CHRISTMAS AT THE Q’EWAR PROYECT: There is no better gift that the “Gift of Sharing”…

Christmas is, for many of us, the most special time of the year, a time that children love because they will get many gifts from Santa!.  Although that usually changes as we grow older and we realize that the biggest gift we can get is to see the happiness of our loved ones when we give them their favorite book or whatever they were wishing for; very few of us would put so much effort to give to others who are not members of our close family…

Such wonderful people exist!.  I got these photos from our friend Julio, the head and founder of the Q’EWAR PROYECT, in Cusco, Peru.  The women make gorgeous Waldorf Steiner Dolls, get training, get paid a fair and steady income, and their little kids go to a kindi built within the Proyect.  Julio, his wife, and some volunteers organized a Christmas party for all the women and their children.  It was truly a joy to see these photos and share their happiness.

Julio is a very caring man and I know he stretched his budget to give all these gifts.  I just imagine how happy the women felt to receive a new kitchen pot each, they must have felt appreciated and cared for.   Julio must have felt happy too, he could not wish for a better gift than “the gift of sharing”…

I am happy to be their friend and that my business, PERU ART AUSTRALIA, is supporting the Q’ewar Proyect.  We visited them early this year and we will be visiting them again in a year!.  A BIG THANK YOU to all our customers who bought a Peruvian Waldorf Doll throughout the year.

Enjoy the photos.

Our friend Julio and a volunteer giving Christmas gifts

Cori, the dog, enjoys being the centre of the attention

The women of the Proyect got nice kitchen pots!

Some of the children of the women of the Proyect

CHRISTMAS SALE at my eBay shop “Monicas Inca Treasures” ~ Plus FREE GIFT on $50 Purchases!!!

I feel so fortunate to have my own business and so grateful to have so many wonderful customers, some are new customers and some come back again and again, that I am giving a FREE GIFT for every purchase of $50 or over during December, as a way to say thank you for supporting my business which in turn supports many artists and artisans from my native country, Peru.

Please, visit my ebay shop “Monicas Inca Treasures” to find Fair Trade Fine Peruvian Art & Crafts direct from the artists and artisans.

I am offering the following during December:

• Storewide Discounts up to 30% Off
• Free Postage on Selected Items
• Free Reg Post on $100 purchases (excl. P&H) within Australia
• FREE GIFT for your purchase of $50 or over (excl. P&H)
• And Free Gift Wrapping for all purchases, big and small…

Hurry up, I will take some holidays after Christmas.  Happy eBaying!, Monica.

“MYTHOLOGY IN THE ANCIENT WORLD”: A challenging course and a door to new fascinating knowledge…

I love my business because I am always learning how to generate my own income and because it gives me the freedom to study at uni.  I am not worried thinking if my uni timetable will go well with my working hours because I am my own boss!.

I am studying Social anythopology and this year, for the 2nd semester, I choosed a different course to the usual Anthropology courses.  I enrolled in “Myth in the Ancient World” taught by the Ancient History department.  I imagined it would be a very interesting but relaxed course, full of stories/myths to read and enjoy, and since I like mythology I was really looking forward to it until… the course started and I soon realized this would be one of the most challenging courses so far in my university life!.

This course, being my first Ancient history course ever, was like a curse for the whole semester!.  I am not complaining about the required reading or the critical reading we had to apply, but “the referencing” was my nightmare.  We had to know our ancient sources and modern sources, plus have our own inputs…  I hated to have to insert “footnotes” in every essay, the referencing can take quite a while.  If you have ever had to work with footnotes, you know what I mean.

In the end, I learnt how to get used to the strictness of the referencing and definitively loved the course!.  It has opened new doors to more knowledge I’d like to explore in the future, such as ancient languages, ancient history, and Jewish and biblical studies. By the way, “Biblical studies” in uni does not mean that you will see all what the bible says as “the word of God” but it will be an analytical and critical reading of an ancient book as any other ancient book.

I have been attracted to the Sumerians for sometime now, and after reading more about them and their mythology, I will start a collection of books about them.  I enjoyed reading about George Smith, an afficionated Assiryologist who could read cuneiform writing more effectively than many scholars of his time and was the one who translated the first literary work known so far, “The Epic of Gilgamesh” where the story of  “The  Flood” is told.  This epic could burst many bubbles!.

