Blogs from Ayacucho, Peru, South America - page 6

Voor de verandering een vroege update, want ik zit nu in een lekker grote stad. Na zes maanden, was het maandag eindelijk tijd om Cusco te verlaten. De meeste van mijn vrienden waren al weg, maar ik heb de laatsten nog kunnen zien en nog een bezoekje aan mijn gastgezin kunnen maken. Maandag zelf ben ik nog wat wezen eten met mijn nieuwste huisgenoot Carlos voor zijn verjaardag. Hij werkt als reisleider, dus ik had hem nauwelijks gezien, maar het bleek een ontzettend aardige gast te zijn. s´avonds moest ik dus met de nachtbus naar Nasca. Ik wist dat het een van de langste ritten zou zijn en ik wou een beetje comfortabel zijn, dus heb ik bij Cruz del Sur, de ´sjiekste´ en duurste van alle maatschappijen geboekt. Wat een desillusie. Ik was zo onder ... read more

This week, i have no narrative line or really extensive discription of a trip to provide a framework for my blog. so, i´ll give some of the high points. hope you enjoy. Work last week was really good. The vaccination campaign will last until the end of June, so i´ll be a part of the whole thing. very cool. work has been fun and interesting, but it has certainly had its low points. i know i promised high points, but what are the high points without the low points? the language barrier is becoming more real for me. its an important lesson to continually re-learn that sometimes, no matter how much you want to, you can´t do something right away. for me right now, that´s expressing myself and understanding others completely. i know it takes times, ... read more

so i remember telling people that working 4.5 hours a day was not much. um, its more than it would seem. work has been great, though. i am working in a small clinic, containing an exam room for the doctor, a nurse´s examination room for children, an emergency room, a pharmacy, a laboratory, a dentist room, and an obstetric unit. everything i just listed should be understood to be in "air quotes." the clinic is so small and every room is smaller than most dorm rooms in a student´s worst nightmare. but, despite the size, there is a steady stream of patients from 745 to 1215. the first day, i got my bearing, observing the nurses and the ONE doctor. it was slightly boring but, nevertheless, tiring. the second day, i got to work in obstetrics. ... read more

Hey, everyone! This is the first of many entries to be made here. My goal is that I'll write a little bit about what's going on in my time in Peru every week, and I hope some of you will email me and stay in touch. I'll likely only check a computer once or twice a week, but I would love to hear from you. Thanks for checking it out. This week, I'm packing and mentally preparing for this 10 week trip that always seemed like such a far-off thing. Now it's in a few days! Speaking of packing, the airline I will fly from Lima to Ayacucho allows you to carry a 33-lb bag, and an 11-lb carry-on. Returning to Lima, I can only take 22-lbs and 11-lbs! Odd, I know! And 22 pounds is ... read more

This trip took place way back in December 10, 2007. Veerle, another Belgian volunteer, and I took a day trip to the town of Huanta, an hour away from Ayacucho. From Huanta we took a taxi to the village of Luricocha to see the Luricocha canyon. We spent the afternoon walking around Huanta, a very modest town with a lot of vegetable production. Best known for its palta production, Huanta’s avocadoes go all the way to Lima. Unlike hilly Ayacucho, Huanta has a lot of plains where palta grows well. As previously mentioned, I am absolutely in love with palta. Huanta’s Plaza de Armas was a very nice place to have an helado as we saw a traditional mamita also eating an helado, very cute. * Spanish Word of the Day: helado = ice-cream ... read more