Babies. No really, fresh babies.

Hola! I decided to add some variety to my routine volunteer placement at the hospital. I have been volunteering at the labory and delivery/maternity unit for the last few weeks in the mornings. What an experience! When I was in nursing school, we had to choose between pediatrics and L&D for clinicals, and I chose peds. It has been very refreshing to get to finally experience L&D. Regardless, I will never be an L&D nurse. Ever. Babies are cute, but vaginas are not.

So what exactly do I do at the labor and delivery ward? I help mothers in labor get through their labor pains/contractions, and hold their hands and motivate them to push that baby out. Then I try to distract them as the obstetrician sews up their vaginas from the episiotomy (which is standard practice here for every first-time mom). Then I follow them to the recovery room and help them breastfeed their newborn baby. I even help them name their babies! Which is weird for me, mind you. It´s so funny to me how ridiculously common it is for moms to not have a name ready for their baby. I mean they have 9 months to think about it, really! I had one mom ask me what my dad´s name was (Gerald). Who knows, maybe she named her baby, Geraldo, after my dad lol. The day after they announced the new pope, I suggested Francisco to one mom, haha.

Although L&D is not my cup of tea (too much blood and body fluids and way too many vaginas), I do think it is absolutely precious to be able to witness a mother meet her baby for the first time. The birthing process at the hospital is very strict against visitors. No family members, husbands or mothers or sisters, can be with the mother during labor. In recovery, only one family member can visit for only 5 minutes. There is probably a cultural reason behind all this too. I can only imagine how terrifying it must be for the handful of young mothers, and first-time mothers, to have to go through the birthing process without a single loved one. I have helped a handful of teenagers give birth now. Being a step-in support system for them has been especially rewarding for me.

I have not left my kids at the leukemia ward. I help out with births in the morning at L&D (if there are patients in labor), then I go to the leukemia ward to hang out with my kids for a couple hours. I can´t believe how fast these last 5 and a half months have flown by. It makes me so sad to think that I am leaving my kids in just a few weeks. Having had most of my nursing experience in acute care at a hospital, I learned to keep myself detached from my patients. Don´t get me wrong, I take good care of them, but I leave work at work. It´s the only way I can function as a good nurse without being an emotional wreck. Plus, emotional detachment is easier to do when your patient turnover is so fast. I remember telling myself when I first started volunteering here in Cusco that I had to make sure I would not get attached to my patients. These kids stole my heart. I fell in love so fast. Love can be so unfairly inconvenient.

Sorry I don´t have any pictures to share. I can´t exactly be taking photos during labor. My parents and little brother are coming to visit me for Spring Break this Sunday. I´m so excited! I also just realized that this is the first time I´m spending Easter with my family since I went off to university. It´s been 7 years since my last Easter with them!

Here´s to my last few weeks in Cusco. Ciao!

De-licing, de-worming, and the day with the devil

Let´s start with the day with the devil, shall we? A couple weekends ago my fellow volunteers and I had a field trip to el Balcon de Diablo (The devil´s balcony). We took a taxi up past the Sacsayhuaman archeological park, up in the mountains above the city of Cusco. Then we hiked further up these mountains for a mile or so. What a gorgeous hike! There were beautiful vistas overlooking the valley where Cusco sits, small farms and fields, rock formations, and the river. El balcon de diablo is a rock formation in a cave. It looks like a balcony, hence its name, looking down at the little river and the deeper mouth of the cave. We did some independent spelunking and followed the stream into the mouth of the cave. There was a bit of a waterfall that we had to climb down. I was afraid the current would sweep me away into the rocks below, so I opted out of that. Instead I had our boys catch me as semi-jumped down into their arms, avoiding the current and the waterfall. One of the perks of being small. We followed the stream into the tunnel of the cave and out the back, which was actually the front by where we had hiked in lol. It would have been nicer if it wasn´t so cold and rainy. The water and the nature around us reminded me of the greenbelt in Austin, Texas, only because I miss being able to hike to a water hole or river and spend all afternoon under the sun and in the water. Obviously, the greenbelt looks absolutely nothing like the Peruvian Andes.

View from el Balcon del Diablo

Last week we treated and taught preventative measures for lice and parasites (de-licing and de-worming) at our 3 orphanages. We spent a good amount of time treating and combing out lice at the girls´orphanages. Thinking about it makes my head itch. (Don´t worry, I don´t have lice. I had Shelby check my head after I came home from de-licing).

San Judas Girls´Orphanage

Con Dra. Mildred

De-worming: a few months ago, one of our volunteers from Australia fundraised $2000. We spent it on taking blood tests on all of our orphans. That week we had the joy of poking our orphans´ little fingers to draw their blood into tiny glass tubes. They had not had checkups or lab work done in a long time. We were checking mainly for parasites and anemia. The sad thing is, one of our girls´orphanages is a home for sexually abused girls. We had to draw a lot more of their blood from their arms because we were checking for additional labs: sexually transmitted infections, HIV/AIDS, and pregnancy tests. So sad.

So Popular 

Finally swallowed their anti-parasite pills. Looking forward to the end to

diarrhea, constant hunger, and stomach aches!

