INSANITY. is the only word that even begins to describe the events of the last two days! People everywhere, things going on everywhere...we thought anything in the US was a holiday- really you haven't seen anything....
The festival started yesterday! They love their pre-parties here..so we all got up at 8 AM and went to see the parade at 10 (although we did not know that parade would be going until the early hours of the morning...) we walked around to see many different kinds of peruvian dancers parade through the Av El Sol and up into the square! Their outfits were so colorful and beautful! Unlike any of the other parades we had seen in the city (and yes, we have seen alot...) this one was all older adult dancers which was cool! They took it very seriously and kept in character the whole parade. After watching for a while, we went and got lunch at this amazing cafe resturant in San Blas called Jacks. It was so amazing, really if you ever in Cusco, go there! Its alittle more expensive (like 11 US dollars) but totally worth it. After that amazing lunch we walked around a bit, saw the 12 sided stone- which isn't as great as you would think...but you had to go see it i guess, and headed back to the Plaza for more of the parade!
Now, each of the organization in the city was marching in the parade with a different color pancho! Everyone from Tourism Peru to the Hospitals and Clinics marched! I actually saw the nurses from Benepampa holding their sign on Av El Sol. Some of the organizations did a dance of some sort and others just walked! But really, this parade was never ending.... We went out later after dinner to check out the scene and IT WAS STILL GOING. on and on and on... we all figured by 10 it looked more like a mosh pit instead of a parade.
Their were street venders set up with everything you could want from a kabob with a potato, chocolate bars, milk, some other unrecognizable drinks, soups, chicken, really anything!
As much as the craziness was a blast, we did actually have a not so fun part of being in Cusco during a festival time.. As we were walking through the crowds to get to the Plaza, the girls that were up ahead of me GOT SPIT ON from one of the balconies above! As we were freakin out because that is so gross, women came up to us and started pointing at where it was.. however, we were still with friends so we had to hurry and pushed through the crowds! it was so gross and was in 2 of the girls hair and one of their face! When we finally met up with our friends, they told us that the same thing happened to them and that they were trying to rob us! Thank goodness, none of us had anything in our pockets and moved away so quickly, but all of our jacket pockets were unzipped. it was crazy and so lucky that one of us had been robbed! When we were talked to locals latter, they were saying that alot of people come into town from around the area to try and rob tourists...close call, and i mean its not like i had anything on me except 20 soles (7 american dollars)....
As we were walking home that night, the party was STILL GOING. people in bright red panchos everywhere, it was like it was still 4 PM when actually it was midnight. Kids were still up hanging around the city and i dont think anyone was planning on going to bed soon!
The next day, we again woke up early for the real Inti Raymi celebration! It started at a temple on Av El Sol where they started the procession. There was a man dressed up like Inca who addressed the sun god and there were at least 75 other dancers playing different parts of the old Inca civilization. you will not believe these pictures!!
Then they paraded up into the Plaza where the story plot continued and the Inca was carried in! There was something about coca leaves and a priest -- it was all in quecha and i bought a guide, however in the big crowds it was stolen out of my pocket!
After the craziness at the plaza, with people getting carried around, lots of dancing, and some singing, the show headed up to Saqsaywama. That is one hike up literately the side of a mountain. We didn't pay the 90 dollars for the ground seats so we were on hillside with the locals. and they were rowdy! there were some issues with people not sitting down in the front and then people next to us throwing stuff at them, everything from waterbottles to banana peels! We stayed for a while to watch some of the show, got super hungry and decided to head home for food. overall, the day was amazing! totally worth the crazy crowds and was totally different than anything culturally i had seen!
i will put up pictures soon! they are so amazing with the costumes and colors i dont know how i will pick!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Wah Wah.....
So, today we tried to go Whitewater rafting...but the strikes ruined our plans again!! We made it 2 hours out of the city and one of the many buses of strikers threw a rock at our car...and cracked the windshield! It was kind of scary, but also interesting to see that the strikers that we have had heard about for the last couple of weeks are just normal people that are unhappy with the government. Peru is having a lot of issues with their president right now which sucks for them. We have heard of many issues including privatizing water, and tourism changing laws. But all of the Peruvians that we have talked don't seem that fazed by it....
