LiNdY500 oN tHe RuN

Tumble Tees

2011-05-23T22:39:00.000-07:00

So fun collaborating, Tumbletees! The new flyer's lookin sharp.

Panoramas from Down Undah

2011-05-05T22:42:00.000-07:00

Vito's Pizza & Italian Ristorante Photo Shoot

2010-11-10T20:54:00.000-08:00

Mmm! Food shoots are too delicious. Got to sample a bit of everything at Vito's Pizza & Italian Ristorante. Thanks Vito, Joanne, Ryan, and Alexis!

Roy Sproule's Mural :: Revolver Records :: PHX 1st Friday

2010-08-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

100 Creatives

2010-07-16T20:47:00.000-07:00

Phoenix New Times, thanks for the shout out! Check out the top 100 of this year's cultural superheros and heroines of metropolitan Phoenix on the New Times arts and culture blog here.

Spotted: Personalized Plates All Over the Place!

2010-06-14T20:42:00.000-07:00

Alyse & Paul's Pregnancy Photoshoot

2010-06-05T21:19:00.000-07:00

Your Curious George nursery is all ready, mom and dad are too, and even the puppies sense there's a new addition to the family on the way. We look forward to meeting you, baby Maxton!

Sara & Kurt's Wedding :: Sedona, AZ

2010-05-27T22:00:00.000-07:00

Won't You Be My Valentine?

2010-02-02T21:39:00.000-08:00

Ragtops Salon & Spa :: Feb. 6th & 8th :: Tempe, AZ

Blue Moons

2010-01-13T23:29:00.000-08:00

***
Photo collaging via Flickr favorites -- just for fun!
Stop by the gallery to see more.

:: Thanks to all contributing photographers whose work can be seen here ::

Fodor's 2010 Arizona and Costa Rica Guide Books

2009-12-29T18:52:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the hiatus since returning to the states, but it's been quite a readjustment living back in the US again. I guess 2009 wasn't the year of the blog for me. I hope to get back into it now that New Years is right around the corner. Resolutions, resolutions!

As far as photography, I've been freelancing for Computer Wholesalers, Inc. in Tempe, Arizona while shooting portraits and weddings throughout the Southwest. Fodor's just released their 2010 Arizona and Costa Rica Guide Books, which I am SO thrilled to have been a contributing photographer for. They are now available in Barnes & Noble Bookstores, so check em out when you pop in. I just started working with Allen Patrou, a local Phoenix portrait photographer, who's fantasy pictures are just magical. And photographer Willow Paule and I will be teaming up to shoot boudoir photography together this year, too. Ooh-La-La! (I suppose dude-oir might be in the cards as well.) Looking forward to posting fresh new photos soon. Feliz Año Nuevo!

This is Not a Pig

2008-12-15T19:36:00.000-08:00

San José, Costa Rica.

This is not a pig ...and I can't really be saying goodbye to Latin America in just a few weeks. Wow! Regreso a los EEUU con una mochila llenita de fotitos and my mind full of great memories from the last few years.

Costa Rica Marathon

2008-12-07T22:32:00.000-08:00

Byron Lopez, 30, finishes the wheelchair marathon with a final lap around La Sabana Park.

Corren, corren!

The finish line.

Olympic silver medalist Catherine Ndereba, of Kenya, with her daughter, Jane, 11, left. Ndereba competed in the half marathon and took first place!

Below, 1st and 2nd place winners in the wheelchair marathon went to Lauren Molina, right, and Byron Lopez, left. Molina is Tico and Lopez came all the way from Ecuador to participate. With the hilly route and the last leg of the race in the grass, Lopez said, "this is one of the hardest races I've ever done."

Children's Museum Lights up for the Holidays

2008-12-01T23:09:00.000-08:00

The Children Museum's 9th year Christmas lighting ceremony. The complimentary event warmed up the crowd with 35 kids singing classic Christmas carols, actors and dancers performing the play Navidad a la Tica, and Latin American Idol's 2nd runner up, María José Castillo, who sang Gloria Estefan's Más Alla, and her very own single Abre Su Corozón. The culmination of the night was when the museum, a former prison, lit up with 8,000 white Christmas lights accompanied by a grand finale of fireworks.

60 Years Without a Military

2008-12-01T21:17:00.000-08:00

Former Costa Rican first lady Karen Olsen de Figueres looks up at a statue of her husband, the late President José "Pepe" Figueres, at the 60th anniversary celebration of Figueres' abolition of the military.

Ex-combatants celebrate at the National Museum.

San José Oxcart Parade

2008-11-30T21:28:00.000-08:00

The winning pair of oxen carry Saint Joseph and a Christ figure as they lead the 12th annual Saints and Oxcarts Parade through San José down Paseo Colón. Over 300 boyeros, or oxcart drivers, participated in the caravan, despite the rains and cold weather that kept crowd numbers down. Farmers came from all over the country the night before the parade, setting up tents in La Sabana Park and resting up before the big day. Even with the nasty weather, everyone was in good spirits, which made juggling an umbrella in one hand and a camera in the other totally worth it.

Not One More: Stop the Violence March

2008-11-25T21:56:00.000-08:00

Governmental figures, university students, and human rights groups held a peaceful march down Avenida Central today for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. They marched from Central Park to the Legislative Assembly where they declared impunity against 4 of the 7 judges of the Judicial branch responsible for recently revoking two articles in the law for violence against women -- physical abuse and emotional violence. These women from CEFEMINA, the Feminist Center for Information and Action, an NGO that fights to improve the quality of life and equality for women, hold signs with the names of women who have died as victims of violence.

"For a life with dignity and free of abuse for all women."

Message to the press.

Marchers posted about 30 names, of women who died from violence, in front of the Judicial branch building with the photos of the 4 judges who voted against the law that would have protected them.

Amigos de los Aves Bird Sanctuary

2008-11-21T08:00:00.000-08:00

Casa de loros.

Military Macaws -- qué brillante!

Carol Stanley, 63, and her father, Richard James Frisius, 89, feeding peanuts to a Hyacinth Macaw in the living room of Frisius' home in Alejuela. The walls are decorated with art and souvenirs Richard and his late wife, Margot Annelore Frisius, collected from the different places they've lived over the years.

Frisius along with a small staff of volunteers and caretakers look after over 300 birds at Amigos de los Aves bird sanctuary in Frisius' home. Some birds roam freely, jumping from cage to cage to branch to person. To the right, Frisius shares a photo album of the life cycle macaws go through from incubation to birth to developing into adults. Some birds have been handreared with the help of Richard and his staff, while others are born and raised naturally by the birds themselves.

Social Outreach in Shantytown La Carpio

2008-11-14T13:47:00.000-08:00

La Carpio, a shantytown in western San José where these kids live, is one of the city's poorest and most dangerous neighborhoods. The Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation, however, has been bringing relief to the community for over 11 years. It operates two education centers, including this one, and a health clinic. Handfuls of volunteers from the US, Europe, and Canada visit every year to implement social outreach projects.

*Click on the image to see the complete photo essay on The Tico Times website.

Plácido Domingo

2008-11-12T18:59:00.000-08:00

Photogs and TV cameras were flashing and filming away while tenor Plácido Domingo spoke at a press conference today. While talking about his one night performance in San José, the typical scene with microphones and bottles of water obstructed the guest speaker's face. What a shame the setups have to be so uninspiring considering the people are so talented. Finding ways to shoot under such restrictive conditions has been a huge learning experience. It makes me anxious to have my own studio lighting equipment and to invite subjects to properly sit for portrait sessions.

Ticos Remember Armistice Day

2008-11-11T14:25:00.000-08:00

Rodrigo Munoz Oviedo, 88, from San José, served as a lutenient in 1948 for the National Liberation Army.

This year a handful of Tico veterans commemorated Armistice Day, marking the 90th anniversary of the official end to World War I. Costa Ricans take tremendous pride in the fact that they abolished their military at the end of 1948. December 1st of this year will be the 60th anniversary for the nation since they've had an army.

From left, Héctor Miranda, 80, who served as a paramedic and fought in the Costa Rican revolts of 1948, 1949 and 1955; Jesús María Ramírez, 89, who served in World War II; and Rodrigo Muñoz, 88, a lieutenant in the Costa Rican Civil War participate at the French Embassy's wreath-laying ceremony at San José's Parque de Francia to mark 90 years since the end of World War I.

Civil War veteran Ismael Quesada at the Armistice Day commemoration.

O-BA-MA!

2008-11-04T19:18:00.000-08:00

During a U.S. election night party in San José, sponsored by the U.S. Embassy, there was a crowded room early on, but by the time it was announced that Obama won, most people had left. Rumor has it people didn't want to openly celebrate in front of Bush's Republican appointed Ambassador. Instead, they took off in time to catch Obama's victory speech elsewhere. What a nightmare for a photographer with hardly anyone jumping for joy as electoral votes were awarded to one side or the other. In the end, these foreign exchange students and first time voters, below, became the life of the party, just lettin' it all hang out.

U.S. study abroad students, from left, Amanda Lawrence, 20, from Michigan, Caitlain Kelly, 22, from California, Anna Rohde, 21, from South Dakota, and Benjamin Weidman, 22, from NYC.

The Talent Show

2008-11-04T12:29:00.000-08:00

I've had the pleasure of photographing so many creative and interesting artists lately. Acrobats, musicians, painters, designers. So inspiring! Here are a few...

Luis Urbina, 18, from Nicaragua, juggles in front of the National Museum with the help of his brother Miguel Garcia, 27, behind him.

Drummer Carlos Solano, 68, and saxophonist Miguel Angel Retana, 81, from the group Cimarrona Macho Retana, perform Nov. 4th outside the San José court with dancing masked giants to mark the opening day of Health Week.

Gabriela Herrera, 26, started her own boutique, Cacao Tessile, where she designs and sells her own handbags, purses, and laptop protectors. She usually names the products after the first person she made them for.

Bolivian painter Gregorio Choque, 50, with a watercolor he made from memory of a pueblo in his country. By selling his art, he has traveled from his hometown of Cochabamba all the way to Costa Rica, and plans to keep heading up north.

More Than Meets the Eye

2008-11-01T20:09:00.000-07:00

Transformer convention at the Children's Museum in Costa Rica.

Tres Rios Market

2008-11-01T14:33:00.000-07:00

The Tres Rios Market is every Saturday from 5 a.m. - 2 p.m. You'll find the freshest fruit, vegetables, and flowers here on the eastern outskirts of San José. I didn't manage to find any pumpkins here for the Thanksgiving cover photo shoot we're preparing for later in the month, but I did have the chance to shoot some portraits of the vendors who have been bringing their products here from all over the country and selling them at the Tres Rios Market for years.

Jose Vega, 59, from Paraiso, has been selling ayote at the market for 18 years.

Leonel Canales, 40, from Orotina, has been selling fruit at the market for 13 years.

Victor Ramirez, 47, of Cartago, brings bananas from Talamanca to sell at the market every week.

Gilbert Navarro, 65, from Montes de Oca, has been a vendor at the market for 13 years.

Restaurant Guide

2008-10-31T20:55:00.000-07:00

The Tico Times puts out a restaurant guide every two years , sent to subscribers and sold at select stores. I'm so pleased to have been a part of the photo and design. This year they wanted a cover full of color, featuring a savory dish in the front with lots of greenery behind. After a few tries, this is the image that was chosen. The dessert is Coconut and Maracuya Mousse prepared by Chef Verena Orosco, from Restaurant Corteza Amarilla. It's a double layer mousse in a honey waffle cone basket, topped with strawberries and sorbet -- but for the shoot the two dolops of sorbet were actually substituted with butter and polenta!

Chilean and Panamanian Presidential Visits

2008-10-28T15:19:00.000-07:00

Chilean Presidenta Michele Bachelet joins Costa Rican President Oscar Arias at a press conference on Oct. 28th. They signed an agreement addressing socio-politico issues. Bachelet eloquently lead the conference, putting emphasis on the cultural affinities between the 2 countries and reflecting on the nature of female leadership.

Panamanian President Martin Torrijos and Costa Rican President Oscar Arias at the signing of a free-trade agreement between the two countries, which Arias defended as a measure to combat market fluctuations, at the Casa Presidencial in Zapote, in southeastern San José, on Oct. 24th.

Japanese Week: Part 1

2008-10-18T00:05:00.000-07:00

Saki Ito, 22, of Tokyo, performs a traditional Japanese dance.

San José celebrated its 6th Annual Japanese Week, from Sept. 29th - Oct. 19th. The Japanese Embassy sponsored the event, welcoming people to learn more about Japan's culture through complimentary movies, concerts, and conferences. A weekend-long grand finale ended the event with Saturday's Japanese Pop Culture Festival followed by Sunday with a Traditional Cultural Festival. Photographically, it was sensational to shoot martial arts performances, ikebana, origami, anime, calligraphy, karaoke and cosplay competitions, which took visitors of all ages on a sensational virtual tour of Japan.

Cajitas de origami.

Aki Akama, 33, of Tokyo, and Mayumi Minagawa, 28, of Niigata, write name's in calligraphy.

Maricio Roque, 23, of San Rafael de Cartago, wow's the crowd dressed up as the anime character Menos Grande, a haunting Japanese version of the Grim Reaper.

Dressed as a mythical characters from Japanese anime, Gerardo Castro, 27, of Heredia, left, pretends to punch Samurai Maurilio Marin, 20, of Escazu.

Cartago Ox Cart Parade

2008-10-12T23:45:00.000-07:00

Raúl Soto Viquez, 25, from Tierra Blanca, walks his cows down Central Avenue from the basilica to the main square in Cartago. The parade kicked off a week long fiesta in honor of Día Mundial de la Alimentación, World Nutrition Day, commemorated every Oct. 16th. The UN's Organization for Agriculture and Nutrition along with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock prepared this upcoming week with cultural activities, festivals, educational events, and expositions to strengthen the solidarity in the fight against hunger and poverty.

José Miguel Garbanzo, 13, from Desemparados.

Michael Canocho Villalobos, 15, from Guadelupe.

Juan Daniel Montero, 5, from San Isidro de El Guarco.

Bright and beautiful.

Marco Tulio Montenegro, 68, of San Rafael de Oreamuno.

Ice cream man with his modern day ox cart.

Cultural Day at San Sebastian Prison

2008-10-09T21:42:00.000-07:00

Costumed dancers, guitarists and other performers entertained San Sebastian Penitentiary inmates for a Culture Day celebration ahead of the official day, October 12th. Originally Día de la Raza (Day of Race) coincided with Columbus Day, but the holiday was renamed to Día de las Culturas to take the focus away from how the Spaniards conquered the Americas.

Inmates enjoyed the chance to spend the day outside of their cells.

It was awkward to enter the male prison at first, but as soon as I took out my camera, a few guys would approach me to ask which paper I was shooting for and volunteer to have their portraits taken. I ended up spending a little time with Jesus Brown Picado, 27, who was quite open about what life was like in the jail. He told me that there are about 700 men serving time here and prisoners slept 25 to a room. They rarely get to go out of their cells unless you count spending time in a tiny outdoor patio once in a while. Besides that, the men appreciate days like this when visitors come to entertain and share good food. Jesus has 1.5 more years to serve in the San Sebastian Penitentiary. His family doesn't visit him although, ¨It would make the time go faster having that support,¨ he admitted. When asked what he misses most about being incarcerated, he didn´t hesitate to say, ¨my freedom.¨

Jesus with some of the other inmates.

