The journey begins in earnest today. John and I are in Washington, DC at my friend Carla’s house. Our plan was to have breakfast this morning with my cousin before flying out in the afternoon. For some reason we’ve had in our heads that we are flying at 4 this afternoon. Fortunately John tries to go ahead and get boarding passes, which Ethiopian Air does...

The last months of my father’s battle with cancer were two years ago now. Two years that seem to have simultaneously drifted and flown by. Grief is an interesting process. Sometimes you process it well and move through it quickly and sometimes you don’t. I think it has taken me just about two years to feel like I have processed my father’s passing....

I was going through some old files and cleaning out my desk yesterday and I came across some recycling tips. I thought I would share some of these great ideas for recycling or reusing items that are past their usefulness to you but perhaps not for someone else. Cars, boats, trailers, rv’s and motorcycles – you can always donate the car to a charity or you...

I am in Peru with Global Volunteers, an organization based in the US that covers programs in about 25 countries. Our volunteer group is #66 for Peru and we are a small group. Kelly and I are from Colorado and Pauline is from Chicago. Kelly was with us for a week and Pauline and I are two weeks. Edith is our team leader. She is the most amazing person. She’s...

  The is one of the local potters in Nazca. He is making pottery designs that are exactly the same as his Nazca ancestors. He does not change the patterns or add anything new. He keeps the tradition alive. The clay is a mixture of clay and sand – about 60% clay and 40% sand. The sand makes the pottery more porous so that it will retain the color better. In...

The Nazca people have built more than 40 underground water canals to carry the water from the Andes to the valley.. Even if it never rains in Nazca water descends underground from the Andean Cordillera towards the sea. The aqueducts are 3 to 6 meters deep. These photos are of the breathing holes that were built down in to the aqueducts. They were used as clean outs....

On Saturday afternoon, after driving for six hours down the cost and over some of the mountains to get to Nazca, we took a plane ride to see the Nazca Lines. It was difficult to take quality pictures out the window of the airplane. These photos are of the monkey and the hummingbird. The monkey has nine fingers and his tail resembles the design of the aqueducts in...

These are the Ballestas Islands just off shore from the town of Paracas south of Lima. This island is home to thousands, probably millions of birds, some Humbolt penguins and sea lions. As we pulled toward the islands in the boat they appears to be dripping with white icing. Of course, this isn’t icing, it’s bird guano (poop)! Over the period of seven...

We were walking back to the hostal from dinner one night last week when we looked down and these snails were all over the side walk. A few of them had been smashed by people walking along who didn’t see them. Apparently they live in the grass beside the sidewalks and come out on to the sidewalks in the evening. People eat them here too. It is better than guinea...

   Today we visited the Magdalena Market in Peru. This a typical Peruvian outdoor market where the locals go to get all of their goods. There are supermarkets in the wealthy areas but they are very expensive. In these markets it is important to know your source. You can see from all the meat and fish hanging and lying around in the open that this could present...