Holly got back to Perú on Thursday. Finally! After we left each other 6 weeks ago, she continued on down south thru Chile and over to Buenos Aires. She returned to Cusco and the Sacred Valley and is looking to teach English at a school in Urubamba, a town about 45 minutes from Calca. Unfortunately, our Kiwi friend Amelia is returning to New Zealand to finish off medical school there. She will be missed. In the meantime, Ben and I are trying to talk Holly into moving into our place here in Calca. This morning, we cooked up a huge breakfast and lounged around the house. It´s great to be together again, and I´m looking forward to the next month.
Speaking of the next month... I think it will be my final month in Perú. I recently interviewed via phone with Northwest Outdoor School in Portland. They offered me the job of Health Coordinator at their site called Westwind, which is just north of Lincoln City on the Oregon Coast. I will be working under the director to maintain health at the camp. I´m stoked about the job. However, the end of my Peruvian adventures is in sight, and I will be sad to leave here.
Finally, photos. I have a ton on the Picasa site.
Check them out:
Chinchero y Moray ACÁ
A la casa y la clínica ACÁ
Pitusiray ACÁ
La Cirugía ACÁ
La Fiesta del Árbol ACÁ
Enjoy!
15 February 2009
La Yunsa
On Saturday, the owners of the clinic Guido and Sandy took us to a party held every year in Calca. It was a family party, and people came from Calca and the surrounding towns, as well as from Cusco. It started slow, and we sat under a tent as the rains came in from the mountains above. We hung out and chatted and danced when this old guy Alberto wanted to dance. 
It didn´t seem like there was anything special about this party, except the trees. There were two trees that had been cut down and "replanted" in the middle of the yard. It had ballons and presents dangling from the branches. We had hear the rumors of what the party was all about, and soon we were to get the whole experience.
The music changed to more traditional music, and in danced the family that hosted the party, carrying a Peruvian flag and an axe.
They danced into the yard, circled the tree, and stopped. The kids went off to the small tree, while we all made a circle and danced around the big tree. Each person in the couple took turns taking swings at the tree, while the other paraded the flag around the circle. After a few knocks on the tree, the couple passed the axe and flag off to the next couple in the circle, who proceeded to dance, parade the flag, and of course take swings.
When the tree was a little less than halfway cut, everybody took a break to eat, drink, and watch the kids chop their tree. I was in the bathroom when it came down, and missed the excitement. Oh well, the big tree was still standing. They passed the axe, and with each swing, the anticipation rose. They passed it to us gringos, but when I took a few good whacks at it, they all yelled in fear. You see, the person who chops it down is responisble for putting the gifts in the tree next year. It might be hard to decorate the tree from the states. The tree was about 2/3 cut before it finally fell. Being nervous that a tree could fall in any direction at any moment, we were on the lookout. When it finally fell, instead of running away from the danger of the falling tree like us gringos, everyone ran to the tree and dove into and under it to get all the prizes. A melee ensued, and Ben and I frantically searched for the collander we wanted for the house. We came out with a few plastic wash tubs, and a lot of laughs.
Check out some pictures HERE!
It didn´t seem like there was anything special about this party, except the trees. There were two trees that had been cut down and "replanted" in the middle of the yard. It had ballons and presents dangling from the branches. We had hear the rumors of what the party was all about, and soon we were to get the whole experience. The music changed to more traditional music, and in danced the family that hosted the party, carrying a Peruvian flag and an axe.
They danced into the yard, circled the tree, and stopped. The kids went off to the small tree, while we all made a circle and danced around the big tree. Each person in the couple took turns taking swings at the tree, while the other paraded the flag around the circle. After a few knocks on the tree, the couple passed the axe and flag off to the next couple in the circle, who proceeded to dance, parade the flag, and of course take swings. When the tree was a little less than halfway cut, everybody took a break to eat, drink, and watch the kids chop their tree. I was in the bathroom when it came down, and missed the excitement. Oh well, the big tree was still standing. They passed the axe, and with each swing, the anticipation rose. They passed it to us gringos, but when I took a few good whacks at it, they all yelled in fear. You see, the person who chops it down is responisble for putting the gifts in the tree next year. It might be hard to decorate the tree from the states. The tree was about 2/3 cut before it finally fell. Being nervous that a tree could fall in any direction at any moment, we were on the lookout. When it finally fell, instead of running away from the danger of the falling tree like us gringos, everyone ran to the tree and dove into and under it to get all the prizes. A melee ensued, and Ben and I frantically searched for the collander we wanted for the house. We came out with a few plastic wash tubs, and a lot of laughs. Check out some pictures HERE!