What the Duck?

2008-10-09T21:00:00.000-07:00

Aaron Johnson! Your photo humor is spot on. Click on the image to see more.

The Young and the Breastless

2008-10-04T20:26:00.000-07:00

María Elena Solano, cancer-free for 5 years, celebrates during a breast cancer awareness march in downtown San José. Behind her is fellow cancer survivor, Sandra Torres Hernández, who beat cancer almost 7 years ago.

To commemorate October being International Breast Cancer Awareness month, cancer survivors marched in downtown San José on Sat., Oct. 4th along with their loved ones, hospital workers, and female police officers dressed in their finest, complete with a little pink ribbon. The march was a 2 hour affair ending up in La Sabana Park where there was live entertainment, snacks, a photography exhibit and information booths that passed out pamphlets encouraging women to practice the best form of prevention -- catching lumps early by conducting self-breast exams.

María Isabel Jimenez, 46, marches with her fellow comrades in an effort to show her solidarity against breast cancer.

Gerry Rogers at the Oct. 2nd showing of her movie ¨My Left Breast.¨

In accordance with breast cancer awareness month, Canadian filmmaker Gerry Rogers came to Costa Rica this month to share her endearing documentary ¨My Left Breast.¨ Rogers and her partner Peggy Norman confronted Rogers' breast cancer straight on by filming the struggles, the medicines, and all the side effects with personal camera equipment. Rogers used what she calls ¨state of the heart¨ technology to describe such intimate low budget filming techniques. The movie provides an intimate glimpse of fighting cancer from the chemo to the battle scars and from marijuana to what bra to wear after you've had a mastectomy. Since the film was made, Rogers has had another mastectomy, as did her mom, sister, and three aunts, but it doesn't get the best of them. They refer to themselves as ¨The Young and the Breastless.¨

Back to Basics

2008-10-03T22:55:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been trying to hone my news photographer skills, asking myself questions like, ¨Is this photo newsworthy? Is it interesting? Is it full of information? Are the subjects intriguing and involved in what they're doing? Do I have strong horizontal's, vertical's, wide angle's, and close up's? Did I jot down relevant caption info? Am I covering all my bases?¨

Then I was asked to illustrate some articles for the Special Edition, and everything got turned upside down. This extra section, which the paper puts out every 2 months, focused on home and gardening and I was assigned 4 simple tasks: to shoot appliances, stained glass, cactus, and patio furniture.

They weren't particularly difficult pictures to take. Some were just frustratingly impossible to find! Appliances, no problem. Stained glass, not so bad. But, Cactus. It should have been a no-brainer, but at the time it was nowhere to be found. And who knew that tracking down outdoor furniture to shoot would be such a production? Despite going to pool & patio stores, waking around town, and even checking property listings online, it just wasn't as easy as it sounds.

In the end, we met the deadline and I took away a lot of lessons. It all goes back to the basics. Be quick, resourceful, and ingenious. Oh, and stained glass photographs really nicely.

Ex-pats Rock the VOTE

2008-09-27T16:21:00.000-07:00

Democrats Abroad held their first bipartisan drop-in voting center at the Aurola Holiday Inn for registered and non-registered voters who came to send in absentee ballots for the upcoming November 11th elections. Over 200 walk-ins voted from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., thanks to volunteers like Pat Piessens, 66, a native of Massachusetts, who helped fill out forms, stuff ballots into security envelopes, and look up the proper address information for people's corresponding states. What a convenient way to cast your ballot from abroad!

Chinese Candies Pulled from Market

2008-09-26T15:29:00.000-07:00

Chinese restaurants in Costa Rica commonly give customers these after dinner treats, however, white rabbit caramels along with other sweets like cookies and toffee made with a Chinese milk derivative have been taken off the market following a serious health scare. Health Secretary, María Luisa Ávila, informed, ¨We´re going to confiscate all of these types of products that we find in the market. No one can sell either caramels or any other milk product.¨ The Health and Commerce Ministries will also be watching more closely to restrict the entry of these products while warning Chinese restaurants and stores to no longer offer them to the public. Immediate action is being taken after 4 children in China recently died and thousands of others became extremely ill from consuming powdered milk from China containing melamine, an industrial substance used to make plastics.

From a photography standpoint, these candies were pretty challenging to shoot considering news traveled fast among the Chinese business community and white rabbit became obsolete almost overnight. Yesterday my co-workers were nibbling on the caramels after we went out for Chinese food and today they could hardly be found in any restaurants or corner stores. The owner of one market finally sold me a few bags, but he had to go in the back room where he stuffed them in storage, probably thinking nobody would be requesting them anymore. Talk about a true salesman -- getting paid for a potentially poisonous product that was confiscated and taken off the market. I wonder if he realizes that within the next week at least he could make a profit from the news media off of these babies.

Chilean Celebration from Afar

2008-09-21T13:49:00.000-07:00

Chileans congregate at Club Los Juales in the canton of Coronado, northeast of San José, kicking off a week-long Independence Day celebration that started on Sept. 18th in Chile. The Chilean Embassy sponsored the event, inviting people to enjoy traditional foods and drinks, dance the cueca, participate in raffles, and listen to President Michelle Bachelet address the country.

Dinka Llanten, 31, celebrates her Costa Rican-Chilean ancestry by serving typical Chilean dishes with her sister, left, and stepmother, right.

Felipe Espinoza, 12, elegantly waves his white handkerchief alongside his mother Bernardita Araya, 30, while performing Chile's national dance, the cueca.

K-9 Protection: It's Bad to the Bone

2008-09-19T14:55:00.000-07:00

Former US Air Force MP Neal Rideout, 68, left, trains dogs for police work and home protection at his residence in Puriscal, Costa Rica. Above, Santa Ana Municipal Police Officer Henry Elizondo dons protective gear to assist in training Belgian Malinois Anika by acting like the perpetrator the dog has been trained to attack. The animals are not only trained in criminal apprehension, but tracking and narcotics detection as well. They know they are playing right now, but the dogs' bite ¨is powerful enough to crush the bone,¨ says former military police officer, James Powell, who recently purchased Anika from Mr. Rideout to join him and his Rapid Response team, a security company that goes on operations with the local police.

La Iglesia Azulita

2008-09-17T17:06:00.000-07:00

This was a cute little story I illustrated for another writer's article. I had fun with it because it reminded me of the church marquee series I worked on back in the states; an ongoing project as long as I keep running into catchy kitchy church signs whenever I go back home.

Father Ricardo Bernal, 57, who came to Costa Rica from El Salvador 25 years ago, has been with The Church of the Good Shephard since last year. Clarissa Haron, 82, of Limon, is an active member of the church choir.

Built in 1864 and rebuilt in 1937, The Church of the Good Shephard is currently going through its second major reconstruction. Inside, electrical cables are being rewired, the ceiling repainted, and the original wooden floors reinstalled, while the outside waits for its face lift thanks to a generous donation from the Christ Church in NY. Sea Capitan, merchant, and coffee grower, William Le Lacheur influenced the construction of the little blue church. His son John built it as the first Protestant church in Costa Rica and dedicated it to his father's memory. John transported pre-fabricated iron to Costa Rica and assembled the church in the capital city of San José. Although he named it The Church of the Good Shepherd, it soon became known by the local people as the 'Iron Church' because of its construction.

A plaque inside the church pays tribute to its founder, Captain William Le Lacheur.

The quaint baby blue casita de Dios is tucked away on 4th Ave. between 3rd and 5th St.

Independence Day in Central America

2008-09-15T21:52:00.000-07:00

Panamanian compatriots join Ticos in a parade down 2nd Avenue in San José to celebrate the 187th anniversary of the region's independence from Spain. Marching bands, dancers, and motorcycle riders entertained residents on the main drag here in Costa Rica while other Central Americans celebrated across the continent as well.

Remembering 9/11

2008-09-11T20:08:00.000-07:00

U.S. military men walk back from a ceremony at the Costa Rican-North American Cultural Center in La Sabana, western San José, to commemorate the 7th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Today I was assigned the task of photographing a ceremony attended by the Mayor and US Ambassador in remembrance of 9/11. In 2001, I was living in NY and my brother was doing an internship at the Pentagon in Washington. I'd like to dedicate this image to my brother who has served in the NAVY for the past 6 years and has volunteered to finish his final months in the military in Afghanistan. Recently he wrote my mom and I upon arriving to Kuwait en route to his final destination. His insider POV is quite interesting:

Hello mom and lindy,

Just back from having lunch at the DFAC (Dining Facility). The food is incredibly delicious, fresh, and far superior to any other military establishment I have ever had the privilege of visiting. Consistent with the latest trend in budgeting efficiency, the US military has actually outsourced our food preparation and service to Pakistani men that are kind, courteous, and know every English word related to food, but can't seem to say anything else (or perhaps they prefer to not say anything else). Even when you say thank you, they avoid any eye contact and ignore you. As a result, most of the soldiers, marines, and sailors that pass through never bother to say thank you. Interestingly, most of the other menial tasks at the base such as cleaning the toilets, picking up trash, attending to the gym, staffing the fast food restaurants, and operating the community center are also completed by third country nationals (none of which are Kuwaiti). I'm not sure if these young men are forced to work here by their family or have sought out these opportunities abroad and then send remittances home. Its interesting that they are here for economic reasons providing staff support to the US military when there is so much anti-American sentiment in their home countries.

As usual, I woke up this morning at 0445 and spent a couple hours at the gym before breakfast. (By the way, in the morning at breakfast, they are always playing the NFL games that are happening at the same time in the evening back in the states.) I then returned back to my tent and finished reading the last 80 pages of Obama's "The Audacity of Hope." For all the pundits and talking heads that cynically dismiss him as overly broad and lacking any specific policy content, they should just read his book. He is an incredibly deep philosophical thinker and an exceptionally articulate writer. He definitely has my vote and I'll be glad to stand with the 15-25% of the military that actually votes for him.

Today, I have to break out my Alice pack and pack up my gear because we are headed out to the range tommorrow for the close quarters marksmanship and convoy training. Apparently, 6 weeks ago, the range reached about 153 degrees and they had 6 people suffer from heat stroke. I am not sure how hot it will be when we go, but yours truly gets to be the convoy commander for the group going to Afghanistan. In other words, I get to practice driving the train of 7 or 8 hummers around the dessert. How fortunate! Aside from the chaplain, I am apparently the highest ranking officer of our group going to Afghanistan (aside from a P3 pilot, Rich, who is my assistant convoy commander). Don't worry though, when I actually arrive in country, I should just be a passenger for my first real convoy in Kabul.

I have to get off the computer now. My 30 minutes have expired. There would be more, but the connection here is crap...

Take care and know that I am in the highest of spirits and looking forward to serving in this new mission - one that I truly believe is valuable for Afghanistan and meaningful for our own country.

Ben

Masterpiece Theater

2008-09-08T13:18:00.000-07:00

Leonardo Orozco, 16, and Kristell Jimenez, 15, far right, along with their peers from the group Mimo Castella, wait to perform at the National Museum's Archaeological Adventure Day, held earlier this month as part of Costa Rica's Día de los Niños.

The Jump to Photojournalism: 1st Week at the TT

2008-09-07T15:46:00.000-07:00

Press conference at La Casa Amarilla to announce Costa Rica's 2009 budget.

Finance Secretary Guillermo Zúñiga (middle) outlines the budget to the press.

Week one at The Tico Times was such a fun start as they threw me right into some assignments around town. My first job was to photograph Costa Rica's Finance Secretary announcing the country's budget for 2009. The hardest part was trying to make a proper photo of the main subject talking into a microphone while reading the report. Is his mouth too open? Are his eyes closed? Is he making a gesture? Is it in focus? What about the body language and facial expressions of the people around him? Yeah, much more complicated than I ever thought.

My second assignment was good ole street photography, shooting people decorating for the fiestas patrias, or Independence Day, which begins next week. I met some maintenance men from the Judicial Court hanging up Costa Rica's characteristic red, white, and blue flag in the Plaza de la Justicia and they were nice enough to be my subjects.

Mauricio Suarez, Christopher Portuguez, and Jóse Picado (clockwise from L).

Then I did a shoot with US artist Andrew Hardin, to accompany an article written by the new writing intern, Liz. Looks like we're going to be collaborating on all sorts of stories together, so it will be great to have a sidekick to go to events, interview, and travel with. Anyways, Hardin has explored all sorts of genres of art, but as of late he ditched his bulky professional digital camera for a Panasonic Lumix, which he raves about for it's Carl Zeiss lens, and he now shoots images at 72 dpi only to blow them up large scale and make museum quality pigment printed digital prints. It caught my attention through Andrew that Costa Rica has a pretty active contemporary art scene. We attended the Valoarte opening that one of his pieces was shown at. It was an elegant evening hosted at the Children's Museum (a castle and prison turned expo center) and the imagery was quite impressive. On top of that, the Vice-president of CR attended (she's a female) and all the proceeds from the sales of the event went to a community center/hogar for girls, so it was right up my alley.

Finally, I covered the auction for Central America's first cow parade, proudly hosted by Costa Rica. At the event, I was fortunate to photograph San José's Mayor, Johnny Araya, as well as participating artists, the kids the proceeds went to, and, of course, lots of cool looking cows.

Vaca Campestra (rural cow) by artist Tatiana Zúniga, gets hauled off for the next bid.

Going once, going twice...

The Mayor, Johnny Araya, posing with some of the vacas.

Kids from Espíritu Santo, which was one of the at-risk youth organizations the auction benefitted.

Adventures With Sammy C. in Costa Rica

2008-08-05T18:01:00.000-07:00

Street art, like this mural in La Fortuna, pays homage to Arenal Volcano.

My girl Sam came down for a visit these past few weeks, so we took off to some beaches on the Nicoya Peninsula and then escaped to the mountains in Monteverde and La Fortuna for a taste of Costa Rica outside of the greasy city center. There were so many characters and mini adventures during the past 2 weeks. Everything below just about sums it up.

Salud! Gallo pinto (rice and beans) is the comida tipica for Ticos.

