Some photos

Hello everyone! The amount of pictures I have that I think would be interesting to put on here is spiraling out of control. So, in an attempt to catch up, here are a bunch. I hope everyone is doing well. I have less than a year left of Peace Corps service, then I'm back...well, maybe back.

- Every year there is an outdoor concert with horrible bands doing covers of every kind - from Sweet Child O'Mine to Satisfaction. It's not good music - but it is entertaining. But, the scenery was beautiful and I was with some fun people

- Hiking - I'm the 2nd from the right.
- Picture of glaciers - there is our guide in the upper right hand corner - to give some scale. The difference between what they look like from afar and when you're on them is monumentally different.

-That's me in my room playing guitar...that's how I spend a lot of time, right there.

- On a hiking trip, here is a picture of some of the mountains. We're about 16,000 feet up at this spot. Camping that high is interesting - 1) It's really cold - by 8pm you want to be in your tent. 2) We were at the base of a couple big mountains you can't see - and the avalanches during the night would wake you up. It was scary, thunderous avalanches and you can't see anything.

- Beautiful sunset.

This is on a combi...just thought it was a cute picture. The kids are so cute here and the old people are eternal. She actually has a lot of teeth - quite rare.

-The ladies of the 'market' in Tarica, where I live. They always try to flirt with me and keep asking me when I'm going to invite them over for dinner. I talk to them about cooking - which they find fascinating because guys don't cook here.

- We made t-shirts for the volunteers in my department (like a state). This is the design on the back - turned out great. We asked my artisans to make mugs and I gave them a design. Well, the person who put them in the oven was drunk, and they all came out bad because he lost track of time and turned it off too early. At least the shirts turned out nicely.

These are some of the goofballs I'm sharing my time with. Those are their best pirate faces - on the left that's Ruddy Barnacles and on the right that's Baldbeard....Arrrggghhh!

We play ultimate frisbee sometimes - it was time for a group photo - so I ran and got a sheep for the photo - that's me in the middle holding the sheep. Baaaa!

If you wanted to poop, back-to-back, that's how it would look...I suppose. That's Vishal and Frank - Vishal prefers to do his business with an icy beverage in one hand - his balance is that good. It's a big question of trust.

That's Vish, Frank, and me during reconnect last November...time flies. Anca$h tripod.

The night time sky is unbelievable. The moon is so bright you have a shadow. It's hard to describe just how beautiful it is, you just have to see it yourself. Also - there are way too many satellites up there, very easily seen racing across the sky from this vantage point.

This is just a cool photo. As Frank said, it would make a good album cover - our band, Snow Rascals.


- On a glacier. That's duct tape around my glasses to keep the reflection from the glacier off my eyes. Did you know it's possible to sun-burn your eyeballs?

Well - that's enough for now. I hope everyone is doing great.

Much love,

Jake

Water Shortages...say hi to global warming

Today, like many other days, I wake up and am confronted with no water. Entire week, same situation. Before my Peace Corps life, I knew of shortages around the world, lakes drying up, glaciers retreating – but in the States, you know something will be done about it and you might have to conserve, but not do without.

During the dry season here, the water we use comes from the glaciers. During the rainy season, rain water along with glacial water provides our water source. Right now, the glaciers provide a sufficient amount of water for us, even if we don’t have water every day – usually after a couple days, the water returns for a day or two, then no water…repeat.

What is going to be a huge problem for the farmers and families in the future is that the glaciers are receding about 6 feet a year…much faster than any previous time in history. So, in the near future, extreme water shortages are very plausible. Farmers will not be able to plant during the dry season which will lose a third of their income and food. That will add to the lack of nutrients their children receive and small issues will emerge into large problems.