NOTE:  The photo above shows some of the books I have actually read this last semester and belong to my personal little library.  Additionally, I had to read at least 5 articles (20 pages each on average) per tutorial each week.  I hardly had time for work, let alone for social life.  Nevertheless, I am now more productive with my time and now that it is “summer break” from uni, I feel I have all the time in the world!.  My day starts at 5am… and I am always looking forward to start working the next day, I love my business and my studies!.

WordPress is my blog’s new home!

Hi everyone, I have just moved my blog from blogspot and I am in the process of remodelling it. I am totally amazed by how clean my blog looks now and I am happy I made the move!. I have also just come back from another trip to Peru and have lots of stories and photos to publish, please bear with me:)

Myself and Moises Choquecahua, Ayacucho weaver

The true meaning of Christmas

When my brothers, sister and myself were young, we didn’t receive many gifts, neither we could give many gifts. My sister and I were working but could not afford many gifts, my brothers were in uni and worked part-time but could not afford many gifts either. But my mum always cook a nice dinner (Peruvians celebrate Christmas the 24th at midnight) and we always enjoyed Christmas with just one or two gifts for each person.

Now things have changed in that we all have settled and can afford to buy gifts for everyone, it can be overwhelming the amount of gifts we place under the Christmas tree but what it hasn’t changed is that my brothers, sister and I know that gifts can make give you some joy but true happiness comes from within, happiness is also having all your family well and if they are with you, what else could you ask for? .

Christmas in Peru (Dec 2006)

Photo above shows my niece Camila (aged 6) inspecting one of her gifts. And like many kids today she gets far more gifts in Christmas than what my sister and I got together when her age. The good thing is that my sister do not go overboard, Camila has already encountered frustration a few times.

I have heard a reknown psychoanalist stating that is good for children to get frustrated now and then, providing that parents explain lovingly to the child that they cannot have everything, because if a child is used to have everything that he/she wants, then one day when they grow up they will realize that the world do not go around them, they will fail an exam, they will not be accepted in a club, the girl/boyfriend will leave them and they will not be able to handle the rejections well because they are not used to be frustrated. I find this way of thinking very logical and helpful too.

A party for all my nieces and nephews!

My sister, brothers and cousins' children

When I am in Peru I always do something special with my eldest niece Camila. I went to Peru when she was born in 2001 and then saw her again when she was 1 year old and she inmediately recognized me because her mum (my sister) had my photos stuck on a wall in the living room.  I have seen her every year or two years and last time (Dec 2008) Camila prepared a surprise for me. I always stay at my mum’s place so she made a path of petals from the entrance to my bedroom and even covered my bed with petals!. When I arrived from the airport I followed the path of petals, Camila was following me and I told her I loved her surprise very much. Children are very precious and can show their love in the sweetest ways. I asked my sister who gave my niece that idea but she said that little Camila had had that idea all by herself and my sister had only accompanied her to gather the petals from my mum’s garden!. My mum loves her roses but I didn’t hear any protests about my niece’s great idea!.

My niece Camila is going to a school were at least half the subjects are in English and our native language is Spanish. She finished her 2nd grade in Primary school in December last year and I promised her a little party to celebrate her accomplishment. We invited our closest cousins and their kids, I organized some games with prizes to be won, Camila and I went to the supermarket together to pick the sweets, she helped to prepare the prizes and set the table with sweets.

This trip was very special as I met in person my brothers’ children, my new nephew, Sandro, and my new niece, Miranda. Sandrito was a bit over a year old and Miranda was 10 months old when I met them last December. And of course, they came to Camila’s party with their parents. We all had such a nice time that I will definitively repeat the party next time I am there.

I’ve just come back from my trip to Peru!

Last year, the second semester especially, was a very busy period for me. As you may have noticed, my last post about our travel in the Andes and the artisans I work with was sometime in June last year!. After that I started another semester at uni in July, I was busy with my internet business, my trip to Peru was approaching and I could only post a few times about a group of Hispanic women in Australia I had recently met.

I travelled to Peru in the middle of December 2008 and my bags were full but still under the allowed weight. After 10 years of living in Australia and being travelling back and forth to Peru, I have realized that all the gifts that I always took to my family were “a way to compensate my absence”. Now I feel much at ease and do not need to take as many gifts, they never needed any gifts, just my presence.

