My friend Dylan, about whom I recently wrote, is just one of my friends, and just one of my astonishingly intelligent, thoughtful, interesting, and inspiring friends. (Those words are used frequently, but I mean them literally and with all their original power. Read them again and stop on each to see how highly I think of my friends.) The people I met in middle school and high school–people who are slowly becoming adults and building on their youthful energy and passion with mature perspective–could be the people who most motivate the life I live, drive me strongest to use my time and skills maximally. Dylan’s just one of them. So I single him out here (again) because he provides the proof, because he writes. In his writing, he overwhelms me (again) with his intellect and his insight. (And, as I’ve said before, I have another high school friend who I think is an even better writer.) I’m usually satisfied with my writing, and my communication skills across media. Now I feel I’m putting shit into my computer and onto the internet with each word I type, having just read this blog post Dylan wrote to summarize (if that is possible) his final thoughts on his semester in China.
Because I’m pretty sure neither Blogger nor Dylan will sue me, and because he has deleted the blog he kept years ago (the first blog a friend of mine ever maintained), I’m copying his post in full below. I don’t know that this will last forever if I don’t preserve it, and it needs to, because Dylan has written something amazing here. Though he writes about China (where I have never been) and himself (from whom I am wildly different), he hits on feelings I believe have to be universal to people who travel abroad, who spend any extended period of time in a new culture, away from familiar people, places, and customs. Without any more quaint and pedestrian reiteration, let me direct you to read what Dylan wrote, here on his blog or below the jump.
I got home yesterday. I’ll try to write some about the trip soon, but, for now, here are photos.
Filed under: Personal, Photos, Travel | Tags: Architecture, India, Peru, Photography, Photos, Structures
I’ve finished uploading my best photos from Peru to my Flickr page. The newest additions are in the “Structures” album, where I uploaded many of the architectural photos I took for the fellowship I received. (This is what I was supposed to be shooting all summer.) Please take a look; I’m very proud of them. As I’ve gone back through the photos again recently for several contests, I’ve remembered all that I did and saw this summer, and how much better I became as a photographer. I’m no pro yet, but I’m miles from where I began. It feels good, even–especially–as the photos slip into memory.
Here are the photos from Peru. And, as a bonus, here again are my pictures from India, another batch I’m proud of.
Filed under: Photos, Travel | Tags: Animals, Peru, Photos, Portraits, Singles
I’ve started posting photos from Peru. Two albums are up now, and others are coming soon.
As mentioned, the reason for the visit to Nazca was the Nazca Lines, huge drawings in the desert made thousands of years ago by the people of the Nazca civilization. Or by aliens, if you believe Indiana Jones. Here’s how we saw the lines:
And here’s what we saw (among many others, over a dozen in all):
From the air, this was equally impressive:
Nazca is a fascinating outpost that is supported primarily by the tourist money that comes in because of the Nazca Lines. Fifty dollars for a half-hour ride surely makes some of the locals good money (hundreds of tourists take the flights every day), although the wealth clearly doesn’t reach most of the residents. The town’s main street, frequented by passing tourists, looks as much like Disneyland as Peru.
Just a block off the main street, however, Nazca resembles the rest of the country. And from there the surrounding mountains are also obviously visible.
Another few blocks from the town center is a dry river that separates the main part of town, no rich enclave itself, from poorer areas that become shanties farther out.
To illustrate the trip as I should have done at the time, I’ll post a couple pictures from each destination, in the order I traveled. Here’s Paracas:
Filed under: Travel
Where I went in Peru and Ecuador (click the tabs or the View Larger Map link below to see destinations and dates):
View Larger Map
Filed under: Travel | Tags: Lima, Peru, Ayacucho, 28 de Julio, Independence Day, Ecuador, Piura, Guayaquil, Quito, Chiclayo, Pueblos Jovenes, Fireworks
Weeks ago, when I wrote last, I was in Quito, Ecuador, suffering through one of the worst four-day periods of my life. I was sick and lonely, stuck in a hotel room in a foreign country, with no prospects for improvement each day. I got better after a couple days, then I moved on and continued my trip, moving south to Guayaquil. The trip got much better again, but not until I got back to Peru. (more…)
Filed under: Personal, Photos, Travel | Tags: 28 de Julio, Ayacucho, Fireworks, Peru
Having grown up in a city, fireworks were not a part of my childhood celebrations. I saw them regularly, but always from afar. Somewhere in New York Harbor or the East River the rockets go up, and over the city they explode. I can see them, but I can’t feel them.
One year during elementary school my family went down to visit my uncle in North Carolina for the Fourth of July. I remember kids holding sparklers and maybe someone lit real fireworks, but it wasn’t a big show, and most of it is gone from my memory. So I jumped at the opportunity to light fireworks myself and see them go off only feet away from me, for the first time I could remember.
July 28th is the Peruvian Independence Day, el día patria, and I spent the day with a dozen other Americans. But we wanted to get into the spirit of the day, so we decided to buy fireworks, or efectivos explosivos, to give ourselves and some residents of Ayacucho a show for Independence Day.
[Unfortunately in uploading the photos to the website they've lost some of their color. The original photos are more colorful than they appear here, and the full color can be seen by clicking on the photos.]
We bought a castillo–a castle– with five stories. We didn’t know what to expect, but the stack of bamboo and the diagram gave hints.
After some searching, a member of our party found a lot where we could light the fireworks. It turned out to be a hardtop, and when we got there we found a group of people playing music and dancing. Nothing unusual.
We watched the men set up the castillo.
Then we watched the show.
As you can see, it was a beautiful evening.
