Living in Peru is one thing, coming and going is another! As I’ve
mentioned before, Peru has made bureaucracy a fine art form. If one
more piece of paper, one more stamp, one more fee or one more trip to
immigrations can be thought up, it will be done. Each year, there are
“gringo taxes” to be paid and this requires several trips to the
immigration office, as certainly nothing can be done quickly and
efficiently. (Actually there are two gringo taxes but the system has
designed it so that you cannot pay these fees at the same time of the
year, thus more trips). My most recent experience required seven
trips to the office as each time my immigration officer came up with
something else I needed to do to satisfy the requirements. At first,
one gets angry and frustrated but ultimately, resigned (like everyone
who lives here, why fight “the man”?) In the meantime, during my last
two exits from the country, when I arrived at customs they were not
happy with my lack of proper paperwork to depart the country.
Basically, they want to know if I’ve paid all my taxes. I’m always
happy to meet any necessary requirements but getting a correct answer
to what those requirements are is another matter. I finally figured
out that the accountant, who does our books, needs to visit the income
tax office (SUNAT) to pick up and fill out a certain type of form.
This took her several trips to figure out, too. Finally, just days
before my latest voyage out of Peru, I essentially received permission
to “stay” in the Peru (from immigrations) and permission “leave” Peru
(from the tax office). Ironically, when I got to the immigration
officer at the airport, she looked over my Peruvian work card and my
passport and stamped me through. I said, don’t you want this paper
work--that had taken me so long to get and so many other times I’d
been lacking? Hmmm, she glanced at it and literally tossed it in a
drawer filled with all kinds of odds and ends. A tad annoying after
so much preparation but I guess better than the alternative—a Peruvian
jail!
This latest trip was a brief but fun one that gave me an opportunity
to see more of South America. James and his family arrived for a
visit to the jungle and time in Iquitos. We followed this with stops
in Cusco, Machu Picchu, Rio de Janeiro and finally Buenos Aires.
Although on the same continent, these locations, cultures, food, music
and drink couldn’t have been more different. I’d been to Machu Picchu
a few years ago and the place was no less magical. Seeing it for the
second time and now knowing much more about Inka culture, I thoroughly
enjoyed the opportunity to see it with fresh eyes. Lots of other
interesting Inka sites were visited then we were off to Rio. What a
different place this is! I had few notions of what to expect and my
first few hours there did not “wow” me. But by the end of the day, I
found the place to improve greatly. Although a very big, urban area
with tall apartment buildings crammed into any available space between
the mountains, it is essentially a beach culture. The white, sandy
beaches go on and on for miles and there is no time of the day or the
week when they aren’t teaming with sun worshipers and beachcombers.
The area is nicely developed with lots of places to buy food and drink
while beaching it. Chairs and umbrellas for rent, handy restrooms and
storage lockers, vendors selling whatever you need without having to
move a muscle. Oh, and they have lots and lots and lots of shoe
stores, ladies! Next we were off to Buenos Aires, Argentina. I found
myself very happy to be there as they speak Spanish and I could once
again communicate. Brazil is strictly Portuguese, thank you very
much! No Spanish or English spoken there. BA is very European in
dress, manner, architecture, food and even the look of the people.
One thing they have that can’t be beat is the Tango! Some of you out
there may cringe, but James is quite taken with it so there may be
lessons in our future—although I don’t know how many qualified
instructors we’ll find in either Perth or Brighton?!
Finally, October brought a lot of work at CONAPAC for this year’s
pilot project. Our intern from the University of Colorado was here
for two months and did a great job. She spent extended time in many of
our communities that have clean water systems, living and working
alongside the operators. In October, she was back in the city where
she and the CONAPAC staff spent countless hours on development of our
new operator training program. Although our water program has
developed well for being just five years old, we’ve found the
consistent weak link to be qualified operators on the village level.
The world is littered with clean water projects and good intentions
but most fall into disuse or disrepair quickly without consistently
qualified people on the ground to insure the projects continue to
function. We believe this intense operator training (to be started in
2013) is the link to lasting water projects in the communities where
we serve. Our water program continues to grow as we install more and
more water systems. The goal to provide access to clean drinking
water for all our Adopt A School communities by the end of 2015 is on
track. With the help of our donor base, CONAPAC staff, and our
partnerships with Amazon Explorama Lodges, the Detroit Zoo and the
University of Colorado, it’s been an adventure and a pleasure to work
together on this worthy goal. Stay tuned for more good water news in
the near future!
I’m now off to Perth, Australia for Christmas and most of January. I
think I've counted something like 31 airplanes that I’ve flown one this year.
It really is a miracle to start in
the morning in one part of the world and wake up the next day on the
other side. But I’m ready for a break from airports, customs,
security and the lot. Although I’ll travel some next year, I have a
long stretch in Iquitos with much to do so the break will be welcome.