Cirugías
Last week, the volunteers at the clinic had the opportunity to assist in a few surgeries. It was special because it was the first time the clinic has offered such a major surgery using Peruvian doctors. Our newest doctor Gabriela was to perform a hernia surgery on a 50-year-old man who had been suffering the symptoms of the hernia for about 5 years. His abdominal muscles had completely atrophied, allowing his intestines to be fully hanging out of his abdominal cavity, forming what looked like an enormous, lopsided beer-gut. He also had a few lesions on his stomach where the intestines had fused with the skin, and were threatening to protrude to the outside like a colostomy.
After scrambling all day to collect the necessary meds and equipment and to sterilize all the instruments, we were finally ready for the surgery. Gabby cut him open and found that the peritoneum was fused to the skin with thick layers of fibrosis. She spent most of the time separating the two layers with scapels, scissors, and an electric scalpel that essentially burned its way through the tissue. She then let all his intestines flop out onto his lap. After checking to make sure it was all there and separated, she sewed two pieces of mesh into his abdominal wall to contain the intestines, taking the place of the muscles. She then cut off a piece of skin and began to stitch him up, which took over a half hour. He woke up and we popped him into a taxi to Pisac for him to recouperate for the evening.
The following day we assisted on a vericose vein surgery on a local woman. The anesthesiologist gave her an epidural and she remained conscious during the surgery. Gabby made an incision in the upper groin area, and one near her knee. She tied off the vein, made an incision, and inserted a long metal cable. She attached a ball-like knob to the end, told us to stand back, and yanked it from below, completely removing the vein. She repeated this a few times to remove other vericose veins, and the surgery was over.
Next weekend we have a plastic surgery campaign coming from Portland (OHSU actually!). We are all really excited to see the surgeries that the medical team will perform. They repair a lot of cleft lips here, along with repairing burns and other injuries. This week will be a lot of work preparing for the team, while the following 10 days will probably be crazy long hours with lots of work. Can´t wait.
After scrambling all day to collect the necessary meds and equipment and to sterilize all the instruments, we were finally ready for the surgery. Gabby cut him open and found that the peritoneum was fused to the skin with thick layers of fibrosis. She spent most of the time separating the two layers with scapels, scissors, and an electric scalpel that essentially burned its way through the tissue. She then let all his intestines flop out onto his lap. After checking to make sure it was all there and separated, she sewed two pieces of mesh into his abdominal wall to contain the intestines, taking the place of the muscles. She then cut off a piece of skin and began to stitch him up, which took over a half hour. He woke up and we popped him into a taxi to Pisac for him to recouperate for the evening.
The following day we assisted on a vericose vein surgery on a local woman. The anesthesiologist gave her an epidural and she remained conscious during the surgery. Gabby made an incision in the upper groin area, and one near her knee. She tied off the vein, made an incision, and inserted a long metal cable. She attached a ball-like knob to the end, told us to stand back, and yanked it from below, completely removing the vein. She repeated this a few times to remove other vericose veins, and the surgery was over.
Next weekend we have a plastic surgery campaign coming from Portland (OHSU actually!). We are all really excited to see the surgeries that the medical team will perform. They repair a lot of cleft lips here, along with repairing burns and other injuries. This week will be a lot of work preparing for the team, while the following 10 days will probably be crazy long hours with lots of work. Can´t wait.
08 February 2009
Pitusary
The crew is growing, as Amelia´s sister and her boyfriend and Ben´s friend from Dartmouth are hanging out in our new house. Yesterday, we all went up to the picchus (mountains) above Calca for some well-needed backcountry time. Pitusary is the name of these Picchus, and they are spectacular. We have been looking at them in awe for weeks, and finally motivated to head up there. After about 6 hours of steep uphill hiking, we found a nice flat spot at the base of the high peaks. The view was unbelievable. We were easily 1500 meters above the valley floor, and enjoyed taking pictures in the evening light. We cooked up some ramen extreme, and watched the almost-full moon rise while warming by the campfire. It was really the first time I´ve felt "out there" in Perú. There really are people everywhere. We even slept in a field with cow-patties scattered about. But being away from the world of Calca felt just as good as getting away from the world I´m used to in the states.
We moved into our new place this week. It´s becoming rather comfortable, especially now that we have the ability to entertain guests and have dinner parties. There still are a few spiders around, and the bathroom is, well, a mess. The neighbors own a minimarket, and wash raw meat in the sink where we do our laundry. But other than that, it´s a sweet place. The house is right on the town square. And with Carnival coming up, we have the perfect roof from which to throw water ballons at kids. Ben and I are really looking forward to that...
