A Working Saturday

Today I decided to dedicate another day to mostly studying spanish. I started out inside, but I didn't want to spend my Saturday locked up inside. So, I went out front and found the pieces to a broken table and made something acceptable to put my computer on.

While it was nice to enjoy the day outside, the noise of the city kind of drove me nuts. Empty taxi's drove by and beeped their horns at people walking the street, letting them know that if they needed a ride, a taxi was coming. Other noises included a jack hammer across the street being used to remodel an old building, the vibrant bird population singing their songs to me, and the annoying horn like sound of mobile ice cream shops.

So, I put my headphones on and tried to tune the distractions out and enjoy the day.

I also decided to take a break and play with my camera, the results are me trying to be creative with black and white photos.

My roommate came outside looking for me and said, "what da hell?" As he was a bit confussed by my ad hoc desk and computer set-up. Chalk this one up to being a crazy Gringo.

Last night I went to one of the CLM's communities, ate pizza, and played the game Diplomacy.

The premise of the game is that it's the Spring of 1914 in Europe during WWI. You randomly select to be one of the waring countries, and have until 1917 to take as many capitols as you can. The winner is the country with the most total land. In addition, you have the ability to make (or break) treaties with anyone you choose.

I tried to get out of playing the game, since I'm a little competitive and felt I was at a disadvantage due to the fact that I was a novice playing against veterans.

That didn't fly. I was playing.

My American friend, Sean, said, "We Gringos have to stick together." Which was met by a funny response from the Peruvians, "Us 3rd world people have to stick together!"

Luckily, I selected France which starts off with a strong position. I made a few alliances here and there, and when it was all said and done, captured 10 capitols which was enough to win! Beginners luck they said...

Just wait until we play Risk...

A day off...

Today I had the chance to meet up with a friend from the US. He's currently living in Colorado with the CLM and will be entering the CLM as a sodalite, taking a vow of obediance to the Pope and chastity. He's been down here for 3 weeks now and it was interesting to hear about all of his experiences so far. He's definitely very excited to come back to Peru in June, maybe for good.

We came across this car on the street, and well, I

just had to take a picture of it. Looks like CSU grads are world travelers!

We also took a long walk down the beach and saw a ton of people playing soccer, building sand castles, and selling interesting things.

I had heard that the water was really cold, but to my surprise it seemed very, very warm to me. Must be El Nino (which means "The Nino")!

After a good couple hours of catching up, we loaded him on this bus back to his side of town. It was the first time he was taking the bus on his own, and I still haven't heard from him, so hopefully he made it ok! The first bus he tried to board rejected him because it was going the wrong direction...whoops...don't worry Julie, he's only been gone for about 30 minutes...

I also learned a good lesson today: when standing in line behind a Peruvain Soldier, even if you think he got out of the convienence store line, it's not a good idea to step in front of him. It's also not a good idea to ask if you can take his picture for your blog in order to document the moment... Don't worry Mom, that didn't really happen...

Beard update

Three days in, the beard is looking pretty good...I also picked up this sombrero nuevo. How do I look?

The vacation is almost over...

So, during the last month or so, a lot of people asked me, "are you excited?" or "how are you feeling?" I was kind of numb to the whole thing, not sure why, but I was. I told people, "give me a week or so down there, and I'm sure I'll feel it." Well, it's been about 9 days and I think reality is starting to hit.

Last night I went for a walk with one of the Sodalite's (consecrated layman who takes a vow of obediance to the Pope and chastity). I was annoyed a lot of the walk because of how much noise there is in this city. There's so much hustle and bustle, beeping of horns, loud cars, that it's starting to drive me crazy! I guess I didn't give much thought before to the fact that I was moving to Lima, which is not only a city of almost 9 million people, but also a developing city.

Today I'm struggling with not having a quiet nature like place to go to. I've gone on walks here and there, but there are always so many people. I hope this will pass, but for now, I kind of wish I could get in my car and take a drive to someplace quiet.

