I had a very relaxing and boozy seafood lunch at La Mar with Ashley and then took it easy for the rest of Sunday and all of Monday. Trust me, it takes some serious recovery time to get those faces out of your head.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Caution: Not About Lima
I love reading. I wake up in the morning with time to spare so I can knock back a few pages, and I have been reading more since my work hours aren’t as…numerous…as in the US. Unfortunately, I only brought two books with me, and though they are dense and lengthy, they only carried me through the end of July. I initially regretted my lack of foresight in buying a Kindle or a Nook when I saw the selection of loaners on the Casona bookshelf. Most were (big surprise) French books. The only English books were obscure science fiction works and saucy romance novels. I could always buy books here, but the selection isn’t the best and the prices are surprisingly high. So, I asked Jessica if I could borrow “Breaking Dawn,” the fourth installment in the Twilight series. It was a quick read, and certainly not a terrible book, but unfortunately it only lasted me a week and a half. Luck seemed to be favoring me when I examined the bookshelf again and found “World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War.” I thought it was a comedy or satire, but the book is more of a socio-political commentary. After finishing “World War Z,” I began to realize that it shared striking similarities to “Breaking Down.” However, these differences would best be explored and discussed in essay format as these books appear ostensibly unlike. This rest of this post has nothing to do with Lima, so I completely understand if you choose to pass on it. If you do decide to finish reading I would love to hear your feedback about my self-imposed prompt, thesis, diction, syntax, or anything really. Unfortunately neither book is in my possession so I won’t be able to make citations or quotes, and I hope you forgive such omissions.
Prompt: Compare and contrast the use of the supernatural as a tool to explore human nature in Stephenie (I know, the spelling kills me too) Meyer’s “Breaking Dawn” and Max Brooks’ “World War Z.”
Though debate around the existence of vampires, werewolves, and zombies has not been firmly resolved, many authors treat these subjects as examples of the supernatural in their literature. The author’s purpose for such inclusion may be to create shock value, perform a historical examination, or simply use an unconventional theme. With each of these uses of the supernatural, it is the supernatural element which forms the primary focus of the piece. Alternatively, some authors insert supernatural creatures to achieve a better understanding of what makes us human. Both Stephenie Meyer and Max Brooks, in “Breaking Dawn” and “World War Z” respectively, rely heavily on supernatural creatures in their works. However, while Brooks uses a zombie uprising as a catalyst to explore the behavior of humans in extreme circumstances, Meyer conducts deep character examinations of vampires and werewolves to highlight the essence of being human.
“World War Z” is a fictional piece recounting the lead up, duration, and aftermath of an almost global zombie uprising and world war. This apocalyptic event is conveyed to the reader through interviews with many participants in the way from various countries across the globe. Though zombies are central to the plot of “World War Z” they are never a central character. While there are multiple interviews with each individual, a zombie is never interviewed. The reader never hears a zombie speak or gains insight into the zombie thought process. Zombies are included not for specific qualities they have, but for the situation their uprising creates. Faced with extreme versions of problems we see today (resource scarcity, mass population migration, rapidly changing economic activity), the humans in Brooks’ book respond with greed, hate, stubbornness, and intolerance. However, Brooks give us hope by also recounting instances of great generosity, openness, courage, and flexibility. Though we see one character make millions knowingly selling a useless vaccine against the zombie plague, we also learn about a general who gives his own life to blow up a key zombie entrance point. For each instance of human weakness Brooks also shows incredible moments of strength. The reader need not imagine zombie wars to remember moments in our history when humans exhibited such qualities, and thus this book becomes less of a hypothetical scenario and more of a historical reflection.
