Which Style?

Posted on Friday September 17, 2010 by Jacob Campbell.

Hey, just looking for some feedback. which style do you think is better for my business cards. My old card has my photo, and is more relaxed. I was thinking that maybe it was time to change up and have my business card match my website / letterhead / resume… etc. I know that most people don’t have all of these things, but I guess I am a very special person (it’s even on my birth certificate). So whether your reading this on my website or my Facebook, let me know which style you thing is better or if you have any comments about the design let me know (good / bad / whatever is appreciated)

This is the previous version of my business card (slightly updated, due to graduating). I like this version, especially as a more chill and relaxed type of card. I always felt it was semi-professional looking but also relaxed enough I could give it to a new friend too.

This is a Photoshop designed new version of my business card. I redesigned it to better match my website and logo. Also to look more professional and be a little bit more minimalist

Two Tourist Capitals

Posted on Thursday September 16, 2010 by Jacob Campbell.

A graphic I designed in Adobe Photoshop of the “Welcome to Las Vegas Sign” showing that I’m broke while here in Vegas.

Out of Peru & Back to the US

After being in Cusco for about a year, it was really sad to leave. I remember being on the bus and waving goodbye and starting to tear up a bit. Then as the bus road off into the sun set, I was struck by the beauty of it and the symbolism. It’s as if a chapter in my life was setting at the same time as the sun. I took the almost 24 hour bus ride to the center of Lima, and called the person I’d be Couchsurfing with. After taking a taxi ride to meet him, we went back to his place to drop my stuff off. We then went to Miraflores, where I finished all of my last minute shopping.

That night we went to one of his friends houses, and celebrated their birthday with them. It was pretty fun, although we didn’t get back to his place until super early in the morning. The next day, I spent walking around Lima. Found a Pollo a la Brasa (Roasted Chicken and French Fries) place and ate my last Peruvian meal (I could’t decide… my favorites are Pollo a la Brasa, Ceviche, and Chicharron). I met up with a friend I met when I was traveling and we walked around the main plaza for a while. Then I went to a super market and spent the rest of my money to have a packed lunch / breakfast the next morning. I left with just enough money for a taxi to the Airport and to pay the airport tax (S/. 88.00).

Five thirty the next morning I was off. Flew to Ft. Lauderdale and had a four hour layover, and then to Vegas. I was flying by Spiritair (a really cheap airlines) but they don’t provide meals. By the end of the day I was so hungry (I got to Vegas at 12:30am the next morning Lima time) and I had only eaten my two sandwiches and chips all day. I had absolutely no money (well S/. 4.40 in my pocket, but nobody would exchange it) and had to spend the night in the airport.

The next morning, tired, mostly unslept, and hungry I left the airport in search of my Bank. When I started walking, a guy told me that I couldn’t walk to my bank from the airport (too far and no sidewalks) and just gave me enough money for a bus ride. I found my bank, but realized I left way too early. So I waited on the steps for about two hours until they opened and I cleared out my account. After some breakfast and coffee and internet, I found my hostel (I was planning on Couchsurfing, but nobody responded). I had to wait a couple of hours for my room to be opened.

In the afternoon, i walked down to the strip and from one end to the other. This doesn’t seem like very much but with combined with entering the hotels and looking at the casinos it was probably about 4 or 5 miles. I took a bus back to the hotel (the buses are super expensive, but nice here). You can check out my photo album, Vegas Baby on Facebook. Other than that, my computer is dying and it’s time to head back to my hostel.

Preparing for Real Life

Posted on Friday August 13, 2010 by Jacob Campbell.

Jacob Campbell and the Raiders of the Lost Ark! Very quickly photo shopped image of Indaina Jones and The Raiders of the Lost Ark movie poster with my face.

