Thanks everyone for coming out Friday to Part Time for some good old fashioned polar bear rides! The photo booth was an hilarious success! I would also like to say that we are doing it again this Friday, Jan. 8th from 6-9 PM. If you didn’t get your fill last Friday and you’re ready for round two or you weren’t able to make it out this past Friday, be ready, because it’s going to be even more ridiculous. 2 prints for $5 or 1 print for $3. Plus we are still raffling off many pieces awesome artwork, $1 for one raffle ticket or $5 for 6 tickets. And don’t forget to beat the cold with Hali’s Famous hot chocolate and tasty treats.
Below is a bit from Friday. See the best of the night, all the individual photos and sequences by CLICKING ME!
OH SNAP! Say hello to 2010, Part Time Studios and their Polar bear on Friday, January 1st and January 8th from 6-9pm. Come hang out and get your photo taken with Part Time studios and the Part Time Polar bear. 4×6″ Instant prints (four shots on one print or one shot on one print): $3 for one or $5 for
Hey everyone, I just joined an artist co-op! I’ve got work space out of the house! Hurray! Those days are over and I’ve moved in with the best people in the world anyone could ask to work with. There is a variety of people in Part Time Studios all with amazing arts to share.
We just had our first in house gallery show on Friday, December 4th. We had a ton of people come in, I sold two pieces of work, and two Fishtown books. We are working on a website where you will find our work for sale, but until it’s finished, you can visit the temporary site. Click here for Part Time Studios. Thanks to everyone who came out and toured the space and supported us. We had a wonderful night and a bunch of part timers had successful sales. Check out the slideshow below to see the space and how the night went. And yes, we all work in the back of the gallery space. Amazing right!?
From top left to bottom right: Marina, Yenny, Olivia and Brighton (The daughters of Nate and Jamie Dewitt who helped organize the Nurse’s office and made sure the medicine cabinet was in ship shape order) quickly became friends for life regardless of the language barrier. They were always together hanging out or playing games together. This was a great experience for all the girls, since I’ve rarely heard of young children coming to New Hope from the states.
Neal (center), who was on the first trip to New Hope last year and returned again for his second time. He was welcomed by a few new faces and a lot of familiar smiling faces. Surrounding Neal, starting with the top left: Jorge wearing green, is a new face to the returning Liberti team, he and his Brother Julio arrived a few months after the team left last January. To Neal’s left is Henry. Henry and Neal formed a tight bond last year while Neal was here, and in the weeks leading up to the team’s arrival, Henry was constantly asking when Neal was going to arrive. To the right of Neal is Roberto. Roberto is always hamming it up for the camera and loves to be near the action. At the bottom of the frame is Moses. Ahhhh…Moses, such a great kid, always wants to be near you, and he too just loves to in all the photos.
When the team first arrived, they were pretty tired. They had a bit of time to just sit and hang out with the kids since everyone was so exhausted from traveling for 20 hours. Here everyone is relaxing, shooting pics, and watching those who had the energy jump rope. From left to right: Luis sits on Neal’s lap, Brighton, Alyssa (redish blonde hair), and Marina, watch those off frame jumping rope. Yenny, sitting to Stacy’s left (Stacy is holding the camera) and Rachel check out some shots on the back of the camera. While Haley chills in the background (in the blue sweater).
Bruce gets attacked by Fredy (on Bruce’s shoulders) and Jhon (striped shirt). This is Bruce’s first time to New Hope, and he is quickly learning how much the little kids love to climb on gringos. I remember last year carting Jhon around on my shoulders, and he would jerk my head to the left or right to direct me where he wanted us to go.
Fredy, in the foreground with the blue shirt, and Alyssa, on the other end of the jump rope, swing the jump rope for all they are worth while the kids in the middle try to stay coordinated to see how many times they can jump in a row. Peruvian or North American, Jump rope is a cross cultural game that needs no verbal language in order to have fun.
The day following the teams arrival was all business. After Christmas this year, the clothing closet here at New Hope was packed to the gills and a complete disaster with donated clothing. The first task for Team Liberti was to remove all the clothing from the clothing closet and into the Capilla (Chapel) for sorting. The above photo gives you a glimpse of how much clothing there was to go through. This is only a small glimpse; there were bags upon bags of things to go through. It took the whole day just to finish. This photo was in the process of organizing the clothing in to sizes and gender. After everything was sorted and in its right place, the kids were able to come in and pick out clothes. There was so much clothing it seemed like it would have been a three day project. But with everyone working together we were able to get everything sorted and have the kids pick their clothes in just one and a half days. Next up, painting the older girls apartment and a large mural on the futbol court wall. I’m not going to say what the mural is going to be, but it’s going to be awesome and really creative.
Marina and Yenny fool around with a ballerina dress that was amongst the donated clothing, while the team sorts and organizes clothing in the background. Another thing the team brought with them that is always a hit is arts and crafts.
