Saturday, January 31, 2009

Machu Picchu and more Cuzco

Wow, where to begin. We have been staying in Cuzco, and it is wonderful to feel like you have a ¨home¨, or at least a homebase. It is a beautiful city with so much going on-- it is a city that depends on tourism, which makes it a crossroads of the world and time: international modern trends meet old incan tradition in sometimes jarring ways (women dressed in traditional incan attire begging outside of five star hotels for example). Cuzco is the oldest continously inhabited city on the continent, and its rich history as well as it´s proximity to Machu Picchu (the ¨lost¨city of the Incas, recently named one of the seven modern wonders of the world) make it a city that has long been host to tourists from all over the world.

Two days ago, we boarded our train to Aguas Calientes- the city outside of Machu Picchu. It was a great train ride and I spent much of it mesmorized by the people and places we passed by. Women working in the fields with children wrapped in colorful bundles on their backs, barefooted children in torn ragged sweaters grinning ear to ear and waving as we passed by, and the penetrating wary stare of men and women, working tirelessly to support their families on a dollar a day, and the pain having to watch a train of rich tourists pass them by daily. The landscape too, the rough rocky terrain of the mountains seemlingly inhospitable bearing beautiful tall trees, is a striking metaphor for the resilience of the Peruvian people. Even being born into the most dire of circumstances (Peru is one of the poorest countries in South America with 44% of it´s population living below the poverty line), there is still hope, and courage, and yes, a perservering love of the land and its people.

Upon arriving in Aguas Calientes, we spent the day exploring the town, honeing our bartering skills for meals, and taking in the general mystical beauty. It is breathtakingly beautiful- the deep bluish-green Andes mountains, rather than being gradual accending giants as in the states, jut straight up into the heavens, the peaks barely visible through the mist and clouds. You are literally dwarfed by your surroundings. The next morning we awoke at 4:30am to begin our 8km trek up the mountain. It was dark and pouring rain as we began our hike. It only took us an hour and a half to trek the 1000ft up the mountain, but much of it was brutally difficult for me, exacerbatted by the fact that I was carrying a 20 pound backpack. But we made it up the hill in time for the rain to stop and we were met by our guide, Guido. He led us into the reserve all the while telling us of the history and significance of the site. Machu Picchu was built around 1460 and was abandoned around 100 years later, during the Spanish conquest. Although known locally, it was not ¨discovered¨until 1911 by Hiram Bingham. Why it was abandoned and the exact purpose of the city is still a matter of debate, but what is absolutely certain is its importance as a cultural center and sacred place.

I cannot express in words the moment we turned the corner and saw Machu Picchu and the great Andes laying out before us. I have never witnessed such breathtaking beauty and all that we could muster was ¨Wow.... wow.¨ The extreme intellect, the mathematical precision, the advanced agricultural system, and of course the mammoth stonework required of a civilization to create this place is austounding. You truly feel humbled upon entering and exploring this space. There was a moment while taking in the splendor that I felt agitated, that the same indigenous groups that could create such a marvel of math, science, agriculture, and architecture, could be so brutally marginalized by society today.

So, now we are back in Cuzco for a couple days before heading off to Lake Titicaca, which at 12500 ft is the world´s highest navigable lake, and home to the Aymara people. Wish us luck for a less turbulent bus ride ;)


Road in Cuzco-- notice the incan stonework on the right-- no mortar needed



Cory, Jeanne, and Katie in CuzcoMammoth Incan stonework in Cuzco


Machu Picchu!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Cuzco!

After the worst (22 hour!) bus ride of my life, I have finally arrived in Cuzco. Apparently, it doesnt matter how nice the bus is, this route is a nightmare. As it turns out, the twists, turns, and high altitude of the Andes (we´re at about 12,000 feet) dont bode well with my stomach, which led to me spending much of the 22 hour bus ride puking my brains out from altitude sickness. Welcome to Cuzco.

