hello!

my turn to update, it´s been a while! greetings from cusco, peru, week 3.
marc should be joining me by the end of this weekend. i look forward to reuniting with my traveling partner!

i find myself approaching the end of my public health clinic days, which i´m ready for.. i have enjoyed the opportunity but am ready for a change. the one thing i see over and over again that i grow tired of are the YOUNG, very poor pregnant girls. abortion is illegal in this country, and there is no real sex education to speak of. new and expecting mothers occupy about 70% of the patients. i realize that in america we have the same problem, but there seems to be government assistance, what little amount it is. these girls get nothing. strangely most of them are so excited. sometimes mothers with their young pregnant daughters come in for the consult and they are both giddy. i do not understand this. i think this is my biggest frustration at the clinic.


the other faces at the clinic. some so foreign and some so familiar. a homeless nine year old. a pregnant fifteen year old. an old woman carried into the clinic in a blanket by her two sons because they could not afford a wheelchair. a man with a finger almost detached. a woman yelling at her child as he crouches in a corner. women coming into pediatrics with 21 day old babies, admiring them with awe and touching them like they will break. butts. butts. butts. old men who shuffle in with their old wives, to stand by them and hold their hand during the office visit. men and women whose sandals have become part of their bodies with age, dirt, and wear. kids with rotten teeth. kids discovering that old, discarded plastic water bottles are the best new find. children with baby teeth drinking coke. four year olds being breastfed by their mothers. the list goes on. my favorite are the elderly people who look at me through milky eyes and don´t judge me but greet me or thank me warmly. i also love how the staff refer to the elderly in the affectionate terms of "momie" and "papie." i wish we had terms like that. it´s like they´ve earned them with age. i love it.
the challenging things i´ve witnessed have also been matched with positive things. it is only based on my judgement, through my eyes, that any of these are negative or positive to begin with.

this weekend i will travel to lake titicaca with my roomates. we will visit a native family on one of the islands for a homestay. i´m looking forward to it! i have no idea what to expect.

in my peruvian family house this week a member of the family was lost. gloria and pepe, with their son diego, have been my "family." pepe lost his mother this week. she died of old age, she was 86. it was both sad and interesting to witness how another culture grieves of their loss. i found it interesting that what we refer to as the "wake," or "visitation," was held in the deceased´s home. all family gathered in that home to pray, laugh, cry, tell stories, and eat food. the funeral was then similar to what we do in america.
it´s been touching to see gloria and pepe´s friends come into their home to each take their turn "running" it. witnessing this reminded me of all of you and what we would do for one another. last night for example, one of gloria´s oldest friends from high school was in our "home" to prepare our dinner, serve us, and clean up after us while gloria had the chance to sit with her friend, giggle, wear lipstick, and reminisce. i loved it. today a completely different woman was in the house, cleaning. i loved it.

well, i wind this up to head home for dinner. i will write again soon, and will have marc with me in the same room! yea!!

love to you,
jess