Tag Archives: Peru

Patricia was in Choquequirao

Posted on by under Life in Peru, Travel in Latin America

Hello there,

My class of “Autores” decided to go to lovely Choquequirao, which is one of the last places where the Inkas lived. We left Cusco on Thursday night around 8pm and we arrived to Ramadal around 11pm. We had to get all our stuff and start walking down to Cachora for around 3 hours, then we camped there in the middle of the main square. Early in the morning we got ready to start our trekking of 32 km to Choquequirao. The whole trip was terrible because my friends and I were always the last group to arrive to the points where we were supposed to rest. Also, I got bunch of mosquitos bites everywhere, I spent more money just on water and I also started to drink water from the springs, which was the yummiest water I have ever drunk. I can’t tell everything that I went thru on this trip, but at the end it turned out to be cool. I even miss the place, but I doubt I will go back to Choquequirao again…

Patricia

Starting a business in Cusco, Peru (ICPNA I-12)

Posted on by under Life in Peru, Teaching ESL

Since I’m teaching about business in my current class at ICPNA, I decided to start a class project to open a coffee shop on the Plaza de Armas in Cusco. We already have a McDonalds in Cusco and will soon have a Starbucks, so let’s give them some competition.

Our fictional business will be a fancy coffee shop with yummie breakfast, snacks, etc. We will have wireless internet, friendly service and a hip atmosphere.

Here’s what I need from my team, that is, the class:

  • Ideas for names.
  • Ideas on how to set the place up (decorations, themes, uniforms, ….)
  • What kind of things we will sell.
  • Legal stuff: how to set up a legal entity (EIRL, SA).
  • Financial plan and accounting policies. Let’s not get in trouble with SUNAT or my uncle Alan Garcia.
  • Marketing plan.
  • A good location in anywhere in beautiful downtown Cusco Peru.
  • Employees, employee manuals, policies, procedures, …
  • Ideas on how to reward our employees.
  • Policies / ideas to prevent theft from customers and employees.
  • Suppliers: where to get good food, coffee, drinks, ice cream,…. Also furnishings and furniture to open our place.
  • Lobbyist to have lunch with the mayor and governor of Cusco once a month.
  • Business plan.
  • Exit strategy, meaning, what to do if our business doesn’t work out.
  • Any other advice or items I’ve overlooked.

Write at least 2 or 3 comments before the end of our class next Friday 9/26!!!! Any thoughts and ideas are welcome, explain/justify your ideas.

Ward

My I-12 class at ICPNA

My I-12 class at ICPNA

10 Things I love about Peru.

Posted on by under Life in Peru

Reading my previous post could be misleading: I love Peru!!! So in the spirit of fairness, here is a list of 10 things to like about Peru (in no particular order):

10) Scenery. The landscape is breathtaking and the ancient Inca sites are stunning. When Matt Lauer, the NBC host who has traveled most of the world, says Machu Picchu is one of his favorite places, I can totally concur.
9) Food. I love the fresh foods we get at the market here. Peruvian food is a fusion of many influences. Seafood in Lima, spicier foods in the South and all sorts of unique dishes here in the Andes mountains and further East in the Jungle. My personal favorite right now is Chicharon from a little place in Saylla.
8) Stray dogs. I wish they weren’t stray here in the city, but they’re such good dogs. Ruff!
7) Friendly people. Peruvian people are fun, friendly and exceedingly open towards visitors and foreign residents.
6) Radio stations. Unlike in the US, playlists actually have more than 100 songs.
5) Bread. Come to Peru and you will never eat the industrial variety from a US grocery-store again.
4) Natural medicine. I’m really interested in opening a health spa in the Sacred Valley of the Inca, which is about 30 minutes away from Cusco. Just one of my many ideas I lack time, money and expertise for 😦
3) Pisco Sour, Anis & Cerveza Cusqueña. Just as good as real Dutch gin or Belgian beer!
2) Adventure. Make new friends, try new foods, visit great places. You can do it all here in Peru.
1) My sweet lovely wife Patricia!!!!!

Qoricancha, the ruins of the Inca Temple of the Sun, one of the holiest sites in Cusco, Peru

10 Things I don’t like about Peru.

Posted on by under Life in Peru

Since I’m going to ICPNA at 7:00 in the morning I typically see a few homeless people in the Plaza Tupac Amaru. Being that top 10 lists are all the rage, my daily walk to ICPNA inspired me to make my very own list of 10 things I don’t like about Peru (in no particular order):

10) Homeless people. Poverty in Cusco is not bad by Latin American standards, but we could still do better. I teach kids who have nicer cellphones, MP3 players and clothes than I have, so perhaps it’s a problem of priorities, not resources.
9) Papel hygenico. That is, toilet paper. Try finding it in Peruvian restrooms…
8) Stray dogs. I love dogs but hate to see so many of them run loose in the city.
7) Garbage. This is where the stray dogs and I disagree. The typical garbage pickup routine in Peru consists of throwing the garbage on the side of the street and then having a small army of city workers clean up 3 times per week. Please somebody start using garbage cans.
6) Bureacracy.

Update on Peruvian bureaucracy: it took nearly 6 months after moving to Peru to get legally married and over a year to get my Carne de extranjeria.

5) Old fashioned corporate culture. Big titles, dress codes and all sorts of junk even IBM and GE did away with in the 1980s are still all the rage here in Peru.
4) Education. People study all kinds of things, but are not always encouraged to apply their knowledge. My best friend used to say “It’s not how smart you are, it’s what you do with it.” It took me years to realize just how true this is.
3) Italian food, or lack thereof.
2) Pizza. Can someone from New York please move down to Cusco???
1) Public transportation. Try fitting in a “combi” with 21 other people when you’re 6’2″!