My adventures in South America seem to be coming to a close, at least of now (hopefully I’ll be back in a couple of years after paying off my student loans). It’s been a wonderful trip. While I’ve been living in Cusco, I’ve been building up a bit of a movie collection of movies. DVD’s are super expensive in the US, but here I can buy a DVD for S/. 2.00 (about $0.72). The latest addition to my collection has been the three original Indiana Jones moves. Watching Raiders of the Lost Ark made me think about my adventures here. While I haven’t found any lost Inca artifacts, I have had lots of interesting experiences.

This said, it’s time for me to return to the US. I still don’t know what I’ll be doing or where I’ll be living, I’ve been working on that some. I’ve been looking for jobs online hoping to make my transition back to the US as easy as possible. I’ve also been spending considerable time updating my website. I’ve changed the complete format and I’m getting much more satisfied with how everything looks aesthetically.

I have a bus ticket for Thursday (09/09/10) from Cusco to Lima. While I’m not looking forward to the 24 hour bus ride, hopefully there won’t be any protests. On Sunday the 12th I fly from Lima to Las Vegas. I’ll be spending 5 days in Vegas. There’s a really great airlines that flies to Vegas for really cheap. On Allegiant Air you can fly to from Vegas to Pasco for like $25. It’s really a beautiful thing. The only problem is that they don’t fly everyday. I’ll have to wait for five days. I’m planning on Couch Surfing while I’m there so it shouldn’t be too expensive. And while it would be fun to visit all of the casinos and see the shows, I’m pretty sure that I won’t have money for that. That means on Friday the 17th, I’ll be back in the Tri-Cities. I plan on visiting (moving back to…) Spokane soon, so you can all look forward to that.

Jacob’s (in)credible Adventures

Posted on Friday August 13, 2010 by Jacob Campbell.

Wandering around our America has changed me more than I thought. I am not me any more. At least I’m not the same me I was. – Ernesto Guevara de la Serna (Diarios de motocicleta)

A Quick Recap

In just about a month, I will have been in South America for an entire year. Before leaving on this epic adventure, I remember sitting with Ami and watching the quoted movie above. It’s a really great movie about ‘El Che’ and his motorcycle trip around South America. He and his friend traveled around South America, the tagline of the movie “Let the world change you… and you can change the world.” ‘El Che’ later became a revolutionary leader helping to free a number of South American Countries. When I left I was hoping for a similar type of experience. I left the US, put my loans on hold for a year and sought to find myself while in South America. I think I have seen a lot of things and a lot that I’ve learned. I’ve also improved my Spanish immensely, although I’ve been told that I speak pretty fluent Spanish it’s been equated to speaking Spanish like Tarzan speaks English.

As I have been down in South America (Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Brazil, and Peru) I’ve had both really great experiences and difficult experiences. I’ve seen some of the most beautiful places that I’ve seen anywhere else in the world, but I’ve also seen some horrible destruction of the environment that we all love and need. I’ve meet some of the most friendly and hospitable people but it has been contrasted with some people on the opposite end of the spectrum. I’ve seen abject poverty. I’ve seen fighting, been robbed (4 times), been asked to give a bribe to public officials, and other social problems. Even with all of this I still absolutely love it here in South America and am in love with the people and culture here.

Recent Events

During the last nine months, I have been living and working in Cusco Peru. I’ve been working at the National University (UNSAAC) teaching English. I spent some time volunteering at a NGO and had desired to find a job doing social work. As it has grown closer to the time to return to the US, I have stopped looking for a job doing social work because of my feeling that my Spanish is not sufficient to practice my trade here. So I have limited myself to just working at the University.

