We guess the carols serve as a sort of seasonal alarm Besides visiting Villa The third thing we really want to see again are the Yes, now that we think about it, we are really ready Still, it will be good to escape from the belly of the Calendar shock – one of the Boston radio stations has started playing exclusively Christmas music. We’re not nearly ready for this. Admittedly, it’s cold outside (41F) but we’re still in the meat of the fall semester and haven’t even finalized … Continue reading ![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/chavihead.jpg\")
Calendar
\n shock – one of the Boston radio stations <\/a>has started playing exclusively
\n Christmas music. We’re not nearly
\n ready for this. Admittedly, it’s cold outside (41F) but we’re still in
\n the meat of the fall semester and haven’t even finalized our Thanksgiving
\n plans. <\/p>\n
\n clock, a not-so-subtle cue that the holidays are just around the corner,
\n and it’s nice to hear them now because when Christmas Day actually comes
\n we will be far from here, way up on the continental spine, over 4 thousand
\n miles due south. They don’t play The Little Drummer Boy or White Christmas
\n or the Chipmunk Song up in the Peruvian Andes.<\/p>\n
\n Maria<\/a>, our son’s adventure tourism
\n hotel, and meeting our first grandchild, born a month ago, we hope to
\n get to three attractions during our two weeks in Peru. We really want
\n to
\n visit
\n Chavin
\n de Huantar<\/a>,
\n one
\n of
\n the
\n oldest
\n ruins
\n in
\n South America, nestled at the head of an almost untouched Andean valley called
\n the Callejon de Conchucos<\/a>. It
\n is known as the Cradle of Andean Civilization, and is an archeological
\n jewel ensconced in an even more spectacular natural setting. In all of
\n our years and trips to Peru, we have never been there.<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/puyaraymondi.jpg\")
The
\n other two places we have seen, and have always wanted to go back to.
\n The Ice Caves under the Pastoruri
\n Glacier<\/a> have haunted
\n my dreams since we first saw them 25 years ago. They are at 5400 meters
\n above sea level, more than three miles, and we have probably diminished
\n our lung capacity since we were 27, but we want to give it a try.<\/p>\n
\n Puya Raymondi<\/a>, an endangered cactus which only exists in a few isolated
\n areas of Peru and Bolivia, which lives 100 years, grows to over 30
\n feet in height, and only flowers, brilliantly, once in its life, then
\n dies.<\/p>\n
\n for a trip to the Andes. Somehow we have been feeling a little queasy
\n being an American in America just now. The panorama seems dirty and sullied,
\n like we are moving slowly through a gelatinous ether, formed from denial
\n and deception which only we can see. Perhaps we feel responsible for
\n the mess, somehow, if only because we voted for Dubya in misguided attempt
\n to jinx him with the weight of a seven-selection losing streak. But
\n in a discomforting way, if only by extension and geography, as long as we hold the bright blue passport, WE are one of the invaders,
\n and WE are one of the the torturers.<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/izecave.jpg\")
But
\n we have long since reconciled with what it means to be an American in
\n this day and age. You have to take the bad with the good. We have
\n no desire to go native, worship nature, or remove ourself from the Net
\n more than briefly.<\/p>\n
\n beast, if only for a
\n few short weeks. The thin air and untamed nature of those
\n mountains have always clarified our thoughts and rejuvenated our body. Perhaps
\n from the vantage of 5,000 meters we will be able to see a rational way
\n out of the national nightmare fast approaching our beloved country.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"