Happy Thanksgiving...

I hope you are all enjoying/enjoyed the yard bird, mashed taters, gravy, and stuffing. No turkey for us today on site. Had some sweet potatoes and the closest thing to cranberry sauce were the beets.

The project continues to be slow from a piling perspective. I volunteered to be a bolt checker on the steel erection side of things just to provide some services...but the contractor can't even get the right bolts or washers installed! Oye veigh.

So, in effort to mix the day up and in light of the terrible food at the lunch line, the marine construction manager, Calvin, started making what have generically been coined as "toasties". Calvin's from Wales, and them guys talk funny anyway...but his toasties are spot on delicious. He's got a toaster, a sandwich maker and a spin-off to the George Foreman grill in the office here at the beach. A toasty consists of anything from a simple grilled cheese sando to medium rare grilled Argentinian beef topped with grilled onions and melted mozzarella cheese. The other day, Calvin whipped up a great chicken pita shindig loaded with Indian spices, onions, tomatoes and a cucumber sauce. This guy can cook! The toasties definitely brighten up the day. The jar of chocolaty goodness is never too far away either. The mornings are well covered. We just need to think of something for the afternoons now...

My weekend schedule is iffy just yet, but there's a chance a few friends might come over for some beach living and BBQ eating Saturday and Sunday. It all depends on whether or not the contractor will drive a trifecta of steel sticks in the ground.

That's all I gots for the start of the holiday season. I saw that there was some snow back yonder...couldn't think of a better way to get the season started. Enjoy the next three days of leftovers and family time. Take care and God bless.

Scotty

Funk Time

Hey, everyone.

I can't say that there is much to report since my last post from a few days back. I am getting over some form of bug since then. Head was plugged up, runny nose, and some sort of diabolical funk in my belly. All symptoms seem to be on their last leg and I hope to be back to normal (relatively speaking, of course) when I get up tomorrow.

I don't know about you, but the last two days have zipped by for me. I had to switch gears the last couple earthly rotations as a few new things came across the table. It's been some engaging work and for that, I am glad. Things have been tortuously slow at times these past several weeks. It's good to be mindfully active once again.

Admittedly, this assignment is getting tougher each week. The once upon a time freshness of Peru, the project and the apartment living...has slowly become stale. I cannot seem to find a whole lot to look forward to these days down here. My visits to Lima come at a heftier price now that I am living in the apartment. When I was living in hotels, it was easy to cancel my driver's room for the weekend, and then substitute that cost to a room in Lima...can't do that anymore. So for that reason, I am not as gung-ho to head up there anymore.

Here locally, my neighbors tend to stick to themselves. I chat more with one fella than the others, but he's a bit older, married and has a baby daughter to enjoy time with. Most folks who live in the complex and who work on the project in general, are used to this living out of the country style of work. Either they have their spouses with them, or they embrace the nomadic solo life. I'm learning that Scotty doesn't.

With that, my next trip back to the US is 2.5 weeks away. Two weeks in Seattle, 4 days in New York City and then home for Christmas. Lots to see...lots of fun to be had. I'm looking forward to being with folks that I've got things in common with. Coming home to winter weather will be screwy, but hopefully it'll help bring back that Christmas spirit quickly. Down here, I feel like I should be getting ready for an early season bike race!

That's it from this end. In the meantime, if you happen to get a call from a number 111111111 or 1234567890 or 999999999 or some other zany set of digits...take the chance and give it a shot...it might be your bald-headed compatriot giving you a ring.

I'll rap atchya all next time.

Scotty

Helping Chincha Mission Accomplished...Almost

Hola, familia y amigos!

Great news to report...the Helping Chincha mission has just about come full circle. Last Thursday we placed THE order. We were told that all goods would be delivered on Friday. Considering the circumstantial reality that we're dealing with a Peruvian business, I was not too surprised when come Friday night, we learned that NOTHING was delivered. Call it customer service/professionalism/common courtesy...there was none of it and we were all left in the dark Friday night. Rumor has it that most of the goods made their way yesterday (Saturday)...with the rest coming from Lima tomorrow. At this point you're probably wondering what in Sam-hell was purchased and for whom...welp...here's you go....

• $2475 Raised!
• 6000 bricks purchased (delivered)
• 1417 feet of 1/2-inch and 1/4-inch steel reinforcing bars (delivered)
• 4.4 tons of cement (somewhere between Lima and Chincha...should arrive tomorrow)

There are four friends and their families that we helped out:

1. Luisa is probably around 30 years old and lives in Chincha. Luisa was the special gal that helped keep my office clean and smelling good before I moved to a new building onsite. She completely lost her house during the 15 Aug earthquake. Luisa has 3 young children and lives with her mother and a sister.
2. Berta & Melchorita are Luisa's sisters and work at the site as well. Since things are moving forward with the project, jobs change too. Berta and Melchorita used to do similar work as Luisa, but now, all three work in the trash and recyling yard sorting project waste. Berta is in her upper 30s and Melchorita is 25, I believe. They live in Canete with their father, brother and between them, six children. Sadly, this is an all too typical family arrangement in Peru I am coming to find out...single mothers are left to support their children and parent(s) on meager salaries (more about that later) and in generally less-than desired positions.
3. Rosalba lives in Chincha with her mother and father and is about 30 as well. We met at the little gym in town and became friends. I am not sure if Rosie's extended family lives with her and her parents. Rosie's neighborhood was so devastated by the earthquake that when I asked what her address was so the delivery driver could find his way she told me there were no addresses anymore...there are no houses...only piles of what used to be houses.
4. I met Judith while living at the Christopher Columbus hotel. Judith was great! She always got my laundry cranked out within a day (sometimes the same day) and always had a smile to brighten my day. Much like Rosalba's neighborhood, Judith lost everything and so did her neighbors.

