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

Day 9

Blog Monday July 1

We had a wonderful weekend. First, on Saturday morning, young students came to the Hogar to entertain the old patients. A little later in the afternoon, we went to Lima because we were invited to the ordination of one of the fathers of the MSA, which is the congregation. After the mass, we went to eat at a luxurious restaurant in Lima with Robin. When we say luxurious, we mean that there was toilet paper AND fancy outdoor heaters. Plus, we had the option to take a menu in English, which we didn't (we suffered the consequences). But, we had to walk across the dark and peligroso (dangerous) streets of downtown Lima.

The next day was the opposite: calm, sunny, relaxing at the pool in Villa la Paz (one of the many realizations of the catholic congregation). In all seriousness, it is a dream retreat house, the kind we all want when we get older. We also played football with Aleo (the hermano) and mosquitos stung our entire legs.

Sunday night was AWESOME, we went out near Chosica to see a movie but ended up dancing and singing karaoke in a disco-karaokebar-restaurant. We arrived late and the sleep was good, except for Karol who had to wake up at 5 in the morning to take the cutest patient, Julio, to the hospital in Lima. Even if they could not do anything in the hospital because they were missing papers, the ride was totally worth waking up. The rest of the day was totally normal, with everyone occupied in their respective tasks.

-Karol

Villa La Paz!

With some of the patients

At the Karaoke bar!

Day 4 + 5 + 6

Blog Friday June 28

Since Wednesday, we have been working according to our schedule. A typical day constitutes of helping out (each in different department) from eight in the morning to five in the evening, with a lunch break from 1h00 to 2h30. In reality, we often finish earlier than one and we have a lot of time to socialize with the patients. Some were more reserved in the beginning but they are getting used to our presence with time, others come to us by themselves and are really interested in our lives. A lot of the guys (patients) flirt with us and one even declared his love to Laura (this beautiful white girl was traumatized and she probably still is, haha). She got so scared that she decided to tell him she had a boyfriend in Canada. I'll let you know if she tells him her pre-made sentence! 

Sometimes, we have to accompany patients to hospitals or rehabilitation centers in different cities because some services are not available in the Hogar itself. In my opinion, this is the scariest of all the jobs we can be asked to do because we are usually alone with the patient and we need to be the leaders although we know almost nothing about the country and the way it works. However, the employees at the Hogar are extremely nice and they make sure to give us written instructions as to where we have to go and what we have to do. Also, some of the patients are conscious and can help us, which makes it much easier. Other tasks are helping out in the kitchen, on the wards (nursing duty), in the pediatrics wing, in the administration, the pharmacy or in the doctor's office. Little by little, we are getting more used to the routine, to the patients and we are getting to know our German roommates, who are actually really nice. While I am writing this blog, the rest of the team is watching Monster's University in Spanish. They are soo cute sitting on the same bed side-by-side all concentrated on the computer screen. I wish you could see them! Actually, you can! Our weekend will be special so come back to see what happens!

Watching a movie!

With Julio, a pediatrics patient!

Day 3

Blog Tuesday 25th

Last day of tourism. Although it usually takes about 1h15 to get to Lima, we had to make a little detour to drop off the cutest of the pediatrics patients of the Hogar. With the traffic, it took us about 3h30 to get to the Children's hospital. Then, we headed in direction of the playa in Miraflores, the EXTREMELY rich part of Lima. Our driver, Señor Mango as Charles call him (his name is Señor MangA), taught us a little Quechua, the indigenous language of Peru. At the beach, Charles decided to get closer to the water, but he almost went swimming with the fish when a wave arrived! On the way to the restaurant, we visited the park of lovers and diverse monumentos historicos.

At the restaurant, Karol ordered the "bisteck a lo pobre", which was ENORMOUSLY HUGE (bifteck, eggs, fried bananas, rice, fried potatoes and salad). Don't ask me why it is called a POOR plate. Then, we walked for HOURS in the city (I think we passed by the same street a hundred times). We also bought tickets for Messi's soccer game on July 2nd: see you there!

After getting to the Parque de Agua, which was closed (see how lucky we are), we went back to the same street. It’s important to understand that it took us about 2 hours of walking to get to that park, so we had to go the bathroom. The only bathroom available was in a police department. The policemen, with AK-47s on their sides, guided us to the back of the detention center to the most AWFUL bathroom we have ever seen. Anyways, we managed to get it done. The way back took us about 4 hours but we sang THE WHOLE  time. Our driver was able to guess Britney Spears' song during our karaoke game! After the rocky, scary ride through the mountains, we finally got to the Hogar at 10h. To top off our unluckiness, as soon as we set foot in the Hogar, the electricity went out! Sophie decided to take a shower in the dark but all the rest of us were too bebe-lala. After our traditional discussions, we went to sleep in the dark. We woke up early in the morning to take showers but the water was FREEZING because of the lack of electricity during the night. Karol was NOT happy. Tomorrow will be our first day of real work, let's hope all goes well!

-Karol

Charles running away from the wave

 

Karol's huge plate... needless to say we didn't need to eat supper!