Jorge gets an early look at what he hopes will be the shoes he can pick out. I can’t even begin to tell you how many shoes were in that clothing closet. On top of that, the team had purchased some nice shoes for the kids back in states at ridiculously low prices. Apparently, Jorge really likes New Balance, which were some of the shoes the Team brought with them.
The man, the myth, the legend, Dave “Zidane” Dardzinski begins drawing the layout and design of the shelves for the clothing closet. Dave is an architect and his first project is to design, build, and install shelves for the small clothing closet which is in desperate need of shelving and an architect’s mind for design. Surrounding Dave’s papers on the counter are refurbished computers and accessories which each member of the team brought down to sell here in the computer shop. The home owns the computer shop to help bring in money to cover some of the home’s expenses. Last year, the Liberti team brought computers as well. Here in Arequipa, a used computer can sell for about 200 USD. That money from the 15 computers we brought last year covered a large portion of the kids tuition for last year’s school year.
Lydia Smith arrived at New Hope on October 2nd and has been talking to her parents and family via a vonage phone/internet based phone here at the home which has an american number and also using Skype the popular video chat software to stay in touch. But computers and phones can’t substitute for the real thing. Lydia’s Mom, Sandy Smith is apart of the Team, and I know Lydia and her Mom missed each other a great deal since Lydia has been gone for almost 3 and a half months. It was awesome to witness their family reunion.
First things first. Team Liberti has arrived!!!! Second, apparently the people on the team are taking bets as to who will make the photo of the day first. So, I must say sorry for not posting anyone’s photo today. But, it’s because I don’t have photoshop installed on my computer just yet. I still have to set it up, as I just laid my hands on it for the first time late yesterday. Oh the excitement of new toys!
So, do you want to hear a great story. I just received my replacement computer!!!! What joy and excitement right!? Hold your horses mac fans. Don’t put the cart before the horse just yet. I didn’t say it was working. I am extremely grateful to those who dealt with the the seth insanity of figuring out what to do when my laptop stopped working about a month and a half ago. I’ve lived for a month and a half with out my Mac. But I must say that I did have a computer which I was able to use. Thank you Lydia for allowing me to use your computer all the time, and I mean all the time. Oh the pain and suffering I went through, you all will never know. However, my replacement is here, and the only glitch is this… there are important keys on the keyboard which are shot. But with the wonderful technology we have today, I am currently typing on a spanish keyboard plugged in to my computer with a usb port, and I’m configuring my fingers to type in new ways on that keyboard. So my solution to fix this problem is this: Today I will brave the computer tiendas/stores (there are a lot of them) in search of an external keyboard for use with my computer. Honestly, it shouldn’t be that hard. I will also call Apple and make sure to straighten out this issue with my keyboard. Moving on now from my frustration and venting, I am ready to move on to the photo of the day!
These two photos were taken shortly before Jesse Rahn left us here in Peru to return to the states. Jesse is in each photograph standing in the middle. In the right photograph between Andrew and me, and the left photograph between Julia and Lydia. The reason I’m posting these photos is not because I think I look good in this photo. If I were to be so vain I would have cropped out everyone else and let my beauty shine. That’s a joke. I have posted this photo because, this kind of photography, tourist photography is really only one of the few photo industries in Arequipa Peru. These were taken in the main plaza where most of the tourists come to visit. Photographers are dressed up like tourists, because apparently they are not allowed to charge to take someone’s picture. Each photo cost about six soles, or 2 US dollars. If this is the one of the few photo industry in Arequipa, then what hope does Axshel have to learn more about photography or even put photography to a good use if he so decides to pursue photography. I can’t say what Axshel will do when he gets older, but my hope is this: should he decide to pursue a job in photography, I want him to be prepared for any opportunity, not just be able to take a simple photograph. Which is why, when I go to Lima, I intend to find out more options for photography jobs for someone in the photography field in Peru.
The above photos are nice memories for people, and don’t get me wrong. Without the man in the square, I wouldn’t have this memory of serving in Peru with my wonderful friends. These photographs have their place, but my hope is that any person I teach photography to would be able to shoot these photographs in their sleep, and also shoot the cover for Time Magazine.
Shortly after I first arrived, the kids had a water fight that was pretty awesome. I grabbed my camera and shot a ton of photos. I put a slide show together a few months ago of all the best shots which you can find here: waterfight. But, I wanted to repost this photo, because it is simply one of my favorite shots. The wonderful expressions provided here are of Lydia dumping water on an unsuspecting Alvaro. I just love the expression on Alvaro’s face, I think you can almost feel how cold the water was by his shrieking shoulders and open mouth.
A few days ago, a water fight broke out amongst the kids, which I hear is pretty regular. So regular that, last night, when we got back from trying to go Go Karting (which is closed on monday ), the kids were having a water fight again at night. I avoided that one like the plague since I currently have a cold which feels similar to the plague.
I started getting sick on the third day I was here, and from then, on it’s only gotten worse (yes mom, I’m ok and I’m taking meds). One night, I had a fever which made me feel like I was in space, last night I lost my voice, and today I think I’m recovering a bit but still feel a little sick. On top of it all, the altitude here makes just climbing steps a bit hard. When I get to the top, I feel way out of breath, but I don’t have altitude sickness. Nonetheless, all is well.
