An American in Lima

slices of my life in Peru

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Entries Tagged as 'Handmade Culture'

Lord of the Vinifan

March 7th, 2009 · 20 Comments · Daily Life in Lima, Handmade Culture

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 plastic sheets known [...]

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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 took [...]

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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 the plaza where he could [...]

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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, a [...]

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Beautiful Weavings Made on Nevado Ausangate

September 23rd, 2008 · No Comments · 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 she was weaving [...]

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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.

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