It's my last day in Peru. I'm in Lima right now, staying with a friend of my co-volunteer Katy's. Lima is incredibly enormous, but somehow I've enjoyed my stay here. I'm not so sure if I'd say the same thing if it wasn't for Katy's friend and his social network down here. Which makes me think about my time here in Peru and all the great people I've met and experiences we've shared. It also reminds me of how much I will miss them and all the things they've brought to my life. From Arequipa to the Sacred Valley to Lima, people are what have made this trip special. And I am already sad that I have made most of my good-byes.
Onto the next adventure.
I'm excited to get back to the states: friends, skiing, cheeseburgers, calling people with my phone, driving, a job with a salary, Mexican food, flushing TP instead of putting it in the trash. It's all about the simple pleasures in life. However, I will be missing the simple pleasures and other quirks that seem totally normal to me here in Peru. For example, I'm using a computer from the states right now, and its keyboard is different and doesn't allow the accent to be put above the 'U' in Peru. And the question mark is in the wrong place. In addition, I'll miss Choco Sodas, Cuates, Angel Chock, lomo saltado, aji de gallena, maracuyas, Nana, combis and cheap taxis, smelly bus rides, haggling with street vendors, not knowing what you'll find in the bottom of your soup or salad, Coca-cola made with real sugar, constant streams of Spanish, Peruvian Spanish, verano, Peruvian time, no refridgerator, hand-washing clothes, the smell of diesel, street-cred you get for calling/chatting from Peru, crowing roosters at 4am, inspiring awe with my mere presence/being a giant, jokes that don't translate well, eggs and papas, La Coyanita, street dogs and street dog procreation, being called Doctor on the streets, Yunsas, Carnival, Rocio, el patito, dark and noisy internet places, intestinal hitchhikers and subsequent self-diagnoses, surgeries, Quechua, addressing ladies as Mama and men as Papa, paros, breaking paros, playing gringo guess, unsafe-to-drink tap water, the slight fear when riding in any automobile, choclo con queso, llamadas llamadas llamadas, tamales-quatro por un sol, Nuevos Soles, Kausay Wasi...
But most importantly, I'll miss la familia Paz-Cornejo, Guido and Sandy, Edy and Naomi and Noah, Ben, Katy, Amelia, and Holly. Thanks for an incredible four months.
08 March 2009
04 March 2009
Machu Picchu
I finally went to Machu Picchu. I had been putting it off for so long that I almost didn´t want to go. I didn´t want to deal with the hassle (bus rides, train rides, etc), the tourists (I saw more gringos today than I have in 4 months), and the price (about $40, which is expensive down here). And, immediately after I had reserved a seat on the Monday morning train, I learned there was to be another Paro on Monday. Aghast, I called PeruRail and tried to figure things out. Turns out there was no Paro, but they had shut down the train anyway. So after a day delay, I headed out Tuesday morning.
After arriving by train in Aguas Calientes (a junky tourist town that serves to host travelers to Machu Picchu), I climbed the steep footpath to the entrance. It was up there, but took only about a half hour. Sweaty, I returned to my hostel to get some fuel and sleep for tomorrow. However, I couldn´t sleep too well because of the anticipation. It was like living in Jackson the night before a big powder day and knowing I had to get up early and move quickly to get in line for the first tram. I got to the bus station at 5:15am, and was about 100th in line, which put me on bus #4. No problem. I got to the gate, got through, and boogied up to the site where the pictures on the postcards are taken. I snapped a few quick shots, and then hustled over to the gate to Huayna Picchu, the big mountain seen in that same picture-postcard (they let only 400 people per day ascend it). Instead of going up right away, I headed down to the Temple of the Moon, a cave that has ruins built into it. I was the only one there for a half hour, and enjoyed the tranquility. I then busted up the backside to the summit, where I was able to relax in the sun and then the shade as the first round of hikers were descending back to Machu Picchu. I took in the grandeur of the scene, and then took a nap.
After a few hours relaxing on the top of Huayna Picchu, I descended and made my way through the ruins of Machu Picchu with my new friends from NY. We cruised around the ruins, dehydrated, and tried to tag along with guided tours to learn some history behind the ruins. I wish I could tell more about the history, but I´m tired and I want to reasearch more. However, if you have time, I suggest you check out "Lost City of the Incas" by Hiram Bingham. Bingham was the firt man (gringo) to ¨discover¨ Machu Picchu in 1911 (while he was looking for Vilcabamba, another lost Incan city), and subsequently cleared and excavated the ruins. It´s on the top of my list now.
I´m glad I finally decided to go. Although I didn´t get the official guided tour, the vistas and the grandeur of the place is truly amazing. No pictures can ever do it justice (and I´m not sure any have). But I took a lot, and they will be available soon on my Picasa page. I´m off to Calca for a couple more days!
After arriving by train in Aguas Calientes (a junky tourist town that serves to host travelers to Machu Picchu), I climbed the steep footpath to the entrance. It was up there, but took only about a half hour. Sweaty, I returned to my hostel to get some fuel and sleep for tomorrow. However, I couldn´t sleep too well because of the anticipation. It was like living in Jackson the night before a big powder day and knowing I had to get up early and move quickly to get in line for the first tram. I got to the bus station at 5:15am, and was about 100th in line, which put me on bus #4. No problem. I got to the gate, got through, and boogied up to the site where the pictures on the postcards are taken. I snapped a few quick shots, and then hustled over to the gate to Huayna Picchu, the big mountain seen in that same picture-postcard (they let only 400 people per day ascend it). Instead of going up right away, I headed down to the Temple of the Moon, a cave that has ruins built into it. I was the only one there for a half hour, and enjoyed the tranquility. I then busted up the backside to the summit, where I was able to relax in the sun and then the shade as the first round of hikers were descending back to Machu Picchu. I took in the grandeur of the scene, and then took a nap.
