Conor's Blog

Go, go donate on Indiegogo

2015-02-13T11:55:00.000-05:00

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10 - CLEAR! Pzzzzk!
Blog? Blog? Can you hear me?
1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10 - CLEAR! Pzzzzk!
Blog? Oh blog! You're back. No, no - don't get up. Just relax. You've been out for a while. You had better rest!

And with that, folks, this blog has risen from the dead!

* * *

The last post that I made to this blog told the story of a one of my valiant volunteers from the Defensoría del Pueblo. Since September, I have been at the Ministry of the Environment of Peru, where I spearheaded the organization of a major international Symposium around Biodiversity and Climate Change with the intention of articulating scientific information with political decision making. I promote environmental research at Peruvian Universities that meets the needs of policy-makers while also allowing research centres to meet their research goals. Peru is a super diverse country (climatically, biologically, and culturally) and is environmentally very vulnerable. I love my role and the chance to have an impact on the generation of knowledge to cope with major threats like climate change and environmental contamination!

I continue to be supported by Cuso International and will be with them for some time to come. As such, I call on all sympathizers to help out this great organization. In order to incentivize your donation, I am running a "humble draw" on Indiegogo. It's not much, but I hope it will add a little bit of fun to your donation.

Check out the Campaign Here

--> http://igg.me/at/cusointl/ <--

Thank you very much in advance!

Click the picture, the link, or the widget to go to the fundraiser.

Pamela's story - Please read

2014-03-24T11:50:00.004-05:00

Please give generously to Cuso International, a registered charity in the US and Canada, today. Click here if coming from Canada or here if coming from the US (Other countries can donate too! [either link])

As a stay-at-home mom in her mid-thirties, Pamela* started to feel a little restless within the four walls between which she spent the majority of her day. Her daughter was old enough to fend for herself around the house and Pamela found herself with a less than fulfilling routine of house chores and cooking. Pamela decided that it was time for a change - she wanted some real self-development. Motivated by her own sense of justice, Pamela enrolled at the Cesar Vallejo University in Tarapoto and is currently in her 10th and final semester of law. In a few short months Pamela will be a lawyer.

When given the opportunity to do a professional internship as part of her studies, Pamela knew right away where she wanted to go: La Defensoría del Pueblo – the Peruvian Ombudsperson's office. Pamela was motivated by a strong desire to help her community and she knew that the Defensoría was the institution to help her do that, even if it meant volunteering instead of looking for a paid position.

The Defensoría is an autonomous state institution that defends the rights of all Peruvians regardless of race, religion, gender, or social status. The institution supervises other state entities and services such as health, education, and policing to ensure that citizens are being treated fairly and given all the opportunities that the law entitles to them. But the part about the Defensoría that really appealed to Pamela is the institution's tendency to go 'más allá' – that little bit further. The comisionados at the Defensoría provide an unprecedented amount of support, companionship, and follow-up, even when a citizen presents a case that isn't directly related to the institutions mandate. People across Peru know that, no matter what their issue, the Defensoría can help them to find the proper channels of attention and get their problem solved.

In a few short months at the Defensoría, Pamela has gone from a shy, but determined soon-to-be lawyer to a confident defender of the people. She has contributed a great deal to the Defensoría in Tarapoto and continues to work hard every day as a volunteer. While she doesn't make a wage, Pamela maintains that the learning and growth that she experienced at the Defensoría are priceless.

It is my job, here in Tarapoto, to encourage more students like Pamela to take up volunteer positions at the Defensoría, and find ways to make sure that their experience here is an amazing one. This year is really about finding ways to recruit, train, and retain volunteers for the Defensoría and to document the whole process and program so that some of the other decentralized offices can replicate our progress. But this isn't an ordinary job. The amazing opportunity that I have been granted - to participate in the Defensoría and contribute directly this institution - is a direct result of Cuso International, a Canadian and US registered charity.

Some of the lovely volunteers from the Defensoría and I.

As this fiscal year comes to a close (03/31), we have one week left to make a contribution to Cuso to meet their 2013-2014 fiscal targets. Here's the bad news: Cuso is currently facing a $90,000 shortfall. Not hitting their target means that Cuso will have to make cuts in programs and volunteer placements and limit the opportunities given to folks like me and my colleagues. As a Cuso cooperant, I have a fundraising goal of $2000, and I am about one quarter of the way there. If possible, I ask that you please give to Cuso International today - during the month of March - to help the institution reach its financial targets.

Canadians can give here (CAD) and Americans here (USD). Anything helps and I wholly appreciate the donations that others have already made. Any donations of $10 or more will receive a tax receipt for the respective country.

If you don't find yourself in a position to give, please share this story with friends or family. Just helping me get the word out there is an extremely valuable contribution in and of itself.

Let's help Cuso help people like me to help people like Pamela to help her community. Give to Cuso International today.

*this case study is based on the story of a real volunteer, but I've changed her name out of respect for her privacy.

A burger, a beer, and a blog: boosting Brava

2014-03-03T12:58:00.002-05:00

Every now and then I find myself without WiFi on my cellphone - a thankfully rare occurrence in today's connected world. It probably surprises a fair number of people that, even though Tarapoto is in the Peruvian rainforest, it is a generally well-developed city (though a planning nightmare) and, as such, there are few places that don't have always-on internet. Notwithstanding, it just so happens that the best burger joint in town is one of them.

I highly recommend that any meat-eater who comes through Tarapoto check out Brava Grilled on the sixth block of San Martín. Aside from the fact that the food is good, they have a cool atmosphere, an attractive red-and-black colour scheme and general character. Unlike a lot of places (including most burger joints) in Tarapoto, Brava isn't just a place with a grill and some seating, it is well thought-out, and it is easily apparent that the owner had a plan when they put this place together. The restaurant really pays a lot of attention to detail, having introduced some novel ideas into the Tarapoto burger scene like grilled pineapple and home sauces that you won't find anywhere else. Brava offers good food at decent prices and, given that it probably takes me an equal amount of time to get from my room to the front door of my house as it does to get from my house to Brava, I tend to be there often.

Stolen from the Facebook Page. Go like them already!

Still, this isn't a food blog and I won't even pretend that I have the experience or expertise (or sensitivity of palette) to write one. Rather, Brava appeals to me because it is one of a growing-number of restaurants in Tarapoto that not only have a unique visual design and ambiance, but a distinctive menu offering. While we're not at the Burger's Priest's level of burger-worship, places like Brava can really shake up the local food scene (or in this case, contribute to the beginnings of one), and it seems to be working - the restaurant expanded a couple of months ago because wait times were upwards of 20 minutes and there wasn't enough seating to accommodate the number of customers. In less than a year Brava has cemented itself as the go-to place for many Tarapoto burger fans.

Many of Tarapoto's 'cooler' or more elaborate restaurants make it very clear that they are a tourist destination. While there is no harm in that, but I find it to be a much more impressive success for a place like Brava, which, rather than relying on the big tourism industry in Tarapoto, draws its loyal customers by the simple fact that it is decidedly its own, quirky self and offers something a little different than the rest. Here's to continued innovation in the Tarapoto food scene. Writing this blog has got me hungry and I know where I will be having dinner tonight!

A whiff of home

2014-02-28T12:17:00.001-05:00

The phrase "scent is the strongest sense tied to memory," was drilled into my head about a decade ago by a series of Old Spice ads about deodorant-scented armpits causing women to re-live the more romantic parts of their relationships and swoon over their man even as he steals her can of pop. While I take issue with the semantics of it all - shouldn't it be that "scent is the sense most strongly tied to memory"? - I have never doubted actually doubted the concept.

I'm sure it has happened to all of us - you detect a smell that is somewhat familiar and are reminded of, sometimes even transported to, another place, another time, with other people. I am sure that the most common trigger is when one makes a new acquaintance who wears the same perfume (or cologne) as an ex, instantly remembering and sometimes missing love lost. Or when you bump into an ex and they 'smell the same'. I only recently started wearing cologne again this year (because it smells nicer than sweat) and it makes me wonder: who will remember me?

Taking it back, though, my childhood memory is exceptionally patchy - there is very little I recall from my days in elementary school. There are however, a few olfactory triggers that send me back, for instance, anytime I smell freshly baked pastries wafting through the air I am reminded of childhood trips to Tim Horton's with my dad or of the big Zehrs (a Loblaws-owned supermarket) where, as a kid out grocery shopping with mom we'd get a free cookie from the bakery, and as a teen at the high school a block away I'd buy doughnuts rather regularly.

Today something rather parculiar happened. I was outside, on my motorcycle under the hot sun and the combination of dust, exhaust, and God-knows-what combined to, just for a moment, put me on a subway car. It was the same smell - the worn red upholstery, dirt from hundreds of daily commuters, and the general staleness of their air in the TTC. No longer was I on my way to work a few blocks from the intersection of San Martín and one of the three parallel streets that are all *something* Morey (I have trouble remembering which is which). I was sitting on the subway, just for an instant, on my way to school, or work at Bay, or in Forest Hill, or at someplace that I haven't been in way too long. Life was back to the way it used to be. Just for a moment, I was living in the past.

While far from an enticing aroma, if there was any smell that should be in a bottle, it's that - the smell of the TTC. The smell of Toronto.

The new rockets will get to be smelly soon enough.

