I made a fool out of myself!

Posted on January 27, 2009 by wwelvaert under Life in Peru

Well that in itself is not really newsworthy – it happens. But this time, I’m kind of proud of it, because at least I tried.

Let me set the stage: here in Cusco stray dogs are everywhere. A handful have made their home in the little park in our complex. Most of the stray dogs are male, but a few are female – hembra as they say here in Peru. Most of the hembritas are not fixed, and when one of them is in heat, a whole pack of stray dogs gathers around the little park and they all bark and argue about who gets to be the next one to make chuculún with the horny bitch. This is kind of a nuisance, and a bit dangerous since there are so many kids around.

Stray dogs hanging around the park.

When I take Roxi and Manchita for a walk I can usually chase the whole pack of because Roxi is mean, and dogs on a leash with their owner seem to have a level of intimidation over stray dogs. So I typically wait for one of the stray dogs to give Roxi a look she doesn’t like and then she flies of in a mad rage and sends the whole pack running, at least temporarily.

The other night a group of stray dogs got in a big fight over one of the hembritas in the park. Since I didn’t have Roxi with me I figured to break up the fight by yelling at the stray Peruvian dogs in my meanest English, spiced up with an occasional Dutch “maakt u weg gij dommen hond”. I didn’t really accomplish anything since there were about a dozen of them, and only one of me. I would succeed in running one dog of, only to have another one sneak around back to the horny bitch.

Stray Peruvian dog, hurt his eye in a fight.

Stray pup in Cusco, Peru. This one is hembrita.

Point being that Peru is not very good at organizational behavior, and needs better institutions. There is no real animal control here in Cusco – although there are public campaigns to fight rabies. I can make a fool out of myself, but I can’t feed and watch a dozen stray dogs. At least 2 of the dogs in our little park have bitten people that I know of (people sometimes do treat them badly), and occasionally they get in fights with one another.

So while all the locals were staring out their windows thinking “look at that crazy gringo”, I at least felt some satisfaction of knowing that I tried…

Micro enterprise in Cusco, Peru

Posted on January 22, 2009 by wwelvaert under Life in Peru

Micro enterprises are everywhere here in Cusco. On every busy street corner you find vendors selling snacks, ice cream, magazines, etc. The vendors typically use some type of converted bicycle as a vending stand, such as the one in this picture.

Typical micro enterprise in Cusco, Peru

The girl in the picture is 13, she helps her mother about half a day, 6 days a week, taking care of her vending stand. I usually stop by to say hello and buy a piece of candy during my morning walk with Roxi and Manchita.

Ward Welvaert

Leader of the Year: Alan Garcia ???

Posted on January 21, 2009 by wwelvaert under Business & Economy, Life in Peru

I just stumbled across this article in Latin Business Chronicle:

“What a year it has been for Peru. It managed to post its best economic performance in 14 years (and Latin America’s second-highest growth rate), post another jump in foreign direct investments, achieve investment grade and host key regional summits with Asia and Europe…Much of the credit goes to Alan Garcia…”

My first thoughts were something like “Madre de Dios… Ayude me pues!!!”. Now I have often said life in Peru has been great to me and there are a lot of wonderful opportunities here, but I find it disappointing that both the media and political / business establishment in Peru often view “progress” strictly in macro-economic terms, levels of foreign investment, nr of free trade agreements, etc.

The unfortunate reality is that the macro-economic gains Peru has made in the last 2 decades have not improved the quality of life of all Peruvians proportionately, hence Alan Garcia’s (and before him Toledo’s) low approval ratings. In addition, in light of the collapse in commodities prices I wrote about earlier, anyone who believes Peru won’t be affected by the global recession is dreaming.

The good news, I agree with Umair Haque that “this is no mere recession: it’s a tectonic global shift in savings, consumption, and investment”. There has never been a better time than now to tackle some of the issues that will improve the quality of life for all Peruvians, such as economy in the provinces, environmental protections, occupational safety, corporate culture, cost of home ownership, etc.

Finally, one of the accomplishments touted by Alan Garcia was the free trade agreement (TLC) between Peru and China signed at the APEC summit. Here’s a wildly speculative, yet extremely intriguing question about what will happen to La Oroya now that the Chinese are coming?

La Oroya – putting the $ in perspective.

Posted on January 21, 2009 by wwelvaert under Business & Economy, Life in Peru

I just read this Reuters release on mining giant BHP Biliton:

“BHP Billiton Ltd/Plc (BLT.L) (BHP.AX) will cut 6,000 jobs and close its giant Ravensthorpe nickel mine in Australia, writing off $1.6 billion, as the global resources giant battles a collapse in commodity prices. …”

Much has been written about the environmental situation in the Peruvian town of La Oroya, since it was featured in an episode of CNN’s “Planet in Peril” a few weeks ago. This news release simply illustrates that the money involved to clean up, move or close the Doe Run smelter in La Oroya is just not that big an issue. Mining is a huge industry, and if BHP Biliton is willing to kiss $1.6 billion goodbye just because the economy is slowing, Doe Run and the Peruvian government darn well ought to pony up the money to fix, move or close the smelter at La Oroya.

