Tuesday, January 29, 2008

A Long Trip Back

December 29th & 30th, 2007 Chicago to Ecuador to Peru

International Travel = Adventure Travel

Even if you aren´t exploring the depths of the Amazonian Rainforest or hang gliding in Argentina, international travel is always an adventure. Getting from Chicago to Houston to Ecuador was pretty standard, although packed from holiday travelers. Ecuador to Peru was a different story. That was international travel. In a third world country.

I got off the plane around 1AM and headed to the hotel only to find out my reservation had been canceled. Alright. Since I didn´t really know of any other hotels and only a room for a few hours anyway I decided to head straight to the bus terminal and pull an all-nighter. I bought a ticket for 6:30AM and camped out in the lounge for the next 4 hours. Fortunately I made friends with a young Peruvian couple who were making the same trip. This allowed to me go to the bathroom without hauling two suitcases into the stall with me.

When I bought the ticket, I noticed the price was 25% cheaper than the bus line I used to get to Ecuador. So, I made sure to ask if the trip was direct. I was told yes and informed the duration was 11 hours. I only remembered it taking 8 to get here, so once again I inquired about the trip. The customer behind me assured me it was a direct trip.

Nope. I get on the bus at 6:30AM and we proceed to stop every 15 minutes. It’s the day before New Years Eve so everyone is traveling. All the seats are sold plus they have got people in the aisles using the bus like a combi (which is public transportation that runs a route much like city bus routes in a large American metropolis.) Eventually, we are only stopping every hour in the towns along the highway to the border.

Its impossible to sleep and I have people hanging over me pretty much the 6 hour trip to the border. Finally, we make it to the border and everyone files off the bus to go through immigrations. I was toward the back of the line and almost got left in Ecuador. Several people did.

Once we cross the border the Peruvian government makes us deboard the bus several times. Its only supposed to be a one time procedure like it was in Ecuador. But Peru´s government is exactly logical. See, if we make people get off the bus more often that creates jobs. Bureaucracy is a good thing; it creates jobs. Jobs are good. All jobs. Even drastically unproductive ones.

The standard is to serve food on bus trips this long. Not on this bus line. Therefore, my breakfast, lunch and dinner consisted of whatever I could buy through the window from a vendor. Mostly potato chips and soda. At 8PM we arrive at our destination, 13 hours after departure. I haven´t slept for 48 hours so I snagged a hamburger and crashed early.

Final Christmas Days

December 28th & 29th, 2007 Grand Rapids, Michigan

Final Days with the Family

We spent the last day together as a family and then the next morning we drove to Chicago were I boarded a plane to Houston and then Ecuador. Mom did a good job of not crying too much. The rest of the family held up pretty well. I can hardly wait to get back next Christmas.

I am glad I came home for Christmas. It was great to see the family and friends and remember what life is like in the States. I think over the past year and a half I have developed certain illusions about the reality of the States. Hopefully, now I will return with a different perspective and see things more clearly. All in all, I think it was good to recharge. I am returning refreshed with energy to really tackle these last few months with enthusiasm.

December 27th, 2007 Grand Rapids, Michigan

Time with Chad

Chad and I met the first day of Welcome Week at Baylor. We instantly clicked and were roommates sophomore, junior and senior years of college. Chad is now a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uganda. Although he has only been serving for 10 months, he made the trip home to serve in his best friend from high school´s wedding. Dad took us out for Texas BBQ. We spent a couple hours sharing similar experiences and then I rode back with him to his house. I hadn´t see him for 18 months, so we had a lot to catch up on. It was great to see him and I am sure we will have several more stories to share next time we meet up.

December 26th, 2007 Cannonsberg, Michigan

We woke up from my Uncle´s and headed back to Grand Rapids. We quickly changed into our ski wardrobes and hit the slopes. I love skiing but hadn´t been since sophomore year of college. The park wasn´t overly challenging but was fun enough to curb my appetite until I can get back to Colorado.

