In Praise of Peru 1: Lima

As regular readers of my blog will know, I am (notwithstanding narcotraficante violence, a supposed ‘failing state’ and swine-flu) rather smitten with Mexico – see especially my post “Ten Reasons to Fall in Love with Mexico”. However, Mexico may now have a rival for my affections – I spent most of the month of January this year in Peru and adored it.

Peru is a fascinating country.

Hanging around at the Día Internacional del Árbol

Photo courtesy of Sergio 'Tapiro' Velasco www.volcandecolima.com

Last Saturday 11th July was the International Day of the Tree – I think this sounds and reads better in Spanish – el Día Internacional del Árbol. The Patronato del Nevado – which is a civil society organization that shares the management of the  National Park of the Volcano Nevado de Colima with SEDER (the Secretary for Rural Development in the state of Jalisco) – organized an event high up in the National Park to celebrate this day, as they have done every year for the past five years.

I have written about the National Park before on this blog. Once with an emphasis on the conservation work that is being done there, and another time with a focus on the challenges of the management of the park, created by having a dual management structure.

This time, I want to write about the event organized to celebrate the International Day of the Tree, with some observations about cultural differences relating to time and my reflections on them.