On Sunday night, I spent my first night with the young teen boys, and on monday, we helped with their homework. Sunday night was pretty eventful since there are two boys who, if they wake up in the middle of the night, need to use the bathroom. Agusto needs to be helped to the bathroom, and Moises is afraid of the dark (I can relate, at that age, I was too) and sometimes will wet the bed, because he is too afraid to go to the bathroom in the dark. So, Moises keeps a pale next to his bed. Needless to say, I slept only a few winks that night.
In the morning, I had to wake everyone one up at 5am. I HATE WAKING UP THAT EARLY!!! If allowed, I can sleep till 2pm. I’m a night owl, but having to wake up the boys early gives me enough reason to get up too. This was my first attempt at getting young teenage boys out of bed after they were up late. Wow!, it was hard work. I had to clap my hands, make any kind of noise, shake them awake, just about anything until Brad came in with his laptop and played some Bill Withers at the loudest volume.
Everyday has been a challenge, but a challenge I have welcomed with open arms. I came here to be challenged and mix up my daily life, and I’ve gotten just that. Upon arrival, Brad and I found out that the Language school we were going to attend is way more than we expected. The price we were expecting was $60.00 a week, and the actual price is $150.00 a week. Apparently the $60.00 is just the discount and not the price. Oh well, we were notified we had to be flexible. Instead of the school, we are getting by with our wits, some grammar books, and the intention of using the program rosetta stone. It can be difficult trying to communicate with the kids with only knowing so little spanish, but you grunt, point, and act out what you’re trying to say.
In addition to all this, I will probably be starting photo classes in a month. I still have to do lesson planning. The language will be a big barrier to understanding, and I will most likely have Julia Black translate. Juila is pretty much fluent in spanish, so this is a huge blessing and help. I will be doing simple projects like having them do a portrait of a friend, learning about different elements of composition and direction of light, etc.
And some other general updates: When I arrived at the Lima airport, the LAN airline rep asked me how I got my 74 lbs check bag here, and when did I arrive. I said I just got here and just came through customs. She gave me a wary look, and asked to see my tickets from the states. You are only allowed one check bag of no more than 50 lbs. when flying to Lima from any other country. So when the lady checking my bag in atlantic city let it slide, it kind of created a problem. But you know what? They let the bag go and never even charged me for the additional weight, which in Peru you get charged 2.20 for each lb. over 40. HA! Can’t believe it. On top of that, you’re supposed to be only allowed one carry on bag; one means one. And I had two. She let me go with both. Then when I went through customs I didn’t need to get my bags looked through. Which is big, because I had two printers with me, one for 4×6 pictures and one for the home which might have caused a problem. Whew. Thank you God!
Well, keep checking back for more updates. All is well. Thank you for all your prayers. I’ll have to write more about church some time. It’s pretty interesting when you know nothing they are saying. Peace.
Only 15 days left until I leave for Peru. I’d like to thank those who donated cameras, equipment, and finances to give the kids at New Hope an opportunity to experience Photography hands on. As my departure date gets closer, I’m experiencing a slew of emotions from one day to the next. I’m nervous about my arrival, because I only speaking a little spanish. I’m told I’ll pick it up fast living with the kids and going to language school Monday through Friday. Since my departure date is arriving soon, I’ve been studying spanish in spurts in between preparing for being away for six months and preparing for my last two weddings out of twenty one in 2 1/2 months. I still have some odds and ends to wrap up and of course see my family and friends, because I won’t be in the States for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
One major issue I’m still trying to find out more information about is bringing all the donated point and shoot cameras through customs without having to pay a tax. If anyone is able to find out more information regarding this issue, please let me know ASAP. If you know of someone who might have dealt with similar issue, please ask if they would be willing to talk to me. My hope is that because they are donations to New Hope and I am simply transporting them, there will be no tax.
With all the preparing and craziness, there are times of clarity of how excited I am to go and serve at New Hope. I’ve been prepped about adapting, feeling isolated, being a minority, not speaking the language by those who have been on long term missions before. I’m very grateful for their words and insight. I am not sure what it will be be like experiencing the culture shock. But until I step foot off the plane, it’s one day at a time.
I can’t wait to see how this all pans out, and I’m going to need all your prayers. Please pray for our team (Brad Labriola, Jesse Rahn, Lydia Smith, Julia Black, and myself) who are serving at the New Hope Children’s Home in Arequipa, Peru. We will need prayer for knowing how to best serve and love the children, learning our daily roles at the home, and simply adjusting to the culture and language. Keep checking back for me updates.
P.s. If you are forgetful like me and it helps to have reminders to pray for people, use the picture below by clicking on it, saving or copying it to your computer, print it out, and stick it on your fridge.
), the kids were having a water fight again at night. I avoided that one like the plague since I currently have a cold which feels similar to the plague.