Peru!

copy of group email - no time!

jo_hits_world — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 01:45:00 GMT

This place is wow. That pretty much sums it up! hehe.

I have been here for ten days now, and we are in the mountains in a tiny little community that has a school a clinic and a shop. A very small shop... At the moment we are in the nearby town of Chota, which is probably the size of cygnet but much busier cos there are lots of peruvians here, and it is an hour from where we are staying. Mind you it is an hour in a car going 30km-h round a road that has more twists than the da vinci code and more rocks than a quarry after an earthquake...

We got up to Chota from Cajamarca last Sunday, my birthday!, on a bus that took around 7 hours, same deal with twists and bumps. Cajamarca is the size of new norfolk and is the closest airport. After a night here we went up to the blue poncho lodge, mind you we had to get permission from a police station and a clinic in another town before we could do that! The blue poncho lodge is on a mountian, like everyhting else here, and has great views of all the surrounding mountains and paddocks. there is no unkempt land here, it is all paddocks and papas (potato) fields. Cows and chickens EVERYWHERE. its actually quite like the amish communities you see on the tv, we feel like we have stepped back in time.

The lodge has a flushing toilet (which couldnt quite handle the western load we gave it) and a hot shower, which is absolute luxury. Occasionally you see a local running out of the shower and grinning at you as the guides we have here usher them through. There are bugs bugs bugs everwhere, and after you get your clothes of the line you have to bash them before you take them inside. hehe. last night we were in jess and henry´s room and there was suddenly a helicopter noise filling it. it was a giant flying beetle that had come in and was bashing into all the walls and windows. they aren´t very quick the big fellas so they are pretty easy to get rid of.

Our cook, Celia, is the cutest little woman in the world, i want to take her home! She makes us awesome food and last night we tried cuy for the first time! (Guinea pig!) she had made it for us because we kept talking about it, and made us other meals as well. she is awesome to us, breakfast each morning is porridge, fresh fruit and yoghurt and bread with jam or the vegemite we brought. (which celia likes!) and when we get home form the clinics she makes us popcorn and cuppas before dinner. awesome. she laughs at us a LOT, our spanish is hopeless and she thinks we are hilarious. which we probably are... we keep saying stupid things, like i said i had a wife instead of saying that that something was better, jess said she was going to pour hot water on henry´s sunburn instead of sayi9ng his sunburn would heat the water... the list goes on. and celia just laughs!

last night she couldnt stop laughing and we asked her if she´s been into the vino before dinner, and she said ´no, gunja!´ i almost wet myself laughing, brilliance... still not sure whether she was joking or not!!

the clinics are pretty basic and we aren´t really doing a whole lot. Bit starved for some real medicine right now, but learning more spanish each day so that is good. Looking forward to the hospital stuff, which apparently has been very full on and awesome.

The lodge is very basic and we have been sleeping a lot! I have read three books in a week and we are here for two more! I think clinics for three week s is a bit much, but we are learning a lot about the people and the culture. they are such hard workers, and all the kids are cute little playful things.

we keep getting ´gringoed´´ i know what bec meant about being a white giant now!! The kids run into the clinic and look at me, rabbiting on in spanish i dont understand. they love to have their picture taken, becuase they probably never have had that before! You have to say ´buenos dias-tardes-noches´to everyone you meet, and they often stop and ask the lovely gringas mor questions in muy rapido spanish that has a closed mouth mountain accent so we understancd nada. hehe- saying ´si´to everyhting seems to work ok. and if that fails, just randomly telling them i am a medical student from australia and i dont speak much spanish puts a bit grin on their face! I gave one couple a postcard of tassie and they thanked me about a thousand times.

there is no confidentiality here either, which is funny. the patients all just walk in on each others consults and start puttint their two bobs worth in. no one gets embarrassed baout anything though!

I´m misiing everyone and think baout home lots in the quiet night tiems, but am having a ball and learning so much about these amazing people. feel like i have been away a month i have seen so much! its only been ten days!

Love you all, more email in about a week

Love Jo

¡Es mi cumpleano!

jo_hits_world — Sun, 7 Oct 2007 21:09:00 GMT

Hola everyone!

It´s 6am in Cajamarca and I am taking this opportunity to use the internet for what may be the last time in a week or so. I don´t know where the punctuation is generally so forgive me.

