view of Lima from my roof
night view of the Plaza de las Armas with Christmas decorations
View of Avenida Bolivar at night from atop a hotel (just a couple blocks from my house)
Playa Las Minas in Parque de la Reserva in Paracas
Ayacucho from an overlooking mountain
of what it does. There are also lots of companies around the world that are pretty keen on keeping it going because it is one of the only ways to get to whatever they need. From 1922 until 1974, the operation was owned by American Cerro de Pasco. Then it was nationalized and owned by the Peruvian state (referred to as Centromin) until it was sold to Doe Run (part of the Renco Group) in 1997. At this point, the output of the smelter went through the roof. Doe Run makes statements that their emissions perton (or whatever measurement they are using) is lower, which is true, but they were also producing at a much higher rate than the factory had ever operated at and therefore even more added to the pollution. Their charts always start at 1997, when they purchased the company. It does not represent the overall changes in lead and ohter toxins over time. (wikipedia article on it, Doe Run web site, in spanish)
I am really trying to look at this issue from as many sides of it as I can inorder to make my case and be in solidarity with the people in a way that is thought out. We cannot blame Doe Run for everything. They have only owned the plant for the last 13 yrs. There was many years of contamination before them (See for yourself on google maps how the city looks different from everything around). We cannot just blame the government for being spineless and bowing to the multinational coorporation. Peru is an "export" company, mining is the largest export and this is a model that is more or less accepted and sought by the international community with regards to countries like Peru. We can't just blame the Peru-US Trade Agreement for continuing this unbalanced, dependent form of commerce. We can't blame people for not caring. We also can't not do anything.
So, what we are doing, as the Red Uniendo Manos, is working with a group, called Filomena, whose kids are organized and against the business that continues to poison their home. They are 
office. I´m not going to speak for too many of you, but I have always considered the 80s to be the middle school of 20th century. The music was awkward. You look back the hair styles all scream "What was I thinking?" But I have had multiple peruvians tell me that the 80s were the greatest decade of music. It is great because so many of these songs have humorous stories connected to them for me and my explaining of their significance to me to my coworkers probably makes them think I am even more crazy, but I really can´t help but smile every time that "Livin on a Prayer" "Lady in Red" come on. Also, everyone likes to sing along, even if they don´t know the words. A friend absolutely loves "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and HE sings it at the top of his lungs every time it comes on. Same goes for singing on the bus, in the office, walking down the street. They aren´t on key, on rhythm, but they love the music.
ants. It is a good look. Also the vest is pretty popular too. There must have been a "cold torso, hot arm" pandemic, but it is now solved.
everyone else waited for about 10 minutes before drinking their tea. Also, most people will eat their entire meal, and then drink their drink. They don´t mix apparently.
that I presented to the 4 members of the Metro staff and eventually the manager in order to be able to obtain beer, and believe my logical circle that I created to be some of my best spanish spoken in this country. Eventually we convinced them that we should be allowed to buy the beer, and now have bottles for future nights. Therefore, if you are in Perú and want beer, come talk to me, because you cannot purchase beer unless you have already had some. Catch-22s are real.
t and moved on without thinking. The fine young strapping peruvian gentleman who I kissed, was a little surprised and (As I have since been informed) proceded to spend the rest of the evening laughing and repeating with great surprise and hilarity "¡¡¡Eso Tio me besó!!!" (Literally, "the uncle kissed me" but meaning more along the lines of "that dude kissed me"). I haven´t seen him since, but will fill you in on our next greeting.
he fair trade part of the Red), been all over Lima, been to Huanaco, and so much more. Therefore, in order to try and keep things to a reasonable level of length, you will not be recieving a complete update on everything that has happened in my life. Sorry. If you want to know, send me an email (jtobiason08@gmail.com) and whine about it.
d every day with blogs of friends who are all around the world serving people and looking at how to create a better world. Whitworth, this is a fact that you should be proud of, right now, out of my good friends in the class of ´08 college (Andrew, Cory, Scott, Caleb, Shannon, Lindsay, and me) are ALL ACTUALLY WORKING IN THEIR FIELD OF STUDY. How does that happen with that many liberal arts degrees? It is just something that I have been thinking about and it just makes me happy.
