A Year in Review

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Friends! I can't believe that 2009 has flown by and what a busy year it has been for me.

I started the year off continuing my business travels to the Arctic Midwest of Minnesota. By mid-February, I was fortunate to have a change in staffing and landed a four month project through a special program that Accenture sponsors. Accenture Development Partnerships (ADP) is a division within Accenture that allows employees to work with NGOs and work in developing countries. My client, Ashoka, sent me to Lima, Peru, to work for the months of May and June. While there, I worked with my client during the day, took Spanish classes at night, and explored the city on the weekends. (Earlier posts this year gives detailed information regarding my time in Peru.) The four month project extended to 7 1/2 months, and I was lucky to spend the rest of the summer working in the DC metro area, coming home each night and sleeping in my own bed. What a treat that was! In late September/early October I began working in NYC for a new client. This role is a great opportunity and am enjoying being in NYC. I am working with some really smart and talented people and learning much. I also enjoy that I am staying in the same time zone for once (so much nicer on my body) and that I can always get home! No more getting stuck in far-away airports. :-)

At the start of 2009, I also began working with some friends on organizing a humanitarian trip to Guatemala. We travelled to Guatemala in August, and I had one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I have posted more about my Guatemala project on my other blog: http://volunteerforchange.blogspot.com/. The project was extremely rewarding and successful for me personally as well as our group. We had such great response that we have decided to establish ourselves an official non-profit organization and will be organizing three expeditions in 2010. We will go back to Guatemala, as well as travel to Bolivia and Nepal. I am really excited for the opportunities that we have to help make a little bit of difference in the world.

Of course all work and no play makes a pretty sad Sheila, so I also managed to incorporate a few mini-vacations throughout the year. I made several weekend trips to Florida and Utah. I also made my way across the pond to visit my friends in the UK, went to my friends', Emily and Jon, wedding in South Carolina, a girl's weekend out in San Diego, and a weekend of shopping in NYC. At the end of my Expedition in Guatemala, I traveled to Tikal, Guatemala, and Belize, and I am finishing out 2009 in Rome, Italy, and Vienna, Austria.

The past year has been very fruitful and am looking forward to an even better 2010. Thank you for your friendship and love. I wish you a very happy and fruitful 2010.

This is me in Guatemala with one of my new friends, Rudy. Rudy is 10 years old and lives in a small village called Samjote. He lives with his parents, Hector and Maria, and has a younger sister and brother.

This is me and my friend Natalie posing on our hotel terrace in Caye Caulkner in Belize. Caye Caulkner is about a 30 minute or so boat ride from Belize City. This part of the world is so beautiful!

Political Mood in Peru

Some of you may have heard about the political protests that occurred last week in Peru. Here is a link to video that describes more of the situation: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8108388.stm

Riding in the dunes

Watch some footage of riding in the dunes.

Relaxing in the Oasis...

Fiona and I were in search of the sun this weekend. We have not seen the sun since the first weekend we arrived in Lima. So when we decided to go to Nasca, we decided to stay in Ica, an oasis in the middle of the desert...a desert like the Sahara. This place was amazing...it was nice and warm and beautiful.

Here is the hotel we stayed in. It has the best pool I have seen in Peru. Most of the "pools" I have seen have been two feet maximum of water. Not sure I'd call that a pool, but this place was great. Nice, clean and had a warm shower.

Below is a picture of the hamburger royal...they put plantains and a fried egg on the burger. Of course I took those off before eating. We also had fresh fruit juice that was fabulous! We had fresh pineapple, banana, and cantaloupe juice. Awesome stuff.

Here was a friend we made. He wanted to eat our food.

So we decided to hit the desert and experience the thrill of dune buggies and sand boards. I cannot begin to tell you how much fun this was. Fiona and I sat in the from seat so that we could see all the action. This was seriously better than any roller coaster I have ridden, including King's Islands, the Beast! You never knew quite what to expect. We went climbing up walls that seemed impossible to climb and went down slopes that we couldn't directly see the bottom. Our driver took hills and turns at speeds that made us scream out loud. What an exhilarating experience. Below are pictures of the buggies we were riding in.

