my 15 minutes used well

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it had not rained in Lima since 1972, that is until last night - i would not be so bold as to suggest i brought the rain, but, it was the last time i was there -

living in arizona was not the desert - the desert is where there is no vegetation, at least that is what i think of when i think desert, brown, sand, hot - the road from lima to pisco was pure desert.

we sat on the top of the tourist bus, tony got the window seat, and as we left lima, he would point out all of the new interesting items in his new world - the cows, goats, desert, sand and then the vineyards, new towns... it reminded me of my childhood christmas days - new and exciting.

children playing tag, running around, parents visiting, girls parading past the boys for the sixth time to hear the whistle or the sweet somethings thrown out by the boys. vendors selling fruits, canides, toys, and other assorted items - the progressive vendors selling rides around the main plaza in pisco, department of ica, in a little car the kid gets to drive - innovation...

the police car sirens go off, the band starts to play, the young girls start parading down the main avenue in pisco, folowed by progressively older groups of women, carying banners. the teens wirth a banner, the 20 something with a banner, the 30-whatever with the banner, and the grandmothers with their banner.

around the cental laza they went, as if it were michael jordan - the street stopped, all the trafic came to a halt, the hundreds of people in the town all congregated to see and hear the event -

¨On behalf of the women of Pisco, of Ica and of the world, I encourage all of you who hear my vboice to celabrate the international day of the WOMAN! you men, you boys, you girls and women, come tommorrow to the church and celebrate the progress women have made and stand up for woman´s rights!¨ said the lady on the PA speaking from just below the statue of San Martin, liberator of Peru.

As i shot photos, all the girls, kids, women, wanted me to shoot a photo of them. my 15 minutes of fame came and left - and it was FANTASTIC...

The local photographers from the local paper watched as the centenarians, older, middle aged, young and little girls all put me in the center of their picture for the paper - we want a picture with the colombian... they all stated. so there i was with all these women wanting a photo with me - and all i said was ´on behalf of the women of colombia, and my 16 year old daughter - thanks and congratulations´ i suppose it is the little things in life which make the difference - and i thought, well mama, i guess i am officially not a male chauvenist pig any longer.

a little dinner, some music, toiny realy enjoyed the day, as did i

after dinner we walked the five feet to the town square where at 8pm the family, mom, dad, brother, sister, uncle aunt and the teen boys, young girls all conglomerated to enjoy the cool evening. it started like taht until, i pulled out my bag of giant baloons and tony started giving them to kids, it became a feeding frienzy, much like the women with which i had my 15 minutes of fame - wanting my juan franco business card

the one, two three, ended up with about fifty kids blowing balloons, the families happy, the kids delighted, and my heart at peace with the real world in which i want to live -

in the morning, i invited antonio to take a trip on a boat out to a nature preserve to see penguins, sea lions and the such. i think he is missing his mom, i tild him he was a good kid for giving his mom money every week to pay the lights, and he told me - from good moms - good kids.

thanks mom

p.s. if someone asks you if you want to eat cuy, just smile and say you are full - unless you ant to eat guiny pig, and swallow politely

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Comments

[anonymous]

good words
thx - dnzhang