Kenneth Hubbell - Bridge Year Peru
I was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, where I graduated from South Anchorage High School. I enjoy reading, tinkering on the piano, cooking, tennis, and any activity that sends me into nature. I can't wait to go exploring around Urubamba. In high school, I worked with a local science museum and volunteered at family literacy nights, which taught me how gratifying (and fun, and messy) volunteer work can be. One of my greatest interests was Speech and Debate, where I argued over the global implications of government policy. I look forward to taking a less hypothetical approach to working with the people of Peru.
At Princeton, I'm interested in an engineering major. In Peru, I hope to work on the cleaner-burning stoves project both as an introduction to the types of problems that engineers can work on, and as a reminder of the opportunity that engineers have to improve global conditions. Having no previous exposure to Spanish, I'm also excited to learn a totally new language. Hopefully, my experience with Japanese immersion in elementary school will help me pick up Spanish with minimal embarrassment. I can't wait to meet new friends, cultures, foods, and landscapes in Peru.
Read more from Kenneth ...
Posted Apr 26, 2012
I fight through the gaps in traffic to cross the highway that runs past Urubamba. It's clinic time. Squatting on the far side of the road, the run down Minsa clinic offers government subsidized medical attention in all flavors, from physiological counseling to childbirth: not a beautiful building, but an important one, and volunteering there has been both enjoyable and eye-opening.
Posted Jan 09, 2012
Our work here in Peru is divided in two. Half of the week we spend on "internal projects," projects that Pro Peru has already established. My internal project is water filters. As the thriving electrolyte and antibiotic markets suggest, the water in Peru is not safe to drink. This has lead to what may be viewed as comic paranoia on my part-- showers with my jaw tightly clenched, refusal to floss until my hands have been washed, dried AND hand-sanitizer'd, etc.
Posted Dec 29, 2011
After a brief Salsa lesson in Spanish class, I never really thought about the dance while here in Urubamba. Absent from my life were the distinctive shuffles and twirls of Salsa-- at least until an awkward encounter in the Discoteque. We were out dancing with some Peruvian host siblings. The lights were flashing hypnotically, the songs were popular and familiar, and all was right with the world. Then I heard it: The music was shifting.