Por donde invertes tu amor, invertes tu vida

Peru 2013 scrapbook

 The last month obviously flew by, it was filled with trying to treasure and cherish everything for one last time. We spent time with friends, with my students, and eating all of our favorite Peruvian dishes. I turned 24 with a day filled of random awkward embarrassing dancing in front of my whole school in a sombrero, lots of birthday hugs, and the longest birthday song ever. Then before we knew it, it was time to start saying goodbyes. Which included my goodbye speech in front of my whole school. I made it all the way through without crying then saw Yenny's face and lost it. Friends were hard to say goodbye to but my students were my hardest goodbyes. They were who I saw everyday, who I got to know the best, they were my best friends in Peru, and the ones I am going to miss the most. You know you had a good year when fifteen students wait till right before you are leaving to show up at your house to say goodbye, and five friends make the hour trek to the airport to be the last ones we see as we board the plane.

I feel so blessed to have had this year with these people, to have been able to see just a glimpse of their lives and hopefully to have made some kind of difference in their lives. This year was challenging, my community challenged me, my patience were challenged, as well as my safety. But, we made it through, together, and for this I am so grateful.

4 students on a moto

my goodbye party

the final march

me and yenny

Things I won't miss:
~Walking down the street afraid of every dirty skinny abused dog I pass will bite me
~Hand washing clothes
~Losing water every evening for many reasons but the biggest is not being able to do dinner dishes then having double the dishes the next day for after lunch
~The awkward circle formation then the get up awkward dance sit down routine
~When the teachers waste hours of class time on the phone, talking to each other, or yelling at the kids
~The abuse: domestic, animal, psychological
~Creepy guys making hissing or kissing sounds at me

the last night out with the boys

~Not having the freedom to go where I wanted, when I wanted

my little brothers

 Things I will miss:
~The people and their genuine big welcoming hospitable hearts
~My students, their smiles, voice cracks, questions, laughter, and friendship
~Our friends, for they accepted us as who we are, our weirdness, our differences, and our language barriers, and made us part of their circle of guys and included us every weekend, were protective of us, and loving
~Hearing "profe" yelled from every other street corner as I walk home
~Running into 20 people in a 15 minute walk all equally as excited to see me
~The view of the Andes
~Sunrise over the city from the mirador
~The streets during the golden hour, glowing with richness
~Having to awkwardly dance at ever party
~How much people love to share in what they have with each other, especially food
~Drinking beer peruvian style
~Riding on motorcycles
~People not calling ahead but just showing up at our house hoping to play
~People stopping me dead in my tracks just to tell me how beautiful my eyes are
~Their faith, love, and trust in God

us and Juan

4B bonfire night

Favorite memories:
~Riding on top of a truck to get to Frias
~Hiking up the hill to give communion to the paralyzed man
~The view of Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate as the clouds burned off
~Holding a monkey in Iquitos
~Going Sand bugging in Paracas
~Spending the weekend with Cody in Lima
~Running around Conchaque with Italo
~Running with students at 5:30am on Saturdays to the Mirador
~Staying out till 6am on Saturday nights/ Sunday mornings
~Community time in my bed on Sunday mornings
~The long moto ride then hike to the waterfall at Carisol
~Meeting new people, making new friendships, and building bonds that will last a life time
~Teaching Peruvians to play flip cup and beer pong
~My after school program with all of them but especially the little ones of 1A and 1B
~Going to Trujillo with Murray and Patrice
~Host family Sundays
~The Malvern boys trip
~Watching a mother kiss her newborn for the first time
~Watching Profilio walk for the first time in years after his amputation
~Learning about Peru, its culture, customs, and its people

Sunrise 

 Things I've learned:
~I can't always just listen, in order to truly grow in love and friendship for one another, I too need to open up and be vulnerable
~Never forget that we all have a story and for this we cannot judge one another
~I have so much to be thankful for
~I can never be too patient
~I can do all things with Christ and his love
~It is okay to be dependent on other people
~It is okay to take time to myself, to give myself space, and be independent

 Thank you to all of you who have supported me this year through your prayers, your love, and your friendship. I couldn't have done it without you.

