vida en Cusco

It is hard to believe that four weeks have already passed since I returned from traveling around Peru. I feel like I am finally settled in this wonderful city of Cusco, knowing my way around, which busses to take, etc… however, I am beginning to realize that no matter how good my Spanish is or who I am friends with, it will be difficult not to be seen as a tourist and foreigner.  But, over the past four weeks I have had the opportunity to make some incredible friends with the locals here through work, salsa dancing, church, and playing volleyball on the weekends. The clinic I work at is quite possibly one of the nicest buildings in the outskirts of Cusco. It is privately owned and consists of many knowledgeable doctors covering nearly all branches of medicine. I was placed here to work on the language within the hospital because most of the doctors are able to speak a little broken English from having to care for so many tourists from all over the world. Though my Spanish has improved immensely, I had forgotten that there is a whole different dictionary of words to learn just within the work at a hospital, anatomy, and diseases.  It is not exactly what I pictured when I thought of working in a medical clinic in Peru, but it has truly been a great experience to learn and be prepared for future work or volunteering. I have been able to assist in the operating room, emergency, intensive care unit; with  x-rays and ultra sounds, draw blood from patients and observe it in the laboratory, inject and start patients on IV’s, distribute medicines, care for wounds, and just spend time talking with the doctors, nurses, patients, and the other two students from Germany.  The nurses there are the most hard-working, caring individuals; always concerned for others 12 hours throughout the day or night.  They were always willing to teach me and had such patience. We enjoyed learning new words in each other’s language and they loved to ask me about my thoughts on Peruvian guys.  Though some days there were not many patients, I was still able to learn a lot from the clinic and it has been wonderful to see that everything I am learning now is preparing me for more work that the Lord has planned for me in the future. 

My days here have been filled with work, school, salsa dancing at night, and trying not to get run over by the vehicles flying through the city streets.  I have yet to mention the driving situation that occurs here. If you have ever been the least bit nervous about my driving or a certain pole vault coach at University of South Carolina, you would absolutely have a heart attack riding in a taxi or combi here.  There may be lines in the road, but no one heeds to them. When a road is supposed to be three lanes, there are usually about five cars lined across. There is constantly weaving in and out, and drivers stop approximately ten centimeters behind the car in front of them; I am amazed that I have not seen more accidents. I don’t believe that there is a speed limit, probably in part because none of the speedometers in the cars work anyways.  The majority of cars are very old, rattling stick shifts and though the drivers are more than competent, they constantly stall out over the speed bumps. The most important rule to learn about the driving here is that pedestrians absolutely do not have the right of way, and cars will not stop for you to cross the street. The combi’s are the typical mode of transportation for the Peruvians here. It costs 60 centimos (about 20 cents), or 40c if you are a student to ride anywhere you want, ranging from three minutes up to an hour or two.  These combi’s are about the size of a 10-passenger van but on the regular, approximately 15-25 people are squeezed in at one time. You are lucky if you happen to get one of the newer vans that you are able to stand upright in, but normally you find yourself bent half over, squished up against five other people.  One of my best moments in a combi was during one of my first weeks here. The road where I would normally take the combi from was closed because of a festival (a very normal thing around here), so I walked around until I saw another bus stop. Luckily, right away I saw my favorite combi “Zorro” come by and knew it would take me straight to my house. However, apparently I got on it going in the wrong direction; I rode for about an hour continuing to go up and up into the pueblos above Cusco where they only speak Quechua. Every time I thought about getting out because I realized I was not heading towards my home, I looked around and saw no taxis, only gardens, run-down houses, and sketchy looking stores. Once we reached the top of a large mountain the driver told everyone to get off …uh-oh! I told him the stop I was trying to get to and of course this lead to much laughter between him and his companion. They let me stay on and I enjoyed the rest of the ride back to my house; in conclusion, this was my 60 centimos, hour-long tour of the outskirts of Cusco, truly unforgettable.  Another favorite experience of mine was when I was riding an unusually semi-empty combi to class one afternoon and a little boy was walking up and down the aisle when he decided to come climb up in my lap. He sat with me the entire 30-minute ride as we stared out the window and named the objects passing by.

My recently found love is for the dance of salsa and it has been entertained by the fact that possibly every single person here was born a natural, incredible dancer. This culture too just embraces the beauty of dance and the discotekas (clubs) have only salsa and meringue from 9-11 every night; it is a better workout than the classes at the gym! Cusco is full of festivals, and festivals always mean bright-colored costumes and dancing through the streets. The most recent “carnival” consisted of a parade of dancing, as well as water balloon fight amidst the whole city. This week of celebration, and particularly the specific day of “carnival” is every child’s dream. Literally, everyone runs around throwing water balloons and buckets of water at each other, and you are not allowed to be upset by it. All festival-goers are equipped also with a can of foam spray which always leads to sneak attacks and battles. The beautiful thing about this day is how much joy everyone has; it is a day solely for enjoyment for children and adults, as well as tourists and Peruvians alike.

I will be leaving for the jungle, Manu tomorrow morning at 4:30 to visit a friend who is volunteering there (and of course to enjoy the beauties of the jungle). When I return from this trip next week, I will begin to work in Ttio Hospital: a more rural, poverty filled place. I am excited to see all that the Lord has in store for me there; the things I will learn, be exposed to, and be able to share over the next two months.