Fausto;

Thank you for the information I will pass it on to my wife and her family living here. Enriqueta (Katy, my wife) has a sister in Los Angeles, and we have a niece in College Town, Texas (Professor of Architecture at Texas A&M University) and a nephew in Canada. We have relatives in Canada and Europe, as well as Peru.

I remember writing to Katy, before we got married in 1963. It took about three days to get a letter to her or from her. Then when the communists took over everything improved. :) It took two to three weeks for a letter to get to or from Peru! Que pena!

Peru has had many problems and I hope that the country is allowed to progress for the benefit of the people and not just the elite. I am well versed in history and tell Katy things about Peru she did not know. Peruvian music is one of my favorites!

One of the reasons Katy’s family likes me (originally) is that I play flamenco guitar. Katy studied flamenco balie y cante when she was in school. Her grand parents are from Zaragoza, Spain, and there was a lot of flamenco sung in her house. Katy still sings and I will always play guitar. I played professionally before we got married, and was lucky to play for some famous dancers from Spain. When our son and daughter finished high school about four years ago, I got serious with my guitar again. I got to play for one of Spains most famous flamenco dance families when they were here performing at Standford University for flamenco week.

Last Saturday evening I opened a flamenco Juerga at a Theater in San Jose, California, by playing a Soleares solo on my guitar. We had a singer and dancer from Spain as well as teachers and students from around the San Francisco Bay Area. I video taped the event and enjoyed it very much!

Tom

>Hi Thomas,
>
>Things here are quiet and fine on a general perspective. Really distressed days compared to the times when Fujimori was our president. A few sectors here are going on strikes demanding better treatment and more benefits -read it economical- from the government, something that is understandable considering that we are a poor country where the majority is considered under poorness or extreme poorness, but also hard to attend from the government side because of the reduced tax incomes. Tell them that there is real pressure to force Fernando Olivera, the current Justice Minister, to leave the charge due to some confrontations to the heads of the catholic community here in Peru, originated by his apparently unauthorized travel to the Vatican. Leaded by ex-president Alan Garcia some people are also demanding a change on the economic plan adopted by the Economics Minister Pedro Pablo Kuczinsky. President Toledo is making great efforts to make a national agreement for the country's
>governability. He is permanently seeking and listening to the opinions of the local polititians from different tendencies -even oppositors-, really opposite to Fujimori's autocratic, corrupt and despotic ways. I am not a Toledist but I think he is showing what I consider a basic attitude to grow as a nation: to listen to everybody including oppositors, to debate encountering positions frankly, face-to-face.
>
>After many years of terrorism and extreme corruption, a ten-year-lasting unconstitutional and dictatorial-style government and social stress and confrontations I can tell you that here in Peru we are living really different times. Yes we still are a poor and third-world country, but we have renewed or hope on better times. We can again dream on building a great country, brick by brick, step by step. Personally I do :) That might the spirit your sister-in-law and husband will find when they come here, perfect for Christmas I think. Something I do not understand of our celebrations is the hot chocolate people use to have by these days and the incredible decorations that represent big trees and all kind of decorations plenty of snow LOL :)
>
>I am sorry I extended too much in my answer. Best regards!