Yesterday, there was also another parade in the city! Jeez, i didn't think they could have another one!! There were lots of floats and dancers up the middle of the streets! The floats were on cars, and being carried, some even moved! We couldn't figure out what holiday they were actually celebrating..but it was fun! I will put up pictures when I can- some of the floats were just for fun and then others had political significances like some were geared towards amazon conservation and swine flu statements in south america!
On another topic! I talked to my mother tonight and tried to stress the significance of the festival on Wednesday...and failed...
So i figured i will put up some links to explain maybe a little better than i can!! (here ya go mom)
http://www.southwindadventures.com/inti-raymi.htm
http://www.cusco.net/articulos/intiraymi.htm
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Update from Volunteering!
So, I also realized that I haven't updated the blog on my volunteer experience since I changed projects! I now work in a Public Clinic in the city called Belenpampa. It is quite a big clinic with many different departments and lots of volunteers. Its very nice that there are lots of other volunteers around because the employees just treat us like other workers. I spent the week working in the emergency room. This was unlike any emergency room that I had every been to, it 2 little rooms. One of the rooms was for "el ninos" that had very high fevers- but they would just bathe them in water and then rub their body in alcohol. I am not sure what this actually does because its still means that they still are sick no matter what their fever is, but i guess they were just trying to keep it from becoming dangerously high. One of the nursing student that worked in this section told me that a lot of the kids that come in haven't gottan vaccines which means that usually they have meningitis. The other part of the rooms are for topical, and their is only one nurse in charge of this. They did everything from injections to stitches.
My first day there, a man came in with a huge gash on this hand. He had to get 7 stitches and holy crap they didnt use the amount of numming stuff that we would in the US. If that had happened in the US, the man would have been screaming murder. But he just quietly cryed as the nurse cleaned up the dead skin and then stitched up this hand. I saw a sheet with the prices from the clinic that the people were charged and in was 20 soles for 20 stitches (in American thats about 7 dollars!) So i mean i guess they cant afford the great tools and drugs.
While I worked there, I saw (and was allowed to help) with stitch removals on the head and stomach, putting stitches into the hand, leg and finger, a really crazy dog bite (will write more about that latter), injections for stomach pain, and few other diseases, and I held down a few kids while the doctor injected them in the butt with pencilin.
Overall, It was great experience! It was a great way to see medicine in action as well as the problems faced by a 3rd world country when they are trying to keep up with the care needed by their poor public.
I changed departements next week, so who knows where I will end up!
My first day there, a man came in with a huge gash on this hand. He had to get 7 stitches and holy crap they didnt use the amount of numming stuff that we would in the US. If that had happened in the US, the man would have been screaming murder. But he just quietly cryed as the nurse cleaned up the dead skin and then stitched up this hand. I saw a sheet with the prices from the clinic that the people were charged and in was 20 soles for 20 stitches (in American thats about 7 dollars!) So i mean i guess they cant afford the great tools and drugs.
While I worked there, I saw (and was allowed to help) with stitch removals on the head and stomach, putting stitches into the hand, leg and finger, a really crazy dog bite (will write more about that latter), injections for stomach pain, and few other diseases, and I held down a few kids while the doctor injected them in the butt with pencilin.
Overall, It was great experience! It was a great way to see medicine in action as well as the problems faced by a 3rd world country when they are trying to keep up with the care needed by their poor public.
I changed departements next week, so who knows where I will end up!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Last Weekends Adventures!
So I am really trying to update this blog! It is so hard to keep up with all we do here! Last Sunday, we hiked up the mountain to an Inca ruin called Sacsayhuaman (yes, it is pronounced like "Sexy Women"-- and yes we still giggle when we have to say it, what can i say we are gringos...) It is this HUGE outside temple with these insane rocks on the top of a hill looking over Cusco. We hired a tour guide that spoke great English for a whopping 10 American dollars and she took us around the whole place and explained it all for like a good two hours! Again, this was some crazy rock work by the Incas! There were a bunch of symbols including rainbows, lighting bolts and some other crazy stuff which was really cool to see. We also walked over to where the Incas had towers for the priest to lived and then a watertower (yes a watertower!) and a man-made lake! We also walked through this crazy cave in which they warned us there was no light, and yea there was none. we had to use the camera flashes to see where we were going! Those pictures are wayyy to embarrassing to put up though, sorry..
