Three Weeks In.

We are finally all starting to feel as though we have a schedule and are settled in! However, that’s about to change again.

Tuesday was pretty calm. We had class at the medschool in the morning and then our mid-term in the afternoon. That night, we were pretty exhausted and wanted to spend time with our family. Kayla and I hung out with the kids and laughed at our established dynamic. The KIDS tell us when to walk across the street (because… well… it’s frogger), they teach us how to say things and act as translators at times, and to top it off, the eleven-year-old called us a taxi! They are so sweet and so fun and I cannot even imagine saying goodbye. Kayla and I prayed for host family kids. The Lord is good!

Wednesday morning was a great morning at the hospital. I had a lot of interaction with the doctors, nurses, and patients. We know the ropes now and get to follow the doctors around from one thing to the next and because we are in the ER, we never know what we will see next. I never thought I would ever see so much blood before lunch…

Nighttime rolled around and we again hung out with the family, but this time with the parents! WE LOVE THEM!! We told stories and compared “here vs there” with everything from lifestyle, prices, and eating. Which somehow led to us being asked how much we weighed… what? Haha, I guess that’s not a personal question here. Fortunately, it’s in kilograms so (to us) it sounds like nothing, even on the “rice cleanse.”

Thursday was another tranquil day of class and pizza as a group later that night. Exhausted doesn’t do how I felt justice. Notable mentions of the day:

1.      After noticing certain comments and reactions… we are fully convinced that our padre Jorge knows English! So funny! We asked and at first he denied it and pulled his son into the lie. We pressed on and he FINALLY admitted he studied English for quite a while back in the days. Aka.. he can understand things we say here and there. We weren’t too worried as the worst things we had said were “Who wants to tell Jorge the shower isn’t working again?” and “Oh no, not the yellow sauce.” We all had a good laugh, including Jorge!

2.      Also, on the way to class, we got pulled over in our taxi. It was STOLEN! We were really hoping to ride in the police car to class but he called another taxi instead. Not as exciting as we thought.

Friday was awesome! We were at a different hospital that morning where all of the med students go. There were many of them in addition to the three of us. As a group, we went through rotations and the doctor explained everything. It was such a learning experience. There was one sweet little ten-year-old boy with Down’s Syndrome who also had hyperthyroidism. His meds suppressed his immunity and he ended up with Thrush in addition to Pneumonia. He is clearly loved by his mama there. We also saw a lot of other cases that day that I will never forget! We made friends with a nurse who took the time to tell us all about the healthcare system and what it is like to work in one of the busiest hospitals. The only way I can describe it is as how I would picture the US in disaster. People are filling the halls in hospital beds waiting for a room to open up. Sanitation is not much of a priority here and it’s not like any place any of us will probably ever go for treatment. HOWEVER, our respect for what they are doing with what they have is very high. And never have we once questioned the intelligence, diligence or ethics of the hospital staff. They have continued to blow us away.

For dinner, we helped cook our favorite Peruvian dish: Causa! Then we headed out for a little bit to hang out with the group.

Before we knew it, 8am roles around and we are back on a tour of ruins Saturday morning! They really are fascinating, especially because I like to picture the Incans and other groups walking around with us, going about their routine. Imagination not as active though after being go, go, go. BUT THEN! After lunch, I WENT SURFING!!! First time ever. Pacific Ocean. Peru. Cool! Such a blast and I got up a few times. We only had a couple hours but by the time I pulled myself out of the water, I was complete jello. Luckily, after years of swim team, paddling out was a tad easier! But the five of us would all tell you, those waves we pretty big and gnarly. ;).

Feliz Día Papa! (ß with accent on 2nd “a” or else papa= potatoe) We had a fun day today! First, we headed to the market as a family. Thou shalt not look at the meat section. But the fruit.. YUM! Then we headed to the cemetery to pay our respects to our madre’s father. They don’t treat death like we do in the states. The whole cemetery was beautiful and covered with flowers of every color, windmills, and balloons. 

We said a prayer and headed out. Today, we all grabbed lunch at the mall and just walked around until we began our hour long trek home. Exhausted, we collapsed into bed. Then, after siesta, we woke up for dinner and homework. Tomorrow we have our presentation and Tuesday we have our Final and Skit Project. 

