Friday, December 28, 2007

Christmas in Musho!

I was LUCKY enough to spend the Christmas holiday with my wonderful friends, Lib and Benj, who are just over 1 year into their Peace Corps service. They live north of Huaraz, Peru in the Cordillera Blanca in a cute little mountain town called Musho. (Check out the link on the right to their blog for more info.) Christmas morning!!! And we're making cookies - YUM!! We even had a little Christmas tree.
Christmas Day we spent with close friends of theirs - Betty is making us our meal, which consisted of chicken soup, quy (guinnea pig - yup, I have officially tried it now), potatoes, and rice. Quite a Peruvian meal, to say the least.

On the 26th, we did an amazing hike through the Cordillera Blanca up to this lake (Laguna 69 - not sure of the significance:)). Quite a lake, as you can see. The happy duo as we began our descent - look at those smiles!!
The Blanca is such an incredible mountain range, nestled in the eastern Andes. It gets the precipitation from the Amazon, which can't get over the tall peaks (>6000 meters!!) without turning into beautiful snow. The contrast of white is breathtaking.

I have now returned to Cusco after a wonderful 5-day holiday. I have a few more weeks here, and then will be returning to the states briefly Jan 16th - Jan 25th. I am looking forward to re-connecting with family and friends, not to mention the exciting Alicia-and-Bruno wedding I get to be a part of while I'm home. I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and that your New Years´plans are shaping up.

Much love from the Andes,

Laurita

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Pictures of Yanapay

The entrance to the school, which is divided into 2 - 5-8 y/o and 9-14 y/o.
The school for younger kids, where I worked mostly.
THEATRE!!! The kids prepared plays describing the celebrations in December from all over the world - this is my class doing a play about Babushka, the Russian tradition.
Kiddos! Marco and his sister Karen are some of my favorites, along with my friend Jocelyn.
Friends Meghan and Aviva at the Yanapay Aldea restaurant that supports the kids program. Great friends!!

Check out the yanapay website for more information about the project. http://www.aldeayanapay.org/

more pics...sorry these are a little out of order

This is the view in the morning from Huchuy Qosco`...some of the ruins are in the background.
We then hiked up another pass to 4400 meters - this is the view on the way up.
Have you ever run across llamas while you are hiking? Well, I hadn´t...funny looking creatures, if you ask me.
On top of our highest pass...finally.
The beautiful cliffs on the other side...'vale la pena', as they say in Spanish - worth it.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Pics, finally!

The beautiful blue lake, where I spent Turkey Day with Lib and Benj...oh, and we swam across it, too!
Kiddos!!! This is one of the Friday fiestas at Yanapay (the school where I volunteer in the afternoons).
How can you NOT want to take these guys home! Josue and Miguel are two of the little devels in my class:) Don't let their smiles fool you!
On the hike from Cusco to Huchuy Qosco...heading right into the Sacred Valley.

Seppe in the morning just in front of the ruins we camped at (Huchuy Qosco).

Pics!

The health post

A crazy ride!! This was from the weekend Seppe and I went to Lares...and met a hilarious family from Lima...
Futbol! Notice the background...
Lib and Benj from our Thanksgiving trip to the jungle...how do you cross a river in a van?? Thankfully, there was a ferry...

Pics!! (From trip to Arequipa)

Just to give you an idea of the canyon...Colca Canyon is the deepest in the world. And sooooo beautiful.
On the way down on Sat...we stayed on the little green island (oasis) at the bottom.
The bungalo we stayed in.
On the way back up the next morning - Seppe is a good comparison to see how vast it truly is.

Waaaaaay down there is the oasis we stayed on...such an amazing hike!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Merry (almost) Christmas

Hello all,

As I sit here writing, the sun is shining and the Christmas decorations are multiplying. It is quite strange for me to consider this to be Christmas season without the fluffy white stuff or the nip in the air I am so accustomed to, but I am enjoying watching as this country changes and prepares for the holiday season. I am jealous, however, of the news I get of the loads of snow that has fallen in the northern states...hopefully some of it will be around when I return for my brief stay in January!