After we finished out tour, we walked over to the big Christo Blanco on the hill that you can see from anywhere in the city! We were told that it was present from Palestine immigrants during World War II that went home and gave money to the city of Cusco, and Cusco bought this Jesus for the hill. Our tour guide told us that they are unsure if the Palestine immigrants know that thats where there money went because they aren't Christian....
Walking from Sacsayhuaman and Christo Blanco was a just a contrast from the old Inca religion and the Spanish-Influence Christianity that are both intertwinned in the Cuscquenna daily life. It is so interesting how they are able to keep their very old traditions and are still able to celebrate the Christian traditions as well. It is unlike any place I have ever been where they seem to make fun of the Spanish in plays and skits and dances, however, embrass their religion.
Another example of this is the festival on the 24th because it is an inca holiday, and they just celebrated Corpis Christi a week ago!
View of the City at the top of the ruins
Christo Blanco on the Hill
The Thunderbolts-- LOOK AT THOSE ROCKS!
Aubrey and I in front of the huge rocks
Sign outside the ruins
View from the Soccer Game!
After we finished out tour, we walked over to the big Christo Blanco on the hill that you can see from anywhere in the city! We were told that it was present from Palestine immigrants during World War II that went home and gave money to the city of Cusco, and Cusco bought this Jesus for the hill. Our tour guide told us that they are unsure if the Palestine immigrants know that thats where there money went because they aren't Christian....
Walking from Sacsayhuaman and Christo Blanco was a just a contrast from the old Inca religion and the Spanish-Influence Christianity that are both intertwinned in the Cuscquenna daily life. It is so interesting how they are able to keep their very old traditions and are still able to celebrate the Christian traditions as well. It is unlike any place I have ever been where they seem to make fun of the Spanish in plays and skits and dances, however, embrass their religion.
Another example of this is the festival on the 24th because it is an inca holiday, and they just celebrated Corpis Christi a week ago!
View of the City at the top of the ruins
Christo Blanco on the Hill
The Thunderbolts-- LOOK AT THOSE ROCKS!
Aubrey and I in front of the huge rocks
Sign outside the ruins
View from the Soccer Game!Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Bus Strikes....
So, it looks like yet again there will be no way to get out of the city this weekend... A few of us were suppose to head out to Puno which is home to a beautiful Lake Titicaca! Our plan was to stay on one of the "floating islands" for Saturday night with a host family without electricity... It is suppose to be completely amazing and the stars are so cool because of no electricity...However, the Peruvians are up in arms about new tourism laws and have no decided to have another bus strike...SUCKS.
I am hoping that another weekend later in the trip will become free and we will be able to go then..
Atleast we still have Inti Raymi on the 24th and the hike to Machu Picchu on the 27th!!
I am hoping that another weekend later in the trip will become free and we will be able to go then..
Atleast we still have Inti Raymi on the 24th and the hike to Machu Picchu on the 27th!!
More Corpis Christi Photos
Cute kids in Costume..
One of the incredible Saints that were carried around the square...
There were 40.. so i couldnt get pictures of them all
More of the beautiful handmade signs carried in the paradeMonday, June 15, 2009
Peruvians Love Their Holidays!
We switched to a clinic which is again another public program! But, i like it a lot better because everyone is much more friendly and want to teach you! The only thing is... nobody speaks english...so i will be learning Spanish FAST....
But we had Wednesday off for the holiday here! Corpis Christi! It was amazing, there was so many colors everywhere and people everywhere! On Tuesday, they started the party early in the square by parading around Saints on big platforms with people carrying them! now, these things were incredibly expensive and beautiful! My spanish teacher was telling us that one of them cost about 1 million dollars is the "pride of the cusco people!"
On Wednesday, there was a huge catholic service in the square with a representative of the Pope and another important catholic person! We watched some of the service and then ended up sitting a restaurant and watching the parade around the square! It was so beautiful, the catholic school children also were in the parade as well as the members of the church.