Tito and Marta

We are often afraid of solitude because of the emptiness we feel,
        Yet God is always there to fill us with power.
We are often afraid of death,
        Yet out of death good and life can come.
We are often afraid of being tested beyond our strength to endure,
        Yet God is always there to walk with us.
We are often afraid of trusting, of giving our lives over to God,
        Yet all we are and have, find its ground to grow in God.
We are often afraid to give away everything, all that we are and have,
        Yet that would fill us with wealth overflowing.
We are often afraid to give up our plans though they are always near-sighted and incomplete,
        Yet time and again God shows a willingness to protect us.
We are often afraid of others,
        Yet only they can mirror back our goodness and love us into life.
We are often afraid of the pain of loving, afraid of reaching out,
        Yet without this pain we die
We are often afraid to stop worrying about ourselves, about what we have and how important we are,
        Yet unless God can free us from the slavery of self-preoccupation, we will never really see the beauty that continually surrounds us.
We are often afraid to be with the violent, the confused, the ugly, the forgotten, the simple, the down-and-out,
        Yet they are a mirror of ourselves, the image of our situation before God in this world.
We find ourselves in a battle. We want to get off the front lines and go to a little beach somewhere and lie in the sun-warm sand and forget it all,
        Yet there is really no place out of this world.
And the one persistent question we are always asked inside will never go away,
        "Did you take care of my brothers and sister?"

La aventura de mi vida

Cusco City

The plaza!

 Watching the fog clear and the sun shine over the ancient hidden beautiful city of Machu Picchu was absolutely breathtaking! The anticipation built up over waiting an hour, after running up the final hill, after waking up at 3:30 am that morning, not to mention the three full days of walking before it, all was worth it! I'm ready to go back and do it again this week! 

Sooo much stuff!

 So we arrived in Cusco, Nov 1st in the afternoon to the Augustinian Padres house in Cusco. Where somehow, information was lost and no one had any idea who we were or why we were there, or that we wanted to stay there. But, luckily it all worked out, they welcomed us, gave us rooms, food, and great company for the weekend! Oh wait though, back up, first there was getting to the airport in Piura. Getting off the bus, there was a man behind me that kept bumping into me but more than the usual impatient Peruvian, so I didn't trust him, kept looking back at him, checking my backpack to make sure everything seemed zipped still. When then we go to get in the taxi and he's still super close to me, I set my big bag in the taxi then look back at the guy again right when I see him grab my wallet out of my backpack. Unlike the first time I got robbed in this country, I was not about to let another Peruvian get away with it. I instantly ran and grabbed him, putting him in a headlock, I yelled at him to give it back, grabbing my wallet from him, I let him go unharmed. Anyway, on Saturday the 2nd, one of my bestest friends from college, Courtney, arrived to Cusco to spend the week with us. That weekend, we explored, celebrated Day of the Dead mass in the cemetery, shopped, visited the beautiful cathedral, and enjoyed delicious food in my new favorite city in the world. 

 

Hiking at altitude!

Monday the 4th starting at 4:30 am we started in a bus to the start of the Inca Trail for our four day hike at 2600 meters above sea level. After a freezing weekend we were greeted by the sun, with random rain sprinkles, and an overall easy day of hiking lasting until about 5:30 that afternoon. That night at 3000m, it poured the entire night, but the food was delicious and we started to get to know the group. Our group consisted of 16 trekkers, a couple from London, another one from Columbia, another from the USA, another from Sweden (and her sister), a couple from New Zealand, and a girl from Bulgaria. We had two guides and 21 porters along for the hike. The porters were amazing, not only did they carry all the food, tents, cooking supplies and half the peoples 20 kilo bags, they ran ahead of us to cook, set up, and make sure we were comfortable when we got to them at lunch and then again at dinner. They were all from outside the Cusco city walls, most had families to care for and doing this hike four times a month was good extra money for them. We sadly did not have a lot of interaction with them and being one of six that spoke spanish in the group they weren't use to the trekkers making conversation with them. However, our company, Peru Treks, emphasized several times that they take good care of their porters, we saw them eat at least something, and they slept in our eating tent, not in the hole in the ground bathrooms where we witnessed other posters sleeping. Overall, super humans these porters!

Our family, porters and all!

So many crazy stairs!

Day two was the hardest day, we began our up hill climb of 1200m to an altitude of 4200m. Dead Women's Pass was suppose to take us four and half hours, but Courtney and I impressed our guides and porters by doing it in two hours and fifty minutes. But, then we had to hike back down 600m of steep steep steep stone steps in the pouring rain. These were just a little bit slippery but we still made it down first at 2pm. Rested ate, and tried to survive the coldest night in the rain!

