Author Archives: wwelvaert

Huacas del Sol y de la Luna

Posted on by under History and culture

We visited the Huacas del Sol y de la Luna while we were in Trujillo last week. The Huacas del Sol y de la Luna are an archeological complex of the Moche, a pre-Inca civilization in Northern Peru. The complex consists of 2 temples, which resemble the Mexican Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon in Teotihuacan.

Significant archeological research has only been done at the complex since the early 1990s, the larger of the 2 pyramids, Huaca del Sol, has not been excavated so far. The Huaca de la Luna is the only one open to the public at this time.

Huaca del Sol near Trujillo, Peru

Huaca del Sol near Trujillo, Peru

Unlike the archeological sites near Cusco, the Huacas del Sol y de la Luna are adorned with colorful paintings, typical of the Moche culture. Each of these paintings is about 1.7 meter (nearly 6 feet) tall. The typical Moche paintings are found both on the interior walls and on the exterior of the temples.

Moche paintings inside the Huaca de la Luna

Moche paintings inside the Huaca de la Luna

Moche painting representing the main Moche god

Moche painting representing the main Moche god

Paintings of Moche warriors

Paintings of Moche warriors

The Huaca de la Luna consists of 5 separate buildings, built over the top of each other to form the pyramid-like structure. The Huaca del Sol is estimated to consist of 11 buildings. It is believed with each new generation of priests or rulers the old temple was covered with clay brick (adobe) and a new temple was constructed on top of the former temple.

Note that on the exterior walls, the paintings don’t correspond with the levels of the building on the inside.

Exterior of the temple, with a ramp leading to the top

Exterior of the temple, with a ramp leading to the top

Huaca de la Luna near Trujillo, Peru

Huaca de la Luna near Trujillo, Peru

Algarrobina

Posted on by under Life in Peru

We’ve been living like the Roman Emperor for almost a week now. We’re eating three-course meals with silver and porcelain every day – for breakfast. The reason for all this goodness is that we’re visiting a good friend of Patricia in Trujillo, the North of Peru. More on that later.

Algarrobina

Algarrobina

Monday night I had an Algarrobina, a drink typical of the North of Peru. The picture does not do justice to the presentation, it looked perfect before I got my grubby hands all over it.

Carlos, the owner of La Taberna, with Patricia and other friends.

Carlos, the owner of La Taberna, with Patricia and other friends.

We were invited to “La Taberna II” by the owner Carlos, who is a good friend of our hosts. The restaurant is located at the corner of Avenida Huamán and Prolongación César Vallejo. It is one of the nicest restaurants in Trujillo, it would not at all be out of place in West Palm or Wrightsville Beach.

GM Bankruptcy

Posted on by under Business & Economy

More talk today about a possible GM bankruptcy. Well, a monkey with a calculator could have figured out GM was bankrupt years ago, if you accounted for their off-balance sheet liabilities. Instead of addressing the problem then, GM stuck its head in the sand, overproduced cars and offered in-house financing to sell cars that the market couldn’t support, and thus to make their own numbers look better. The credit crisis didn’t hurt GM, GM helped create it.

On a different note, instead of fixing their disastrous labor relations GM tried to get rid of its union workforce and go to the greener pastures of Mexico. How’s that whole globalization thing working out?

Let’s have a look at a US made car, as seen on the road here in Peru, shall we:

US made car in Cusco, Peru

US made car in Cusco, Peru

Now take a look at the vast majority of cars on the road in Peru: made in Japan, Korea, and China.

Kind of says it all. The US auto industry messed up globalization beyond belief.

I’m not a happy camper about this: my brother works for GM in Europe, he and a lot of other good people might lose their jobs. This weekend I’m going to the beach. I’m writing a turnaround plan for GM, see if I won’t.

US – Cuba policy

Posted on by under Life in Peru

President Obama has relaxed restrictions on travel and money transfers to Cuba.

Guess what? Peruvians don’t care. I don’t care. In fact, no one outside Miami or Washington DC cares.

Other than the US, practically the entire world has normal relations with Cuba. People here in Latin America travel freely to Cuba and have otherwise normal relations with Cuba. Many Latin American countries currently have democratically elected, yet left-leaning regimes (Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela, …) and people still admire Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, evidenced by posters, shirts and hats with his name or semblance. For anyone who has lived in the poverty that still exists in Latin America, the US brand of capitalism and phobia of anything socialist is simply absurd.