While in Peru my husband and I spend most of the time in the Andes. That is why I usually travel 1-2 weeks before my husband, to spend as much time as I can with my family who live in Lima. My two brothers, my sister and their partners gather at my mum’s house for long chats and laughs until our hearts are content. I enjoy see my nieces and nephew, I hug them and take lots of photos or video them. I have missed infinite day-to-day events and joys but I am happy that I have been there for their weddings, children’ births and several Christmas.

We came back to Australia on Feb 14th 2009 and can’t wait to publish all of our adventures in the Andes and photos, start working on my business again and going back to my uni studies.

I am flying to Peru soon and HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!

Once again I am flying to Peru in the next few days, I will be there by the middle of December.  My husband is flying to Peru after Christmas because his parents are coming this time and it is better if he comes with them to make sure they have a smooth trip from Australia to Peru.  We will spend Christmas apart but we have spent lots of time together during the year so not spending Christmas together is not a big deal.  I will have two weeks by myself in Lima to see family and friends.  I will see my brothers’ son and daughter who were born earlier this year, and my eldest niece who is 7, that will be very special.

I am also looking forward to travel the Andes with my husband and be tour guides to my parents in law, we will visit Cusco and we will all go to Machu Picchu of course.  We are very fortunate, we have  visited Machu Picchu several times.  My parents in law will finally meet my family and viceversa, they have talked on the phone or written letters before but meeting each other in person is definitively very special and I am sure it will be unforgettable for all of them.

We will also be visiting all the artists and artisans we work with, take lots of pickies and post all the stories in my blog later.  A BIG THANK YOU to all our customers who support our Fair Trade practices creating a sustainable income for all the Andean families we work with.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS and see you soon!.

AHWBN Xmas Extravaganza Delicious Peruvian Food & Sweets

My husband and I went to the “XMAS EXTRAVAGANZA” organized by the Australian Hispanic Women Business Network (AHWBN). The event took place in the Residential Gardens for Spanish Speaking Frail Aged in Rooty Hill. I was amazed at how nice the place looked with ample space and comfortable tables where to have lunch. Everything was very well organized, there were many volunteers from the network and everyone was friendly and enjoying the delicious “Peruvian anticuchos” (meat skewers marinated with delicious sauce and cooked on the barbicue) and “empanadas” (meat and chicken pastries). After lunch we enjoyed “Mexican churros” (can’t describe it!, absolutely yummy!).

Next time we will take some friends as noone should miss all this yummy food and sweets. I will post in advance about the next “AHWBN Xmas Extravaganza” and hope that many of my readers can go.

Check out the post down below to see photos of the entertaintment show for everyone.

Volunteers from the network

Yummy “empanadas”!

Peruvian chef Alejandro Saravia cooked the “anticuchos”

Yummy “anticuchos”. Couldn’t wait to eat them!

Sweet and crispy delicious “Mexican churros”

Everyone enjoyed themselves

“Hispanic Female Achiever of the Year” in Australia ~ Award Night

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was nominated to the first AHWBN (Australian Hispanic Women Business Network) Yearly Award, supported by the Peruvian Embassy (Canberra) and the Peruvian Consulate (Sydney). The Award aims to identify and recognise amongst its members and friends, an outstanding “Hispanic Female Achiever of the Year”, promoting her Heritage within the Australia Community. It was an amazing night, my husband and parents in law were with me that night and I also made new friendships.

The Award night was held last Aug 16th at the Continental Hotel in Sydney. The ceremony was held in a luxurious room with big round tables nicely decorated. All the participants and their partners, the organizers and the jury were there enjoying a friendly chat, and later listening to the ceremony and of course, also enjoying the buffet.

I’d like to say a special thanks to the active and enthusiast founder of the AHWBN, Flor Reyna, and to our Peruvian consul, Jaime Burgos who worked very hard to make of this first AHWBN yearly Award a big success!

I was nominated to this Award by Flor Reyna and at that time I didn’t belong to the AHWBN but after knowing Flor, I feel honoured that such an outstanding hispanic woman nominated me and I have also become a member of this network.

There were about 13 participants from hispanic countries living in Australia and there were two winners, one of them was Isabel Leon who is Peruvian and arrived in Australia in 1990. She was a graduated economist but didn’t speak English. You can read more about her in the link above.

My parents in law accompanied me this night

Winner Isabel Leon and myself. Congratulations Isabel!

Australian Peruvian consul Jaime Burgos and myself