Pictures from Machu Picchu

I'm not sure why these are out of order, so sorry!  We went to Machu Picchu the Friday before the mission.  This was absolutely the best touristy part of the trip.  Note to others going:  Do not plan any tours after you go to Machu Picchu.  They are boring in comparison.  Also, do this tour before the mission.  I think afterwards you just want to go home.

Jared & I overlooking Machu Picchu.  The giant mountain in the background is the one we climbed, Waynu Picchu (young mountain).

Another view - it was absolutely amazing.

Jared liked these tree planted in the middle of the village.

Starting our climb.

Going up there.

From the little house at the top of Wayna Picchu.  Let's be honest, we had not yet started climbing DOWN the mountain, on tiny little stairs, with no guard rails, in the rain.  It was the scariest thing I have ever done.

So here's a picture of those stairs.  And there's not an easy drop off the edge.  It's like straight down.  Our tour guide says that the locals call it another "sacrifice to the mountain" whenever a white person falls off the mountain, in redemption for what the Spaniards did to the Incas.  Comforting.

Example of how the Incas build with the existing rocks.  Really amazing.

Jared looking like Indiana Jones, which is ironic since Indiana Jones was based off the professor that found Machu Picchu. 

Final Thoughts

Now that we're back home and sleeping again in our big warm bed, I'm having a hard time learning any lessons from the trip.  It's hard to bring what you have seen in such an impoverished culture and marry that with our excessive, abundant lifestyle here.  However, here's what I do know for sure:

1. I really, really like my life.

2. I have a new appreciation for those people that enter a religious life.  I think that Jared & I were always super excited and supportive about SOMEONE ELSE'S KID going into the religious life, but I'm not sure we would have been thrilled if Luke & Grace wanted to.  That has completely changed.  These men and woman are doing so much good in the world and God could use someone like Luke or Grace.

3.  The hard work and effort put in to organizing and planning for these missions goes mostly unnoticed.  The group of people in Ayaviri worked very, very hard to organize this event locally.  Then all the gringos swing in and get all the appreciation.  Also, Ken & Dede work so, so hard for many months to be travel agents, fundraisers, project managers, etc.  And then Jared & I swoop in and they can't stop thanking US for coming.  So to all those people, your hard work has not gone unnoticed by us.  Good job.

Several people have asked since we're back in town if we are going to go back next year.  (In addition to Bishop Kay who brought it up several times).  The truth is, I'm not sure I can.  It wasn't an easy trip.  However, if I had to go back for the first time again, I would say absolutely.  I have not doubt that was one of the best things Jared & I could have done for our marriage and for our family.  If you're considering going, I would ask you to pray about it and feel free to contact Jared or me.  There is no doubt these people need our help, and we need theirs.

Friday

Yesterday stared with mass at 7:30 at the big cathedral on the square. We showed up and they were celebrating a funeral and a baptism. As we sat down towards the back of the group of people, two things happened worth noting.

First, a very drunk man next to Jared and I and stared yelling at us. He was speaking Spanish and all we picked up was "sorry" in a sarcastic tone and "America" hatefully. Jared was whispering to me, "do I take him outside?" To which I said, "I don't think so... I'm not sure what to do." At that point, when it started getting really uncomfortable, one of the Spanish speaking dentists jumped in. He diverted the man's attention and tried to move him outside, but he wouldn't leave. Then Ricardo stepped in. Ricardo is a consecrated lay person called a Sodelate. The Sodelates are big in Peru and Archbishop invited them to Colorado which began this pretty powerful Colorado/Peru connection. Ricardo is amazing. I think everyone knows Ricardo. He sat next to the belligerent man and spoke very softly and got him to be quiet. Five minutes later he worked some kind of Catholic ninja magic and the drunk man was sleeping next to Jared and I and didn't wake up for the rest of mass.

The second thing that happened at the same time was another casket and funeral arrived. He was, quite literally, late to his own funeral. We thought of Gail Coury, Jared's mom and noted that this could actually happen.

