Nazca, Huachina, Paracas

It’s been so long since I blogged, I couldn’t stop at one. After our last week of clinic, we had a free weekend before THE Inca trail. We definitely made the most of it. We traveled to Nazca, Huachina in Pisco, and the Paracas islands on the Peruvian coast. Peru just continues to outdo itself. Jungle, mountains, beach, and sand dunes!?

As usual, the Peruvian bus rides continue to supply me with interesting stories. It was a 12 hour bus ride to Nazca. We took overnight route hoping to sleep through most of the way. The bus ride wasn’t terrible but, we were very close to the bathroom and that is NEVER good. First of all, the smell is awful. I was woken up at least 5 times by people trying to get in there. AND at like 3 a.m, I got to witness someone throwing up for about 25 minutes. Ohhh the joy. To make matters worse, about an hour later I decided I needed to use the bathroom. So, of course I’m trying to hold my breath while using the bathroom and it’s dark. Naturally, I decide to use the bathroom while we are driving around the sides of mountains, making very sharp turns. I’m not sure how my aim was but, I definitely hit my head three times. #imdonewithbuses

We arrived in Nazca the next day and set up a flight to view the famous Nazca lines. Nazca is set in the palmpa which receives a max of 30 minutes of rain a year. It’s very similar to a desert with very little wind. So the lines that the natives drew in the desert 600 years ago are still visible. They made the shapes of hummingbirds, dogs, monkeys, condors, trees, flowers, and lizards. They still aren’t exactly sure what they were made for. Yet, it was believed that they marched around these lines in a procession to honor the gods. It was pretty cool that they have lasted this long though. Besides, the Nazca lines there weren’t many things to do in Nazca. So, the next day we headed to Ica.

We honestly had no idea what to expect of Ica. We just knew we were getting closer and closer to the coast, our ultimate goal. Surprisingly, Ica was full of legit deserts. Its home to the famous oasis in the middle of the desert called Huachina. It’s on the Peruvian 50 sol bill. We stayed at a hostel right next to it. We booked a sand dune tour with our hostel. It. Was. Freaking. Awesome. It was, by far, the most fun thing we have done in Peru. Our drivers name was Jesus but, he drove like a bat out of hell. I think that’s why it was so fun. It’s the Peruvian’s version of a roller coaster. We also got to sand board down these huge sand dunes. We went down on our stomachs head first on snowboards. The dunes were at least 200-400 feet tall. I highly recommend trying it. Ica was full of excitement. It was a modern city with lots of money. The next day we went on a tour of Tacama winery. It is the oldest winery in the Americas. We tried four different red wines, three different white wines and four different piscos. Directly after Tacama, we visited a family owned winery that focused mainly on pisco. Oh btdub Pisco is liquor made from grapes that tastes a lot like Tequila and its VERY popular in Peru. The family owned bodega, Catador, let us try their brand of pisco sour. Their pisco was made with lemons so all they have to add is sugar to make a pisco sour. It was much better than any other pisco sour I’ve tried. They also had special products like luna de miel; which translates to honey moon. The owner told us ALL about it. He was quite entertaining to listen to. He called it liquid Viagra. Actually, this guy use to sell Corvettes in San Francisco. He was an outstanding salesman. So the whole group caved and bought a bottle.

After a day and half in Ica we headed to the Peruvian coast, a town called Pisco. You would think they would be famous for…….Pisco but, they are actually known for the Paracas Islands. Pisco was hit by a large earthquake in 2007; they lost a lot of landmarks and they are still in the rebuilding process. The Paracas Islands are ten minutes off the coast by boat; they are often compared to the Galapagos Islands. The next day, we took an early morning boat ride around the islands because humans aren’t allowed to step foot on the islands. Our tour was no doubt a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s movie Birds. I spent most of my time dodging bombs from above. However, I did get see quite a few animals. I had never seen a sea lion or booby in person before. The bird people. The bird. I took lots of pictures of boobies. Ok, Ok, I’m done. Sorry, I couldn’t resist. After the tour, we ate traditional Peruvian dish called ceviche. They cut up the fish into small pieces and cook it with citrus juice. Being on the coast, the fresh fish was especially first-class.

I’m guess I’m pretty easily impressed but, I love Peru. They seriously have every geographic attraction possible; sand dunes, beach, mountains, grasslands, palmpa, jungle, and even a volcano. I’m not sure how they fit in all in such a small country.

Off to the Inca Trail,

Bryant

Clinica

I’m back! Sorry forever to write my blog. I’ve been fitting everything I can into my last few weeks in Peru. Let’s get to it. My last week in clinic was pretty similar to my first few weeks. I hung out with Pamela for day. Nothing too serious went down but, we did have a patient come in with a kidney infection. I love how the doctor’s deal with the resources they have here. She used a very modern kidney test. She punched his lower back to see if it hurt. Impressive, I know. The day I spent with Pamela we had very few patients. So, we got to spend about an hour just talking to each other in Spanish. For the first time, I noticed how much my Spanish speaking had improved. I still can’t speak it well but, I’m not gonna lie, I was pretty pumped. She told me about all the best restaurants in Cusco. She was my fave.

The next day I worked in Topico. This is the clinics version of the emergency room. It’s really basic. Only one nurse works in there. I got to see her re-bandage one guy’s stitches. The afternoon before, he came in with 4 open cuts from a knife fight. I was SO mad I missed it. Supposedly, there was blood everywhere. He had cuts on his arms, head, and side. They said he looked like he could was on drugs and, they were legitimately afraid he was about to start swinging at them. He was a pretty shady looking character. The only thing he had to pay for were the five stitches because it’s a free clinic. Well, he couldn’t even afford that. He decided that the new lingerie that he had for his girlfriend would be payment enough. You can’t make this stuff up. So, the next day we met the girlfriend and they told him thanks, but no thanks on the underwear.

I also got to talking with the nurse in the emergency room that day because it was slow. She has two kids and no husband to support them; a problem far too common here. Our housekeeper is also in the same situation. The husbands usually just up and leave. Not cool. I was very impressed with this nurse though. She had no education and used to clean up Machu Picchu after tourist for five dollars a day. She was trying to support her kids on this. Impossible. She decided to go to school and become a nurse. It had to be extremely tough on her but; it does show that Peruvians are capable of upward mobility.

My last few days in the clinic were spent with the babies in the clinic. They come in for their usual checkups and shots. I was able to do all the tests for the babies. It’s all fun and games until someone gets peed on. Yeah, it’s not what you want. I would test their hearts, flexibility, and breathing. We had babies from three days old to three years old. It wasn’t my favorite; I’m not a big fan of crying and smelly diapers. However, I guess one plus of the baby department is that you can let one rip and blame it on the babies.

Overall, my experience in the clinic was awesome. I found the difference in our two culture’s healthcare really interesting. Hopefully, it will help in the future!

Hasta tiempo proximo,

Bryant