Read an interesting comment about Doe Run’s history in the US at americaninlima.com.

Ward Welvaert

Another demonstration in Cusco

Posted on January 13, 2009 by wwelvaert under Life in Peru

: A demonstration in front of our house in Cusco, Peru

: Protesters in front of the Ministerio de Trabajo in Cusco, Peru

: Demonstration in Cusco, Peru

: A demonstration in front of our house in Cusco, Peru

: Demonstrators in Cusco, Peru

Since we live in front of the Ministery of Labor and around the corner from the Ministery of Agriculture we see occasional demonstrations and street protests in front of our house. I usually have a hard time understanding the slogans the protesters are shouting, but I believe this morning the issue was around zoning and land use.

Here in Peru there is only mild civil unrest, the demonstrations are usually mellow and good-natured. Typically the demonstrators are organized labor or indigenous peasants, while the current government in Peru is center-right. Not meaning to get into politics, I will say that in my observations there is a great disconnect between the middle class / establishment and the poorer / rural populations.

I usually don’t venture out too much while the crowds are in front of our house, since I obviously don’t fit in with either the crowd or the riot police who are 4ft outside of our house. The pictures were taken from our yard.

I’m happy to report that my humble presence here has not been the cause of any civil unrest ;).

21st century globalization – a perspective from Peru

Posted on January 12, 2009 by wwelvaert under Business & Economy, Life in Peru

With the start of the New Year there are lots of opinions and blog posts out there about how to deal with the global financial crisis and the economy today. I agree with Umair Haque that “… this year, those with the purpose, courage, and vision to get seriously radical will have the opportunity to reconceive and reinvent the global economy”.

What strikes me in all of the current discussion is how much corporate culture, and many of the solutions being proposed, continue to resemble the ideas and corporate culture of the 20th century – the same tired old ideas that caused the crisis in the first place.

One idea that needs to be revisited is globalization. The old way of globalization was to move labor-intensive work to developing economies to save costs and find less environmental restrictions, see the case of La Oroya here in Peru.

Here’s why and how globalization needs to be reinvented for the 21st century:

Relationships matter. Too often the old way of globalization was to “get the deal done” and then get the heck out of this backwards place. The economy is truly global today, the developing world expects to be treated as an equal partner, future growth will undoubtedly be in the developing world – it’s not too late to start building real relationships, but start now.
Contribute something. Just buying “cheap labor” is an unsustainable illusion, there has to be a balance, something of value added to the developing economies where you buy the labor. If not, the developing world ends up with a big pile of funny green printed paper and the developed world ends up with a ton of stuff we don’t need and a colossal credit crisis – newsflash: we’re there!
So what can the developed world contribute, how can you rebalance globalization? Let’s open-source globalization: share your know-how, human resources and intellectual property. The developing world still needs a lot of improvements, from occupational safety to environmental protections and employee development – things we are good at.
Forget about competitive advantage. My old bosses at GE would cringe… $30,000 on tuition reimbursement for business school and I dare say “forget about competitive advantage”? That’s right, globalization was all about gaining an advantage over organized labor, suppliers, etc. Problem is, for a sustainable enterprise you need a good workforce, reliable suppliers, distribution channels, etc. Trying to gain advantage over them is akin to destroying your own future.

There are a lot of opportunities in developing economies. Here in Peru, half of the population today is less than 26 years old and the country’s infrastructure is nowhere near ready for the economic growth that definitely will happen when these young people start their own lives and families.

In closing, consider the developing economies an equal partner. If you’re doing business overseas, you can contribute your ideas and expertise to the corporate culture there, as well as learn from your foreign partners. Globalization today should be about businesses in mature economies benefiting from a solid presence in the developing world while at the same time helping to improve the quality of life there.

Ward Welvaert

Reunion de compañeros de la UNSAAC

Posted on January 1, 2009 by pcarrasco3 under Life in Peru

Despues de casi 9 años mis compañeros de codigo de la Facultad de Economia nos reunimos para revivir buenos momentos de la epoca universitaria, muchos de ellos ya tienen trabajos, planes de formar sus propias familias (claro yo fui una de las primeras en haber empezado con lo de la familia…), algunos de ellos ganaron algunos kilitos de mas y otros estan teniendo un futuro por delante en paises del exterior. La reunion empezo a las 7:30pm, pero como buenos peruanos todos llegamos tarde, el reencuentro se llevo a cabo en un karaoke llamado Milenium, segun yo el lugar estaria vacio pero me lleve con la sorpresa que en el local este ya no entraba ni un alfiler…al llegar, algunos de mis compañeros ya estaban en el lugar deleitando a los presentes con sus mejores voces, despues de oir esto mis planes de cantar se fueron al tacho, porque me tope con muchos cantantes frustrados.