We got into Lima at 3am local time, to be swept away to our hotel through this huge neverending city with lots of development. Its cleaner than I expected, and the poor stuff is interspersed with random lovely buildings. There is an orphange on the coast that just goes on and on, opposite a ´loco´ hospital. Miraflores is great! Full of beautiful architecture and market type stalls litter the streets with fresh fruit and veg and peruvian handicrafts and LOTS of sweets. Jess had a banana, which was actually a plaintain, good fun.

We went out Friday night to a Cuban Salsa club with Romy, Rob´s newfound peruvian girlfriend who had been in aus for a year. She was great, helped us a lot with spanish and gave us tips on how to tell if money is fake or not. Was the best night! Salsa baby! And sangria.... so everyone was a little under the weather sat for our flight to cajamarca...

Cajamarca is incredibleª!! Just like you imagine a latin american city to be, the houses are sorta rooms plonked on top of each other, nothing really matches. Lots of colour, lots of people. The locals here cant speak a word of english but are very interested in the turistas. Jess, Henry Jacqui and I are in a hostel off the main square, its beautiful. We go up the mountains today. WHen we had first arrived into our rooms the first sound we heard was gunshots. Crap! we thought, we are in a death zone! Nobody out in the square looked phased however, except the pigeons, and we found out later that it is a canon or fireworks to celebrate the month of the gods. phew! they are all catholic but still have traditional beliefs too.

The food here is amazing, whoever told me it was crap lied. I´ve had seafood marinated in lime and chilli (cerviche), chicken from a rottisserie )so good!) and this awesome chicken dish with mushroom and wine. It´s all served with chips, papas, but you dont need them! And so cheap! 20 soles is an expensive sort of meal and that´s about $8.

The sangria and the pisco sour is gooood too!

We have found public phones that are about 6 soles ($2) for 3 minutes international, bargain. Much cheaper than our mobiles! And pretty good lines too.

There is some sad stuff around. In Lima there are lots of beggers, especially at night, and most of them are little kids. But they aren´t begging for themselves but their druggie bosses. We only gave money to one kid who did all these awesome tricks for us, thought that was entrepaneurial (that word is way too hard to spell this early!)

The coast of lima in amazing too, big cliffs looking over the pacific ocean, its all a bit of a visual overload!

Can feel the altitude up here, heart rate a bit quicker, short of breath a bit easier. glad we are hjere for so long before the trek up the mountains in cusco!

I didnt sleep all that well last night, lots of noise outside and my stupid tooth is hurting me! But not too bad.

So it´s my birhtday today, how surreal. Managed to talk to Scott and Mum yesterday, who both sang happy birhtday too me, the time difference is also weird, Aus is 16 hours in front. wowsers. It will be a different birhtday, I´m spending 8 hours in a bus! Henry is hoping we will have a chicken on the bus... I´m not so keen!

The people here have been great, even with no spanish they are very helpful and friendly. Not so the argentinians on the way over! With the exception of the massuse we met, they are argen-arrogant. But it will be a fun city to hang in when we have a bit more spanish.

Up in the mountains here noone speaks english, so we are going to get much better quickly i thinK! There is also no laundry, so a sink and a bar of soap is the call of the day. And after friday nights salsa we definately need some washing done. Smoking is rife, and the come around with a thing like the icecream man at the football filled with cigerettes lighters and mints. hehe. all the waiter s have lighters, if you have acigerrette in your mouth its only seconds before it is lit for you. Also got a picture of a smokers bar, no drinks behind the counter, just rows of smokes!

We´ve made a point of always being in at least pairs an always having a boy with us after dusk. Last night jacqui and i separated 5 m from henry cos he stopeed to get a photo and we just went inside, and there was instant wolf whistlings and ´complments´yeslled in spanish - pretty ladies etc. It was full on! They are amazed at the whiteness of us really.

So that´s about it so far! I´m a bit worse for wear at the moment, with the tooth the jetlag the altitude sickeness and my allergy to all the car exhaust, but I´m loving it and saoking it all up! <Send me emails, I get them eventually. ANd texts on my normal number, make sure you add the +61 and drop the 0.