Christmas Activities

December 25th, 2007 Coldwater, Michigan

Christmas Day

We woke up early and opened family gifts. Then we ventured to my Uncle Jim and Robin´s house in Coldwater where we met my grandparents from my mother´s side. We spent hours catching up, opening gifts and eating. My Uncle Jim and Grandpa can talk nonstop for hours. It was fun to see everyone. Hopefully, next year we´ll have more time together.

December 24th, 2007 Grand Rapids, Michigan

Christmas Eve Service

It was cool to be in church again. That is one of the tougher things about living in a foreign country. Where I live there are a few churches but they tend to be extremely charismatic and I don´t really agree with their doctrine. Fortunately, there are few faithful Christian volunteers nearby. But nevertheless they still fail to replicate the fellowship and support a church body can provide.

After the candlelight service, we each opened one gift like we do every year. We played balderdash and my 12 year old brother is notorious for coming up with the craziest definitions. At one point I had to leave the room because my heart hurt from laughter. I think I ate too much red meat at dinner because I felt as if I was going to collapse from a heart attack.

December 22nd, 2007 Grand Rapids, Michigan

Benner Family Christmas Party

Today we celebrated Christmas with my Dad´s side of the family. My Uncle Tom and his daughter Rachel were the first to arrive. Rachel apparently wasn´t home for Christmas either last winter, so everyone was excited to see my cousin. I met Tom´s new partner Jim, who impressed me with his insight into the developing world. Eventually, Uncle Todd and Aunt Racy and my cousins Katie & Kristen arrived. They apparently operate on Hora Peruana. We did typical Christmas party things like snack on vegetable trays and chat. A family tradition is Spanish BINGO. There are usually like 20 Dollar Store prizes and it works white elephant style where you can either unwrap and an unopened gift or steal an opened gift from a previous winner. After a traditional Christmas dinner we exchanged gifts.
Perhaps the nicest gift I got all Christmas was from Uncles and Grandparents. They gave a good sum of money to my host family to be used on home improvements. It was very generous. Although Uncle Jeff and my grandparents were unable to attend the family get together, it was fun nonetheless. Maybe next year we´ll have everyone.

Time at Home

December 20th & 21st, 2007 Grand Rapids, Michigan

R & R Time

I spent most of my time home doing nothing. I took advantage of free high speed internet to catch up on the world´s troubles. I lounged in front of the TV and appreciated the countless English channels at my fingertips. I played a little billiards while savoring several cans of Dr. Pepper. Mostly, I ate all day. American food may not be the best cuisine in the world but the food in America has no rival. I mean you can find everything there.

December 19th, 2007 Houston to Chicago, USA

Home at Last!

I landed in Houston and fortunately hit all the customs lines just right. Since, I only had 35 minutes before my connecting flight, I darted to the other terminal and boarded as one of the final passengers. I met my parents at the baggage carousel and we made are way to the parking lot. The cold crisp air in my lungs was a refreshing slap in the face.

We lunched at a favorite spot of mine: Chipotle. Here I would make my first of many linguistic mistakes. The Hispanic employee asked me which type of beans I wanted. Instinctively, I replied, “Los frejoles negros, por favor.” I continued down the line and then realized I have a lot to get used to. Hopefully, she doesn´t think I am some prick who assumes all Hispanics speak Spanish.

Upon arrival I was greeted by my brother and a fistful of snowballs. He has been waiting for years to get me back for whitewashing him one day two winters ago (the last winter I was home). Sis got home later from work and embraced me lovingly. Since I had only slept 3 of the previous 48 hours, I crashed early. Oh, how a comfortable a real mattress is. And blankets.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Trip Home to the States!

December 17th, 2007 Piura, Peru to Guayaquil, Ecuador

I´m Almost Home!

