Day 21

Blog Sunday, July 14th  

 
This morning was our first real "grasse matinée!" It felt good to not wake up at 7 am for once. This afternoon, we really wanted to explore the mountains and decided to trek to a nice waterfall with our wonderful guide Aleo (poor guy, we make him go to the most random places). However, when we got to the village near the hiking trail, we could barely find a place to have lunch. The only food that we found was a bit sketchy. Stefanie found many hairs in her soup and in Charles’ soup too. And let’s say the chicken was not the best chicken we ate AND the whole plate was cold. When we finally were ready to hike, we came across a huge scary dog that wouldn't stop barking. You have to understand that the dogs in Peru are not at all like dogs in Canada. They are most probably are all infected by some kind of disease and are used to not being fed so they are more aggressive and are ready to eat anything that moves – especially white people, as Laura is convinced*. Although Charles was having fun with the dogs, we were all scared. Stefanie was even walking with rocks in her hand so she could scare the dogs if she had to. Throughout the whole hike, we had some interesting meetings. Apart from the many dogs, we came across some cows, sheep and even some huge donkeys! We also took a few pictures with random CUTIE-PIE KIDS that we encountered on the road. We all loved the trekking for the dreamlike view that we had of the mountain but we were happy to take a shower afterwards.

-Sophie and Karol

* SIDE NOTE: As we are writing this, Laura is concentrated on Subway Surf, the most exciting game that was ever created on the surface of this planet. I am reading everything out loud and when I said that the dogs liked especially white people, she shouted “IT’S TRUE” in the most serious voice ever. So, she really believes this fact, which perfectly explains her behavior around dogs.

Day 20

Blog Saturday July 13th

Today is the big day that we have been preparing for a while now! It’s the annual medical campaign… Every year, the Hogar organizes a medical campaign in different villages in need of help. It offers different services like general medicine, pediatrics, ophthalmic, dentistry, obstetrics, psychiatric, pharmacy, manicure and haircuts. We get many donations for medicine and basic necessities (food, toilet paper…etc.) to give to all the people. 

The campaign was a huge success! I’m pretty sure that the whole village was present that day. We were all assigned to different jobs: in triage, weighing every single person that came, transportation of the material, assisting the pediatricians and doing presentations about tuberculosis. We were all very busy the whole day! In the afternoon, the campaign turned into a sort of fiesta! We started playing games with the millions of kids that were there. They were very adorable but some were a bit too crazy… especially when they all wanted to take picture with us and all jump on our back at the same time! Nevertheless, we were able to get tons of cute pictures with them. We finished the day exhausted but we were glad about how the whole event turned out.

On Saturday night, we tried to find a Karaoke in Chosica (10 minutes away from the Hogar) but after going to 2 places that were completely empty… we concluded that we had to go back to the Rustica in Santa Clara (where we had gone for the 2 past weekends). Aleo (the hermano) really wanted to go back again… This time, there were no electricity problems and we had a blast dancing to latino songs and singing some crazy karaoke songs. What is really funny is that the DJ knew who were (as if we were regulars) and we, los amigos de Canada, won a pitcher of beer during the dance competition! I really don’t know why because we were dancing like chickens in the middle of the professional latinos. Seriously, being a Canadian in Peru rocks!

-Sophie

The medical campaign in the very beginning

Karol with some new friends

Important to know: all these kids (and us) are standing/sitting on a medical examination bed.

Two seconds after this picture was taken, the bed broke in the middle sending all of us tumbling to the ground.

Cute!