I wanted to update you all on my adventures since the last time I wrote. Unfortunately, pics have been a bit challenging for me to upload recently, but I will keep trying, to keep checking the blog for picture entries! I spent Thanksgiving up in Tarapoto with Lib and Benj, which was wonderful. VERY hot! Tarapoto is in the jungle, so I don't think we stopped sweating the entire trip. We ended up at Laguna Azul (blue lake) with a few other American Peace Corps Volunteers, where we enjoyed the local fresh fish and fruit, went on some amazing hikes through the jungle, swam across the lake, and relaxed with the locals. The trip was invigorating for me, and a much needed break from the work I'd been doing here in Cusco.

The past few weekends I have been lucky enough to do some amazing traveling in southern Peru. 3 weekends ago, Seppe and I headed out on an adventure to hike to some ruins called Huchuy Qosco. It was an outstanding hike, starting just above Cusco, 3600 meters or so, with 4 passes, the highest of which was 4250, and ending 26 kilometers later at some beutiful ruins you can only hike to. We camped in the ruins (literally), awoke in the clouds, and enjoyed watching the sun warm the valley thousands of meters below us. Absolutely breathtaking. We then hiked up another pass (4400 meters) and ended at a great little town, completely exhausted.

This past weekend, we (on a bit of a whim) jetted to Arequipa, which is a city southwest from Cusco. After an overnight bus on friday night, we took a bus for 5 more hours to the Colca Canyon. It is the deepest canyon in the world, and also happens to house the famous Peruvian condors. We ended up hiking down the canyon on Sat afternoon, and stayed in a little bungalo at the bottom of the canyon, sans electricity. Beautiful. Sunday morning we arose before the sun to be hiking by 5am...unreal. We hiked out of the canyon, caught a bus, and were blessed with a few sightings of the condors on our way out of the canyon. An unforgetable weekend, to be sure. Pics to come!!

Now I am back in Cusco, helping to prepare Yanapay (the kids program I work at) for our big Christmas party this weekend. The doctors at the health post are still on strike (quite a frustrating phenomenon for yours truly), but I am managing. I am looking forward to Christmas in Musho with Lib and Benj - I depart sunday the 23rd for 5 days with them.

If I don't have a chance to post before Christmas, please know that I am sending happy holiday wishes to all of you and tons of love during this season...

Lv,

Laurita

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Finally, a post

Greetings from sunny Cusco,

Hello to everyone who graciously takes the time to check and read this blog. I must apologize for being out of touch for the past few weeks...I'm not really sure what happened, except that I got REALLY BUSY! That isn't much of an excuse, I know, but it is the reason that I have at the moment. But finally, I have found some time and space to fill all of you in on what I have been up to since the last post and what my next few weeks will look like. Enjoy the update, and I will post pics as soon as I can.

I can start by describing why I have gotten myself so busy over the past few weeks. On top of working at a local health post, La Posta Belen Pampa, I have also started working at a local NGO that works with poor kids after school. Please see the following link to find out more about the project...it is pretty amazing.

http://yanapay.facipub.com/index.php?fp_plantilla_seleccionada_temporal=72

Because I can speak spanish, I have been given the responsibility of the 7-8 year old class. I have between 10-15 kids a day, and this month we are teaching them about world religions, specifically Hinduism. It is quite funny for me, because I don't actually know that much about world religions, but have been learning as I am teaching. The other role I have taken on at the project is as the doctor. None of the kids have consistent health care, even though it is supposed to be free for all children in Peru. The trouble is that access depends on the parents to take the time and energy to hook their kids into the health system, which doesn't happen with this population. Another interesting thing about Peru is that you can buy whatever medication, including antibiotics, at any pharmacy without a prescription. So the kids have been getting treated for bronchitis, strep throat, impetigo, etc. We actually had a TB scare this past week, which luckily was found to be negative. I have been trying to instill a bit more basic preventative medicine, but the challenge is high with this population, as you can imagine. I am doing what I can...