For the first couple of months I was working at the University, I didn’t have a contract. But for the last seven months or so, I have been working under a contract given by the University. Although, I haven’t had a work visa during my time here I felt that it was not necessary. It is very common for foreign teachers to teach at the various language center without work visas (In Cusco, due to all the tourism, there are lots of English language schools). I do believe that it is kind of illegal to work without a work visa, but when I read the law it seemed to be permissible depending on the agents discretion. Furthermore, every month the University pays taxes to SUNAT under the description of foreigner workers. I actually have been paying more taxes then is normal for a Peruvian worker. The normal tax rate is 15%, but I’ve been paying 25%. With all of this, I felt safe not applying for a work visa. To obtain a work visa (I believe with all the fees and process) it would cost somewhere between $300-$400 (about my monthly income). It would also take several months to complete the process and require the University give me a yearlong contract (which they generally only give 6 month contracts). So I decided not to pursue that avenue.

On the previous Friday (08/06/10) the immigration police came to the University looking for teachers without work visa. Two of my colleagues were taken from their classes. While I was not found at the University, they had my name and gave me an announcement of a meeting with the immigration police. It was originally scheduled for Saturday, but when I went in on Saturday they rescheduled for Monday. Monday they rescheduled for Wednesday so I continued to work. On Wednesday I again went in and was finally questioned and asked to sign some documents. Currently I’m under custody of my friend and am not allowed to either leave the city or work until the end of the investigation. The charges are not criminal, they are only administrative (meaning that I can’t go to jail or be deported)… they can only give me a fine and or tell me that I need to leave the country prior to the expiration of my visa.

Future Plans

It has been a very interesting experience so far. They told me that the investigation can take from two or three weeks to two months. (although I am a bit worried that could mean more then two months). My plan is to return to the US when the investigation is finished. I am hoping that the investigation does not take too long. If I’m allowed to leave the country by the beginning of September I should be financially able to handle everything (depending on how grave the possible fine will be). But if I do have to say in Cusco for a couple of months, I will have some difficulties financially. I currently have money to purchase a plane ticket back home, but I have been living off of the money that I earn at the University to survive daily. To make matters a little worse, due to one of the times I was robbed, I no longer have my debit card or access to my bank account. I have been waiting for the last month to receive my new debit card… but I’m not sure if it is coming and I might have to order it again.

It is possible that due to these circumstance, I might ask sometime in the future if you, my friends, would be willing to offer me a slight amount of financial support. I have another meeting on Monday with the police and it is possible that things will be resolved by then but I’m not sure. As of right now, I’m am perfectly fine… so don’t worry. I just wanted to let you guy’s all know what is happening in my life. I’ll keep everybody posted about what is happening down here.

Corrupt Police, Pickpockets, and Broken Computers

Posted on Sunday July 25, 2010 by Jacob Campbell.

It seems I only write when there is crazy stuff happening in my life… please don’t think that my life is so full of these crazy experiences.

At the beginning of this I had to travel to Arica Chile to renew my passport. I took a bus from Cusco to Arequipa (about 10 hours) and then another bus to Tacna Peru. Tacna is the border town between Peru and Chile. When we were outside of the city we passed a police checkpoint. They often enter buses and check peoples identification. I was past due on my visa, by about eight days. They told me that I needed to come into their station and talk to them because my visa was past due. They search all my belongings, and kept telling me in Spanish that I was going to get deported for being past due on my visa. They asked me to help them purchase a new book for the police station. They said that it costs S/. 150.00 (about $55.00). If I “helped them” they would “help me”. I knew that when I got to the border I would have to pay $1 per day that I was overdue on my visa. I took their bluff and refused to give them any money. They kept telling me that I wouldn’t ever be able to come back to Peru and that it didn’t matter that I had an apartment and and my belongings in Cusco. I still refused to pay them any money.

I must say to make this situation worse, I had a lot of cash in my possession. I don’t like to carry a lot of cash because it’s not safe in Peru. I had just received my paycheck and did not have time to cash it before leaving Cusco. I had my entire paycheck, a little over S/. 1200.00 (about $400.00). But when I have more cash, I also put some money in my wallet and some in my bag… in case I get robbed or something.