In which I hijack my own New Years post

2013-12-31T22:31:00.000-05:00

On the first day of this year, I looked back on the 365 days I had just lived and tried my best to summarize the stress, excitement, and general sense of pride with which I regarded 2012. I had no idea what I would encounter in the 365 days that awaited me in 2013. In that post I predicted that about two thirds of this year would be spent away from home. That prediction proved to be inaccurate; I only ended up spending 37 days of this year in my beloved Canada, most of which I spent doing largely nothing (other than watching old episodes of Mad Men). Of those few fleeting weeks in Canada, I enjoyed only two weekends at the Centre of the Universe.

For those of you who have never had the privilege of visiting Toronto (the aforementioned universal centre), it is a beautiful city with lots of things to do, is safe to walk around, has lots of parks, and (except for a buffoon for a mayor and a problematic suburban-urban divide) has a generally excellent civic attitude and culture. I love the city of Toronto, a city that I call my own, even though, by the time I get back to Hogtown, I'll have lived almost as long in Peru as I have in Toronto (certainly if you consider that two of my years in Toronto were spent on the UTSC campus at the eastern extreme of Scarborough). Now, at the tail end of 2013, having spent 89.9% of 2013 in Peru, and with the expectation of spending the next 8 months here as well, I'm starting to feel ~~a little bit~~ very, very homesick. I long to hear live music that isn't cumbia or salsa (not that I'm not privileged to have such easy access to very talented cumbia groups). I miss theatre, comedy, coffee shops where I could sit for hours working on my laptop, going for a run in the park without the roar of mototaxis around me and dogs nipping at my heels. I miss the movement of the city: hectic, but orderly; rushed, but polite. Most of all I miss my family, I miss my best friend Kris. I miss my life.

With all that said (or whined), I need to be frank - a lot of what I miss was circumstantial, and won't be easy (or even possible) to recreate. The lazy days in university where all one needed for a party was Jamie, a mix of six tallboys, some electro, and vomit-inducing homefries (every time); my IDS classmates who knew the difference between being an "IDSer" or a "WUSCer" at a party full of development students (shout-outs to Adam, Brandon, Becky, Bri, Hridi, Jer, Mary, Brig, and Yas in particular); when walking for a couple hours from Queen West to Donlands or missioning out to Chinatown for Ding Dong pastries seemed a lot more appropriate than doing readings or writing essays; where fitness routines implied running from semester's start in September until it got too chilly to run outside (or some other excuse presented itself). These were realities of a life as a student, when responsibility was of an academic nature and finances and savings were at the back of my mind as opposed to my first, second, and third thought of the day. They were part of an amazing time in my life, but that time has passed.

But I need to seriously backpedal now, because I've managed to hijack my own New Years blog post; and there was a hell of a lot more to 2013 than being a nostalgic sap and missing the "big" city. To be honest, this past year was by no means characterized by homesickness (which in reality is something of the last few weeks (Christmas season)). My 2013 was characterized by a few significant advances: I can honestly say that my position in Uniterra was useful, that I made some sort of impact on the community I worked in; I completely paid off my student loans and continue to be debt free; I got my current gig with Cuso, back in Tarapoto (a city that I do love even if not as much as Toronto). Twenty thirteen was a year that saw a few whirlwind relationships like none I'd ever experienced before, and saw quality friendships come and go. It was a year unlike any other that I have lived and has definitely taught me the value of identity, of individual wants, of dreaming and/or realism (where applicable). As I but this year behind me, like the 24 I already have, I can only hope that 2014 presents me with as many brilliant opportunities as 2013 did, and that I will recognize them when they come.

So here's to putting your best foot forward in 2014, to enjoying the many opportunities that present themselves to you, and to always looking forward. Happy New Year to you and yours. May your 2014 be a year worth living, with people, experiences, and emotions that make you want to do it all (or something like it) again in 2015.

Urgent appeal for donations

2013-12-09T15:47:00.003-05:00

Over the years I have done a wee bit of fundraising - be it for Movember, or the United Way's CN Tower climb, if you are a follower of this blog or a personal friend you will probably realize an important fact when it comes to me and fundraining: I'm not very good at it. Yet here I am again, with a plea to help a cause that I support (or in this case, am woven into the mesh of). Cuso International is Canada's largest volunteer sending organization, and sends volunteers from Canada, the US, and Latin America to Latin America and the Carribean and to Asia and Africa (though a strategic partnership with VSO). It is through Cuso International that I am able to realize my mandate as a volunteer in Tarapoto.

Some of my lovely volunteers teaching schoolchildren about rights (in this case - the right to health).

What is it that I do? My placement with Cuso International sees me back in the high rainforest of Peru in Tarapoto. Followers of this blog will definitely recognize that as the place I have been for a year already. After completing my one-year contract with Uniterra in environmental education, I moved to Cuso International for a new challenge in volunteer management. I work in the Defensoría del Pueblo (Peruvian Ombudspersons Office) mobilizing local volunteers for the diffusion of rights and privileges that the populace has when dealing with government institutions in Peru. The key goal of my placement is to 'systematize' the volunteer program here in Tarapoto – leaving the process well documented. The experience and advances that I make here will be socialized nationwide to the 36 decentralized Ombudsperson's offices around the country..

Advances since October: So far my long-term volunteers have mostly worked in the office, gaining important skills while contributing to the defence of the local population. They have also done work to raise awareness of public rights around Tarapoto and will continue to do so into the new year. I also had to opportunity to work with eight psychology students with whom we developed a strong campaign against bullying in fifteen local schools..

Why Bullying? One of the key roles of the Ombudsperson's office it to ensure that public institutions in Peru are complying with laws and best practices for their operation. This includes the implementation of certain tools and mechanisms to respond to cases of Bullying between students – an issue that has become increasingly important in recent years as cases are becoming more and more violent. Nonetheless, in the Ombudsperson supervisions in local schools, we only found three reported cases of bulling among thirty schools in the past year. Concerned, we enlisted the help of psychology students from the Universidad Peruana Unión, who performed surveys and revealed that there are indeed many unreported cases of Bullying in Tarapoto. We found dozens of cases in just fifteen schools. This study has served to help teachers and principals recognize cases of Bullying before things get out of hands and more children become victims of harassment..

Plans for the coming months: The coming months will see a lot more on-the-ground programming to reach populations with less accessibility. We intend to mobilize our volunteers to bring the services of the Ombudsperson to remote populations and under-serviced areas..

How you can help:Here comes the plea: make your tax-deductible donation before December 31st and you can claim it against your 2013 taxes. As a registered charity in both Canada and the US, you can donate in Canadian Dollars here or in US dollars here. Help me reach my goal of $2000..

Broke? Don't got no dollars? That's too bad. Not to worry, though! You can still help me out. Share this page or either of my fundraising pages with your friends or family, or just share it on Facebook. The more we get this message out there the more I can raise for an amazing organization..

How it works: If $2000 seems like a small amount to raise for a year-long overseas placement, you're right. That amount works out to roughly 9% of the true cost of an overseas volunteer. Thankfully, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Development (DFATD – formerly CIDA) will match nine dollars to every dollar donated to Cuso – that means that your $50 dollar donation will contribute $500 to Cuso and my $2000 goal will nearly fund my entire placement..

T'is the season to be giving, so make your donation today!
CANADA: http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=2082655
US: http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=2184007

Thanks so much! Happy Holidays!

"Insert title here"

2013-10-22T14:44:00.000-05:00

I am a pretty heavy user of Feedly - everyday I use it to read up on some of my favourite sites about everything from Android, Linux and Google to Toronto and the Mobile Industry in Canada. I often think of the authors of these sites, and envy that fact that they blog for a living. Believe it or not, I love writing my blog - I really do - I enjoy getting the odd comment, or mention in an email or on Facebook. Generally when one enjoys doing something, they do it a lot, right? That is probably a general truth - and I'm sure my readers are sick of excuses by this point - but I have so little to talk about! To make up for what is sure to be a relatively dull post, I present to you this eargasm. I suggest you listen to it while you continue reading to spice things up a bit.

In general life is good. This week my new roommates will move in and we will be a complete house. Everyone seems very flexible and understanding, so I expect things will be comfortable and we'll all get along swell. I was in charge of finding the house in my first weeks here, and I found a beautiful place with big common areas and nice finishes that was within budget. The house is comfortable and spacy enough that the five of us have enough space to not feel like we're all living on top of each other. In the rest of my personal life, my friends are still my friends and I have worked into the groove of life in Tarapoto such that there is a sense of normalcy to everything that I do again. The day to day is back to being routine, even if it is very different to what I did over the past year. We still know how to have fun though. One thing that is totally exciting is the Halloween party some other Canadian volunteers, local friends, and I are putting together. Halloween is a very Western tradition and coincides with "Criollo Song Day" (that's a very rough translation) so it isn't a big deal here - still, I love an excuse to don a costume and it is always fun to celebrate with people who have never gotten dressed up before. November 1st is a holiday here - luckily! In general the weather is hot as ever and I spend most days melting (especially now that work in a shirt and pants every day). Sometimes Sundays are best spent playing cards and having a few beers by the pool!

As you can tell, we really suffer.