Below are pictures of the desert. Most of the places we have been, including Lima is the desert. However the landscape has looked very much like parts of southern Utah and Nevada. I was really surprised to see that this desert looks like what I imagine the Sahara Desert to look like (based on movies and pictures). As we sped through the dunes, we came to a stopping point and our driver said "ok, we're getting out and you're going to sandboard." So I was not completely shocked by this as I knew sandboarding was an option; however, I just didn't know what to expect. I most certainly didn't think I would be expected to ride a board down a slope that seemed to be about 75 degree angle as well a it was a pretty long slope. Being afraid of heights, I have to say that I was a little nervous doing this, but after a short tutorial from our guide I was sliding down the slope. I made it down the hill without completely wiping out and it was really fun.

Our guide then took us to two additional spots, each spot getting more complex -- longer, steeper and more complex. I actually loved every minute of it. It was so much fun and a lot easier than I thought it would be. Below are pictures of desert, unfortunately I didn't get any of me sandboarding, but there is a very terrible pic of me in the dunes.

Nasca and the Nasca lines

We ventured outside of Lima this weekend looking for some culture, relaxation and SUN! We found exactly that in Nasca and Ica, Peru. This weekend was filled with a lot of first time events for me. The first of those events was to fly in a small 5 passenger prop plane, a Cesna C 206. In order to really be able to view the Nasca lines we had to fly over the desert. I was amazed at how easy and smooth the take-off and landing were. I hardly noticed both. Unfortunately the in between portion was the more difficult. In order for us to be able to view the lines and to be able to take photos, the pilot maneuvered the plane to the right and left and flew circles over the 12 identified lines. At one point when I thought for sure I was going to loose it (I was thinking: where is Garth and his spew cup?), I had to just stop looking out the window. All in all, it was very cool. Below are pictures of the Nasca Line experience and we even got a certificate of completion upon our return. Woo who! Click to learn more about the Nasca Lines.

















The next three photos are aerial views from the sky.



















































The shark.

















The Humming Bird.




















The monkey.

Have you ever danced in the park?

At the park in the main plaza of Miraflores, people get together to dance all weekend. The atmosphere was quite festive and people were definitely "cutting a rug." It actually reminded me of dancing with my cousin (not sure how many removed, etc.) Gil at my cousing Kathy's wedding. Below is a short video of the festivities.

Museo de la Nación

Yesterday, I went to the Museo de la Nation...a.k.a. the national museum. The paintings and artifacts were very interesting. I was particularly interested in the exhibition on the 6th floor regarding the terrorist attacks by the Shining Path. This was a very sad time in history for the Peruvian people. Che, who is one of our regular taxi drivers, served in the Peruvian military during this time. He talked to us about how troubling this time was for his nation. He also mentioned that they were lucky to get training from the US and Israeli military, which helped them in their efforts to put an end to this madness that existed. This photo exhibit was extremely impactful and reminded me how precious freedom really is.

Also, I also learned how incredibly important the potato industry is to Peru. They had several exhibits on potatoes. In the pictures below, those are real potatoes that they are displaying.

Jonas Brothers hit Peru

This is so true...we witnessed the crowd and the riot police! The girls were there for three days straight. I never remember seeing the riot police out for NKOTB.
http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/fans%20mob%20the%20jonas%20brothers%20in%20peru_1103789

Connection...Can I get a connection?

Eighty to 90 percent of my work requires Internet connection and a phone line. So working in Lima this first week has been a challenge. The Internet connection is shotty at times and my VOIP works about 50% of the time. Combine this with unreliable Skype service, getting work done can be quite a challenge. I think today while talking with my Colleague over Skype we had to reconnect at least five times. In addition, the connection is so choppy at times we have to instant message each other to clarify what we are saying. If it weren't so frustrating at times it would be quite comical.


At the Ashoka office, located in Barranco, a suburb of Lima, Fiona and I work in the "Penthouse." It comes complete with a terrace that has a fantastic view of the seashore. The sunset is absolutely amazing when it's not clouded over which is much of the time now. Below is video of our office and the view from our office of Barranco.

Hanging out in Lima...

