Last week I passed the half-way point of my project here in Lima, so it seems a good time to reflect on the six months that have been and to consider what the rest of my year here may bring. It hasn’t been easy. Really: under-statement. As some of my posts have documented, I’m struggling with the day-to-day reality of life here, as well as with the bigger issues of environmental management… Read More
Category: Economics, Education, Ethics, Institutions & infrastructure, Politics & society, Popular culture, Rants & raves, Volunteering & activism Tags: a year in Peru, activism, aid, building community, change, corruption, creating a better future, dependency, development, education, enabling change, environmental management, government, Lima, living abroad, peru, policy, pollution, social inequality, sustainability, volunteering
So here I sit in a specialist coffee chop, tucked away underground, at Larcomar, the boutique brand outdoor mall on the edge of the sea cliffs of Miraflores. Larcomar is a celebration of rampant capitalism: it is consumerism taken to extremes, where international brands and local high-end stores cater to tourists and wealthy Peruvians in a bubble so detached from the reality of this developing world country. Larcomar is consumerism packaged as… Read More
Category: Anecdotes, Ethics, Health & wellbeing, Rants & raves Tags: a year in Peru, anti-consumerism, being a hypocrite, coffee, consumerism, economics, ethics, expat life, expat living, graffiti, Lima, Miraflores, peru, poverty, privilege, social inequality, street art, trading authenticity for security, wankers
The shape of things to come