Melanie

I met a girl the other day. We were about 8 years apart, but we weren't that different. She approached me in the plaza as I was reading before Easter festivities, and we spoke in a little bit of Spanish, and then she asked if we could practice her English, which was quite good. 

Melanie told me that she was in school to work very hard because she wanted to help "her people." "What do you think of the people here?" she asked me as she handed a begging man a coin, a coin I did not give. "What do you think of our government here?" Her questions caught me off guard - so unlike the usual questions those trying to sell something rehearse. With each of my answers - answers I have been trying to put together for three months now, she nodded and smiled and would usually say, "yes, I know." 

We agreed that there were some terribly poor situations here, and that no child should have to live starving, dirty, without education, sick, begging, the list goes on. Like the children I come across on a daily basis. Like the children she was passing on her way to school everyday so that one day she could grow up and help.

"Do you believe in the God." Yes. "Yes, I love the God very much. I talk to the God all of the time. I read the book about the God. I ask Him to help these people, and I ask Him when I need help." 

"You are like me," she finally said. "You travel and you help the people." I told her she was well on her way. She made me want to work harder. Melanie wants to work in the government - law, in particularly, so she can fight for the thousands of poor that stumble along Peru's cobblestone streets. 

I cannot think of many girls that young walking up to a stranger to sit down and pick through the observations of a tourist concerning the government, the state of poverty, her own neighbors, her dreams. I was left thinking more about the Peruvian government and about why Peru's Challenge is here. And I was left in awe of this young mind and huge heart that wanted to work so hard to do work similar to what I was doing. We plan to meet again, one day. But she left smiling, repeatedly saying she was happy to find someone with her own dreams. 

Annie and I head to Machu Picchu tomorrow - a 4-day trek that is going to test the amoebas, giardia, salmonella, UTIs and other things that are now living in us. We can't wait. 

An Andes Reenact-mint: Sounds of Silence and Knowing Community

The other day, I walked the 1-hour-15-minute climb uphill to the Pumamarca school. I carry an iPod around with me a lot of the times, and I assumed this would be one of those times that I would stick the buds in and feel like I was in a movie, as I do so many times while wondering downtown Cuzco, blasting Coldplay into my ears as I am convinced Cuzco was a recording spot or inspiration for Viva La Vida. But today, I didn't.

And I am so glad for that. If I would have, I would have missed out. A full hour of almost pure silence in the Andes would have been a lost opportunity forever. It would have been a much more self-centered experience. I would have only known the wind by it hitting my face rather than hearing it move the eucalyptus trees. Drums and guitar I could listen to anytime would have overshadowed the birds' morning songs. I would have nearly run into the donkeys into the road instead of hearing their chewing and shuffling on the dirt road, alerting me I would need to move around them.

Sometimes it is exhilarating to hear your own breathing, your own heart beat, your own foot steps. While being surrounded by green you swear could swallow you up, you gain that tingly feeling of life, of being alive. We don't take much time to do this or always have hills upon mountains to witness such budding and growing and natural splendor. 

I got to hear quiet greetings as men and women walked soundlessly down the street, carrying rustling loads of vegetables. A little girl on the side of the road looked up, smiled, and said, "Amiga." Who would I have been if I had been plugged in? Women chatted with each other and men whistled as they worked the fields. My favorite sound was as I turned a sharp corner to come to an overlook across miles and miles of green land and yellow flowers, and I heard the clucking of chickens and a small boy's tender voice saying, "cook, cook" as he tried to move the chickens to their pen. 

One of the volunteers, Tyson, was talking about the sense of community he felt while in these villages. Each person knows everyone and is willing to sacrifice a little from themselves in order to serve the greater community. There aren't TVs, computers, video games, iPods, etc. to take us away from celebrating our neighbors and our human kindredness. And we all have heard it before in third-world countries. "The people were so poor, but they were just so happy!" Tyson talked about how we watch crime on the news, sit in front of computers, care about money and drive cars with four empty seats in them and then "come home wondering why we are so miserable." 