At work we're making some progress on a project with some psychology students from the local evangelist university. They will be conducting studies in sixteen schools in Tarapoto, Morales and La Banda de Shilcayo (the three districts in San Martín) to identify cases of bullying and identify factors driving them. Bullying is an interesting subject here in Peru. The concept is only recently entering into the mainstream media - separating bullying (i.e. systematic, long-term manipulation of a person of less power (be it social or physical) by a bully for some kind of gain) from other cases of conflict or rivalry is difficult. We as Canadians can often get caught up thinking that we are experts in Bullying and that it is something we've been working on 'forever', but in reality no one really talked much about bullying before the Columbine tragedy (1999) and we still have significant problems with bullying fourteen years later. The important thing for us here in Tarapoto is giving principals and teachers tools to identify cases of bullying and act upon them. My volunteers will perform their studies this Thursday and Friday and develop some sort of intervention plan for the schools, depending on the results of their study. You may be wondering why the Ombudsperson's office would be involved in a campaign about bullying - as part of our supervisions of public institutions we need to ensure that the mechanisms (as mandated by law) to identify and deal with bullying are in place in schools; this campaign helps us to know how effective those practices are. In the end, preventing bullying helps us to provide safe and secure education to students in San Martín - which is their right. Also for work, I will take part in a one-week workshop on volunteer management in La Paz the first week of November. It's been a long time since I've been to Bolivia, but I remember loving it. I can't wait to go back, even if it will be mostly in workshops.

Anyway, I have to jet! This update was a quick one, but I'm back in the swing of things and life is good in Tarapoto, as it usually is. Until next time ...

Coffee at the cajue

2013-09-19T21:12:00.001-05:00

This update is coming from my cell phone (without my Bluetooth keyboard, which stayed at home this time). It turns out that I lost the adapter to my tablet charger on the flight into Lima, so that paperweight is back in the hotel. In hindsight, given that this is a proving to be a typo ridden experience, I should probably dispense with the banter about my chosen input method and get on with this post, but my coffee hasn't arrived yet and I feel like taking my time on this one.

I am absolutely thrilled to be back in Tarapoto. Tonight is the first night that I've been left to my own devices, having had company since I first arrived. While normally I'd love the recharge time, I find I'm craving company. There are a lot of things about the last week in the rain forest that are different - I have no home, no motorcycle, almost no money, but no debt. The only comfort that is constant are the amazing friends that I can still count on. (And they're allowed to be busy sometimes, even if it is much to my chagrin). I can't wait to get installed somewhere (and do some damn laundry)!

At work things have been going well. My boss, the gentleman who sent Cuso the request for a volunteer, has been in Lima, so I've been without direction all week. Still, I've done what I can to get to know my organization (more on that when I get a real keyboard). My colleagues have been pretty great. I've mostly interacted with a lawyer from Tacna (we bonded over that) and volunteers. Everyone treats me with such respect, it is really great. The Ombudsperson's office is also the most respected government organization and they do really respectable work, so I feel privileged to be a part of the institution, even if only tangentially.

What would a would-be coffee snobs blog be (say that five times fast) without a coffee review? I'm at a really comfortable little café called "Estarbarts Cajue" (the name is a joke on the Spanish tendency to over-vocalize the "S" and the regional mispronunciation of "ju" to sound like an "F" e.g. Juan sounds like Fawn"). The decor is really nice with a great patio and quirky, "Victorian" era paintings with the "Estarbarts" logo painted in. Unfortunately my cappuccino didn't have any foam (baristas gasp while laymen gape!) and I can't say it is very tasty. But fear not my dedicated readers! I shan't be defeated so easily. The search of a decent coffee in Tarapoto isn't over yet, and until then, there is always Oro Verde.

Tarapoto, Peru: Take two

2013-09-03T08:51:00.000-05:00

Exactly one month ago, I stepped off Air Canada Flight AC081 and onto Canadian ~~soil~~ exit gate. Three days later, I was in Ottawa for selection with Cuso International, another volunteer-based development agency. By the following day, I had been accepted as a Cuso volunteer. While the details are still a little fuzzy, I expect to be off by as early as Sunday or Monday for in-country orientation in Lima.

Thus I begin another year-long mandate in Tarapoto. This time around I'll be working with the local office (MAD) of the national Ombudsperson (yay, local government), as a Volunteer Program Specialist. I will be in charge of analyzing the office's volunteer policies and practices and seeing how we can strengthen the presence of the office in the community through volunteer programming. It is all part of Cuso's access to justice program. I am pretty excited about it because I have met a great number of smart, active youth in San Martín and I am excited to try and get some of them involved with MAD in Tarapoto.

While my mom and Kris (my bro-mom?) aren't too pleased about me being away for another year, I am excited to see the amazing friends I made over the past year and get back into the swing of things in Tarapoto (especially with winter coming soon here in Canada). I am also hardly the only one of my friends that will be over seas this year. Jamie is already is Hong Kong (good luck, buddy), and Scott is off to lose himself in northern Scotland. My friends in Toronto are also so spread out that it seems as though someone took a paintbrush, flicked paint across a globe and decided, "That's where they'll go".

Another year overseas means another year to decide where to go for grad school, too. There are just so many interesting things I could do with the rest of my life that I am still finding it hard to choose just one. If anyone wants to win the lottery on my behalf, that'd make things a lot easier! (Why choose just one?)

Anyway, off to continue preparations (which pretty much just packing again).

And here is a picture of a parrot.

P.S. Cuso asks volunteers to raise some money to be matched nine times by CIDA. To contribute to me, please visit this link (and/or spam it onto whatever media possible): http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=2082655.

A latte in Lima

2013-07-10T07:33:00.001-05:00

Some travelling companions in Trujillo

It is 6:20 in the morning at the Jorge Chavez International Airport. A few moments ago I could scarcely hear Bon Iver crooning out of a speaker, lost somewhere across from the 4d café where I sit: a place I hate and depend on with equal magnitude. A dis-assembled latte, orange juice and cold toast cost double what a three-course lunch would cost at many restaurants in Peru, but there is an outlet at my feet and the WiFi from the Starbucks across the hall is ready for the siphoning. After the uncomfortable night we spent together in January, I hadn't planned to spend much time in the Lima airport (not ever again). Alas, my 7am flight was pushed to 12:20pm so I have a few more hours to burn in "Latin America's best airport" (<- It's a damned lie!).

"But Conor, why are you in Lima in the first place?", you might ask, and I'd tell you that it was a good question. Today is the last day of my vacation that saw me and my best friends gallivanting across the north of Peru, eating stuff, drinking stuff, stealing hearts, avoiding death and what have you.

A couple of kids travelling in Chachapoyas

A typical travel destination for Tarapoto-based volunteers is Chachapoyas in Amazonas. At 8 hours by bus and collectivo, it is accessible and is home to the Kuélap Fortress, Gocta waterfalls, and other relics of the Chachapoyas culture (and some elements of the Inca who conquered them). On the penultimate Saturday of June, my dear friend and guardian angel in Lima Marisabel came to Tarapoto to spend the weekend and spend "El Día de San Jaun" (Saint John the Baptist Day) in the San Martín high rain forest. Juanes (a typical dish of chicken and seasoned rice wrapped up in Bijao leaves) and river-frolicking were enjoyed by all.

The (tiny) Sarcofogi in Karajia

We set out on the 25th for Chachapoyas and spent the next four days touring the Karajia Sarcofagi, the Caves of Quiocta, Kuélap (the north's Machu Picchu), and the Gocta waterfalls. Kuélap alone is worth the trip - the fortress is immense and overgrown with very cool vegetation that is a mix of mountain and high-forest species. It is amazing to see the ingenuity of the prehispanics - the fortress was built so strategically that the Inca had to cut off supply lines and "thirst" the Chachapoyas into submission. In Chachapoyas we met some amazing people and made some great new friends including a German cow (it's a long story) and his handler, and a pair of lovely ladies from Chiclayo.

Kuélap

Upon returning to Tarapoto we were joined by three of my favourite in the world: Adam, Kris, and the ever-lovely Katie. We spent the weekend in Tarapoto, seeing the underwhelming Ahuashiyacu waterfalls (I waited 11 months to see ... that?), Lamas, and the Urku wildlife reserve (after almost losing Kris and Katie to a confused mototaxi driver). Adam's trip to Tarapoto was on the tail end of his vacation time so Kris, Katie, and I (all fans of the Oxford comma) left him behind in Tarapoto when we took off for the coast.

Kris, Katie, Conor in Tarapoto

It turns out that when you live in Tarapoto pretty much all roads lead to Chiclayo (luckily I now had some friends there too!). After a harrowing 15 hours of tearing much too quickly down narrow highways (nearly murdering motorcyclists and passengers along the way), we arrived tired and shaken at 6am Wednesday morning. After a much needed pre-exploration nap, we checked out the centre of the city. We saw a pretty benign protest and got 'spicy' noses and eyes in the process. We decided to head on when the police started running their horses, batons flailing, through what we had observed to be a generally peaceful crowd. The following day we met some volunteers from an orphanage in Ayacucho and went on their self-designed tour of the Equatorial Dry Forest of Pómac, home to a near-millennium old algarrobo tree and Huacas (edifices) from the Sican culture, and museums about the more widely-known Sipan culture. Upon returning from the tour we had dinner with Kathy and Milu, the friends from Chachapoyas.