We received the lab results about a month ago and ALL of the orphans have parasites. Mainly from drinking the tap, unfiltered water, aka agua crudo. Our organization started a health initiative to teach our orphans about parasites and how to prevent them, emphasizing hand-washing after using the bathrooms and before eating, and not drinking agua crudo or eating contaminated food. Last week we gave them all medicine to treat the parasites and re-taught them parasite prevention and good hygiene. We´ve been fundraising money for this health initiative for about a month and a half. We still have a long way to go. We need to install more water filters and build more hand sanitizing stations. After giving them their medicine, it would be such a waste if these kids relapsed to poor hand hygiene and drinking habits because of a lack of resources.

If you are interested in donating to our cause. The boys orphanage and the home for sexually abused girls is called Salome. The title of our ¨go fund me¨ page is ¨Help Heal Salome¨. Here´s the website where you can donate online: http://www.gofundme.com/298w8o

Island in the sun: Isla del Sol, Bolivia

        Uh oh, the 90 days on my visa are over. Guess that means only one thing: vamos a Bolivia! Perfect timing, too. After hanging out in Cusco for over 2 months straight, I was starting to get claustrophobic in this little city. Time to spread my wings and fly. Shelby and I returned to our favorite little get-away just across the Peru-Bolivia border. I´ll give you a hint, ¨At the copa, Copacabana!¨ Shout out to Duncan: we missed you! We got to relax and bask in the glorious weather and beautiful, blue Lake Titicaca. First thing on our agenda: wine and hot tub on the cliffside over-looking the lake. Although it was a cloudy sunset, we got to watch a wicked lightning storm across the lake. 



Cheers to our favorite hot tub

Chillaxin

        The next morning, we hopped on a boat to the Isla del Sol. The island in Lake Titicaca on the Bolivian side. When we arrived in Bolivia the day before, the weather was so-so. Rainy in the morning and a bit over-cast in the afternoon. We sure lucked out with the weather on Isla del Sol. Mucho, mucho sol! It was a small, tranquil island with lots of hills and mountains. Nice and peaceful. There is an Incan trail that loops around most of the island. The tourist employee we met told us it was only a 2 or 3 hour hike. That was a lie. It took us all afternoon. Granted, we stopped to play cribbage, and we found a secret beach and lounged there for more or less an hour. When we were actually hiking, though, we were going at a decent pace and we didn´t stop to rest. The scenery was gorgeous, though, and of course there were Incan ruins to see. Despite how exhausted we were when we finally made it back to our hostel by the north port of the island, all the hill-climbing was worth it. 

The port on the north side of the island

Beginning our afternoon-long hike all over the island

          When we returned to Copacabana the next day, we had more clear blue skies and sunshine. I wanted to go back to our favorite hot tub, but after showering I realized that I was sunburned from frolicking on the secret beach at the Isla del Sol and swimming in the lake (Whoohoo, I swam in the highest navigable lake in the world! Move aside, Crater Lake. And yes, it was cold!). To think I was worried about how I´ve been losing my Texas tan. I think I´ll work on my South American tan at lower elevations, where the suns rays aren´t so close and harsh on my skin. 

        The rest of the day was spent doing souvenir shopping and relaxing. I took a nice long walk along the lake where i hadn´t been before and found where all the locals spend quality family time together on Saturday afternoons. The closest equivalent I can think of calling it is a boardwalk, except it was made of cement along the lake, not of wood. Families picnicking, children playing and riding their tricycles, people walking and chit-chatting away. The glorious simplicity of the afternoon was beautiful to see.

         Like Cusco, Copacabana was filled with traveling Argentinian hippies. It´s funny I find myself sounding like such an old fart, thinking: ¨Oh god, more Argentinan hippies. They´re everywhere! Take a shower, and get a real job!¨ I believe the Peruvians in Cusco have rubbed off on me. I´m pretty sure they think the same thing. The Argentinian hippies are everywhere. Juggling or singing or trying to sell home-made chocolates or jewelry, peddling for money to fund their travels. It´s a different sort of lifestyle. I could  never do it. Although I can appreciate the idea of not wanting to work under ¨the Man¨ in corporate society. I still feel like they annoy tourists (like myself) and locals (as an honorary Cusquenan, like myself). I´m ok with being bugged by a local in Cusco trying to sell me hats and scarves or massages, and I´d rather support a local. I am more irritated by foreign hippies coming onto Peruvian soil trying to sell their crappy goods and sing their crappy songs, accepting money from tourists that the tourists could have given to support the locals. Just my opinion.

My favorite Wear in the World Trailblazers pic so far

Aha! A secret beach behind the ruins

Found a piece of paradise

     On the long 12-hour bus ride back to Cusco, I stayed awake to watch the scenery roll by through my window. So much beauty. I was overwhelmed with a feeling of happiness and contentment. I felt so blessed to be here in South America, on a grand adventure, living my dream. Volunteering abroad has been a dream of mine since I was a teenager in high school, as well as seeing and learning more about the world. I don´t want to sound too Disney-cliche, but I hope you keep on keeping on to make your dreams come true, too.