Vehicles -

Last year we posted a number of photos of interesting cars, vans and moto-taxis we have seen in Huaraz. Here are a few more auto-related photos.

Our landlord purchased a new Suzuki several months ago and had this roof built to protect it from the sun and rain. It has an alarm system and each time their cat climbs on the roof to take a nap, the car makes a sound but not a full alarm. At first it startled the cat but now she is used to it. For the first months the owner wiped it off each day and washed it several times a week, whether it needed it or not. He finally gave up when the cat left tracks each day in the dust on the hood and windshield.

The old Chevy pickup now is parked out in the cold.

The son of an older couple who are members of the Church and live straight across the park from us owns this VW. They were driving it to church one Sunday and picked us up. Brought back a lot of memories.

This is a beauty. It still has the original VW emblem on the hood.

Mint condition all around. I believe it is an early 60's model, judging from the larger rear window and the larger tail lights.

How about this pristine VW Kombi van?

Judging from the grillwork, this is a mid to late 50's model.

It is in good condition all around.

Another morning I passed by the VW Kombi and there was the garbage awaiting pickup. See previous blog posting on the garbage system here.

One morning as we left for the archives, we encountered this meeting of moto-taxi drivers and their vehicles. Not sure what this was all about.

There were a lot of them! Largest group we have seen in one place.

Windows -
This may be an unusual subject to post to our blog but we have found the variety of windows in Huaraz very interesting. Here is a sampling.

We'll start with this 4 story home and the unfinished commercial building next to it.

An unusual design of small panes in each window. I would not want the window-washing job at this house.

Nice variety of windows here. This is the second and third floors of a home.

This house is right across the street from our apartment.

A nice assortment of window shapes, all in one three story home on a corner.

"Einsteinitos" is the name of this colorful preschool about 3 blocks from our apartment. Lots of window shapes here.

Why would you angle the corners on all your windows?

Here is a collection of window styles on three different buildings. All appear to be homes although there businesses on the bottom floor of two.

Some uniformity here, kinda sorta I guess. Homes on the upper floors and businesses on the ground floor.

The former hostal in front of our apartment building recently received a new paint job and here you can see the painters putting on the final touches. The owner (our landlord) has converted it into three apartments, one on each floor, with three bedrooms and four bathrooms in each one. Actually the windows on this one are a little different.

Waste Removal in Huaraz -

We have been interested in the garbage collection system in the city. It is certainly different from what we know at home. Basically each home or business puts their garbage out either late at night or very early in the morning. Pickup times vary depending on where you live on the route. At our apartment, the truck comes twice, once at, or near, 6:00 a.m. and again around 7:00 a.m. We always take it out in the morning and try to catch the 7:00 a.m. pickup. The truck comes every day except Sunday and you can put out your garbage as frequently as needed. 

In my early morning walks, I have been able to observe the various forms and locations of the garbage as well as the fate of some of the garbage that is put out at night.

These were on the corner across from our apartment, awaiting pickup by the garbage truck.

This is the usual method: bag it up and set it on the curb in front of your dwelling.

Here is another option, put it out by your car so the truck will be sure to see it.

This is interesting. The blue barrel is a garbage can but perhaps the homeowner, not being sure how soon it would be emptied, chose to put his garbage in a more visible location to ensure pickup that morning.

A creative option. Probably to make it a little more difficult for the ever present street dogs to get into the garbage.

Not all garbage is bagged.

Easy spot to remember, the street corner with the leaning street sign.

Umbrella anyone? Looks like several neighbors contributed to this pile.

Here is why it is not wise to put your garbage out at night or too early in the morning -- dogs! There are lots of street dogs here and this is perhaps the only source of food for them.

Taking his picture didn't seem to deter him from his objective.

Same corner, different day, different dog. They must have tasty scraps.

A doggie bag for take out! Maybe he didn't want to share his meal with the other dogs.

"Let sleeping dogs lie" might apply to this group. What do the street dogs do when not rummaging through garbage? Take a nap. These were on the main street downtown in front of the post office.

Garbage is not the only thing that gets piled in the street. This is construction material from the project to the left. It is covered to protect from the rain and possibly theft. Also to let the garbage truck know that it is not garbage.

This construction waste is probably intended for pickup.

A mixed assortment of construction waste and garbage.

A neat and tidy pile. Probably indicates the owner is still using the sand or gravel that is underneath.

Apparently anything can be put out for pick up.

This has been on the street for months. Obviously not in running condition,

The back doesn't look much better.

There are trash cans around the city, but not very many. There are two in the park in front of our apartment. They swivel on the posts and are emptied by tipping the bottom up until the contents fall out.

This is another style that we have seen in some residential areas. It keeps the garbage away from the dogs but they are not used very much. Most people prefer to put out their plastic bags on the curb.

Last year we posted a picture of the garbage pickup ladies who worked our neighborhood. I have not seen them since the first of the year when the new mayor was sworn in. Ladies like this one are all over the city all day sweeping up and gathering garbage, litter and dog droppings from the streets and sidewalks. Thanks to them there is some semblance of sanitation on the sidewalks and streets of the city.

Huaraz does have modern garbage trucks to pick up the bags and debri that are left out each morning. Notice the stuffed animals on the roof. Since this picture was taken they have added several more. They play music as they make their rounds as well as a recorded message about sanitation. The music easily penetrates your early morning slumber, thanks to the loudspeaker on the roof of the cab.

"Municipality District of Independencia" "A clean district is a healthy district" - We actually live in the city of Independencia, which is adjacent to Huaraz. The men riding on the back of the truck jump off and pick up the garbage and throw it in the back as the truck moves slowly through the streets.

Archives Directors Conference -

On June 24 and 25, the Regional Archives, where we work here in Huaraz, sponsored a conference and workshop for archives directors and personnel in the northern half of Peru, and any other private and government managers and employees involved in the handling and storage of records. It was held in one of the conference centers of the Cultural Center of Huaraz. Each half-day session ran from 9:00 to 1:00, although they were generally 30 to 40 minutes late in starting. Attendance exceeded 150 each day. There were several musical and theatrical presentations both days to lighten up the program. We did not take pictures of any of the presenters/speakers as they were pretty boring.

This is the colorful poster advertising the conference.

This is the opening ceremony with all the dignitaries seated up front. The Director of the National Archives is in the center, just to the right of the little blue flag, leaning over to talk to the person next to him. Our director is the third from him on the right in a pink shirt with his head turned.

This children's choir sang the Peruvian National Anthem (along with the audience).

This was a fun skit about the importance of keeping written records, having witnesses to actions, and including fingerprints and "footprints". These were students from a local drama class.

This was an intermission number performed by local dancers in colorful native costumes. There were two drummers in the back providing the beat and also playing flutes.

The dancers waiting to go onstage.

The costumes were very fancy and full of colors.

This was one of the technicians who was very helpful in setting up our laptop and connecting with the projector.

I was asked to do a 20 minute presentation during the second day on FamilySearch and the records preservation program in over 280 archives in the world. I used a PowerPoint presentation that our trainer, Juan Montalbán, had prepared for the 25th anniversary of the local archives in February. He has been in Chile for the past month setting up a camera and training a senior couple.

Taken during my PowerPoint presentation.

The closing ceremony was pretty simple. One of the presenters from the National Archives in Lima is speaking. The director of our archives is seated to the right.

We'll close with this photo of the shield or emblem of the Ancash Region. Since the region, the rough equivalent to one of our states, extends from the ocean to the Andes mountains, those area are represented in the emblem.