ianruitenberg

I spent some time in Cousco Peru last year with a instrument maker. He had a shop that was aproximatly 8ft by 8ft. There were up to 4 of us working in his shop at the same time. My girlfreind and I made a guitar each in this shop while Edi juggled repairs and teaching us some skills. He supported a younger brother and sister with this shop and lived behind it in a space I suspect was about the same size. The only power tools he had were a drill and a spray machine both used extremly sparingly because of his concern for the cost of power. We made some posters up to translate Spanish to English and we were away.This was by far our most interesting experience of our trip in that I learned how much can be done in a small space. If you get a chance to go to Cusco I highly recomend hooking up with Edi. Just ask a cab(cost about a dollar or two) to take you to the area where instruments/guitars are made or ask at the tourist bureau. We left the info there on the door. We were not particularily afraid in this area but it is not a bad idea to use cabs and not hang around after dark. I also hooked up with awood carver up the hill in back of the big church in the center of the city.same sort of thing. We paid these people about double what they would normally make and it was still peanuts when compared to the experience.

It seems to me politics and money got involved in this whole thing so if it is to continue it will need a independent and accountable regulatory body to monitor this process. Maybe we need an accountant running this show nobody will give you the straight goods like these people. Throw in a psychologist and maybe even an economist to teach us that breaking the pattern of building huge homes is the right thing to be doing these days.Sometimes less is more