PS. Bank of America is getting ANOTHER bailout: http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/16/news/companies/bofa_new_bailout/index.htm?postversion=2009011604

A visit to the "Gringo" mall and a classy restaurant...

So, I decided to go to the "Gringo" mall tonight for a little American crap food (yes, my body was missing it). So I went to Pizza Hut, ordered some food, and thought I sounded pretty Peruvian doing so. So well, it turns out, the woman at the counter responded in spanish at the speed of sound. "rrrrrrr _________" My response, "Ahhh...Pepsi....ahhhh....si?"
"Claro, rrrrrr_______"
Hand over my $/10 (soles). Smile and hope everything is ok.
"Que es su nombre?"
"Ryan." Yes, I got this one.
"Fryan?"
"Ah, si, Ryan."
I take my change, walk away and see my name is now "Fran." What terrible parents I must have to name me "Fran!" I think I'm going to have to come up with a spanish name. Any suggestions...?!?

Also, I took the picture above covertly. The woman in the orange was the most pregnant woman I had ever seen. You can't tell very well from the picture, but I think she had an 8 year old boy in there!

Below are pictures of my $/18 soles lunch (aka $6!). Yes, I may be getting fat...

American Music...Bad American Music

So let's talk about American music for a moment. So there's country, rap, hip-hop, alternative, rock, etc. Which is all fine and good, but then there's that American music, that well, we wish wasn't American. You know, every genre kind of has those fad bands that produce a one hit wonder here or there, and then they're gone and you think, "how did we ever listen to that?"

Then you think that music just disappears and nobody listens to it, right?

Wrong!

It actually ends up being played in some little cafe in Peru! Yes, it's true, some of our shameful songs from the 70s, 80s, and 90s have been recycled down here, kind of like a bad Twighlight Zone show.

Songs that I haven't heard in (dare I say 15) years are showing up all the time. The shameful thing is, I don't know who sings these songs, but ask a Peruvian, and sure enough they can name the tune and band. It's pretty funny actually.

Here's a quick shout out to bad 80s songs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGii91Ig2lc

The 2008 Darwin Award Winners

The 2008 Darwin Awards are distributed with the idea, that well, natural selection should take care of the idiots in the world. Not the most humane approach, but humorous none-the-less!

Here is the glorious winner:

1.When his 38-calibre revolver failed to fire at his intended victimduring a hold-up in Long Beach , California , would-be robber JamesElliot did something that can only inspire wonder. He peered down thebarrel and tried the trigger again. This time it worked.

And now, the honourable mentions:

2.The chef at a hotel in Switzerland lost a finger in a meat-cuttingmachine and, after a little shopping around, submitted a claim to hisinsurance company. The company expecting negligence sent out one of itsmen to have a look for himself. He tried the machine and he also lost afinger. The chef's claim was approved.

3.A man who shovelled snow for an hour to clear a space for his car duringa blizzard in Chicago returned with his vehicle to find a woman hadtaken the space. Understandably, he shot her.

4.After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driverfound that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transportingfrom Harare to Bulawayo had escaped. Not wanting to admit hisincompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyonewaiting there a free ride. He then delivered the passengers to themental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitableand prone to bizarre fantasies. The deception wasn't discovered for 3days.

5.An American teenager was in the hospital recovering from serious headwounds received from an oncoming train. When asked how he received theinjuries, the lad told police that he was simply trying to see how closehe could get his head to a moving train before he was hit.

6.A man walked into a Louisiana Circle-K, put a $20 bill on the counter,and asked for change. When the clerk opened the cash drawer, the manpulled a gun and asked for all the cash in the register, which the clerkpromptly provided. The man took the cash from the clerk and fled,leaving the $20 bill on the counter. The total amount of cash he gotfrom the drawer... $15. [If someone points a gun at you and gives youmoney, is a crime committed?]

7.Seems an Arkansas guy wanted some beer pretty badly. He decided thathe'd just throw a cinder block through a liquor store window, grab somebooze, and run. So he lifted the cinder block and heaved it over hishead at the window. The cinder block bounced back and hit the would-bethief on the head, knocking him unconscious. The liquor store window wasmade of Plexiglas. The whole event was caught on videotape.