I will get some more pictures from this holiday soon- but they are on my camera which i have to download!
All the people!
The big parade, i am not sure what this is but it was really cool!
More crowds in front of the Cathedral
The Traditional Peruvian clothing!
But we had Wednesday off for the holiday here! Corpis Christi! It was amazing, there was so many colors everywhere and people everywhere! On Tuesday, they started the party early in the square by parading around Saints on big platforms with people carrying them! now, these things were incredibly expensive and beautiful! My spanish teacher was telling us that one of them cost about 1 million dollars is the "pride of the cusco people!"
On Wednesday, there was a huge catholic service in the square with a representative of the Pope and another important catholic person! We watched some of the service and then ended up sitting a restaurant and watching the parade around the square! It was so beautiful, the catholic school children also were in the parade as well as the members of the church.
I will get some more pictures from this holiday soon- but they are on my camera which i have to download!
All the people!
The big parade, i am not sure what this is but it was really cool!
More crowds in front of the Cathedral
The Traditional Peruvian clothing!Swtiching Projects
Monday, we took the day off because we are switching to another Clinic in Cusco. So since we had to buy a tourist ticket to go to see all of the ruins in Sacred Valley- we headed around Cusco to visit all of the places so that we could get our moneys worth... well that was the plan.. WHO KNEW SO MANY PLACES WERE CLOSED ON MONDAYS!
so in the end we made it to ONE... little museum with no english anywhere. I mean the only really cool part was that they had Incan mummys and heads with holes showing their use of brain surgery! But all in all, i think i have been spoiled with my museums in DC!
We also found out that were another whole ticket for the churches here that you have to buy to get inside...man Cusco really makes money off their tourists! I am not sure when we will get time to go to all of them (there are alot) and the ticket expires in a week. So i think we are just going to do them all in one or two days and call it the "Church Blitz"... but probably not for another couple weeks!
so in the end we made it to ONE... little museum with no english anywhere. I mean the only really cool part was that they had Incan mummys and heads with holes showing their use of brain surgery! But all in all, i think i have been spoiled with my museums in DC!
We also found out that were another whole ticket for the churches here that you have to buy to get inside...man Cusco really makes money off their tourists! I am not sure when we will get time to go to all of them (there are alot) and the ticket expires in a week. So i think we are just going to do them all in one or two days and call it the "Church Blitz"... but probably not for another couple weeks!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Lost In Translation
OK SORRY...I have been really bad on my blog because of the lack of internet, or my pure laziness (you pick..) so here we go. i have written down everything in my journal so i plan to just retype here! and we are off!!
so yesterday was our Sacred Valley tour, which started out so crazy.....
so yesterday was our Sacred Valley tour, which started out so crazy.....
we were told by the place we booked through that we were going to be picked up from our house at 845, they took our address and we, all 7 of us, were outside waiting at 830 for the tour bus to pick us up....well 930 rolled around and we decided that the bus was not coming, so two girls walked down to the travel agent to see what was going on. next thing we knew we were getting picked up by 2 taxis and a women was yelling in spanish in the front seat of my taxi.. as we start driving VERY fast up this hill. Now, if i understood more spanish i would have known what was going on, but somehow I was very happy i didnt. The girls who had gone to get the bus had been told by the women that the bus was getting gas, but that was completely untrue as we raced up this hill. As we came speeding around the a curve, there was bus parked on the side of the road. We rushed out of the cabs and on to the bus, there were 30 other people staring at us...slightly awkward...
But other than the slighly rocky start our tour was great! I mean our tour guide spoke much more in Spanish than he ever did in English, but still it was a great trip!
We visited multiple Inca ruin sights and i decided- crap these ancient people were NOT kidding around! The first sight was on the a cliff, not exaggeration needed. Lets set the scene...the side of the Andes Mountain with a path leading out to a cliff with not ropes and just stairs. Honestly, I was slightly terrified one of the people ahead of me was going to just slip and go over the side into the valley beneath. But it was so worth all the cliff walking! The ruins of Pisque are a bunch of religious buildings made of different temples to each of the Inca Gods. Our guide told us that the rock that made up these buildings was actually found on a mountain adjacent to the one we were on- meaning that the incas had to carry these rocks from one mountain to the other. SO IMPRESSIVE.
