More Congress Updates

Last night the Congress went a lot better for me for a couple of reasons. First, I felt better. Second, the speakers weren't speaking a million miles an hour. Third, we had handouts in English on the Powerpoint slides. Fourth, they turned down the heating lamps above my head that were frying me. Fifth, the pieces to the puzzle were starting to come together a bit more. I'm going to hold off on putting my thoughts down on paper yet, because I still have some more reflection and research to do before really being able to communicate the concepts.


One of the aspects of the Congress is Relgious Artwork. Above, you can see a sculpture of St. Rose of Lima. Apparently St. Rose is almost always depicted with a baby Jesus. I really need to read more about her...

This picture is a part of an 8ft tall piece of work that has all these little characters in different scenes. Above you can see the Bishop and the people singing around the tomb of Jesus.

After the Congress, my roommate, his friend Juan, and I went out to grab a bite to eat. When walked a bit to this diner and I was greeted with this fake US $20 bill. Apparently, the owner is showing that they can detect forged bills and this is what happens if you try to use them here.

One thing that really annoys me about Peru is the tiny, thin napkins that are provided. Essentially they're only for "one time" use. I pretty much go through 5-6 of these little suckers at every meal.

After dinner, I got a history lesson from these guys. I learned a lot about the liberation of South America and how "history" incorrectly celebrates the liberation as a mostly South American battle, when in reality, the British and French were dominate players in trying to dissmantle Spain's colonial influence. One comment that Juan made really resonated with me, "I don't think that South America was ready for independence. We kind of had it forced upon us without the structure and ability to govern on our own." This made a lot of sense to me. How can a people, with no experience in democracy, or ruling for that matter, be expected to produce a democracy? This, I think, is a good example of what may happen in Iraq and Afganistan. Instead of a full Representational Democracy, maybe something simpler like a Democratic Monarchy, which moves the people in the right direction, without completely overthrowing power, might be more realistic.

Also, notice in this picture the great care that they are taking trying to get over this little fence. I just stepped over this thing with no problem, but being short Peruvians, they were in quite the predicament. Let's just say the pole was a little to high for comfort...