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What is the average day like for me here?  My schedule of actual work is not extremely strenuous.  I have to be at the clinic La Fuente by 8 am, and we work straight through lunch until 1 or so.  Some days are longer, but most of the time we are finished with all the patients by 1.  So my usual method is to get up at 6, and either go for a run, or if I am lazy, just proceed to start the day.  A cup of coffee does well to get me started, and then it is time for a shower, and then breakfast.  Before or after breakfast, I have enough time to have my morning devotions, and then it is time to go to La Fuente.  It is always important to dress warmly, and I have learned the multiple layer trick.  I usually have t-shirt, shirt, sweater, and then coat to top it off, and that keeps me relatively warm most of the time.  You hardly ever get to go without the coat, and so my Alabama tan is long gone with arms that haven’t seen the sun in 2 months.  To get to the clinic, I have to leave by 7:40.  I walk down the hill to Avenida La Cultura, to get an appropriate bus.  When I first got here, I didn’t know all the bus lines, but by now it is second nature to get the right bus.  I have twice gotten on the wrong bus, and had to do some scrambling to get where I wanted to go.  A lot of the people in Cuzco live up on the hills, and some live quite a long way up the hills.  So usually I see people half jogging or running down the mountain to get the buses as well.  On most street corners, it is possible to buy from a sidewalk vendor a hot breakfast, but it is usually noodle soup or rice, or just a piece of bread with juice.  Also, on the corners are ladies who sell bundles of green barley plants.  This is the preferred food for the many guinea pigs that people raise for food, and so they sell large quantities every day.  I see the big trucks coming into town loaded to the gills with green barley, before it is distributed to the corners. Of course there are many students going to school, but since there are no school buses (that I have seen) the students all get on the buses too.  So there have been a few times in the morning when the buses are so crowded that you feel a bit claustrophobic.  

Upon arrival at the clinic, the first thing that we do is have a devotional by one of the staff, and then we have time for prayer requests.  Of course, it is very important to greet all the staff before you start.  The men get a good handshake, and the ladies get a Peruvian kiss, which is typical in South America.  Then, by 8:15 or so, we are ready for the first patient.  Today (Tuesday, 27th) we had an unusually high number of non-Spanish speakers.  I think I saw 4 patients in a row who needed translation.  I do know a few words in Quechua, enough to say Good Morning, how are you, but after that, I am dependent on the translator.  Of course, almost all of our patients are Quechua, it is just that some have never learned Spanish.  I do love treating the patients, and they are so grateful for anything you do for them.  The older ladies frequently call me Papa, or Papacito, which is term of respect, and they say it with such reverence.  I don’t know how I feel about being called Papa by a 85 year old lady, but that happened today….and happens most days…Health care here is with the availability of lab work and we also have access to xrays.  Although they are somewhat expensive to them, by American standards, everything is so cheap.  (I probably should get my blood work down here too?!) So we have access to diagnostic things that help with the care here.  The types of problems here are similar to the states, but often involve musculo-skeletal problems, since so many people do so much heavy labor.  Particularly when I see a lady carrying one of the heavy barley bundles up a steep incline, I often start to hurt too.  However, we do not see anyone who smokes, although there must be some here, we just don’t see it.  I guess it is a tough environment for smokers at 11,000 feet elevation.  Of course, there is no malaria, as mosquitos can’t take the cold or the dryness here.  Now, if someone has been down to the jungle, that is still a possibility.  But mostly, there are not a lot of tropical diseases.  Diabetes, like in most places in the world, is increasing, as activity levels decline, and people get a bit heavier.  But certainly, there is not much obesity, and much less of those problems than in the United States.  Blood pressure troubles here are also rare, as the altitude must be a bit protective of that problem.  Certainly, in the jungle of Peru, we saw much more of that problem than we see here…We have seen some interesting cases, including a girl with new onset leukemia.  She is currently in Lima starting chemo, so hopefully that will be able to cure her problem.