Anyways, after that grueling ride, I was greeted by Jeanne, Katie and Cory. We spent the rest of the day chatting and catching up-- for the past week and a half they had been in Arequipa and did a 3 day hike in the Colca Canyon- the second deepest canyon in the world. We were all wiped from our bus rides and ended up in bed sleeping by 7:30pm.

Cuzco is breathtakingly beautiful. There is definately something about this place which strangely makes you feel nostalgic for a place you have never known. The cobblestone winding streets, the incan stone walls hundreds of years old carved so mathematically perfect, with no plaster and scarcely room for a hair to fit in between, which one can harly imagine how it was made without modern technology. The crumbling exposed plaster of the buildings add character and charm while the rooftops of the city is a canopy of spanish tiles. I feel like I am living in a painting- its just so idyllic and beautiful. Many times, you walk down a cobblestone alley and take in the fact that in terms of appearance, not much has changed in 500 years.

Yesterday we went wandering around the city, and decided to take advantage of the fact that it was sunday and go and see the churches in town for free. We went to two masses, and long story short, we may or may not have crashed a funeral. There was no casket, but there were an awful lot of people in black hugging and kissing and the homily and mass was devoted to some woman. Yikes.

I´ve been thinking quite a bit about poverty lately. It´s hard not to with all the beggars and street children/families, many of whom are indigenous and forced to make a living by begging, peddling trinkets, or other informal market activities. One thing that struck me most was two young indigenous girls walking llamas down the road in their colorful outfits asking tourists if they would like to to take their picture. It felt strange, almost wrong on some level, that these people were in a sense forced to sell out their culture for tourists in order to make a living. Why is it that some people in this world are destined to a life of selling sunglasses on a street corner in Cuzco, while here I am, a college graduate, able to travel the world, and knowing full well that there will most likely be some job back home that will afford me to live in some degree of comfort? I truly believe that it is the responsiblity of those who are born into priveledged circumstances to give back and help those who are in less fortunate circumstances than they.


Friday, January 23, 2009

Last day at the hospital

This week has gone by way too fast. I just had my last day working in the hospital. I cannot convey the immense gratitude that I feel for having been able to go on this trip. It was an honor and a privilege to be a part of such a wonderful program. Since they started going almost thirty years ago, they have performed over 4,000 surgeries!

Yesterday I was interpreting for a woman whose son needed orthodontic care because of a cleft palete. After, she started to tear up. She said that she was overwhelmed with gratitude for the doctors and this program. She said that she and her husband were one of the over 30% of Peruvians who were out of work, and that this program was a God send. I could tell countless stories about each of these kids, like Renato, who has gotten the highest grades in his class every year he has been in school, but was born with a facial deformity which affects half of his face. Or Deysi, a sweet quiet little girl, with a tough home life, who was so brave all the way through her surgery. These kids; their lives, are incredible.

I am going to miss these kids so much. man, if holding post-op peruvian cleft palate babies was a job, I´d be a happy woman.

Well, I get to spend a lovely 21 hours on a bus tonight (and tomorrow). But, in the end I get picked up by my lovely traveling companions and we will be united once more! Next, on to Cuzco!The double operating roomRight outside the hospital in El Augustin-- people live in houses like this all across the hillside

Monday, January 19, 2009

Clefts

Today it was back to work at the hospital Hipolito in El Agustin, Lima. I was excited, but really nervious given the fact that they had three people doing my job last week. But, I was a rockstar, aided by the fact that we only had 6 surgeries today. Tomorrow there are 12. Yikes.

Anyways, I run between rooms all day: talking to parents and filling out forms in pre-op, talking to the doctors and filling out charts in the operating room, taking before and after photos in the operating rooms, entering data in the ´gringo´room (staff room), interpreting for everyone, general gopher-ing, and helping hold and take care of the kids in the post-op room.

The conditions of El Agustin are bleak, to say the least. Carlos, our driver, said that El Agustin is one of the poorest and most dangerous areas of Lima. The hospital is at the base of these enormous dirt hills, and entire neighborhoods of dingy brightly colored shacks are built upon the hills. Dire economic hardships have forced people to flood into Lima searching for jobs. But people here are resilient and face life with love, humor, and an unfathomable uptimism for better times ahead.