Tomorrow is also our last hospital day.

We head to Tarapoto early Wednesday morning. It is already hard knowing we are going to say goodbye to our family. They were pretty sad today too. We promised a welcoming home for WHEN they come to the states :).

Must sleep!

Buenas Noches!

H

We love our siblings :)

Ari's (our coordinator) birthday! 

Serious Blogage.                                        

So much has happened in so little time! Monday night we had dinner with our family and then finished the night with some P90X. Our little sister, Kimi, joined in like a champ! Tuesday morning we went to the med school and did a project on the pancreas with the Peruvian med students. It was so cool to hear the things we’ve learned but this time in Spanish. So many medical cognates which helps out! Then of course headed to class (every afternoon for 3 hours). Wednesday we headed back to the hospital but it was a pretty frustrating day. The strike here was not over... YET! We didn’t get to do much but we did see some patients with the gynecologist. Then came Thursday and we headed back to the med-school and saw a fascinating frog dissection (we aren’t talking middle school dissection anymore) and then headed to a (far to disturbing for me) cadaver lab. To me, it was like something filmed in a scary movie, not like in the states. Then to class and then came Friday.

Friday we headed back to the hospital hoping to have a more active afternoon. We were ecstatic to find out that the strike was over! What perfect timing as it had been going on since May. Prayers are powerful! That morning was a little more active. We were with a doctor/nutritionist for part of the morning and saw a couple things such as TB and many pregnancies and babies. Then we made our way down to emergency only to find one of our own helping to stitch someone’s hand up, cool! Then we headed to class and did our presentation on respiratory diseases.

Later that night, we had a class trip to a discoteca and I’m pretty sure my hearing was impaired. But it was a nice break and fun night to just dance with my chicas! And I felt much better with our UGA and UCV coordinators there.

Saturday morning, we headed to Chan Chan (more Incan ruins) and then to a place called Big Ben for lunch that is AMAZING! And I, Hannah Dahl, tried Ceviche. For those who don’t know… this is RAW fish “cooked” in lemon juice. I had some making up to do for avoiding the alpaca. In Chan Chan, there is a species of bald dogs. Think naked mole rat mixed with boxer. Then we took a few pics and the beach and headed back home. Now… Saturday night is my favorite night to talk about. It was the night Kayla shut the power down for the whole block (50 houses). I was in the shower, shaving none the less, and someone else was in the upstairs shower. Now you need some background on our shower. Our family bought it specifically for us because the store owner said that every American loves THIS shower. None of us have ever seen it… Also, one should take precaution while showering because it SHOCKS YOU!!! Yes. Water + Electricity. It heats the water in the huge shower head. As a result, it uses mucho mucho energy. So two showers already on meant that the second Kayla turned on her hair dryer, 50 houses lost power. We had some laughs about that one. We hung out with the kids and did shadows on the wall while the parents saved the day.

Sunday was pretty chill as we got to sleep in and have a free day. I washed my clothes and hung them on a clothes line on the roof/terrace! So fun but had not a clue what I was doing. The most I had done with clothes pins was turn it into a Rudolf ornament at Christmas time. First world problems, I know. I loved it though.  Then we took Momoka for a walk in the park with the kids and came back and our Padre taught us how to cook a Peruvian dish. So delicious and so fun! However, only with Pre-Med students does preparing a chicken turn into a dissection and time for organ identification. Poor Jorge. Later that night, we went to see Maleficent with the whole family :)

Finally, Today: We got to our second hospital rotation and we were placed in peds. The doctor was awesome. And best yet, she took me to see a sweet little girl be born! The whole thing. They were so great and made sure that I felt involved and could see. So. Much. Blood. Later that day, we were in Emergency and wait for it… a stab victim came in. He was rather intoxicated for 11am and had 1.5-2 inch deep wound in his back. None of us were expecting him to be carried in but the good news is that he should be just fine after surgery! The doctors were so calm and kicked into action. This was a bittersweet balance between being inspired by the doctors and encouraged by their work but also being saddened by the tragedy and pain in the world. What is cool is to come back together as a group of students and know that I am already building my doctor network. The compassion and strive in this group is inspiring in itself. I’m learning much more than Spanish and Medicine on this trip!