"Without wanting to romanticise being on the edge of poverty," he said, "I envy a simple way of life that relies on sharing, cooperation and close units in order to function effectively." They probably wouldn't dream of walking their own streets with an iPod to block out the tangible world right there. In a life of not many material values or screens, sounds or "luxuries" of lonely spaces, community is their greatest possession. It is easy to see why these people are so happy.  

One Village in a Huge World

A very interesting article on the vast amount of impoverished people in third-world countries, the fires they use throughout the day, these effects on our environment and just another reason to fight these circumstances : NYT reports

Here's to the chimney building. 

A Little More In Focus

The week in Urubamba was absolutely stunning. I came back to my desk in Cuzco feeling refreshed, exhausted from pressing one little button Tuesday through Thursday and simply inspired. Some of the realizations I am left with are as follows: 

• Jane and Selvy, as mentioned in the previous post, are an unbelievable couple. They have so much love for other people and each other and deserved the best day to celebrate that love and their hard work. I hope it was. Just meeting their families and friends solidified this even more, and I am so thankful for all who I met. 
• It is absolutely amazing that so many family members and friends could be there; about 20 Australians flew over for a week, and Selvy's family from Lima all came. The fact that they were all gathered in the same yard made both the bride and groom cry as they thanked all for making such efforts to come. 
• Culture clash should be part of our lives more. I rode a tuk-tuk early that morning with the bridesmaids to Jane's hotel and place of preparation. Everything throughout the ceremony was said in both languages. We had Australians trying to speak Spanish (el baaan-yo) and Peruvians trying to speak English (what's a dunny?), a Peruvian nut-flavoured cake underneath Jane's favorite chocolate cake, traditional drums and pipes followed by "Land Down Under" or Jason Mraz, Pisco Sours or Cranberry vodkas. 
• I miss my guy friends. Selvy's groomsmen were hilarious to be around and salsa with, and I left thinking, wow, my guy friends are men I truly respect and enjoy being around. 
• Dancing is pretty great. Twinkle lights under twinkling stars, salsa music and a ready-to-go crowd makes me feel alive. And there is a new favorite song. Another reason cultures should clash more.  
• I loved photographing a wedding. Instead of just seeming nosy and obsessive about asking about all of the little details of the dress, hotel, jewelry, flowers, etc., I had to capture each of these things. Scurrying around trying to document each moment was a rush and made me appreciate the finer details. Making everyone stop, slow down and smile on such a crazy day turned out wonderfully. 

To see a few of the photos I took from Jane and Selvy's wedding, please visit my Flickr site. There are many, many more photos, so check for updates. Thank you, Keith, for everything. :) 

A Few Love Stories

In a few minutes, I shall head off to the beautiful Sacred Valley to celebrate (and photograph) the Peru's Challenge founders' (Jane and Selvy) wedding. Their story is one for the books, and it is much better to hear her tell the long version while he sums it up in three sentences; my admiration for their passions, dedication and just love for people in general -- all as a couple -- is swelling as we approach a day that has been in the making for going on eight years now. I don't know many couples whose single love story revolves around so many other love stories.

Jane came from Australia in 2002 to South America, eager to explore this side of the world before heading off to Europe. Peru was one more pinpoint on a map before she flew over the midland mountains and into Cuzco. Cuzco grabbed her and didn't let go. She decided to stay a bit longer. A bit longer turned into Jane not wanting to go to Europe immediately, but, before she left, her friend made Jane get an apartment, a job and Spanish lessons all before they parted, leaving Jane merrily on the cobblestone streets somewhere between cathedrals and alpacas. 

