NEWS: Moved to Wordpress

Today, while I was avoiding doing reading, staring out the window and enjoying the gorgeous weather, I decided that I am tired of posting very tiny images for a blog that focuses largely on photography. So I am moving to Wordpress! Please continue reading there.

Cheers.

Pisco Sin Fronteras: Environment Center

I would say that working on the environment center was probably a few of my favorite days. Although it is hard to pick because every day was simply filled with memories and fun-filled laughter.

By the beach in Pisco, PSF is helping build an environment center with a volleyball court, swing set, play structure and bird watching tower for the local Pisquenan children. For the first day, we spent a majority of the day working in the blazing sun, disassembling large wood palates and crates so that PSF could reuse the wood to make the play structure. I also weeded the space where the sand for the volleyball court would go and we spent a portion of the day singing along to Radio La Kalle. Viktor (I honestly don't know if it's spelled with a 'k' or 'c.' Sorry!), one of the locals who is also a member of PSF, showed Dani and me a powerpoint presentation filled with before and after photos to showcase how far the project has come. Six months ago, the entire space was filled with debris. Pieces and pieces of trash covered the small ponds and locals used the space as a place to dispose of waste. Even as we were stripping wood and painting the swing set, we could see piles of trash laying by the beach side because some people have decided to turn it into a dump. Essentially, PSF's goal was to beautify the space so that locals realize the area should not be trashed. It was amazing to see how far the environment center has come.

After lunch on both days, children would come out and play on the swing set and talk to us while we worked. They were absolutely precious. There is no better way to describe them. They were so curious and kept asking us when the slide would be put up. They would ask us where we were from and the Spanish-speaking ones would respond while the true foreigners (i.e. me) would push them on the swings. A couple of them even helped -- or tried to help -- us with some of our labor. 

For me, the best part was seeing the responses firsthand. Before the center was built, the neighborhood lacked a safe, clean space to play, according to Viktor. Now, children were coming out and simply hanging out with each other and I was so grateful I could witness the benefits myself.

Plus, after a long day of work? We would just walk down the path and take a quick swim. What's not to enjoy?

Pisco Sin Fronteras: Olga's House

I was hoping to blog about my entire experience with a day-to-day recap, like I did with Guatemala, but the entire ordeal is proving more difficult than I thought because my extra curriculars and classes have truly thrown me for a loop this quarter. I have had the most difficult time picking classes and wrapping up small Peru things like the photo exchange, gifting and other potential fundraising plans have kept me from dedicating enough writing time to truly explain how I have felt about the trip. So unfortunately I cannot be as detailed as I would like, but here goes nothing...

Unfortunately, I do not have many photos of the project I worked on for the first two days, but I went with Nicki to Olga's house to help lay brick walls and rebuild her house.

During the earthquake three years ago, the second story of both houses on the left and right of Olga's house fell on top of hers, consequently bringing her house down to rubble and dust. Olga and her two children were buried underneath the debris for more than 24 hours before a dog discovered them. She said that her husband and her mother walked by and visited the collapsed unit several times and never realized that there were people buried underneath. After the earthquake, 22 family members and friends, including herself, slept on the floor of her father's place, which happened to be right next door. It was crowded, cramped and Olga ended up sleeping outside because there simply wasn't enough space. Knowing that the government was not going to provide much aid, Olga decided to use the knowledge she had from her father to rebuild her house from the ground up. She visited the market, laid bricks and mixed cement to begin constructing walls. But her project was put on hold when she was held up at knifepoint on the way to buy more materials. She was robbed of all the money she had saved up and could not afford to complete her house. With less than three walls built, she resigned to sleeping at her father's. Thankfully, a volunteer at Pisco Sin Fronteras learned her story and donated money directly to the cause so that Olga could have a roof and four walls to sleep under once again.

