Cuzco and Macchu Picchu

The Amazon

My trip in the Amazon was quite interesting. I was able to visit a floating village, the local Yagua tribe and an exotic animal farm while I was there (see pics above). Iquitos is a very pleasant city and happensl to be the largest city in the world that cannot be reached by road (only by air or river). Belen, the floating village, was where the poorest families lived. Like what I saw in the Mekong River Delta in Vietnam and in parts of Thailand and Indonesia, the hygienic situation of human waste being disposed into the same water used for drinking, bathing and washing seems mighty precarious. The kids learning to row before being able to walk was a cute idea, however. I visited a local indigenous tribe that taught me a traditional dance and how to use a giant blow-dart gun. I also went to an animal farm where I was able to view and interact with some of the local species. The opportunity of taking ayahuasca was also presented to me, a spiritual experience I might save for later in life.

Hacienda, Dunes and Sand-boarding in Ica

I truly regret forgetting my digital camera in a friend's car before leaving on my trip to Ica with Beto. In this southern desert region, my friend Neil has a huge 600 hectar hacienda. I met Neil and his girlfriend Thais through Beto when Amelia, an American friend of my aunt, came to visit from Buenos Aires. Neil's hacienda, an absolutely amazing place, includes: a pisco factory, 100 horses, 100 ostriches, 100 cows, several species of monkeys and birds and various other animals including an alpaca, an endangered specie of llama. Several types of crops were grown on the hacienda and it is my understanding that family employs 150 families during the harvest season. Their most profitable crop is asparagus, but they have quite a variety.

A large part of Neil's family's property extends into the desert and they maintain several dune buggies and motorcycles to navigate the terrain. Neil told me stories about exploring the desert and finding an old Inca temple when he was a child. He showed me the ancient artifacts he and his brothers extracted from the site. The pottery and ancient objects in their living room looked like they belonged in a museum. Most remarkable were wooden stirrups for the horses of the Spanish conquistadors and a carved snake staff. He joked about playing with the mummies they found at the site.

Neil gave us a tour of their pisco factory. Pisco is a distilled spirit made from grapes and about 45% alcohol (think Peru's vodka or tequila). It is mixed with egg white and lime to make "Pisco Sour", Peru's famous drink. I think it goes more or less through the same process as "eau de vie" in France. Their brand recently won an award for the best pisco in Peru, which is probably attributed to their recent investment in a special $200,000 machine that better separates the alcohol after fermentation. Neil showed me the whole process, which takes as little as 6 months including squishing the grapes, boiling and fermenting the juices, and letting it sit in big metal canisters for several months. The tasting was intoxicating and I nearly killed Beto and myself cutting a close corner in the dune buggy driving back to the main compound.

That day, Neil and Thais had to return to Lima and Beto and I continued down to Huacachina, an oasis in the middle of the desert. Entirely a tourist destination, Huacachina attracts adventurers from around the world for its sheer beauty and the opportunity to conquer the gigantic dunes atop a snowboard. I later found out that more than half the tourists were Israeli soldiers (men and women) that recently finished their 2-3 years of service. I had some intense conversations with a young man that served primarily in the West Bank. What struck me most was that the war he fought was only an hour drive from where he and his family lived (unlike American soldiers in Iraq). I told him a Dutch girl I had met mentioned that she thought Israelis were rude, but he explained to me that in a military society, you become accustomed to taking what you need and sharing everything. I asked him if this was due to their constant proximity to death and he paused to think. In the end, though, I found that he and most of the Israelis just wanted to forget their experience as much as possible, whether through travel or drug use or a combination of the two.

Sand boarding was not a concept I had ever really thought about, but ended up being one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. Just getting to the tops of these giant mountains of sand, riding over abrupt drops in the buggies, was scarier than any rollercoaster I've been on. To get optimal speed and minimal traction, the boards must be waxed, though I noticed one guide substituting mayonnaise for wax. Standing on the boards was quite intimating at the top of what would be a black diamond in the skiing world. After plopping on my butt a couple times, I opted for the second method: sledding down head first. My legs hung off the back for balance and brake. Really.. an indescribable sensation, like ski-diving, but in the setting of utter natural beauty of the dunes.

Piura and Colan Beach

I decided to visit my crazy roommate Carlos in his home town, Piura, along the northern coast of Peru. He had been there since I had left for Chile (leaving me alone in the apartment) and was working with his uncle on their fruit concentrate business. He had informed me that he would like me to meet his family and that there was a big party Saturday that I should go to.

I arrived in Piura to be met at the airport by Carlos, his brother Rafael and their cousin Alfredo. Both Rafael and Alfredo seemed more down to earth than Carlos and both spoke better English. Rafael had even worked in Atlanta for 3 years as a car salesman. They escorted me to their home on one of the main avenues of the city. Apartently their extended family owned most of the mansions on this street.

Their family was very nice and I was offered my own room. The huge corner house had been one of the first built by British colonials to which their liniage could be drawn. They shared with me old family photos of their British grandfather playing field hockey and graduating university. They also had an old manuscript that traced their family name "Leigh" back to English royalty. I saw that all this was clearly very important to them, especially in maintaining their sense of social status.