Work at the health post has also been quite busy recently. All doctors in Peru are on an indefinite ¨huelga¨, aka strike. It is an interesting catch for me, considering I come from a country where that would never happen. The problem is that the government pays all doctors salaries here in Peru, and they are pretty unfair (as low as 600 soles a month...that is $200 US). The strike is about wages and job security, which of course I believe in strongly. It is just tough to know that there are so many people who need basic health care who aren't getting what they need because of the strike. It has made me very busy, as the health professionals in the post aren't plentiful right now. I can share a story from Friday (please forgive the medical description). A 50 year-old woman arrived in the health post from the campo (countryside). She had gotten into a fight with her neighbor (not really sure about the entire story...) and had somehow gotten a large gash on her lower right shin. A family member had then proceded to ¨stitch¨up the gaping wound with thread. One does not have to be in medicine to imagine how infected her leg was 2 weeks after this incident, which is when I saw her. Needlesstosay, we needed to do some work...she had extensive cellulitis down to her foot and up to her thigh and an intense local infection. I won't go into details about what we did, but I will say that it was all without any sort of anesthetic, as it isn't available at the health post and the woman didn't have the money to buy any for herself. Thankfully, once we were finished, it did look a lot better, and hopefully we have helped to save her limb.

The weekends that I have had in between these posts have also been full. I went with a friend, Seppe, on a hilarious weekend to Calca and Lares, 2 towns a few hours north of Cusco in the Sacred Valley. There, we met a family from Lima, missed our bus to get to some hotsprings, ended up at some better, more local hotsprings, took a ride on the back of an open truck, played frisbee with local kids, ate nothing but open-market food, stayed at a hostel for 5 soles (less than $2.00) a night where the beds broke while we were sleeping and there were no keys for the rooms, found a local party, where a cute 15 year-old and her 22 year-old brother entertained us with their dancing and antics, finally got to the hotsprings after a 2 1/2 hour beautiful van ride through the mtns, and returned to Cusco refreshed after an adventurous weekend (pics to come soon)! Another weekend, I helped out with the health fair my post was hosting, went to the local football match with Alex and Seppe, and got caught up with my book. Such is my life of Cusco...

This weekend has also been relaxing, though somehow I manage to get myself busy anyway. I will be leaving Cusco on Tues to fly to Lima, where I will meet Lib and Benj for our Thanksgiving get-away. We fly to Tarapoto (a little town on the edge of the jungle in Northern Peru) Tues night, where we will spend until Sat exploring the area, celebrating El Dia Accion de Graçias (turkey day), hiking, yoga-ing, birding, and enjoying our time together. It will be wonderful, and a much needed break for yours-truly.

That is the update from here. I hope this finds each of you well...thank you for keeping up with my travels and adventures. As I head into this week, just know that I am thankful for all of the love and support that I receive from each of you, regardless of where each of us are in the world.

Happy Thanksgiving to all,

Laurita

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

And still more!

My friend, Lucho, and I...ready to fish! The contest was run through the NGO that Lucho works at in San Pablo.

My friends Catherine and Jonathan...fishing... Ah ha! A goal is scored by the American! Notice the skirted goalie...actually, the skirt came in handy a number of times, as I would have scored through her legs otherwise.

The crew at the project in San Pablo...Catherine, Jocelyn, Lucho, me, Alex, Jonathan, and Michelle. Great weekend!

More

More b-day pics...these ladies {Zoila and Janet} are from my work and they helped me celebrate in style.
These are pics from weekend I spent away in San Pablo, a small town 2 hours south of Cusco. We participated in a fishing contest {yes, of COURSE i won!} and some fun football games, Peruvian style! Friends, Catherine, Alex, Jonathan, and Jocelyn accompanied me.
And the football team...these ladies are all from San Pablo. I think the man is the mayor, not sure tho.

This is the scene from the fishing contest...over a hundred people, all locals except for us gringos, fishing for carp with bamboo-style fishing rods. VERY cool.

Pics, finally

A personal hike I took on the mountain across from Ollantaytumbo...beautiful.