Meyer uses supernatural creatures much more intimately in “Breaking Dawn,” actually making vampires and werewolves (technically shapeshifters) primary characters in the story. Not only are vampires and werewolves intimately involved in relationships with humans, Meyer also details the transformation of a human into a vampire and the ensuing personality changes. While the vampires and werewolves provide unique plot elements to “Breaking Dawn,” it is deep character examination of the supernatural beings that gives the reader a greater understanding of human nature. Through Edward’s insatiable desire to please Bella, Carlisle’s extreme compassion, Jacob’s fierce loyalty, or Rosalie’s tumultuous ficklneness, we see exaggerated versions of the qualities which make humans unique. It is precisely this exaggeration which brings greater understanding of what it means to be human because we recognize the overwrought caricatures of ourselves. As Bella transforms from human to vampire we can see her motherly instincts and devotion multiply exponentially. However, we also see that she retains the innate qualities she had as a human. Thus, Meyer uses vampires and werewolves almost as extreme versions of humans to highlight in great detail our fundamental nature.
Though Brooks and Meyer use supernatural creatures in different ways to achieve their examinations of human nature, neither book relies on the supernatural as a fundamental plot element. Zombies are arguably less necessary to establish the apocalypse scenario than vampires and werewolves are to form Meyer’s love story. However, any of these creatures could be replaced with different supernatural beings and achieve the same ultimate goal. It is not important that Edward is a vampire, it is important that he exhibits a hyper-strong version of the love and devotion of which humans are capable. It is not necessary that zombies overran the eastern United States, it is necessary that the American resistance shows its legendary courage at the Battle of New Hope. This interchangeability of supernatural creatures (Edward could have been an alien, the zombie uprising could have been replaced by swamp creatures) reflects the fact that these authors are experts in humans only. Perhaps someday a zombie author will explore zombie nature, but until then deep character examinations will always reflect the human condition.
Prompt: Compare and contrast the use of the supernatural as a tool to explore human nature in Stephenie (I know, the spelling kills me too) Meyer’s “Breaking Dawn” and Max Brooks’ “World War Z.”
Though debate around the existence of vampires, werewolves, and zombies has not been firmly resolved, many authors treat these subjects as examples of the supernatural in their literature. The author’s purpose for such inclusion may be to create shock value, perform a historical examination, or simply use an unconventional theme. With each of these uses of the supernatural, it is the supernatural element which forms the primary focus of the piece. Alternatively, some authors insert supernatural creatures to achieve a better understanding of what makes us human. Both Stephenie Meyer and Max Brooks, in “Breaking Dawn” and “World War Z” respectively, rely heavily on supernatural creatures in their works. However, while Brooks uses a zombie uprising as a catalyst to explore the behavior of humans in extreme circumstances, Meyer conducts deep character examinations of vampires and werewolves to highlight the essence of being human.
“World War Z” is a fictional piece recounting the lead up, duration, and aftermath of an almost global zombie uprising and world war. This apocalyptic event is conveyed to the reader through interviews with many participants in the way from various countries across the globe. Though zombies are central to the plot of “World War Z” they are never a central character. While there are multiple interviews with each individual, a zombie is never interviewed. The reader never hears a zombie speak or gains insight into the zombie thought process. Zombies are included not for specific qualities they have, but for the situation their uprising creates. Faced with extreme versions of problems we see today (resource scarcity, mass population migration, rapidly changing economic activity), the humans in Brooks’ book respond with greed, hate, stubbornness, and intolerance. However, Brooks give us hope by also recounting instances of great generosity, openness, courage, and flexibility. Though we see one character make millions knowingly selling a useless vaccine against the zombie plague, we also learn about a general who gives his own life to blow up a key zombie entrance point. For each instance of human weakness Brooks also shows incredible moments of strength. The reader need not imagine zombie wars to remember moments in our history when humans exhibited such qualities, and thus this book becomes less of a hypothetical scenario and more of a historical reflection.
Meyer uses supernatural creatures much more intimately in “Breaking Dawn,” actually making vampires and werewolves (technically shapeshifters) primary characters in the story. Not only are vampires and werewolves intimately involved in relationships with humans, Meyer also details the transformation of a human into a vampire and the ensuing personality changes. While the vampires and werewolves provide unique plot elements to “Breaking Dawn,” it is deep character examination of the supernatural beings that gives the reader a greater understanding of human nature. Through Edward’s insatiable desire to please Bella, Carlisle’s extreme compassion, Jacob’s fierce loyalty, or Rosalie’s tumultuous ficklneness, we see exaggerated versions of the qualities which make humans unique. It is precisely this exaggeration which brings greater understanding of what it means to be human because we recognize the overwrought caricatures of ourselves. As Bella transforms from human to vampire we can see her motherly instincts and devotion multiply exponentially. However, we also see that she retains the innate qualities she had as a human. Thus, Meyer uses vampires and werewolves almost as extreme versions of humans to highlight in great detail our fundamental nature.