What’s even scarier is my countrymen still don’t know or don’t believe that global warming is real or that we have an impact on the climate. Why is that? Here are two problems (among many) contributing:

One topic we hear often is that Mother Earth is so big and we are so little we can’t possibly have an effect. That’s what human intuition tells us – similar to the notion that the earth is not moving and it’s flat, that thunder comes before lightning, etc. Human intuition can be very useful among interactions with people, but it is scary just how wrong it is when looking at anything around the world. So, start thinking about all those things your intuition tells you about the world – those things you ‘feel’ – then realize that you’re probably wrong. But, after we kill ourselves off the planet is not going to disappear, but the climate of the past 4 billion years will be changed.

The biggest problem to me is the government and big business. The Republican agenda has never been more about enriching the already rich. Just take a look at the last 8 years and the income inequality growing, the economic problems, the dependence on oil. Big business certainly won’t change their carbon output because that’s expensive and Republicans won’t force it because they depend largely on that campaign money. So, this past government (and the one if McCain is elected), does everything it can to cast doubt and suspicion on the data scientists provide…for instance, the artic ice cap is melting and will probably be gone within 5 to 10 years…couldn’t be due to global warming! The glaciers here and elsewhere are retreating faster than any other time in history – NOPE, they’re not shrinking, they’re becoming more compact! The huge ice shelves breaking off in Antarctica…completely normal! The steady increase in temperature – the sun must be moving closer! Let’s keep borrowing money from China to buy that oil in the Middle-East!

Acknowledging global warming would affect our convenient routines and balance sheets, hence, a lie from the government, after all, is convenient – you don’t have to change. Did you know that Dick Cheney’s administration removed pages from a NASA report from the top climate scientist on global warming? The pages with clear language about the dangers of global warming were removed. Cheney then said that he can withhold classified documents because the vice president is not an entity within the executive branch – basically, he says he can do whatever he wants.

What kind of person would remove information warning us about the problems we are creating…not for us at this exact moment, but for our future children? My parents always told me there is nothing worse than lying – as many other parents told their kids – but then when the VP (and the entire Bush administration) lies, they’ll vote again for his party to keep the lies coming. How can you trust someone that would actually vouch for Dick Cheney after he does something like that? How can you trust anyone associated or influenced by him? He holds a public office representing the citizens of the US. When asked what he thinks that over 65% of Americans do not support the Iraq war, his response was, “So?” Corrupt, hypocritical, and selfish – that’s the Vice President of the US.

Global warming is a bigger threat than terrorism. The terrorist attacks on 9-11 killed 3,000 people. Billions of dollars have now been spent on the war on terror (a lot of that money funneled back to friends of Bush). We’ve now murdered more innocent people than that in our bombings of Iraq and Afghanistan – so many that there is no accurate estimate. And Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11! Over 4,000 American soldiers have been killed since 9-11. Violence leads to violence which leads to more violence – which has murdered a lot of people and will murder even more in the future.

Stop and think about global warming. By failing to act we will be killing hundreds of millions of people. It’s like putting ticking nuclear bombs all over the world; we just don’t know when they’ll go off. And, instead of finding them and dismantling, we’re ignoring them meanwhile the Bush administration is lying to the public about their existence.

Water shortages will lead to shortages of every other kind. The poor people of the world will be the first losers. Of course, Americans don’t see those poor people everyday, the malnutrition of children with big smiles and bright eyes, the farmers bent over from back-breaking work to feed their families. In fact, America not only ignoring the plight of others, but adding to it, continues the tradition of how we became such a rich nation. Out of sight – out of mind. Stop and think about the direct and indirect effects of how you live. How much longer can we ignore it?

One of my favorite musical artists is Michael Franti – I’ll finish with a quote from him: “You’re telling me it’s unpatriotic but I call it what I see it when I see it’s idiotic."

Love,
Jake

P.S. - The pictures in this blog are beautiful, aren't they? I took these during my last mountain climbing trip. You can see the spots where the glacier was just a year ago - now bare. This is just one of the things at stake by failing to react. I don't understand how anyone who claims to be a nature lover would vote Republican.