ma. Every day this city feels a little more like home, but there is so much more of Peru than this not so little smog filled city. I personally was challenged to be more intentional in my interactions and more present. This may also be a reason that blogs haven´t been coming lately too because I am trying to limit my evening internet usage because (as before mentioned) I use my email and therefore the internet a ton. 
wondering what happened and why everyone is speaking English. I am at home here, but I am still seeking to integrate myself more. As for personal changes, I do find myself waking up in prayer more than when I left. I am going to sleep reading more (Gracias! by Henry Nouwen, READ THIS BOOK , it is a journal of his experiences in Bolivia and Peru and often expresses my feelings better than I know how). My Spanish is better and I am getting my languages mixed less often. I so love being on buses or walking down crowded streets and just feeling a part of the humanity (and seeing over it all). I will never fit in, but I hope to feel more at home every day. 
else. But it will be great to be able to share more (the pictures in this blog are from my film camera, which was not stolen, but I don´t take that many pictures (art or life) with it because developing has had some issues). I´ll write again soon. Oh, yea, the beard went away. As cool as it sounds, beard dandruff is not cool.Due to an unfortunate moment, this post is a little less interesting because my camera was (using geographically correct terminology) “disappeared” in Huancavalica earlier this week. Then to top it off, I took some film in to get developed and they screwed up the roll and so I got nothing back. The universe does not want me taking pictures right now.
I want to thank the delegation from the Presbyterian Church who came down this week. I really couldn’t have thought of a better way to get to know the work that the Red Uniendo Manos does here in Peru except through visiting many of our partners here and getting to know their work. Between Sunday and Thursday, we went to church twice, visited children’s education group, discussed earthquake relief with some afro-Peruvian women, visited a squatters site, checked out a new water tour, attended a cake making class, chatted about water problems, got pulled over 10 times, made one “donation,” had a breakfast meeting about local environmental problems, cracked jokes with a firecracker of an Andean woman, failed twice at using a solar cooker, learned about looms, ate LOTS of potatoes, actually felt rain, got lost once, saw thousands of llamas and alpacas (and can tell the difference between them), received the organic farm tour (including the guinea pig barn), had a stimulating discussion about micro enterprise with a women’s group that dries stuff, visited one of the 10 most polluted cities in the world, spent 25+ hours in the car and that is just what I remember. (I would have some pictures for you to see, but thanks to the camera issue, they are not available).
As I have been here for the last few weeks, one general theme about Peru has begun to surface, juxtaposition. Everywhere I look, there are two world that are running into each other at top speed. I want to make sure not to qualify these worlds, but just point how they contradict each other. This makes sense for a country that has an enormous, but “relatively” new mountain range that was created by two plates colliding. On my walk home from work, I pass by a tailor working in a little wood shack that buts up against a 20 foot wall which separates the “real” Peru from the manicured soccer fields that are within. I knelt down and talk to a little girl who doesn’t have a right hand, lives in a squatters village in the middle of the desert and whose mother is gone all day at work and look up to see one of our trip checking his email on his blackberry. I am daily told how dangerous some other part of town is, but always greeted with the warmest of hospitality. These are just a few thoughts. They are not all encompassing. They are not that profound, but it is just something that has been on my mind for a while and will continue to be for a while.
So, I’ve been gone for a month. I need a little input. I haven’t shaved since I left and would like opinions on whether which direction my facial hair should go. Here are a few pictures to help you decide which is best and then click on this link and take the one question survey.
een two weeks. We have been quite busy with devotionals, museums, trips to ruins, discussions on fair trade, Peruvian history, fake money, economics and a trip to the fountain park here in Lima.
One of my favorite parts of being abroad is listening to stories. I know that my Spanish isn’t quite sufficient to really comprehend everything that is said and it is far from being strong enough to really debate people’s thoughts. But to hear how people live and what brought them to the place in which they are makes me happy. This is one reason that I like taking taxis. My normal questions that spark conversation are “how has the night been” or “how long have you been a cabbie.” Some speak of how the city has changed. Some discuss how they haven’t worked in that job for their entire time because other jobs come and go. One told me that Fujimori was the best president Peru has had. And some just don’t want to talk, but it is always an experience.