Despite their affluent history, the family seemed to be in a bit of a slump, or at least the kids had been cut off from the money flow. I found that I ended up covering all the expenses, from tax rides, to alcohol, to entrance into the party. I guessed that, as happens with rich kids in the US, these guys might have abused their privileges and were being reprimanded, or sent off on their own to grow up, by their parents. Afterall, they were in their 20s and early 30s. I wondered if Carlos had just invited me to cover his weekend expenses.

The party Saturday night was on the riverside. It was very nice and $10 openbar, all-night party. Carlos somehow had disappeared shortly after we arrived, but I was having a good time getting to know his younger brother and cousin. The night included a beauty competition (a scheme to attract the good-looking girls of the city, I figure) and lots of dancing. Rafael and Alfredo eventually invited me to Colon the next day where their family had several beach houses.

Colon was a small beach town with character. Supposedly it was where Hemmingway spent time fishing and was inspired to write "Old Man and the Sea". It was also the location of the first church in Latin America. Pizarro had landed here and established it (see picture above). When I made it to the shore, I was struck by the way the water collided with the houses. Climate change had definitely taken effect here and I was told owners had to spend hundreds of dollars a year for rocks to reinforce the barrier between their homes and the sea.

In all, I was very happy to have visited Carlos' family, despite becoming more suspicious of him personally. I enjoyed spending time with them and getting a taste of the lifestyle of the northern coast. The cebiche (raw fish salad) was excellent as well!

Last days in Lima

I am wrapping up my last days in Lima. My apartment has treated me well. I cannot express how nice it has been to live next to a 24-hour supermarket. I should also mention that my street, Tarata, is quite famous in Lima. Everyone has heard of it, mainly because it is the site of the most significant terrorist attack in Peru. Fifteen years ago, the Shining Path communist militant group set off a car bomb killing dozens. Tarata is in Miraflores, one of the nicest neighborhoods in Lima (and thus Peru), and the national sentiment compared to what Americans felt with the Twin Towers on 9-11.

My internship has run its course. I gained some valuable experience and accomplished my goal. The most important thing I learned was that I do not wish to go directly into the public sector after completing law school. This is not because of disillusionment with the United Nations, as many might expect. On the contrary, I was quite impressed with the work of my colleagues in the face of such colossal challenges such as tackling corruption in Peru and undermining the trafficking of illegal drugs. The reason I will choose not to enter directly into the public sector is because all from whom I have solicited advice at the UNODC office have recommended that I gain the professional skills and discipline especially available in the private sector. Only after such experience would I be placed at suitable mid-level to high ranking position; whereas by starting straight out of law school, I would be placed at the bottom. In the five years it would take me to work my way up to a suitable position from the bottom, I could have gained valuable skills in the private sector as well as a better wage. Furthermore, I noticed the stress my colleagues suffer in their constant insecurities about funding. I would much rather be in a position to offer money as opposed to a position of perpetual pandering to donors.

Besides work, I have mostly been spending time with friends. Claudia and Christobal Paz threw a very nice going away party for me. They invited a bunch of the friends I had met through them, made a huge pasta dinner, and finally performed for me at their parents’ home. I was very touched. I also was able to meet a future Michigan Law classmate of mine, Adam Freed, who was working with the State Department in Lima. We went out dancing with some friends.

It turned out my disappointments with my friendship had been largely cultural after all. My efforts at better communication with my friends had finally started to work. I learned not to expect the most exact promptness and, at the same time, my friends made efforts to call if they were going to be late and better articulate plans to me. After sitting down and talking with my friend Beto, he had taken seriously my complaints and I now claim him as my closest Peruvian friend. I was finally able to visit the call center he runs and we made a trip to Ica together (see next postings). I have also spent some time with Ines, a girl who organizes missionary trips and works with one of the most important churches in Peru. My friend base seems to have widened dramatically over the short time I have been here.

As my boss will be on vacation, I plan to travel for the next 2 weeks before returning home on May 17th.

Ministry of Justice Breakfast

Last Friday was the breakfast at the Sheraton Hotel with the Ministry of Justice that I helped put together. There were about 80 people, including several senators and their assistants. The primary goal of the breakfast was to promote a bill that allowed for the more timely seizure of illicit assets. Although the Minister of Justice was officially the host, our office did most of the organizing. The three speakers were: my boss, a Columbian anti-corruption official and the head of the asset seizure unit within the Ministry of Justice. My boss, the legal expert of crime in Latin America for the UN, spoke about the general need to seize the assets of criminals to force them to cease their activities. The Colombian offical gave a parallel perspecive about what was being done in Colombia to address organized crime. The last speaker spoke about how many assets had been seized since 2001 when the original illicit asset seizure law as passed and the problems of the value of assets depreciating (like airplanes and cars loosing their value over time) in the course of lengthy litigation against the criminals. Above is a picture of me with the Minister of Justice in front of our office's anti-corruption poster.

