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

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}.

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

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.