(Not) dealing with politicians

I just finished watching "An Inconvenient Truth" (I know, it was about time) and the movie is brilliant! Check out the Cimate Crisis website. I guess it reinforced my plan to get into environmental work, addressing the links between environmental degradation and poverty (sitting in an office in London?).

Yesterday I talked to the Mayor of Huayllabamba, and it's simply a lost cause. He's obviously clueless about development (I'm assuming he has a high school diploma), and in the typical attitude of all the developing countries I've seen: gringo= money, and he tried to see what he could get out of me. So this is my chance to learn some diplomatic skills. After telling the mayor I found out the buildings are going to be demolished and no, I don't think they'll win the trial in Lima because I know they already lost in Cusco, I kindly informed him I would appreciate if he told me things the way they are. So he had the nerve to suggest we start the project anyway, when in reality you can be sewed for even touching the buildings. Finally I had to tell him we won't be working there.

Tomorrow I'll try to propose the project to the mayors of Urubamba and Calca, hopefully I'll have better luck!

Ollantaytambo & Chinchero