8.As a female shopper exited a New York convenience store, a man grabbedher purse and ran. The clerk called 911 immediately, and the woman wasable to give them a detailed description of the snatcher. Withinminutes, the police apprehended the snatcher. They put him in the carand drove back to the store. The thief was then taken out of the car andtold to stand there for a positive ID. To which he replied, "Yes,officer, that's her. That's the lady I stole the purse from."

9.The Ann Arbour News crime column reported that a man walked into aBurger King in Ypsilanti , Michigan , at 5 A.M., flashed a gun, anddemanded cash. The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn'topen the cash register without a food order. When the man ordered onionrings, the clerk said they weren't available for breakfast. The man,frustrated, walked away.. [*A 5-STAR STUPIDITY AWARD WINNER]

10.When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked on aSeattle street, he got much more than he bargained for. Police arrivedat the scene to find a very sick man curled up next to a motor home nearspilled sewage. A police spokesman said that the man admitted to tryingto steal gasoline and plugged his siphon hose into the motor home'ssewage tank by mistake. The owner of the vehicle declined to presscharges saying that it was the best laugh he'd ever had.

Early Decisions

One of the things that I've noticed about Peruvian people and their culture, is that they make big decisions early on in their life.

They do a lot of things earlier than we do, like:

• Get married
• Graduate
• Enter the religious life
• Travel
• Learn languages

A lot of people here have also been shocked to know that I'm 25. They think that I look 20 and am still in school. I'll take that as a compliment, I guess, but I think they're also confussed as to why I've decided to uproot my career and come now. Shouldn't I have made this decision 5 or 6 years ago?

In response, I think I'm going to grow a beard...

Please vote on the right hand side to weigh in on the beard situation.

Drunk at work...

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Strange-News/Drunk-At-Work-Peru-Court-Rules-Intoxication-On-The-Job-Is-Not-A-Sackable-Offence/Article/200901315203814

I celebrated this ruling by drinking it up at lunch, stumbling in, but keeping my mouth shut and not "hurting anyone...."

What a dumb ruling. I can't believe the rationale for this ruling!

I don't know the Peruvian Court System well, but I hope there's recourse!

Late Night Work...and a Breaking Story

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=14782

Today I continued to work away on fundraising for CNA. I'm making a lot of progress and learning a lot about how foundations operate, who they give money to, and what patterns they demonstrate. It's a bit time intensive, but considering the economic situation we're in, vital to the ongoing viable of CNA.

During lunch I was finally feeling 100% healed from my bout of illness. Because I was so focused on my work today, time kind of slipped away and I didn't get out of the office for lunch until after 1pm. It had been a good 48 hours since my last full meal and I was famished! Jose, my roommate, and I took off to my favorite restaurant and filled up on a 3 course meal (for only $3.30! yes, I'm still amazed at the prices for food here!).

After the fundraising internet database decided to prematurely shut down for the day, I decided to shift my focus to catching up on my news for the day.

At around 6pm my boss yelled, "Holy cooowwww!" and excitedly started typing away at his desk next to mine. I've become used to his animated ways, so I just continued to work away at my desk until he shot me an instant message about a big bust in Columbus, OH. Eric McFadden, the former Director of Faith Based Initiatives for the Democratic Gov. of Ohio, Chief Catholic honcho for Hillary Clinton's campaign, and big time Obama supporter, was busted for running an underground prostitution ring.

My boss needed a picture of this guy for the story we were running on him. So I jumped into action and started searching the net for a picture, a bio, and anything I could find on him. Through the course of 2 hours, we unraveled what was a tangled web of online coded prostitution. We uncovered what looked like jibberish. A combination of some computer language, an asian language, english, and a system of numbers.

After analyzing this for about 10 minutes, it was clear to me that a code was embeded, it wasn't just jibberish or computer code. There were real names, addresses, and descriptions about what type of sexual favors these women would perform. He used this code to solicit sex on Craigslist.