Melanie playing with the little kids

All the workers that day

Beautiful landscape

Week 3

Blog July 7th-13th

Well, it’s been a while, and it has come to our attention that we don’t really talk much about the work that we do at the Hogar! In fact, since we got here three weeks ago, we have settled into our routine. Most days, we are busy washing patients, changing diapers, changing catheters and dressings. We are developing some serious muscles since we always have to lift patients into wheelchairs (even if we always have to call Robin over to help), pushing them up the hill to the cafeteria and getting them into taxis! Some of our most exhausting days are spent in the pediatrics building. Even if there are only four active children, they have more energy than a bomb. At the end of the day, we clearly know which one of us was in pediatrics (they usually look like zombies). The children are: Julio (5 years old but looks a lot younger), David (5 years old), Guadalupe (7) and Milagros (12). A normal day in pediatrics consists of the usual morning workout (washing them, feeding them breakfast, washing them again) and playing with the boys outside when the girls are at school. Each of the kids has his own personality and we have to learn to adapt to them, which seems to be really challenging for some of us (IT IS HILARIOUS TO SEE THE DESPERATION IN THEIR FACES). In the pediatrics in the afternoon, the first role of the volunteer is to help the older girls with their homework. Seriously, this moment of the day makes us want to go and congratulate our parents for the effort and the ENERGY they took to make us study when we was young. Like almost all the children, they HATE doing homework and they can give us a hard time sometimes. However, once they get to it, they really know how to be efficient (with a little push in the back). Usually, when they have time, other volunteers come to help, which is SUPER useful because there are four kids to take care of. What is funny is that when they start fighting, all it takes is one word from Karol for them to get scared and stop.

When you read the blog, you tend to think we really are the perfect volunteers. However, we are young and still have our crazy moments. Usually, when we are in the pharmacy, we count very methodically the pills and NEVER make mistakes. But, the other day, Eloisa, the pharmacist, left the room. SUPER BIG MISTAKE - especially when Sophie, Karol and Robin are alone inside. Do not let your minds go too far. We only had a dance party featuring the best old songs (Las Ketchup, Lejos de Ti, blablabla). Of course, we still counted the pills perfectly.

The kids on the playground

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Wednesday, we went to Cashahuacra to give out pamphlets for Saturday’s medical campaign. The ride there was a bit scary, since it’s high in the mountains, and we were EXTREMELY close to the edge of the road. Still, the view was amazing with the all the surrounding mountains. The village is very different from Chosica, people live in very small houses with walls made of aluminum siding, and there are tons of dogs. We are all very scared of the dogs, especially Stefanie, Sophie and Laura. We would avoid the houses that had a dog guarding them… Although the village was very empty when we went, since it was early in the morning, we were glad to have a preview of the campaign. On Friday afternoon, Karol, Stefanie and Sophie went back to give the remaining of the pamphlets and start bringing some material. The village had a totally different vibe! There were kids everywhere, some playing soccer and others playing in the streets. We even decided to be adventurous and climb up to the houses higher in the hill. All the people that we talked to seemed really happy about the campaign and were thankful.

On Friday night, Felicitas and Robin, our German roommates, organized a goodbye supper with the staff of the Hogar, since they are leaving on Monday. Surprisingly, Chinese restaurants (aka Chifa) are very popular in Peru! We were glad to have different kind of food for supper.

-Sophie, Karol and Melanie

The scary ride to Cashahuacra

Supper with the Germans!

Day 14 + 15

Blog July 6th-7th

Saturday was a very odd day. Hermano Aleo brought us to Chosica to finally eat REAL ceviche. It was delicious!! 

Ceviche!

In Chosica

We shopped in Chosica for a little and afterwards we rode the bus to Santa Clara to watch a movie... it finally worked out this time (after waiting 1 hour for the tickets...yes it’s that popular. While we were waiting, Charles took the opportunity to get a haircut and Stefanie got a manicure for 15 soles! However, we unfortunately chose a terrible movie... World War Z. Sophie had her hands clenched around Laura’s arm the whole time, dug her fingers in every time something popped out (which was every 5 minutes) and nearly had 5 heart attacks. Meanwhile, Hermano Aleo managed to fall asleep (yes, it was that good) and jumped awake when any of the zombies popped out (oh yeah, it was also in 3D... what a great idea... as if we needed to see the zombies closer). 

3D!

Once the movie was over (finally) we headed to Rustica... AGAIN. We were all ready to karaoke and dance again but when we finished our meal the power went out in the whole restaurant. We waited 40 minutes for the electricity to come back. One song later, the electricity went out AGAIN! Just our luck. So we waited for our bill (which took 40 minutes to bring) and left the bar, sad we didn't get to dance (especially Aleo). We took a nice long bus ride home where almost everyone fell asleep! 

Sunday was more relaxed, but we got a lot done. Charles (the handyman) woke up earlier than us to wash the terrace floor since it was very dirty. While doing so we ate breakfast in the bright sun. We then went for some exercise. We started playing some volleyball and the student volunteers who were coming from Lima to keep the patients company joined us and we played one big game of volleyball. Team Canada vs team Lima (team Canada obviously won)! 