I´ll put up some pics of Pitusiray soon, as well as some of the house and it´s view. Hope you´re well!
R
We moved into our new place this week. It´s becoming rather comfortable, especially now that we have the ability to entertain guests and have dinner parties. There still are a few spiders around, and the bathroom is, well, a mess. The neighbors own a minimarket, and wash raw meat in the sink where we do our laundry. But other than that, it´s a sweet place. The house is right on the town square. And with Carnival coming up, we have the perfect roof from which to throw water ballons at kids. Ben and I are really looking forward to that...
I´ll put up some pics of Pitusiray soon, as well as some of the house and it´s view. Hope you´re well!
R
05 February 2009
Calca
Calca is a small town, and word spreads pretty quickly. The other volunteers and I decided to move out of our luxury house and into a townhouse on the Plaza de Armas this week. The whole clinic knew what we were up to, and asked us questions all week about our living situation, prying their ways into retrieving more information from us. Of course we wouldn´t budge. But the town knows the gringos, even if we don´t know any of the people who know us. The town is thick with chisme (gossip), and as I enjoy a bit of anonymity, the thought of loose talk gets a little uncomfortable.
On another note, adjusting to Peruvian culture seems to get tougher as time passes. It could be because I´ve pretty much stepped out of the tourist mode and into a somewhat-of-a-resident mode. For example, I´m starting to realize the differences in the roles of men and women. And frankly, it has become annoying. Many women are openly rude to others, maybe becuase of some sort of ingrained competition for men, maybe because of jealousy. I guess it´s probably the same in the states, but it´s worse here. The men, however, aren´t involved in any of this, because often, they are off drunk in the streets. Alcoholism is rampant, even thought it´s not necessarily cheap to drink here.
Families stick together in Perú, too. Our friend here in Calca, with whom we´re developing a project to bring clean water to some rural communities, has a 6 month old boy with a gringa that he met down here. Although he´s a Peruano, he´s about as gringo as a Peruano can be. He is one of the nicest guys we´ve met down here, and is dedicated to helping the Quechua people in the villages improve their health. However, despite his knack for responsibilty and parenthood, when our friends Amelia and Katy babysat his kid, the family went to the house, accused the gringas of dropping the baby, and called our friend to tell him that the gringas were mistreating the baby. Of course, our friend trusts us enough to know the truth. Ahh, the drama.
Other news, our friend Jimmy, the resident optometrist at the clinic, recently went to Michigan for his first trip to the states. He got to travel around visiting optometry clinics and the people who came here to work on the campaign last month. The newspaper in Jackson, Michigan wrote an article about him and the clinic, which you can find HERE.
Also, the clinic posted some pics from the optometry campaign last month, including one of yours truly. Check ´em out HERE.
Chau!
On another note, adjusting to Peruvian culture seems to get tougher as time passes. It could be because I´ve pretty much stepped out of the tourist mode and into a somewhat-of-a-resident mode. For example, I´m starting to realize the differences in the roles of men and women. And frankly, it has become annoying. Many women are openly rude to others, maybe becuase of some sort of ingrained competition for men, maybe because of jealousy. I guess it´s probably the same in the states, but it´s worse here. The men, however, aren´t involved in any of this, because often, they are off drunk in the streets. Alcoholism is rampant, even thought it´s not necessarily cheap to drink here.
Families stick together in Perú, too. Our friend here in Calca, with whom we´re developing a project to bring clean water to some rural communities, has a 6 month old boy with a gringa that he met down here. Although he´s a Peruano, he´s about as gringo as a Peruano can be. He is one of the nicest guys we´ve met down here, and is dedicated to helping the Quechua people in the villages improve their health. However, despite his knack for responsibilty and parenthood, when our friends Amelia and Katy babysat his kid, the family went to the house, accused the gringas of dropping the baby, and called our friend to tell him that the gringas were mistreating the baby. Of course, our friend trusts us enough to know the truth. Ahh, the drama.
Other news, our friend Jimmy, the resident optometrist at the clinic, recently went to Michigan for his first trip to the states. He got to travel around visiting optometry clinics and the people who came here to work on the campaign last month. The newspaper in Jackson, Michigan wrote an article about him and the clinic, which you can find HERE.
Also, the clinic posted some pics from the optometry campaign last month, including one of yours truly. Check ´em out HERE.
Chau!
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