Reflecting on this guy's background, interviews, and experience, it was clear that he was a very militaristic liberal who seemed to be using his faith as a springboard to political success. It's sad to think that anybody can call themself a Catholic, a Luthern, a Muslim, a Jew and leverage that associate for their own good. The result is that it underminds the true faith of the religion they claim to be a part of and gives another excuse for those who do not believe to say, "see, that's why I'm not religious."

Very sad. I'm not sure how somebody can spend so much time working in the public sphere, preaching about the Common Good and then go home and lead people into sexual slavery.

Let's pray for Mr. McFadden and all those out there who have fallen into such terrible straights. Let's also work to make sure that the McFadden's of the world get the help they need and take them away from any opportunity to do others, and themselves, any harm.

Bank of America

http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/15/business/15bank.php

Yikes! Looks like the writing is on the wall...

It would be the second bank after Citigroup to receive an additional
lifeline from the government.

U.S. regulators and executives at Bank of America, which has already
received $25 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, have grown
increasingly concerned at greater-than-expected losses in the fourth quarter at
Merrill, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not
authorized to disclose the information. The move to help shore up Bank of
America comes on the heels of greater U.S. government intervention in Citigroup.
After pumping more than $45 billion in Treasury money onto its balance sheet,
the government has put pressure on the bank to dismantle the troubled empire in
an effort to stem losses and curb capital injections.

While Bank of America was viewed not that long ago as a pillar of
strength in the banking sector, it has seen its stock plummet as investors worry
that it has acquired companies with their own set of
financial baggage.

Too big to fail or too bloated to survive?

Check out this video when you have a chance: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e03c20ba-e197-11dd-afa0-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1

This is the exact opposite of what Citi was trying to do 3 months ago. Previously, they were attempting to acquire other banks to become "too big to fail." Now, however, I think their "political capital" has run dry and they're trying to do anything to survive.

This is a big deal because in my mind, it means the bailout has failed. Not just the bailout for Citi, but for all involved.

Financial stocks are down big today because traders fear that "breaking up" Citi is a last ditch effort, and an effort that may be attempted by other floundering banks.

Who could be next? Bank of America?

How does this affect Peru?

The Peruvian economy has been growing like crazy over the last 5-6 years. In fact, they were the fastest growing economy in S. America in 2008 (more than 4x as fast as the US)! On top of that, inflation was held to more than half of what the US experienced.

The issue, however, is that Peru has benefited from a lot of foreign investment (ie. see financial institutions issues above), which will shrink dramatically in 2009. Luckily, unlike the Marxist countries of Venezula, or undisciplined countries like Argentina, the Peruvian government has learned from the mistakes of the past. They have not bloated their budget with transfer payments, or over-extended themselves on expensive programs. Instead, they have tucked away a nice sum of money in their treasury. Peru will be one of the few Latin American countries able to provide a stimulous without pumping inflation up or running a large deficit.

There's little doubt in my mind that the country will get hit by this economic crisis, maybe as soon as 6 months from now, but it seems as though they will be a model for other developing countries to follow.

Spanish Lessons...

Why do spanish programs teach worthless spanish?

I have yet to see a horse here, yet I know "caballo" better than any other word.

Also, I don't talk about people playing the guitar that much, so why do I need to "toca la guitarra" so much?!?

Ahhh, I will never learn!

Maybe I'll meet a guitar playing cowboy soon...?

Loneliness

Last night I ended up getting sick. I ate at a questionable restaurant for lunch yesterday and paid the price. Luckily, I didn't get as sick as some "gringos" that have passed through here, but none-the-less I was fairly miserable all last night and most of the day today.

Even though I was feeling ill, I woke up and headed back to the shanty towns to meet another Peruvian American who was considering working with the CLM. He had just come back from 2 1/2 years in Africa with the Peace Corps. He had a lot of interesting experiences with a tribal village there. His focus surrounded providing basic health care, and as a graduate from Brown in Economic Development, he was fascinated with the operation that is currently underway in his home country.