I believe history won’t be kind to US politicians unless they normalize relations with Cuba immediately. The Cuba embargo hasn’t changed the Castro regime in nearly half a century, it’s become nothing but a distraction to many better causes our elected officials could spend their energy (and our tax dollars) on.

Señor de los Temblores

Posted on by under History and culture

Señor de los Temblores is celebrated in Cusco during Holy Week, or Semana Santa. On Easter Monday the image of Señor de los Temblores is carried through the city in a procession that ends in front of the Cusco Cathedral on the Plaza de Armas, or main square, of Cusco. Tens of thousands gather on the Plaza de Armas and surrounding streets to see the procession.

Earthquakes are common here in the Andes, and people worship Señor de los Temblores because they believe he protects them from dangerous earthquakes. It is believed that the image of Señor de los Temblores was taken out during the devastating earthquake in Cusco in 1650, and the earthquake stopped. I’ve also heard many locals say the same thing happened during the earthquake in 1950, the most recent serious earthquake here in Cusco.

Patricia took some pictures of the procession of Señor de los Temblores this past Monday:

Señor de los Temblores

Señor de los Temblores

Annual procession of Señor de los Temblores

Annual procession of Señor de los Temblores

Crowd waiting for Señor de los Temblores

Crowd waiting for Señor de los Temblores

Señor de los Temblores by the Cusco Cathedral

Señor de los Temblores by the Cusco Cathedral

Changing perspectives

Posted on by under Life in Peru

I had a great trip to the US, but cut it short. I missed Peru. I’m very fortunate to have great friends: I spent 10 days in 3 different States, everywhere I went my friends wanted me to stay longer.

I got a sunburn in Ohio – but it was great to see our friends there.

I had a loooooong layover in Miami, so I decided to take a bus in town and go shopping for baby clothes. Years ago I wouldn’t have been so keen to take public busses in Miami, but having spent time in Peru my perspective totally changed. These busses are nice! Big, roomy, with air conditioning and access for the disabled. The drivers actually obey traffic rules!!! There are nice little maps by the bus stop that show the bus routes and schedules.

Whoever is in charge of public transportation in Miami, please move down to Peru and straighten out the mess that passes for public transportation here!

Back in the USA – got fingerprints to prove it

Posted on by under Travel in Latin America

I flew to the US on Thursday to renew my IA license and take care of some other odds and ends “back home”. On my arrival in Miami I got fingerprinted and my picture taken by the immigration folks. I noticed they did the same thing to other US residents (greencard holders), so I assume it must be new procedure.

Between US immigration and my Peruvian carné de extranjería I must have been fingerprinted at least a dozen times in the last 10 years or so. During the 4-year ordeal that was my post 9-11 green card application, I once got notified that my “fingerprints had expired”. Isn’t biometric data supposed to be permanent, and if fingerprints somehow expire, what’s the point?

Back to the trip home. As always, my first stop in the US after Miami is beautiful Conway, SC, since I leave my car there with my friend Dennis. Flying to Myrtle Beach is usually expensive, so I rented a car to get to SC. When I made my reservation online I got 2 options for the ridiculously low rate of $10.90: a van or a convertible. I thought I’d get a sneak preview of what my mid-life crisis will be like, and chose the convertible.

That worked out nice until I tried to put my suitcase in the trunk… Then I put the top down and cruised up I-95, next stop: a cheeseburger.

I got my fix of junkfood and had an uneventful drive to SC. After I dropped of the rental car I got lost driving around Myrtle Beach looking for million $ homes with Dennis and one of his equally proud redneck friends, but that’s another whole story. We eventually found the home they were looking for and afterwards went out for dinner to one of the nicest restaurants on the beach (“the Library”), thank goodness I was a guest!

Self-directed workforces

Posted on by under Business & Economy

Self-directed workforces, or team-based workforces, are a great option to improve productivity, quality and employee satisfaction. Self-directed workforces also offer many benefits around supply-chain responsiveness, such as reducing inventory costs, reducing time-to-market, and improving product or service design.

To me self-directed workforces are more than an academic concept, I spent 5 years at GE’s Durham Engine Facility, a team-based workforce considered one of the crown jewels of GE Aircraft Engines.

I am available to provide consulting on implementation of self-directed workforces, either as a green field startup or at existing sites. Any inquiries or referrals, please contact me.

Ward Welvaert
ward DOT welvaert AT gmail DOT com
919 889 9208