Next, we ate lunch in a town in the valley called Urubamba. We had a peruvian speciality called papas de fritos. (Chris you would have loved this- its plain chicken with french fries) and i dunno the peruvians seem to LOVE IT!
After this we went to another sight which was another inca ruin. This was my favorite because it was mostly still intacked and really big. It was called Ollantaytambo and it was terraces for farming that were in the side of the mountain shaped like a Ilama. Now, this was very difficult to see when you were hiking UP the side of it. However, we got a great view while driving away and with the photo that our guide showed us. The coolest part was when the winter solitis happenes the light starts to appear only in the eye of the llama, signifying its awaking! another example on how the incas were super smart!
There was also a cool waterfall at the bottom of the llama that somehow with a press of your hand across the side could start and stop the waterfall- it was so they could store the water when there was a drought!
We next went to a white church called Chinchero and we were shown how the local people (Quechas) made their dyes for their fabrics. Then we were able to buy some, but there were slightly expensive and it had been a longgg day.
We arrived back in Cusco, and went out for the best pizza i have ever had. It was amazing, who knew Cusco had such great cuisine!
Ruines of Pisque
The cliff that we climbed to
We visited multiple Inca ruin sights and i decided- crap these ancient people were NOT kidding around! The first sight was on the a cliff, not exaggeration needed. Lets set the scene...the side of the Andes Mountain with a path leading out to a cliff with not ropes and just stairs. Honestly, I was slightly terrified one of the people ahead of me was going to just slip and go over the side into the valley beneath. But it was so worth all the cliff walking! The ruins of Pisque are a bunch of religious buildings made of different temples to each of the Inca Gods. Our guide told us that the rock that made up these buildings was actually found on a mountain adjacent to the one we were on- meaning that the incas had to carry these rocks from one mountain to the other. SO IMPRESSIVE.
Next, we ate lunch in a town in the valley called Urubamba. We had a peruvian speciality called papas de fritos. (Chris you would have loved this- its plain chicken with french fries) and i dunno the peruvians seem to LOVE IT!
After this we went to another sight which was another inca ruin. This was my favorite because it was mostly still intacked and really big. It was called Ollantaytambo and it was terraces for farming that were in the side of the mountain shaped like a Ilama. Now, this was very difficult to see when you were hiking UP the side of it. However, we got a great view while driving away and with the photo that our guide showed us. The coolest part was when the winter solitis happenes the light starts to appear only in the eye of the llama, signifying its awaking! another example on how the incas were super smart!
There was also a cool waterfall at the bottom of the llama that somehow with a press of your hand across the side could start and stop the waterfall- it was so they could store the water when there was a drought!
We next went to a white church called Chinchero and we were shown how the local people (Quechas) made their dyes for their fabrics. Then we were able to buy some, but there were slightly expensive and it had been a longgg day.
We arrived back in Cusco, and went out for the best pizza i have ever had. It was amazing, who knew Cusco had such great cuisine!
Ruines of PisqueLooking down at the ruins
The cliff that we climbed to
Girls sitting on the wall at Pisque
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Updated Photos!
Mountains around Cusco
Our beautiful house!!!!!
Doing Spanish Homework in our room!
More pictures of the inside photoss
Aubrey and I at the hospital
The Hospital Campus!
More shots of the campusFriday, June 5, 2009
Horseback Riding!
Today we got up early and drove outside Cusco and went horseback riding! Honestly, I wasnt that excited because my view of horse-backing riding was going nose to tail walking for hours.. But, I was pleasantely surprised! We all got our hourses and walked over to the Temple of the Moon. This is the place where Inca people made sarcifices of lamas to the Gods during the full moon every month. It was basically a dark hole in a huge vocanic rock! Slightly creepy.... I will have pictures up soon. Then we rode all over the countryside and saw many view of Cusco city. It was so pretty!! The horses even went fast when you wanted them to and it wasn't like a they had to stay in line. Only in Peru would they stick you on a horse and tell you just to go-- no rules except for, don't fall off!