When the police were talking to me they kept moving me from room to room leaving my bag in another room. During one of these times, they must have taken S/. 100.00 (about $35.00). They also took my 4 gig iPod nano (although I didn’t notice this until I reached Arica). They finally just let me go. I also ended up paying them S/. 10.00 to be able to leave. I also didn’t realize until later that they had stolen the money. I just figured it would get them off my back and buy them a beer or something.

I spent the night in Arica and when I was returning I was afraid of the police bothering me again and trying to take more of my money. I decided to put all of my salary in my wallet. I fell asleep on the bus and when I arrived at the terminal in Arequipa went down to wait for my backpack from under the bus. I felt somebody hit my little backpack and moved it to the front for fear of pickpockets. I guess I was just tired and didn’t think about having my wallet in my back pocket too. So stupid! Well, they weren’t going for my backpack like I thought. They went for my wallet. Went into the station to purchase a ticket for Cusco and found that my wallet was gone. Luckily I had some change. I called a co-worker to work for me int he morning and took a taxi to a hostel. I had to call a friend in the US to wire me some money the next morning so I could get back to Cusco. It was a pretty sucky experience and I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone.

I found that I could live for pretty cheaply. While I haven’t paid for my rent yet, I’ve been able to live most of this month for about $100. I know in Peru 18.5 percent of the population lives on less than $2 a day. I’m not sure how they do it. I guess, even being very poor for a month, I still have my western ideals of my lifestyle.

I figured with this event, I lose my status as a Piña (Spanish for pinapple a slang in Cusco for unlucky) and become a Lechero (Spanish for milk man a slang in Cusco for a lucky person). I think it’s going that way. But lately, I’ve been having some troubles with my computer. It’s been shutting off randomly, I think because it’s overheating. I guess I am a bit of a Lechero because I still have it under warranty. But it means that I’m going to be without my computer for a while. I think my house is going to be quite for a while.

Also, if you haven’t checked out my website for a while, check out the main page. I’ve been transiting to using a CSM (Drupal). Let me know what you think.

Corpus Christi, Fashion Show, and Tipon… a Good Week

Posted on Monday June 7, 2010 by Jacob Campbell.

View of the Carroza de Plata with the Templo de Merced in the background

This week I got to do a couple of fun things, including getting my camera back so you can check out my photos The Title Of The Album. On Thursday was Corpus Christi (latin for Body of Christ). In Cusco Peru (and only in Cusco as I understand it) it is a public holiday, which meant I didn’t have to go to work. First thing we attended the pontifical mass outside of the Cathedral. After the mass, there was a procession that made a loop around the Plaza de Armas. The precession is led by a silver plated alter called the Carroza de Plata (in English Silver Chariot or also known as the Templete (alter), or Baldaquino (canopy)) that is pushed around the square. Afterwards they have various images of saints that are also included in the procession. After the procession we left to go to Plaza San Fransisco to buy some chiriuchu. Chiriuchu is a typical cold dish that includes various Inca foods, especially meats (a part of why I really liked it). It includes: chicken, cuy al horno (roasted guinea pig), Chalona (mixture of pork and alpaca) salt fish eggs, sasauge, seaweed, corn, andeanen cheese, pepers, and rocoto peper (a spicy peper).

Terraces at Tipon

On Friday night, I got the opportunity to go to the Cusco 2010 Alpaca Fashion Show. We got some free tickets, and it was interesting. They even had Miss Peru International there… although sorry, didn’t get any photos. There were several sets of typical dances during the event along with three older ladies describing how to die various colors in Alpaca. As for the models themselves, I think most of them were just college students that they asked to come and show off some of the alpaca fashions. The event started much later then is traditionally Pervian, almost two hours. It was interesting, but it was outside and very cold so we left early.

On Sunday, we went to the Tipón Archeological Site. This is a set of Inca agricultural terraces. It’s very beautiful with the backdrop of the mountains. Afterwards we went to Lucre and ate duck and fresh pastries… so delicious.