The famous Señor de Sipan

The following day we shipped out to Trujillo where we arrived in the late afternoon. After a drink at the very cool "Café La Llave" off the plaza, we went exploring some of the old centre. Later that night we were joined by Milu so that on Saturday she could give us the "kay, so I live here" guided tour. On Sunday, back down to three we did the typical tour of the Moche and Chimu cultures around Trujillo. The Huacas in Trujillo are much better maintained and restored than were those in Chiclayo and we were absolutely fascinated by the religious culture in prehispanic times in what is now Trujillo (which was actually founded by the Spanish). It seems the Moche were highly affected by el Niño cycles and, having edifices constructed from mud, adobe, and reeds, and being heavily dependent on agriculture (the irrigation canals they constructed in the early hundreds C.E. are still used today). The Moche believed that the El Niño events were the wrath of their god Ai Apaec. Eager to please their deity, the Moche made sacrifices (the losers of duels between their greatest warriors) to ask for his mercy (in fact, a mass grave of sacrificed corpses showed mud layers indicating that the Moche only sacrificed during rainly periods). After one particularly bad El Niño event (massive rains and flooding), the Moche were unprepared for the La Niña period (drought) that followed. Indignant, they abandoned their temples, renounced Ai Apaec, and moved to the mountains. One hundred years later, remnants of the Moche culture returned to the Trujillo area to found the Chimu culture, with new, presumably more generous, Gods. (Kris was particularly enamored with this concept - if god gives you a hard time tell him to take a hike and find a new god!) The Chimu city of Chan Chan still stands over fourteen square kilometers of the original twenty-five and is stunning in scale and structure. We didn't end up finding bus fare to Lima and stayed an extra night in Trujillo, taking the Monday to eat cheap and decompress a little.

Lunch at the "local" Chilis in Trujillo

We bussed overnight to Lima and spent the day walking around Miraflores and Barranco. We were on our feet for hours before meeting Eva for dinner and singing a few hours of karaoke with her and Mari. We arrived at the airport around one in the morning and I had Kris and Katie with me until they went through security around 3:30. I managed to get about two one-hour naps in on the cold airport floor before getting up and seeking out a place to write this blog entry. And here I sit, milking every drop out of my orange juice (the serve threw out my last slice of toast) at 4D. I last changed my clothes and showered about 48 hours ago, I'm tired, I'm smelly, but I'm fulfilled. Just a few more hours and I'll be back home.

P.S. a fact I've made public on Facebook but not yet on my blog - Uniterra in Ottawa overruled my contract extension meaning that I will be on Canadian soil the evening of August 3rd. - Sorry Adam, they are firm on not letting me pitstop in Costa.

P.P.S. Kris and Katie have a safe trip home and a wicked time in Winnipeg. Thank you so much to the both of your for being such wonderful friends, flexible travel companions, and stellar human beings. Les quiero mucho.

Two and a half months more

2013-06-01T13:14:00.000-05:00

Way back at the beginning of March, I sent a message to the heads hear in Peru "offering" my continued availability after August. Juan, the program official for Uniterra Peru told me to sit tight while he shuffled budgets and while WUSC waited for feedback on the Uniterra 3 proposal. For two over two months I waited in patiently, telling very few people about my request for an extension. I was 90% sure that I would get either no extension, or an extension of three months (the maximum extension one is allowed on a three-month contract). Things are still very much up in the air regarding the future of Uniterra in Peru; Uniterra 2 ends in March 2014 and with the recent merger of CIDA into DFAIT, they haven't even requested new program proposals yet this year - something that has a lot of people in Ottawa very worried. Still, Juan came through and has offered me 2.5 months of extra time in Peru. This is great news for me, as I'm a little bit in love with where I live and what I do. With the extension I am looking a a mid-October return date to Ontario. Juan has told me that he is still looking for ways to give volunteers more time (since just about every-other volunteer has requested a contract extension), so I could end up with a few more weeks, but I think it rather unlikely. So! Mark your calendars so that in October there'll be coffee in the pot and beer in the fridge. Seriously, I could die for a Tankhouse right now.

A rainy day in Tarapoto (because I seem to have lost the original photo from this post)

Move on up; get on down

2013-04-22T10:25:00.001-05:00

The days have turned into weeks and the appropriate amount of time between blog posts has long since passed, and yet here I am, humbly entering text onto a screen to give a much needed update to my hordes of followers. Did you miss me?

I've been enjoying living in a neotropical paradise the way any 24-year-old from Canada should - among friends, working, but never taking life too seriously. Karaoke, cinema, and dancing at Rustica or Anaconda remain my most frequently practised social activities. I also spend a horrifically ironic amount of time on Facebook. My social circle has grown in the space of the last two months and I was very happy to welcome a handful of new people into my life. Tarapoto is an amazing city and I've been making the most of my time here.

This is actually the most happening spot in Tarapoto ... just not on a Thurday at 10pm.

The weather has been rather spectacular through March and April. Though we had some bad rainstorms (which didn't do at all for our recently-dug-up-and-not-properly-compacted street (mud!)) the weather has mostly been hot and sunny. Storms that come down the cordillera will often hop over Tarapoto and let loose further into the valley, but its actually kind of nice when it rains, especially now that I can take all paved roads home (but more on that later). It gets cold at night sometimes, reaching as low as a bone-chilling 20ºC. The humidity hasn't been too bad, but it is still more than appropriate to soak in the pool on the weekends. So, for those of you back home, I hope you've been enjoying your winter relapse. Don't forget that I'm happy to have visitors.

It's like that idiom says: It's always raining at 5 o'clock ... right?

Work has been ridiculous in the last while. We had a couple of super intense weeks punctuated by absolutely laziness. In March, we organized a week of events for World Water Day - everything from a press conference to a mini-marathon. When all ways said and done, my counterpart and I were at each other's throats but were happy to have a week of successes behind us. We also just hosted another workshop like the one in Lima, this time with water services from the Peruvian Northwest. ANEPSSA, the association of water utilities in Peru, uses a bunch of buzzwords in their description of the event - a systematization of user education for the socialization of the same. (Read: we told people how we do things so that they can go and do things). Now it's back to the usual visits to the treatment plant, workshops in schools, and something in Sisa and Maray.

No meeting in Tarapoto is complete without painted faces.

The biggest news is that of my big move. For the first eight months of my mandate I rented a room and ate 'pension' (i.e. I had breakfast, lunch, and dinner prepared for me). It was nice, but I couldn't help feeling like I was a child again. It didn't help my sense of independence when the landlord took me in as one of her flock. She's one of the nicest people I've ever met, and it meant the world that she considered me her son (and it was nice to have a "Peruvian mommy"), but after living on my own for five years, I was starting to feel that I needed to cook once in a while, I needed a living room that had walls instead of just a terrace, and I needed to live in a room that wouldn't fill with gnats and moths the moment I turned on the light at night. One week ago Saturday, I was sitting in my room, probably reading something on Cracked.com, when I got a call from my friend Marines asking to go look at a house with her and our friend Domingo. Curious, I decided to check it out. The house is beautiful, well maintained, and has a huge rooftop where we can have a drink in the sun on the weekends. I was sold. In the space of just one week I went from having no intention of moving to living in a new house. Bonus: I live with three amazing people.

The laundry didn't come with the place.

Now for the big news. Frequently, when someone from a developed country like Canada is going to travel in Latin America, they hear no shortage or warnings about how the women are "calientes" and that, if one isn't careful, they'll come back to Canada with a family - or worse: leave behind a kid. Well, I never imagined it, but I may have become one of those people. I have recently welcomed into my heart a little girl named Polly. She is tiny - just a few weeks old - and absolutely adorable. She is super smart and playful and is an amazing crawler, jumper, scratcher, and cuddler. She is also four-legged ... and a cat. I love her all the same.

The best step-daughter a guy can ask for.

Mom? Are you still with us? You'll probably be in Ireland by the time you read this, so I hope one of my uncles is around to make sure you didn't just have a heart-attack.

Blogs are sort of the opposite of real life. We write to vent, to argue, to reach out to people back home in a sort of indirect, roundabout way. When I write my blog, I almost feel as though I am having a conversation with my parents, or my best friends, or with you (wow... that was deep). This blog has been sad and lonely lately because I have been happy and well-accompanied. Life is good in Tarapoto, and it's a heck of a lot more fun to just live it than to write about it. All the same, I still miss everyone back home and would love to see my friends and family sometime soon. In the coming months, I will finally have the opportunity to share some of my life here with my best friend, Kris and his girlfriend Katie when they come in July. I. Can. Not. Wait.

Facebook: the inescapable monster

2013-02-10T18:32:00.000-05:00

On the first of January of this year, I resolutely deactivated my Facebook account. It was probably a week prior that I decided, while reloading my Facebook page for the umpteenth time that day (it seems that Claro mobile internet has some sort of episodic issue resolving Facebook's secure connection), that a site I have outwardly disparaged for some time, one with a long track-record of privacy offences, intellectual property rights disputes, and an alarmingly deep pool of user information, was not the kind of site that I wanted to use.

Facebook, admittedly, has made great advances in giving users improved control over their privacy; no small part of this progress was mandated by governments including our own. Still, the internet is constantly abuzz about Facebook for one reason or another. For instance, my decision to exit the Facebook network was right around the time when the internet was in an uproar over Instagram (a Facebook-owned photo sharing service) and their revision of rights which (supposedly) allowed them to sell users' photos for advertisements (though Instagram did later claim the issue to be due to poor wording and not poor intentions). Since I left Facebook, they have introduced the controversial "Graph Search", a service allowing you to search for friends based on their profile data using terms such as, "people who live in Toronto and like the Barenaked Ladies". While this information has to be public to be searchable, there is a difference between a user making their interests public so that people who find them can see what they are interested in, and finding people based on their interests. I'm not alone in wanting to leave Facebook behind for good. A recent survey has shown that 61% of Facebooks users have taken a break from the service for weeks or more.