The mission was a half day today so we expected to see about 100 patients. They started lining up at 1:00am. A about 3am, one of the volunteers, Edwin, was given the awful task of handing out 100 tickets to the 200 people in line. Walking into the clinic that morning we saw a desperation that we had not seen before. The people saw our green shirts and pulled at us, shouting at us to take them or take their kids. I felt like a celebrity, but not in a good way. The dentists and eye doctors were gone already.

I worked with the gynecologists helping patients get dressed and undressed for their exams. While the women all look plump and round, they are wearing sometimes 10 layers of clothes. They are skinny (malnourished) and pale underneath. The women weren't shy with the doctors which surprised me. Abby (my sis-in-law) saw a patient, a 17 year old, that shared she was raped at 9. Abby has a 9 year old daughter, so I know that was hard. However, in addition to the stories they heard, I would vote the OBs had the hardest jobs of the crew. Underneath the 10 layers and 50 pounds of clothes, most women had UTI's and yeast infections.... And let's just say they didn't smell like roses.

After we saw our last patients we helped pack up and inventory the pharmacy. Any medication that will expire before next year was donated to the hospital. That afternoon some of the docs did home visits and us non-medical went into the market in Ayaviri.

(We wanted to buy a few more gifts for those people that donated money for our trip. Here's the deal and what made that so difficult, no one is going to want anything from Ayaviri. We could buy something and bring it back for people, but we would rather just leave them money as a donation and head home. This is our mass apology for not having souvenirs.)

EDITED 10/23/12

In the market in Ayaviri.. yes, that's a lamb or alpaca or something.  And it's just sitting on the sidewalk.  The meat is in the booth right behind it.  And we wonder why these patients all have tummy issues.

Kelly & I in the market.

Fruit in the market.  No veggies!

That evening Jared and I and a group of about 10 went on a tour of the hospital in Ayaviri. This is a regional hospital and many patients from between Cusco and Juliaca are referred here. The poor in Peru have access to these government hospitals for free. And, you get what you pay for. This hospital visit was the most impactful part of the trip for me. It was dark and dirty, but the patients were still humans. We went with Ricardo and followed him around. He prays with these patients everyday. He handed Jared a box of baby clothes and said he could be Santa Claus. We visited the maternity and saw some brand new babies. Ricardo picked up a new baby named Jesus and asked if I wanted to hold the baby Jesus... Of course I did. Jared gave the mother a blue blanket for the baby and she was so appreciative. Like, overcome with gratitude appreciative. She called us the baby's godparents because we were the first people to visit the baby and bring gifts. It was very sweet.. We will remember that baby forever because he will be our god son. :)

Me and baby Jesus.



Jesus in his little blue blanket gift.



Inca warriors used gold to fix skull injuries 600 years ago before modern medicine.  While this is impressive, this mural depicting this in the hospital should be painted over.  Yuck.



Jared, our guide at the hospital, Justin & Suzanna (the medical director) near the ER.  



EDITED 10/23/12

In addition to a few babies, we visited some old patients in the hospital.  These 3 women where in their last moments of life.  Ricardo prayed with all of them and we prayed with them too.  At one point, he was giving them words to repeat back and he kept saying the same word over and over. I asked him the word and he said Patience.  Thank God for men like him.

That evening we had a nice farewell dinner with the group.  The nursing students that helped us all week put on several native dances which was so fun to watch.  My only advice would be to include a small talk with our group of over-privileged Americans about what it's going to be like for re-entry.

The head honcho table at the last dinner.  



The famous Ricardo and Raphael.  



Students dancing.



Alan, Jared, me, Bishop Kay, Justin & Abby (Finally!!) 

Thursday

Daily mass today was fun because it was the feast of St. Luke and we sang Amazing Grace. I miss my kids a lot. A lot a lot. I'm looking forward to seeing Luke's baseball game on Sunday. Today was a crazy, busy day.

We saw almost 500 people. I took more photos this morning and spent the rest of the day in the pharmacy. One of the two pharmacists was sick today so they needed lots of help. I like the pharmacy, but you never have any contact with the people.

