Why I Love Peru

I love the friendliness of a 5 years old child, welcoming me into her house.

I love the warmth of the farmers, happy that you are visiting their villages.

I love the serenity of a nice, Spring day.

I love how everyone grew fond of their profesorra (teacher), day by day.

I love their dignity.
And then, there is this great culture, with a priceless legacy: Moche, Chimu, Inka…to name just few of these fascinating past civilizations.

I am often thinking of my students, my friends, my other family...Looking back, it seems it was just yesterday, although 2006 has almost gone through its first half.
To understand Peru, better you start by smiling. It is a totally different culture and one must leave home any customs and habits, as well as pre-made judgments.

About Balance...

Keeping one’s balance is a delicate thing, nowadays….

One sad example. On the news: during these few Easter days, the rate of domestic violence broke the records in a certain city.

(I won’t quote the name, I am ashamed enough to admit this happened in my own country).
They’ve got it all wrong… The Easter Message, please????
I wonder if nowadays, anyone else would agree to give their life, in order to redeem these poor bastards, who are getting ride of their frustrations by beating the pitiable wives.
I don’t know who I am angrier with: the society, for not getting too involved, or the Media, for seeking the sensational again?
One thing is for sure: if we, as a Community, will reflect more on the statistics received daily and if we would allow ourselves getting (wisely) involved, maybe this will be a better world, one day.
This is a message from a journalist to the others: We should use wisely the power we have. And we should be constructive.

And since I mentioned the balance… The woman depicted seemed to find the right balance – for money, of course. She has nothing to do with the case mentioned, but I choose these photos, which I took in Antigua, just as a remembrance of the “Relaaax, man! You’re in Caribbean now!” spirit. Maybe we all do need a bit of dolce far’niente, every now and then. But not too much. And a bit of color, too.

The Earth is Round!

No kidding!
The Earth is round and I am circling it even more… I spent my Easter en route from Argentina to Romania, so to all of you waiting for my messages, here it is: a very belated Easter greeting.

Nevertheless, I am in time for the Orthodox Easter and I am (re)discovering my roots. Today I learned how to dye the eggs, using herbs and layers of onion skins. And here we are again, facing World’s Nr. # 1 dilemma: What comes first, the chick or the egg? This time around it’s pretty self-explanatory: this chick has dyed some pretty cool eggs.
What do you reckon, Mr. P?









The results are not too bad; I feel like I created some cubist eggs. Well, maybe cubism is a bit too much to say - the eggs are still oval, maybe mosaic or inlay would describe it better. Some shades are a tad too cold, for my taste, but in the end, it may be the influence of this crappy weather.
Strange, wherever I go, the rain and cold winds will follow…

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE, WHEREVER YOU ARE!

Tierra del Fuego - Land of High Hopes

I am once again at the end of the world.
Tierra del Fuego – the end of the world, beginning of the new adventure. This is the point where the explorers embark to Antarctica. Last year we were lucky enough to explore the White Continent as well. This year however, this will be just about the Southernmost point we get around to…
In Ushuaia, if you look North, the next thing you see South is your shoulder – or so they say.
Luckily, my camera sees it different.



The weather is moody and keeps playing with us. A welcome sign always puts one at ease…
I could have taken better pictures of the city, or at least most interesting. The truth is that it was a crappy day, indeed. My hands were frozen enough and this seemed to create a huge dissonance between my brain, whispering “take this picture” and my hands, stubbornly stuffed in my pockets.

Strolling along the pier, I take a better look at our neighbor: She’s old, red and dirty; nevertheless, she’s charming…the only spot of color in this long, gray day.

Did I mention that the weather is moody? Scratch that. Erratic would be a better word. In few seconds the calm sea turns to an old fashioned dream. The wind is now up to 50 knots and when I get out on the Bridge wing, my glasses are flying out in an eye blink.
I throw a hand out in the air, more like a guess, than an action but here they are, back in my palm. To think that this is the only time in the last 4 years when I actually did not have a spare pair of glasses on me…

Dear Murphy,
I am sorry to inform you that I proved you wrong, for once...

Our nights haven’t been long enough lately; and I have a certitude that this one isn’t going to be any different… My colleagues are rigging up, preparing for the high seas.



My days – a typical day, you say…
They are similar but never the same. My days are fast...moving up from 65 º S to 71º N, from Antarctica to the Arctic circle in just few months...moving, generally, wherever on the World's Chart.
Still, I cannot help thinking of the circles we live in: Round Earth, Circumnavigation, circular day…
Our red, dirty, charming neighbor was the first thing I saw this morning. The first thing I saw after lunch and she is still out there, last thing we see on departure.

To close in a positive note, it’s interesting to see the diversity of interests that people may have at the end of the world: the Doctor bought a certificate testifying him passing by. The Nurse has been playing golf in the most Southerly city of the world.
As for me, I felt like I am going to die if I am not buying a new wide angle teleconverter. Which, I soon came to realize, produces horrible vignettes, if misused …
But the close-up lenses are great.
We’re off at last and it’s gonna be a bumpy ride, once more.
But as I said, always count the blessings – I had the best lunch ever in the past 4 months, ashore, with normal people and most important, my home Soccer team has won the game today and has qualified for the UEFA semi – finales.

Birthday

My birthday this year was under the sign of silence. I had big plans for the big 30.
But I was just in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
Today, (almost) 2 months later, I decided that not having a photo exhibition on my b-day is not the end of the world.
So why won't I start a blog, instead?

This way I can keep in touch with all my friends, from all the 4 Cardinal Points.

And I can show you my round-year work.
Therefore:

Dear All,
Akka has gone digital.

I promise to add some words too, for some of the images.
But you know me, always on the road...I mean, water.
Mom calls me a hurricane because of my crazy life speed.
Today, however, I feel like tornado...
From Chile, with love,
Akka

(P.S. the picture is not taken in Chile.
It is from Grand Turk, but this is the only time I have met a tornado, so far. And I would like to keep it that way...)

And no, today we haven't set foot on Chile. We left as soon as we arrived - the wind was over 30 knots. But we should look at this as a blessing; two nights ago, the wind speed was 70 knots.

So long, my penguin friends - I guess there's always a next time.