Now I need to study for my midterm.

Buenas Noches!

H

Our Peruvian Med Students!

P90X

Our little bro with the american straws we gave them :)

Discoteca!

The BALD Dog!

So delicious! (Big Ben)

He made us pies :)

Who is walking who?

I was told I can take her back to the states :)

Not to shabby, eh?

My new P90X location = on top of the roof! Looks over cites and mountains!

Go fish with our siblings :)

The effects of sleep deprivation. MUST watch the end for a guest appearance! :)

P.S. No worries, doctor and spanish class post to come!!

P.P.S. Not for Facebook (This means you, Rhondi ;) )

"We are not in Cusco anymore"

Cusco was the tourist capital of Peru. Trujillo is just a normal, crazy, coastal city! So where to begin? First, it's hot, very hot. Second, a horn honks every 3-4 seconds because driving around here is what I can only describe as a video game or Atlanta on steroids. For perspective... there is a white line indicating two lanes... but 3 (maybe 4) taxis manage to squeeze in. However, there are apparently less accidents here than in the states because everyone is driving defensively and not as rapido? Somewhat comforting. Third, it's not as "tourist friendly." We went from potential customers to gringos with two flights. But honestly, that is only out in the streets. Every single Peruvian we've meet has been AWESOME! They greet you with a quick kiss on the check and smile. We all feel so appreciated, important, and welcomed. The university is so excited to have us solely because they have such warm hearts!

It's actually crazy to try and remember all of the things we've done since we've been here. The welcome dinner was amazing! It was at a very nice restaurant till late in the night where we had about 12 extremely important people from the school host us. At the end of dinner (past midnight), we headed back to our family. Our padre is protective and insures our safety. He said that we are now part of the family :) 

The next morning we were beyond exhausted and slept in. After breakfast, we played go fish with the kids and had a blast! Our little brother insists that I am Hannah Montanta and put a white knitted baby blanket on my head to make his point. So precious! We sang songs and hung out until we got picked up because a VIP of the university invited the group to the country club for the afternoon. One last day of spoiling before the work set in! We layed by the pool, played soccer with some peruvian kids, and relaxed until sunset. 

Back with the fam, we ate dinner, shared pictures, and told stories! Each day we get to know our family more and more. They are so sweet! The kids hug us and get so excited for us to come back. We play games and hang out! The dad is stay at home and great. Our food, especially compared to the other groups, is marvelous: fresh fruit and veggies with every meal and everything else gourmet. The mom is so cute and sweet and makes us feel like one of the kids. Did I mention the madres name is Hannah, too? :) Her family is from Japan but his is from Peru. We "world travelers" are in good company! Finally came bed time once again. 

Must add in... Bless Kayla! She woke up insanely early with me this morning so I could run! There is a 'park' right by our house with a sidewalk that loops around and is about the size of a football field. She sat on a bench and read and I jogged and we both kept an eye out for each other. Thanks Kay! And I am SO EXCITED because they told me tonight I can run with the bull mastiff :D They also have stairs up to a statue so I pulled out a little Rocky towards the end of my run!

Then we got to have our WHITE COAT CEREMONY! So fun and it was filmed and all. I of course got called first and had to make the executive decision of who and who not to kiss because... well… not really sure yet. But it went great! Then we got to go tour the hospital. Apparently a lot of doctors are on strike because, as he put it in Spanish, the government has some rare condition where they can't open their fists and let go of their money, haha. But once again, we were warmly welcomed and can't wait to go back and dive right in. 

Then we came back for lunch and siesta only to quickly leave again for class. Our professor is tremendous. We have class for 3 hours on MWF and 7 on TR. School plus hospital will for sure mean some deep sleep. Once again, wouldn't change it. I love everything about this program (except maybe that I can't drink my excessive amounts of coffee and agua)! 

On that note, waking up in 5 hours for class! 

Buenas noches mis amigos!