Tamarindo * Sámara * Tambor * Montezuma * Monteverde * Punta Arenas * PURA VIDA * howler monkeys * hormigas * sloths * spiders * butterflies * tucans * hummingbirds * Always a lady * These are delicious! * tonta * Hotel Lucy * Tico Adventure Lodge * Pensión de la Cuesta * Cabinas Marielos * off roadin' in the yaris * Orlando, the security guard * Royer ,the fisherman * Marco, the photographer * La Casona * Do you have diet coke? * pepsi light * the hot hot pizza * the red Imperial beach towel * Isabel * Paula * The Sum of Our Days * Morphos * baños privados * bed head * Shake Joe's * Don't put the feet in the chairs * Don't get pregnant reminders * Ay, qué miedo! * Hernan * the blue bag on wheels * plantains, yes! * watermelon, no! * tuttle * attack of the ants * take cover in the queen size mosquito net * My Mom's New Boyfriend * police hippie throwdown * the lemon pie * and...the cheese farm is gonna be awesome! * deet spray will melt your toe nail polish * Costa Rrrrica * Hotel Montelena * The Monteverde Cheese Factory * Ron, the guide * his pregnant girlfriend * Sophia, their unborn baby * and that's with a "ph" * the Quaker settlers who bought 3,000 acres of land here, named it Monteverde, and just decided to start a cheese factory * pasta night * Ben from NY * Jonothan, the concierge * Selvatura Park * Canopying * Roy, the douche guide * Pedro, the cool guide * Ernie, ever the gentleman * Tatiana, his ex-girlfriend who works at the local supermarket * centipedes * treetop walkways * the bright red poncho calling all flies and bugs * 2 guys with matching Tevas * the pecary * lizardos * serpientes * ranas * the cloud forest * the loud bar next door * the demolition derby in the morning outside our hotel * trips to the cash machine * cereal with boxed milk for breakfast * slower than molasses e-mail * following our bodies clocks * all the Tiffanys, Ambers, Ashleys, and Stephanies * Pedro propositioning Sam: "I can be your BF while you are here." * Ernie recalling how his GF of 5 years left him, but he still swears: "I didn't cheat!" * La Taverna * Bomba Sexy and Cara de Barbi * "What are you, 18?" * 17 * poppin wheelies on the dirt bike * jeep-boat-jeep to La Fortuna * Arenal Volcano * rain, rain go away * a glimpse of lava * Oooh * Ahhh * Baldi hot springs * the loooong ride home

Route 21 sign graffitied by passersby.

Playa Sámara.

Is there one for boogy boarders...for beginers?

Nerd alert on the zip lines: Bob the Builder is no fashion icon.

Making mozzarella at the Monteverde Cheese Factory. Parmesan takes the cake though!

They even make chocolate cheese.

Post rain stroll through the streets of La Fortuna. Normally you can see CR's most active volcano, Arenal, but it was too cloudy that day.

Warning: Active fire breathing volcano 17 km straight ahead.

On the jeep-boat-jeep trek from La Fortuna to Mondeverde.

Isabel Allende was the perfect companion on our trip.

Take cover! Jav and I at La Paz Waterfall Gardens.

Hummingbirds at The Gardens aren't afraid to come out and feed. They drink a mixture of sugar and water that resembles nectar.

Man riding bike in Punta Arenas.

Siesta by the shore in Punta Arenas.

A typical soda with a characteristic Costa Rican ox cart.

Montezuma Waterfalls: Danger - various people have died here. Don't climb or jump.

Ringside Gym

2008-07-28T11:16:00.000-07:00

Ringside Gym in Curridabat, San José, is the kind of place you go to for a down and dirty workout. It's a concrete, corrugated tin covered boxing gym that has taken as much of a beating as the treadmills, punching bags, and weight machines inside. When it rains, it pours -- banging on the roof and flooding the floor, but nobody cares. They just turn up their music, sweep the water down the drain, and keep running, crunching, jabbing and punching away.

Magazine advertisements decorate the walls, hyping past fights along with posters quoting legendary boxers like float like a butterfly, sting like a bee Muhummad Ali: "I'm so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark." There's marketing from 1990's marathons in NY and Chicago, and random quotes here and there. Pure inspiration all around. After that, the workout's up to you.

***

"El optimismo tiene siempre un proyecto, el pesimismo excusas."

"Para triunfar en la vida, no es importante llegar de primero. Para triunfar simplemente hay que llegar, levantándose cada vez que se cae en el camino."

"Si quieres triunfar, no te quedes mirando la escalera. Empieza a subir, escalón por escalón hasta que llegas arriba."

Mariposas

2008-07-26T20:09:00.000-07:00

Approximately 90% of the butterfly species in Central America are in Costa Rica. Some of my favorite pics from visiting La Paz Waterfall Gardens in Vara Blanca, Costa Rica...

Random Quote

2008-07-11T20:50:00.000-07:00

"I realize more and more what it takes to be a really good photographer. You go in over your head, not just up to your neck."

- Dorothea Lange

Random Quote

2008-07-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

"The camera is a remarkable instrument. Saturate yourself with your subject, and the camera will all but take you by the hand and point the way."

- Margaret Bourke-White

Felicidades Luke & Michelle!

2008-07-03T20:53:00.000-07:00

When I met Michelle while volunteering in Chile, she was such a big supporter of the kids' OJOS nuevos photo workshop and of my personal work photographing the children there. She would always say, "When I get married on the beach someday, you're going to be my wedding photographer." Well, today was the day! Michelle walked down a sandy aisle in front of the turquoise Caribbean sea in the Dominican Republic and married her main man, Mr. Luke Bakke. It was such a wonderful week of wedding celebration. No doubt, the best part was how wonderful all of their family and friends were. Felicidades m & l!

The Tico Times

2008-06-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

We made it to Costa Rica and have now claimed San Jose as our new home base! How exciting to finally cross into Central America and settle into a new city again.

Searching for an eccentric opportunity to get involved in lead me to The Tico Times, Central America's English language newspaper. Everything happened so fast with the application and interview. Now I'm eagerly looking forward to the end of the year when I'll be joining the team as a photography intern from September to December. Such an interesting experience and great way to get to know this country up close! I've always wanted to explore photojournalism and it's going to be especially rewarding to learn from the pros who work at the TT. Just having a dose of structure in my photography thanks to deadlines, writers, and editors is going to be a good challenge, too.

The paper is published weekly and has a large following not just here, but outside of Costa Rica. The staff is small, friendly, young, and driven. And the internship is offered 3 times a year for aspiring writers and photographers, exposing them to what its like to pitch story ideas, meet weekly deadlines, and learn what it's like to work in a professional newsroom.

Stories will focus on anything from business, political, and environmental pieces as well as hotel, hostel, and restaurant reviews. Plus every once in a while there will be a full page or 2 page spread solely dedicated to photo essays. Qué fantas-TICO!

In the Mood for a Random Quote

2008-05-28T00:08:00.000-07:00

"Living on earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun every year."

- Unknown

Animal Refuge 2008 Calendars On Sale

2008-05-15T09:57:00.000-07:00

2008 calendars from the Inti Wara Yassi animal refuge in Villa Tunari, Bolivia are still available. Thank you Nena for the opportunity to photograph it. Here's some background info:

In Bolivia, there are black markets full of wild animals being sold to hotels, private homes and circuses. These animals are usually obtained by hunting down the parents or group leaders and then taking the babies to be sold. In many cases the animals are endangered species. They are usually kept in small cages, with little or no protection from the elements. Many are malnourished and some badly abused.

This refuge is run by Bolivian volunteers and part-time international volunteers who come from all over the world to work for a minimum of two weeks. They help build and maintain cages, prepare food, tend to sick animals, create new trails, and give explanations to tourists.

The wildlife refuge houses and rehabilitates animals like pumas, ocelots, monkeys, macaws, coatis, bears, and reptiles. Rehabilitating the animals really is the main goal. The refuge provides these animals with the respect they deserve and works hard to ensure the utmost freedom possible for each individual animal, when rehabilitation is not possible. The philosophy is that no wild animal should be abused or kept as a pet.

Since the park is an NGO that relies on donations and volunteer contributions, the annual calendar is one of the major sources of income the park generates. Your purchase will allow the park to not only buy medicine, food, and supplies for the animals, but to also buy back the land it is currently renting.

The calendars have been produced in a CD desk calendar format, and cost GBP 5.95 each (or only £5 each if you order 3 or more). To order your copy of this year's calendar, please send an email to Dave saying how many you would like. Their email address is: d_r_walters @ yahoo.co.uk.

the micro-MACRO exhibit @ HOLGAS

2008-05-03T10:56:00.000-07:00

Being in Phoenix at this point is exciting because I’ve been eager to bring back all this work and to share it with my community. It’s thrilling to finally convert it from files to real prints; to get it off my computer and up onto walls, blown up for viewers to see. The kids over at HOLGAS were nice enough to share their gallery with me for the May 2nd first Friday art walk downtown. In keeping with the theme for the night, the micro-MACRO show, I showed the motel series, the church marquees, OJOS nuevos and the bedroom series from the home for girls in Chile. There were a lot of fun ways to push the whole micro-MACRO idea from printing little magnets and mini framed photos, to selling the girls’ work – because, after all, they’re little people…that fits with the theme, right?!

In closing, Kristin C. of Phoenix, wrote an account of Holgas online. I thought it was kind of funny considering I was so excited to show there...

"It's so hard to score this place. I've gone a few times and seen some really amazing pieces. But most of the time....it's not so great."

Super space for showing art. They've done great with a limited space. But man... go there on a busy First Friday and the place is stinky and sweaty. People just cram in here and once you are in it's tough getting out. I think I've let out a moo here and there from getting pushed with the rest of the herd. Kind of hurts the ability to see the art. It's awesome that so many folks want to see the stuff, but they either need to institute a doorman policy on those nights or institute a serious "No Soap, No Service" policy. Or maybe invest in a few more fans? And to go through that when they are having one of their many off nights isn't any fun at all.

If the place looks clear - jump on it. Even if nothing catches you eye, you can be out in seconds. If you go in with the herd, it could take 5-10 and you won't be able to see anything lower than the average person's shoulders.

Bonus: The apartment/studio complex that is also a "part" of Holgas, yet not their gallery has had some awesome things. Spend some time checking those out as well. They will also often have some cool bands or a light show going on out front that bring folks in from all around during a First Friday event."

p.s. *Thanks Johanna Kato for the collage of memories*

Urban Ambiance

2008-04-16T12:44:00.000-07:00

The Urban Ambiance exhibition depicting the spirit and soul of cities around the world, opens this week in Texas at the Watson Studio Gallery. The show is from April 19th-23rd, and will have 51 images by 39 photographic and digital artists from USA, Canada and Belgium. The exhibit was juried by Lynne Eodice, Editor of Double Exposure Magazine and Carol Watson, Gallery Director. The collage of strip clubs that I took pictures of in Chile was chosen to be part. Very exciting! Glad I could bring a touch of South America to Johnson City.

Strip clubs in Chile are known as cafes con piernas, or cafes with legs. They especially sprinkle Santiago around the greasy motorcycle and automobile district downtown, but can be seen in other cities up and down the country, too. These particular images were taken in front of clubs that line the waterfront of a quaint little port town south of the capital known as Puerto Montt. The cafes are ubiquitous for their sexy female silhouettes and neon facades, luring customers in for a drink and live entertainment. I personally like when they are written in bad English, perhaps trying to emulate something more American or British, or maybe just to appeal to English-speaking travelers passing through.

*To see all the winning images click here.

Bienvenidos a Colombia - It's Quite the Welcome

2008-02-02T21:44:00.000-08:00

Of the 2 weeks we spent getting from Ecuador to Costa Rica, passing through Ipiales, a border town between Colombia and Ecuador, was definitely one of the weirdest parts of the trip. We tried to get tickets to Bogota as soon as we arrived, but the buses weren't running for a few days, so we found a hotel near the bus station. It actually worked out well though because one night we found 140,000 Colombian pesos just sprinkled on the floor in front of our room! Now that sounds like a lot of money, but in US bucks it's only $75.00. Still, pretty random. We think it belonged to the drunk couple making loud noises next door. By the time we found it, they were long gone.

We spent the next few days touring the town and what was around. The most memorable attraction was the gothic cathedral of Las Lajas, just a short taxi ride from the city. Dramatically decorated with countless spires and colorful stained glass, the church looks just like a fairy tale castle. So romantic! It's built right into the rocky mountainside and surrounded by waterfalls. Trails take you every which way to walk up and down the gorge and explore the intense architecture. It's definitely a magnificent place to photograph.

Eventually we were able to buy our bus tickets to Bogota. About 20 minutes before boarding, three Colombian cops came over to us (the only backpackers) asking to see our passports. They annoyingly made us accompany them upstairs to a private room so that they could check our bags. We figured they were looking for drugs or weapons. We asked if we would miss our bus and they assured us we wouldn't. Whatever. We just hoped it would be quick and we could get going. On the way up, the head guy asks Javier who I am. (A Chilean and an American traveling together. Ooooh, how suspicious.) I told him I spoke Spanish and that he could speak to me directly. He said that with my passport, I'm not exactly welcome on his turf and that I should be careful about who I tell that I'm American to while passing through Colombia. Que cajones!

We got into the room and the men started opening our bags and pulling everything out. Meanwhile, they made Javier go into the bathroom and take his clothes off down to his underwear, searching every pocket and seam, even sniffing his pants on the inside. I was kind of getting freaked out that they would make me do the same thing, but they didn't. After they didn't find whatever it is they were looking for, they acted all buddy buddy with us saying how wonderful Bogota is and how much we'd enjoy it. They helped us put our things away and we asked them if we had anything to worry about on the ride through the mountains up to the capital. They told us that the highways were safe because the military had taken back the roads from the FARC. However, if anyone came on the bus with a ski mask, their advice to me specifically was to not show my American passport and to pretend that I was mentally retarded so that nobody would bother me. Bienvenidos to Colombia! It's quite the welcome.

Before they escorted us back to our bus, I gave them each a photograph I had taken on the journey. I do hope their memory of this American is more fond than the memory they left with me.

Teaching English in Quito, Ecuador

2008-01-15T10:01:00.000-08:00

Hostel Santiago seemed like a great place to stay when we arrived to Quito, Ecuador. The help was courteous. The rooms impeccable. The place was safe and conveniently close to a trolley stop. But after a few nights of listening to moaning and groaning from the next rooms over, all the time, we agreed that the place was intentionally misnamed “hostel” when it should have been “motel.” Ahh…No wonder we always had clean sheets everyday. After a while, we ended up finding a cute and quieter furnished place in La Mariscal.

La Mariscal is in the city’s center; a solid square of restaurants, bars, clubs, language schools, and travel agencies that cater to people who are passing through. After 2 months of living in buses and random rooms, it was time to settle down for a bit in a place of our own. We decided to park it here for 6 months, find work, and get to know Quito more intimately.

Teaching English was an idea I was toying with to integrate myself a little, get to know people, and pick up a little cash on the side. Working for an institute didn’t sound like a good opportunity. They paid a few dollars an hour and well, it’s not like I had a TOEFL degree, any proper training, or a respectable resume besides being from the states. Teaching big groups wasn’t up my alley either, so I made my own thing happen and ended up teaching private one on one English classes out of my apartment. With a pre-paid cell phone, an advertisement on Mundo Anuncio, the Latin version of Craigslist, and some flyers to put up around town, little by little, people started to call or email.

First, we would meet up to get to know each other and talk about logistics: their background in English, what they were interested in focusing on, and what materials they already had. On the other end, I would gauge the individual’s level of comprehension and speech, we would discuss teaching style and goals, arrive to an agreement about scheduling and payment and it would become a regular thing.

People of all ages and backgrounds called up so driven to learn the language or improve what they already knew. Some were English students already. Others had studied in English institutes before, but were eager to break out of the structured class environment to start applying what they have learned with a native speaker. Still others had traveled to the US, or needed to travel to another country where English is spoken and they just wanted to be prepared.

