yo vinifano, tu vinifanas, él vinifana…. “Parents have homework tonight,” El Híjo announced smugly as he dumped the cuadernos on the diningroom table earlier this week. He turned to me and El Fotógrafo: “You have to Vinifan them.” EF and I counted up the stack and groaned. Nine school notebooks to cover in clear, toxic-smelling [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Handmade Culture'
Lord of the Vinifan
March 7th, 2009 · 20 Comments · Daily Life in Lima, Handmade Culture
Bicycle-powered Washing Machine Debuts at Lima Orphanage
February 22nd, 2009 · 4 Comments · Daily Life in Lima, Handmade Culture
MIT students and residents of Ventanilla, Peru work on the bicilavadora, a novel, inexpensive bike/washing machine. Photo / Gwyndaf Jones Forward-thinking inventors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have created a “green” washing machine that runs on pedal power, mountain-bike gears and no electricity, making it ideal for rural and impoverished communities. Last month, MIT students [...]
Tags: technology·Ventanilla
Peruvian Ingenuity at 15,300 Feet Above Sea Level
November 7th, 2008 · 2 Comments · Handmade Culture, Money, Economics, Politics, Peru's Andes Mountains
Guy selling dolls at Qoyllur Rit’i 2008 The average Peruvian works so hard, for so little. El Fotografo and I met this souvenir vendor at the Qoyllur Rit’i pilgrimage in May. He was selling little handmade dolls of costumed dancers for 7 soles a piece. That’s about $2.33 each. They were cute. I bought one. To get to [...]
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Dangerous Skateboarding in Peru: Bomberos Hitch Rides, Risk Death on Truckers’ Rigs
October 30th, 2008 · 1 Comment · Daily Life in Lima, Handmade Culture, Traffic & Accidents in Lima
My eyes popped when I saw this image on Boing Boing, taken from Zeraga’s Flickr pool via Street Use: In Perú from Huánuco to Tingo Maria, where the road from the Pacific coast across the Andes finds its way towards the Amazon lowlands. This is near the top of the last mountain pass. From there, [...]
Tags: abuse of children in Peru·bomberos·dangerous traffic·poverty in Peru
Beautiful Weavings Made on Nevado Ausangate
September 23rd, 2008 · Comments Off · Climate Change & Disappearing Glaciers, Handmade Culture
Justina weaving on her hand loom, in Pacchanta We spent about 45 minutes talking with this lovely Quechua-speaking woman, who lives with her children and mother-in-law in a small village called Pacchanta. It’s on the trekking circuit around Nevado Ausangate. Justina earns money by weaving textiles on her handloom. The day I met her [...]
Tags: sacred mountains·weaving
How to (Maybe) Cure a Lima Chest Cold
September 3rd, 2008 · 9 Comments · Handmade Culture, What's up with the Weather Down There?
El Fotografo can’t kick this chest cold he’s been suffering from for three weeks. Not even the schlep to Santa Eulalia last weekend could knock it out of his system. So I decided to try a home remedy on him that I read about in Suite 101.
Now EF’s lying in bed swathed in poultices and blankets, just four feet away from me, and the room reeks of Indian food.
Tags: Lima weather·Wong supermarket






