Twenty two years ago, I was in the Province of Arequipa for only two days at the beginning of a three week tour of the altiplano with about twenty other breeders of llamas from the United States. Certainly it was impossible for me to imagine then that I would return under these circumstances. I had received two years of education in the Spanish language during high school, but by the time of my first visit to your country I remembered almost nothing about it.

My Spanish is not good enough for me to just invent this little speech as I go, which I would certainly prefer to do. I must read it. It is much easier for me to understand written Spanish, or simple Spanish spoken clearly, than it is to find and connect words enough to convey my thoughts in conversation.

It was almost the first time I tried to speak Spanish for any practical purpose that I confused the words "bastante" (enough) and "bastardo" (bastard). The wife of my host was pouring a drink for me and I wanted to tell her "that is sufficient." Instead, well, you can imagine. She was quite shocked, so I asked her the definition of this word. In this embarrassing way I learned these two words, and I will never forget either. Sometimes learning can be painful.

When I was about 15 years old, I was a good student, as all of you are to get this far, and I enjoyed learning, but one day I realized that learning more would make my life more complicated. I saw that further knowledge of how things work and how things are connected (really everything is connected to everything else) could lead to worries and disappointments about the big difference between what exists and what is possible, what could be. I preferred to just enjoy life and live it day by day. "Don't worry, be happy."

For several days I tried not to learn more, but of course it was already too late. Finally it became obvious that the only option was to learn as much as possible. It is quite true that learning leads to understanding, which can lead to disappointment and frustration and even some sadness at times. Yet it is only by understanding that we can begin, little by little, to close this gap between what is and what could be. It seems to me now that there are not many places on earth where this difference, this gap, is as large as it is here in Peru.

Knowledge carries the burden of responsibility for those who are willing to be responsible. I feel very lucky that I have learned something that could help to improve the situation of some people here in Peru eventually and in some small way. Most people never get this kind of opportunity to contribute to "the grand process," no matter how much they want to, and for me the opportunity came as a complete surprise.

I am a breeder of llamas, living a rural life with my animals. My wife and I did (and still do) almost all the work of this little ranch, so in many ways we have had the same experiences and problems and little satisfactions from these animals as many of the campesinos here in Peru and in other places on the altiplano. One day I became interested to know more about the early stages of llama reproduction and especially about the possibility to transfer early embryos from a female of high quality to another of ordinary or even low quality. I wanted to know about this because it would allow faster genetic gain and make the international movement of camelid genetics safer and more humane. Movement of embryos allows the exporting country to sell genetics without losing the best animals. That was 12 years ago. Now, I am happy to be able to share what I have learned about this new camelid technology.

In conclusion, let me say thank you to the organizers and sponsors of this seminar, the people of Compania Minera Ares, and to all the people of the university, faculty, students and staff, for your kindness and hospitality to all of us who were involved. And that, from me today, is…bastante.