H

As most of you know by now, some of us got super sick Thursday night. I threw up six or so times throughout the night and felt absolutely miserable Friday morning. Unfortunately, we were traveling all day (as in two bus rides and two flights.) Praise the Lord our nausea went away before we flew and eventually my feverish feeling dissipated with some fantastic meds. Not much of an appetite now but feeling so much better. Kayla and I are very grateful for the prayers and have learned that being sick in such close quarters = great bonding. Poor Kelly though! 

Side note: we had an Earthquake drill in the airport and my instinct was to stop, drop, and roll… Georgia has not prepared me.

We are finally in Trujillo with our Peruvian family! The university greeted us when we got here with smiles and gifts (school bags with our books and buttons, ect.) And to our surprise, we were filmed for a reality show about the university! Even though I looked my absolute worst after begin sick, it was so fun!

Group by group, we were dropped off at our host homes. It was so fun to see everyone meet their family! It seems as though they were just as excited and nervous as we were. We were last to get dropped off. Kayla, Henssey, and I are all living together. The dad and THREE KIDS greeted us at the door. :) To make it even more perfect, they have a bull mastiff pup! The mom is so sweet and smiles all the time. The dad is a former chef (yay!) and the kids are 5, 9, and 11 (2 girls and a little boy). The dogs name means “peach” in Japanese which I thought was perfect since we are from Georgia!

This morning we had breakfast a family and headed to the market. Market=Peruvian walmart. We also gave the family our thank-you-gift which was a UGA football, two coca-cola glasses, and red, white, and blue crazy straws which were perfect for the kids. They used them right away! After all, kids are kids everywhere. :)

In other words, we LOVE LOVE LOVE our family! We start shadowing and classes on Monday morning. The hospital will be from 8am-12pm and classes will be from 3pm-6/7pm. Lots of work and learning ahead but so excited! Tonight we are having our welcoming dinner.

And lastly, Kayla and I found this quote in the book Circle Maker at the perfect time and wanted to share:

“The day we stop dreaming is the day we start dying. When imagination is sacrificed on the altar of logic, God is robbed of the glory that rightfully belongs to Him. In fact, the death of a dream is often a subtle form of idolatry. We lose faith in the God who gave us this big dream and settle for the small dream that we can accomplish without His help. We go after dreams that don’t require divine intervention. We go after dreams that don’t require prayer. And the God who is able to do immeasurably more than all our right brain can imagine is supplanted by a god- lowercase g- who fits within the logical constraints of our left brain. Nothing honors God more than a big dream that is way beyond our ability to accomplish.”

On that note, hasta leugo!

H

Where to begin?

Late Monday night, we packed “enough” into our book bags for two and a half days. Luckily we were able to leave the majority of our things at the hotel in Cusco. Tuesday morning we hopped on the bus at 8am. From there we headed to the Ccorao Market and a petting zoo! We got to play with llamas and alpacas and feed them. So fun! Then we headed to the Valle Sagrado and Pisaq for some hiking and AMAZING views! But sometimes you just accidently wear sandals because you didn’t understand your leader who spoke 5,036mph… but at least I was in good company with Kelly and Kayla.

Finally we arrived in Ollataytambo to ride the Incan Rail to MACHU PICCHU! It was a two hour train ride and was a blast. We played games the whole time. We stayed in Aguas Calientes for the night and shopped around. This town 100% reminded me of an amusement park.  Picture Jurassic Park?

Wednesday morning started at 4am for us! How? 3 alarms and a rooster who was clearly confused. We had breakfast (kinda) in the hotel and sprinted to the bus at 5:30am. From there, we began our ascent to Machu Picchu.  I had to make Kayla sit by the window because I still hate (more than anything) bus rides on mountains, and wow this was a mountain. We got to Machu Picchu at 6:30am and began the hike! We spent hours and hours going through the ruins and being absolutely amazed at what we were seeing. It truly looked like a painting. Then we kicked it into gear and went up, up, up for about 2 hours until we reached the most amazing view that my eyes had ever seen. It was quite the climb but the smile never left my face. I don’t know how, but it was better than I imagined.