Speaking of humor, yesterday I met a woman by the name of Sister Peggy. She is a 70 year old Irish nun who works in Chimbote, about 6 hours north of Lima. She is a riot! She was telling us stories for hours, my favorite of which being when she was traveling to Guayaquil, Ecuador and went to what they thought was a hotel, and ended up spending the night in a brothel by mistake.

Everyone here is so nice! I keep wishing I had more of a medical brain-- every time I am working in the hospital, and seeing these kids from pre-op, to operating room table, to comforting them in the post-op room... I would love to do something like this. Looking at the pictures, seeing how easy yet life-changing this surgery is, and how dedicated all the staff is... it is truly inspiring.

Well, must go. We start work at 7am tomorrow!

Saturday, January 17, 2009

First day of work!

So, yesterday was my first day of working at the hospital. We got back to our hotel at roughly 2:30am, and had to be up by 6:30am to go to the hospital. So we ate breakfast and hit the road.

The hospital that we work at is in a much poorer part of town and it takes us a good half hour to get there. I spent the majority of the ride there looking out the window and taking it all in: the smog-ladden grey sky (which has coated many buildings in the city with a dirty grime), the shantytowns built on the side of the mountain, the families who make their homes on the medians of interstate highways. This was a far cry from Miraflores, with its shopping malls, designer stores and glass skyscrapers.

I got to the hospital and quickly donned my scrubs and surgical garb. I still was a little vague on the details of what exactly I would be doing, however I was ready for anything. It was so awesome! I was interpreting for everyone (Im the only one fluent in spanish), going into the pre-op room and talking to the families and asking them questions and having them fill out forms, and then going right into the operating rooms and asking the doctors a bunch of information on the surgery for the charts. Surprisingly, I wasn´t nauseated at all! I was right in there elbow to elbow with all the doctors and was totally fine. I wish I had more of a knack or passion for science because it just is so cool what these doctors do.

Then, they had me taking picures of all of the kids before and after their cleft lip or cleft palette surgeries. My favorite part, however, was taking care of the children in the post-op room. These are kids who are ages 16 weeks to 7 years and they are all scared and in pain and missing their parents, and just need some physical affection to calm their nerves. I rocked babies and fed, cleaned up and played with the kids, and I wished I could have stayed there for hours. It blew my mind how quickly these surgeries go, but what a lasting gift. For these kids, this is truly the difference of a life of being ostricized from society, and not.

I am so excited for this week, but I am a little nervious-- they had two assitants doing this job last week and now for this upcoming week its just little old me. Wish me luck!

Por fin! Welcome to Lima!

After a three day adventure of trying to get to Lima, we are finally here! Here is what happened:

Jeanne and I left at 5:30am on Tuesday for the MegaBus to Milwaukee, which turned out to be great- the four of us spent the night at Katie´s parents house and in the morning Katie´s dad graciously drove us to Chicago to the airport. Unfortunatly for us, this same day there was a blizzard making our hour and a half drive over three hours long, and we found out our flight was cancelled until the next day. So, yet again, we spent a wonderfully restful night sleeping on the floor of the airport across from McDonalds. Cool.

Anyways, after that we got on our way, arriving in Lima at around 11:30pm on Thursday night. We were psyched and I was just moseying through security when the man checking my passport stops me, calls a police officer who says "could you please follow me." Apparently I had a problem with my passport- meanwhile Jeanne, Cory and Katie are thinking that I was suspected of being a drug mule or something. I ended up in the police office for an hour. Turns out that my passport (which I lost 4 years ago and had to get a new one) was not properly reported by my government to interpol as a replacement of a lost passport. Thanks USA. Thankfully, its all figured out now.

Needless to say, I didn´t have the greatest first impression of Lima, but I am warming up to it. It´s almost 500 years old and there are 8 million people living here! Certain parts are gorgeous and have a very european feel to them, but its the unfortunately common story of class stratification in latin america: there is the very rich and then there is the very poor, with little to nothing in between. I see this when I travel to work at the hospital-- our hotel is very nice, and we get driven to one of the poorest parts of lima. I´m still taking it in, but more on that later.

