Profiles

A glimpse in the thoughts of Jose David Rodriguez

Written by Tyler Cole | 13 April 2010

My Couchsurfing host while in Barranquilla, Colombia, David (aka Jose aka Josh) and his family generously opened up their home for me and took me in as one of their own for the week that I spent with them. I initially was only planning to stay in Barranquilla a day or so in route to the Guajira Peninsula, but David offered to have me tag along on their family vacation instead, an invitation I took up. (You can read more about my stay in Barranquilla and Toluvijeo here). A student of international relations at the most prestigious university...

A glimpse in the thoughts of Dr. Ivan Hancco

Written by Tyler Cole | 06 March 2010

One of the kindest, most genuine people I have ever met, Dr. Ivan Hancco was my main contact before arriving to Puno and my host while not staying at the Old Folks´ Home in Chucuito or visiting the countryside. A doctor by training and currently a professor at the regional university medical school (Universidad Nacional del Altiplano), I personally saw how dedicated

A glimpse in the thoughts of Julio Ayma Arpa

Written by Tyler Cole | 13 February 2010

My gracious host while in the Southern Peruvian countryside, Julio is a native of the village of Huañuscuro along the shore of Lake Titikaka.  After moving to the larger city of Tacna, Peru for work as an adult, he has since retired to the place where he grew up and now farms and raises animals with his wife and stepfather.  I initally came into contact with Julio when my impromptu Aymara teacher, Lorenzo Hancco, brought me to Huañuscuro where he used to teach about 25 years ago.

A note on 'A glimpse in the thoughts of...'

Written by Tyler Cole | 15 January 2010

"A glimpse in the thoughts of..." is my attempt to paint a picture of the people that I meet as I'm traveling.  I always enjoy hearing about the characters that others come across on the road, as well as telling people about cool people I meet; this tries to keep a record of those individuals' voices and adds a visual component to put a face to the story. The concept is this: a few questions are presented that aren't questions you would normally ask people (a la "If you could kiss anyone, who would it be and why?"), I take a picture of the person, and I post the responses, with permission of course. The hope is to elicit some interesting replies that give a look into how people from different parts of the world respond to these questions.

This may end up being not particularly interesting, but I am going to give it shot. For a few examples, I did a profile on my mom, my host in the Peruvian countryside, a doctor that helped me ton in Puno, Peru, and my Couchsurfing host when I was in Barranquilla, Colombia.

That said, I need help with the questions.  Leave a comment with an interesting question! (Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.)

A glimpse in the thoughts of Kathy Cole

Written by Tyler Cole | 14 January 2010

All trips start somewhere, and while prepping to leave for South America I'm staying at my parents' house for a few days. As a trial run, I thought a good first "A glimpse in the thoughts of..." would be my dear mom (a longer explanation of "A glimpse in the thoughts of..." is here). She is inextricably linked with my childhood associations of "home", and she was readily available.  I threw a few questions her way, and here's what she said...