What did she say?

What did she say?, originally uploaded by jtobiason08.

Today it has been one year since this photo was taken. I really cannot believe how that time has flown and how much these photos are still affecting me. I am slowly putting together a photo book of my best photography during my year in Peru and telling the story behind each photograph. I was working on this one and when I entered the "taken on" date, I realized that is today. The book is long from completion, but here is the caption for this photograph that I believe to be one of the more important ones of the year. (I should note that this is what it says now, when the book is printed, it may read different, but this is what I feel now):

The word that I believe best describes the Peruvian life is juxtaposition. This is a country whose indigenous heritage ran straight into its Spanish heritage. The city of Lima rides the line between sea and mountains but in a desert. This the world’s largest fountain park resides within this city where only 8mm of rain falls every day.But one of the biggest juxtapositions is how history and modernity are fighting each other to be the guidepost as the country moves forward.

This photo was taken during an event put on by the Urban Development Institute – CENCA for the presentation of their one-year diagnostic of a small part of San Juan de Lurigancho, a neighborhood of Lima. After the presentations, a group of local high schoolers presented cultural dances. These girls were waiting for the dancing to begin, but just like so many other teenagers around the world, were waiting for that time by texting. These two worlds are colliding but yet everything is so familiar too.