Mi Vida Loca

Posted on Tuesday April 6, 2010 by Jacob Campbell.

Mi Vida Loca or My Crazy Life

Mi Vida Loca, which translates to My Crazy Life. While three dots tattoo (placed on the hand between the index finger and thumb or by the eye) in a triangle shape is often used by gang members to signify gang life… I felt that with the month that I’ve had this month it was fitting to name this post Mi Vida Loca. No, I haven’t been involved in any gang activity. I have had a really crazy month, full of bad luck. I’m kind of hoping that now that this is a new month, I will have gotten rid of all my bad luck and the good luck will start overflowing my cup.

This month has included a number of different things, to varying degrees could be considered bad luck. At the beginning of last month I had an operation, with the end result being my gallbladder being removed. I had a number of risk factors going for me, pushing me towards gallstones and eventually having my gallbladder removed. While I have been in South America, I have lost a lot of weight (still waiting on my camera, so no photos of the thinner me) with is a risk factor. Another risk factor is fasting. I tend to not eat very well, and often forget to eat (only having one meal a day). I just get busy and then don’t eat. Along with not eating well, often when I eat I love to eat greasy food. While I don’t eat the same type of greasy food as I did in the US… I still get my opportunities. On the streets there is always little anticuchos stands. These are women who barbecue meat (kind of like shish kabobs). One of my favorite snacks; coming in beef, heart, chicken, and sausage (really more of a hot dog). Along with anticuchos, there are always venders selling empanadas (although I prefer empanadas from Venezuela), and hamburger type things. Another favorite unhealthy dish I like is salchichapapas (which translates to sausage and french fries). Sometimes this comes with chaufa rice, and again things they call sausages which are closer to hot dogs. So good, but kind of greasy. Other than eating unhealthy, I also don’t drink enough water and have too much coffee or Inca Kola. Combine all of this into my life and you get gallstones.

I’ve learned that it can be “fun” to have operations in third world countries. Every thing went just fine from the operation, and I am feeling back to normal. Although, I can’t exactly eat anything that I want. Sometimes when I try to have the Super Duper Norton’s Burger from Nortons Rat’s Tavern my stomach feels like it has a brick in it. But other than that I’ve been able to eat most things again.

Other than having semi vital organs removed in third would countries, I’ve also had problems with cats. I’ve been house sitting for a Ecuadorian friend while she went home to visit family. It’s been amazing, actually a nicer apartment then I’ve ever had. She had two cats (which living with cats has cemented my feeling that I don’t want cats or like them). Although, I’ve don’t like cats… I didn’t intentionally lose one. I’m not sure what happened to one of her cats. It just disappeared one night (I still haven’t told her). I think it either went out the window (second story) or must have snuk (while writing this post I found an interesting article regarding snuck verses sneaked) out the door one day.

Other than losing cats, I’ve also lost the girl I was seeing. I had been seeing a Peruvian girl for the last month, but the relationship just didn’t seem to be working out so I had to break up with her. While I didn’t lose my job, I did have to reapply for my job at the National University.

The final crazy thing that happened to me, was getting mugged. A couple of nights I was walking home fairly late. Right in front of my house (just a couple of doors down), three men jumped me. Only my pride was hurt, so I’m fine. I’m just one cell phone and a couple hundred Nuevo Soles shorter. All in all, it’s been a pretty crazy month. But it’s just another piece of my crazy life.

Student’s Protest & Jacob Torres Goes to The Hospital

Posted on Monday March 15, 2010 by Jacob Campbell.

You’ve heard of Teacher’s Striking But Never Students

Blockade made by students at UNSAAC

It’s not uncommon for teachers in the United States to go on strike, but I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of students doing the same. In Cusco Perú, it does seem like there are a lot of protests (when I was spending more time down at the main square, it seemed almost every day). Even seeing all of these protests, I was prepared for the students to go on strike at the National University where I work.