In addition to the sheer creepiness of the Zuckerberg network, the site is a complete time-drain. I have spent countless hours on the site that could have been much better spent working, studying, or socializing in the real world. We have grown increasingly reliant on Facebook for social interaction. Parties are planned using Facebook events, pictures are shared over the network, and increasingly, Facebook messages are displacing email for many users. In fact, I can remember last year when I asked a friend to email me a file and her response was, "You still have email?" While my friend isn't the most internet-literate, she is a great example of Facebook's ideal end-user - someone who doesn't see a need for any service outside of the blue kingdom of Facebook.

In what has got to be the most hypocritical moment of my life, today I reactivated my Facebook account. Gasp! How can someone so completely loath an internet service and yet use it all the same? My decision to re-activate my account wasn't an easy one, and may not yet be the final decision I make. But there is a sad truth about today's internet and my generation: Facebook is inescapable. I

Like it or not, just because you're not using Facebook, doesn't mean you're not on Facebook. A colleague last week approached me to ask about a photo of me a friend that was taken at the local discoteca. He was surprised to hear that I had never seen the photo in question. In fact, in this last month alone there are dozens of photos that I have taken, been in, or wanted to get a copy of posted to Facebook. The unfortunate truth is that it is better to be on Facebook to see what is being posted of you than not to be. In addition, while I had tried to grab most of the tagged photos of me off of Facebook with PhotoGrabber, my friend's privacy settings (good!) prevented me from saving a copy of some of my most beloved high school memories. Sometimes it is just nice to have a copy of one's less handsome moments.

My comment from 2007: "sweet picture. Rather unflattering for me though. Whatevskis" ... 17-year-old me was a douche

Leaving Facebook also caused me to fall out of touch with a good number of friends, either because I forgot to copy their email address before deleting my account, or because they are novice internet users and don't know how to use much more than Facebook (this is a reality for some of my Peruvian friends). Other member's of my extended family (aunts, uncles) and some of my more dispersed, but likewise important friends were also removed from my social life when I severed the blue and white connection between us.

Pageviews - All time

Finally, this very blog needs Facebook! While I can hardly claim to have a very large audience on this blog, the vast majority of the traffic to this blog comes from Facebook (With my buddy Adam's blog in second place!)

Pageviews Jan 11 - Feb 9

In the month that I didn't use Facebook, most views came from Google searches, likely from people who stumbled upon my blog by accident and not people who actually wanted to find it (although, given the fact that most of my pageviews come from the U.S., this is probably true of most views on my blog).

Views that my particular posts garner

As you can probably tell by the majority of the content on my blog, I don't blog for a large audience. All the same, it is nice to see that a handful of people are reading (and presumably enjoying) the content on Conr.ca. As such, it was a little disheartening to see the number of views on my content - without Facebook driving traffic to my blog, my audience slowly started to drop off.

The above reasons, while perhaps a little shallow or even petty, are reason enough to be tempted to reactivate one's Facebook account; they are reason enough for me to, ashamedly, reactivate my profile. As such, this post, this resignation, will show up in my Facebook feed, and in all likelihood, it will get more hits than the post before it. Facebook has worked its way into my life such that leaving the site, while by no means impossible, has more short-term negative impacts than positive ones. Perhaps had I held out I might have seen some positive result in the long term, but until I am close to my friends and loved ones, my Facebook account is one more way to keep in contact with them. At least until they create a Google+ account!

Leaving Lima late

2013-02-01T12:53:00.004-05:00

Last Friday, myself and a pile of other Tarapoto volunteers turned up at Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima. My trip has been great. From water slides and pool-side sun to one-too-many Chilcanos and many-too-few hours of sleep, I have been incredibly well entertained, guided, and cared for by my friends here in Lima. I wasn't just here for the fun of it, though. This week saw the successful execution of Uniterra's annual meeting and the first workshop on the systematization of user education in Peru. We were very well received in both meetings, and, aside from losing the USB receiver for a brand new wireless mouse, I have been generally without complaint this entire trip.

The participants in the Uniterra meeting.

There is only one small issue: I should be speaking in the past tense about 'this' trip, after all, our flight back to Tarapoto was last night. For me, however, the journey is still ongoing. You see, when I left Tarapoto I checked in, through security, and onto the plane with my driver's license. I guess I was used to the Ontario system wherein a driver's license is the most common form of photo ID used (and sufficient identification for travelling on national flights). On our way out of Lima, I also checked in with my driver's license. The lady at the desk told me to make sure I had other ID with me because my license might not be accepted at security. "Not a problem", I indicated, "I have my passport with me". We went up in the army of charapas (slang for folks from the rainforest) that we were, ate some overpriced food and set off for security to check through. When I reached the head of the line, I faithfully produced my driver's license for the security officer. He wanted other ID. There was only one small glitch: when I said that I had my passport, I failed to remember that I had had my carry-on bag with me in meetings all day, and that as I prepped my luggage the previous night, I had slipped my passport into my suitcase for safe-keeping, ready to be whipped out before checking the bag.

Peru's leading authorities on User Education: EPS EMAPA Huacho, EMAPA San Martín and EPS Tacna

My insistence that I had come in on my license was frivolous and I was made to leave the security area. The guards took my details and put them into what I like to call the "bad people book" (coincidentally, I am now in two bad people books nationally - the first slot earned when I forgot I had a screwdriver from my motorbike in the small pocket of my carry on when I left Tarapoto for Lima last December). After being recorded as a possible vagrant, I was sent back to Taca's check-in desk to search for my passport. By the time my bag was delivered to me, it was ten minutes until the gate was to close, and I had a flight of stairs, airport tax, security, and a short bus ride ahead of me. I was counselled to have my flight changed.

I decided that I might stay in Lima until Sunday, or maybe even go to Huacachina to crash Fernando's exit-vacation there. I asked, therefore, to have my flight moved to Sunday. Unfortunately the nearest date that I could change my flight to would have been the 12th of February. Otherwise, I'd need to pay the flight change fee (about $30) and pay to have a class upgrade (another $80 or so). At that rate, I'm paying more for the flight than I'd be willing to (I could likely buy passage with Star Peru for less than that). My only other option is to fly standby, wherein I will be placed a class up and pay only the penalty if I travel some night between today (Friday) and Sunday. Luckily, there is almost always space (according to staff).

By the time I had my ticket strategy sorted, it was a little too late to be taking the bus down to Miraflores. I'm much too "Scottish" to pay ten times the price of the bus on a taxi, so I figured I'd stay the night in the airport. I though I'd be leaving early for Huacachina, anyway. After shivering through a coffee-punctuated night on the floor of the overly-air-conditioned airport, I left around 6 am, heading for Av. Mexico to grab a bus to Ica (and Huacachina).

I caught the combi (collective transport van) to Plaza Norte, and shuffled over to the Metropolitano, Lima's BRT. I had forgotten my metro card in Tarapoto, so I bought a new one, loaded it with credit and swiped onto the system. The lines were ridiculous - hundreds of people in one station waiting for buses that were already so chock-full that hardly a dozen people got on at each one's arrival. After seeing myriad buses go by, too full to bring my luggage on, I got frustrated, stressed, and headed back the way I came. There was no way I was going to make it to Huacachina today. After sitting dumbly on a curb near Plaza Norte for a while, and then on a chair outside of the still-closed mall, I decided that the only solution for a white guy with luggage in Callao is to head back to the safe haven that is the airport.

The Lima airport has, for four years running, won the award for best airport in Latin America ... I am at a loss to describe how, though. It is freezing cold, had little to no benches, and is full of oddly-shaped plugs that don't actually fit consumer electronics. The only way to plug in here is to pay for a S/.10 cup of coffee from the Starbucks, or even more at 4D (where I am currently writing from). Ironically, taking a taxi, staying in a hostel, and getting a good nights sleep in Miraflores would probably have cost me about the same as the small fortune I've spent on food and fumbled outings since last night's passport debacle. I asked at the desk downstairs, and it seems that there will be enough space to fly standby tonight - paying only the $30 penalty will get me a bump in class!

A dark-roast bold that's priced like gold

Suffice to say, this entire experience has been frustrating, but in the end, what can I do but laugh at myself? I think this has been the single most empty-minded thing I have done in recent memory. I have to admit though, I've had an amazing time in Lima and if the oversight was a result of the lost sleep that this week's entertainment has entailed, I'd do it all again in a heartbeat.

P.S. Fernando, have a excellent time in Huacachina, a safe trip home, and my best wishes for whatever trouble you plan on getting yourself into in Calgary. ¡Salud!

Rain, rain, go away. Come again ... well, at least after my shoes have dried

2013-01-22T23:08:00.003-05:00

Today, all day, it has been raining. The sky started falling sometime in the morning (around three, I heard). It is currently around eleven at night and the rain is showing no signs of letting up. So, what more is there to do on a rainy night in Tarapoto than blog about it? I know that I pretty much always claim this, but honestly there isn't much to be said. I've been working hard the last little while trying to make something of a useful library out of the mess of folders that, spread over two hard drives and numerous distinct locations, are supposed to be made into a sensible record of User Education at EMAPA. When I say disctinct locations, I mean distinct locations. To name just a few:

D:\Jairo Bartra
D:\Mis Documentos
D:\Escritorio
D:\Documentos de Jairo
D:\Capacitación y Educación Sanitaria
C:\...\Escritorio
C:\Mis Documentos

You probably get the picture ... the best part is that these files aren't on my computer. Some I can access over the network, but others I need to wait until Jairo leaves the office for one reason or another so I can steal his computer.