She was absolutely endearing and truly inspiring. Her and her husband would cook us lunch and as we sat and ate rice and beans, she would tell us a little bit more about her experience. No matter how devastating the story was, she seemed to be at peace and remained levelheaded. Only once did tears well up in her eyes, and even then, Olga seemed stronger to me than any woman I have ever met. She had this ability to remain the steady center of her family and her grounded state and smiling face simply exuded a positive energy that I wanted to soak up. She taught me how to brick lay and was always out in the sun with us, mixing cement and moving sand, even after a long morning teaching at the school. She told us what we should do next and was extremely patient and kind.

Working at her house was my first real glimpse into the Pisquenan life. Riding the small, cramped mototaxis around the area and trying to hold on for life as it hits bumps and potholes, we had the hardest time finding her house because, although we had a street address, there were no street signs and even the drivers had to stop to ask for directions. Her house was welcoming, but I could tell that they lived simply. No matter, she always had this special gleam in her eye. Olga was adorable.

Peru: Parque del Amor, San Antonio's & Catacombas con't

This was the lovely group of people I had the privilege of spending time with this break. Here's to Peru! And more random photos from the first day.

Peru: Parque del Amor, San Antonio's & Catacombas

I'm back in Evanston and raring to go. Honestly, I don't really have much of a choice because my flight got in at 11 a.m. yesterday morning and I was sitting in a classroom going over the syllabus for Digital Art by 1 p.m. I skipped my first reporting class in three quarters, which I do not consider a great way to kick off the quarter, but I could have not asked for a better way to spend my spring break than doing service with Northwestern Rotaract (Please excuse the mess. I started to revamp the site).

Volunteering with Pisco Sin Fronteras, we met a great group of people whose travelling stories reminded me that it is totally acceptable to slow down and simply enjoy life sans extravagant luxuries and constant to-do lists. Many of these wonderful individuals spent weeks travelling South America and the weeks quickly turned to months. I soaked in my eight days without internet or phone. I lived in the here and now and I absolutely loved it. The entire experience was rejuvenating for my soul and my encounters taught me so much. I am definitely going to go back in the future. The work that PSF is amazing and it's wonderful to be able to talk to locals (or gesture and smile awkwardly, which is my case due to my lack of Spanish language skills) and see their reaction to the work we have done.

But before all that happened, we enjoyed a quick tour of Lima after we met Amanda at the airport. A Northwestern alumna, Amanda was an absolute godsend. The fact that she had spent the past 15 months in Lima on a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship made it possible for us to fly to Peru. She helped make every day run smoothly, communication between both the Lima and Pisco Rotaract Clubs as well as PSF.

At five in the morning, no breakfast joint was open, so she told the bus driver to take us along Costa Verde to Parque del Amor in Miraflores. The view was absolutely breathtaking, at least it was once the sun cast its morning rays over the city. I cannot remember the last time I was looking over the Pacific Ocean and the smell of salt in the air just made my heart melt. I could instantly feel all the stress that had been weighing me down all quarter lift and just roll off my shoulders.

We ate a delectable breakfast at San Antonio's, where I shared a macedonia de frutas with Liz and drank jugo de maracuya. In the early afternoon, we received a tour of the city plazas, walked through the Museum of Peruvian Literature and saw the Palace of the Government. The best part of the first day, aside from finally being by an ocean, was the Museo del Convento de San Francisco de Asis de Lima, which carried so much art history from its architecture to the paintings hanging on the wall that were brought in the 17th century from various countries. It was also my first time seeing catacombs underneath a church, and seeing the femurs and skulls of the dead piled up underneath the church was just as eerie as it sounded. Unfortunately, photography was prohibited and I could not capture any bit of it, aside from the blurry shot I sneaked before walking out of the catacombs. I won't be posting that because I still feel like I somehow cursed myself by doing such a thing.

Then we ate traditional Peruvian food, buffet-style, at Kasa Mama to round out our first hours in Peru before heading of to Pisco and settling into our hostel. Unfortunately, it's late. While I could go on and on about how amazing the trip is, I have plenty of days to do that and have sleep to catch up on.

Cheers.

Rollin'

How can you see these two rollin' around the Lakefill and not think, "Damn, I want to be their friends?"