But soon enough, the travel bug will come my way and off we go! Merry
Christmas to all and a great New Year in 2013 ☺
mentioned before, Peru has made bureaucracy a fine art form. If one
more piece of paper, one more stamp, one more fee or one more trip to
immigrations can be thought up, it will be done. Each year, there are
“gringo taxes” to be paid and this requires several trips to the
immigration office, as certainly nothing can be done quickly and
efficiently. (Actually there are two gringo taxes but the system has
designed it so that you cannot pay these fees at the same time of the
year, thus more trips). My most recent experience required seven
trips to the office as each time my immigration officer came up with
something else I needed to do to satisfy the requirements. At first,
one gets angry and frustrated but ultimately, resigned (like everyone
who lives here, why fight “the man”?) In the meantime, during my last
two exits from the country, when I arrived at customs they were not
happy with my lack of proper paperwork to depart the country.
Basically, they want to know if I’ve paid all my taxes. I’m always
happy to meet any necessary requirements but getting a correct answer
to what those requirements are is another matter. I finally figured
out that the accountant, who does our books, needs to visit the income
tax office (SUNAT) to pick up and fill out a certain type of form.
This took her several trips to figure out, too. Finally, just days
before my latest voyage out of Peru, I essentially received permission
to “stay” in the Peru (from immigrations) and permission “leave” Peru
(from the tax office). Ironically, when I got to the immigration
officer at the airport, she looked over my Peruvian work card and my
passport and stamped me through. I said, don’t you want this paper
work--that had taken me so long to get and so many other times I’d
been lacking? Hmmm, she glanced at it and literally tossed it in a
drawer filled with all kinds of odds and ends. A tad annoying after
so much preparation but I guess better than the alternative—a Peruvian
jail!
This latest trip was a brief but fun one that gave me an opportunity
to see more of South America. James and his family arrived for a
visit to the jungle and time in Iquitos. We followed this with stops
in Cusco, Machu Picchu, Rio de Janeiro and finally Buenos Aires.
Although on the same continent, these locations, cultures, food, music
and drink couldn’t have been more different. I’d been to Machu Picchu
a few years ago and the place was no less magical. Seeing it for the
second time and now knowing much more about Inka culture, I thoroughly
enjoyed the opportunity to see it with fresh eyes. Lots of other
interesting Inka sites were visited then we were off to Rio. What a
different place this is! I had few notions of what to expect and my
first few hours there did not “wow” me. But by the end of the day, I
found the place to improve greatly. Although a very big, urban area
with tall apartment buildings crammed into any available space between
the mountains, it is essentially a beach culture. The white, sandy
beaches go on and on for miles and there is no time of the day or the
week when they aren’t teaming with sun worshipers and beachcombers.
The area is nicely developed with lots of places to buy food and drink
while beaching it. Chairs and umbrellas for rent, handy restrooms and
storage lockers, vendors selling whatever you need without having to
move a muscle. Oh, and they have lots and lots and lots of shoe
stores, ladies! Next we were off to Buenos Aires, Argentina. I found
myself very happy to be there as they speak Spanish and I could once
again communicate. Brazil is strictly Portuguese, thank you very
much! No Spanish or English spoken there. BA is very European in
dress, manner, architecture, food and even the look of the people.
One thing they have that can’t be beat is the Tango! Some of you out
there may cringe, but James is quite taken with it so there may be
lessons in our future—although I don’t know how many qualified
instructors we’ll find in either Perth or Brighton?!
Finally, October brought a lot of work at CONAPAC for this year’s
pilot project. Our intern from the University of Colorado was here
for two months and did a great job. She spent extended time in many of
our communities that have clean water systems, living and working
alongside the operators. In October, she was back in the city where
she and the CONAPAC staff spent countless hours on development of our
new operator training program. Although our water program has
developed well for being just five years old, we’ve found the
consistent weak link to be qualified operators on the village level.
The world is littered with clean water projects and good intentions
but most fall into disuse or disrepair quickly without consistently
qualified people on the ground to insure the projects continue to
function. We believe this intense operator training (to be started in
2013) is the link to lasting water projects in the communities where
we serve. Our water program continues to grow as we install more and
more water systems. The goal to provide access to clean drinking
water for all our Adopt A School communities by the end of 2015 is on
track. With the help of our donor base, CONAPAC staff, and our
partnerships with Amazon Explorama Lodges, the Detroit Zoo and the
University of Colorado, it’s been an adventure and a pleasure to work
together on this worthy goal. Stay tuned for more good water news in
the near future!
I’m now off to Perth, Australia for Christmas and most of January. I
think I've counted something like 31 airplanes that I’ve flown one this year.
It really is a miracle to start in
the morning in one part of the world and wake up the next day on the
other side. But I’m ready for a break from airports, customs,
security and the lot. Although I’ll travel some next year, I have a
long stretch in Iquitos with much to do so the break will be welcome.
But soon enough, the travel bug will come my way and off we go! Merry
Christmas to all and a great New Year in 2013 ☺