The guy that picked me up to take me to the shanty towns spoke english, but spanish and portuguese were his main languages, and the Peruvian American we met up with brought his Brazilian girlfriend. So I spent most of the day listening to conversations in portuguese. While the language is similar to spanish, I still had little to no idea what they were talking about 95% of the day.

Today was the first day I really felt lonely. I think part of it was how ill I felt, another part was how lonely it can be when you can't communicate with anyone. For someone who is used to developing a few deep relationships, it's very difficult to have many shallow relationships held back by a language barrier. Knowing so little spanish, I can't really make a connection about who these people are and what they're about until I learn more spanish. It's certainly giving me more motivation, but it's also very discouraging. There are some points during the day when I get frustrated and think I will never learn this language and I end up speaking english to the few english speakers around here.

Political Mudslinging Must End

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=14732


Proposition 8, an amendment to the California Constitution to define marriage between one man and one woman, caused quite a stir both in California and throughout the world. People in Peru have even asked me about this issue!

The issue that should concern all Americans, regardless of where they stand on the issue, is how we as Americans have responded since the Proposition was passed:

• Mormans have been targeted and malicious lies spread about their faith
• Individual donors have been targeted, sent death threats, and have been intimidated over the phone
• Extreme political activists are trying to take away the tax-exempt status of the Church

First, let me say that the GLBT group has faced unprecedented discrimination in the past. There is no excuse for physically, emotionally, or verbally targeting a group with hate. Absolutely unacceptable. Yet, that is exactly what vote "No" supporters are now doing to supporters of traditional marriage.

As a nation, we seem not to be making "progress" here, but rather just shifting power. Instead of learning from the mistakes of actions from the past, an old form of hate is re-engineering itself.

Clearly, this is a contentious issue, with people feeling passionate on both sides, but this win at all costs, even with the destruction of friendships, respect, and faith in this country has to stop.

Most Americans agree that the health of the family is in jeopardy, we typically agree that values and respect are being lost, and even though we may disagree on certain values, we must agree that there is a natural law of principles that we must all adhere to in order to sustain our culture, engage in political debate, and form public policy.

Forget about losing our place as the Global Superpower, if we lose these principles, we lose our civilization.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv72urCWJcU

My first projects...

The last few days I've been working on fundraising for the Catholic News Agency (CNA). I've given myself a quick crash course on this database and jumped right into trying to identify charitable trusts that may fall in line with our mission. It's been interesting to learn how non-profit groups like CNA raise funds and try to grow their ministry. Conversely, it's facsinating to learn how charitable trusts change over time. They typically start out with a well defined purpose and set of principles, but as time goes on, and new generations inherit the decision making, they drift away from what their founder believed in.


After our daily Angelous Prayer, I met with my boss and we discussed a host of strategic items that we need to accomplish over the next year. I can't go into details, but it may include a couple of trips to the US for some "International Catholic News" panels at various universities. Needless-to-say, I have a lot of planning and research to do in order to get these things in line.

I was also asked to use my American accent for a podcast tomorrow. For what? I don't know because I couldn't understand all of the Spanish!

More to come on that...

Also, I found out today that Kobe Bryant is a recent convert to Catholicism. Apparently after his rape trial, instead of his wife leaving him, she forgave him and promised to stay with him as long as he changed his life and re-focused it on God. Consequently, he started going to church and became a Catholic. It could explain his maturity in the last few years...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik1EqpUOe9Y

I ate lunch today down the street at "El Patio," and while I was eating, I wondered, "Hmmm...this juice doesn't seem freshly squeezed...I wonder if they made it with tap water..."

What does this mean? It means I'm starting to feel sick...hopefully my next entry won't be describing my sickness...

Venturing out on my own...

Today I decided to take a little trip on my own. I don't feel comfortable with my Spanish yet, but there's only one way to improve it, practice. I've found that it's acutally easier to speak to strangers in Spanish then it is to the people that see my on a more regular basis. Maybe it's just my pride.