Though Brooks and Meyer use supernatural creatures in different ways to achieve their examinations of human nature, neither book relies on the supernatural as a fundamental plot element. Zombies are arguably less necessary to establish the apocalypse scenario than vampires and werewolves are to form Meyer’s love story. However, any of these creatures could be replaced with different supernatural beings and achieve the same ultimate goal. It is not important that Edward is a vampire, it is important that he exhibits a hyper-strong version of the love and devotion of which humans are capable. It is not necessary that zombies overran the eastern United States, it is necessary that the American resistance shows its legendary courage at the Battle of New Hope. This interchangeability of supernatural creatures (Edward could have been an alien, the zombie uprising could have been replaced by swamp creatures) reflects the fact that these authors are experts in humans only. Perhaps someday a zombie author will explore zombie nature, but until then deep character examinations will always reflect the human condition.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Stop Eyeing My Empanada, Sir
We're going to skip a full recap of the dinner at Panchita last weekend, both because I don't consider myself a particularly engaging food writer and because it's time to move on to bigger and better (and fresher in the memory) things. However, I will tell you that Panchita is Gaston Acurio's (Peruvian rockstar chef) upscale take on the Peruvian culinary tradition of anticuchos. Anticuchos are skewered, grilled beef hearts served with several dipping sauces, corn, and potatoes. I consider this dish to be Peru's spin on steak and potatoes, except anticuchos could be considered superior for their endless pun-tastic opportunities to tell your dining companions to "eat their hearts out." In addition to this signature dish Panchita has many other grilled meats and criolla (traditional Peruvian food) dishes. The portions are huge, the tables and place settings are equally oversized, and the interior is loud, warm, and bustling. It suggests what Claim Jumper might be if it was fancier and served Peruvian food (still with the California Gold Rush theme, of course). The anticuchos were tender (I have noticed that toughness can be a problem with beef hearts) and well seasoned, and all the other dishes (we ordered a variety of Peruvian classics) delivered on their promises as well. I tried papas rellenas for the first time (mashed potatoes filled with seasoned beef and some diced veggies, then formed into a football shape and deep fried), and you better believe I'll be coming back for more of that. Anyhow, if you happen to find yourself in Lima and you want a big, brash meal with a variety of Peruvian specialties, head on over to Panchita. Tell 'em Andrew sent you for a free appetizer of dense buttery rolls and crusty flatbreads (no, it's not complimentary).
I have been posting less frequently over the past two weeks - and I hope to rectify that situation during the rest of August - but work has been more involved recently. Last week was spent preparing for the Saturday field trip with the Callao schools. Ramon Castilla did not attend and will have their field trip delayed two weeks so they have a chance to stabilize their normal Buena Voz workshops. I think we all remember the embarrassment from last weekend! And it's really not the time or place to point fingers, but needless to say it was all Melissa's fault. During the week, Victor (VO) and I made sure all the schools were prepared for the field trip, arranged the transportation and tours, further prepared for the fundraising event in October, and managed normal Buena Voz operations. Fast forward to Saturday, and you'd find me rolling out of bed at 6am (!) to arrive at the GEA office by 7am (!!). I showed up a few minutes before 7 (!!!), and at 7:05 Celeste, the photographer for Buena Voz promotional materials and the fundraiser, arrived as well. We were expecting Victor and one youth coordinator, Kathy (who had volunteered to help out with the field trip), to appear at 7 as well, but I figured they might be a little late because it can be hard to find a taxi in Villa Maria del Triunfo that will go all the way to Barranco (tell me about it, right! Who hasn't had to deal with those clowns?). I didn't expect them to be 40 minutes late, but I still felt comfortable that we would make it to the Augustin de Hipona school before the 8:30 departure time. I didn't factor in the time needed for the taxi driver to orient himself after getting lost on Callao. I also didn't factor in the delay caused by the taxi driver being pulling over for speeding. Oh, and that llama heritage parade? Yeah I didn't plan for that either (the parade may not have actually happened, but you can appreciate some creative license in establishing that we were late, late, late!). Fortunately, the Hipona Buena Voz students and teachers were ready to rock (read: go on a field trip), so we able to depart the school by 8:45. Because each charter bus held 45 rabid Callao fans and because the Hipona, Heroinas Toledo, and Jose Olaya schools had less than that total, we had to orchestrate some bus sharing. Olaya and Hipona had about 30 attendees, and Toledo had about 20. The logical solution would be to split Toledo's 20 amongst the Olaya and Hipona buses. A key theme of the field trip was getting to know the Buena Voz students from other schools, so this mixing was perfect for a healthy interchange. A logical and appropriate resolution to our "3 bus, 4 school" dilemma. The general coordinator from the Toledo school wasn't so thrilled about our elegantly designed solution, and Victor and I had to deal with her griping throughout the field trip. Other than the taxi snafu and one grumbly coordinator, the field trip was a success. We visited the Real Felipe military castle and museum (kids sure do love castles!), the "La Punta" beach in Callao (kids sure do love castles!), and the Callao Plaza de Armas (kids sure do love plazas!).
I wish I had more to tell you about the history and significance of these sights, but if there ain't natural gas-filled intertubes being filled by guinea pig manure, it's hard for me to get engaged. Instead of paying attention to the tours, I mostly just talked to the Buena Voz students and ate. Not out of hunger, mind you. For instance, while at the Real Felipe castle I purchased a chicken empanada to tide me over. While I am eating my empanada, a fellow pops out of a van and delivers more empanadas and baked goods to the museum cafe. While walking back to his van he asks me if I am eating a chicken empanada. Despite my suspicion of foul play, I confirmed that my empanada was, in fact, filled with chicken. He then walked to his van, came back to me, and handed me a beef empanada and told me "I got this round, slim." I was shocked! A free empanada for the gringo! I couldn't refuse, so I ate more than I planned. Later, at the beach, the teachers distributed the snacks to the students. They also distributed snacks to the Buena Voz volunteers (me, Victor, Celeste, and Kathy), and for you math buffs out there, you know that means I ate 4 snacks (4 schools = 4 snacks). I definitely was not hurting for food on the trip. The students all had a good time, and by the end of the excursion even our grumpy coordinator had a smile on her face. And fortunately, we were able to catch the tail end of the llama heritage parade.
Now it's time for some general housekeeping. My good friend Stacy Ishigaki pointed out to me that I have not posted any photos over the past several weeks. Between having to work 6 days a week and increasing my fervent search for a decent wig, I didn't find much time to go anywhere/do anything worth capturing in photo form. However, I do want to be responsive to friend/reader requests, particularly to those from Ms. Ishigaki. If there is anyone who is making a real and positive difference in the world, it's Stacy, so I felt obliged to honor her request for more photos. You can now find new photos in the Flickr account. Enjoy!
