Category: Travel Page 37 of 62

Globetrottin’

Santiago Atitlan

On December 20, 2009

Today we had planned to hike along the shore, but delayed that activity due to the rain. Instead we took a boat across to Santiago Atitlan for the Sunday market. It was a far less touristed town, and apart from the area directly in front of the dock, the stalls were selling everyday goods. The market was crowded but my relative height meant that I towered over everyone and could see my way through. In the center of town is a large apostolic church and a relief map of the lake and the surrounding towns. I took an overhead picture for Jeff to rectify.

A small boy who claimed to be nine but looked seven follwed me around, eventually convincing us to take a tuk-tuk tour of the town from his father. We went to see Maximon, a Maya figure who accepts offerings of money, cigarettes, and liquor. We also went to a “peace park” at the site of a massacre in 1991, which interested Mom greatly. Back on the boat in the rain, and Hannah and Ruth went off for a weaving lesson.

Around Lake Atitlan

By Josh

On December 19, 2009

In Maya Adventure

We left Antigua early on Saturday and drove along the Pan-American highway north to the lake. It’s a curvy road, but apparently much better than it used to be. Children stand along the edges waving to the turisticos, hoping to be thrown candy.

We had lunch and did more shopping in Panajachel, and Ruth found a beaded dinosaur that I thought was an igaunadon, but she declared definitively was a brachylophosaurus. I trust the amateur paleontologist on this one. All the kids knew was that it cost 175 quetzales.

We left Armando and took a small boat from Pana to Santa Cruz, where we are staying for the weekend. There is a ridiculous view out our bungalow window of one of the volcanoes that ring the lake. Had a lively diner discussion with some of the other people staying at the hotel, and retired early to a game of Hannah Montana Uno.

Antigua Guatemala

By Josh

On December 18, 2009

In Maya Adventure

After a day resting back in Boston, I’m off on another trip, this time for pleasure, not business. Mom and Hannah came down on Wednesday, and we set off for the airport early Thursday morning. We met Ruth in the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, and then flew off to Guatemala.

Landing in the city, we were surprised by the size and efficiency of the new airport. The traffic in the city, not so much. Got a ride to Antigua, where we had an excellent dinner at Hannah’s favorite restaurant, and then slept soundly in Mom’s rented apartment. Walked around the city on Friday, sampling the fresh strong coffee, buying crafty things, and generally relaxing. We met Armando and Theresa for lunch in a garden restaurant, and saw Fernando for dinner. After hearing so many stories about this place, I’m happy to finally see it for myself.

To Jerusalem

By Josh

On December 11, 2009

In Mapping Palestine

On the drive from Amman to Jerusalem, we shared a taxi with Jacob from Souktel.

They’re the best mobile aid provider in the region, have mostly palestinian programmers, but was co-founded founded by this canadian HBS graduate. We’ve talked briefly before, but we had a several hour conversation on the complicated nature of work in this area. After arriving at Damascus Gate he left us to return to Ramallah, and we met Jared at Al-Ayed chicken restaurant.

Since it’s Jeff’s first time here, we spent the afternoon trekking around the old city. Did the standard holy sites tour: Church of the Speulchre, Western Wall, Dome of the Rock. Couldn’t actually get up to the mount because it was Friday, but did see some exuberant dancing at the Kotel plaza for the second night of Hannukkah. Then walked along the eastern edge of the wall, overlooking Silwan, a Palestinian village under threat of destruction, and the Valley of Jehosphat, where the dead shall rise when Gog and Magog battle and the Lord returns in glory. Or at least that’s what wikipedia tells me.

Pillar of Absalom and Cave of Jehosephat

Nose picking at the Church of St Mary Magdalene

Jeff bought some “computers”, which are really knock-off nintendo boards from china, on the street for $20. The first immediately broke upon plugging in to the TV, but I think we can fix it when we get back to the lab. The intention is to develop educational software for this platform, perhaps using the Contiki OS, but I think he just wants to play Duck Hunt.

IMDC4SA Day 3

By Josh

On December 10, 2009

In Mapping Palestine

The morning started with a set of “peer assists”, where the assembled technical expertise was applied to specific problems. Two people from the National Democratic Institute in Lebanon presented their ideas for a project to engage youth in the upcoming Lebanese municipal elections. Because voting patterns tend to closely follow sectarian lines, the group is trying to find features that cut across these divisions. Related projects that were mentioned include:

an analysis of anxiety and excitement expressed on Twitter before the previous election.
The Johnson and Johnson Baby Center that links women at same stage of their pregnancy, so they can share their experiences.
A campus-wide game of Risk played at Yale
News aggregation and crisis response services like Reuters Emergency Service, based on Instedd’sRiff, Al Jazeera Labs mobile reporting tools, and GeoChat
Story aggregation services like StoryCorps, UNICEF OurStories, Ushaidi and VirtualGaza.

The group eventually settled on a Facebook app with a simple hook, something like “are you excited about the election?”, that lets the developers pull the users status updates to qualitatively analyze.

The second project was on mapping the slums of Cairo and Port Said, where there are issues of determining the informal infrastructure, because they are outside public services.

City of the Dead

Roads, as such, are small and dynamic. Crime is endemic. Police do not venture in, and when they do, the consequences can be severe. Because the negatives are so overwhelming, it was hard to focus on the potential positives. However, there were analogous experiences and stories to tell in the room.

Similar projects have been done in Khibera, which has much more NGO support than is available in Cairo.
The German group GTZ has done work in “informal areas”, which are apparently not as underdeveloped as Zor Zara, which I can’t even find on a map.
It is imperative to engage the community in the mapping process, so that they feel ownership over their space and the data that represents it. Mapping for mapping’s sake is not good enough, it needs to have a “real world” impact.
But don’t just parachute in to save the day.

The discussion ended with a call for a field trip, so that we can see the place for ourselves.

After lunch, the Iraqi contingent presented the projects they have been brainstorming, and we tried to give technical advice as best we could. Translation of language and ideas was a hurdle, but I think we both got something out of it.