Yeah! Laura is 27! Friends Arturo, Alex, Jonathan, and Jocelyn helped me celebrate {among others}.

Friday, October 26, 2007

On the eve of my birthday...

Hello hello!

I am just finishing up a busy week, heading into my birthday weekend, and I wanted to sit down and write a little update. I have some more photos from what I am doing currently, but alas, my camera sits (safely) in my room, so the photo uploading will have to wait for another day. Soon, I promise!

I have finished my 3rd week of volunteering and all is well. I work in a govt health post, La Poste Belen Pampa, which is in Southwestern Cusco. It serves mostly poor folks from Cusco and the surrounding mountains. I am rotating through all of the different parts of the health post; I just finished a week of gynecology with a great doctor who loved to teach. What I do on a daily basis depends on the doctor I am working with, but because I can hold my own with my Spanish, it tends to be a fair amount. What I am really getting out of the experience is a perspective on the healthcare here in Peru. Apparently, the rate of cervical tears during childbirth is very high here because of the malnutrition problem (sorry for the medical reflection...it is a big part of why I'm here), which is fascinating because it isn't a problem that I had seen in the states. And I also helped diagnose a patient last week who had mumps...interesting stuff!

I have to tell a non-medical story, just because it has had a bit of an impact on me. My work is about a 15-20 minute walk from my house. I was walking home last Friday at about 2pm. The streets were busy and full of people. I was walking in an area that was completely Peruvian, heading toward the bank to draw money out for the next week. I never carry my bank cards with me, unless I am going to the bank because it isn't safe. I had just gone to coffee with a friend from work and had paid the bill. Afterwards, stupidly, I put my change purse in my front pocket. While I was walking, I came to a place that was very congested with people. A man stepped in front of me and slowed down, way down. I didn't understand what was going on and tried to get around him, but he blocked me. There were people coming the other direction and one guy bumped into me. In that same moment, I somehow realized what was going on, that they had stolen my wallet. I turned around and grabbed the guy who bumped into me. He turned toward me with quite a shocked expression on his face (I guess he thought he had gotten away with it). In his hand was still my wallet - he hadn't had time to even put it in his pocket. I grabbed it back, shouted an obscenity at him, and stormed off, shaking with adrenalin. QUITE an experience, catching a pick-pocketer. I was super lucky and it has definitely made me much more cautious. A good lession to learn and I am very thankful for my cat-like-reflexes...

Tomorrow is my birthday. Yeah! Tonight I am heading out to a local bar that has great live music and dancing with friends from school and work. Tomorrow 6 of us will head to a little town south of here called San Pablo, where a Peruvian friend of mine is working at an NGO and is holding a fishing contest on Sunday to raise awareness and money for nutrition for the local campesinos. It should be great to get out of the city for a spell.

That is all I have time for. I will get pictures up sometime next week. I hope everyone is doing well; keep sending the updates!

Ciao,

Laura

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Just a few pics from rafting

Such a great time! Good friends Pascoe, Ronen, and Daphna are with me, freezing their feet off.

Yup, up in front, getting face after face of the Rio Urubamba. Tasty!

More

Mich and I in one of the cathedrals off the Plaza de Armas in Cusco.
My host mom, Gloria, and myself. I lived with her for a month, and have now moved into a house with a bunch of other volunteers.
Mt friend, Jonathan, and I at some nearby ruins.
A dinner party to welcome me into my new house...great excuse to get some good friends together! And thanks to Daphna and Ronen, some crazy card games were played! From L-R: Ed, Jocelyn, Jonathan, Pascoe, Michelle, Daphna, Ronen.



pics!!

Some amazing views from Ollayantaytumbo, one of the many Inca ruins I have been exploring

Here are some of my good friends at our spanish school...from L - R: Pascoe, Jonathan, Me, Ed, Michelle, and Alexandra
More ruins, this time in Tipon. Apparently the town is known as the best place to eat cuy (aka guinnea pig), but I couldn`t convince my traveling companions to eat any with me! Guess I'll have to return...