Ben Buckman.net

From August 4th to 17th 2003, I was in Lima, Peru, together with my teammates and coach, representing Israel in the World Schools Debating Championships 2003. Our team was comprised of myself, Talia Gillis, Hayah Goldlist, and Avital Sterngold, and our coach was Alona Toledano. This was not the first international debating competition for any of us, but we surprised even ourselves, coming in 6th place in the world.

Besides the debating, though, I (like everyone else) had an amazing time. I didn't like Lima itself, but the organizers did an amazing job with very limited resources, and the competition was excellent. I met some amazing people, drank lots of Pisco Sours (a great Peruvian drink), and had many unforgettable experiences.

During the course of the competition, I took many photos. These are some of my favorite ones. I hope you enjoy them.

Before:

Our team months before the competition (with Yair, who left shortly after)

The picture we submitted to the WSDC magazine, with Yair

Picnic:

The mountains outside of Lima, on the train ride

Our team at the picnic

Talia and Hayah relaxing after the picnic

Kuwait and Greece, at the picnic in the mountains, after the train ride

A mixed group of debaters after the picnic.

in Lima:

My favorite picture from the whole trip. These little brothers played better than any other musicians we saw in Lima.

Centuries-old piles of bones, on one of our fascinating trips through Lima

One of the many enormous chapels in Lima

In the same church - this must be symbolic of something...

A rare Peruvian middle-class family

The Lima skyline

Palace:

Marching guards ceremony at the presidential palace

Sitting in a palace chair

The Indonesians and me in the presidential palace

The English team and coach in the Presidential Palace.

A bustling street by the palace

Debates:

Our team mascot on duty

...and sleeping on the job

The Santa Maria School band (I think)

Dances

...and more dances...

...and some more...

Yes, these dances became very boring after a while...

Mishael (our adjudicator) during his speech in the backwards debate

Octos:

Sahil and Talia play a duet on the piano before the octo-finals

Hayah at the octo-finals

Hayah offering a point of information in the octo's

The girls with girls from one of the schools, after winning the octo's

Quarters:

Avital in the quarter-finals, at Universidad Renaldo Palma (URP)

Talia in the quarter-finals

Sam (England) in the quarter-finals

After losing the quarter-finals, happy to have gotten so far

Me on the terrace of URP

Areeg (Kuwait) and me on the URP terrace

The girls, back in the hotel, in their ugly URP shirts

Final dinner/hotel:

Sahil (Indonesia) and me

Astrid (Indonesia) and me in the hotel

Helen (Estonia), Sahil (Indonesia) and me at the final dinner

Laura (New Zealand) and me after the competition

Afterwards:

Unity - the flags of all the teams' countries

The sun sets on the WSDC 2003 - a view from the plane to the US.