One Final Chau!

I can't believe my time in Peru is over!

It has been such an eye-opening experience. I now have first-hand experience in sports press conferences, interviews, delivery service, teaching English and much much more! 

I will definitely miss the South American Country and all the people that I have met along my journey. 

Gone are the walks home through Calle de Pizza (a center of nightlife in Miraflores), with it's flashing lights and constant energy of a Salsa/Latino/Disco mix blasting out of the discotheque's speakers. 

No more are the juggling, singing and back-flipping street performers at red-light intervals who work so hard to make a few coins. 

I will really miss everywhere I was fortunate enough to venture to in Peru, from the monumental peaks of Machu Picchu to the laid back beaches of San Bartolo. These two places are perfect examples of Peru's diversity in landscape and climate. 

And no matter where you are in the diversity, whether it be the 12,500 ft. village of Chinchero or the balmy Miraflores you are bound to find someone with a smile on their face, willing to help a lost foreigner. (Trust me I now from experience!)   

Since the moment I arrived to Peru I have been in awe of it's rich history, diversity and friendly people and really hope to come back soon and see side of this country in which I haven't even scratched the surface.

Muchas Gracias to everyone at Peru.com (Though hopefully I had the chance to thank you in person if you were not to busy)

I genuinely learned so much and the memories and friendships that I forged here will remain with me forever

Paz y Chau!

Julio 14, 2009 San Bartolo Parte Dos

I arrived nice and early again today, ready to spend about half of the day with the crew.

We began our day by visiting a pre-school and talking with it's founder about a new school that he is starting in San Bartolo.

He will be starting new school that emphasizes and teaches it's students that they can be leaders in their community and take action instead of waiting for someone else to help them, as older generations believed. 

He is confident that his school will thrive and I was inspired by his initiative to encourage these young generations to make change happen instead of waiting for it. 

We then taught at the elementary school next door and were once again amazed by how quick the students absorbed what we taught them. 

At about lunchtime, it was time for me to go back to Lima and the Peru.com office one last time. 

I said goodbye to the Peru crew and thanked them for putting up with a seventh member for a while.

They were all so nice and willing to give me a taste of what their typical day was like, so thank you very much t0 the crew!

I wish them the best of luck in reaching their goals of leadership and change. I'm sure they will and already have made San Bartolo a better place. 

Chau

Julio 13, 2009 San Bartolo Parte Uno

Hola,

Today, (after waking up really early) I went with a reporter from Peru.com to the town of San Bartolo, which is about 45 minutes south of Central Lima.

As I explained in the post for Saturday, the Peru Crew (New England Students) have been living in this oceanside surf town for the past two weeks while helping the tight-knit community. 

We arrived at their hostel bright and early and were greeted by the understandably tired crew. 

After a short breakfast we headed out for an elementary school close by where we were to teach English. I didn't exactly have a lot of experience in teaching but I was willing to try it out and just help any way I could.

As we entered the classroom to be introduced, we were greeted with a roaring "buenos dias" from the class of about 30 all in unison.

We then separated into groups to teach the different classes, I taught with Cary and Patrick.

We began with "Hi my name is.." and proceeded to cover animals, parts of the body and the object in the classroom. The kids picked up everything so quickly!

It was so rewarding to see the look on a students face when they had remembered a word. At their age, they will definitely never forget this experience and neither will I!

They were so happy to have us in the classroom that when recess came around, they reluctantly went out to play. They pulled us into all their games including a circle game, tag and many more that I do not know the names of. After saying goodbye to the bumbling kids, we headed for our next destination, a school for the mentally challenged.

We brought the group snacks and drinks, which they accepted appreciatively. The school helps mentally disabled locals of all ages, so we were with kids as young as 4 and adults as old as 50. The principal told us about the history of the program and how they assist the disabled. I really admire this man who has devoted his life to helping these people who were greeted us with smiles and were so happy to have visitors.

We then went for lunch at a local place in the "downtown"strip. 

After lunch and just hanging out for a while, the Crew had a meeting in which they discussed their goals for the remaining two weeks of the trip. 

The group would like to inspire and develop youth leaders in the San Bartolo community and give these leaders confidence in their initiatives. 

The Peru Crew will spend their afternoons with the students of the local high school. The main theme of these meetings will be leadership and solving the most important problems of the San Bartolo Community. At the beginning of today's meeting that I attended; the San Bartolo students were asked to write down seven problems that exist in their community. (On seven different note cards.) Then they were asked to pick the most important, least important and the toughest problem to solve. The chosen problems were then put on a board so everyone could compare the choices of the different members of the group. This made it easier for everyone to decide which problem’s should be focused on and addressed first. This is called the “Seven Problems System.”