In the afternoon, Robin and his Peruvian friend (Edith) took us shopping in Lima. We started off going through the book market (they had EVERY type of book) including medicine books for Stefy. We then headed off to the center of Lima to the artisans. We bought plenty of nice stuff for ourselves and as souvenirs. While walking we stopped to watch 2 great spray paint artists who made paintings in 10 minutes with only spray paint. They were very talented! We were finally able to buy our first class night bus tickets (yes, we are classy like that) and we ended the evening with some nice hot beverages (hot chocolate and tea)! 

- Laura

The book market

All together!

Day 12 + 13

Blog July 4th-5th 

For Thursday and Friday, the routine continues... Although we were in love with the food at first (especially Sophie who stated at every meal that it was delicious), we are starting to get slightly fed up. Before we came here, we were used to eating vegetables and a variety of healthy condiments in each of our plates. They say you do not realize the value of what you have until you lose it. Well trust me when I say this is entirely true: WE MISS OUR VEGETABLES SOOOO MUCH. In the Hogar, we constantly eat chicken, rice and potatoes. I mean the chicken soup, the chicken empanadas, the grilled chicken, fried chicken, cooked chicken are tasty. But we are two steps away from starting to fly with our growing chicken wings! And good luck to anyone trying to lose weight, because it is IMPOSSIBLE. 

On Friday, we thought we were really lucky! The staff were talking about the famous ceviche (fish marinated in lemon and onions) all week, so we were really excited about it, since it’s a very common Peruvian dish, but when we finally got to eat it we found out it was slightly under-cooked... or considerably under-cooked! We ended our night hanging out with our German roommates on the terrace and Charles, our handyman, finally found a light bulb to put outside so we can finally see what we were eating!

-Laura and Karol

Day 11

Blog July 3rd

Yesterday, I completely forgot to tell you about something AWESOME that happened to one of the patients of the Hogar. Cristina, who suffered from a stroke a year ago and a hip fracture about 6 months ago, has been working really hard since we got he

re in order to improve her health condition. In fact, she goes to therapy three times a week and constantly walks from one end to another of the Hogar. Seriously, I have never seen anyone so determined and persevering in my life: she wakes up everyday with the same positive attitude despite the hard comments she gets sometimes. Monday, July 2nd, at 12h17, this woman was able to come down the ramp in front of the dining room all by herself. She was so happy that she asked us to take a picture with her and she called us her guardian angels, which was heartwarming and made us feel kind of important for the first time (in my case at least).

-Karol

Day 10

Blog July 2nd

Monday, July 2nd, the day we get to see the world's best soccer player (Messi, obviously) competing against Neymar, who some consider to be perfect (obviously not), live in the Lima Stadium. The title of the game proves my point: "Messi and his friends against the rest of the world". In order to get to the game on time, we left the Hogar at 4h30 in the afternoon with Aleo and Señor Mario. We got there around 6h and were instantaneously bombarded by the people selling junk food/jerseys, who saw a big opportunity in our gringo-ness. Each one of us bought a jersey: the boys bought Neymar's Brazil shirt and we girls got Messi's. We got into the stadium safely but we completely lost Señor Mario, who did not answer any of our phone calls or text messages. Since we had Aleo to guide and protect us, we assumed that Señor Mario just abandoned us and we hence abandoned him. Unfortunately, our plan to get supper before the game did not work for an unknown reason, so we filled ourselves up with expensive junk food during the two hours before the game, which started at 9h15. We are very lucky to have our dynamic and chemistry because we had so much fun together that we did not even feel the time going by! The game was exciting, especially since we were not all rooting for the same team. However, in the second half of the game, we got distracted (and TRAUMATIZED) by the little boy who peed in OUR popcorn container. OMG I WANTED TO HIT HIM, but I'm not like that so I didn't. We were able to take a picture (of the container) but it would be too nasty to put it on the blog, so let us know if you want to see it. After the game, which finished 8-5 for Messi's team, we went to eat in a St-Hubert style restaurant. We left the restaurant at 12h30 and got to the Hogar at 2h30, only to encounter the two huge Dobermans "protecting us." Those dogs scare the s**t out of us - the only way to control them is to push them with a broom, do you even imagine?! Needless to say, we slept like babies.

-Karol