Hi from Peru
Wow, I have been waiting for oh so long to be able to say that to you all. This is really amazing. When we got on the plane in Atlanta (almost a week ago, wow!!!) I couldn’t help but thinking about how this is really happening.
Before I continue too much into Peru, I do want to say a few things about our orientation in Stony Point, New York (Not NYC). I learned that I am an ISFP according to the Meyers-Briggs test. We had a very good discussion with a woman named Jessica Vasques Torres about race, gender and living a life in the “center” (which we used basically as the American power structure: media or media, money, govn’t). The theory that we based the conversation around was the belief that there is a “center” that has power and controls the power and there is a “borderland” that does not have it. The borderland is connected to the center and relies on it for its existence. In reality, those of us from the States are irrevocably connected to the center. It is important to mention that it is not necessarily a bad thing, but that it just needs to be understood in the way that the borders of our society connects with the center. That led into a discussion about who were living in the borders and the re-commitment to those of whom we will be working with this next year. One point that she made that I thought was interesting was the conclusion that the Center removes the culture of some (i.e. Norwegians or British) and accentuates differences or only a small misrepresented portion that they want to be seen in others (i.e. most African and Latin American cultures). Both of these are dehumanizing because they do not see the whole perspective. I can claim myself to be Norwegian and Finish, but I have never been to either, the only Norwegian I know is how to “sit on my lap and kiss me” (and that may even be wrong), I have never worn any traditional clothes. Other than the heritage that gives me my height (dad’s side) and my brown eyes (mom’s side), what of this culture can I really claim as mine? Is it degrading to Norwegians for me to say that I am one of them when I really am not. Is it also degrading to other people from the States that I am trying to escape that. What does it even mean to be “American?” Is it even possible to answer that question? There are so many different versions of “American.” Which one is the “real America?” I know that Iowa will try to claim that, but in reality what makes it that. I really was happy with Jessica’s point that no matter what we say at this point, it is devaluing who we are and who everyone else is too. If you are interested in this or more about the race stuff that we talked about too (that I in the most un-rascit way possible am choosing not to go into for sake of space), check out a book that she recommended called “White like me.”
We also watched and participated in a skit/lesson by Rick Ufford-Chase about the economics of poverty (specifically in Latin America, but is applicable to share with the rest of the world. The point of the skit was to show how basically all the money that is in the world ends up in the hands of the powerful (basically the “center”). It was interesting to see how “petrodollars,” World Bank/IMF loans, and even many countries internal revenue ends up back in the hands of the powerful. And of course these practices are promoted because they help those that make the decisions on what to do. This was really not new information to me thanks to the great education I received at Whitworth and CASP. But what was really interesting was the bible passage that Rick used to back up his beliefs. He used Matthew 25:14-30 and the parable of the slaves and the talents. So often we read this to say that we all aspire to be the first slave who did what he knew how to do and got the most out of his work and are told not to be the slave that only gave back what he was given. Most of the time, this is taken to say that we need to do what we are good at and focus on that. If you are good at hugs do it to the best you can. We were went out to our small groups (thanks Seseme Street group for helping me to get ready) and I argued the normal interpretation. What Rick later explained to us was that his interpretation of the passage was that because the passage does not start out with “the kingdom of heaven is like” as do most of Jesus’ parables, Jesus was telling about life and how it worked in the period. Rick believes we are to be the “lazy” slave who was trying to subvert the “norms” of the society and instead find a better agenda. I like this because it isn’t easy. Far to often we take the Bible to be a tame book, but it really is and always should be revolutionary (but don’t worry mom, I’m not about to take on the revolutionary mantra of other historic Peruvians). But what do you think. Read the passage. Do you agree with Rick or disagree of have something else to say?
Other than these good lectures, orientation was just an amazing time for us to all be together as YAVs and celebrate the work that God is going to do is us. I really was encouraged by my small group to take this on. I really found God in a worship song. Thanks to everyone who helped me get out of the states. Well, I’ve written quite a bit so far, so I won’t get into actual Peruvian life quite yet. Rest your eyes, but not your heart or mind because this is a good passage to hash out as a community. I love you all.
