Our strategy contains a period of time devoted to felt-needs research, in order to let Arequipeños tell us what would best serve them. Based on this data, we plan to formulate an initial developmental program that attempts to meet one of those needs in a sustainable way. This means that we have to learn how to do legitimate urban research, which has its own learning curve. All in all, we have a very slow ramp up to a large-scale, labor-intensive project before we ever get to the actual first developmental project, which we will also have to learn to do as we go.
14 Peruvian Cultural Quirks
I thought it would be fun to share some “Peruvian Quirks” that I feel we have gotten used to in the past six months. If you are planning to visit, these are some things that will get on your last nerve or that you will find to be blatantly different from the U.S. I know that I have left so many things out, but here is a list I have tried to compile over the month...
Great News!
As you know from our previous newsletter, March was to be a month of house hunting. With our leases expiring at our apartments, we decided it was the perfect time to look for more permanent housing in our target area. The good news is that both families have found a place to live. I’ll give the details a little later but first you need to hear how we found these places.
A New Perspective: Diane Litton
After leaving home approximately 32 hours earlier, traveling on three planes, and staying up for 22+ hours straight, we arrived at our 4th airport expecting to be met by Kyle only to find a slightly larger welcoming committee. With Shaye on his shoulders holding a sign that said, “LITTON,” and Larissa by his side, all our travel weariness was eclipsed by pure joy as we embraced this family. This is why we came…and we’d do it all over again any chance we have.