Both the crew and the local students were incredibly enthusiastic and stimulated when discussing which problems were most important in the community and how to solve them. The kids are open to everyone's opinions and ideas, and this openness will be key when trying to find solutions. I wish the crew and the native students the best of luck in making their community a better place!

Chau

   

   

Julio 12, 2009 EL Clasico!

Crazy fans, 8,000 policemen and one huge soccer game were all part of my continuing adventure at Peru.com today!

Juan Francisco was kind enough to take me along with his family to the Clasico, the biggest soccer game in Peru. 

We left hours early to try and beat the outrageous traffic, and driving to the  80,000 fans capacity stadium was an experience in itself.

We passed police tank after tank, and on-foot police in full body armor looked around nervously, aware of El Clasico's history of violence. Luckily, today was a different story and no major violence erupted, much to the relief of the thousands of policemen who had been gathered from all areas of Lima.

El Clasico is a game between Alianza Lima and Universitario, the two biggest soccer teams in Lima. 

All of Peru watches the game, regardless if they have ever even been to Lima or not. Peruvians from outside of Lima support their local teams and also pick either Alianza or la "U" to support.

We sat up high, so we had a fantastic view of the field. From our seats, Juan Francisco explained to me the different seating sections of the stadium.

Straight ahead of us across the field was "occidental", a section for modest fans who enjoy to watch the game while sitting down for most of the time. Because we were at "Estadio Monumental" (Universitarios home stadium) most of these fans don the red and white for la "U". 

To the left of them is "EL Sur" a section designated for crazy fans of the opposing team (Alianza) who spend the entire game chanting on their feet and sending fireworks and streamers in the air. Across from them is "El Norte" a similar fanatic section but for the home team's fans. 

I was shocked by the entire atmosphere of the game. It made any large scale sport's event in the US look pathetic. All two hours of the game were filled with opposing team songs, jumping fans, confetti and banners. The fans are so passionate and will cure a player for the slightest mistake. 

This is another experience that again I thought I would only get as close as to watching it on TV, but Juan Francisco's kindness has given me this awesome opportunity. 

When we first arrived at our seats (the game had not even started) the fans were already cheering as if a goal had been scored. And when the players entered the field, the stadium erupted into cheers, noisemakers, flares, fireworks, confetti, streamers and much more! All of these contributing factors lead to a colorful fog that covered the field for a while so heavily that we could not see the field! 

And in the US if confetti or a thunder stick were to make it's way onto the field the game would be paused, but in El Clasico players run right through these and are sometimes even tripped up by such objects. 

Universitario won 2-1 in a thriller which had me on the edge of my seat the entire time.

I am so grateful that I was able to witness such a spectacle that I would have never seen had I not adventure down to Peru. 

Can't wait to go to San Bartolo tommorow!

Chau

Julio 11, 2009

Hola,

Today I spent my day with Peru Crew (I'll explain a little about this group in a bit) and about 25 native San Bartolo students on a city tour of Lima. 

We visited many of Lima's historical and popular sites including the Plaza Mayor, the Government Palace, Lima Cathedral, San Martin Plaza, San Francisco Convent and ended the day at the oceanside mall Larcomar. 

The Peru Crew are six students that are part of the Peru Collaborative 2009 of the Crossing Borders and Changing Lives program. 

The six students are from all over New England and go to Phillips Academy, Governors, Central Catholic and Notre Dame.

There are three boys, (Michael, Manny and Patrick) and three girls, (Nelly, Celia, and Cary) and they are spread out across age, grades, and backgrounds.

They are in San Bartolo for about a month and will be working with both elementary and high school students.

Whether teaching english or promoting leadership and change, I really admire this group and the compassion they have to be doing this. I will explain more about what their specific activities and goals are after I spend some time with them on Monday and Tuesday! I can't wait!

The tour was a great way to meet all the kids, both from the Crew and the natives of San Bartolo. 

The San Bartolo students were nice, super friendly, and really seemed to be enjoying the trip. I was also told that some of these students had never been to Lima before, which really added on to the excitement. 

The Peru Crew had really become part of the San Bartolo students group and it was great to see how quickly so many friendships had been forged between the two groups of students.