The internet has been super slow lately, so I might not be able to upload pictures for awhile!
Alright we are heading to Sacred Valley tomorrow!
The internet has been super slow lately, so I might not be able to upload pictures for awhile!
Alright we are heading to Sacred Valley tomorrow!
Pictures of Cruz Rojo
These are all pictures that Aubrey took at the hospital, they are much better than mine!!The Pediatria
The Surgery Center with outside walkways that patients are wheeled on after surgery
Women wheeling the food cart to the parts of the hospital
The buildings of Cruz RojoThursday, June 4, 2009
Peru es muy bonito
These are pictures of a catholic Spanish church that was build on an Inca ruined place of worship. This is right across the street of Maximo Nivel on El Sol (a main street through town).
Streets of El Sol
This is right outside our house, it shows the hills of Cusco and the house built into the mountains!Hello All! So ah so much to tell already! I started spanish lessons on monday as well as starting my placement (not sure if i said that) but they are everyday for 2 hours. My teacher is so great, so she is fun engaging and it doesnt feel like a regular class...except the pain of my existence..verb conjugation...After not taking a language for several years i have forgotten how many rules there are!!! Anyways, I cannot believe its only been three days, I have already learned so much! Maximo also teaches Peruvians English as well as being a program for Spanish. So they have a program in which matches up Peruvians who want to learn English and a foreigner and you practice the languages on eachother. They call it Tandem and its great! My tandem partner is Jose Maria (apparently a normal middle name in Peru?). He speaks fairly good English and it is just great to interact and meet Peruvians! They are so hospitable and nice! He even asked me and my house mates to come out to dinner with his friend to practice our spanish and english together. It was such a goodtime! They taught us about the Peruvian culture from everything from with what cities are good, what teenagers do for fun!
The children at the hospital help as well because they are easy to understand. Today, many of them were feeling much better so we were able to have fun and play. They taught me the alphabet in Spanish and I taught them it in English. Actually, they just spend the whole time laughing at me trying to pronounce "ll". But really, they would laugh and laugh then yell something in slang to eachother that I am pretty sure was calling me a stupid "gringo" (its their slang for white person I am pretty sure) But all in all, I was just happy they were feeling better! Two of them went home today, they were so excited! We also brought them books which they gladly read to us, which was great for pronuncion.
My favorite kid is Judy, she is 13 years old with a broken arm that she broke while playing volleyball. She knows a little English so we can communicate well. Basically when i get lost in the conversation she spits out a English word at me..She also taught me how to count to 10 in quechua which is the native language of the Inca people. It is spoken by a fair amount of people in Cusco because it was the old Inca capital. That is one hard language-- it sounds like a mix of wierd spanish and umm i have noo idea...
We are heading to the Valle Sagrado (Sacred Valley) this weekend with many Inca ruins! So I am sure many more stories to come!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Cruz Rojo
Yesterday was our first day at our volunteer placement!
We met the other 2 volunteers at Maximo at 9 Am to go to our placement called Cruz Rojo. Neither Aubry nor I put together that that in Spanish meant the "Red Cross"...hahaha but soon we found out when we pulled up to a building with a big red cross on the door. being a recognized named globally i was expecting it to be....quite different....
When we walked in, only spanish was spoken from then on and NO ENGLISH. At first, I was quite lost. They gave us a tour and I relied on the two other volunteers for translation. All I can say is that THANK GOD PERVIANS SPEAK SLOWLY....
The hospital was probably the worst condition I have ever seen. The beds were old and the paint was chipping. there were cinderblocks were under the beds holding them up..The hospital was made up of multiple buildings somewhat like a college campus. People would wait on the lawn outside the Surgery building for their relatives to come out and get wheeled to the different parts of the hospital, outside. the nurses would cover their faces from the sun- I am not sure how helpful that was...there was only one operating room, which we werent allowed allowed to go in (really I am sure I wanted to..) but we were able to go into the Pre and Post Surgery rooms..we werent talking to the intensive care either, again probably a good thing. I was able to gather (through translation...) that these people were all very poor and couldn't afford anything like going to the a hospital so they came here where it was free.