I have been posting less frequently over the past two weeks - and I hope to rectify that situation during the rest of August - but work has been more involved recently. Last week was spent preparing for the Saturday field trip with the Callao schools. Ramon Castilla did not attend and will have their field trip delayed two weeks so they have a chance to stabilize their normal Buena Voz workshops. I think we all remember the embarrassment from last weekend! And it's really not the time or place to point fingers, but needless to say it was all Melissa's fault. During the week, Victor (VO) and I made sure all the schools were prepared for the field trip, arranged the transportation and tours, further prepared for the fundraising event in October, and managed normal Buena Voz operations. Fast forward to Saturday, and you'd find me rolling out of bed at 6am (!) to arrive at the GEA office by 7am (!!). I showed up a few minutes before 7 (!!!), and at 7:05 Celeste, the photographer for Buena Voz promotional materials and the fundraiser, arrived as well. We were expecting Victor and one youth coordinator, Kathy (who had volunteered to help out with the field trip), to appear at 7 as well, but I figured they might be a little late because it can be hard to find a taxi in Villa Maria del Triunfo that will go all the way to Barranco (tell me about it, right! Who hasn't had to deal with those clowns?). I didn't expect them to be 40 minutes late, but I still felt comfortable that we would make it to the Augustin de Hipona school before the 8:30 departure time. I didn't factor in the time needed for the taxi driver to orient himself after getting lost on Callao. I also didn't factor in the delay caused by the taxi driver being pulling over for speeding. Oh, and that llama heritage parade? Yeah I didn't plan for that either (the parade may not have actually happened, but you can appreciate some creative license in establishing that we were late, late, late!). Fortunately, the Hipona Buena Voz students and teachers were ready to rock (read: go on a field trip), so we able to depart the school by 8:45. Because each charter bus held 45 rabid Callao fans and because the Hipona, Heroinas Toledo, and Jose Olaya schools had less than that total, we had to orchestrate some bus sharing. Olaya and Hipona had about 30 attendees, and Toledo had about 20. The logical solution would be to split Toledo's 20 amongst the Olaya and Hipona buses. A key theme of the field trip was getting to know the Buena Voz students from other schools, so this mixing was perfect for a healthy interchange. A logical and appropriate resolution to our "3 bus, 4 school" dilemma. The general coordinator from the Toledo school wasn't so thrilled about our elegantly designed solution, and Victor and I had to deal with her griping throughout the field trip. Other than the taxi snafu and one grumbly coordinator, the field trip was a success. We visited the Real Felipe military castle and museum (kids sure do love castles!), the "La Punta" beach in Callao (kids sure do love castles!), and the Callao Plaza de Armas (kids sure do love plazas!).
I wish I had more to tell you about the history and significance of these sights, but if there ain't natural gas-filled intertubes being filled by guinea pig manure, it's hard for me to get engaged. Instead of paying attention to the tours, I mostly just talked to the Buena Voz students and ate. Not out of hunger, mind you. For instance, while at the Real Felipe castle I purchased a chicken empanada to tide me over. While I am eating my empanada, a fellow pops out of a van and delivers more empanadas and baked goods to the museum cafe. While walking back to his van he asks me if I am eating a chicken empanada. Despite my suspicion of foul play, I confirmed that my empanada was, in fact, filled with chicken. He then walked to his van, came back to me, and handed me a beef empanada and told me "I got this round, slim." I was shocked! A free empanada for the gringo! I couldn't refuse, so I ate more than I planned. Later, at the beach, the teachers distributed the snacks to the students. They also distributed snacks to the Buena Voz volunteers (me, Victor, Celeste, and Kathy), and for you math buffs out there, you know that means I ate 4 snacks (4 schools = 4 snacks). I definitely was not hurting for food on the trip. The students all had a good time, and by the end of the excursion even our grumpy coordinator had a smile on her face. And fortunately, we were able to catch the tail end of the llama heritage parade.
Now it's time for some general housekeeping. My good friend Stacy Ishigaki pointed out to me that I have not posted any photos over the past several weeks. Between having to work 6 days a week and increasing my fervent search for a decent wig, I didn't find much time to go anywhere/do anything worth capturing in photo form. However, I do want to be responsive to friend/reader requests, particularly to those from Ms. Ishigaki. If there is anyone who is making a real and positive difference in the world, it's Stacy, so I felt obliged to honor her request for more photos. You can now find new photos in the Flickr account. Enjoy!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
A-OK: AKA SNAFU
I already discussed my appreciation for a clever, Wheel of Fortune-esque, "before-and-after" phrase, but I recently came to notice that I also delight in an original acronym. Let's be clear about acronyms (and really, who wouldn't want to be clear when it comes to acronyms?), I am not a fan of unnecessary or excessive acronyms peppered into conversation like pepper on a steak au poivre. Rather, I enjoy the innovative and practical acronyms which make our speech efficient and/or more practical. Hence the title of today's blog entry. A-OK is an acronym with disputed origins and meanings, but most acronymologists agree on it's status as an acronym. AKA has a much more certain meaning, "also known as." Lastly, we have the originally military acronym which is now found in widespread use, SNAFU. This acronym has a slightly stronger meaning, "situation normal: all f****d up." Since this is a family blog I had to clean up the meaning a bit, but feel free to tell the kids that it stands for "funned," and the asterisks are "fun stars." The above title is not only jarring to look at and interpret, it also happens to be an apt description of my Saturday. I'm just kidding, things weren't that bad. I just had a really hard time finding acronyms that read like a sentence. Still, let's do a weekend debrief.