Since flights out of Guayaquil, Ecuador were significantly cheaper than from Lima, I decided to fly via Ecuador. My friend Rachel was flying 8 hours after me, so we traveled to Ecuador together. The overnight bus was rather nice and crossing the border proved to be rather easy although the Peruvian side lacked formality and the process could have of course been streamlined to garner efficiency.

We arrived in Guayaquil around 9 in the morning. Immediately, I noticed a infrastructure difference in Ecuador. Instead of several different individual bus terminals, all the bus lines had to use the same terminal much like airlines. The facility was very nice and quite convenient. Rachel had reserved a hotel room since she wouldn´t be leaving until the next day, so we showered up before exploring the largest city in Ecuador.

Guayaquil is a stark difference between Lima and most Peruvian cities in general. The roads were better constructed, cleaner and the drivers saner. Most taxis were fairly new compared to the dilapidated models used in Peru. There aren´t many sights in this commercial center but we set to see that which was available. We headed down to the boardwalk and strolled alongside the river, eventually lunching on seafood in a quaint little joint overlooking the bay. Next we climbed the hundreds of stairs to the historical lighthouse set at the top of a steep hill overlooking the bay and cityscape. The views were gorgeous.

We next visited a local artisans market where I bought a fedora. This style of hat was popular in the 40´s in the US and quite often mobsters are portrayed sporting fedoras. In Ecuador, several people sport them and this style is gaining popularity throughout South America. Since high school, I have been infatuated with the look and thus bought myself an early Christmas present. Rachel bought some locally made jewelry. Afterwards, we headed to a city park where numerous iguanas walk the grounds and lounge in the trees. For dinner we ate fresh crab legs at a sidewalk café. At 11 pm, I headed to the airport to the catch the redeye to Houston.

Graduation: Advanced Computer Class

December 14th, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

Graduation: Advanced Computer Class

The past few weeks I have continued teaching the advanced internet class. The students are great and almost everyone who began the course the first week passed the final exam. These students are now capable of creating electronic catalogs, saving them to a disk and attaching the same file to an email. This is very important because the majority of their clients prefer to conduct all business via the Internet. Hopefully, the artisans will now take more ownership of their computer related needs.

In order to celebrate graduation, I convinced my counterpart NGO, Cite Ceramica, to spring for a little graduation outing. After the final class on Friday, we headed to a restaurant that served rotisserie chicken. This was a big deal for most of the students because most only get to go out to eat once a year, if they get to dine out all. After dinner we grabbed some quick ice cream. I think everyone was pretty pleased with the night and the course overall.

Developing a Profit Sharing Plan

December 6th, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

Secantada: Developing a Profit Sharing Plan

I have spent the past few meetings with the mango farmers discussing the different possibilities for sharing profits. Today I think we can up with something that will work pretty well. Right now there aren´t many profits to be distributed because we are reinvesting a high percentage in the growth of the business. Therefore, we need a system that will reward those who are working hard now with future profits yet remains flexible to the addition of future participants. We decided to distribute profits according to a system using the number of hours worked as the base. Rather than distribute the profits according to a monthly hour log we elected to distribute them according to an overall hours worked long. This prevents unfair distribution due to cyclical monthly profits. Instead, each worker receives the percentage of profits equal to the percentage of hours he has worked compared to all hours worked overall. Below is an explanation:

Lets say Secantada has a net profit of $1000 for the month. Assuming they choose to reinvest 90% of the profits this month, in order to promote rapid growth. The remaining $100 will be split among the members. Assume that over all the months group has worked 100 hours total. Pedro has worked 20 of the 100 hours or 20%. Juan has worked 10 hours or 10%. Therefore, Pedro would receive $20 while Juan receives $10.

This encourages participants to continue work during hard times rather than just during the good times. It is also fair to those who have initially taken the risk and invested their time before the project became super profitable. Yet this system allows for new participants to join in the future, although at first they will earn a significantly less percentage of profits. But as long as a new participant continues to work the percentages will balance out over the long run. He could eventually even earn more than an original member.