Aside from the above, I've been busy preparing my mid-mandate report (yep, I'm at mid-mandate already), preparing presentations for upcoming meetings in Lima and entertaining myriad guests from the 11th until the 20th. The amount of liquids that I have consumed over the past few weeks is criminal in some places (thankfully, they are mostly places under Shariah law). Still, Fernando and I had an amazing time playing host to our dear friends Evita Acidentes and Mariextrema, and were pleasantly surprised by the arrival of five more unexpected visitors.

Aww, shucks. Ain't they cute?

I've made very little progress on a certificate in International Business that I decided to take on a whim (an expensive whim), and will need to somehow get that done this week. It is less than fascinating stuff, but it does contain neat little tutorials about things like this:

They sure chose an interesting hand gesture - it is used to accuse someone of being gay, here in Peru. That's something I had to learn the hard way when I tried to call something 'excellent'.

I am left to wonder though, what could "an obscene symbol for a body orifice" possibly refer to? The great news from this course is that the little bit of reading I have done so far has ensured that I will never want to be an international business man. I wish I had realized that there was a certificate in Environmental Sanitation before signing up for this one!

Really though, I think I have my life plan all figured out already. I plan on being programmed with all of the government's secrets in the form of embedded imagery and thus becoming a super spy. If that sounds like the plot of Chuck (my most recent vice), you're mostly right. The only difference is that Chucks secrets come from the CIA / NSA, whereas, presumably, mine would be from the Great White North; so while Chuck keeps busy disarming bombs and rescuing captive hostages, I'd be a expert on more important things, like learning the best way to prepare gravy for Poutine ... or helping the Queen kidnap First Nations children. (In case you couldn't tell, that was a joke - check the link if you are confused. All kidding aside, though, CSIS does good work, I'm sure).

In all seriousness, I think I have actually found a grad program that I want to apply to. Direct entry PhD programs at Columbia are cake, right? ... Right? ... Time to get studying for the GREs and getting my life together again. Easier said than done. My life slows down proportionally to my internet connection. I imagine things would be so much easier if it ever went above 30kB/s ... or if I did more than eat, sleep, drink, and watch Chuck in my spare time. Who knows, maybe tomorrow it will stop raining and I will do something productive. Just maybe.

Wrapping 2012

2013-01-01T21:14:00.000-05:00

Without the expected showers of brimstone and lightning, 2012 came to a relaxed end with beers between friends (some old and some new) on a rainy terrace in Tarapoto. For me, 2012 was probably one of the more hectic years I have lived. Between completely (mostly) alienating my friends while struggling through full- and part-time work, school, thesis, and struggles of graduation in the spring, to one of the best summers I can remember, to a whole new life in Peru, 2012 hit me from every angle. Luckily, I had amazing roommates and workmates that pulled for me when I needed it. Twenty-twelve was also characterized by a lot of soul-searching for me, unfortunately I can't say the same about soul-finding. Sometimes when it comes to the end of a year, we look back and wish we could do the whole thing over again (for better of for worse). I have a year that I can look back on and be proud, but I am by no means hesitant to put it behind me.

The year that comes is another that I will spend most (two thirds) of away from home. I can't tell what the year is going to be like (other than hot), but I have no doubt that the amazing people in my life, the incredible opportunities that seem to fall into my lap, and my driven desire to do something worthwhile with my life will help me to make it another year that is anything but forgettable.

So here's to 2013 (Cusqueña cheers). If 2012 was supposed to be the end of the world, then we're living on borrowed time - best make the most of it. Happy New Year to you and yours. May your 2013 be a year worth living, with people, experiences, and emotions that make you want to do the same in 2014.

Slip 'n' slide and lose

2012-12-26T16:17:00.000-05:00

I have been asked by a few people to update my blog. It seems all of December has gone by and I haven't posted anything. Today, however, something happened that seemed post-worthy. I wondered first about making this a Facebook status instead of a blog post (mostly so my mom wouldn't see it), but I figure that it is something that is worthy of a(n albeit short) blog post.

Today actually turned out to be a pretty bad day. I played a little game of slip 'n'slide, only I didn't dive head-long onto a slick plastic surface. No, today's game was a much more costly version. It was a little drizzly today, not even a strong rain, and I was turning a corner (a left hand turn) oh one of the few paved streets in Tarapoto. As I cornered I got the not-so-lovely sensation that there was no longer any friction between the pavement and my rear tire. I hydroplaned and ended up on my left-hand side. Thankfully, my bike has a protective frame called a 'mataperros' (dog-killer) that keeps it raised off the ground. It gracefully took off down the slight incline while I was left a few meters behind on the road.

First of all, I'm FINE! That's right. I am writing this blog entry the same way as I've written any other. No dictation software was used. Look, I got a little scratch! That's it!

Human skin != leather

Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the hog or the contents of my backpack. The following is a list of casualties of the game:

The shirt I was wearing, a nice shirt, is ruined. Luckily I grabbed it on sale from H&M and it probably didn't cost me more than $10 or $15.
My motorbike runs fine, but the left side of the frame is scratched and bent in some places. As far as immediacy is concerned, it's no big deal, but I can imagine her re-sale value has plummeted from this little event.
My Nexus 7 tablet screen (scratch resistant glass) is smashed. It is just the digitizer (the glass part) and not the LCD (the image part) that took the damage. Still, I had planned on selling my Nexus 7 here before I left (I had also thought to leave it at home this afternoon). It also turns out that a replacement screen is more expensive than a replacement tablet.
My shock-proof, waterproof, freeze-proof, dust-proof camera is apparently not everything-proof. It turns on with a nice clicking sound and says "zoom error". Looks like no more memories will be recorded between now and August.

As much as all of the above sucks (and cost), I can't say that I am upset. To the contrary, I'm pretty happy. I ended up with a scratch (a badass one at that). I didn't smash anything on my person. No broken bones, no burns, no skin-grafts will be necessary. I probably couldn't be more 'fine' right now. Faced with some pretty significant losses in terms of technology and the ability to capture memories or be what may, I'm bummed. But the fact that I'm in one, very solid piece: that's what's important.

Dreaming of road tripping

2012-11-19T20:54:00.004-05:00

Kris Bone is my best friend. We keep in touch as best we can. We have a song about being best friends. We have the same propensity to plan absolutely amazing events and schemes and, a week later, let those plans fall by the wayside. Still, there is no one I would more like to involve in my latest project idea or adventure plans, or other hair-brained scheme, than this guy.

As far as I can recall, there have only been two cramazing (that's crazy-amazing) plans that we have been hugely committed to. One is a long ways out of reach: opening a cooperative, theatre / café which is dedicated to providing a space for talent to develop and be showcased. The second crazy plan, however, just got a lot closer to reality.

Kris and I have been talking for a long while about the possibility of road tripping back from Peru. Of course there are myriad issues and obstacles that intend to keep this plan from becoming a reality. One of the most immediate of those obstacles, however, has been eliminated. For a while I was preoccupied that, due to strict CIDA rules, I was going to have to get on a plane as soon as I finished my mandate. Official CIDA policy is to disallow volunteers to change their return flights so that they don't generate the reputation of using government money to fund vacationing in the Global South. It turns out however, that I am allowed to simply request not to have a return flight. All I have to do is sign a letter releasing WUSC and Uniterra for any responsibility over myself once my mandate is up. The end of my contract will also mean the end of my visa, health insurance, and institutional support - making it no small matter. At least, however, I am going to be on the ground in Peru, and, hopefully, on four wheels.

This is the exact route that we will take.

Issue number two is a lot bigger. Cars in Peru are ridiculously expensive, and I find it unlikely for the two of us to be able to afford one here. (Or to be able to afford this road trip without some sort of monetization - be it a series of well-watched YouTube videos, or a book, or a sponsor or some sort). It is actually likely to be cheaper to buy a decent used car in Canada and have it shipped to Peru. There is an interesting prospect however. A friend of mine who is here currently wants to pull a motorcycle diaries (only in a car) and travel from Canada to Peru photographing everything in between. If he completed this trip, we could take his car off his hands and travel our way back to the Great White North.

It's still early days (August 2013 is a ways away yet), but I am excited to have one of the major stumbling blocks out of the way. Any advice and support is always welcome. For my friends in Canada, I guess this means I might end up seeing you a little later than August 2013, but not too much later.

Oro Verde

2012-11-08T15:27:00.001-05:00

I am just blogging up a storm right now! Three posts (four if you count the one I deleted) in two days! I couldn't miss the opportunity to recommend the most amazing coffee I've had in Peru, though. But first, a bit of background!

My bike has been nasty of late. As the motor is new, these first 500km are to let the motor "work in". I'm afraid, however, that it has worked in some kinks - the clutch seems to be loose, the minimum is all off and the bike likes to make awful noises when it goes over 6000rpm, top out at 60kpm, and stall even when it's in neutral. As of this morning, however, I still needed to drive about eighty or so kilometres until it's first tune-up (and the ability to carry passengers).

On a mostly unrelated note, I got a traffic ticket yesterday - I stopping at a yellow light and ended up crossing the near-invisible white line. I had thought that I was being safer; stopping, albiet a bit late, instead of bombing through the intersection on the yellow. The police officer on the corner, however, didn't see things the same way. She told me that by stopping over the white line, I was depriving pedestrians of a safe place to cross. Obviously she hasn't spent much time walking in Tarapoto, because pedestrians don't get the luxury of 'safe' places to do anything - even when there is sidewalk you trip on the horribly uneven surfaces. She wanted to give me a second ticket for not having a license plate on my bike. Even though everyone had told me I could drive without one (the actual plate hasn't been produced yet), she told me that a bike shouldn't be on the road without all of its documentation. I managed to 'stupid' my way out of that one (which was genuine, by the way). In the end, it wasn't too bad - just a S/. 49.70 fine to be paid, but it sure did make me feel like an ass. Add to that the fact that as I was being written up I saw no less than three other drivers commit the same infraction, and my sense of immortality on my motorbike was very quickly dashed.