Lamentablemente, no todos los de mi codigo asistieron a la reunion, pero se logro convocar a 15. Fueron momentos agradables ya que todos hablabamos de las cosas que hicimos de “cachimbos” y en los años posteriores…ahora, los planes son realizar otro encuentro de codigo para fines del 2009, pero con mas asistentes….

Con los compañeritos

Mi querida Helvi deleitandonos con su voz

Sonrian chicas

Happy 2009!!! New Year’s Eve in Cusco, Peru

Posted on January 1, 2009 by wwelvaert under Life in Peru

Feliz Año Neuvo! Last night we celebrated the New Year at the Plaza de Armas and a pub called Norton Rat’s here in Cusco. Old married folks like us don’t celebrate too hard, but we had a fun time anyway 😉

Here in Cusco thousands of people gather at the Plaza de Armas on New Year’s Eve. Exactly at midnight the famous Maria Angola bell on the Cusco Cathedral rings in the New Year, and the crowd circles the Plaza de Armas, which is supposed to bring good travels for the next year.

The famous Maria Angola bell on the Cusco Cathedral rings in the New Year

New Year’s in Peru is all about YELLOW. Yellow hats, yellow leis and most of all… yellow underwear! That’s right, one of the traditional beliefs in Peru is that wearing yellow on New Year’s Eve brings good luck for the New Year.

Some of the Peruvian New Year’s traditions I’ve seen so far are:

Eating 12 grapes at midnight for good luck.
Putting some coins in the corners of the house for good fortune.
Wearing yellow underwear!

Fireworks are sold legally all over the city, so New Year’s Eve in Cusco is not for the faint of heart. Since we are now well into rain season, it was also raining all night, which didn’t really spoil the fun.

New Years Eve at the Plaza de Armas in Cusco, Peru

Inside Norton Rats on New Years Eve

Manchita decided to drink her 12 grapes at midnight - JUST KIDDING!!!

Despite the rain we had lots of fun.

Happy 2009 to all!!!
Feliz Año Neuvo!!!
Gelukkig Nieuwjaar!!!

Christmas in Peru

Posted on December 26, 2008 by wwelvaert under History and culture, Life in Peru

This year was my second Christmas in Peru. Like in the US and Europe Christmas here in Peru is a time for family and celebrating the birth of Christ Jesus. Of course Christmas in Peru also means food, gifts, fireworks and watching “Home Alone” 1, 2 and 3 for the 23rd time.

One interesting aspect of celebrating Christmas in Peru is how the traditional Andean religion and culture has blended with Christianity. For example, church altars are often adorned in gold (a throwback to the Inca’s time) and a very typical Peruvian “baby Jesus” figure is used in nativity scenes.

Typical Peruvian baby Jesus figures, Niños

Typical Peruvian 'baby Jesus' figures, known as 'Niños'.

Peruvians celebrate Christmas eve (“la Noche Buena”) with a dinner, followed by an exchange of gifts and fireworks at midnight. The traditional Christmas meal is turkey, and in the weeks leading up to Christmas the typical treat is hot chocolate with a sweet bread called “Panettone”.

I’ve noticed a lot of “Santa” images and figures, but Peruvian Santas don’t seem to follow the US tradition of putting gifts under the tree at night – gifts are simply exchanged between family and friends on Christmas eve. Unlike in the US, Christmas shopping in Peru is typically done only in the last week or even last few days before Christmas.

Last minute Christmas shopping at the Plaza de Armas in Cusco, Peru.

Overall we had a great Christmas, wishing everyone all the best.

Ward Welvaert

My first earthquake

Posted on December 20, 2008 by wwelvaert under Life in Peru

A few days ago we had a tiny earthquake (temblor) here in Cusco. To be honest I didn’t believe it was an earthquake until I heard mention of it on the radio the next day.

Peru is prone to earthquakes. The last major earthquake in Cusco was in 1950, I found some great photos of the 1950 Cusco earthquake on Amazilia Alba’s blog.

One of my favorite lines of the Led Zeppelin song “Going to California”:

“The mountains and the canyons start to tremble and shake
The children of the sun begin to wake”

I use this song often when I teach ESL at ICPNA. I ask the students to figure out which part of the lyrics could be about Peru. The reference to earthquakes is obvious, and the Incas used to worship the sun. Typically my students do pick up on the idea that “children of the sun” could refer to Peruvians.

Of course, you can interpret most Led Zeppelin songs any way you like, that’s part of the beauty of it. On the ICPNA teacher’s blog I wrote about how I use the song in teaching.