We ended the day at Larcomar, a sprawling outdoor mall embedded in a cliff overlooking the ocean. Everyone was treated to lunch, and the kids had a little free time to roam around. most of which was spent in the mall's arcade.

I had a great day with everyone and can't wait to spend time with them next week and become involved in the program and learn more about their initiatives. 

Chau

Julio 10, 2009

Hola,

Exclusive photo shoots, expensive soccer shoes, and camera flashes were all part of just another extraordinary day at Peru.com! 

Today I arrived at work ready to work on my next assignment, which I soon found out was to attend several photo-shoots/press conferences of the players of this Sunday's Classico, the biggest soccer game in Peru.

We would be going to the events in a team of 3. One journalist would interview the players while the other taped with a large video-camera; and I would take pictures of each player we interviewed and pictures of the events in general.

The first event was at the Lima Adidas Store, which is luckily just down the road from the office.

I still really had no idea what was going on when we arrived, and was shocked by how many journalists, photographers, reporters, and lucky fans in the know were waiting in this rather small shop. As we set up and began waiting for most of the players to arrive, I noticed

two young guys decked out in Adidas clothing head to toe casually checking out an expensive pair of soccer cleats. Occasionally a journalist would saunter up to them and have a friendly comment which would usually result in laughter and a photo. I soon realized that these men were two of the players here for the photo-shoot! 

I couldn't believe how polite the Peruvian press were, if this store were in America, I would think these players would be flocked and not given any personal space. 

But, journalists continued to make casual conversation and leave them alone to look at which shoes they wanted to wear for the shoot.

After all the players had arrived, they posed with their cleats and soccer-balls for a flash-filled couple of minutes. 

By this time, quite a crowd had gathered of curious pedestrians who had seen the commotion inside and wandered in to find some of their idols! They seemed shellshocked and frantically searched for something for the players to autograph. While the press usually pushed these autograph-getters away, they usually managed to be successful. 

I felt like such an insider as the other press members respected my space while taking pictures and would politely push past me for a shot.

After the store shoot, we headed to our next location.

We took a taxi to what look like a normal residential area. I wondered silently "what are we doing here?" and was really confused, but eager to see what was next. Suddenly we entered a small door in the middle of a long stretch of a tall concrete wall. 

Inside the complex I was completely surprised to find a small soccer and photo area filled with press members and players. (I guess at this time it was tough for much to surprise me after being at this internship full of wonderful new things every day.)

Here we interviewed even more players, although this was a pretty exclusive event, with heavy security and no random fan could wander in for autographs.

I still cannot fully believe what I am doing and how lucky I am to have been going to these events I would for sure always just see on TV and say, "I wish I was there"

Chau until my next adventure!

Julio 9, 2009

                                                                         Daniel Nestor
       Peruvian Team
Schedule of the Matches


Another press conference today, but with a new twist!

I was greeted by another surprise after I arrived at the office this morning; with Kike telling me that I would be going to a Press Conference that would mark the beginning of the Davis Cup matches between Peru and Canada. (The Davis Cup is the premier international team tennis tournament)

I was thrilled to hear that both the Peruvian and Canadian Teams would be at the conference. 

And a little shocked after hearing that I would have the chance to ask questions to the Canadian Team! With the conference being only two hours away, I was a little thrown off guard and tried to come up with questions to ask the players.

It was clear that my target on the team for a question was two-time Wimbeldon Champion and former world#1 doubles player, Daniel Nestor.

The conference was held at the Lima Lawn Tennis Club, and was in an exclusive  VIP tent.

I went with the journalist Aldo, who was going to film the event and try to get post-conference interviews with the players and coaches. Luckily, we got front row seats.

The conference began with the heads giving an intro, and welcoming everyone to the tournament.

Then came time for the Canadian Team to field questions from the press.

I was able to fit in one question to the entire team, and then one to Dan!

I asked two of the five questions given to the press and was the only person to ask a question in English.

After the conference, we managed to get an interview with the Peruvian Coach, and I resumed my job as photographer. I was surprised the players/coaches were so relaxed, but I guess for them this is just another press conference.

As we drove back to the office, I was a little overwhelmed (in a good way!) by all that I had learned and experienced over the just the last couple days!

I can't believe I forgot to mention that Kike has made a press pass for me so I can get into all these exclusive events. It was so generous of him to take the time to make it and I am so grateful to everyone who has helped me thus-far. 

Today was a dream come true!

I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

(The video of my questions made it onto Peru.com and the link is on the right.)

Chau!