My youngest students were 15 years old. Carlos is a BMX freestyler who went to Switzerland for winter break and needed help with his English before the trip. And Jonathan is an extraordinary young man who is the same age, works full time at restaurant, and home-schools himself. Meeting him the first time was a humbling experience. “How much are the classes?” he asked. “$6 an hour,” I said. To which he replied, “Wow! You make in an hour what I make in a whole day.” We worked something special out in his case and that kid put everything into the little time we had together to be able to start forming sentences and expressing his ideas. “No problem!” was a typical Jonathan expression. What a cool kid!

Isidro works at the Ministry of the Environment. He took classes at the English language Institute Wall Street. Although he could write the right answers in English down on paper, he lacked speaking and listening. He would ask me to say the simplest words over and over again just eating up the American accent and trying his best to mimic it, too!

Jose was preparing for the TOEFL exam and needed help with the essay section, so we would review how to write a 5-paragraph essay. That was a flash from the punishment of all-nighters sentenced by English teachers back in the day. Nevertheless, revisiting it was interesting. I mean in the end it comes down to understanding that the 5-paragraph essay is essentially a game to show you can argue your opinion about something. Man, I used to hate writing because I didn’t care about what I was asked to write about. There’s definitely a peace about journaling, filling up diaries, and even blogging because it comes from something real.

Then there was Mario. Sweet sensitive, Mario. My little Cholito look alike. He would come religiously for one hour once a week even though he was so disappointed in his previous English teacher, some other gringa who posted flyers in the area, posing like she actually took the classes she offered. Unfortunately, she kept standing him up until she pretty much killed his confidence about learning English. He got back into it though and even with only one hour a week of class, Mario made progress, slowly but surely.

Freddy is actually an English teacher from Quito. He was working on getting a proper certification that says he can teach English, but his so-called professor was so non-bilingual that Freddy got fed up. So he took the initiative to look for a native speaker who would understand and challenge him more. Freddy: after hearing your speech on global warming, cooking pasta from scratch at your home, and helping to install your hot water heater, I officially grant you the title of English prof myself.

Juan was another fascinating and entertaining student who is a Professor of Latin American History and Economics. Although he originally signed up for classes to practice his lectures on Latin American History for a possible new teaching position at a University in the states, we got lost in these fabulous discussions about how the fall of the sucre lead to the dollarization, the Assamblea and what would become of Ecuador under the new constitution, la locura of the Guayaquileños, and all the successes of his bi-weekly articles in the paper that would stir up such wonderful controversy.

Gabriel and Lourdes, my kosher comedic friends from SENACE. Those two were hilarious and competitive as hell! I can’t forget our romantic strolls through Quito’s plazas at night, pigging out on pasta a la Cardinale and 15 kilos of Nestle’s white chocolate, listening to Chocolate Morales play his guitar on La Calle Ronda, and sipping Canelazo’s, but never getting chuchaki. It’s amazing how many fascinating subjects we talked about in that tiny room with a view of yours. I suppose I’ll miss the panorama of the Panacillo and the Basilica, but not the hike from El Recreo to get there!

Ay, tantos recuerdos!

My students weren’t only from Ecuador, but from nearby countries like Peru and Colombia, and even places far far away from here, like Europe and Asia. I only had the pleasure of working with Marissa and Jorge a couple of times, but both of these Peruvians made a strong impression on me with how driven and successful they are working for oil companies like Halliburton and Schlumberger.

Alex, an environmental engineer for Repsol, and his wife Paola, a forensic dentist, were a delight to teach 3 times a week. When he wasn’t in the jungle every other week, we had class to improve what he already learned in Berlitz, another language institute. Paola’s a fluent English speaker from Colombia, which was interesting because we were able to talk a lot about the difference between the two neighboring countries, including her views about being a Colombian woman living in Ecuador.

Eva was such a riot to talk to, especially because she understood how frustrating it was to want to go shopping, but be stifled by the lack of fashion in Quito. She was visiting for a year from Spain, and working at the Spanish Embassy. If we weren’t reminiscing about Zara and Mango, we were talking about pickpockets and how backwards the banks are here.

Martin was settling into Quito for a few months while backpacking indefinitely all the way from the Czech Republic. His English was pretty advanced, but he had problems understanding when he read. We would tackle Newsweek articles together for 3 hours at a pop. But to be honest, every word he highlighted was fucking foreign to me, too, so we looked everything up, but always wondered how many people could really understand a whole article anyways?

Last, but not least, there was Euni. Awwwe, Euni! This little fireball came to me the same day she was apartment searching. I mentioned that there was room where I was at and she ended up moving into the same complex and then booking classes for 2-3 hours every morning, 7-days a week, and then an extra hour on top of that at night. Euni was definitely devoted to improving her English and because it’s so expensive to learn English in South Korea (where she’s from and where she already had a required 10 years) and in NY, where she’s headed to, we hooked up and she decided to stay in Quito for the rest of the time I’d be there. Euni was a marketing exec at On Media television in Seoul. In between bouncing around the world and doing her own thing, she was like a mirror for me in so many ways. The experience of learning English in a non-English speaking country was so powerful for her, that she was inspired to write an article about it for a South Korean publication. Euni laid the groundwork and then we ended up brainstorming, adding, and editing so much more in together. I never even thought of an article like that being a North American and a native English speaker, but she had this eclectic insider view on the topic and it really came together just beautifully. It should be received well by South Korean readers, especially those who typically consider going to England, Australia, or the US to study English, even though it’s totally possible to take off to almost anywhere in the world, like South America, to hone their skills, too.

In between teaching, I also had the chance to do some translation and editing work with a few businesses in La Mariscal. Nikolay at Nature Galapagos & Ecuador gave me the all access pass to tailor his company’s site to appeal to English speaking clients. Their website already looked really solid. After editing here and there, it’s really come together beautifully, demonstrating that the business is ready to show travelers the time of their lives whether they’re visiting the Galapagos by yacht or touring the jungle in Ecuador. Misael, the director of Napo Runa Volunteer, also gave me the courtesy to edit his webpage. His organization offers tours through Ecuador’s rainforest and also invites volunteers to live and work with the communities near Tena and Limoncocha in the jungle.

In the end, I made a lot of great friendships and listened to some pretty remarkable stories while getting to know Quito from more of an insider’s perspective. It was definitely a chevere experience to be able to run my own business for a while, support myself abroad, and be in one hot spot for a slice of time. I wouldn’t recommend teaching in December because the whole country’s on vacation all month long, but to other travelers who are looking for a similar experience, I would recommend that anyone with a good attitude, creativity, a good sense of Spanish, and the desire to teach English can definitely do it -- no doubt. There is a ton of opportunity, loads of people of all ages who are looking for teachers just as much as teachers are looking for students, and although it seems like you might be making just a little per hour, with a full schedule, you will have more than enough to take care of your cost of living.

La Paz

2007-08-30T14:11:00.000-07:00

INTI WARA YASSI Animal Refuge - Part 2

2007-08-17T20:23:00.000-07:00

Everyone’s been on the lookout for BanBan, one of the male tayras that escaped from the cage. Maybe he’ll come back by the morning. If not, I hope he’s happy and full of fresh animals that he’s been hunting down on his own out there. The volunteers joke about taking off Chica and Tito’s collars and setting them free, too. They’re all supposed to be released in a few months when the park has the money to take them deeper into the jungle and when it’s the time of year that the animals can have a better chance of fending for themselves.

So working here hasn´t exactly been SO horrible. Oso, Sanson, and Queru have become my best buddies – 3 coati’s that like to cuddle up on your lap after lunch when their bellies are happily content, full of bananas and papayas. Being able to get close to these guys definitely makes the job more enjoyable. As the baby, Queru is just cute. His instinct is to perch up on your shoulder, shove his long nose down your shirt, and comfortably pass out knowing he’s in a warm safe place, nestled right between your boobs. Sanson came from a home, so he’s accustomed to human contact. He’s a softy and needs a lot of love. And Oso just started to become a cuddle slut out of jealously. Once a wild animal lets you get close to them, it’s understandable why people keep them as pets.

After working for 2 weeks, volunteers get one day to hang out at the park, take pictures, and pasalo bien and tranquilo. I spoke to Nena, the big boss lady and co-founder, about taking some shots for the calendar the park puts out annually. She showed me the previous calendars, told me to go for it, and gave me full reign of the park. Since Jav had been working construction, he already had all over access. So when we finished our work, we played all around the park together taking turns shooting pics of crazy capuchins, acrobatic spider monkeys, and timid nocturnal night monos. One day of shooting turned into two and then three more. I thought I’d just contribute to the calendar with a few fun close ups, but Nena was so excited about finishing all 12 months that she encouraged me to get closer, to get more shots of this group of animals or that, and to stay just one more day. I wasn’t even enrolled in a photography class, but this woman became one of the hardest professors I had ever had! With the camera around my neck and my zoom working to take solid pictures, that was when I was at my happiest. Despite all the hazing to get to that point, it felt so good to know that my time at the refuge would live on through the photography. I can’t wait until the calendar comes out in 2008! For now, information about the 2007 calendar can be seen here.

INTI WARA YASSI Animal Refuge - Part 1

2007-08-08T16:48:00.000-07:00

Inti Wara Yassi- Parque Machia, is an animal park refuge in Villa Tunari, Bolivia founded in 1996. It's name means sun, star and moon in the local Indian languages Quechua, Aymara and Guarani. Wild animals are brought here for rehabilitation and sometimes to be re-released into the jungle. They come from circuses, mistreated families, or individuals who wanted a wild animal, but realized they were too wild, harmful, or uncontrollable once they got bigger.

Since the staff is small and the park relies on private donations, Inti Wara Yassi invites volunteers to work and live there. Upon arriving, volunteers have to commit to a 2-week minimum; one month if they want to work with the big cats like pumas and ocelots. (And there’s no picture taking for the first week, just because people have taken advantage of this in the past by shooting the wildlife and not actually working.) We were excited to be integrated into the park when we arrived. Get to know the animals. Work in the jungle for a few weeks. We left it up to the people in charge to place us where they needed help, so I ended up with the animales pequeños – the tayras, coatis, night monkeys, kinkajous, and turtles. As of now, we’ve been here a week. Uhhh! I feel dirty and I hate my job.

The little animals are vicious hyperactive psychos who are ready to be released. I was attacked the 3rd day by a tayra called Chica. I didn’t even know what a tayra was before I got here, but it’s like a cross between a ferret and an otter. She attacked another volunteer just 2 days before that and 2 more before I left. Everytime it happened on their daily walks, a kilometer hike up to the park’s tourist trail look out called mirador. We lead the tayras on a rope that has a movable 3-foot piece of tubing so that they can be somewhat directed and controlled. But if the tubing isn’t right up at the nape of their necks and they go buck wild, there’s nothing you can do at that point to put distance between you and their claws and teeth. The slightest sound makes them skittish, and since they act on instinct, they can grab onto anything and just go at it. The veterinarians in the clinic think Chica is going through a “stage.” She had never shown signs of being violent towards volunteers like that before and she’s usually the most docile compared to the other two males, Tito and BanBan.

2 days later, a howler monkey named Talia bit both of my knees as I was sitting down, holding a baby coati on my shoulder. Queru was snuggled up sleeping in my arms as I watched Talia and Pablo, her trainer, come down from her cage above little animal territory. She walked towards me on her leash as if she was in good spirits. Pablo thought it was a good sign because this monkey normally does NOT like females. I trusted him. They kind of played together in front of me, and before we knew it, she turned around, put her hands on my knee and...CruNch! I already learned that freaking out was the last thing to do in this situation, so I stood my ground and tried not to be fearful. Fuck, it hurt! But Pablo couldn’t pull her away, or else she could rip my skin. Plus, I had the baby coati in my arms, so I couldn’t let go of her either. I looked down and as Talia looked right back up, she went for the other knee. Finally I just pulled away. It hurt like a bitch, but she could have bitten harder. I went to the clinic and Pablo explained why Talia probably bit me. Apparently, the baby coati bit Talia’s tail earlier that day. So he saw it as an act of revenge, not that the monkey was necessarily after me. The situation with Chica was kind of similar because it happened when I was trying to get her rope untangled in the tree she climbed up. One of the other male tayras got too close to her, pissed her off, and since she was within pouncing distance of me, she just grabbed on, slashing and biting up my inner thighs.

The first experience was much more frightening. You think that once they’re on you, they’re just going to go for your jugular like Dracula. When it happens so unexpectedly the first time, it leaves you in shock more than anything. Needless to say, my legs were pretty scratched up. Really black and blue from where the animals held on with their teeth. Since then, I’ve been down on the job. You feel like you come to help and learn, but when you get attacked, it’s hard to go back out there and finish your commitment. You just think if you can’t get close to the animals, how can you be expected to care for them? Why would you want to feed them, walk with them, and clean out their cages if the relationship is you helping and them attacking? Maybe now you know how to prevent being attacked under similar circumstances, but it could happen anytime and seriously…the majority of people working at the park are volunteers, not trained professionals. They’re taught to handle and read the animals from other volunteers who put in 2 weeks maybe a month before them. So a lot of information gets lost in the process. Plus the animals constantly have to adapt to new people coming in and handling them. There’s so much to consider.

In the end, I’m in the fucking jungle in Bolivia and I just can’t seem to appreciate it yet. I haven’t found blood in my urine or worms in my shit like some of the other people working here. They’re getting pounced by pumas and bitten by monkeys to the point where they need stitches. Hell! One girl got bitten so hard by a monkey trying to claim his territory, that he broke her wrist, and put her arm in a cast. Javier’s arms have been bitten so badly by mosquitoes that our roommates were nice enough to loan him prescription creams and pills, but the constant annoyance of itching and scratching is just too much. The vegetarian food had been delicious here, the other volunteers have been so so so delightful to work with, and just the fact that a place like this exists for these animals, it’s all good. Almost one week left. The opportunity to start photographing is around the corner. Uhhhh! I just know that being able to take pictures is going to make things so much better.

Sucre: Sweatin’ to the Salteñas

2007-07-25T20:21:00.000-07:00

All over Sucre right now there are flags boasting the bright red, yellow, and green Bolivian colors with signs that say, “Sucre, la sede sí mueve!” We came during a movement between Sucre and La Paz, where Chuquisaqueños are trying to move the government to Sucre whereas Paceños are sticking together to keep it in La Paz. It will still be weeks before the actual decision is made, but it seems that there’s a lot of heat between the two sides.

To get to Sucre, we drove 3 hours through the altiplano (high plains) watching farmers tend to their land where cows, pigs, and llamas grazed openly. It was such a relaxing trip. After traveling by bus from city to city, we were so excited to hear that there were private cars that drove groups of 4 from Potosi to Sucre. Turns out that this is a regular thing in Bolivia. It costs about the same amount to take a station wagon or minivan with enough room for all your things as it does to take a crowded, stuffy, slow bus, and you get to your destination much faster.

Sucre became a 5-day vacation within a vacation. We found the cutest place to stay that seemed like a converted convent, but the staff swore that it’s always been a hostel. Our room was turquoise blue with two single beds, creaky hard wooden floors, a nightlight, and balcony windows that overlooked the street in the center of town. For 40 bolivianos a night, $5 USD, we didn’t want to pack our bags and head to the next city. Our excuse was that that we had better start getting into better shape if we were going to be visiting another city that was as high up as Potosi was. So we went to the park in the early afternoons to work out.