Frustrated, I needed to do something other than play around on Google Map Maker all day (my newest vice). Since I had the day off (a long story), I decided to go for a drive to Lamas, a small city that is twenty-something kilometres outside of Tarapoto. It is a quirky place, home to a medieval-style castle built by a rich Italian guy who has more money than he has things to do with his life, I guess. Unfortunately my camera died before I made it to the castle, and with Lamas being so close I figured I could just come back some other time. I didn't want to leave right away, though, so I set off in search of the very highly-recommended Oro Verde Cafeteria. After driving by the place no less than four times, I finally found it and came in.\

Cue photo op

Oro Verde (green gold) is a production cooperative in the region of San Martín, and produce coffee, cacao, chocolate, sugar, honey and Sacha Inchik oil. It's all USDA Organic and Fairtrade certified. An Americano will only set you back S/. 2 and it is totally worth it. It is a very dark coffee, with just a hint of bitter acidness. I also had some delicious cake. I imagine I'll have another coffee before I am done! Anyway, for my friends in Tarapoto, this is a place that comes well recommended. Check them out on Facebook or their website.

Yum!

Update: On the way home I decided to take a 'detour' I wound up somewhere on the way to Yurimaguas, in an attempt to find my way back to Tarapoto, I wound up in the rice paddies of Santa Rosa de Cumbaza. Splashing through puddles, ripping down one-track lanes, and getting stuck real deep in the mud is so much fun!

Movember 2012

2012-11-08T12:17:00.004-05:00

This post comes a little bit later than I had planned, but I am announcing my participation in Movember this year! For the uninitiated, Movember is an annual campaign hosted during the month of November wherein men let their moustaches grow wild and free, and collect pledges for men's health initiatives. This time, I cheated a little, and spent all of October cultivating a fine moustache so as to ensure maximum impact here in Peru. I get so many looks, but have received a surprising number of compliments (ok, probably just one).

What an incredibly masculine moustache
(This photo is from the boat to Iquitos, if you were wondering why I look zonked)

Canada has a good habit of kicking all other countries out of the water when it comes to Movember - I guess we just have that many hipsters. This time, though, I opted to collect in Peru under Movember's 'Rest of the World' section, meaning that I am raising money for Movember's Global Action Plan, a vision for worldwide impact on men's health via two elements (from their website):

1. Annual global collaborative research projectThe overall goal of the global collaborative research project is to accelerate research outcomes through collaboration on annually identified priority scientific questions. We believe that getting the best researchers from around the world to work together on key challenges will accelerate breakthroughs that will ultimately benefit men with prostate cancer. Further, we believe that team-based research, performed across borders with a strong collaborative mindset, can deliver innovation and knowledge sharing faster than research conducted primarily at a national level.

Each year Movember’s Global Scientific Committee convenes a meeting to determine the number one research area that could benefit most from global collaboration. Once the priority area is endorsed by Movember’s Board then the best prostate cancer researchers in the world are brought together and funded to collaborate and answer that question.

2. Promoveo - a prostate cancer knowledge exchange platform

Movember is creating a global, online community for prostate cancer researchers, clinicians and organizations called Promoveo. Similar to LinkedIn, but tailored specifically for the prostate cancer research community, Promoveo members can share ideas, find out what key research resources are available in other countries, post information to foster discussion, and connect with other researchers from across the globe to drive outcomes.

Stemming from Latin, Promoveo means to move forward, accomplish, advance, bring to light. Our aim is to create a forum for free information exchange about prostate cancer research that will accelerate outcomes. Imagine what possible opportunities may arise when a prostate cancer researcher in the Netherlands, for example, is able to connect with other researchers involved in the same field in Belgium, Canada, the UK, US, and Brazil to share knowledge and resources.

I have been trying (rather unsuccessfully) to get support for fundraising from a couple of companies in Tarapoto, but so far no dice. It is hard to explain to people here how wearing a moustache earns me money for men's health issues. I would hugely appreciate your pledges, which you can donate by visiting my MoSpace Page, here! Thanks in advance for helping me Change the face of Men's Health.

How to eat an alligator

2012-11-07T21:41:00.000-05:00

This update is a story of great adventure. A multi-day, trilingual, semi-aquatic sojourn. As an added bonus, for what may be a first for this blog, I have lots of picture to accompany it! Last Thursday was a holiday, so we decided to take advantage of the almost-long weekend and take an adventure to the jungle city of Iquitos, in the department (province) of Loreto.

Sunset on the way to Iquitos

Iquitos is a moderately large city of 406 thousand, but remains largely inaccessible by road. The only ways into the city are in the air or on the water. We'd heard a lot of talk (mostly negative, to be honest) about the journey down the river: after hearing tales of theft, suffocating heat, and ships running aground, the whole trip idea was overshadowed by a strong notion of the undesirability of river travel. As adventurers, though, we wouldn't miss the trip down the Huallaga, Marañon and Amazon, for the world.

So, with a communal sense of "what are we getting ourselves into", we set out on Wednesday night (the least Halloween-y Halloween ever) for the city of Yurimaguas. Yurimaguas is a port-town just a hop over the Cordillera Escalera about two hours from Tarapoto and home to our dear friend, Joëlle. Man, does that girl ever know how to host! We were greeted by mini-pizzas, wine, sangria, and other snacks. Joëlle really put the rest of us to shame, as she spends a lot of time in Tarapoto, but we never show her as good a time as she showed us. Sorry, mujer. Later that night, we went out to La Chacra, a discoteca, and danced a bit. There didn't seem to be a soul over sixteen in the place (other than us).

The port in Yurimaguas

On Thursday we ate an amazing breakfast and set out for the port. We were early. We left around 9:30, because the boats tend to leave on a very flexible schedule, but usually sometime around noon. Boarding the Eduardo X, we had found some space on the third deck, purchased some hammocks and settled in. The girls, (four pretty French girls) negotiated the price of the trip down to S/. 70 each. Meanwhile, Fernando and I made friends with the folks who were hanging beside us. Fernando has an uncanny ability to make friends with people in seconds. The girls went and got food for the trip while Fernando and I watched our stuff, which consisted mostly of lounging in hammocks and playing with the neighbours' dog, Luna. When our new friends went on shore to get some lunch, we opted to watch Luna for them.

Luna!

It wasn't until about 2:30 that the boat left, and we panicked. We were, by the looks of things, the happy new owners of a gorgeous little puppy; our friends hadn't made it back to the boat. Fernando told the captain that someone had been left behind, but he was informed that it 'wasn't their problem'. As Fernando plotted an elaborate plan to leave his contact information with the captain and shelter Luna with us in Iquitos, I heard the small motorboat on the side of ours rev while some crew members shouted about three huevónes that needed to be picked up. Sure enough, as we played cards an hour or so later, we looked overboard to see our friends arriving, after having followed in hot pursuit on a second boat and being plucked up by the smaller one.

The rest of the 48 hours on the boat are mostly not blog-worthy, and consisted of sleeping, eating, drinking a beer or two, and playing cards. Between a French-rules version of Village Idiot, Sumatoria, Golpe, another game that I never learned the name of and French game that translates roughtly to 'a lot of poop', we became expert card sharks. The heat meant I spent most of those three days and two nights in pyjamas and a tank top that Fernando lent me. Fernando took a flattering picture, which he kindly describes as my 'gay pirate' photo. Thanks, Fern. The only great tragedy on the boat was that I twice slept through dolphin sightings (and that my friends are jerks who twice didn't wake me up to see dolphins).

Card-playing as though it's a full time job

We arrived in Iquitos on Saturday around two or three in the afternoon. We checked into a comfortable guest house that one of the girls' friends had found for us in the centre. We met two more friends and spent the afternoon touring the city centre and malecón (I just looked this word up, and have discovered it is one of the coolest words in the English language: "esplanade"). I was exhausted, as I hadn't slept very well the night before, having been feasted on by bugs all night ling. I was definitely feeling the heat more than anyone else; the damp spots forming on my chest and back had me rather uncomfortable.

Gorgeous facades on the esplanade.

After a long afternoon of touring, a visit to the cultural museum, the agriculture market, and a brief excursion and prompt-retreat into the Belen neighbourhood, our return to the guest house was welcome. A shower and power-nap later, we were out again for dinner and drinks and would up at El Complejo, dancing to the sounds of Orquesta Ilusión. The salsa and cumbia they were playing was interrupted at one point when they played Gangnam Style, or El baile del caballo, as it is colloquially referred to here. It was fun to hear 'Korean' with a Spanish accent: but they get an A for effort. Exhausted, myself and Adeline called it a night slightly earlier than the rest of the group, but they didn't have any amazing stories to tell the next day.

On Sunday morning we woke with hungry tummies. As we walked towards the esplanade (still a cool word), we began to despair. Everything was closed. Then we found the closest thing to paradise for a group of hungry europhillic tourists: the Amazon Bistro, a French-styled (and European-priced) café. Even though it was morning, I was so tempted to order a Chimay or Duvel, delicious Belgian beers that I don't imagine one can get anywhere else in Peru. That is, until I saw the prices: about $25 a bottle.

