Un loco dia en Peru
We all woke up with a bad attitude
today. Five days into Otuzco, and three
out of four of us were ready to go home.
We have had water on and off all weekend, and the food that tasted so
good when we first came now all tastes the same (rice, potatoes, meat and some
vegetables). We have found out that the
only ATM in town is out of order—for two months---but there is someone coming
from Chile on Monday to fix it. Right,
like we believe that!! Which
Monday? In February? Otuzco is a long way from Chile, and do we
really think someone is going to come here just to fix the ATM? Our money is running low. The worst part of being here, however, is
feeling stupid all of the time because one can’t understand and communicate
well.
So off the kids went to school (less than
willing), and Mike and I to the hospital.
Did I mention that I have a great case of impetigo right on the end of
my nose? At the beginning of the day, I
was thinking I should totally get out of work for who knows how many days. I started myself on antibiotics on Saturday,
so I am probably not contagious, so I didn’t say anything.
The hospital was a happening place
today. My little yellow baby from last
week was not there, and, Whew!—I found out she had gone home versus the other
way of leaving the hospital. Doctora Kony was there today, which translated
into a lot more that we got to do.
Doctora Kony is the Vive Peru contact here in Otuzco, and she is super
friendly and nice. Minutes after finding
her on the medical/surgical floor found me debriding a burn with a scapel held
in forceps. She showed me how, including
giving local anesthetic prior to debridement (another Whew!). I have never done such a thing before, but
she was right beside me, and next time I am sure I will be better at it.
About 10am we had an 11 year old girl come
into the emergency room. Yesterday, when
playing with a friend, she fell and hit the back of her head on a wall. She was alert, but couldn’t walk
straight. Dr. Kony decided to transfer
her to Trujillo to the general hospital there for a trauma consult. Her aunt was with her, and asked me if I was
going in the ambulance. Light bulb! Ride to Trujillo=ATM=money for the school
uniforms that will be done tomorrow, and the Spanish lessons arranged for the
week. So I asked Dr. Kony if I could go
with and friendly “yes”. She is really a
breath of fresh air for a bummer attitude.
Our sweet 11 year old, who I will call
Maria, got an IV with several medications in it, including one I recognized as
an anti-nausea medication. Good
thing. I climbed into the back of the
ambulance with Maria, her aunt and cousin, and directions from the nurse that
the IV needed to run at 25 drops a minute.
Maria was really scared. Her aunt
told her to close her eyes. I was
worried about carrying on a conversation with these two all the way to
Trujillo.
I don’t know if I have said too much about
Otuzco. It is 8400 miles above sea
level. Truijillo is at sea level. The distance from the sugar cane covered flatlands
outside of Trujillo to Otuzco is about 18 miles, so we descend or climb about
7600 feet in 18 miles. Think the “S”
curve in Big Cottonwood Canyon, times 30!!
It is a two lane road besides, and was just paved 10 years ago (thank
goodness for that!!).
So as I was counting drops in the IV as we
started down the hill, the nausea started in.
I looked back, and in addition to Maria, her aunt and cousin also had
their eyes closed. Thinking of the two
times I vomited out the window the last time I crossed the Andes in a bus, I
decided that the drops were pretty close to what they should be, and I decided
to close my eyes too. I kept them closed
all the way out of the mountains, opening them only a few times to check Maria,
and to see her aunt and cousin vomiting into bags that they had brought. I didn’ t have a bag, so I was very thankful
that closing my eyes averted the vomiting.
The traffic in Trujillo seemed to last
forever, and we finally reached the hospital.
We took Maria to the emergency room.
I asked the ambulance driver if he was going to take me back to Otuzco
(at least that is what I was trying to ask him), and he told me to go inside
with the technician, and drove off.
“Great”, I thought to myself.
Here I am at a hospital in Trujillo, with no idea where it is, and where
to get a bus to go back to Otuzco, and very bad Spanish to communicate all of
it with.
The technica (I’ll call her Luci) at
Maria’s bedside seemed nice. Not much
was happening when we first got there, but in there were probably 8 people
there, so compared to the US it was about the same as far as waiting. A doctor came by to ask Maria’s story. I told him I was a volunteer and fortunately
Luci came up quickly and told the story.
After, Luci indicated to me to come with her. It was at that moment I found that Luci was a
technician from OTUZCO and that she had ridden in the front of the ambulance
there and that we would be going back together and that I didn’t have to find
my own way back. I was filled relief,
and almost hugged Luci. Sure enough, the
ambulance was parked a little ways away.
Maria burst into tears when we went to
leave. It must have been terrifying for
her to be there in that emergency room, with all of the other people waiting on
stretchers for evaluation. We waited
until her aunt and cousin got back and then left.
A truck was on its way from Otuzco with
another emergency patient, so we waited until they got there to head out. I had time to go to the ATM to get money, and
to get a Diet Coke (not available in Otuzco).
I rode back in the truck to Otuzco..
The driver is 23, and drives the ambulance, which should explain our
ride. I saw the sign in Spanish which
said “No passing”, but I must have been wrong, because it seemed that every
time we saw it we passed someone, double line or not. I was really happy to see Otuzco after our
wild ride up the mountain, and very happy that I did not throw up again,
because I still didn’t have a bag.
The kids were in better spirits when I got
home. Ruth got her first love letter (in
Spanish) from a classmate. She came to
Peru prepared for this scenario, bringing the picture of Nick Jensen that Eric
and Brenda sent with his Senior class announcements (Thanks, Eric, Brenda,
& Nick!!). She showed Nick’s picture
to her classmates, leaving out the fact that he is really her cousin. The poor boyfriend wannabe dejectedly took
back his love letter, and Ruth did not have the heart to tell him she really did
want to have it to compare with her sister’s letters. Ruth said that she would LOVE to actually
have Nick here, because he is so tall and buff it really would have intimidated
the mostly small Peruvian boys.
Sam said his day was “normal”, which
translates that the girls that are enamored with him tried to help him with
Spanish. The school uniforms will be
done tomorrow. We all have a lesson on hygiene
to teach to a 6th grade on Wednesday. It IS difficult to not understand or speak
well, but we only have 5 weeks left here in Otuzco, and we should take time to
enjoy it!