Day 2

Blog Monday 24th of June

If our first day was an adventure, then our first night was an expedition to the moon in a rocket! First, you guys need to understand that we are 5 girls in the same room, which happens to be as large as the inside of a Toyota Sienna. Charles, being the only alpha male and the “administrator” of the group, gets his own room, which is the same size as ours. Pure injustice. On top of that, we happen to have in our beautiful a somnambulist, a sleep talker and a first class commenter. All of these manifested their qualities the first night. After a singing contest of about 1 hour and a never-tell game for what CLEARLY seemed to be an eternity for Stefy, we went to sleep at 11 only to wake up for the first time at 1h30.  Indeed, Karol woke up randomly to see Sophie sitting on the side of her bar-less top bunk bed swinging her legs unresponsively. Before Karol even had the time to talk, Sophie JUMPED from the bed in the most floppy way ever (floppier than a worm). Fortunately, Karol used her ninja skills and caught her before she seriously injured her head on the floor. As soon as her hands touched Sophie, this last SCREAM FOR MURDER and woke up the rest of the room, except Melanie, sleeping in the bed right underneath. We went back to sleep to be awaken 2 hours later by the train which Laura described in details. We were woken up again at 4h by the train coming and scaring off Sophie, who jumped AGAIN  from the bed and continued running out of the locked room. Karol ran after her and brought her back to sleep. We later realized that Sophie was escaping from the train which was coming into the room apparently. Melanie was STILL sleeping. However, a few hours later, Melanie told Karol, still awake, an incomprehensible story in a foreign dream language. The next time we woke up is at 5h40 when the third train passed. We talked about our “peripeties” and Stefy could not stop laughing for at least 10 minutes until Melanie finally woke up to order us to sleep. The rest of the night was peaceful.

The day, however, was less unexpected. We went on a tour of the Hogar early in the morning. After the mass for Saint-John the Baptist, we left with Hermano Aleo, Mario and Senor Manga (the same driver) to visit all the realizations of the missionaries’ congregation, funded by Pere Menard. Then, we had Juanes for dinner, which is rice in chicken cooked in huge leaves. All of a sudden during the meal, Stefy starts crying extensively while turning red. After she got back feeling in her tongue, she told us that she ate three chili peppers in ONE bite without knowing. Later, we went on a tour of the catholic school and we were cat-called (cruiser) by a lovely 7 YEAR OLD student during his gym class. The whole class later posed for us and went crazy. One of the kids almost got trampled over by the other boys. Later in Lima, all the boys kept staring at Laura, with their mouth wide open drooling, which was awkward. AND SCARY. We were able to escape and went grocery shopping in Chosica. We were more excited than children in Toys’R’Us. We bought enough things to keep a family alive for at least two months. What we did not realize is that we had to carry all the yellow bags including Stefy’s pillows in a microbus (when I say micro, I mean bacteria size – seriously, it was a van) filled with at least 30 people (NOT even exaggerating). The whole way, we got stared at. Maybe it was because we were playing musical chairs? Or was it the French/English yelling? Or the clearly stressed Laura, who we would obviously leave behind? Thank God we had Aleo with us. We got home, made supper (fancy sandwiches), Melanie almost tripped by fear of being assaulted, sang, ... Well, again, the night is still young, especially with our roommates. Stay tuned to discover with us what surprises tonight holds for us!

In the bus! :) 

Day 1 :)

Blog Sunday 23rd June

This is it. Saturday, the big day, the day we leave for five weeks to Peru. What an adventurous day it was! Our first plane was scheduled to leave from Montreal at 17h45. After we boarded all together, we met with one of our classmates, Camila, who was taking the same flight as us! Such a great coincidence, what are the odds? Since we had a lot of time, we decided to go to the airport bar and watch the soccer game. We left the restaurant 20 minutes before boarding time but, as we were walking up, we hear the final call for OUR FLIGHT! WE NEVER RAN THAT FAST IN OUR LIFE (maybe Charles did haha). Fortunately, we got there on time and were able to get to Miami. There, it took us about 40 minutes to get to our gate: we had to walk from one extremity of the huge airport to the other after taking the skytrain. Luckily, we had four hours to transit so we had time to eat at caretta, which means CHÂRETTE. Despite the fact that we did not know that there was an hour difference between Miami and Peru and that the final flying hour felt like a hundred years, we finally got to Lima at around 7h10 in the morning. The administrator of the Hogar, Mario, was there to welcome us. We had breakfast all together in the airport and then took the micro-bus to the Hogar. Sincerely, this was one of the scariest rides I have ever been on. In the short hour drive, we almost killed three children, one dog, one bird, a motorcyclist and a police officer. But we made it. Fortunately, our reaction to the Hogar erased all our fears. In fact, although it is not exactly what we were expecting, we are in the process of adaptation, which should not take much long because the people here are EXTREMELY WELCOMING AND WARM. I mean, they made beautiful cards to welcome us to the Hogar. How much nicer could you be? Also, we LOVE the rooftop terrace and decided to have supper together every night to have the opportunity to share our daily experiences and bond with our housemates from Germany, Felicitas and Rubin. Monday and tuesday we will have the opportunity to visit Lima and the neighboring regions and, knowing us, it will be funny so let's keep in touch! Oh. And. BONNE SAINT JEAN! :)

- Karol Samman 

Us running for the plane :P

Hello everyone!!

This sunday 6 students will be starting an amazing life experience at Hogar San Pedro in Peru through MSAHI (McGill South America Health Initiative)!