Beer? Or liquid gold?

I ordered an 'English breakfast', but was disappointed when the sausages turned out to be oversized hot dogs. We spent that day at a zoo/reserve about fifteen kilometres outside of the city. We decided to buy lunch outside of the zoo and carry it in. We checked out a barbecue at the entrance and were greeted by some pretty exotic food. First, Fernando, Erica and I tried Suri, giant fatty beetle larvae. The heads were crunchy like popcorn kernels, but the bodies were soft and chewy. Fernando and I also bought a giant hunk of lagarto for lunch in the zoo.

Suri-kababs!

In the zoo, there were probably as many monkeys outside of cages than there were behind bars. I finally got to see a live pink river dolphin (they're quite ugly, actually), and there were some cool species of birds and jungle cats. It was a really beautiful park, but the conditions for the animals left us all feeling pretty guilty. As an added bonus, the zoo had a great beach on a big lagoon and we decided to eat lunch in a gazebo on the lake. Fernando was dismayed when I told him that lagarto is alligator. He had thought it was just a big lizard. Guilty, he questioned whether it was even legal to eat alligator, saying, "Let's see if this murder was worth it." He cautiously took a bite and declared, "And I'd kill it again!". He was right. Alligator is probably one of the most delicious meats I have ever tried. It is a white meat and has a soft texture. It's flavour factors somewhere between fish and chicken. We agreed it would make an amazing burger.

A big hunk of gator!

Although we had only bought one portion of gator, the two of us were full and Fernando give what was left (a third or so) to a stranger. Following lunch, we spent quite a bit of time drinking beer while cooling off in the lake. That night we ate at a fancy barbecue joint, and ended up back at the guest house fairly early. Most of us were wiped from being in the sun all day.

Fernando, pimpeando

For our last day in Iquitos, we went to the market in Belen. As far as I am concerned, a market is a market is a market, but we had some delicious juices for breakfast, tried a strange glassful of meringue and saw some 'exotic' items for sale.

Tortoise, anyone? (We didn't try it)

After the market, I pressured the gang to get one last coffee at the Amazon Bistro. We spent the afternoon at an Artisans Market, though I didn't find anything worth buying. At 3:30, we caught our flight back to Tarapoto. It was a quick, a cruel joke of an hour compared to our 48 hour voyage on the boat.

Happy travellers

I had an amazing time on our trip and couldn't have asked for better company. (Then again, who would ever complain about spending lots of time with pretty French girls?) I got to practice my French (and realize that I have lost more than I imagined), and experience new things culturally, physically, and gastronomically. It was a great success. To my new friend in Iquitos: see you in January!

tl:dr I had a blast in Iquitos

SisaPD: to serve and coquet

2012-10-24T21:42:00.000-05:00

While walking back to the hotel from dinner tonight, we stopped in San José de Sisa's central plaza for an emoliente. Emolientes are delicious herbal drinks made with lots of things I couldn't remember the names of for the life of me. Tonight's wasn't too bad, but nothing has come close to the emolientes Oscar, Viviana, Alex and I used to drink across the street from Plaza Vea in Tacna (or behind el Mercado 2 de Mayo - mmm).

While on the corner, we couldn't help but watch a group of young people standing outside the police station. There were two young-looking girls (almost certainly teenagers still) and three police officers. They were chatting up a storm beside a car that had its doors open and I wondered whether the girls had gotten themselves into some kind of trouble speeding or not having insurance or what may be.

It was right around the time that someone turned on the radio in the car and the police officers started throwing suspicious looks in our direction that we realized that this was not a security issue at all, but a social one. When one of the officers took a stroll to the nearest bodega and came back with bottle in hand, the game was up. In situations like this, it's not a bad thing that Sisa is a rather quiet town. The frequency of looks our little group got before we finished our emolientes and turned in for the night increased exponentially upon arrival of the liquor.

Gossip at the ol' emoliente stand suggests that the police station is often locked at night, with no officers to be found. Apparently muggings have happened within two blocks of the station (within yelling distance, really), and it is rumoured that (at least) one of the officers there has no trouble "strip searching" underage girls. Yet, as well known as these facts are, nothing will change. There are some serious issues with la Policía Nacional del Perú, but when the problems trickle down from the top, solutions are hard to find.

Tonight, San José de Sisa's brave officers have reminded us why there is so little respect for the law in this country, and serve as a shining example of how to (conspicuously) display steadfast, dedicated, corruption and malpractice. ¡Felicitaciones, oficiales!

No way José ... de Sisa

2012-10-24T21:18:00.001-05:00

While it is barely 7 in the evening, I am struggling to keep my eyes open. I'm sitting on a hostel bed, listening to the soft sound of Lucy Rose describing strangers walking her way and talking to herself. The rain carries a cool breeze through the windows and I sneeze in damp clothing. I am waiting impatiently for my counterpart, Jairo, to call to get dinner. We are in separate hotels because neither of the two hotels in San José de Sisa had two rooms available. I was sent to one around the corner, having been told it was much nicer - having seen both rooms, I feel that I was lied to! It is a wet evening by all accounts, and I wonder whether just falling asleep at quarter past seven is such a bad plan.

We sheltered under a strangers thatched-roof porch on the way back to Sisa.

Work has brought us to Sisa today. The morning was spent meeting with lots of local ministries - the regional direction of education, the regional direction of health, and the local municipality. We finally coordinated a series of postponed workshops on water source protection, environmental education and the treatment of water with chlorine bleach. Tomorrow will be my first solo presentation in Tarapoto, giving a talk on water source protection in the agricultural school in Sisa .They have a great water source, but it gets pretty heavily contaminated in the few-hundred metres it travels from the well (which is unfortunately open) to the reservoir. We'll be closing it all up and cleaning out the reservoir and we hope that that will significantly improve the water quality at the school.

You may have been curious about the filter project I alluded to in a previous post. We had planned to build a 1000 litre community biosand filter - a filter that uses sand and a bio-layer to treat water. You see*, rivers here in Peru are classified for their acceptable uses, while we're not sure what classification the Sisa River has, we can only imagine that the fact that San José de Sisa uses it to discharge untreated waste water means that it is not recommended for human consumption. Thus, we're almost certainly not allowed to design a system that would seek to treat River Sisa's water. If we did, in fact, decide to throw caution to the wind and construct the filter, the minute anyone got sick after drinking our filtered water (whether it was from the water or not) we'd be denounced, and our partners would be held accountable (EMAPA doesn't want that to happen). Unless there was some way to prove that the filtered water was not the cause of the illness (another project tested everyone before installing a filter to identify people that were already sick, for instance) we'd be held accountable. Now, while that seems like a lot of reasons not to build a filter, we, as human beings, particularly as human beings that are trying to do development work, can identify one huge reason to build the filter: the people of Maray are drinking untreated water; the filter can only improve things. It seems we are out of luck, though I do still need to consult with our legal department to see if building "an experimental filter not recommended for human consumption" that "accidentally" gets used for drinking water would be legally acceptable.

Fear not, however, as we are still looking into work in Maray. Soon we will be doing a workshop on the proper use and maintenance of dry-composting latrines, and will be investigating projects in rain water harvesting instead of the filter. When something comes together, I'll let my bloggees know. We met with some women and a teacher in Maray today and they were all very in to our plans. Even though we got soaked on the way back, the day was really a positive experience. The community are amazing people and are very excited to work with us. Their enthusiasm is so motivating and I hope we can come up with some solid, practical, and less legally demanding way of helping them.

* At this point I went for dinner. I'd feel like I was lying to you if you imagined that I was still hungry and cold as I wrote. I had arroz chaufa (Chinese-style fried rice), chicken, fries and coffee!

Miniblog 3: The end of an era

2012-10-08T18:10:00.001-05:00

For the third day in a row, my two bros, Rony and Fernando and I, are sat at Anonas Heladeria (shout-out to our favourite place in Tarapoto), working away on our respective tareas. While it may be the umpteenth time that we've done this, it very well may be one of the last. Rony, our dear friend and colleague has only one week left with us before he jet-sets back to Canada next Monday. The three of us had that sort of friendship where, having known each other for a few short weeks, it feels like we've known each other for years. I attribute no small part of my contentment and comfort in Tarapoto to having friends like these guys. Rony has been a great friend and Fernando and I will cry for days over his departure... oh, did I say "cry for days"? I meant be totally manly and tough about things. Bye Ronycito, we'll miss you mountains, bro. I have no doubt we'll be in touch!

We're cute.

P.S. A warm welcome to Fred, a new volunteer from Quebec who made sure to cameo for the photo!

Motormania

2012-09-27T10:49:00.001-05:00

Well, it has finally happened - I have purchased my very own motorbike. I am now the proud owner of a 150cc Velorex 'chacrera'. I even mostly know how to drive the darn thing. It is nice and comfortable, but it is going to take a litte while longer to get used to it. I bought the bike three days ago, but today was the first day I rode to work. Little by little, right? I need to ride it for 500km before I can carry passengers, so I have nobody to put at risk for the time being!

Ain't she somethin' else?

Like any important device or vehicle, a motorcycle needs a nice name. Mine is called is Sun Lian. If anyone gets the reference, they win all the nerd points for life. I'll only give these hints: it's from a game; she rides silky smooth.

Oh and don't worry mom, I have a helmet.

These self-shots are getting a little sad, aren't they?