So the first weekend has been pretty good thus far. I have seen pretty much the entire city from a precursory glance and know what I want to spend time seeing and doing. Let's just say I have a lot to do in six weeks.

Sunday morning I ventured off to church by myself. For those of you who have ever taken a trip with me know that I am generally very good with directions, maps, et cetera. Well for some reason, my orientation is totally off here. So, I go heading off to my right to realize five blocks later that I should have gone left. Regardless, I made it to church and on time. People were very friendly and nice but of course, most don't speak English. (Man, I really wish I had stuck with Spanish back in the day. But I am impressed by how much I understand when spoken slowly.)

So wattage/voltage is always an issue when travelling to other lands. So of course I needed to buy a hairdryer and a converter so that things worked. The visit to the electric store was quite interesting as to make one transaction I had to go to five different booths before I could leave with my purchase. If I was in the States, I would have been so annoyed but I was more amused as I went from station to station answering some of the same questions over in an effort to purchase my $18 hairdryer.

After our bus-top tour, Fiona, my colleague, and I were freezing so we headed to Starbucks to warm up. We met a couple of ExPats a girl from Seattle and a Spaniard named Andres. Seattle chic wasn't very friendly, hence why I cannot remember her name. Andres was a chatter and an interesting bloke. Fiona is from Scotland and all three of us have lived in London so we had a bit in common to chat about. Andres has been in Peru for 10 months so we chatted it up a bit about neighborhoods to live in, good restaurants and fun places to hang out in. We also were talked about the funny little quirks about our current flat (we rent by the week here so we are looking to move at the end of the week). I mentioned the lack of hot water and how I hoped to find a place with hot water. Well, Andres, as cool as he seemed in the 10 minutes we had been chatting, really put the conversation to screeching halt when he offered his shower to me any time. Both Fiona's and my jaw dropped but we had a good laugh afterwards about it. What was he thinking? He's a Western man...he should know better. Actually, I think he was honestly just trying to be helpful andrealized it seemed a bit inappropriate after he said it.

I took a load of pictures. Here is a link to see the rest of my photos:
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=713147007/a=31610908_31610908/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Sanity returns -- Day 2 & 3 in Lima, Peru.

So I awake from my much needed slumber in hopes that the previous day's apparent catastrophe's were just a mere dream. However, reality sinks in as my computer DOS screen still appears. But I have my sanity due to eight hours of much needed sleep and I get to work. I will spare you from all the boring details but will say this: I got money and my computer works as long as I never turn it off. (Apparently, access to cash can be a hit or miss experience in South America...note to self: keep some cash stashed away.)

I was able to meet up with a colleague, who happens to speak Spanish and English, (Hallelujah!) and we took off to explore the city and get our bearings if you will. We walked for ages exploring Miraflores, the district we are staying in. This area is right on the coast, which is absolutely beautiful (see pic above). In addition to our walking tour, we took a bus-top tour to help us identify places in the city we want to spend more time at.

People tend to be very friendly and nice. I stand at least a half foot taller than most of the native women here, and of course I stick out like a strawberry in a pile of corn. (Don't ask about that analogy...I completely just made it up...I can do that...it's my blog.)

I am a bit concerned with the USA's approach to globalization and am sadden by our mark on the Peruvian culture. I'll give you two guesses -- you've probably guess right -- on almost every corner there is at least one of the following: McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Burger King (but ofcourse no Taco Bell...what's up with that?). They also have Coca Cola (which I am ok with), TGI Fridays, Chilis, and Tony Roma's (I didn't know those still exisist.). From my understanding, Miraflores is an area with many ExPats so this might explain so much of the westernization, but I have to admit I was a bit surprised. I'm so glad that we American's share our finest with the world. ;-)

This little traffic jam is partly due to the fact that at the end, which you can't really tell, is a mob of teenaged girls who are dying to see the Jonas Brothers. Apparently, the guys are staying at the J.W. Marriott in Miraflores and will perform to a sold-out crowd tonight and tomorrow. I think many of the girls have been camping out all weekend. I guess girls are the same everywhere. Can you believe what we will do for hot men who can sing? Unbelieveable. ;-)

Travel to Peru...Day 1

So heading down to Lima became quite the adventure as it took two attempts to actually get on a plane to get there. However, after a very similar Bill Murray's Groundhog's Day like adventure, including lost luggage, no money access, missing taxi driver and a broken computer, I am alive and well in Lima, Peru.

