Two Spencers in One Airport

According to the UN World Urbanization Prospects report, Lima is the 27th largest metropolitan area in the world with almost 9 million people living in the metropolitan area, so it would be crazy to think that I'm the only Spencer in Lima.  But who would have thought that there were two Spencer's landing at the Lima Airport at midnight on given night? I sure didn't when I was looking for the taxi driver that my host arranged to pick me up.  I saw a sign with "Spencer" on it and when I asked if his name was Gaspar he smiled and nodded (evidently not understanding me).  Beside the taxista asking me how my flight from Quito, Ecuador was, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  We had a wonderful ride (approx. 40 minutes) to Miraflores, and I got a bit of Spanish practice telling him about my project and learning about his family.

Then, we pull up to the Lion Backpackers Hostel and he tells me this is it..."No, this is not it, I'm staying with a family." And all of a sudden, the light bulb clicks.  The sign he was holding at the airport also said Andrew on it and in my daze of traveling all day I just ignored it; he wasn't wrong in asking me how my flight from Quito was.  Turns out two Spencers with arranged taxis to accommodations in Miraflores (one of 49 districts in the Lima metro) landed at the Lima airport at midnight on September 26th.  Unfortunately, I chose the wrong one.

This would not have been a problem if I had been prepared and had written down Laura's contact information OR better yet, taken down the address.  But I had figured the taxista would take care of that... Luckily the manager of the Lion Backpackers Hostel was very helpful and allowed me to use their internet to look up Laura's phone number and then called Laura for directions to her home.  So, an hour and a half after picking up "my" ride home, I finally made it to my house for the next three months.  We never found out what happened to Spencer Andrew but hopefully he made it to the hostel.

Home sweet home in Miraflores, Lima, Peru. 

Back in Business for a new experience

Well, everyone, after an unfortunate 8 weeks away from the blogosphere, I'm back in business.  The last few weeks of my project work in Tanzania were very busy as I completed my 80 hut-to-hut surveys and conducted multiple stakeholder interviews with village leadership, school faculty and staff, and even with the Rorya district primary school officer. Once back in the US on August 30th, I barely stopped moving, never in one place for more than 4 or 5 days: Fayetteville for the first Razorback game of the season, Hot Springs and Lake Hamilton for Labor Day and quality family time, DC for a wonderful reunion with close friends and some professional meetings, NYC for the Clinton Global Initiative, and in between a lot of short periods in Little Rock (ALL IN ONE MONTH). 

On September 26th, I packed up my bags again (much lighter this time) and headed off to Lima, Peru
to begin project work with Minga Peru.  I am developing a study tour program for the organization that will bring undergraduate and graduate Communication students to Lima and the Amazon to learn about Minga's work and to meet the women and children with whom Minga works.  Although Minga looks to work with multiple universities in the future, we are currently planning on a pilot program with UALR for this coming May. The deliverable of my project is a program guide for the organization outlining not only the programming and lessons for the May trip but providing a framework so that Minga staff will be able to coordinate programming and logistics for future programs as well.

Not only does this next experience look to provide numerous lessons in program development, organizational management, and fundraising, but also will be a great comparison to my work this past summer in Shirati.  Whereas in TZ my project work was in the field and I was working in the field most days, my work in Peru will be based out of Lima.  I will only have one opportunity to visit the Amazonia communities (for a week) and so will have to take advantage of that week to gain as much insight as possible into the programs, the people, and the dynamic of Minga Peru in the Peruvian Amazon.  Here's to the next adventure! Salud!