I don't have a lot of stories today so I will share some of Jared's. The bishop came and did triage next to Jared for almost 3 hours today. I'm very impressed with Bishop Kay. He is kind and loving and clearly not afraid to get his hands dirty. He has the personality that inspires you. .. A leader. I can see why he has inspired this medical mission and many other resources to Ayaviri.

Jared saw a woman in triaged today with chest pains and was sweaty. He moved her to front of the line and she was seen quickly by a doctor. The doctor sent her right to the hospital. On the last patient of a very long day, Jared met an old woman not unlike the 300 he has already met. The woman gave Jared a hand knitted hat as a thank you. We will keep it a long time- but we will wash it.

Beer and pizza and some really beautifully decorated cakes for dinner tonight. Everyone is exhausted. We have a half day tomorrow and then we pack everything up. We head to Juliaca on Saturday morning. Good night.

EDITED 10/23/12

Dede and Cathy.  I wish I could have collected more pictures of the doctors and nurses, but they were really busy all week.  The OB's were so impressive.  I also have to note that I don't have any pictures of Abby.  I did take some, but they are on her camera.  Abby - send me some!

Kelly & Edgar, our mascot. 

Attention Zettlers!  Your crayons went to good use.  I've never seen kids SO EXCITED to color.  Thank you SO MUCH for cleaning out the local Walmarts of their crayons.  

The pharmacy team: Teresa, Eileen, me, Francisco, and Kelly.  We worked VERY hard this day.

Elva (the youngest member of the team at 16, and one of our favorites) and Justin doing triage.  Elva was a fantastic translator. 

The line waiting for triage.  

Bishop Kay doing triage.  Very cool.

Wednesday

Today was a great day, made better by a good nights sleep - compliments of Ambien. Also compliments of some of Dede's lavender aromatherapy. I didn't like the last sentence from last night about not knowing what I'm doing here. Jared says I'm just here to help. Dede says that I'll change the life of one person, at least, but I need to cross the line and start connecting with people - moms... working moms. She said this to me as she rubbed lavender oil on my hands and tried to help me sleep. I think this whole process is teaching me to say yes to God without the why. Just say yes.

 Daily mass again this morning. I've never spent a lot of time with nuns, and these sisters are remarkable. They really get their hands dirty to help the poor people here and they help us at the clinic. I like that they wear habits.

Today was an excellent day. Because we ended up so organized yesterday, our processes were all very efficient and today seemed very calm. I didn't have that much to do so I took a lot of pictures this morning. 

There was a particularly photogenic boy in pediatrics that i fell in love with. His name was Shaggy (according to his mom) and he was about 2. All the little boys are dressed like little men with slacks and leather shoes. Shaggy was smart and knew that if I took his picture, he could see it. So he would pose very nicely and as soon as he heard the click, he would run over to me and want to see himself. I ran into Shaggy later in the daycare while his mom was in an appointment. I took some more pictures and he did the same, posing and then running over. At one point he grabbed the camera and pointed it at me. Then he moved the strap over his head and watched me through the LED screen. I showed him how to take a picture and he was so pleased with himself. The first picture he took was of me laughing at him. We ended up walking around the whole clinic and he took pictures of many people. The Peruvian people don't really like their picture taken and they get very shy. But Shaggy broke the ice. He was a 2 year old taking amazing photos of sincere, happy faces. He would have taken photos all day, I think. I really liked him. He made me think of Luke Lindholm, our friend who was born to play the violin. This boy is born to take photos. I can't wait to upload some for you. Shaggy was my first Peruvian friend.

EDITED 10/23/12: Shaggy's photos! 

Shaggy.  Such a cutie.

Shaggy's picture of me.  One of my favorite pictures of me ever.  

Kelly, Edgar (this little boy that we all took turns holding - our little mascot), and Carl.

Shaggy's picture of Jared (and Lara in the background... I need to get and post that picture that Lara took!)

Shaggy's picture of Sean, a good friend we met and Jared's triage buddy.

The funniest picture of Sergio anyone could ever get. :)

One of the best pictures of a Peruvian woman.  Capturing them laughing is really difficult.

Cathy, an OB nurse from Swedish Hospital.  She worked very hard.

Janet, who worked in the daycare a lot.  Shaggy's picture of her. So cute! 