Terraces from a far! 

Day three was my favorite day, but the longest. Day three included the last two smaller passes, several archeological cities along the way, beautiful waterfalls, and just the most amazing views of the mountains towering over us! We walked from 6:30 to 6:30 that day, down crazy "Gringo killer stairs," through the Andie rainforest, ending up at camp at 2700m. That night we had our final dinner as a group, met all the porters, and started mentally preparing for the final day at Machu Picchu.

Cusco cathedral

The next morning we woke up at 3:30 am, waited in line for the gate to open, then ran up the final large hill in 50 minutes to beat all the other groups to the sungate! After waiting an hour for the fog to clear we got the most enchanting view of Machu Picchu down below us!  We slowly hiked down to the city, stopping to take lots of pictures and take in where we were. We then had the day to walk around, and get to know the city built on the side of a mountain. With only 40 percent of the city visible above land the other 60% is what has held city in place all these years through all the rain, earthquakes and time, The Inca's were amazing architects, engineers, astronomers, and agriculturalists. They made a run off system, irrigation canals, and thousands of terraces that worked like today's green houses. The Inca's had a population of 8 million people in the Cusco area before the Spaniards came and took over in the 16th century. By the time it hit 1 o'clock we were worn out and ready to head down to lunch in Aguas Caliente. This city was of course very touristy but super cute, we spent the afternoon shopping and walking around, before we took the train and bus back into Cusco.

The group waiting for the clouds to move!

Friday we went back to the Augustinian School to watch activities day, took a short walking tour, and a panoramic double decker bus tour. That night we went out with the awesome couple from the US, she's an Air Force pilot and just a huge ball of energy! They were super fun. Saturday I had to say goodbye to Courtney then we went and hung out with our tour guides from the trek. They won the local tourism soccer league so they were celebrating. We flew out early the next morning.

You can sort of see it, on the left, way better in person!

Breaking through the clouds!

Our whole group!

Aguas Caliente

With Padre Lizardo!

With Raul our tour guide at his soccer game!

I can't wait to go back to my favorite city again someday!

"Mi hijo esta en sus manos, y ud. esta en las manos de Dios"

Just a girl and her mono!

Newest member of the community.

 Things have yet to slow down, but I'm still here, alive and well. The last month and a half included a visit from Chantelle's parents, Cody, our director Shannon, a trip to Iquitos in the Amazon, then the last two weeks were consumed by a medical campaign and a group of Villanova students. So where do I even start....?

While Chantelle's parents were still in Chulucanas, I met up with Cody in Lima for his first weekend in Peru. We saw the sights of, Miraflores, Barranco, El Centro, La Parque de Amor, La Parque de Los Aguas, etc. We witnessed the changing of the guards at the President's house, a two hour long ceremony done on horseback, band and all. We also went to the biggest food festival I've ever seen. Here we tried smoked pork and rabbit, fish, beef heart, pisco, and chocolate dipped strawberries. The options were endless and the people were from all over Peru and South America. Back in Chulucanas Cody went to school with me, saw the Chulucanas sights, met and played with my host family, hung out with my community, and taught Christian how to swing a baseball bat better than I could. We went up to the beautiful mountains for a day to hike and walk around Conchaque. But, more than anything he got a taste of where I live, why I'm here and who my new friends and family are. It's one thing for me to try to describe my experience to you all and a whole different thing for you to see it. It was a blessing to get to have him visit, a really fun and awesome week to say the least and will definitely help in my transition back in the U.S.

Conchaque!

Stop putting the head in front of my face lady!

Good thing I have way better aim with a shotgun!

Three days after Cody left, Shannon arrived. This final sight visit included a trip to Iquitos a city surrounded by rivers in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. Iquitos was hot, humid, buggy, and very over populated. The streets and houses were built unlike any other Peruvian city I've seen, the streets were beyond full of motos and trash, the houses were built out of wood and half them were built 20 feet off the ground. Due to the fact that half of the city is flooded December through May up to where the houses either look or are floating, buses are boats, taxis are canoes, and no one leaves their houses on foot. Because of the rain and rivers, they have 100,000 different kids of fish here, they eat alligator (pretty delicious), fry up worms for good health keeping, and have a different kind of plant for every sickness or disease imaginable. The land is greener than green, monkeys really do like cuddlying, and paranas are vicious fish. We saw and held tocans, parrots, anacondas, turtles, slothes and manatees. We saw jaguars, pink dolphins and other amazonian animals in the zoo. And, we even made new friends who took us out.