Then with shaky legs and hungry bellies we began our descent. We headed back down the mountain to the town. We then had lunch at the hotel and collapsed into our bed for siesta. After siesta we headed out on a quest for helado (ice cream). Mission accomplished. After hanging out around the city more, it eventually approached dinner time with which we all (except the boys…) had tears of joy when they put a salad in front of us (more yummy stuff to follow our dose of fiber). Then… groupo fiesta with some “what are the odds?” game time. For those of you who don’t know… your odds are pretty good in this game but some pretty funny and crazy stuff can happen. I had to wear a napkin on my head as a bonnet for the rest of our time there and Kayla was supposed to have toilet paper hanging out of her pants all day today until a complete stranger approached her. All of this led to tears of laughter and a serious ab workout.

Today we headed back to Cusco with some long train and bus rides. We had lunch and then a free afternoon. Kayla, Kelly, Heather, Claire, and I all headed to the plaza to do some reading and people watching. We managed to fit 5 people on a 4 person bench. Snug indeed which was great because the weather here is more confusing than Georgia, which none of us thought was possible!

Best part of the day: An 8 year old Peruvian girl se llama Mariluz talked to us for an hour! She grabbed Kayla’s pen and drew all of us pictures. So sweet. We all bought a llama key chain from her. During the hour of her hanging out with us, we also bought homemade bread and looked  at some beautiful paintings from an art student. Safe to say none of us read more than a paragraph.

Heading to a pizzeria tonight!

Buenas Noches!

H

Machu Picchu 

The famous Machu Picchu face!

Victory apple for you J :)

5 Chicas on a bench :)

Mariluz y Kayla

Altitude Sickness. It’s real.

And it’s easily explained by what Kayla now calls “Hannah’s Episode…”

My alarm was set Saturday night for 7am Sunday morning and for some reason I woke up at 1:15am and begin to panic that we were late so I woke up Kayla. She quickly brought me back to reality and I embarrassingly said “oh, okay,” and went to the bathroom. Note to self: body freaks out when you go from laying down sleeping to full-blown-standing-up-panic. So what happened? Well, in the bathroom, I suddenly got very hot and nauseous. Next thing I knew, I woke up on the floor after passing out, only finding a lovely bruise/bump on my forehead as evidence to what had happened. Luckily, Kayla (queen of Google searches), helped me to conclude it was only mild altitude sickness and she allowed me to go back to bed (after I assured her my brain was, in fact, not swelling) Phew! Don’t fret, 100% back to normal in the morning! Hence… “Hannah’s Episode.”

Beyond that, still having a BLAST! We woke up at 7am yesterday and went to breakfast. Then went on a 4 hour walking tour of Cusco! So beautiful. Our tour guide took us all around to different parts of the city as well as inside an amazingly beautiful temple. We learned the difference between a llama and an alpaca and how symbolic the Incans were with their rocks. However, we’ve come up with some interpretations of our own! We explored all day and had some wonderful bonding time as a group. I also found a Starbucks which made me one happy chica! Only downside of the day: they put alpaca on my plate at dinner. As adventurous as I am trying to be with trying new foods, the alpaca will have to wait a little longer.

Today, however, has been my favorite day yet! We went to a place called Saqsaywaman (everyone calls it sexywoman) which is the former capital of the Incan Empire. Wow. So breathtaking. (Literally since there is about 0% oxygen in the air and you climb about 1,000 stairs up a mountain). Kelly pointed out that the view was “so saqsay.” My favorite part was the built in slides going down part of the mountain. The Incans were my kind of people!

Tonight we are heading out to watch some Peruvian dancers before dinner. As for now? We are embracing the culture and grabbing some siesta time. Tomorrow, we pack our backpacks and leave first thing in the morning for 2 and a half days to visit Aguas Calientes, the Sacred Valley, and MACHU PICCHU!!!!

Beyond excited.

Summary: I am having an absolute blast, the culture is incredible and so are the Peruvian people, and most importantly, God is great and has been great for all of time! As amazing as the Incan Empire is, nothing compares to His artwork and creation of these mountains and the pieces of Himself that he put into His people all over the world! We can only stand in awe.

Buenas Tardes!

H

La Plaza de Armas 

La Catedral

I spy with my little eye... :)

The best slide in the whole world!

What do you think J? ;)

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