Hello everyone,
As many of you may know, I have just left the states for a year of Latin American studies and exploration. I am starting this blog as a way to share what I learn as I seek new experiences and ways of thinking in the cultures of two Pacific megacities, Lima and Santiago. As I'm gone for a year, I don't want to fall out of touch with people. By the way, I bought one of those nifty magic jacks, and I have a Denver phone number I can use at my computer: 303-219-4686. If I like to blog enough, I'll continue posting about whatever I like in the future.
I titled it shoreline receding because it's from a line in a song by the sweet band Okkervil River called Lost Coastlines and I think it's quite fitting for what I am on the verge of. Almost 4 weeks ago, I established an internship for September-December 2009 with the UN Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament, and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean in Lima's political and business district of San Isidro. I flew out here with little to no plans and I think things just might work out. I may have to cut my hair soon though!
I've already experienced a lot in the first few days; for example, I visited a unique art exposition of potatoes by Ernesto Zamalloa, honoring the "papa" and all its contributions to Andean and Peruvian society. It was a cool idea, but I was not able to appreciate the art all that much. It is astounding to catch glimpses of the profound indigenous respect of mother nature's preponderance among this city of 8 million which on the surface seems to have the ruthless, desperate nature of any big city. It really may not be so, because I have already been shocked by the kindness of several locals. Just some preliminary thoughts about this city I think I will come to like a lot.
But overall I have been preoccupied with finding a place to live for the next 4 months. I think I have the one, and I will move in tomorrow. It is a small but comfortable room in a house with 12 students including me, and only about 4 are foreigners, so that should be really good. I'll update more if it actually goes through. Anyway, I've got a lot more to talk about, but I'll just close with a few pictures. I hope the pictures are not few and far between, as I've broken the rules of the tourist books by bringing out my big camera in Lima.
I really liked this monument to this Peruvian short story writer and will be looking into his work while I'm here. "La palabra del mudo" means "the word of the mute," paralleling the famous "la voz de los sin voz."
Full translation:
My work in general is entitled the word of the mute, because in the majority of my stories, those who are deprived of speaking into an existence without mutual understanding and a voice express themselves: the marginalized, the forgotten, the condemned. I have restored them. Their breath rendered useless, I have let them modulate their wishes, their outbursts, and their anxieties.
Full translation:
My work in general is entitled the word of the mute, because in the majority of my stories, those who are deprived of speaking into an existence without mutual understanding and a voice express themselves: the marginalized, the forgotten, the condemned. I have restored them. Their breath rendered useless, I have let them modulate their wishes, their outbursts, and their anxieties.
Plaza Morales Barros
In fact, I will likely live right up this street from the plaza!
Well, thanks for reading my first post! I hope to share much more!
Brandon