Final picture of Shaggy.  

My second friend was Garvin. A bus of kids with special needs arrived to be treated. Garvin has downs (which should be called ups) and he was the sweetest, nicest boy. I wooed him by taking his picture and then showing it to him. I might have also given him some lollipops. He was nervous. Adrian, a resident from Mexico, did his checkup and they both let me take pictures. While Garvin's mom was in OB, I asked if I could walk around with him and they both agreed. So Garvin and I held hands and visited almost everyone in the clinic.

It was remarkable how much power this little boy had. All the medical staff is working so hard and they are so focused. But, I would interrupt and say, "have you met my friend Garvin?" Everyone would stop what they are doing and look at Garvin and he would give him the best kind of hug... the kind you only get from someone with downs. And everyone would immediately be reminded why we are here. Garvin was powerful.

Sweet Garvin!

One of my 50 hugs from Garvin.

Garvin and Sister Jennifer in the pharmacy.  She was one of the kick ass sisters there.  I think I'm allowed to say that.

Garvin and his stuffed bear.  

Jared & Garvin.  The Peruvians seemed to notice when the men in our group took attention to children.  I don't think it's as culturally acceptable for men to participate in raising kids. 

Note to self: send stuffed animals next year. One of the people brought a suitcase full and you have to see how much the kids like them. They really snuggle them and love on them the whole day. We don't have enough. Garvin got a little beanie baby puppy and he was very happy. In the afternoon I worked in the pharmacy filling prescriptions.

About 3:15, the power in the clinic went out. About 4, it got to be too dark to work. We did a group wide prayer to ask God to fix the power. Within a few minutes, it was fixed everywhere but the pharmacy. I'm not sure what this means. Triage finishes about 2 hours before the pharmacy closes because of patient flow, so Jared was there to duck tape some flashlights to the ceiling so we could keep filling prescriptions in the dark. (Very Dwain Carlon of him).

I can't figure out how to rotate this picture, but you can see Jared's brilliant solution. :) 

Tonight we were invited to have dinner with a small group at the bishop's house. This again proves its not what you know, it's who you know. The food was delicious and the company was lovely. The bishop makes his own cheese from cows in the back pasture. Nick suggested he sell this cheese -it was delicious- to raise money and call it Holy Cow Cheese. I love this idea. The bishop shared a lot of his ideas and how he intends to help the people of Puno.

There were also several native Peruvians that explained some of the systemic issues like abuse, lack of marriage, and woman being pressured to get abortions. There are a lot of issues and I can't help but think of the Malcolm Gladwell book called Tipping Point when he describes the broken window theory. It's fascinating. Maybe by giving out vitamins and clearing up infections, we might convince someone that they are important, and that might change the culture. (If you fix the broken window, the pickpocket won't think to rob, the rapist won't think to rape, and the murder won't kill. You can prevent felonies by fixing the broken windows).

I digress.

It's after 11 and the day starts early tomorrow. Please pray for our bellies. Definitely a lot of people that aren't doing well with Peruvian water. By the way, these are only my stories. I sit at dinner and hear amazing stories about diagnosing ovarian cancer in a 32 year old mother of 3 (treatable, but we have to raise money) and seeing a father lovingly care for his toddler with a cleft palette (rare... Loving father and cleft palette). I hope to collect more of these stories to share with you. Beunos Noches (sp?)

 My cute husband.

Sean, Alan & Janet.  Eating lunch on the roof.

Filling prescriptions in the pharmacy.

Some kids eating lunch outside the clinic.

Jared doing triage.

Justin, running the show.  I have to say how impressed I was with my brother during this trip.  He's really a fish to water in these situations.  Everyone just listens when he talks and he handles situations so quickly and with such decisive action. I wish I could go back in time and find that little boy, who struggled so much in school and was teased for being small, and tell him that someday he would be this guy.  Maybe he always knew that.

Jared & I with Bishop Kay (sounds like Kai) in his kitchen.  He was just amazing.

PS- tell Luke I asked the bishop to borrow a soccer ball from the school so we can play tomorrow. He said yes, of course.