After a few hours relaxing on the top of Huayna Picchu, I descended and made my way through the ruins of Machu Picchu with my new friends from NY. We cruised around the ruins, dehydrated, and tried to tag along with guided tours to learn some history behind the ruins. I wish I could tell more about the history, but I´m tired and I want to reasearch more. However, if you have time, I suggest you check out "Lost City of the Incas" by Hiram Bingham. Bingham was the firt man (gringo) to ¨discover¨ Machu Picchu in 1911 (while he was looking for Vilcabamba, another lost Incan city), and subsequently cleared and excavated the ruins. It´s on the top of my list now.
I´m glad I finally decided to go. Although I didn´t get the official guided tour, the vistas and the grandeur of the place is truly amazing. No pictures can ever do it justice (and I´m not sure any have). But I took a lot, and they will be available soon on my Picasa page. I´m off to Calca for a couple more days!
01 March 2009
La última semana
Well, here it is. I begin my last week in Perú today, while also finish my last weekend in Calca. Next Saturday, I fly to Lima and await a flight back to Portland on Monday. I can´t believe the end is near. But it´s just a beginning. For everything that I´ve learned while down here, a door has been opened to more exploration in the future. I´ve barely scratched the surface of learning Spanish; the living conditions of the people here in the Sacred Valley are still a long way from being healthy and a lot of work is left to be done; and I have barely seen Perú. Well, you may think that sounds absurd as I´ve been here almost 4 months and been a lot of places. But heck, I haven´t even been to Machu Picchu yet! (Just bought a ticket and am going up tomorrow). Perú is a huge country, rich in archeological history, beautiful landscapes, high mountains, cosmopolitan cities, and very interesting people. Although I think I am ready to head back to the madness of the states, I am definitely going to be missing my time in Perú as soon as I step on that plane in Lima. New adventures await. And that burger from Concordia is going to taste sooooo goooood. But I have one week left, including a trip to Machu Picchu, and a few more days at the clinic finishing things up after the plastic surgery campaign. So, I will be checking back in soon. Chau!
Cirugías Plasticas
The plastic surgery campaign was last week. It was a junk show. The team was totally unorganized-they lost the prosthetic ears for a day or two, they didn´t have enough of their own supplies, and dealing with post-op was a disaster. To top it off, the pathologist we use in Cusco informed Guido (the clinic owner/director) that he had misdiagnosed a patient after Guido had told his family that he had cancer (his tumor was benign). Guido called him an asshole, and a few other choice words, I´m sure. On the bright side, I saw a bunch of cool surgeries-Microtia repair, bone grafts, skin grafts, cleft lips and palates, burn patients, and tumor removals. I scrubbed in on a surgery to remove a mass above the eye of a patient who had had multiple head traumas in her life. Although I just held retractors in different positions, it was quite the experience to get in there and be a part of the surgery. The doctors were super nice guys and loved teaching us about anesthesiology and the surgeries. I plan on keeping in touch...
Which brings me to my next story. A 2 year-old boy came into the clinic with a huge tumor-type growth in his face, just below his eye to below his chin. It compromised his mouth so much that his teeth were warped in different directions, and he barely had space to fit food into his mouth (although he had no way to keep it in there as he couldn´t close his lips). It had closed his eye and caused some vascular swelling on his cheek. It was huge. While taking a biopsy, the doctor could barely put the needle in because of the boney structure of the mass. The question loomed: does the team do the surgery here, or try to find a way to get the boy to the states? With the possibility of severe blood loss without a sufficient supply to replentish it during surgery, as well as uncertainty of adequate follow-up led the team to decide to try to do the surgery in the states. Most of the team is from OHSU, and after a few days of phone calls and emails, progress is being made to do the surgery pro-bono at Doernbecher´s Childrens Hospital at OHSU. As I´m returning to the states next week, I hope to be around when the boy and (hopefully) his father arrive in Portland to help them negotiate the craziness of a new country, a foreign language, and of course the surgery. Without this surgery, it is likely that this child will die. And of course, his family lives in a small community in the mountains near here and has barely enough money to catch the bus to get to the clinic. I hope that there´s a way for this boy to receive the surgeries he needs to live.
Which brings me to my next story. A 2 year-old boy came into the clinic with a huge tumor-type growth in his face, just below his eye to below his chin. It compromised his mouth so much that his teeth were warped in different directions, and he barely had space to fit food into his mouth (although he had no way to keep it in there as he couldn´t close his lips). It had closed his eye and caused some vascular swelling on his cheek. It was huge. While taking a biopsy, the doctor could barely put the needle in because of the boney structure of the mass. The question loomed: does the team do the surgery here, or try to find a way to get the boy to the states? With the possibility of severe blood loss without a sufficient supply to replentish it during surgery, as well as uncertainty of adequate follow-up led the team to decide to try to do the surgery in the states. Most of the team is from OHSU, and after a few days of phone calls and emails, progress is being made to do the surgery pro-bono at Doernbecher´s Childrens Hospital at OHSU. As I´m returning to the states next week, I hope to be around when the boy and (hopefully) his father arrive in Portland to help them negotiate the craziness of a new country, a foreign language, and of course the surgery. Without this surgery, it is likely that this child will die. And of course, his family lives in a small community in the mountains near here and has barely enough money to catch the bus to get to the clinic. I hope that there´s a way for this boy to receive the surgeries he needs to live.
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