Here's a balance sheet detailing the budget and costs. I've got receipts of the purchase as well. Please make sure your donation is listed. The extra 25 bones will go towards other needs (trowels/pails/etc). Each family received an equal share of the total...which will be a great start towards a new house. The supplies do not build an entire house, but it gets things started for everyone months in advance of when they normally would. Considering that each of these families would have to work nearly 2 years just to pay for the same amount of material, this is a huge step for them all. Luisa and her sisters Berta and Melchorita each make approximately $1500 a year. Much the same for Rosie and Judith. $15oo a year...can you imagine $1500 a year. Sure, things are different here in Peru than back home, but $1500 a year doesn't go very far at all. Most importantly, their new homes will be much stronger and resistant to damage during future earthquakes.

Thanks again for all your support! I hope to get some pictures when I get a chance to visit them all again soon. I know some of you haven't had a chance to lend a hand and mentioned you'd be interested in helping out...there are still roofs to buy! If you'd still like to help out...shoot me an email at helpingchincha@helpingchincha.com

Now, for some of the more regular blog stuff...

A few weeks back, Eder and I trekked 3.5 hours south of Cerro Azul along the narrow and sun baked Pan Americana to the southern near coast town of Nazca. Nazca is the home of an ancient civilization that for some reason or another created huge and magnificent (hundreds of feet long) caricatures in the desert ground called geoglyphs...caricatures that can only be observed from high above. Birds, monkeys, frogs...space aliens even??? See for yourself...

Eder and I went up in a little vomit comet and took these shots. I was actually expecting Nazca to be semi-resorty, well-kept and have that "hallowed" feeling due to its history and all. Quite the contrary...the town was actually a mirror image to the likes of Canete and Chincha...disheveled, dirty and unkempt...quite anti-climactic to be honest. We got twisted around in town and took a wrong turn...as we meandered our way through town, we came to a road that crossed the river...not over or under the river, but through the river! This time of year it's dry as a bone...The amount of garbage was one thing, but the putrid stench of Lord knows what was overwhelming. If that doesn't sum it up, perhaps this will...as Eder and I pulled up to check out a restaurant, I heard Eder laughing before I saw a young boy of about 5 or 6 whizzing from the curb into the street! Slightly flabbergasting to say the least...right in front of a restaurant! Funny (sadly) enough, I'm sure if I hung out on the for awhile, I'd probably see more people doing the same...young and old alike. After grabbing a greasy chicken plate for lunch we found a museum, checked that out, and then skedaddled out of town...An epic 15 hour day...I was sawing logs not ten minutes after we got home.

The most recent highlight is that I successfully baked my first goody from scratch...banana bread. Mom's recipe...not sure if it came from the 1967 edition of St. Casimir's Lady's Rosary Society's cookbook or what...but wherever it came from, it's good stuff. Mom's is still better, but I have to say that considering I didn't have an electric mixer, a whisk, measuring spoons, or a mixing bowl...I did alright!

Talking about food, lunch at the site has taken a nose dive for the worst. One would think that an all new, high dollar kitchen and dining facilities would by default make the food better. What a disappointment. This is no joke...we've averaged at least one unidentifiable meal a week. It's turkey...no wait, someone told me it's duck...but it sure looks like, what? What is that? Oven pig? The debate usually takes up the entire half hour we take to eat. The only saving grace is the soup...Though times overbearingly salty, the soup has come through as the only delight during lunchtime. Needless to say, them 5 pounds I tacked on back at home during my last leave quickly vanished.

Right now, I am working with Eder's brother, Luis. "Lucho" as we call him is filling in for Eder as Eder works out immigration papers and other things in preparation for his voyage to Spain. Eder's been itching to get there and his opportunity has come. Lucho will probably be my full time driver once Eder takes off in January...for now, the two brothers are doing 2 week rotations. I'll miss Eder. Even though his ultra laid-back approach to life got on this high-strung bald man's nerves every now and then, he's a good friend and I enjoy his company. I look forward to spending another two weeks with him before I head back to the US for the holidays.

NEWS FLASH...Internet found it's way into the abode last week...only 5 weeks after it was ordered! That's improvement...it took the neighbor 6 weeks. The new project on the homestead is to find a way to get rid of the ants that seem to be roosting in/on/under/around the kitchen sink...that one might take a while.

And that's about it for now. Sorry for the long delay in between posts, but I wasn't going to blog again until something actually happened with the relief effort. Check out the photo link to the right to see the pictures here in-line with the post and some others from the last couple weeks.

Thanks again and I'll catch you all soon. Take care and God bless.

Scotty Z