Lima and the project

Surprise, surprise! Anna did not update her blog for a while. Well I have plenty of excuses- A) I have been busy doing tourist-y things; B) High altitude makes Anna sleepy, around 9 pm I am usually done for; C) I am very impacient when it comes to Peruvian, slow WI-FI.

Nevertheless, it truly has been a fun ten days… Nicole and I managed to in Lima- see a parade of different costumes from the barrios of Lima, take a bike tour of Miraflores (the upscale neighborhood where I dream of one day living as a fancy diplomat-still have many options of careers, why not put Peruvian elite as one?), went to the best museum ever- the Larco Museum- de verdad the best- the collection of Pre-columbian ceramics and Incan gold and silver was so magnificent that I took 60 plus pictures of the displays (as well as the flowers on the outside terrace- where my wedding will be held if I become a fancy diplomat).

In Lima, I also met with the Lima-based project coordinator as well as the birding agency partner for the ecotourism project I have and will be working on this summer. Super excited in meeting with the community members; however, so much work needs to be done- first of all, what the f- am I going to be doing all summer? I have a detailed outline of my work- goals specified by myself and other staff. However, after talking to each person separately I found that so much work needs to be done- first, each person within this partnership envisions different objectives for the same ecotourism project. Additionally a full survey of community members has yet to be conducted in gathering the information of what they think/ want from such a project. Some much baseline information is needed to make sure that all involved parties are on the same page (ugh this is sounding a bit like a program evaluation). I guess that my main responsibility is to gather information about the community members as well as the municipality; gathering info sounds like it should be easy, as there are only 102 people in total in both communities the project is to serve, but as an outsider I must be culturally sensitive. Machismo is still quite strong in these rural communities- women are not allowed to sit with the men or speak during community meetings- but I was told that I should not have a problem with the men and talking about the project. Actually the Lima-based project coordinator Norma is a super feminista and really wants to empower the women of the community…. All right! Ok that’s all I have in mean right now as I sit in my hostel room curled up in my sleeping bag- darn it gets cold here in Cuzco. Next time I will write about my thoughts of Machu Piccu and other Incan ruins. Check out my pictures on the facebook. Ciao!

Overview

Woot I set up a travel blog to document my journey to finding the truth of ecotourism. I will be in Peru for 8 weeks in total, and a week in Ecuador. My travels are generously funded by the LBJ School and Crook Fellowship, as well as federal loan money (that will be repaid with interest! starting six months after graduation). Cities to be visited, include in Peru, Lima, Cusco, Puerto Maldonando, and the communities of Calabaza and San Antonio (eastern Peru close to the town of Satipo); and in Ecuador, Quito, Mindo, and nearby towns with ecolodges. I am completely and utterly excited to share with you by stories and adventures, in order for you to also be on this journey with me (I like to feel connected with the outside world).

Please note this is my first real blog (aka one that I actually update), so I may not behave virtually the way I should as a blogger. Also I write like I speak (illogically at times yes). My grammar will probably get progressively worse as I replace English with Spanish in the language space of my brain. Stay put and I promise to provide insights and fun stories of my Peruvian travels. You will get to learn a lot about me and my weird interpretation of little things! Yay summer travels!