Love you all! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In the airport!

jo_hits_world — Thu, 4 Oct 2007 08:54:00 GMT

So we are in Sydney international airport and we've already had our first delay :) but we got a free food voucher out of it so can't complain too much!! It's all very exciting, and we are buzzing a bit! I just bought a book to read on the plane, hopefully should keep me entertained over the next 28 hours... knowing how fast I read though... Spent yesterday in Sydney in 36 degrees - the hottest october day on record apparently, us taswegians weren't dressed for it! Went to manly on the ferry, had an icecream and after one look at the crowded bach jumped back on the ferry to go swim in the hotel pool. Much fun. Had dinner in the bar and some random guy called andrew who sells steel bought our group a bottle of wine and gave Jacqui his number!!! Very funny, the wine was good, the company was not! I think he was hoping we'd pull out a prescription pad and write him up for something. :) So now just waiting, using the free internet and calming my butterflies. Love you all, looking forward to more adventures! xxx

Almost there...

jo_hits_world — Mon, 1 Oct 2007 16:23:00 GMT

Leaving home in 2 days!! Very excited, very over organised and very ready to go go go! Although am starting to realise how much I will miss home. But who can complain when I'm going to South America!! Wooohooo!

First three weeks will be scant email and blogging but ok after that I hope. All the hostels are organised, we are in for one fun trip!

Love!

Organising...

jo_hits_world — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 16:23:00 GMT

Only a little while now! Picked up my tickets the other day, which are paper unfortunately, so I have to be careful. Also worked out how I'm going to get my money over there, banks are expensive poo heads. So not worth it. Oh and got my hair cut ! :) I wish I had something exciting to tell you all but I am simply bored and wasting time until I can go home and sleep... I did find out that I won't have access to internet while I'm at the mountain clinic, so don't be surprised if you don't hear from me for a week or so at a time. We will do occassional trips to the nearest city to make contact with the outer world. Will be taking my mobile for texting only, but that probably won't work in the moutains either! However I should get your messages when I come back into range so feel free to text me. Anyway love for all, leave me comments on here!

New things

jo_hits_world — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 20:00:00 GMT

I have just found out I will be doing the mountain clinic first, and the hospital stuff in the second half of my placement. My group will be Jess, Henry, Jacqui and myself; and hopefully we will get to catch up with the others at some point during the placement as well!

Oh and I have learned a very important phrase:

Quisiera la botella de vino tinto por favor. (I would like a bottle of red wine please) :)

Love to all!

Pre-Peru

jo_hits_world — Mon, 3 Sep 2007 17:36:00 GMT

So, 4 weeks left and I am starting to think I should be packing. Calm down Jo, you may need to wear some of the clothes you'll take between now and then.

Found this randomly on the net and thought I should take advantage, so here I am! My itinerary is as follows:

Oct 3 - leave lovely hobart for sydney; spend night catching up with new family for the next ten weeks - Jess, Henry, Clare, Hannah and Rob.

Oct 4 - jump on my first ever international flight with apparently the worst airline ever (there is a reason it was so cheap...) and fly to -wait for it!...- Auckland! I can't remember how long the stopovers are for, probably long enough to visit the airport coffee shop. Then back on the plane for Buenos Aires, then finally to Lima! Spend first night in hotel in Lima.

Oct 6 - fly up to Cajamarca where we will be based for the following 6 weeks. Attempt to make my shocking spanish understood.

Oct 7 - My birthday! And Jack and Hannah join us in Cajamarca.

Either the first three or the last three weeks I will spend in the 'Blue Poncho Lodge' in the Andes doing clinics, and the other three will be in Cajamarca at the regional hospital.

Nov 18 - fly from cajamarca to Cusco (via Lima), where we will spend a day white water rafting (on class III/IV rapids...oh crap) and then do the Inca trail.

Nov 23 - back to Lima for a few days shopping and site seeing before we say goodbye to Peru.

Nov 27...ish... - into BA for 6 days shopping, relaxing, site seeing and tango! Wooohooo!

Dec 2 - leave BA and fly to Auckland, where we arrive on Dec 4. Sorry Sarah, your birthday didn't exist this year!

Dec 10 - fly back to syd.

Dec 11 - to melb for the night to catch up with everyone there then home.

So that is my trip! Hopefully I will be able to put a blog on here once a week or so to tell you all of my journey. Pass it round to anyone you think may be interested. I'll try to put a squeamish warning on anything to medical :)

Love you all!