We saw the Medicina Emergina which had a line down the hallway for four beds.. Everywhere there was lines- for the Clinic, Prenatal, Bloodwork.. people were everywhere.. loads of people waiting for a doctor who probably would stand there for the whole day just to get treated..I would have to say pardon to get through.
My whole first day I only saw 4-5 white coats doctors and every single nurse I saw was running- to where? no idea..but it seemed important...
By the end of the day, I was getting better -- I went from the blank look of the distress that was on my face was gone and I switched quickly to "No Entendo"
Then we found out what we would be doing was distracting the boys and girls in the trama and peds that were mostly orphaned. the volunteer director brought us around again and introduced us to them in the trama and peds unit. Some of them were heartbreaking -- there was a boy who got his fingers cut off by a train and he was still bleeding through the bandages and crying in pain. There was also a boy whose legs just stopped working and the doctors couldn't figure out why. There was also a boy with terminal leukemia who we couldnt see because he is so immono-deficient. In the trama building, the parents are only allowed in during visiting hours from 1-4 every afternoon. They are locked outside the building unable to know the status of their child...
We have spanish lessons everyday for two hours with a class of 4 people so i should be able to learn alot!!
alright that was super long.. PICTURES TO COME! miss you all!
We met the other 2 volunteers at Maximo at 9 Am to go to our placement called Cruz Rojo. Neither Aubry nor I put together that that in Spanish meant the "Red Cross"...hahaha but soon we found out when we pulled up to a building with a big red cross on the door. being a recognized named globally i was expecting it to be....quite different....
When we walked in, only spanish was spoken from then on and NO ENGLISH. At first, I was quite lost. They gave us a tour and I relied on the two other volunteers for translation. All I can say is that THANK GOD PERVIANS SPEAK SLOWLY....
The hospital was probably the worst condition I have ever seen. The beds were old and the paint was chipping. there were cinderblocks were under the beds holding them up..The hospital was made up of multiple buildings somewhat like a college campus. People would wait on the lawn outside the Surgery building for their relatives to come out and get wheeled to the different parts of the hospital, outside. the nurses would cover their faces from the sun- I am not sure how helpful that was...there was only one operating room, which we werent allowed allowed to go in (really I am sure I wanted to..) but we were able to go into the Pre and Post Surgery rooms..we werent talking to the intensive care either, again probably a good thing. I was able to gather (through translation...) that these people were all very poor and couldn't afford anything like going to the a hospital so they came here where it was free.
We saw the Medicina Emergina which had a line down the hallway for four beds.. Everywhere there was lines- for the Clinic, Prenatal, Bloodwork.. people were everywhere.. loads of people waiting for a doctor who probably would stand there for the whole day just to get treated..I would have to say pardon to get through.
My whole first day I only saw 4-5 white coats doctors and every single nurse I saw was running- to where? no idea..but it seemed important...
By the end of the day, I was getting better -- I went from the blank look of the distress that was on my face was gone and I switched quickly to "No Entendo"
Then we found out what we would be doing was distracting the boys and girls in the trama and peds that were mostly orphaned. the volunteer director brought us around again and introduced us to them in the trama and peds unit. Some of them were heartbreaking -- there was a boy who got his fingers cut off by a train and he was still bleeding through the bandages and crying in pain. There was also a boy whose legs just stopped working and the doctors couldn't figure out why. There was also a boy with terminal leukemia who we couldnt see because he is so immono-deficient. In the trama building, the parents are only allowed in during visiting hours from 1-4 every afternoon. They are locked outside the building unable to know the status of their child...
We have spanish lessons everyday for two hours with a class of 4 people so i should be able to learn alot!!
alright that was super long.. PICTURES TO COME! miss you all!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Home Sweet Home!
So after 14 hours traveling, 3 different flights, 3 different airports with decreasing English as we went.. WE ARE FINALLY HERE! No major problems on the flights which was good! the Lima airport was quite large and it was nice that everyone spoke alittle English and as soon as I gave them the look like what the heck did you say? they switched over without any problem!