Well, on the walk home we’d pass the orange juice lady, so we had to buy orange juice for 2 bolivianos. And then we'd pass the girls selling salteñas (sweet empanadas) for 1.5 more bolivianos, so we had to refuel anyways. Turns out, the jump start workout was such a shock to our bodies for days later, especially Javier’s, that we couldn’t manage to put on our backpacks and move around anyways. So we stayed and stayed.

We worked out again. Walking lunges, step-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, reverse pull-ups. Jump roping was hard enough. Forget jogging! The most entertaining part was that random kids would come up and watch us…and then mimic us. Girls asked if they could borrow our jump rope. Boys were doing push-ups, their little arms struggling to hold their bodies up. It was adorable! They’d even count reps with us, first in English, then in Spanish. Jav and I ended up buying lollipops for the kids we’d meet on the way. So we’d pass them a sucker, and even if we only had one, it would just get passed from one mouth to the next. *sigh* Just adorable!

Potosi! POR FIN!

2007-07-20T20:20:00.000-07:00

Potosi is the first Bolivian city we made it to that’s built on a series of hills. All day – up and down, up and down. Something tells us that this is going to be a trend in this country. The Bolivians climb right up and shoot right down, but there are also taxis and micros that do it with no problem. Potosi is the highest city in the world with an altitude of 4,090 meters (13,419 ft) above sea level. With the lack of oxygen in the air, visitors definitely feel the difference in their body right away. It’s so hard to climb up a flight of stairs, it takes time to adjust, and you just have to move slowly.

Pulling into Potosi, it’s obvious that this is a mining town. There’s a long history of people traveling here looking for work, getting horrible assignments, and getting paid even worse. That’s one side of Potosi. The other side is the center, which is good times with plenty to see and do. People are always flooding the streets with something to sell. Traditionally dressed women offer freshly squeezed orange juice and sweet empanadas, children have carts where they sell a variety of nuts, teenagers sell sweets like slices of cake in the afternoon.

**Side note** The 10-hour bus ride from Villazón to Potosi was the worst bus ride EVER!! You’re either sweating balls during the day or freezing your ass off at night. The lesser of two evils? Make sure to find a comfortable bus if you are ever forced to take this trip.

Bordercrossing into Bolivia

2007-07-17T23:09:00.000-07:00

We crossed the border on foot from La Quiaca, Argentina to Villazón, Bolivia. Everything’s so laid back here that people could probably cross without stamping their passports. It’s a much different experience from crossing between say Arizona and Mexico. Unfortunately, there were road blocks up all over preventing people from traveling to Potosi or Sucre, the main cities people visit on the tourist route. Apparently this happens all the time in Bolivia, an interference the locals are accustomed to. All you can do is wait until the bus companies sell tickets again.

We had to stay in the Villazón for 4 nights. Like many bordertowns there was not much to offer aside from poverty and thievery. It was here that we discovered the Bolivians love for pollo spiedo (rotisserie chicken) and it was here that we loved and lost our taste for it, too. For $1.50 USD you can get a half a chicken with fries, rice, a salad and a drink. It’s delicious! Just not every day.

Jujuy, Purmamarca, & the Salt Flats

2007-07-16T22:52:00.000-07:00

Economy housing close to the bus stations has been the best bet for finding a place to crash. We’re not traveling with a guide book, and running around the city with these backpacks looking for alojamiento is just so draining. So when we arrived to Jujuy, we found a cozy room with cable and hot showers for a few bucks a night. From Jujuy we took a daytrip to Purmamarca, a pueblito a few hours away that’s a stepping stone to visiting the Salinas Grandes, one of the many salt flats in the Chilean, Argentine, and Bolivian regions. The drive up the mountain (La Cuesta de Elipan) is the road you have to climb before heading back down to where the salt flats are. Once you arrive, what a fun place to play with depth of field.

Salta, Argentina – Road Trip

2007-07-12T19:26:00.000-07:00

We shot up to the north of Argentina after a few days in Mendoza and San Juan – just to try the tenedores libres (all you can eat restaurants) and empanadas. An 18-hour bus ride, front row baby!, got us to Salta and that’s where the real fun and beauty began because the northern desert of Argentina is a breathtaking drive in any direction for days and days. To get a glimpse of what the scenery was like, we visited a tourist agency that showed us a 20 minute slideshow of what to expect – twisty roads, tiny pueblos, stretches of chiseled mountains changing colors at every curve, and $3 lunches at restaurants along the way. After the preview, there was no way we’d be doing this tour with anyone but ourselves, private transport, and the leisure of stopping and going on our own time schedule.

We rented a chiquitito rojito autito and took a road trip down to Cafayate, up to Cachi, and back to Salta in 2 days. The freedom of driving a car again was such a delight. We raced through farmlands and vineyards until the highway brought us to the mountainous desert and steadily followed a river at the base of the canyon. One of the first major attractions was la Garganta del Diablo, the Devil’s Throat, a rainbow of reds carved into a mountain where visitors can hike up the “tongue” until they reach the back of the “mouth.” Tourist vans and cars filled the entrance, but the crowd only seemed to walk up to the part where the actual climbing and hiking began. Fome! Continuing the trek was well worth the sight, especially because we pretty much had it all to ourselves. On the way down as we jumped and slid down the boulders, we overheard a woman asking her man, “If I go up, how will I get down?” ...to which Jav said, "I'm glad you're a cuatro por cuatro."

The views continued to change around every turn. Rock formations had cut outs of windows, animals, and even castles that looked like fantasylands from The Lord of the Rings. Everything appeared even more brilliant as the sun set, igniting the mountains to their maximum.

We made it to Cafayate where we continued with our empanada taste testing tour. This time we tried rabbit empanadas. Tasted like chicken.

There wasn’t much of a night life there, so we got back on the road. But there wasn’t much to see driving at night either, so we parked the car a little off the highway. We had no idea where we were because there was no light, no cars, no houses, nada. Not even the map seemed reliable. It was a little scary, but at the same time it was comforting being in one of those places where the stars are electric, and the faintest ones can be seen forming part of the Milky Way. We locked the doors, got under the covers, and slept till the sun came back out.

Morning came and the now dirt road lead us through the desert from pueblo to pueblo. Every one had it’s own quaint picture perfect iglesia calling me to photograph it. There were beautiful desert cemeteries, too, that were gorgeous to photograph just for their location and decoration.

Jav got to a point where he was sick of driving on the main drag. With the open desert all around, he was antsy to do a little off-roading. Instead of considering that we were in a rented hatchback unlike any of the monster trucks the locals drive, he turned onto a 4x4 side path, which turned into a whole ‘nother story for the day. As the car started to pout and moan after a minute in the sand, Jav decided to turn her around. He turned her around and she gets stuck! We had to flag down help from the main road, jack up the front tire, cover the sand underneath with flat rocks, and then try to push her out of there. Finally, about 15 men came walking through the desert out of nowhere. (…because that happens in stories like this...) and they offered to help give us a push. Jav drove back to safety on the main road as I walked back with the men. “Where you from?” the Argentines asked. “Chile,” one of the original guys who was helping us replied. “Oh, that makes sense,” the man said. It was too much! Here’s the photo of the helping hands:

After Cachi, the road descended through a green gorge on a road known as the Cuesta del Obispo. It’s amazing how different the scenery is in just a few kilometers drive. 18 wheelers were huffing and puffing their way up as we were smooth sailing all the way down through twists and turns. The sun went down and put an end to this leg of our trip. The next morning we returned the car and headed to San Salvador de Jujuy to explore more of Argentina’s naturaleza.

Chau, Chile (…but you're coming with me!)

2007-07-08T19:00:00.000-07:00

My stuff’s been stuffed into a big red backpack again. Only this time there’s a big blue backpack right by my side on the next part of the journey, too. Javier decided to pack up his life in Chile to travel up the backbone of South America with me (yay!) … who knows where to; just up. I’ve always been a solo traveling project, so now everything’s going to be a big change. Jav is definitely a part of my life from Chile that I wouldn’t have wanted to leave behind. We got him a pair of hiking boots, sketched out a plan, and said a very tearful goodbye to his family. Tickets across the border bought him his very first stamp on his newly issued Chilean passport. We arrived to Argentina!

We’re roughly going to head up through Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador before making it to Colombia to find work for 3-6 months. Then we plan to keep heading up Central America, maybe even make it to Mexico and be able to cross the border into the US. Along the way, we’re open to the unknown and whatever going from city to city means -- like jumping into volunteer or social work projects and of course photographing, practicing English, and experiencing culture shocks along the way. The best advice we were given before we left was from Mr. & Mrs. Miranda: "Tienen que ser uno."

Collages for all my Chiquillas

2007-06-01T22:48:00.000-07:00

Although all the girls at the hogar couldn’t participate in the photo project formally, they all had the chance to take pictures with the cameras. Using their pics, they all got a recuerdo before I said goodbye so they’d feel like part of the program and wouldn't forget me either. Las echaré mucho de menos mis chanchitas!

OJOS nuevos - THE GRAND FINALE!!!

2007-05-30T18:05:00.000-07:00

The OJOS girls from Hogar Nuestra Señora de la Paz and Hogar Aldea María Reina had an amazing exhibition! The opportunity to have a joint show to congratulate the kids with a proper grand finale to the workshop and share their artwork with the Chilean community was an absolute hit.

When putting the show together, Christy and I noticed incredible similarities in the girls work although both groups had never met nor photographed together. During the editing process, the photographs the kids took became even more alive by playing off each other with shots of hands, graffiti, self-portraits, shadows, silhouettes, repetition, pictures of people on the street, and hogar life. Behind the scenes, we worked overtime sizing, writing, printing, pasting, and passing out flyers promoting the event. The show was hung 2 hours before the opening night, but not without hesitation as to if everything would really be done in time for all the people that were invited! Luckily, the empanadas and soft drinks went over well and music set the tone with some of the kids' favorite Latin songs from Shakira, Mana, and Chancho and Piedra.

Girls from both hogares showed up in 2 bus loads, packing the gallery space with their energy and excitement. Directors, social assistants, parents, even one of the girl's professors came to see the show and show his support. The participants were so proud of themselves. They stared, pointed, and even walked right up and touched the photos, naming whose picture was whose, remembering when and where they had been taken. They bounced around between finding their own photographs on display and signing autographs for people who purchased their prints. One photo was selected from each girl and instructor and blown up to a 5x7 with the photographer's name and date as captions in the corner. Some girls didn't believe that anybody would actually buy their work, but when the night ended, they had collectively made $80 USD. The proceeds were split evenly between each hogar so that the participants could either print more of their own photographs for themselves or for their hogars' walls.

To end the night, the girls were congratulated and each was asked to sign the self-portrait board. They were given a diploma and a handmade frame with a collage of portraits of themselves as a memory of their experience participating in OJOS nuevos.

As for the future of OJOS nuevos, the volunteer program VE Global would like to continue teaching photography to the kids that the volunteers work with. In order to do that, they need volunteer photographers interested in carrying out the workshop in other hogares, schools, and community centers in Santiago. Now that Christy and I have finished our volunteer outreach projects in Chile, we hope to continue to travel through South America doing our own documentary photography while searching for the next OJOS nuevos project in another country.

Check out all of our sponsors OJOS nuevos Articles!
**Article 1**
**Article 2**
**Article 3**

*On behalf off all the children and both instructors, we'd like to especially thank the following sponsors that made OJOS nuevos and the exhibition possible: PENTAX, TakeGreatPictures.com, VE Global, Instituto ARCOS, Club Color, Maricarmen Fredes, Luke Bakke and Michelle Dady, and Max & Sara Drew.

Exhibition Invite -- OJOS nuevos OPENING

2007-05-14T22:30:00.000-07:00

May 24th marks the date of my girls first photo exhibition! Not only will it be a chance to celebrate the end of their OJOS workshop, sponsored by PENTAX and TakeGreatPictures.com, but it will also be a chance for them to share their work with the community and have the opportunity to sell it, too. Together with the OJOS class of Hogar Aldea María Reina, the works of 10 girls will be featured. The show will be at the photo and art Institute ARCOS in downtown Santiago and will remain there until June 7th. We hope to highlight the girls photos that they took in the hogar as well as of themselves and of their community.

OJOS Girls Go to Val-PO

2007-05-05T23:27:00.000-07:00

Valparaíso. Clusters of houses cling to the hills of this port town, covering the coast with a rainbow of colors making it a perfect place to take pictures. This has been the trip the girls have been looking forward to since we posted the photo workshop's schedule on the hogar's walls the first week OJOS started. "We're going to Valparaíso?!" -- better known to the gringos who visit as Valpo. "Qué bakan!" (How cool!)

4 girls ended up going on the field trip. To make sure we had plenty of protection and support so the girls could get individual attention and so we could avoid losing any more cameras, we had an adult pair up with each girl. One of the tía's came because the volunteers have never taken kids outside of Santiago -- a huge experience OJOS was fortunate to bring to the girls of both camera programs. And volunteers Eleanor and Michelle came along, too, making the day trip so memorable and fun for everyone.

We took pictures from the sea to the top of the cerros (hills) starting with a 30-minute boat tour of the port. The girls got a great view of Chile's NAVY yard close up and of the skyline off in the distance. When we got back to land, the tía bought them souvenirs from local vendors. Then we wandered up a mountain to get lost in the windy maze of streets that make up place. The first street we chose found us at a dead end doubly confirmed by 2 shady young men kind enough to warn us to head back down and try a street a few blocks in another direction. We found a stairway that lead up a more inviting route and started to climb.

The girls photographed wall paintings, street stencils, art vendors, strangers, each other, and the view from above. For the first time, they did great following their instincts to shoot their own subject matter while photographing in a group. Everyone was able to move at their own pace with an adult by each kid's side and nobody bothered us. The biggest complaint was how tired their little legs were from having to climb and climb, but around every corner was something entertaining or new that kept them going, kept them looking: a playground to explore, a cat to follow, a mural to contemplate.

We ate empanadas and fresh fruit on the bus ride back to Santiago while listening to Eleanor's iPod. The tía and I took the kids all the way back to the hogar, about an hour and a half from the bus station. On the way home, I told Evelyn that this was my last month at the hogar. A nostalgic look on her face was followed by tears that didn't stop streaming until a half hour later. I kept my arm around her whispering how much I enjoyed spending time with her and how we would keep in touch with e-mail and snail mail, pictures and looking forward to the next time we'd see each other. It was powerful feeling the impact of my presence on this little 15 year old. The despedida at the end of the month is going to be a tough goodbye.

And Then There Was 1 ...

2007-04-28T09:53:00.000-07:00

Lindy---

First, of all, we just got back from Valpo, and it was a BLAST!!!! We had so much fun. I have a lot to share. But I am totally exhausted and need to tell you the really bad news: Two minutes, literally, after exiting the station, someone robbed a girl of her camera, and the worst part is it was one of yours. I am so sorry, it happened so fast and she was being totally responsible with it too which sucks. She was fine, but very shaken up, and because she's one of the tougher girls, it kind of bummed her out for awhile and she didn't want to take any pictures which made me sad and very angry at that STUPID WEON who did that terrible thing. But later she warmed up and took some. I'm so sorry. You can borrow whatever you need form me for your girls of course. Talk soon about the recorder......

love cris

That leaves 1 camera left of the five that were donated. 1 never worked out of the box. 2 robberies happened on the street and the last camera disappeared from a girl being careless after taking it to school. We've tried to remind the kids to guard the cameras well by hiding them in their jackets or in their pockets, always using the neck straps, or passing them to an adult when they're not taking pictures. It seems that the kids are easy to target no matter what. What else can we do to avoid this happening again here or in other places if the workshop continues in other countries?

