Hi there. I haven’t updated this weblog in nearly a year now. In this time, I’ve moved to a new city, started medical school, and experienced a true winter for the first time in three years. It’s been grand.
I wish I could update more, but I’m volume expanded with work, friends, life, and other activities [...]
Look, I’m not a big fan of Wall Street either. I think the money they make—and the bonuses they dole out—are way out of line with their true value to our nation’s economy. To turn a Street-speak expression on its head: Where’s the “value-added”? Here is what I wrote in December in my post “Solely [...]
This past weekend, Nora and I took a trip to Huánuco, which is the name of both a city and departamento (like a U.S. state) in central Peru. At the recommendation of our friend Roger, we visited a rural area called Shismay and stayed at a spectacular hacienda-turned-hotel, the Casa Hacienda Shismay.
The pueblo of Shismay [...]
Robin Kirk is a human rights activist and Latin American scholar. She reported from Peru during the guerra interna during the 1980s. Later, in 1997, she published a personal narrative of her time in Peru, The Monkey’s Paw: New Chronicles from Peru. The following passage comes from that book.
I’ve chosen to share this passage here [...]
I recently have written a short travel guide to Peru for my family’s visit here in mid-May. I plan on adopting some sections of what I wrote in that guide as blog posts here. This is the first adaptation.
Let me also make a quick note about the geography here. Peru is a fairly large country—about [...]
From The Atlantic, Do Americans Know Anything About the Budget?
Americans are famous for overestimating our international aid. One study found that the average American estimates that a quarter of the budget — more than Social Security, or Defense — goes to aid abroad. This is why, when asked about cutting the deficit, an outsized number [...]
If you really want to get a Peruvian riled up, just mention that el pisco es chileno (“pisco is Chilean”). Caveat: if you’re among a group of Peruvians in the process of consuming pisco, you probably shouldn’t say it. Really, for your own safety.
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Pisco is a liquor distilled from grapes. As such, [...]
Hi there. I’m going to borrow language from my friend Angi here. If you’re looking to help in the wake of the earthquake in Haiti, The Center for International Disaster Information makes it clear that monetary contributions to established relief agencies are the most useful response to disasters like this one. Financial contributions allow [...]