In an unexpected turn of events, I ended up in the hospital on Thursday. On Wednesday I woke up with a stomachache, got worse over the course of the day, and came down with a fever that night. Thursday morning I went to a clinic nearby where they did some blood work. It turns out I had a pretty bad infection.

Despite what my dad thinks, this was not a ploy to get an inside look at the medical system in Peru, but I did get a little bit of a feel of what it's like for some of the patients I have worked with. Being in a foreign country where the predominant language isn't what you are most comfortable speaking is scary when you are sick. You have to put a lot of trust into the medical professionals taking care of you. It is uncomfortable and hard to accept when things are done differently from what you are used to. It's frustrating when doctors or nurses speak quickly to each other in another language and you can't follow. I had never been an inpatient in the hospital until this week, and although I wish it could have been avoided, it was a good reminder that it's no fun being in the hospital. It's so important to remember how vulnerable patients are, and that it's scary to feel like you don't have control over what's going on.

This is the view out the window of my room.

My room was HUGE! My host family joked that we should throw a party.

WOO Electrolytes! 

Today (Saturday), I am feeling a lot better and am hoping to be discharged this afternoon. The past few days have been difficult, but I have been lucky to have frequent visits from my host family, as well as daily FaceTime sessions with my parents, Sarah, and friends. 

Friday morning I couldn't sleep, and I was lucky enough to catch this sunrise over Cusco!

With luck, I'll be posting about more exciting adventures soon!

Today was my second day at the kindergarten! There are about 50 kids in the kindergarten and three teachers. It is a little bit crazy to say the least. The kids rang from 2-6 years old. I am in charge of seven of the youngest children primarily. They are all around 2  years old. There isn't much structure to the day, so it involves a lot of keeping the kids out of trouble. Today we had  a party to celebrate "El Dia de los Ninos," which was on Sunday. Basically, the party involved eating a lot of candy and dancing to a video of Alvin and the Chipmunks. The kids are absolutely adorable, but I have a hard time understanding them because them mumble and whine. One of them asked me today, "what's with your hair?"

After lunch, Abdon, my host dad, took me on a drive through Cusco! It is truly such a beautiful city. We drove to the highest point in Cusco again and took some pictures. I really can't wait to explore more.

Llamas are a very important animal here in Cusco. It is very common to see them all over the place!

I am taking two hours of Spanish lessons every afternoon at 3:30. My Spanish teacher is amazing and she speaks English too, which is obviously very helpful for explaining things. After my Spanish lesson, I walked around a little bit on my own for the first time. I have been a little worried to walk alone, but everyone keeps saying that it's safe during the day. Honestly, I feel almost safer here than I do in Boston. Sometimes people look at me a little longer than normal in the neighborhood where I am living because it isn't a very touristy area at all, and obviously I have lighter skin and hair then most of the people here. Tomorrow I am going to venture a little further to buy some things I really need!

This morning I helped Irma with the chores which was a nice way to get to know her better. We cleaned the kitchen and she showed me many things that she likes to cook with. I also sat outside in the sun on the porch while Irma did some laundry.

Around noon we went to Irma's brother house for a big lunch to celebrate one of Irma's sister's birthday. 

It was an amazing experience that I will never forget! All of Irma's family is so welcoming. Everyone cooked a big meal together, laughing and talking the whole time. They showed me how to cook potatoes a special way. In the backyard they build a sort of a brick oven out of stones. Then they start a fire in the oven. After the fire is really hot they throw in a ton of potatoes and knock the oven in on itself and bury the potatoes in earth and hot stones. About 20 minutes later, they dig out the potatoes from the hot stones and earth and they are smoky and rich!

We also had four different types of meat that was cooked on an outdoor fire. There was corn with the biggest kernels I have ever seen and cooked vegetables.

My favorite part of the day was seeing how loving the family is. There were at least 20 people at the lunch and everyone laughed together the whole time. Juan Diego, my Peruvian brother, helped his 10 year old cousin with her math homework for hours. Irma's nice sang karaoke for the whole family. Everyone poked fun at each other, but in a nice way. There was nothing fancy about the day, just great company.

Tomorrow I start volunteering at the kindergarten!

Today is my second day in Peru! So far, it has been a whirlwind. My trip was uneventful but LONG. I left Boston at 5:40pm on Thursday and arrived in Cusco at 8am on Friday here (which is 9am in Boston).  Good things: none of my luggage was lost, and I met this awesome girl from Canada who is studying to be a nurse too and will be in Cusco for 2 weeks!

 Right away I went to my host family's house via taxi where I was greeted with Cocoa Tea and bread to help me adjust to the altitude. My host family is incredibly welcoming and friendly. I met my Peruvian mother, Irma, who is the director of the kindergarten where I will be volunteering the first two weeks. My host sister is Andrea. She just finished school for journalism and speaks a little English which is very nice. 

After I had some tea and bread, I took a nap until "almuezo", the main meal of the day. I met my Peruvian father, Abdon, who is a sociologist who works with medicinal plants, and my Peruvian brother, Juan Diego, who is an engineer. Abdon kept cracking jokes at lunch that I kind of understood. Everyone is very friendly and kind to me. Irma has 12 brothers and sisters and Abdomn has 9. They have a huge family! 

Later in the afternoon I was feeling very sick from the altitude so I went to bed very early. When I woke up this morning I felt like a new person! A woman from Intej, the program who is organizing my stay in Peru, picked me up at 9:30 and we went to the Plaza de Amas.This is the central historic part of Peru. There are many shops and restaurants in the plaza, along with many more tourists! We took a bus to the highest point in Cusco! It was beautiful and amazing to be able to see the whole city!  On the way back, we stopped at a shop that makes beautiful clothing out of alpaca wool and drove by some Aztec ruins.

When I got home, Irma's brother, Carlos, made me warm soup and then I took a long nap. When I woke up, Irma invited me to see her nephew and sister in a dance performance at her nephew's school.  It was the anniversary of the school so they had a big party! The dancing was a great way to get a glimpse into the culture and the kids were adorable. After the dance, we went home and had some hot tea and talked about family. It's very cold out here and I am not prepared!

It has been a little difficult to adjust so far, but everyone has been so nice and I am excited for the days to come! I didn't realize how tiring it is to try to understand a language all the time that you don't know that well. In addition, everything here is obviously much different then back home. I am trying to embrace everything, but it takes time!

In future posts I will try to include pictures but it is a little difficult from my phone. Also, sorry about any typos, it's hard to write so much on my phone too :)