I think I long to feel that feeling, that surge of knowing, of a wind that seems to be sprinkled with magic and whispering "stay." With that, Jane taught English and learned Spanish, all in an apartment complex surrounding a courtyard. One day, over eggs and bacon, a man walked into her open door. "I thought, he's cute," she'll say. Enter Selvy Ugaz, a man from Lima who was working in Cuzco with impoverished children, especially those born with disabilities. He had bribed a taxi driver to take him to his apartment on a day of transportation strike, so needed to pay up, but he only had US Dollars, since he had just arrived from England and had no local currency, and could he maybe borrow some Soles? Of course. With that, he asked if he could take Jane out that night to show her around. "The rest is history," she says. 

There was (and is) love. And Jane went to work with Selvy, falling in love with him and the children who they helped every day. When Selvy asked Jane to take a boy home after school, she knocked on a door that was answered by an intoxicated aunt who was quick to take the boy and put him in an outhouse. "How could you make me do that," she asked Selvy. She loves Peru; there is more to it than the pretty mountain side and historic monuments, he wanted to show. That is love. 

And so Jane fell in love with the man, the children, the country and the idea that she and Selvy could make a pretty good team when it comes to serving. They pushed past obstacles concerning finances, language, government and red tape for 1 1/2 years to create Peru's Challenge, challenging and perfecting their love, all the while creating something new from it: an organization that allows them to keep loving, keep helping, keep providing, keep learning, keep growing. Maybe every couple should have to work on something like this, working with each other to serve, before they move on. It tests everything but probably gives back even more. 

They can both speak each other's language practically fluently, but that doesn't guarantee their conversation will stay in one language. She thinks he drives crazy, and he thinks she is too planned. He thinks she is funny and has gorgeous eyes, and she's simply nuts over his intelligence and passions. She might flip over a rut with the organization, and he is the one to make it right. And so on a beautiful April day in the Andes, Australians and Peruvians will celebrate this love, these accomplishments that have sprung from it and just the mere ability for us to be able to give so much love in so many different forms: a new classroom for 30 children, a hot meal for a family, a fight for government recognition, an open home for travelers, a kiss, a promise, a life shared. I see their love for each other and places in each other's lives, but have experienced what their relationship has shared with so many others, from impoverished communities to volunteers from around the world, and have therefore seen this unselfish love and am thankful for their presence in my life. 

French Inspirations

Today I had the pleasure of sitting in a balcony above the Plaza with three guys my age from France. We talked about how the sun shined, how San Blas has particularly gorgeous views, what we wanted to order for a mid-morning drink and how to change the world. 

Quentin, Martin and Killian, engineers by study, have stopped off in Cuzco from a trip around the world. "Youth shakes the world, three students go round it," they say. Throughout these three friends' studies and travels, they have noticed an impeccable trend; today's youth has dreams and acts on them toward a better good. Today's youth takes action and gives time and energy towards a cause. It's inspiring, they say. So upon graduation, feeling the looming pressures of finding a job, the guys decided they wanted to travel the world before any type of settling down, but they wanted to do it with purpose, with an outcome. They created Youth Planet. 

The guys travel the world and see the sights, but, in most cities and definitely in each country, they meet up with people serving for a common good--in NGOs or cleaning the environment or any way of acting on a vision. They write articles about these projects and ideas and spread them as they travel the world, taking an idea from Ghana and suggesting it to a similar organization in Bolivia. They want to show youth in action. They want to promote the exchange of proactive ideas through the single idea of us all helping each other out. They want to see the world and the good in it. 

I told them about Peru's Challenge - probably talked their ears off, actually. But sitting there with these new friends who are so interested in projects such as this, who are looking for passion and sweat and broken hearts and the remedies, I can't help but let the facts and goals spill. And I was eager to hear about other organizations they had talked to and if those would want to partner up with us and where I could find these guys on a map next. 

It's a pretty cool idea--traveling the world to, one, figure out the issues others face, the devastating facts and dire situations and two, see how people are stepping up to challenge those facts. You'd come back with a lot more than some good photos.