Cory, Jeanne, and Katie just left for Arequipas for the week and I will meet them in Cuzco on the 24th when I am done with work in the hospital. I am unbelivably excited for this week, but i also cant wait to be back with the gang :)

Sleeping in the airport in Chicago
The beach in Lima-- it was a little foggy/smoggy The gang!

Monday, January 12, 2009

Crunch time

Hm. Deja vu. Two years ago, my mother was ready to kill me because I left all of my packing and shopping until the night before I left for study abroad. Now, here I am, slowly packing my life into a backpack, not able to sleep, and watching trashy TV as I look at the clock and realize that Jeanne's parents are coming to pick me up in 4 1/2 hours. yikes mikey. (we are taking the MegaBus to Milwaukee and spending the night at Katie's house, and her parents are graciously driving us to the Chicago airport in the morning)

It really almost doesn't feel real. I have been goinggoinggoing like crazy ever since I got back (and, of course, before that) and I really haven't had time to sit and think about the fact that I will be gone for nearly 4 months. Maybe its for the best. I am getting really excited though. But, knowing me, I will forget something essential like a passport or something. hm. here's hoping I don't.

Oh! And great news! The whole thing with the mission worked out-- we're golden, we have room, board, work and transportation. Thank god.

Now-- on to the MegaBus!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Already rolling with the punches...

Typical. In true Latin American form, our plans have already changed and we are forced to roll with the punches. It turns out that the mission in Guatemala is full for the entirety of the time we planned to go. So, we have a few options and we are weighing it out. Hopefully, we can stay elsewhere in San Lucas and still work with the mission (my dad's best friend's wife is from San Lucas and she offered to help us with lodging). If that doesn't work, Jeanne has other contacts in Guatemala that we could work it. It'll all work out, but man, UGH! Welcome to Latin America...

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

One week until aventura

Seven days! Seven days until we (myself, Katie, Cory, and Jeanne) embark on our journey, and I feel like I have a million and one things to do before then. Anyways, I was asked to start a blog, and I thought it was a good idea, so here goes:

Here is our plan:

January 14th- February 9th: Peru
In Peru, I will be working as a medical interpreter on a sort of Doctors Without Borders trip through the U of M Medical School. Every year, a team of doctors lead by Frank Pilney go down to Lima and fix cleft pallets, cleft lip and burn victims, the majority of whom are children. I will be doing data entry, translation, interpretation and taking photos of the children before and after their surgeries. From what I understand these procedures are routine and relatively inexpensive, however they make such a world of difference in the lives of these children. It truly is, in many cases, the difference between a life of being ostricized from society and not. I am so excited to be a part of something like this. After working in the hospital we will be doing some traveling, among which is going to Macchu Picchu :)

February 9th- February 24th: Ecuador
In Ecuador, we will be going to Quito, Banos, Cuenca and Guayaquil. My sister is studying abroad in Cuenca and we get to visit her, which I am very excited about.

February 24th- March 13th: Guatemala
In Guatemala, we will be working at a mission I worked at in high school. It is located in the Mayan highlands of Guatemala and has a variety of programs in sustainable community development such as reforestation, coffee cooperatives, a clinic and construction programs. The mission is very much a proponent of liberation theology, which is definitely an idea I can get behind :)

March 14th- April 14th: Nicaragua
In Nicaragua, we will be working in the community of El Fortin. We all are members of LA SED (Latin American Sustainability Education and Development) and our organization has raised money for various projects such as our scholarship, health, and sustainable economic development programs. We will be working in the community with health and nutrition education programs as well as tutoring children in the creative arts (ceramics, painting, creative writing, etc.).

April 14th- April 28th: Costa Rica
In Costa Rica, we will be traveling, visiting our host families, and hopefully visiting my cousin and her family in Manuel Antonio.

So, that's our grand adventure. Wish us luck!

Love,
Maria