October 20, 2009
After two weeks at home, my son Thomas, is starting to feel a bit of culture shock. At first he had the high of being back in the house he grew up in, but, he says he is really starting to miss the sense of community he experienced in Peru. Neighbors talking in the plaza at night, the numerous community get togethers to clean irrigation ditches, or celebrate a birthday. In the United States we are so isolated from each other, and he didn't really notice to what extent we are until he came back after a two year absence. Interesting observation. Kathy and I were pleasantly shocked at the intimate nature of the main street scene in Canuelas, Argentina, when, on a Monday night, we went downtown and the whole place was alive with shoppers and strollers, and old people and kids, all talking and laughing. I think we lost a certain sense of that in our rush to put our relatives and neighbors at arm's length.

While looking for something else, I found this page of sketches from July:

Not bad. Here's another page from the same period:

"The whole history of the world is summed up in the fact that when nations are strong, they are not always just, and when they wish to be just, they are no longer strong."
—Sir Winston Churchill