Dearest friends,
Once more, please accept my apologies for not writing any sooner... it seems that I keep apologizing every time I write!!! Sometimes, I wonder why I have less time now than when Jean left, in the summer 2000. I was then writing an update every week... Well, for one thing, there are now a lot more emails to reply to and to file, a lot more addresses to put on the list (around 450, now)!
Lately, I acquired a new computer... bigger and faster!!! I had the hardest time transferring my files and settings... it took me ages!!! Jean's entire journey is on my computer and I wanted to make certain that I did not lose anything.
The family is doing well! Laury, Jean's granddaughter is growing too fast, according to her mother! Jean's son, Thomas-Eric left Montreal on July 15th for a long vacation in Europe followed by a 2 year course at University of Berlin, Germany to increase his knowledge in Design.
Since February, it has been a long walk for Jean. We left him when he has just entered Peru. He crossed the border to Bolivia on July 12th. Would you believe he spent 6 months in Peru??? Almost as long as in the United States... Needless to say that he loved Peru and its inhabitants. He spent a whole month in the Capital, Lima where he had a wonderful press report in the magazine "Somos". Jean met wonderful people who supported him and helped him tremendously. It is impossible to remember the names of all of them, even with the help of a computer... and in naming some of these marvelous people to express our gratitude, we risk to miss a few of them...and this would be most unfair! So, let us say that our hearts go out to you all, "la gente del Perú". We love you!
In an email to one of his Peruvian friend, Jean says that he came across absolutely no problem in Peru. He met only fantastic and helpful people and all in all it was a wonderful experience. The part of the route that was, at the same time, the most difficult and the most beautiful was from Nazca to Cuzco. Jean undertook to walk the "Old Inca Road" as a pilgrimage. This road is way up in the Andes and he suffered from the high altitude, from the cold and of exertion. Still, the landscape was breathtakingly magnificent and he said he could feel the mysticism of the earth he walked upon.
Peru being very rich with archeological sites, Jean took the time to visit some of them and was most impressed with the vestiges of these ancient civilizations!
In Sicuani, he met a visual arts teacher, Roman Yanques who made a caricature of Jean that is hilarious. It will be on the site soon!!!
On the road, he also met quite a few people from Europe and even Japan! Near Cuzco, there was a Japanese Television team doing some filming. They took a bit of film of Jean to bring to their country. He also met a Norwegian man bicycling around South America, a Spanish clown, also on bicycle, doing free shows for children, a couple from Germany, on vacation. Most of these people sent me digital photos that will also be on the site.
Sometimes in June, Jean and I both received an email from a reporter in Madrid, Spain. She wanted to interview us for an article that was supposed to appear in a very much-read magazine in Spain, in July. We both spent the week answering her questions, sending photos etc... The reporter should send the paper copy for me to scan and put on the www.wwwalk.org .
In August, I will be on vacation and I plan to devote all my time to finish the new www.wwwalk.org and to publish it on a commercial server... no more advertising banners!!! In the meantime, I will not update the old site, so I am wishing for your patience and understanding... again! Rest assured that as soon as all is working well, I will send a note to all of you, our dear friends!
After Bolivia, Jean will climb down the Andes towards Arica, Chile and plans to arrive in Santiago around the end of October.
Till next time...
Luce