So I walked down the street passed the church and took a little walk down the beach. I've never seen so many couples holding hands, and many of the women had roses that the men had purchased them.

I walked around for a couple of hours, ordered some lunch, and checked out some new stores.

It's amazing how tired I get here. Probably because I'm trying to learn a new language, and my little brain just doesn't handle it well. On the bright side, in four days, I can already tell that my vocabulary is expanding. Hopefully, the next time we speak, I'll be able to do more than just speak simple sentences!

Warning: Non-Peruvian Post "Lies, damn lies, and population control..."

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=14730

I thought this article was fascinating. I bought a book a few months ago entitled, The End of Poverty. This book was purchased because I thought I could learn a few things about erradicating poverty before coming to Peru. One of the main theses of the book was that by reducing the birthrate in developing countries, we can increase their economic prosperity. This could only be accomplished through the use of artificial birth control and abortion on demand.

The book went on to describe how families with fewer children could spend more time working and educating themselves to become more "productive" in the workforce.

While families with fewer commitments do have more time to educate themselves, there are serious consequences to this approach, many of which were predicted by Pope Paul VI in his Encyclical Humanae Vitae (On Human Life).
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html

1. Higher divorce rates
2. Increased domestic abuse
3. Lowerr birth rates
4. Increased unwanted pregnancies
5. Earlier sex and with more partners
6. Increased abortions

A prophetic excerpt from 1968:

Consequences of Artificial Methods
17. Responsible men can become more
deeply convinced of the truth of the doctrine laid down by the Church on this
issue if they reflect on the consequences of methods and plans for artificial
birth control. Let them first consider how easily this course of action could
open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral
standards. Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and
to understand that human beings—and especially the young, who are so exposed to
temptation—need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to
make it easy for them to break that law. Another effect that gives cause for
alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may
forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and
emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the
satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom
he should surround with care and affection.

Finally, careful consideration should be given to the danger of this
power passing into the hands of those public authorities who care little for the
precepts of the moral law. Who will blame a government which in its attempt to
resolve the problems affecting an entire country resorts to the same measures as
are regarded as lawful by married people in the solution of a particular family
difficulty? Who will prevent public authorities from favoring those
contraceptive methods which they consider more effective? Should they regard
this as necessary, they may even impose their use on everyone. It could well
happen, therefore, that when people, either individually or in family or social
life, experience the inherent difficulties of the divine law and are determined
to avoid them, they may give into the hands of public authorities the power to
intervene in the most personal and intimate responsibility of husband and wife.

It seems counter-intuitive to think that something created to eliminate unwanted pregnancies and give more "control" over our bodies, has actually given us less control. What was the rationale of the Supreme Court for legalizing abortion? Since we have legalized birth control, we must offer a "safety net" when "the pill" fails.

Some may read this and note that we have almost 7 billion people in this world, and well, we need population control because we don't have the natural rescources to take care of all these people. Well, that is a real concern, but it's not entirely true! If you have read the book, Made to Stick, you are aware that certain urban legends somehow become viral and spread, regardless of their validity. For instance, humans actually use more than 10% of our brains. If we used only 10%, then brain damage wouldn't be as difficult to overcome.

I encourage those of you who would like to learn more about population control, and the objective approach to figuring out how we can value human life AND live sustainably, to check out this website: http://www.pop.org/

Peru Bus Accident

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/01/10/peru.bus.crash/index.html

The stories of me in this bus are grossly exaggerated. It's deffinitely a sad story, but based off of my experience with Peruvian drivers, I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often.

Many of the people here do not learn how to drive like we do when we have a learner's permit. Instead, they buy a car and essentially just start driving. They have to pass a "test" to get a license, but I doubt it's anything like we take.

The most concerning manuever I've seen so far occured when we were at stop light, and when the light turned green, everybody that wanted to turn left, just started going, even down the wrong side of the street. This continued until oncoming traffic decided it was their turn!