By 1 pm, I make my way home by bus, and have time for a quick lunch, and then do some studying or other work until my Spanish lesson from 3-5 pm.  I decided that there was no better time to improve my Spanish when I can learn and practice every day.  And it has helped tremendously.  My teacher, Johan, is from Arequipa, and for about 3 weeks he has been there, but we were able to still do the lessons on Facetime every day with basically the same success.  He is very good with his understanding of English, but has another job as well.  He is not dependent on just teaching gringos, although I have been blessed to have him for these months.  Supper is usually at 6:30 or 7, and then it doesn’t seem long until missionary midnight (9pm) when it is time to go to bed…

The time has flown by rapidly.  I am looking forward to going to Machu Picchu this weekend.  I will leave on Friday morning, take the train to a small town close by, and spend the night.  Then, early Saturday am, I will go to Macchu Picchu and my first order of business is to climb to the top of Wayna Picchu, the mountain in the background of all the pictures.  It is not supposed to be all that strenuous or dangerous, and then I will have the rest of the day to explore, before leaving in the afternoon to get back here by Saturday evening.  Then the following week, I will leave to go Arequipa, which is about 12 hours away by bus.  This is the location where we will meet as an MMI team to go to the Colca Canyon on September 8th.  We will be there for 2 weeks, with a medical/dental team in the wilds of Peru.  It should be interesting, but don’t expect any communication until after my return….so I will also sign off this time without photos…maybe later..!

  Well, I am back in Cuzco after a whirlwind tour of the Sacred Valley, or Valle Sagrada.  It has been a couple of strenuous days.  I finally bought my tourist ticket, which enables you to visit about 15 different sites.  It is 130 soles (about 50 dollars) but after this weekend, I think I will say it is worth it.  I didn’t go on a tour, but did my own tour. Friday evening, I spent the night in Pisac in preparation for the next day’s journey through the Sacred Valley.  The Inca’s believed that the path of the Willcamayu River (Now called Urubamba) mirrored the Milky Way in the sky, and it was lifegiving in the crops that could be produced in the valley.  It is about 500 meters lower than Cuzco, so a bit more conducive climate to crops there. 

 The Inca ruins at Pisac are up on the mountain, and to save money, and for exercise, I decided to climb up the 1300 feet or so to the top. The path was a bit steep and rocky, but it was the same path that people have traveled for time immemorial to work the fields up on the terraces, and to go to their sacred sites.  I can honestly say that I never was scared hiking the Grand Canyon, since we always had a pretty wide path, usually 4-6 feet wide.   Maybe I have gotten older, but as I kept moving up, I started getting a bit panicky, and thinking I would come to a place where I couldn’t go anymore..  At times, I was on a 2 foot or less wide path with a 1000 foot dropoff.  I started hugging the side of the mountain more than ever.  But I persevered, and finally reached the top in about an hour. I had started out early before the park actually opened, so there was no one else in sight to give moral support.  To me, it seemed like a hundred foot dropoff didn’t bother me, but the higher ones did, and that didn’t make sense, since either one would be deadly.   But really, the ruins were worth it after getting to the top!  I don’t understand the Incas.  Number 1, if you want to build a really impressive something with huge heavy stones, why pick the top of the mountain?  I suspect most of those stones came up the same path I took? Scary to think about. And then the amazing terraces.  They would build a 10-15 foot high terrace, and then on top, the field was only 15 feet wide–hardly worth the extra land, but they do that even now.    Anyway, I explored to my hearts content, and then decided that I would rather take a taxi down, and not brave the path once more, even if it was 20 soles.  However, on the way down, it only cost 2 soles–go figure.