I met Victor Ortiz (Buena Voz alumnus, current employee at GEA, and Buena Voz's middle reliever-esque team member. Let's call him VO today.) and Victor Luhan (Buena Voz general coordinator and 7-year participant, principal at Juan Valer School, and Buena Voz's chatty catcher. He will be VL.) at the GEA office bright and early Saturday morning at 8:30 am. We had hired out the taxi services of Pedro because we had many stops to make in Callao, and it's much safer to have a car wait for you than try to find a taxi on the streets up there. Once they arrived, we gathered some materials from the office and then took the coastal expressway up to Callao. Our first stop was the Ramon Castilla School. We had to make an appearance there because this was the first Buena Voz workshop for them and it's always helpful to have some seasoned vets on hand. And if you don't have 3 seasoned vets, send 1 seasoned vet, one hungry up-and-comer, and 1 white guy who acts like a space cadet and seems to always end up in the most disreputable wig shops. Another reason we made a visit to Ramon Castilla was to greet the corporate sponsor of the school and show him the program in action. So we arrived at Ramon Castilla at 9:15 for a 9:30 program start. 9:30 rolls around and we only see 5 students, no teachers, and 1 roof dog. This was not the turnout we had hoped for (although you didn't hear anyone complaining about the roof dog). By 10:00 we had our 3 teachers but still only 5 students, and unfortunately, the corporate representative had arrived. Rather than a robust leadership and environmental workshop with 40 young minds excited to learn, we were able to show him a robust leadership and environmental workshop with 5 young minds excited to learn. The content was not a problem, but numbers are important and 5 looks a lot less impressive than 40. Well, nuts. Not a great first impression for our sponsor. I don't want to point fingers or play the blame game with this situation, but it was everyone's fault except mine. Especially Melissa's. The first workshop is typically a bit shaky while everyone learns the system, and it wouldn't have been the best demonstration for a sponsor but that's when he wanted to come. I should have reinforced the importance of attendance to the teachers, but what's done is done so I'll just be more attentive to these issues next time. I doubt this is the last mistake I'll make, but I've noticed that this sort of firsthand learning is really what I need to learn the system down here. And as the saying goes, "Even Thor dropped his hammer on his way to defeating Mothra."
We left Ramon Castilla once the workshop was about half done to drop off some Buena Voz shirts and backpacks at the Augustin Hipona School. After that we picked up the Callao youth coordinators at the Jose Olaya School and departed for the coordinator workshop in Villa Maria del Triunfo. I'll skip over some of the mundane activities and get right to the good stuff. Once we dropped the kids off at the coordinator workshop we went to VO's house (he lives in Villa Maria) to pick up some sandwiches his sister made for the youth coordinators. We put the sandwiches in the car, and then VO asked me if I wanted to see his pigs. Um, does Jean Luc Picard like his Earl Grey hot? You're darn right he does! So he takes me over to the pig houses down the street from his house. I know pigs are supposed to be very clean animals but these suckers sure generated some kind of stink. Any negative feelings related to the smell were wiped away once I saw his pregnant sow named "Gringa." Hmmm, thanks VO. She was HUGE. We're talking about 200 kilos big. She was literally the size of a black bear cub, but unlike the black bear (this may or may not be true), she was very friendly and social. I wanted to give her a pet, but VO advised against it. After seeing the size of her mouth and the vigor with which she ate her pig dinner, I agreed with his advice. Still, I had a great time with Gringa and the other pigs, and seeing a pig in person gives you a much better appreciation for how massive these animals can get. When I got back to the Casona at 8:00 pm I was beat, both from the busy activities of the day and the excitement of meeting a doghouse-sized pregnant pig. Nothing a nice little dinner at Gaston Acurio's "Panchita" couldn't cure, but I'll save that for next time.
