after the earthquake in Chile

Chile experienced a massive earthquake yesterday. The amazing thing is that it was not more devasting than it was - a testament apparently to strict building codes and good emergency preparedness.

Here in Lima, we did not feel direct effects of the quake, though there was a small trembler about 2 hours south of us in Ica yesterday, as well. That town was devastated by a massive earthquake in 2008 from which they are still recovering, so the locals were pretty freaked out.

For several hours following the quake, the coast of Peru, indeed the entire Pacific coast all the way up to Mexico, was on alert for possible Tsunamis from the earthquake. In the end, we did not get any. But we did have the opposite experience. Normally, we have next to no tides here in Lima. However, Saturday morning the water pulled back, as if there had been an enormous low tide. Areas that are normally under water were totally exposed. When we drove down to the beach at about 10 am, the water level had come back some, but was still very low. And there were next to no waves, in a region where surfing is big and high waves are to be expected.

Britt and Addison had meant to go surfing that morning. We had loaded the surf boards on the car and packed all the gear. But the low tide was eerie, and we decided to let nature take its course without us.

Here in Lima, the beaches are along the coast, but the city is built up on high dirt cliffs. So it was easy for us to find higher ground. Rather than venturing into the water, we headed  for the Saturday morning farmer's market. This is an adventure in itself - less risky, but very interesting nonetheless, as we learn to explore the varied and exotic fruits of Peru.

Saturday, Britt and Addison were ready to go surfing, but the effects of the Chilean earthquake dissuaded them from trying.

So, instead, we headed upland to the organic farmers market, held every Saturday morning in Miraflores. The produce and products are very fresh  and irresistable, as was true for these native potatoes (known as Peruanitas because they are lovely and dimpled like a pretty, Andean maiden), the prickly pear fruit, and two types of berries from the jungle. One tastes like currants and the other like cherries.

These people, wearing traditional Andean hats, were listening to some new age-style lecture at the farmer's market

This is a photo of the Rosa Nautica restaurant by the beach in Lima. It is pictured in its normal state (Sunday, more than 24 hours after the Chilean earthquake). In the hours following the quake, the water had pulled back so far that the sand and rocks were revealed all the way out to the point beyond the restaurant.

This photos shows the cobbled lane that leads from the Lima neighborhood of Miraflores down to the beachfront.

Here is a pedestrian path leading from the beaches up to the clifftop and neighborhood of Miraflores.

By Sunday afternoon, after the Saturday quake in Chile, the water had returned to normal in Lima. The sun was out, and the pelicans and surfers were back in their usual large numbers.

More India

These photos are from my visit to the Indian state of Orissa. I stayed in the lovely capital city of Bhubaneswar, a planned city filled with hundreds (formerly thousands) of temples, big and small. There are wide boulevards, large parks, and murals adorning walls, bridges, and more. It's lovely.
Here, I visited sweetpotato projects and numerous project partners. I had to give an impromptu presentation to a group of about 50 youths from poor farming communities displaced by large steel industries. I also got a chance to visit many temples, including the large and famous Konark temple located about 1.5 hours from Bhubaneswar, near the coast and Bay of Bengal.

We drove out of Bhubaneswar and into the countryside, past harvest rice paddies and innumerable temples, old and new.






When we arrived at the site, the locals were very suspicious, and rightly so. They are very poor farmers, who have already been displaced by large steel companies. When they saw us arrive in shiny cars, they thought we had come to take away their land, once again. When they found out that we were there to see how the sweetpotato plants we'd provided were faring, they then were more concerned about getting more planting material from us.
The land is poor, and work very backbreaking. Our hope is that our planting material will yield better results (quality and quantity) than the local varieties, and that over time people will be willing to adopt to darker fleshed varieties, which are more nutritious. It's a long-term process and investment.

At a local youth training center, I was asked to give an impromptu talk. The deal was sealed when the power went out, so they could not continue their normal computer and other training. So I did my best to talk about how computers could open a much broader world to them, and to take advantage of every training and learning opportunity given them. I also tried to convey the idea that they had more talents than they might realize; eagerness, curiousity, maybe the ability to tell stories, fix things, come up with new ideas. That sort of thing. I'm not sure it was my most shining moment; it felt far more like a "lost in translation" sort of occasion. And in the end the kids seemed most interested in having their picture taken with me, which was fun, too.

These are views of just some of the hundreds of temples of Bhubaneswar. The larger ones have pools or lakes. The green pool pictured below is said to hold water from all of the sacred rivers of India.

These men had caught fish from one of the temple pools and were waiting to have them weighed and sold.

Three on a bike, a common sight. Sometimes you'll see a family of four or five piled onto a motorbike.

 

These photos are from the magnificent Konark temple. It was built to resemble an enormous chariot, with 12 wheels and pulled by 7 horses. The sculptures adorning the temple are remarkable - including numerous series' of Kama Sutra poses. There are also dancers, and elephants, and various gods, including snake goddesses. It's a fantastic place, and very popular even though we tried to arrive relatively early in the morning.

After the Konark temple, we drove a kilometer or so to the coast, where I got to put my feet in the Bay of Bengal. The beach was empty save for my footprints and those of my colleague and host, Sreekanth.

India - part I

After a week in Beijing, associated with activities surrounding the formal signing ceremony recognizing the establishment of my organization's new center in China (the first intern'l science research organization granted official status in China), I headed to India for two weeks.. There were multiple purposes to this trip - site visits, work with colleagues and partners, and assessing the communications needs, capacities, and comparative advantages there. Of course, I also wanted to work in some sight-seeing.
It was a fascinating first visit to India for me. Delhi is quite overwhelming, even compared to places like Cairo, or poor parts of Latin America. The sheer numbers of people, and the scale of poverty and filth are quite something. Yet, there is beauty and grace. And of course, an amazing history combined with the enormous potential of a country filled with talent and energy. Oh, and there are elephants, too.

Here are photos from the Red Fort, in old Delhi. It is filled with amazing stone work and detail.

I spent the night in Agra, so that I could visit the Taj Mahal shortly after day break. The lighting was beautiful, indeed, and the views completely up to expectations.

The ubiquitos cows. These were walking past my hotel in a fairly tony neighborhood.

This photo is from a site visit with colleagues to see the potato harvest, including varieties developed at our center to be more heat and drought resistant.

Driving back to Delhi from a site visit. We passed numerous pilgrims carrying these decorated buckets. They are filled with water from a sacred river, and the pilgrims will carry them many kilometers home.

Elephants on the road. My colleagues laughed at my amazement and excitement. Though one of them noted that his daughter had asked, upon their arrival in India, why there was a zoo along the side of the road. Along with elephants you see monkeys, cows, and other stray animals.

These photos are form Hyderabad - the old center of the city. Though less than 20 percent of the population of India is muslim, the proportion living in Hyderabad is much higher. Note the sweetpotatoes for sale at the market. We have several projects on sweetpotato, focused on encouraging a switch from white-fleshed to orange-fleshed varieties, which are rich in betacarotene and could help address widespread vitamin-A deficiency.

I was housed at one of our sister organizations, Int'l Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, ICRISAT, which has a campus and miles and miles of experimental fields, ponds, and more.

These are chickpeas drying in the sun.

There are birds everywhere at ICRISAT