    After a great breakfast with a talkative family back in Pisac, (coffee, and an egg sandwich–I was starved), I left for the next place with ruins, Ollantaytumbo.  That involved taking public transportation down the Sacred Valley.  The farm land along the river is very fertile, with huge mountains on both sides, sometime narrowing the valley just to a few hundred feet.  Also, great views of many snow-capped Andes peaks.  I realized that I was looking at the South side of the peaks, and they had multiple glaciers, and lots of snow, but I guess this is their winter.  At Ollantaytumbo, there were some very nice smooth, huge stones, with what appeared to be some that were never put into place, but very nicely carved.  I really enjoyed those ruins.  Then, on the opposite mountain face there were some other ruins, way up the mountain again, that my previous trouble had not taught me a lesson.  Once again, I became well acquainted with the mountainside, as I inched up as close to it as possible.  This time, there was no taxi down, so I came down as cautiously as possible, and made it all the way to the bottom safely.

  The next ruins at Chinchero were much less imposing and not as scary, so it all worked out very well.  I ate a great meal at a restaurant there, around 3 pm.  I had Lomo Saltado, which is a very popular Peruvian dish.  Peppers, beef, with french fried potatoes along with rice up underneath all of that stuff.  It sounds like it would be soggy, but actually, it is quite good.  By that time, I was ready to head home, as it was starting to get dark.. All in all, a very good day, and well worth my money, and I enjoyed the fact that there I could go at my own pace, and not be dependent on a tour group.  I have documented some of it, so I will see if I can load these pictures…

Here is the path as it started out–not to bad I admit.  It was later I had the trouble

                                                                                      One of the rocks at Ollantaytumbo, not yet fitted in. It was lovely pink granite, and they had already had some of the rocks fitted in place.  These rocks came from a quarry across the river, more than a mile away, and they were at least 300 or so feet above the town.  Notice the size of the person there, which makes you realize how big the rocks they were working with!! How in the world may you ask, and maybe more so, why?

                                                                                     Church at Chinchero–what a magnificent structure inside, ornately decorated, in a small town in Peru.  Notice the Inca walls in front of the church.

                                                                                    The town of Otallantaytumbo from the ledge high on the other side                                                                                                                                                                 Here is a detail of some of the Inca walls–notice how all the stones fit together without any mortar whatsoever  

 

This is a typical street in Chinchero, with the trough down the middle to take away rainwater.  Again, this town dates from years ago–not a recent construction

                                                                                                                                                                            Bridge that was part of the path up to the ruins to Pisac. Although creaky, it did it’s job well

 

And here is a closeup of the terraces that I had to ascend getting up to the top of Pisac.  Aren’t you glad that they didn’t tell you that you are working in the top field today.  That would have meant a climb of more than 1000 feet up to work in the morning. The picture doesn’t do justice to the steepness!

                                                                                        t                                                                                          Two examples of some of the stonework at the top of the fortress of Pisac.  They did not have those stones there.  They all had to be brought in, again put together 600 years ago with no mortar..how about that, you masons?

 

Here are some of the snow-capped Andes mountains in the background in the sacred Valley.

 

Cuzco 102

 

It is not hard to fall in love with Cuzco, the city that is the “navel of the earth” according to the Incas.  It is a mixture of 700 year old buildings mixed with developments that are forced to go ever higher up the mountains that surround the city.  It is a little like being in Europe, where things here predate anything substantial that you can find in all of North America.  Despite the diesel fumes and frequent dusty conditions, the air somehow seems purer at 11,000 feet.  Beauty abounds in the midst of trashy areas as well at times.  To my North American mind, there are some things that are hard to explain, but that is Peru.  

   For one thing, It is a city that has many dogs, and they seem to be a bit more vigilant than most dogs in Latin America.  On several occasions, I have had the occasion to have my course of action changed by a couple of dogs.  Of course, I am a bit more wary down here, since I don’t want to risk getting bit where I don’t know anything about the rabies status of an animal.  Several weeks ago, following a hike recommended by a guidebook, I encountered some dogs at a farm house.  I was probably more than 200 yards away from the house when they spotted me, and running down the hill, all the way to where I was, they convinced me in no uncertain terms that I really did not want to go on that hike anyway.  And on our street, there was an American Bulldog that looked like our dog Moses, except uglier, and most of the time, he paid absolutely no attention to me when I walked to the bus in the am, or back at night.  But on a couple of occasions, he acted like he wouldn’t mind having one of my legs to gnaw on, and once, he snapped at me.  Unfortunately for him, he was hit by a vehicle last Saturday, and the last time I saw him, a large crowd of people were gathered round, and some were crying, so I assume he didn’t make it.  Amazingly, despite nonstop traffic on Avenida La Cultura, I have seen large numbers of dogs make their way safely across and never get hit.  They are survivors, that is for sure.  And probably because there are so many dogs, there are not many cats.  I have seen only 2 in the city, and that is enough for me.  