The Flight:
So my good friend Amanda forewarned me about flying through Newark. Let me pass the advise along to you: Don't do it! So after 6 hours at the airport, three of those hours sitting in a very small plane on the tarmac, I rebooked my flight through Houston. Flying through Houston was fine except that you have to realize that Houston IS in Texas. (You know...everything is bigger in Texas and all that garbage.) If you're not a Bush fan then you will be really put off to the shrine in between the terminals to GHB and Barbara -- I actually didn't mind it. (I really do love all of my Texan friends but really...can we get a grip?) Any who...both of my flights were extremely full and I got the privilege of sitting next to some of the most junior of fliers. I traded my seat with an older Peruvian man so that he could sit with his wife and daughter. This enabled me to sit next to a 4-year-old girl who was preparing to be the flower girl at a wagon train wedding. (I envision this as something like My Best Friend's Wedding meets City Slickers...have no idea but that was what came to mind.) She and I had a nice chat about butterflies and if I had any children.

The flight to Peru was sitting next to Guillermo, a 5-year-old boy who was extremely proud to be Texan and loved Sponge Bob. (I probably should have offered to trade my seat with one of his parents, but I just wasn't willing to give up my aisle seat for a middle seat on a 6 hour flight. Plus I already gave up my seat once that day. :-)) Well, Guillermo had nothing to do so I ended up playing babysitter with the kid...helping him with dinner, tracing his hand print, playing hand games and how weird can we twist our fingers, trying to convince him that he should give one of the movies a try, et cetera. Actually he was a pretty fun kid, but I have to admit I was pretty happy when the electronic Memory game captivated his attention.

Arrival in Lima:
So I finally arrived in Lima around 11 pm CST on Friday evening only to have my luggage, which they failed to pull off the Newark flight, not be there. Ughhh...so probably 30 minutes later my bag came in on another Continental flight..Pffew! I was so grateful for that blessing. I couldn't find my taxi driver who could not speak a lick of English and my limited Spanish was not helping either. I'm sure he was sick of hearing me say, "No comprendo." After asking a very nice bilingual man to help us find each other (via the cell phone), we were off to a ATM machine and then my apartment. One thing I learned this evening is that ATM machines are not always reliable in Peru and possibly other similar countries. Sometimes your ATM card works and sometimes it doesn't. This can be a problem if you have no cash as it was for me.

When I arrived to the location of my apartment, there was some confusion as to if they even had a place for me as the key was left for Shayla Finga. The guy, who spoke no English, looked at me like I was crazy to even question if this was really me. (I should have written my actual name for him so he could understand my bewilderment.) But I decided I would take the place even if it wasn't mine because I was tired and had no money so my options were limited at 12:35 am. (I'm finding that the Peruvians have a difficult time with my name as I have now seen many different interpretations including Chayla and Xina.)

Once in my apartment, I went to get on line to see what was wrong with my ATM card only to find out that my laptop would not work. It had symptoms of your hard drive is crashing...meaning a DOS screen. If this weren't a brand new computer that may not be so surprising (especially if you were familiar with my old computer that was louder than window air conditioning units). By the way, I totally blame TSA and their absurd screening process for damaging my computer. I then went to take a shower only to realize I have no hot water. "Hello Sheila. Welcome to a developing nation." I decided right then and there I will never under-appreciate a hot shower again!

Luckily, my Lingo Internet router phone worked and I was able to call my Mom and have a good cry about my frustration and what have I gotten myself into. Of course this dialogue made me even more aware that working almost 5 years for Accenture enjoying the luxury of business travel has probably ruined me...I clearly have issues coping with anything less than American 3 star status. How pathetic have I become? I think I need to go out and do some roughing it camping or something...hey I have an idea...let's spend 6 weeks in Lima, Peru. ;-) In the midst of my near breakdown...I decided that I was clearly tired, my head was pounding and I needed sleep...so I hit the sack.