Te Echare de Menos

I never thought I would say this, but I am sad to be leaving. I am ready to go for my own reasons, and I do not regret that I am leaving so soon, however, it hurts me that while my reasons for counting down the seconds are valid and pure, they should not be a factor. Everything telling me to get home immediately should not even be a part of my life or in my mind, yet there is always someone, or something, to dampen the mood. I hate that this is the experience that was chosen to cast a shadow over.

Today we went to the clinic to say goodbye. I did not expect to be sad, but they said a few words about us, Pamela said that the doors will always be open and that she hopes that we return. Monica said that we will always be close to their hearts. Isabella was the hardest to say goodbye to because she has been the sweetest person and a great doctor to work with. She asked me for my email so that she can send me information about her very sick daughter so that I can research treatments for her disease in the United States to see if there is anything better there. I pray that I can help even the slightest and I will make it my mission to find answers and I would do anything to raise money to bring her for treatments if that will make her better. I truly hope that after everything I can do something to help and while I did not believe I would say this, I hope to be able to come back one day to visit. They have taught me so much and I feel as though I have given so little. Its sad to say goodbye and I will miss these friends that I have made.

Machu Picchu

Surprisingly I don’t have much to say about this. It was absolutely breathtaking and really words cannot describe it. I expected to be amazed but this exceeded any expectations. The mountains were the most beautiful natural things I have ever seen and the ruins were equally amazing. Here is a little history about Machu Picchu:

Machu Picchu is the Lost City of the Incas. When you look at the typical pictures of the ruins themselves, the mountain behind them is not Machu Picchu, that mountain, meaning old mountain, is actually behind the photographer. The mountain you see is called Huayna Picchu. At the top of that mountain lived an old wise man who would give advice to any who visited him. You would visit the mountain if it called to you and then receive your advice at the top. The ruins were actually found in 1911 by an American historian.

It is considered a sacred place because when the Spanish invaded South America and killed most of the people, those of higher ranking fled and hid here. This city was never found by the Spanish and is why it is so special today. It housed a school teaching the boys to be king and the girls to be queen, another symbol if its upper class status. No gold was found here, it was taken with the people when they left and is said to be hidden somewhere in the mountains in another hidden city. Legend says that only those of pure intention can find the city because the gold has no monetary value, rather, it is the force of life. It is said that lone searchers have seen the city but whenever a large party sets out for it, it cannot be found.

Up on the mountain of Machu Picchu itself, there is a big rock and beneath there they found the body of a woman in a fetal position. With here were a pin for their necklace beads, a mirror, tweezers, and a tool for cleaning ears among other things, telling them that these people took care of themselves. There was also found a mass grave near-by. In the ruins themselves, there is an interesting area with rocks that do not belong in any close radius to the ruins. These are believed to be offerings brought from visitors to this sacred place. There is also a huge stone called the Intihuatana stone. It has a point to it in the direction of the winter solace. It is believed to have been used as a place of mummification of the Incan people.

Inside the ruins themselves are many buildings and rooms. There is a temple with windows directly facing each solace. There is also an interesting room with two circle things in the floor. They have some water on the top and during Incan times, young girls would fast and enter this room, looking at the moon only from the reflection on the water, praying to become queen.

Melting Pot

Here’s an update of what has been going on here

-I also got to work in Obstetrics, considering that at the clinic the two are in the same place. This, I actually don’t mind doing. Despite the fact that the doctor doesn’t need us, we do actually get to do something helpful. Most of the pregnant women, basically all of them really, do not get examined by the doctor, they get examined by us. Lauren takes the height and weight, I translate to the doctor, she writes. I take the blood pressure. Together, Lauren and I take turns feeling the stomach, measuring the length of the baby, finding the position of the head and spine, and listening to the heart. We just tell the doctor what we measured, she writes, and the patient leaves. Never would I be allowed to do that in the United States.

-Obstetrics is actually my favorite place to work. The doctor calls me princesa and when I told her I had to rotate for the week, she pouted and said no don’t leave. I left for one day and just came back. We also listen to music when we work. I have found that it’s a rather interesting mix that changes day by day from Daddy Yankee to Madonna, and no, I’m not complaining.

-Women in Spain don’t take the birth control pill for the most part. They get busy in the house and forget, and then you end up with an over populated and ever growing group below the poverty line. I was lucky enough, if you want to use that word, to watch one form of annual birth control be pulled out of a woman with pliers. Considering the fact that I didn’t know what the doctor was planning on doing to begin with, the pliers freaked me out a little, and Ill give that experience a ranking of I never want to see it again. Today however, a woman came for the more common shot that last three months. Lauren and I gave the shots ourselves, without the doctors supervision. What made this particular patient amusing was the doctor explaining to me what the patient was here for. Here’s what she said: “Ella quiere el contraceptivo. Durante las fiestas, los peruanos hacen las bebes” She proceeded to laugh really hard, I couldn’t tell Lauren what that meant because I was laughing at the fact that she said that in front of the patient, and to add to it, the patient responded with. “Si, bebemos mucho alcohol y por eso… “ And she started laughing too. English translation: “She wants birth control. During the fiestas, the Peruvians make babies. “ The patient said” Yea, we drink a lot of alcohol and so….” Anyway, I love working there.

-The only other interesting thing that’s really happened thus far is the trivia night we go to at one of the local restaurants. Its in English, for the tourists, and you have 5 categories and you answer the questions and whoever gets the most right gets a bottle of wine. We won last week. Probably the best part thus far is that we get to pick team names which we tend to make amusing. First we were Victorious Secret. We won with “You wanna masaje?” Which is funny because you cant walk through the plaza without being harassed by Peruvians offering massages in horribly accented English. I think maybe next week were going to be Wanna see my George Bush? Its kind of fun, and I mean who doesn’t like winning.