  Also despite many numerous close calls, I have not witnessed any accident scenes other than one Sunday, a car hit a motorcyclist at an intersection close to where I was running. And I didn’t see that, but heard the crash.  I ran to the site, and found the motorcyclist without a helmet,  lying on the street with a gathering crowd around,  but  more stunned than hurt.  Many in the crowd were snapping photos, (por que?, no se!) Amazingly, there were police and nurses there in less than 90 seconds, and they had him loaded on a backboard, placed on the back of the police pickup, and hauled off to the hospital, probably within 4 minutes of the accident.  Of course, there was not time for a complete assessment, but I suppose he did okay.  But don’t try that at home.. There is a definite extra instrument with driving which is the horn.  I never knew how many different ways you could communicate with the horn.  Buses and taxis lightly tap their horn when they are passing a bus stop, to see if anyone wants them to stop, a little louder says I am stopped and would like some passengers, a little louder means that a bus is in their way, and the loudest beeps seem to be reserved for other taxis, which many times force their way in between as best they can.  I try to sit in the middle of the bus if I can, so that I am neither in the front or the back in case of an accident, but so far, so good….Of course, if it is standing room only, you don’t get many choices.  I counted 70+ people in a bus that seats less than 30, but the rest piled in somewhere.

The other day, we went out to the city of Lucre, about 30 kilometers from Cuzco.  There, we stopped at a trout farm that is owned by one of the Mennonite pastors.  They appeared to be rainbow trout.  The water is constantly running through 4 cement ponds that he had built, and he had to install water pipes from a spring about ½ mile away to bring fresh, clean water at all times to the fish.  The river water can’t be used because it will kill the fish when there is a lot of muddy water in the river. They started a restaurant as well, and they cook meals with their fresh trout.  There is only one thing on the menu, but what a treat!  Once we told them we wanted 5 plates, they took a net and went into the one pool and in no time had 5 beautiful rainbow trout, probably more than a pound a piece in a bucket.  And about 40 minutes later we were eating beautiful fried whole rainbow trout (trucha) with papas (potatoes), maize (large Peruvian corn with kernels about 5 times larger than our corn), salad, and avocado.  The best trout I have ever tasted, I think, and I have eaten a lot from the Delaware Bay over the years.  There was a missionary couple from Northern Peru, Heinrich and Runell Groenewalde (missionaries from South Africa) visiting here this week, and it was a delight to get to know them and also eat with John and Cindy Kreider, my gracious hosts here in Cuzco.

 

 

Here is typical scenery in Lucre, 30 km outside Cuzco      

 

  

                                                                 Here is Main Street in Lucre

 

       

“Going Fishing”                         

 

 

  

                                                   Ah, Success!

 

     

Outdoor restaurant, but with the chill and the wind, we ate inside                      

 

 

                                 Beautiful, freshly fried trout, with the trimmings

 

Heinrich and Runell Groenewalde, L, and John and Cindy Kreider, R

 

   This owner was getting ready to plant corn in his one field, so he had opened up the canal to drain water over his field to get it wet enough to plant.  Rains won’t come for a while, but the corn can be taken care of by the irrigation until then.  They were planning to plant 4 days later, so I guess that means that frosts are less likely now.  And indeed, it seems that temperatures are moderating slightly as the days are getting longer, here south of the equator.  Seasons come and go, but as the days lengthen here, it means less light for you Northern Hemisphere dwellers.

 

 

 

 

And here is building a house Peruvian style, the whole family, even children were helping with the project, mixing mud, etc.