Chimoc!

These ugly dogs are native to and famous in Peru. They have no hair on their bodies, except for a little white hair on their heads. This one had something of a mohawk. Supposedly being hairless makes them good snuggle-buddies.

Santiago, Chile

Several days are considered holidays for "semaña santa" leading up to Easter, so I decided to visit my Peruvian friend Jorge in Santiago, Chile. Jorge is a dentist studying for his specialization in dental implants, but he was able to take some time to hang out and travel with me. We met some of his dental friends and made an effort to discover the nightlife in Santiago. We explored areas like Las Condes, Barrio Bellavista and Calle Suecia in pursuit of making new friends. Since Peru and Chile have had a few conflicts in the recent past, Jorge preferred to introduce himself as Mexican to Chileans to avoid awkwardness.

While he studied, I explored the city, including visits to a contemporary art gallery, the Plaza de Armas, La Moneda and the natural history museum. The art gallery was a production of the University of Chile and I was struck by the extensive use of video media. I thought the city was very clean and pleasant, with architecture similar to what I noticed in Buenos Aires.

Throughout the trip, however, my dominant impression of Santiago became two things: cold and expensive. Being quite further south than Lima, Santiago has a much more temperate climate. I wore my only sweater nearly everyday. Also, Chile made itself expensive from the beginning. All citizens of the US, Canada, Mexico and Australia must pay $100 reciprocity upon arrival in the airport before immigration. Taxis and food were not cheap either.

We had something of an adventure in our trip to Viña del Mar and Valparaiso. We decided to go for two days to these beautiful seaside towns without making sleeping arrangements. We ended up meeting some of Jorge's friends and both managed to find places to sleep, but we were quite exhausted the next day when we had a tour planned.

I am very grateful for Jorge's hospitality and I hope I can join him for a trip to Brazil in late July.

Trujillo & Huanchaco

I visited my friend Katitza in a city along the north coast called Trujillo. Its city center had a lot of impressive old Spanish colonial buildings and cathedrals and a big square with a big marble monument. Near the city were some impressive ruins called the Temple of the Moon and of the Sun. Some of the old engravings and even the original paint were well-maintained in parts of the Temple of the Moon. Seeing where the Inca sacrificed humans to the Gods was quite astonishing. One of the pictures above is the platform where the sacrifices took place. You can just imagine the blood dripping down the stairs...

We also had a chance to visit a beautiful beach called Huanchaco. The banana shaped shadows in the picture are straw boats used by fishermen in the region.

New Living Arrangements

I recently moved to a new apartment, also in Miraflores. The original plan was to stay with Tere a week or two upon arrival to Peru then move, but Tere had graciously invited me to extend my stay in her apartment for over a month to give me more flexibility in my apartment search. However, upon my return from Buenos Aires, she would begin traveling (to Brazil and Europe!) and I would need to find my own place.

I met a couple of young professionals at a party with Tere in a beautiful high-rise apartment overlooking the coast. After the party, we went back to their apartment with the younger attendees and continued to talk through the night. I got to know them well enough that they offered me a room in their apartment. The 3-bed, 3-bath apartment was very nice and centrally located, so we agreed on a price and I would move in upon return from my trip.

Both in their early thirties, Hector and Carlos are friends and complete opposites. Hector is very serious and careful. He is a lawyer for a company that owns and manages several hotels, restaurants and nightclubs. In his spare time, he assists an NGO that rescues, vaccinates, cleans, feeds and tries to find homes for stray street animals (ie, dogs and cats). I plan to help him draft some grant proposals in English to submit to some animal rights groups in the States. He strikes me as very responsible.

Carlos is at the other end of the spectrum. My first image of Carlos is drunk at the party and trying to seduce several of the older (50+) women, some of which might have had husbands. Carlos’ family owns a company that produces fruit concentrate that is distributed in grocery stores throughout Peru. He helps run the business. Carlos is the type of guy that puts his arm over your shoulder and says “Escuchame, escuchame… (“Listen to me” - number of times depending on how much he has had to drink), bróder (Spanish pronunciation of “brother”)…” and then sometimes goes on to make a point. When it is not a Saturday night, he is much more sedate. Carlos’ parents own the apartment and there are several pictures of his family, including his two adolescent sons and his ex-wife.

The first week has gone fairly well. The first night was a little crazy, since it was a Saturday night and I had to tell Carlos to turn down the music at 5:30 AM. But since then, both roommates have made several gestures to make me feel comfortable. Among other things, Hector has taken special care to get a plumber to fix my bathroom and Carlos left his TV for me to use while he was away visiting his parents in Piura.

I think the situation is possibly the best I could ask for. I am constantly speaking Spanish and hanging out with my new roommates. A nice 24-hour supermarket is half a block away, my gym is one block away and the happening parts of town are within a 5-minute walk. I have cable TV, wireless internet, hot water… what else could you ask for? Plus, a woman from my office lives 5 blocks away and offered to take me to and from work as long as we practice her English on the drive.