The flight to Cusco from Lima was beautiful! We flew over snow caped mountains and so i couldnt help but peak over the nice man next to me to look out the window!
We got our bags and was met by the program (you have no idea how happy I was to see him with my name, I really didnt wanna have to figure out how to get to the office at 830 AM...) There was another girl who was there as well. An Australian girl who now me and Aubrey share a room with! However, her bags had never arrived in Lima from Chicago but surprisingly she had a great attitude about it! Together we hopped in a taxi and went to the Maximo offices, where they made us feel quite at home. Everyone was so sweet and they gave us a tour of where to go for our orientation latter that day. Maximo is basically a language school both Pervians as well as foreigners! They started out actually in Peru just teaching street children english and now have expanded into everything from travel adventure trips to basic English and Spanish classes!
They are located on one of the main streets through Cusco and just a block or two away from Planza de Armes which is a beautiful center of town! (I will try and get picture up soon!!)
ANYWAYS! FOR MY FAVORITE PART OF THIS TRIP...my family house...at first when they said family house i was sort of bummed because i wanted to get right into Pervian culture with actual Pervians.. but I have a feeling that this is going to be so much better!!
The house is BEAUTIFUL. Mom- you would love this place! Its a two story completely decorated and so pretty!! There are 2 doubles, 2 triples and 2 singles? (not sure on that), they are quite large rooms and 3 bathrooms. A kitchen with professionals chiefs and they serve us breakfast, lunch and dinner! Its amazing! The chiefs and other workers at the house dont speak that much English, which I think will be fun later when I know more!
So we went to Orientation, where I started to really feel the attitude and lack of sleep... I was so tired...then surprise, we had a diagonistic spanish test!! I prompty because of sleep and attitude (yes, thats what I am blaming it on dad...) gave up the test and just put myself in the beginner spanish class with Aubrey plus two other medical students and some other volunteers!
We headed home, then ate the best meal of my life and napped..
My projected starts tomorrow at 9 AM, Spanish lessons start at 2 PM tomorrow!
Alright its dinner time and so we are watching movies tonight with our house!!
The flight to Cusco from Lima was beautiful! We flew over snow caped mountains and so i couldnt help but peak over the nice man next to me to look out the window!
We got our bags and was met by the program (you have no idea how happy I was to see him with my name, I really didnt wanna have to figure out how to get to the office at 830 AM...) There was another girl who was there as well. An Australian girl who now me and Aubrey share a room with! However, her bags had never arrived in Lima from Chicago but surprisingly she had a great attitude about it! Together we hopped in a taxi and went to the Maximo offices, where they made us feel quite at home. Everyone was so sweet and they gave us a tour of where to go for our orientation latter that day. Maximo is basically a language school both Pervians as well as foreigners! They started out actually in Peru just teaching street children english and now have expanded into everything from travel adventure trips to basic English and Spanish classes!
They are located on one of the main streets through Cusco and just a block or two away from Planza de Armes which is a beautiful center of town! (I will try and get picture up soon!!)
ANYWAYS! FOR MY FAVORITE PART OF THIS TRIP...my family house...at first when they said family house i was sort of bummed because i wanted to get right into Pervian culture with actual Pervians.. but I have a feeling that this is going to be so much better!!
The house is BEAUTIFUL. Mom- you would love this place! Its a two story completely decorated and so pretty!! There are 2 doubles, 2 triples and 2 singles? (not sure on that), they are quite large rooms and 3 bathrooms. A kitchen with professionals chiefs and they serve us breakfast, lunch and dinner! Its amazing! The chiefs and other workers at the house dont speak that much English, which I think will be fun later when I know more!
So we went to Orientation, where I started to really feel the attitude and lack of sleep... I was so tired...then surprise, we had a diagonistic spanish test!! I prompty because of sleep and attitude (yes, thats what I am blaming it on dad...) gave up the test and just put myself in the beginner spanish class with Aubrey plus two other medical students and some other volunteers!
We headed home, then ate the best meal of my life and napped..
My projected starts tomorrow at 9 AM, Spanish lessons start at 2 PM tomorrow!
Alright its dinner time and so we are watching movies tonight with our house!!
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