Having the equipment stolen definitely puts a damper on the day it happens, but overall the girls are still so eager to keep the workshop going. They paste their photos all over their walls, give them away as gifts, cut them up and put them in their scrapbooks. Some have told me how they've had dreams about photographing. And now that we're going on more outings one on one or in smaller groups, they can't wait until it's their turn to get out of the hogar and shoot.

Tami and I went photographing around the neighborhood. She's so social and outgoing, that she got some great portraits of the people who live in Casas Viejas. This was the first time she used a tripod. Because the girls are so quick to take pictures, and the cameras can only capture images so fast, a lot of their photos turn out blurry. Using the tripod has made them slow down and take more time to look at their subject matter and pay more attention to their composition.

Evelyn and I cruised around on a moped outside of where the hogar is to shoot the graffiti scene. I can't believe the staff gave me permission to take her on a scooter, but she did great and we were able to cover a lot of distance fast. Evelyn is the oldest. She gets embarrassed around the other girls who attract a lot of attention when they shoot in a group. She doesn't like taking pictures of herself or others or around where the hogar is located. It was important for her to get time to shoot by herself and see another part of Santiago to find inspiration. She opened right up to the idea of taking pictures of graffiti. Now it's up to her to find her own way of making interesting pictures and not just pictures of other people's art.

Yanela, Mónica, and I went to the zoo and shared a chorillana afterwards at a pub. A chorillana is a mountain of french fries with fried eggs, fried onions, sliced steak and hot dogs. Typical comida Chilena. They had never tried it before since the hogar is on a budget and can't afford to stray from the regular menu. Mierda, did they scarf that sucker down! Piled on the ketchup and mustard and cleaned that plate clean!

With everyone having different experiences, the kids have been pretty cool about not comparing who got to go where or eat what. The hogar tries to keep everything on an even keel when it comes to who gets what. If they don't there's a big show. With respect to OJOS nuevos though, the girls are just happy to get out and have an extra ordinary day -- however it may turn out.

The 6 girls who have been participating have definitely become my regalonas (favorites - they get all the presents). And I've definitely had to start stepping away from working with the other kids. As of now, we set a date to have an exposition of my girls' work along with the other girls Cristy's working with at Hogar María Aldea Reina. It will be the 24th of May at an art school called Instituto Profesional ARCOS. The show is going to be a beautiful end to the project and to my time working at the hogar, too.

--Beautification Project Update -- A Little Color From a Whole 'Lotta LOVE

2007-03-21T20:00:00.000-07:00

What began as a fundraiser for repainting the hogar has turned into a full on Beautification Project for Hogar Nuestra Señora de la Paz. With the generous donations people have sent and the helping hands of all of the volunteers who came to visit to fix this place up, the home looks absolutely amazing! And most importantly, it looks like a respectable place for the kids to live in.

Mil gracias to all the support that got the job done from the people in the states who sent nearly $1600 USD, to the groups of volunteers that showed up to Santiago to put the supplies to use. Thanks to VE and the current volunteers for the first round of painting. Thanks to Crooked Trails for dedicating a day from your tour schedule to help paint. It was so thoughtful of you to bring school supplies and soccer balls AND take an extra trip to the Home Depot of Santiago to buy more supplies AND still have a great attitude after a cart of purchases got stolen in the parking lot. Tammy, you and your crew were so fun to work with! Thanks to Ryan, the best volunteer sidekick ever, and Gabriella, “I’ll be there,” and you were, Fuller. Thanks to Jorge DaVeggio, the director from the Big House, who gave us 4 buckets of Halloween orange paint -- even though we only used half of one and diluted it with 8 buckets of white. Thanks for loaning us the truck, your volunteers, and your kids, too, for drop offs and deliveries. The despacho a domicillio service was better than any flete. Michelle, thank you so much for making connections and making it all happen! Thanks to Stefin and the University of Virginia Alternative Spring Break Crew who helped us pound out rounds 2 and 3 of painting. That was a lot of kabob’s you sold to fund your visit. The group had such a good attitude and such great energy! Finally, thanks to the tías who prepared scrumptious lunches for us and to the little tikes that live there and helped to prep the walls with me by cleaning, spackling, and sandpapering. You did a great job painting your rooms and your playground equipment. Oh, and yourselves!

Besides repainting the place with brilliant bubble gum pinks and sunburst yellows, we were able to give the staff and kids some other long overdue purchases to add to the makeover, too. They received 2 new washing machines, door handles and light fixtures for all the rooms, fluorescent lights and fuses to get old lights in the bathrooms, hallways, and office up and running again, front porch lights, table cloths, and kitchen and gardening supplies. Yeah, Sebastian! You finally got the weed wacker I've been promising you. To finish the job, our computer tech is putting all the office computers on a network so the director, psychologist, and social assistant will be able to easily access each other’s information and connect to the Internet. It's amazing how far this hogar has come.

Now that this part of the beautification project is practically completed, and since the walls look better than the furniture, a few volunteers and I are considering adding another phase by replacing the beds and bedding. But for now, the girls are learning to respect their new surroundings by taking care of everything and asking when we’re going to start up the photo project again since OJOS nuevos had taken a temporary back to seat to all the new changes!

Fotos from Puerto Montt

2007-02-26T19:56:00.000-08:00

This fishing village was a fun town to photograph. Colorful, graphic, friendly, playful. Bought wool knee socks for the winter, tried the local seafood, and somehow got back into black and white here while also reconnecting with seedy signs that still catch me and my camera's attention. Lo pasé super bien!

Bariloche - Argentina's Chocolate Factory

2007-02-23T22:28:00.000-08:00

San Carlos de Bariloche took good care of me for the week that I visited to renew my VISA. Santiago’s been such a weona (biyatch) lately what with la abeja (my scooter, a.k.a – the bee) breaking down every time it gets right out of the shop and some thief stealing one of the digital cameras from one of my girls as we were all shooting downtown and just people in general not treating people very well, it was time to skip town just to be around some new energy.

I flew to Osorno, Chile and from there I prayed to hop a bus al tiro (immediately) to cross the border into Argentine Patagonia. The buses were booked solid until the next day, but my stubborn self still searched for a seat anyway at ticket counter after ticket counter. Stuff started to change when an attendant from one of the bus companies pulled me out of line to sell me some guy’s seat who just happened to cancel his reservation. Thank you again Protectora de los Mochilieros.

The 6-hour ride to Bariloche was a gorgeous tour of National Park Puyehue’s forests and lakes. We arrived at 1 in the morning. A group of us made friends and hopped in a cab that took us to Los Moiras hostel. They had 1 bed available, and since I was solo, I still thought that the good Protector of Backpackers was looking out for me. But then I realized that that was just stupid when I woke up in the middle of the night to 2 Israeli couples moaning and rolling around under their covers on the beds next to me. I slept downstairs in the lounge. The girls were gone the next day, but one of the boys apologized for what happened and paid for my night’s stay. “I wish you understood my language,” he said. “My apology sounded a lot better in Hebrew.”

South America is filled with young Israeli travelers who just finished their commitment to the ARMY. They’re all over Argentina especially and when they find a hostel, they claim it, settling in for weeks, practically turning the cocina into a kosher kitchen. The hostels depend on their business and if the travelers like a place, they put in a good word to the next exodus of Israeli’s heading that way. But the general consensus is that they’rfe loud and rude. When I met Amanda and Annette, Brazilian sisters who moved to Israel when they were around 8, they had an interesting view on their people. I met the girls hiking up a mountain that overlooks the 7 lakes that make up the region. Afterwards, our appetites drove us to a tenedor libre (free fork, a.k.a all you can eat joint) where they shared how they weren’t relating at all to Israeli’s on this trip -- to the point that they were avoiding them by purposefully choosing to stay in accommodations where Israelis weren’t and even speaking Portuguese or English instead of Hebrew. We shared our experiences with each other from South America and agreed on how loving, affectionate, and alive the people are. How different Latin Americans are compared to people from the Middle East. The girls journey was still about to tell them many things as they were just heading to Brazil to reunite with family. I wondered as much as they did if their Brazilian roots would pull them back to stay at this point in their life.

About Bariloche though…it’s a charming town nestled in the Andes Mountains that rests on the shore of Lake Nahuel Huapi. The fresh air and nature are great for outdoor sporting adventures all year round. Locals are friendly and hippy nomad artists are always selling jewelry creatively made from silver and stones. The Spanish is a mix of sha, she, shi, sho, and shu’s. The architecture and food is magnificent with its strong Swiss-German influences that can be seen in stone and wood buildings and tasted in milanesas and chocolates. Factories are all over offering bon-bons and bouquets of chocolate: Mamuschka is a must visit if you make it here. As is Morfy’s, a restaurant where you pile a bunch of toppings on hot dogs and schnitzel.

The Wild West Women of OJOS nuevos

2007-02-10T21:31:00.000-08:00

Help Paint the Hogar!

2007-02-01T19:36:00.000-08:00

After 20 years of kids writing on them, the hogar's walls have become the kids canvases covered in pencils, paints, and what remains of peeled teen pop posters. Layers of scribbles tell of who lived where and who loved whom. Although there's an artistic flare to it, even the kids are ready for a fresh change and a clean look.

February 12th marks the first repair day for fixing up the inside of Hogar Nuestra Señora de la Paz. To paint everything, we'll probably need 5 more days, but for the first round, volunteers and community members are getting together from 9-5 to paint the main living spaces in at least one of the two houses - living room, kitchen, hallway, and bathroom included.
So far we've raised $300 USD to repaint the place. VEGlobal is putting $150 towards the project and their donation was kindly matched by Crooked Trails, a Seattle based travel group, who is coming down to tour Santiago's wine vineyards. After reading an article I wrote in Transitions Abroad Magazine, they got in touch to visit the hogar, meet the kids, and see how the needy side of Chile lives. With about 10 volunteers and another 10 from Crooked Trails, we'll have a good group of hands to get work done. We're also planning to invite the mother's and father's that drop by every now and then to visit their girls in hopes that they will want to help out, too.

Over the past few months, we've solicited 3 businesses for paint: Revor, Shermann- Williams, and Tricolor, but despite sending letters and pictures and following up, nobody has reached out to help. From my experience here, the international volunteers that come to help, bring the most donations from their countries thanks to family and friends who support the volunteer's work. I definitely think that Chile needs to help Chile more, but even as an intermediary connecting those who have with those who don't, it's so hard to find people interested in giving back to their community.

The first day of painting is covered, but we don't want to leave the job partway done or the hogar under construction. To finish the job thoroughly, we definitely need to fundraise another $300 for paint and supplies. And if we were to have the grand makeover of home improvements, my wish list for the hogar aside from repainting it would be to have a new laundry machine, replace fluorescent lighting fixtures and bulbs, add toilet seats, shower head fixtures, and new shower curtains in the bathrooms, and change the window curtains, replace doors, and door handles....to start. About another $650.

After a year of working at this place, it's important for me to make a huge contribution. The staff and the kids that live there deserve it and if it wasn't for the volunteers planning, fundraising, and painting, I don't know who else would have the resources or time to make this happen. To be a part of the beautification project, you can donate by credit card through PayPal.com by clicking here. Once in PayPal, send a payment to lindy500@lindydrew.com. Thanks so much for supporting! Here are the before pics. I can't wait to send the afters!

OJOS nuevos Photo Program Takes Off

2007-01-23T22:00:00.000-08:00

The girls at Nuestra Señora de la Paz are camera crazy now that OJOS nuevos has finally started at their hogar. 6 girls were chosen to be part of the picture taking team, and every week the rest of the girls get a chance to shoot so that everyone feels included and can have fun with photography, too. The group has 2 days to take pictures and one day to edit. Thanks to the Puente Alto Children's Library, we are able to use their Compaq computers that have Internet and support Photoshop 7. Every week the kids select 10 prints which they either save, give away as gifts, or trade between one another. They have their own photo albums that they carry around everywhere, sharing with the staff at the hogar and their mom's who come to visit.

OJOS nuevos (NEW eyes) is the name we coined to represent all of VEGlobal's photography projects. Fellow volunteer Christine Mladic carried out the first class at the all girls hogar San Fransisco de Regis and is now at Hogar María Aldea Reina, another all girls hogar, conducting her second class. Since being able to secure the equipment, myself and the volunteers at my hogar were able to start OJOS nuevos at Nuestra Señora de la Paz the same week.

Now the cameras are in the kids' hands, they have been getting familiar with their new digital sidekicks. We have 4 PENTAX Optio E10's with 512 MB memory cards and rechargeable batteries and the other 2 cameras are rotated loaners from volunteers who are nice enough to let the kids use their cameras while sometimes coming to help out too. The first few weeks have been spent playing with the color and black and white modes, video versus making still images, and learning how to erase picture by picture instead of whole memory cards! They are practicing composition, exploring interesting ways to shoot, and looking at lighting and how it affects their photos. There is so much to shoot from photo scavenger hunts in the hogar to self-portraits.

Once they get more comfortable being photographers, we plan to take them on field trips to markets, street fairs, museums, and the downtown area. The chance to get out of the hogar, discover Santiago, and share what they see through the lens is going to be so entertaining for them. We'll be making our own picture frames, getting our picture taken professionally in a Wild West photo studio, and watching the documentary film Born Into Brothels about kids who had their own photography project in Calcutta, India. But what everyone's really looking forward to is the last week when we take a day trip to the coast to photograph in Valparaíso and go swimming at the beach!

Visiting Veronica

2006-12-13T22:56:00.000-08:00

“You can tell the tias that speak English, but you can’t tell the tias that speak Spanish, OK, Tia?” Fabiola (10) wanted to tell me a secret, but didn’t want the staff to know. Her older sister, Veronica (16), ran away from the hogar a few months ago and Fabiola knew where she was. The tias suspected the teenager was living nearby in a drug den with her boyfriend, but all they were really sure of was that if they saw her, they had to call the cops because she was a runaway and they had to turn her in.

Fabiola wanted to visit Veronica and asked me to go with her to look for her after school one day. I told her we would have to talk to the director first to get her permission. Surprisingly, the director was cool with the idea. She looked at it as a good way for the hogar to be in contact with the kid, to find out if she’s OK first and foremost, and get her anything she needs. I wondered if I should invite her back to the hogar or relay any information to her, but my director just said to make sure she’s all right and then we’d figure out if there was anyway we could reach out to her. “Should I take my camera?” I asked. That way the staff could have a visual of where Veronica was living. Although I was told to keep my professional one behind because apparently I didn’t know what type of people I was dealing with – they could be thieves, druggies, bad people who would hurt me and steel from me in an instant – I was encouraged to bring a little point and shoot. The part about just bringing a camera alone was very forward thinking of my director. She’s come a long way with understanding my photography and how photography can be a sensitive issue, but also used towards someone’s benefit. I was proud of her for thinking that way and for even using me, since I am a volunteer and not a real employee, to check up on one of the girls who’s in a sticky situation.

