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!