Paddle boating in the Amazon.

Four days after our return to Chulucanas arrived 48 medical professional gringos. The second medical campaign was full of surgery teams. This campaign was a whole different experience, much more full of hope, happiness, love, miracles, friendships, and extreme gratitude. The five teams completed 200 surguries of general operations, plastic sugery, opthomology, pediatry, and gynocology. As a translater I worked with the surgeons talking with the parents or patients before the surgeries to ease their nerves, then again afterwards to tell them everything went well. Then I worked in the PACU's with the kids and the second week with the adults translating for the American nurses and the Peruvian nurses as they worked as a team with the patients and families. I got to witness serveral hernia surgeries, see prolapsed uteries, cleft lip plastic surgery (almost passed out during this one),  removal of a gallbladder and pancrease cancer. I learned a lot about what an anotesiologist does, and how calm and natural an operating room is (they play music, tell jokes, and are willing to answer questions about anything and everything). I also learned a lot about general procedure, post operation care, and had the oportunity to really get to know patients that were there for several days.

It was really amazing to be able to look these moms in the eyes and tell them the doctor was going to take good care of their babies and that they were gonna come out not in pain but all better. These moms responded back with the most beautiful poetic way of expressing their deep gratitude. The most disappointing part of this campaign was that the doctors one, couldn't understand these women, but two that they were too busy to even let me explain what these women were saying to them. They were in too much of a hurry to get to the next person to listen to what I could never even imagine an English speaker saying. My favorite thing a mom said to me was, "my child is in your hands, and you are in God's hands." The people here have such powerful faith in God, such a way of trusting in him that they trust literally anything I could have told them. Being a translator the people would obviously ask me all their questions, and sadly only about 50% of the time I actually had to ask a nurse or a doctor for the answer. The other half of the time, I could answer it just because I have been to a doctor before, I know what basic health care is like. To us a lot of these questions would be common sense, but to people that have no idea what a doctor does, they were very valid questions. Even basic health care we take for granted in the US, but the people here are so thankful for any care at all.

The river from the sky

 Chantelle and I got invited to watch a C-Section, both of us went in excited to see a baby born by the Peruvian team, but then we heard it was an emergency operation. However, no one seemed to be in much of a hurry. Finally close to 40 minutes later they made the first cut, there is a lot of blood and A LOT of juice that comes out of the uterus. Then the nurse and the surgeon grabbed the skin on each side and literally stretched and pulled it apart, it was terrible looking! But, before we knew it we could see the baby's head, then all of a sudden it was out, but instead of hearing crying, the cord was wrapped around the baby's neck and he was completely blue. He wasn't breathing, was extremely skinny, then started to seize. The doctors were doing everything they could to save him, CPR, oxygen, etc. Nothing was helped, so we called our doctors back, they got him on better air as they waited for news of a spot in a better treatment facility in Puira. The baby was transferred there 5 days later, I haven't heard how he is doing, or what permanent damage was done. It's hard not to ask what if they would have been in a bigger hurry to get the baby out, what if they had the technology to see the cord was wrapped around the neck and the baby wasn't breathing earlier on? Overall, the saddest thing I've ever witness. Fortunately, the following day I got to see a healthy baby born and watching that mom kiss her new baby was absolutely beautiful, her eyes instantly filled with tears of happiness.

Medical campaign beach day!

The biggest miracle of the week was a 34 year old man named Porfirio who got wheeled into the examination room the first day with a plastic bag dripping nasty brown SMELLY stuff from it. It was very hard to understand his complete story because he was very shy and nervous. But, what I understood from it was that he started getting weird spots on his leg, when they started to spread, and not go away, they only explanation he could come up with was witchcraft and therefore the only cure he knew of was to burn the spell off. After lighting his own leg on fire, it became very infected to where the only thing our doctors could do was amputate it. After the amputation they did not think Porfirio would learn to walk again. He proved that wrong, he was walking three days later with walker on one leg. I will never forget his smile, how red he turned when you told him he was handsome, and that awful smell before hand, he was truly a miracle.