I met Victor Ortiz (Buena Voz alumnus, current employee at GEA, and Buena Voz's middle reliever-esque team member. Let's call him VO today.) and Victor Luhan (Buena Voz general coordinator and 7-year participant, principal at Juan Valer School, and Buena Voz's chatty catcher. He will be VL.) at the GEA office bright and early Saturday morning at 8:30 am. We had hired out the taxi services of Pedro because we had many stops to make in Callao, and it's much safer to have a car wait for you than try to find a taxi on the streets up there. Once they arrived, we gathered some materials from the office and then took the coastal expressway up to Callao. Our first stop was the Ramon Castilla School. We had to make an appearance there because this was the first Buena Voz workshop for them and it's always helpful to have some seasoned vets on hand. And if you don't have 3 seasoned vets, send 1 seasoned vet, one hungry up-and-comer, and 1 white guy who acts like a space cadet and seems to always end up in the most disreputable wig shops. Another reason we made a visit to Ramon Castilla was to greet the corporate sponsor of the school and show him the program in action. So we arrived at Ramon Castilla at 9:15 for a 9:30 program start. 9:30 rolls around and we only see 5 students, no teachers, and 1 roof dog. This was not the turnout we had hoped for (although you didn't hear anyone complaining about the roof dog). By 10:00 we had our 3 teachers but still only 5 students, and unfortunately, the corporate representative had arrived. Rather than a robust leadership and environmental workshop with 40 young minds excited to learn, we were able to show him a robust leadership and environmental workshop with 5 young minds excited to learn. The content was not a problem, but numbers are important and 5 looks a lot less impressive than 40. Well, nuts. Not a great first impression for our sponsor. I don't want to point fingers or play the blame game with this situation, but it was everyone's fault except mine. Especially Melissa's. The first workshop is typically a bit shaky while everyone learns the system, and it wouldn't have been the best demonstration for a sponsor but that's when he wanted to come. I should have reinforced the importance of attendance to the teachers, but what's done is done so I'll just be more attentive to these issues next time. I doubt this is the last mistake I'll make, but I've noticed that this sort of firsthand learning is really what I need to learn the system down here. And as the saying goes, "Even Thor dropped his hammer on his way to defeating Mothra."
We left Ramon Castilla once the workshop was about half done to drop off some Buena Voz shirts and backpacks at the Augustin Hipona School. After that we picked up the Callao youth coordinators at the Jose Olaya School and departed for the coordinator workshop in Villa Maria del Triunfo. I'll skip over some of the mundane activities and get right to the good stuff. Once we dropped the kids off at the coordinator workshop we went to VO's house (he lives in Villa Maria) to pick up some sandwiches his sister made for the youth coordinators. We put the sandwiches in the car, and then VO asked me if I wanted to see his pigs. Um, does Jean Luc Picard like his Earl Grey hot? You're darn right he does! So he takes me over to the pig houses down the street from his house. I know pigs are supposed to be very clean animals but these suckers sure generated some kind of stink. Any negative feelings related to the smell were wiped away once I saw his pregnant sow named "Gringa." Hmmm, thanks VO. She was HUGE. We're talking about 200 kilos big. She was literally the size of a black bear cub, but unlike the black bear (this may or may not be true), she was very friendly and social. I wanted to give her a pet, but VO advised against it. After seeing the size of her mouth and the vigor with which she ate her pig dinner, I agreed with his advice. Still, I had a great time with Gringa and the other pigs, and seeing a pig in person gives you a much better appreciation for how massive these animals can get. When I got back to the Casona at 8:00 pm I was beat, both from the busy activities of the day and the excitement of meeting a doghouse-sized pregnant pig. Nothing a nice little dinner at Gaston Acurio's "Panchita" couldn't cure, but I'll save that for next time.
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