Fabiola and I left to look for her big sister. As we walked to the end of the block, she showed me a bag of goodies she put together for her hermana including shampoo, colonia, a few pairs of new underwear, and some old clothes she found stashed in the hogar. Like it was meant to be, we got to the end of the street and there was Veronica, walking with a friend on their way to the street fair. She greeted us with a big smile, hugged, and hugged us. She introduced us to her friend Yanara (15) who had a baby boy (8 months) covered in chicken pox, the poor little thing. Veronica had a few new marks on her body, too. She had gotten into some street fights with a few girls. She looked a bit lost in her eyes and thinner, but for the most part, she maintained her independent nature and spontaneous bouts of happiness that jump out of her body throwing her into laughing convulsions.

Turns out, Veronica has been living with her friend, her friend’s boyfriend, and their baby around the corner by the canal. We weaved up and down the streets, bought chocolate pudding, picked plums almost ripened off the trees, and made our way back to their house. Inside the floor was covered with clothes, the table with ants. Yanara told me how her boyfriend of 3 years, Ivan (22), doesn’t like when she walks through the neighborhood all day while the house is a mess. More precisely a women’s place is in the home. The girls cleaned up the place together. Yanara shoved the clothes in a suitcase, Veronica swept, and Fabiola placed handpicked wildflowers in a cup on the kitchen table. The place was barren with its hard wood floors and empty walls. The couple shared a single bed that was sunken in practically touching the floor. The baby slept in a crib with a soccer goal mesh holding up its sides. Veronica slept on a velvet green couch that let loose a flurry of dust clouds at the slightest touch.

Just as the girls were finishing up, the man of the house showed up. Ivan sat down with us. Fabiola immediately got quiet. He had a disturbing aura about him. He began to 3rd degree us about where Yanara had been all day, who Fabiola and I were, and how we got to his house. When he got it all out of his system he said we should be lucky we were girls because if he came home to find guys in his house, it would not be pretty. Then he asked how much longer we’d be hanging out because he wanted to look for some of his friends to meet us. I wish I had brought my camera, but I didn’t have a memory chip for it. Ivan came back with his friends and they asked us if we wanted to drink. I asked Fabiola if she was ready to leave and if Veronica would walk us to the end of the block.

We asked Veronica if she needed anything and she said she could use another bra. Fabiola noticed she could use some food. When I asked Fabi if her sister was better inside or outside of the hogar, she thought her sister should come back. She assured us that the couple treated her fine. Well, they didn’t mistreat her at least. Still, she was looking for a room in another part of the neighborhood with her boyfriend, who apparently is the coke addict. Yanara and Ivan don’t like it in their house. We told Veronica that she could come to the hogar when she was ready and that everyone’s worried about her, but she knows the deal. Since then, I’ve seen Veronica walking around with her girlfriend. She also comes by the hogar at night to visit her sister and they talk through the fence after the tias have gone or gone to sleep.

Pinochet Passes Away, Photo Censored at Santiago Exhibit

2006-12-11T21:59:00.000-08:00

The public relations and culture person in charge at the library exhibiting my work asked to see a picture before I started hanging the show. I showed her the image of one of my girls with ex-Presidente Lagos in the background, and that’s when I learned that Maria Olivia was a Pinochetista. And that it would kill her to come into work everyday to see a picture from someone from the other side staring back at her. She jokingly asked for me to not put it up, or I thought she was joking anyway.

The past month has seen Pinochet in the news a lot lately. Between a heart attack and a public announcement on his behalf given by his wife recently, the country’s been having a Pinochet frenzy. Then, one week after his heart attack, Pinochet died and the country showed just how divided it really is. M. Olivia invited me to Pinochet’s funeral to take pictures. I thought it was a nice gesture that she thought of me. She knew I’d be interested in documenting the historical day. She was also looking for someone to accompany her so she wouldn’t be alone. We met in the metro station and headed over to Escuela Militar. As outspoken as she is about her stance, she is as quiet as a mouse in public. It wasn’t until we entered onto Pinochetista territory that the Our Hero poster came out and so did the cheers as she chanted with fellow supporters “Chi, Chi, Chi! Le, Le, Le! Vive Chile! Pinochet!”

A few more days later, I took a group of the girls from the hogar to the library to see the photos of them on display. A square emptiness marked by where the dust settled made it evident that a photo was missing from the series. I asked a library assistant what happened to the photo. Knowing that her boss removed it, I asked if she burned it, too. No, it was just put away in her office. I couldn’t believe she censored my work. I purposefully put it on display in a place where someone, especially her, wouldn’t have to look at it unless they walked over there to see it. I don’t think it is right to invite an artist to show their work and then pick and choose what is acceptable and what isn’t without really consulting the artist.

After spending the day with M. Olivia at Pinochet’s funeral, listening to her stories, accepting her gifts like pin and key chain paraphernalia, and watching her cry as the cannons went off in a final salute to the fallen dictator, I could empathize with why the photo affected her. It still doesn’t make it right, especially if the Café is supposed to be a library and a cultural institution. It definitely made me think about what else is being censored in that institution, in Chile, in the past, or in general.

The Santiago Show - Portraits of Our Children: Still They Keep on Smiling

2006-12-05T23:38:00.000-08:00

What a fabulous way to just about end 2006! VE held a publicity event on the 5th of December and I showed a selection of my work from the past year of photographing here. It was a huge night to celebrate and it marked my 1 year anniversary in Chile! VE changed to VEGlobal and unveiled its new name and logo to officially present the organization to Santiago. The presentation included a cocktail and art show held downtown at Café Literario, a library in Providencia that is an incredible space to show. After weeks of planning, getting permission, printing, and pushing through last minute problems, the stress of preparing and hanging a show has finally turned into satisfaction. Yay!

I’m so pleased with how the photography came out, and I owe a ton of thanks to all the people who helped make it happen from Christine Mladic, a fellow photographer and volunteer who contagiously made me laugh instead of go berserk, to the salesman at Lapiz Lopez, who sold me cardboard and glue, to the lady at Wanson Photo who loaned me her pen drive when my CD burner broke and even ran my order over to their competitors print lab and rushed it because they didn’t have the paper size I needed. The biggest thanks of all goes to Daniela though, the Chilean with the magic touch and the most cajones from any girl that I’ve met here. She set up the meeting with SENAME – the government organization in charge of minors and some of the institutions we work with – to show them my photography in person and get permission to have an exposition of the work that I specifically selected. In traditional Chilean fashion, we talked and talked everyone was so open and understanding of the work. They even started dissecting things like lighting, imagery, and reading into the photos. Such a huge difference since the New York show when I didn’t go through these steps to get from point A to point B. Very important.

Retratos de Nuestros Niños: Igual Se Siguen Reindo (Portraits of Our Children: Still They Keep on Smiling) consists of 26 prints (30x40cm) and 18 prints (20x30cm). The first series is a variety of portraits of the kids we work with, moments captured that made me think, where are these kids parents, and if I didn’t take these pictures, who else would in these kids lives? The second series is a group of portraits of just my girls in their bedrooms, their most intimate spaces, where their stuffed animals cover their beds and they write who they love all over the walls. The second series has always been the most controversial because the hogar aims to protect the kids’ privacy. This series is much more serious and intimate. It’s tasteful, but the director and her boss have been cautious to let me share them from the beginning. To see them publicly displayed makes me feel like a huge part of the work I’ve done here has come full circle.

The biggest gift from the exhibition was that the library invited me to show the work until the 18th of December. This month marks the second annual photography festival in Chile. FotoAmerica is the chance to look at and admire miles of images in museums, cultural centers, cafes, galleries and other public spaces from Chilean and international photographers, so it just so happened that it coincided.

Vamos a Comer

2006-11-29T11:55:00.000-08:00

Once a week for the past 5 weeks, we ran a cooking workshop at the hogar. The idea of Vamos a Comer! Una Semana de Once Internaciónal (Lets Eat! One Week of International Snacks) was nutritional and educational. By introducing new meals to snack time, we tried to spark the kids’ interest in eating different foods, inspiring them to appreciate new tastes while learning about the world outside of Chile. Because of the lack of funding, the hogar cannot afford to feed the kids as nutritionally as it probably should. Therefore, the kids eat foods that are inexpensive, redundant, easy to prepare, and unbalanced, especially during once, which consists of bread with jelly, dulce de leche, cheese, pate, avocado, or butter. Through Vamos a Comer! we introduced a week of snacks that offered the kids variety with an international twist.

The purpose was not only to bring new foods to the hogar, but to promote an awareness and respect for other parts of the world outside of where the kids have grown up. They don’t have a broad understanding of geography and cultures outside of Chile. As ambassadors and world travelers, volunteers can bring an international flavor to the hogar that the children would not otherwise typically be exposed to. We made menus and invites to get the girls and staff excited about the project. While the kids ate, we talked about the country of the day’s location, history, current events and how that country and its culture can be similar, yet different to others like it, like Japan and China, for example, and how calling any Asian chinita, like our very own Tia Kaori, is not appropriate if they’re actually japonesa.

We wanted the kids to help with the cooking to let them experience the creativity with their own hands. The sensation of the experience gave them a tangible reality of the importance of cooking. If “we are what we eat,” it is important to teach kids that what we put into our system is what we get out, reflecting a healthy body and a healthy mind. The immediate effects from eating are gratifying, especially for children who have voracious appetites. By spending quality time working together to make their food, we hoped to teach them more of an appreciation for what they eat and how it affects them directly.

In the end, mini pizzas were a big hit. Que rico! The fried rice turned out excellent, but the teaspoon of pepper we added made it spicy for their sensitive palates. Me pica! Me pica! Tacos turned out to be more like enchiladas, and they got a thumbs down because the girls didn’t like the refried beans. Pirotos? Guaquetela! The haroset was also not too popular because the kids refused to eat something with red wine in it. Tiene vino tinto? And the PBJ was a divided dish. Some liked the peanut butter, but not together with the jelly. Es de los EEUU? The girls generally liked the foods that were the easiest to prepare. Usually they eat everything, so we didn’t expect them to be so picky. They’re so much more sensitive than I thought. The older girls were especially interested in helping out. Even the girls who don’t do much, but religiously tune in to Rebelde or look for trouble, were excited to cook and comer. Getting them involved in something they looked forward to turned out to be the best part of the project.

The Zoo: Don't Treat My Monkeys Like Animals

2006-09-28T23:23:00.000-07:00

The director of the hogar called to let me know the girls would be going to the zoo today. The 2 other volunteers that work at the hogar and I met up at Cerro San Cristobal, where the zoo is spread out on the side of the mountain. The newest tia came to chaperone the girls from her house, but the youngest was so wild and disobedient, that the tia spent the day trying to force Alessandra to stay by her side. The tia held the 6 year old by the wrist like they were handcuffed together, but every time Alessandra wiggled free, she ran away without looking back and the tia went off in a frustrated fit lighting up another cigarette and mumbling profanities. She asked me to take control of Alessandra after a while, but the challenge was futile for me too and I suggested that she let the older girls look after her because they know how to appeal to her more than anyone. The tia refused to take the advice, letting her temper get the best of her in front of the other kids and strangers on the street instead.

The next day, a few of the girls and I informed the office staff of the tia's inappropriate behavior. She was warned. A few days later, the three of us volunteers were in the hogar plaza when the tia picked up the same girl from school and escorted her back home. We witnessed her dragging the child into the house by her arm as her knees scraped against the ground from refusing to walk. The other staff was already gone for the day. We made sure Alessandra was all right. She showed no signs of bruising and went back to playing with the other kids. That night I relayed in an e-mail what had been happening with the new tia to the the director, social assistant, and psychologist. When I showed up to work the following afternoon, a replacement was found. The tia was collecting her things.

As stretched as the hogar is to find a good tia, the staff saw that just any applicant to fill the position won’t do. The kids can be violent towards each other, but the hogar would never condone an adult mistreating those girls in any way. It’s not easy to find a woman to work there 5 days a week night and day for less than 200.000 pesos or about $400 USD a month. Even though the hogar is limited in resources, their standards are high when it comes to the girls’ best interests.

Surprising Departures

2006-09-17T11:35:00.001-07:00

Changes have rapidly emptied the hogar lately. Many girls have gone home with their families, ran away, or have been sent to other hogares for misbehaving. With the departure of so many, along went the drama. And working there since returning from Peru has become kind of quiet. Irma surprisingly got pulled out of the system and reintegrated into her family to live with her grandmother. That was a positive move for everyone just because she provoked so much of the violent attention she got from the other kids. She was bullied because nobody liked her and nobody liked her because she’d try to be a bully. In the end, Irma would always be the one laying face down in the dirt, belting out the loudest cries, ignored by everyone, staff and kids alike, because it was too much of an effort to get through to her. Seeing her go is so good for her, so good for the group in the house, and so much less stress for the tias who cared for her. As horrible as that comes across, there’s just not enough staff to work on the behavior and psychology of the kids all the time. For their own sanity, they get used to things, turn a blind eye, and let the moment pass instead.

Sisters Viviana and Isabel also went back home, which is where they probably should have been months ago. Just recently their parents got everything into place to be able to care for the girls without relying on the hogar. These are the type of kids in the system that go to their mom’s or dad’s every weekend, sometimes for weeks at a time like for summer vacation and winter break. They’re dressed in the latest fashion with cool jeans, sweaters, and hair accessories, and are given other presents like every visit is Christmas, always returning to the hogar with CD players, makeup, toys, and new school supplies. The parents are friendly and talkative with the tias, so the tias reciprocate by working with their parents, too. It’s evident that these parents are making strides to help care for their own kids, not just abandoning them completely or playing the role of the parent when they pop in a few times. The tias obviously don’t have a lot of respect for the other type of parent; the one who complains that their kid’s hair is full of lice or comes by to watch TV with their kid, but not help them with their homework. It's insulting to the woman hired to care 24-7 for their kid. Even though the women at the hogar provide a motherly role, it’s just too much work for one woman to be responsible for the cleanliness, development, and care for 10 or more kids.

Katrina and Adriana caused nights of problems when they ran away and wouldn’t return until way after their 9 o’clock curfew. Past 9 p.m., the tias just call the caribineros (police). The girls fully know the rules as well as the consequences, but kept running away, bored of life in the hogar, looking for any type of excitement in the streets. After a few nights of this, the director had the girls removed from this institution and put into another one. It’s well understood that if they run away, they don’t get to come back to the same hogar. The change is drastic because it means leaving their entire setup, their only sense of stability, their social status among whatever relationships they’ve built, and essentially their rank among others. They are forced to start from scratch and to fend for themselves in a new home which is a technique the system employs for many reasons. One is to keep the bad egg away from the others so as to not give younger ones any ideas about pulling the same stunt. And two is to psychologically and physically scare the kid who misbehaves by feeding them to the hungry wolves in another orphanage, although it’s more damaging than children’s services would ever advertise on their help the children homepage. There are initiations and a long ladder that must be climbed to establish where you stand. Worst of all, no one really protects you, so you learn to fight harder, stronger, rebel more, and cause more drama instead of having an adult who cares about you get to the real heart of the matter and get you back on track. Apparently, everyone is convinced that Katrina is now pregnant. The kids talk and the staff buys into it, following it up with comments like, “Yeah, I saw her the other day walking down the street. Looks like she has a belly.” I’ve seen speculation like that before with another girl, and even a more hardy appetite can’t gauge what only time can tell. Surprisingly, despite the rule, Adriana was invited back to the hogar after spending a few weeks in a temporary institution on the other side of town. I don’t know what set the two apart. They both even have other sisters at the hogar, and usually siblings of the same sex are kept together.