Typical Andean food.

Typical Andean food.

“La hoja de coca no es droga”

Posted on by under Life in Peru

I recently read that Evo Morales, the populist president of Bolivia, is having some success at convincing farmers to grow other crops beside coca leaves. While Morales remains president of a powerful coca growers union, he is providing incentives for farmers to grow other crops as well to better deal with the recent increase in world food prices.

As I’m writing this I’m sipping a cup of “mate de coca”, green tea made of coca leaves. When I’m in the US often get asked about coca tea, since the coca leaf is also the base ingredient of cocaine. As the title of this post says: “The coca leaf is not a drug”, and there are no stimulating effects when you drink coca tea.

The coca leaf has historically had many uses here in the Andes region, it is practically worshiped for the natural healing qualities it is believed to hold. Native people chew the coca leaf, similar to chewing tobacco, and us gringos are offered coca tea when we first arrive to Cusco to help deal with the effects of the altitude. When I was ill earlier this year Tio Miguel (that’s Patricia’s uncle Miguel) gave us some healing lotions, which felt really good when I had pneumonia.

The US government has financed coca eradication programs from Columbia to Bolivia for decades, in an attempt to stop the flow of cocaine into the US. Since I moved to Peru I’ve become convinced those programs are akin to the Prime Minister of India coming down to Texas and telling the ranchers to stop raising cattle because it’s sacreligious.

The problems with the US programs are that they don’t recognize the value of the coca leaf here in the Andean cultures. In addition, they involve methods like spraying pesticide from airplanes. Not even my old pilot buddy Ralph Feather – who could barrel roll a loaded Convair 240 – is good enough to spray fields at night and not hit any people as well.

I wouldn’t pretend to have an easy solution to the drug problem, but it seems like Evo Morales is on to something not half bad in this case.

Ward Welvaert

Update: read about our trip to Bolivia.

"Evo SI" billboard in La Paz, Bolivia

'Evo SI' billboard in La Paz, Bolivia

Typical Peruvian countryside

Typical Peruvian countryside

I have a feeling we’re not in Peru any more…

Posted on by under Life in Peru

I flew back to the US for a few weeks on July 2nd.  To maintain my US residency I have to visit regularly and keep real ties to the US, such as keeping my driver’s license current, filing tax returns, etc.  I also wanted to check up on our house in Youngsville (NC) and visit with some friends.

I spent July 4th with friends in Conway, SC.  I’ve known my friend Dennis and his family for over 15 years, since I went to aviation school in Conway back in 1993.   For July 4th we had a great party on the ‘island’ in the back of Dennis’ farm, complete with food, drinks, fireworks and a lot of fun.  After that I headed to NC and I’ll be flying back to Peru on July 17.

Ward

Natural or modern medicine?

Posted on by under Life in Peru

Patricia and I both got sick as the proverbial dog in the last 2 weeks. Nothing serious, just a bad flu. Patricia’s uncle knows many of the natural healing techniques people here in Peru use. Much of it is based on the ancient Inca culture, and some has its roots in the cultures of the Amazon jungle. So we drank lots of herbal tea and tried some of the natural remedies as well as our doctor-prescribed medicines.

We’re finally both feeling better now. I do like what I’ve learned so far about natural medicine. Perhaps one day we will help Patricia’s uncle open a health spa in the Sacred Valley. For sure the people here in Cusco have to be quite strong to deal with the altitude (nearly 11,000ft) and the climate (temperatures are really nice during the day, around 80 degrees in the sun, but near freezing at night).

Patricia Carrasco in Machu Picchu

The Incas believed when taking this pose on this rock at Machu Picchu, you will receive energy and healing powers from the sun.

– Ward

Love Over Gold

Posted on by under Life in Peru, Trabajo - Work - Werk

The job I was hoping to get with the Peruvian Air Force (FAP) didn’t work out, because Alan Garcia changed the Minister of Defense in December. So I’m staying busy with web programming, and I also started teaching English at ICPNA (one of the better schools in Cusco). It’s a lot of fun but next month I’m going to take a lighter schedule. I’m still thinking of starting a business here in Peru, but for now that’s on the back burner…

I got offered a flying job back with a regional airline in the US awhile ago. I think I would have been able to “jumpseat” (fly free) down to Peru on my days off, but I ended up turning it down anyway.

So in honor of that decision, here’s “Love over Gold”.

Ward

We got married!!!!

Posted on by under Life in Peru

Having Lunch!!!

Hello everyone, yeap Ward and I got married again, finally we made our marriage legal after a year and a half. We celebrated this important moment on April 19 of this current year, we didn’t make any party or something big, my family and us went to have a nice lunch to a restaurant near to my house. Now we are trying to get Ward’s peruvian resindency…. I know he must be crazy, but this is love…. anyways we are really happy that we made this commitment again hehehehe..please any gift just send it to my current address in Peru or to Rick’s house in North Carolina… By the way thanks Rick for getting Ward’s mail, we really appreciate it!!!!!.
-Patricia

Novedades desde la tierra del sol

Posted on by under Life in Peru

Hola a todos:

Ward y yo estamos tratando de seguir adelante, claro que con un poco mas de esfuerzo de parte mia seguramente lo lograremos, ahora estamos tratando de crear una agencia de turismo, y ojala salga bien… mis dos perros estan igual que siempre, ladrando a todos aquellos que pasan por nuestra casa, en la universidad todo me va bien gracias a que tengo unas muy buenas amigas, estas dos semanas seran bien tragicas para mi ya que estamos en examenes finales y tenemos tres trabajos que hacer los cuales son notas para los examenes….ah tambien estoy en busca de trabajo, haber si saben de algo y me pasan la voz …