One may question how all of the students at a university might go on strike. Well, at UNSAAC (Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco) the university is surrounded by a giant wall with only a couple of major gates for people to enter by. The students took anything they could find (i.e. chairs, desks, large logs) and propped them up inside the gate making them inoperable. Furthermore, they added their own chains and locks to the gates.

The students were protesting saying that the school was using biased and illegal hiring tactics. As I understood the argument, the students said the administration was not hiring the professors based on their skills / qualifications, but rather based on relationships (i.e. family, friends… etc). I was told that this was illegal for the university to do here in Peru. I just found it very interesting the university students here would take the time to protest these illegal hiring practices.

Jacob Torres Goes to The Hospital

Me sitting in the hospital

I tend to think my Spanish has gotten pretty excellent in the last several months of being in Peru / South America. But I guess being in significant pain, tends to make pronunciation more difficult. Late last Monday, I had a guy couchsurfing at my place. I went to sleep about midnight, but woke up just a half hour later with extreme pain in my abdomen. I didn’t know what was happening. I tried doing anything I could think of for the next two hours, but it just kept getting worse. Add to that some nausea, and I was ready to go to the hospital. I woke my couchsurfer up, and told him I had to go to the hospital. He ended up just sleeping at the house while I went. Finding a taxi at almost three in the morning was a little bit difficult and I had to walk for a ways.

Peruvian hospitals are interesting. They require you pay for everything in advance. So, when I walked into the doors I paid S/. 10,00 (a little over $3) to have a consultation with a doctor. Through out the night (I didn’t end up leaving the hospital until about 1:00 pm the next day) I had to buy medications several times. The processes is you go to the pharmacy, who prints out a typed list / cost of the items you need. Then you go to the cashier to pay for the items. After words your return to the pharmacy to receive your items. At those hours they are all asleep too, so you have to knock and wait for them. Lets just say in extreme pain, this is not a fun activity. After receiving your medications, you return to the doctor so they can give them to you.

There is also no computerized intake process, and each area of the emergency they have to fill out new pieces of paper. At one point, I was asked what my last name was (which so far, I’ve seen spelled as the following: kambel, campbett, and cambell) and I attempted to spell it out. When I saw what the nurse was writing I told her it was all incorrect (todas es incorecto). She took that to mean my last name was Torres. I was in too much pain to change it. The thing is, that this is the name that went onto my form for my ultrasound (I believe that’s what it was), the first piece of paper I got to start carrying from doctor to doctor. I started having to consistently tell the doctors why it said Torres on my paper and not Campbell.

The next afternoon I left feeling much better (I’m sure a little high from the drugs) and super hungry. I was told that I ought to come back if the pain returns and that I should stay away from greasy food. The diagnosis was that my gallbladder was enlarged, and possibly had stones. They told me if the pain continued I might have to come back for surgery. I couldn’t do anything at that but laugh.

You must know, I have not had many surgeries in my life. Well, other than this one… just one. The other one was an appendectomy. The circumstances for this were a bit strange. I was 12 years old when it decided to happen and on vacation in Mexico. I must say it was quite an experience to have surgery done in Mexico. It seem ironic my only other surgery would happen outside of the US.

On Thursday the pain was back, and too much too bare again, so I went back to the emergency room. I was seen and given some medication, being told to come back in the morning at 5:00 am for surgery. I only made it until about 10:00 pm that evening. The pain was too much, so I returned and spent another night at the hospital.

My gallbladder was removed without complications, unless you consider the hospital loosing my shoes a complications (it’s funnier if you know how much problems I’ve had with shoes in South America). I’ve been in the hospital for the last couple of days. While, the hospital is not as nice as those in the US or have as many accommodations… it has been just fine. It’s also considerably cheaper. While I haven’t been released, so I don’t know my total bill, I was told to expect about $100 or less. Maybe the health care system in the US should take some pointers from Peru for how to keep costs down and make doctors visits more affordable.