6 Blogs in One

Travel

The flights were all just fine. I am so grateful that they didn't include jet lag. (only one hour difference from home.) The most irritating part was getting from and back to the airport in Lima. The safest area for staying is about 1+ hours of harrowing travel, in taxi go-carts to get to the airport.

It turns out that by airport scale I carried a total of 56 pounds. The suitcase being most at 35. I had to check my suitcase in the end which turned out to be good because the domestic flight required a 3 oz liquid limit, not 3.4, so I got to make some last minute changes. In case you wonder, it is possible to pee with a fully loaded back pack on! Cusco was of course much easier. A small city with one really main road. I decided early on not to push myself as I would have if I was going to be here only 1 week. Instead I've moved pretty slowly, connecting to altitude and Spanish and such. I've learned that walking is easy, and which taxis are safe if I need to ride.

Food

Lots of types of potato, yucca, thick kerneled corn at every meal. Fresh food is absent. Fruits are good - the oranges are very tart, but succulent. I'm told that we should be eating 2000-2500 cal/d (mostly carbs) to keep off the chill. The woman who owns the place where I live (Ivonne) is delightful and tries her best to satisfy - tending to serve huge portions for every meal. I'm not used to this. I am thinking I'll take myself to a familiar meal once a month. Starbucks provided a familiar interlude and a sandwich I could stomach. Lots and lots of coca tea sustains me.

People

The people who run the program I am working with (Maximo Nivel) speak beautiful English and I am doing fine with that of course, but in terms of the medical side of my work here - we had a crash course in 1. anatomy in Spanish 2. Spanish terms for diagnosis 3. Quechua terms for diagnosis. I have to admit to being OVERwhelmed by that 2 hour experience. The city has been overrun with Peruvians and many foreigners this week because the biggest festival in Peru (Itzi Rayma) was this weekend. The Qechua arrived in all their finery, the women wearing numerous skirts on top of each other and having LONG braids down their backs. Men and women wear beautiful and multicolored ponchos and always a flat brimmed hat.

Crafts

I understand that there are people selling crafts every day, but this week some of the finest in Peru came to show off (and sell) their wares. I've included some photos of items that most appealed to me. I guess I'm most impressed by the weaving. When I realize the amount of time and diligence it takes to make even small items, I am amazed at the prices. A detailed woven band is about 1 sole (~.15) It would take me hours to make such a thing especially with the small gauge of the threads and a lap loom. There is some sacredness to me in the experience of devoting such time to a craft, even if the returns are low.

Events

As I mentioned before the biggest festival of the year was held yesterday. I'm told that about 1-150,000 people were here. Because I am with the medical team, we were invited to join the Red Cross to work in the triage tent during the festival. Had to be up by 7 to get to the ambulance on time. Then I got to wait for 1.5 hours for everything and everyone to be gathered together. They call this Peruvian time, but I have heard the same experience called by different names in other parts of the world!! - but never in the US.

14 of us fit ourselves into an ambulance, which was a squeeze. Off we went with sirens and horns blaring - through narrow cobblestone streets so crowded with people, cars and buses that it took us a long time to get there.

The site is an ancient Incan spiritual center with fabulous rock walls that have withstood the test of many earthquakes, but have suffered at the hands of rock thieves. The walls are extraordinary for their size and the number of sides they have. Some have as many as 12 angles. It is thought that this is the reason they have survived as walls for so long. The other extraordinary fact is that the walls are built without grout - the sides and angles fit together like hand in glove.

Back to the festival. It is a celebration of the sun, calling it to return to the sky and give warmth and light to the plants. (It is the winter solstice here!) As a point of interest the festival used to be on the solstice, but sometime after the Spanish came and brought their Saints, it was changed to a Saint's day (June 24) so that both cultures would be celebrated together. Saves time I guess. I am always grieved by the usurping of one culture by another.

But the festival itself is pure Incan and is spoken in Quechuan. The costumes are gorgeous. The music is from drums and pipes. At the beginning conch shells were used to call the group together. It's incredibly rhythmic and at times is very soulful. The historical enactment included a llama sacrifice, which yesterday's event did not include. There are hundreds of dancers parading in and then weaving themselves together in various dances. Because each group is differently dressed, the color arrangements and rearrangements were beautiful. I am sure they had some meaning that I didn't know. 

Personal
Lack of Spanish is indeed a deficit. I feel it especially with Ivonne because she so much wants to share our lives. I have decided not to pressure myself unduly. I start Spanish classes next week and will go from there. With everything I have to learn, I am overwhelmed. I just have to decide that I will do my best in the manner I am most familiar with. Usually I watch for a long time before I ask questions.

But because this is an immersion situation, I will learn. I will have to use this experience as a guide for how I will approach all the other languages I will be exposed to. Just creating that system alone is a lot of work. If I don't come out of this with a stronger brain, I am indeed on a downhill course.

Coming from 90 degrees in Boston it's hard to realize how cold it can get here in Cusco. There is no heating in any house. I am lucky to be in a house with hot water for the shower. Luckier still to have brought a warm sleeping bag to put under the blankets. I am never cold at night - it's during the day that I struggle to understand how layers work. In direct sunlight at mid-day it's hot. A cloud, especially accompanied by wind, can be suddenly freezing. I have a constant low grade chill during the days and I wrap up in a blanket until bedtime. Thank you Abby and Charlotte for your shopping advice. 

Yesterday at the festival I was one of the minor victims. I was overcome by fatigue and slept for three hours in the tent (ousted now and then by real patients). As things wound down someone took my oxygen saturation. It was 76 and should be in the 90's. I got oxygen for a few minutes, came home, crawled immediately into bed and slept for 14 hours. I am currently fighting to stay awake so that I can sleep tonight. The bed has the aspect of being the lower half of a mattress set and I wake up every morning with lots of aches and pains - makes me yearn for my puffy repose at home. Advil and time help. Fortunately I didn't suffer altitude sickness, which I have before. That was a relief.

On the personal side, I haven't regretted a moment of this trip. I'm doing just fine, though a little worried that I won't learn enough language to make any difference in the clinic. We'll see - tomorrow, if I'm feeling up to it. I am very lucky to have such a wonderful and warm hostess at my home placement. I feel entirely safe for my person, my soul and my belongings. In a day or so, I will start to plan for my side trips to Lake Titicaca and Machu Picchu. In due time!

Enough for now. Believe it or not I'm running out of words! There is no refinement to this piece. It is just what came out of my head. I hope to have the energy to put more time into the writing, for your benefit and mine.