My Letter to the World

Inspired by a project that Sarah asked our youth group in Chosica del Norte to do last Friday, I have my own message to share with the world.  After watching “Freedom Writers” the previous week, when we were able to transform a classroom into a “theatre” for the students (many of whom had never been to a movie theatre) by projecting the movie on the wall, using speakers and taking them popcorn and lemonade, the students followed up on the topic by learning a little about Anne Frank and writing their own message to the world.  Based on experiences that I’ve had, things I have seen and heard, and several quotes that I have come across over the last few years, the following is a short message that I have for the world. 

Dear World,

   Our planet is diverse, bursting with life and mysteries.  You can choose to live as if everything is a miracle or as if nothing is one.  Explore and take interest in others.  No two people are exactly the same.  Some of us have fair complexions, while others have darker ones.  We vary in height, weight, personality, likes and dislikes, yet we are all people.  Treat one another as such.  Sit down and talk.  Communication is the only way that we can change. 

   Although travel may not prevent bigotry, it demonstrates that all people worry, laugh, cry, eat and die.  By trying to understand each other, we might become friends.   Several landmarks have won recognition as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, but there are seven wonder that do not require travel.  They require heart: sight, listening, touch, taste, feeling, laughter and love. 

   Follow your dreams and your passions.  Don’t put your key to happiness in someone else’s pocket.  And if you can, use your passions and your skills to be a blessing to others.  No one has ever become poor by sharing. 

   Your past mistakes are meant to guide you, not define you.  Learn to forgive and keep moving forward.  Respect others.  The respect that you give to others is a clear reflection of the respect that you have for yourself.  There is more power in a hug than in a punch.  Some people are blind.  Others choose not to see.  People usually tell the truth if you listen hard enough.  There are only two mistakes along the road to truth.  Not going all the way and not starting. 

   Few people will be able to make history themselves but we can work together to change small portions of events.  Together our acts will write the history of our time.   

   With love,

Dreamer of Peace

..................PERÚ <=> USA..................

Perú

Colorful, Chaotic

Dancing,  Intriguing,  Changing

The Americas, Bureaucracy, Mixture of Cultures

Hurrying,  Acting,  Demanding

Organized, Individualistic

USA 

*With all that's going on in the world today, the hatred, violence, fear, love, trade, and social media, it's important for us to take a moment and reflect on the similarities and differences among us and how we can positively enrich one another's lives.  The poem above are some of my thoughts on the similarities and differences between PERÚ and the USA.  

Full of Surprises...

Like the slogan on the back of the box of my favourite breakfast cereal, "LIFE IS FULL OF SURPRISES," I'm constantly seeing the truth in that statement.

Take this morning for instance.  The university authorities threw a wrench in the teaching schedule to celebrate the 29th anniversary of the humanities department (which actually should have been celebrated in July), so I don't have class this morning.  I decided to sleep in late =)  After rolling out of bed around 7:15 and doing some exercise, I thought I'd shower before eating breakfast and mopping up the dust all over my floors.  For starters, I've been here nearly 7 months, and still am surprised by that first splash of cold water shooting out of the shower head.  Moments later, a lizard jumped on me!  Needless to say, after being unable to capture and remove that squirrly critter, my shower was cut short.

Sometimes I'm asked to prepare an entire course or a series of lessons or workshops for university professors, teachers at the language institute or for university students.  I put in a fair amount of time putting together the sequence, planning the activities searching for resources and materials and sometimes purchasing them, for the individuals who have requested the service to either fail to show up or to tell me just beforehand, that actually they'd rather not participate (although the idea and request had come from them).  Those moments are very frustrating, but once again, LIFE IS FULL OF SURPRISES, so we just have to move on.

A few weeks ago, after deciding that I really wanted to buy a blender to be able to make fresh fruit juices in my apartment and different sorts of pasta sauces and salsas, Igor accompanied me to the market to search.  We asked after several inside the market where people sell from their little cubicals, but the prices were high.  Outside the prices were cheaper, as usual, but there are also shadier characters there.  When asking one man his prices, he told us, "50 soles!  It's the original Oster!  Robbed it out of a house last week!"  Shameless.  I prodded Igor to just keep walking.  LIFE IF FULL OF SURPRISES.  Eventually, we found one for a good price from a different dealer.

After several botched attempts of backing in round tin ovens valued at $25 with the women, Sarah and I had a few theories about the problems.  They weren't preheating the ovens long enough, they weren't measuring with precision and the flour the were using was not of good quality.  Needing to improve upon our week, we got together last night and decided to try to bake a chocolate cake.  It turned out perfectly!  Let's hope that the women can replicate this cake on Thursday.  What a nice surprise!

A few other mundane experiences that may strike a newcomer as surprising and that on occasion continue to seem bizarre to me include the following:
*In order to exit most homes, one must have a keep to open the lock (from the inside too)!
*Toilet paper is a precious commodity and is almost never found in a public place.  Understandably so, when you watch many Peruvians unwinding and unwinding the roll to take half of it with them to do their business and stuffing the rest in their purse!
*Nearly every taxi driver seems to think you'd like to get into his vehicle, and if he honks enough, you will.
*Many people whistle to attract the attention of family members and have a different whistle to call waiters or  hail taxis.
*Men seem to have no qualms about peeing openly anywhere in this city rather than finding themselves a restroom.
*Toilet paper cannot be thrown in a toilet as that will clog up the sewage system; but rather must be placed in a garbage can.
*Trash can only be placed in a pile outside in the street at night to be collected.
*Despite ignoring many people in the market or not buying their product, most are helpful and point you in the direction of whatever you ask for.

Let the Little Things In Life Surprise You!  .... A little lizard I captured in my home the other day...

Bosque de Pomac

As a weekend escape, 3 friends and I visited the nearby Bosque de Pomac, on of the world's largest dry forests.  Despite the desertish conditions in which it lies, the forest is suprisingly green and inhabited by numerous critters:  snakes, mountain lions, many species of birds and insects and supposedly Peruvian kangaroos.  Besides for bees and a few birds and other insects, we weren't fortunate enough to see other wildlife.  A local told us that the forest is in bloom in late November and December.  Below are a few pictures of the forest taken from high up on a rocky mountain protruding from the sand where we enjoyed a picnic lunch that we had packed as well as the four of us admiring an algaroba tree said to be more than 1500 years old.  Gorgeous and very sturdy.