A few weeks later, Adriana and her older sister Veronica got pulled from the hogar for their bad attitudes and refusing to go to school. Adriana admitted she’s lived her whole life in a home and is sick of the system. She’s not motivated to do anything. I’ve tried to get to know her, but she’s hot and cold in a severe way. Veronica’s a different story though. Veronica and I have spent a ton of time together. We’ve been to the movies, seen art shows downtown at the museum, spent time with my mom when she came to visit. Veronica is a blooming artist and we talked about her jumping deeper into her drawing, painting, and participating in the photo project. We just had a conversation about how this 2-month workshop was going to start to take pictures and how interested she was in being a part of it. She knew she had to go to keep going to school if the staff would let me choose her as a participant, but it wasn’t a bribe, it would be a reward. A few days later, the staff was done with her and her sisters heaviness and they were taken away. The director and I even talked about how this kid refused to get up in the morning and go to school. I suggested how maybe I could come to the work earlier some mornings to escort her to school, which is a 40-minute bus ride away. Perhaps she just needed someone to care and to take her by the hand and accompany her. She’s 16. I was told that Veronica’s old enough to do it herself and that she has to learn the hard way because these kids don’t have parents to push them along in life. “I don’t feel sorry for them,” she said to me, and it definitely came out like a regurgitated speech someone else told her when she needed advice on how to manage the intensity of her job. At this point, nobody knows where the two older sisters have been placed. Fabiola, their younger sister who’s still at the hogar, seems to be all right on her own for now.

The good part about all of these changes is that a lot of violence in the hogar seems to have died down. The hitting and bullying is still there. Other girls are starting to assert themselves by taking control, moving up in rank by raising their hand at the younger ones. It’s definitely not as intense as when I first started working there though and having less bodies makes the environment so much more comfortable. The hogar can house up to 30 girls. Right now there’s space for 7. One of the tias said she thinks we’re not going to receive anyone else. For her sake I think it’s a wise idea. But I have the feeling that we’re about to get a group of new girls and the spaces will be filled.

So the youngest ones remain and a few of the older ones spend their days glued to the television after school watching telenovelas, talkshows, Rebelde, and Mekano. The other day a Chilean woman told me that the drama in Latin TV is so passionate and loud not necessarily because it’s mimicking the lives of Latin people, but to prepare them for how to react and what to expect when drama in their life really does hit. Looking at it that way, her theory kind of makes sense.

Transitions Abroad

2006-09-12T21:03:00.000-07:00

This month's issue of Transitions Abroad Magazine features an article I wrote about working in the orphanage. It was a delicate process to get permission to publish the pictures and write within the confines of what the staff at the hogar would allow without compromising style. But now that it is finally in print, the result is rewarding to see and suprisingly the staff was excited too. One of the tias admitted it was her first time with a picture in a magazine and even asked where she could buy a copy.

It's great how travel writing and photography can raise awareness about culturally sensitive issues while promoting alternative ways to explore the richness of South America. Crooked Trails, a tour group in Seattle, WA, is planning a wine tour in Chile this February. They got in touch after reading the article recently and wrote with an interest to get involved with the work the volunteers do during their visit. As a result, we are now coordinating a painting repair weekend at my hogar with their extra help.

As for now, children are everywhere in my life lately. I will be at the hogar until the projects I've started are finished -- the photography workshop, painting the orphanage, searching for donations for the volunteer house and headquarters, etc.

On a warning note, had some cavities removed and would never recommend 3rd world country dental work to anyone. I don't feel homesick, but I do miss real chocolate and the last season of LOST. If anyone has access to either, send it in the mail.

Chile will be celebrating it's Independence Day on the 18th of this month. To give a little background info, Chileans proclaimed their independence from Spain on this day in 1810. El "dieciocho," is celebrated during a week full of patriotic parties including music, parades, dancing, drinking, and eating traditional Chilean food. That means bar-b-que's, carrete's, and filling the streets with red, white, and blue flags. Chi, chi, chi. Le, le, le!

Bridges to Understanding: Ollantaytambo, Peru

2006-08-28T20:07:00.000-07:00

Ollantaytambo is a pueblo tucked in the Sacred Valley of the Peruvian Andes. It used to be known as a resting place for the Incas that traveled from Cuzco to the lost city of Machu Picchu. Stories of love, conquest, loss, and regrowth are still told by the oldest villagers in Spanish and Quechua, passing down traditions and culture that are still so resiliently maintained and respected.

My search to visit Peru brought me to this humble town, where for the past 2 weeks I lived here while mentoring youth in photography through a group called Bridges to Understanding. BRIDGES is a Seattle based photography non-profit run by photographer Phil Borges, who conducts international photo workshops giving kids a voice to tell stories through documenting their lives and cultures. Volunteers are invited to improve their digital photography and learn advanced editing and moviemaking techniques while mentoring youth in the US and other remote places like Peru, Guatemala, India, and Kenya.

Originally, I planned to look for an opportunity to visit other hogares in Peru to compare the system and the kids there with what I’ve come to learn from my work in Chile. When I came across the BRIDGES website, the dates matched up to renew my visa and participate in this year’s Peru photo project. So with my fingers crossed, the last minute opportunity called and I joined up with the group as a Project Coordinator.

$80 and 2 days later, I traveled from Santiago to Cuzco by bus. It’s a grueling trek through an everlasting desert and bumpy windy mountains, but not as hard as to deal with as a last minute ticket for $800. What you lack in speed, you make up for in adventure and the first adventure always starts with the traveler’s digestive system. Pullman, one of Chile’s big brand bus companies, never seems to have an ending supply of plastic cheese sandwiches and lemon vanilla cookies that fall apart before the first bite. Actually, I hit up the grocery store before boarding, so this isn’t so much a complaint about the food as it is a warning. When crossing the Chilean border into Peru, food wasn’t served for the next 17 hours, but plenty of shadiness was at checkpoint after checkpoint. Buses entering Peru are packed with Peruvians smuggling contraband across the border from Arica to Tacna and we must have stopped 10 times so that the baggage could be checked and rechecked. Anything in synthetic woven oversized overstuffed bags was opened, emptied, hastily repacked, and shoved back on the bus. Women stood huddled together, crumpled papers in hand, ready to defend any item the police thought about confiscating. A few bottles of expensive liquor and fancy electronics were hidden behind new children’s toys, but besides that, nobody got anything taken away. The Peruvians on the bus worked together like a team to not have anything left behind. They were quiet and obedient when the guards would inspect everything out. Loud and frantic as soon as the bus continued on its course signaling that everyone was in the clear. It was weird, but not bothersome. Border towns, border crossings, border bartering. It’s always messy and shady. The most annoying part of the trip for me was really just using the bathroom. As the bus bumped along the lumpy cracked streets, winding one way and then jolting back in the other, it made it hard to not pee on myself. After a few days of travel, I was ready to arrive at my destination.

Cuzco is a beautiful city in the center of the town with its clean cobblestone streets and open plazas. It’s tourist central though and nothing about it or the allure of Machu Picchu really drew me to either. Vendors are in your face trying to sell you trinkets and knickknacks, tugging you into their restaurants, working to snatch up that strong American dollar, Euro, or Yen. Tourists are targeted and pressured and it’s really uncomfortable for the visitors that pretend to turn a blind eye and the locals that are frustrated from being snubbed. Limited spaces are sold on the train that takes people up to the main attraction, the main archeological site, and everything’s just pay this, this, and that, and you too can secure your golden ticket to get into our South American Disneyland for your amusement. Most people go with a tour group, buying into what they think is the real deal. They hop on a colorful tour bus that boasts some misnomer like Adventure Travel, get herded up like cattle to the amusement park, follow the tour guides and whatever stories they deliver, and then come back down the mountain to fill their bellies up in Cuzco’s bars and restaurants by nightfall. Machu Picchu’s spirit and energy is marketed as the things to do if you come to Peru. It is sold by locals for a handsome price and admired by outsiders who dig deep into their pockets to pay to go. There’s even a hotel at the top that you can stay in for what people say costs $1200 USD a night. To an extent I think that for Machu Picchu to survive it has to profit by reaping all the benefits of the few travelers that come to visit this part of the world. Mostly everyone I know who has gone, loved the experience, and if you’re in South America, it is a hot spot that the typical tourist does visit. Someday I’d like to go to appreciate it too, but under more alternative circumstances.

Working with BRIDGES, on the other hand, provided that entertaining, interactive immersion into a foreign culture that puts participants right in the center of a unique place to work, learn, and integrate into the community. The location in Ollanta is remote, but not too jungle (as my friend Mari Angela de Peru - now of Nueva York - used to describe the roughing it vs. the 4-star travel experience).

At El Tambo Hostel, the staff looked after us well - our stomachs, irregularity, altitude sickness and all. The cooks prepared foods that were high in fiber and particular to that region of Peru like granola and yogurt for breakfast, aji de gallina for lunch, and soups for dinner with plenty of fresh bread and pebre (spicy homemade salsa). Nevertheless, most of the group got sick from how the food reacted with the adjustment in altitude. Apparently eating avocados, bananas, or peanuts at night is too heavy and too greasy for being that high up whether you’re used to the altitude or not. If someone wasn’t pooping or vomiting, someone else was arduously trying to pass gas in some way or another.

BRIDGES has been active in Ollantaytambo for 3 years. The teenagers that participate seem shy and soft-spoken at first, but then show their young adult, sharp, sociable, strong-minded sides. Gisela, Dina, Cynthia, Katy. Perecles, Aderly, Irvin. Maberic, Marilin, Fernando. They are part of the museum’s youth group known as The Footprints, Los Patos del Museo CATCCO, and the museum is their stomping ground. The facility is amazing not only for its art and Lucho, the potter that dabbles in traditional photography and has his own darkroom on site, but for how it unintentionally became the after school cultural and community center for Ollanta’s kids to hang out. Everyone knows everyone and kids of all different social classes are welcome to watch, learn, or just run around and be kidlike. What struck me was how curious and well behaved everyone was around our equipment. No fighting, stealing, jealousy, attention grabbing, misbehaving, nothing. We had digital cameras and laptops laid out in the museum which served as the home base for BRIDGES to work and edit. Traditionally dressed Quechua speaking kids would watch quietly over our shoulders as we worked in Photoshop to edit. Smelly grimy girls and boys who just explored trash dumps would plop down and ask us questions, want to view pictures, or play games on the computers, too. These kids were so gentle and open compared to the Chilean girls I’ve been working with at my hogar. Being around other children gave me more insight about what it looks like to be an abused and abandoned child versus a kid who has a family and is integrated in their community. Even though I was working with a different group under different circumstances, my mind was focused on my girls back in Santiago at the same time, thinking about how they’ll be when we start the photo project there soon enough. I hoped this experience working with BRIDGES would also teach me more about the process and structure of photographing with kids, what to be prepared for, and how to guide them.

In the past years, Los Patos have made socially conscious creative films about themselves and their community. Once they showed the responsibility they have to their families by working despite being kids. They work in their parents’ restaurants, kiosks, stores, or hostels, selling food like sodas and snacks, or arts and crafts like handmade dolls. Another year they documented life as a street dog from a street dog’s perspective in their village. However, as their skills advanced, so did their subject matter. Last year they documented how dirty their pueblo’s rivers get from people carelessly throwing trash in them. In Ollanta, water flows through the town’s major streets, transported by canals built by their ancestors. Trash from the river clogs the canals, dirtying the water and city streets. The kids recognized this, tackled the topic by writing and photographing, organized cleanup projects, and put posters up in the community promoting environmental awareness while discouraging pollution. They even took the movie to the mayor who supported the kids’ clean up efforts. Through BRIDGES outreach, Ollanta’s youth have not only learned to appreciate and have fun with photography, but that their work can make influential changes on many levels.

This year the kids and mentors tackled another community conflict by making a movie about how they view tourism in their tiny town. The kids painted a picture of typical tourists who comes to visit as camera toting, water bottle buying, walking stick sightseers who arrive in big buses that clog their central plaza and congest their humble streets. Visitors come with just enough time to herd themselves to the archeological fortress, the town’s obvious highlight, but don’t make time to do much more. Their visit is very calculated and routine. Rushed by the time schedule of what their tour package packs in in a days visit, they lack time to purchase goods from local vendors and to appreciate much of the culture and hospitality Ollanta has to offer. So in their film, the kids invite tourists to come for at least a day, to take advantage of nearby villages like Willoq and Patacancha, where Quechua woman weave textiles and clothing from alpaca and lambs wool and see more archeological ruins off the beaten path. After all, it’s just a car, bike, or horse ride away. They also suggest trying a popular beverage unique to Peru called chicha, which is made from maiz and sure to relax the thirsty traveler and hard worker who can’t help but fall in love with this drink.

Amazingly, the film was finished about a half hour before the screening. It is titled Ollantaytambo: Living Inca City and narrated by Dina, a 16-year old who has been participating in BRIDGES since it began coming to this site. Along with her strong photography skills, her tenacity and work ethic were so impressive and inspiring. We worked together to write the script in Spanish and despite having to fill in at her parents’ pharmacy till after dark, she’d show up to the museum at 9 at night committed to edit and record, to finish before our deadline. The older participants pulled the movie together in Premier and used Cuebase to edit sound. Background music from the region added another layer of life to the piece. The local radio station announced the night of the viewing and the kids posted flyers throughout the town to advertise. Ollanta is so small anyways that the word traveled mouth to mouth. When we finally showed the film the museum was packed with viewers of all ages devouring popcorn and animal crackers, apparently a cross-cultural phenomenon that accompanies the movie watching experience around the world. We even invited a few US and Canadian visitors to the event who we met last minute in the plaza who appeared like they were looking for something interesting to do that night and who even showed up. We showed this year’s film on tourism, a short on recycling, and films from the past Ollanta workshops, too.

After the big premiere, BRIDGES treated the kids to pizza at a private congratulatory celebration. Only one of the participants couldn’t make it to the screening or the dinner because her parents made her work the front desk of their hostel that night. I think about the responsibilities that young kids are given in countries like Peru and compare it to where I come from where game boys, iPod’s, brand name clothing, and other must haves occupy boys and girls minds. I know what if feels like to want the coolest toy as a kid or a new car as a teenager. Looking back, it’s a long ways away from where I am now and what I believe in. Sometimes the rest of the world makes more sense to me outside of the bubble I was raised in. That’s why I stay here. Here, relationships, conversation, and what you create with your own hands and mind are valued more than anything. I respect the way of life here. But it was also heard to see Gisela put so much effort into making the BRIDGES movie this year and know that she couldn’t come to the screening or goodbye dinner. Her friends wrapped a few slices of pizza in a napkin and brought it to her.

Our last day, a group of the girls, the museum staff, and the cooks from our hostel escorted us to the plaza and wished us well until the next time we return. I rode the 2-day bus back to Santiago, ready to get back to my life there and start my own photo project with my girls at the hogar.

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