Sick in Cusco

Here is a poem about what has been going on with me in Cusco.

Anna better put on another coat,

Cuz she’s got strep throat.

Not only does she have to fight this,

But also tonsillitis.

But wait there’s more

Because before

She first went to the doctor

Her eyes were sore

Anna heaved a heavy sigh

Cuz somewhere somehow she contracted pink eye

Okay is how she feels

As she lies in bed and heals        

 

YUP YUP YUP My throat is trying to kill me.  After having a cold for perhaps over a month or two, my body has decided to revolt in the form of more illnesses!!  Yippee!

I have been to the same clinic twice now in 4 days. 

 

The first visit occurred mainly because I obviously had pink eye.  For two days, the whites of eyes had been pinky-red and that morning when I woke up, they were glued shut with pretty little crusties.  I was taken to the clinic by Elizabeth, who is one of my supervisors for the teaching project.  I told her about my eyes and about my cold and everything else that is wrong with me.  She advised me to tell the doctor everything, but I only wanted to be treated for my eyes.  Alas, I ended up obeying and telling the doctor about the cold that had been going on for quite some time in addition to explaining my eyes.  He prescribed me something for my throat (which hadn’t been bothering me that much) and for my stomach (which hadn’t been bothering me that much) and for eyes (the real problem).  He looked at my throat and asked me a ton of questions in Spanish and finally examined me while I laid down chillaxing on one of those doctor table bed things with the paper on it. 

 Hyperbaric Chamber!

 Table with medical things!

 

Me in a classy outfit about to be examined by a Peruvian doctor man.

I thought it was all a bit excessive, as I can handle a lingering cold.  I just wanted my eyes to no longer be contaminated by feces.  I paid and left with Elizabeth to find a cheaper pharmacy (there is one at the clinic but the prices are a bit steep). 

DETOUR-  Patrick, a fellow global glapper, arrived in Cusco that morning or the night before. I forgot.  Anyway, Elizabeth needed to pay a visit to him to explain how he would fit into the teaching project since it had already started (sidenote- Patrick arrived so late because he got very sick in South Africa.  What the doctors originally thought was tuberculosis turned out to be a nasty staph infection in his neck.  He is better now and has a fun scar on his neck from a drainage surgery.  TMI? I hope so. C:<  )  We were at Patrick’s house for probably 20 minutes and then moved on.  Patrick joined us on the rest of our errands.  In addition to picking up my medicine from a pharmacy, I needed to go to Western Union to pick up some money that my Mom had wired me (this is how I get my money as my debit card mysteriously disappeared—it was either misplaced or stolen, but I cancelled it before any damage was done).  To get money from Western Union, you need your passport, which I had not brought because I thought it was just going to be a normal day of class and lesson prep.  Instead, the day held a medical adventure, a reunion with my buddy Patrick, a trip to my house, a trip to Western Union, a trip to a pharmacy, and finally lesson prep.  Dang.  Busy morning that was. When we stopped by my house, Elizabeth and Patrick went inside and met up with my family.  It turns out Elizabeth’s husband is great friends with Ayul (my host dad).  So they had a mini reunion while I introduced Patrick.  My host family brought us juice and water and we chatted for a couple minutes.  Then, it was time to get back to business.

With my passport in its pouch around my neck, we walked up Avenida del Sol all the way to Plaza de Armas (about a 20 minute walk). The Western Union I go to is located in the plaza across from the fountain, opposite one of the churches.  I picked up my money and then the three of us walked to the Inka Farma, which is on Avenida del Sol, one block away from Plaza de Armas.  There I purchased my medication (a thing of eye drops and two different types of pills) and Q-Tips!  Woohoo!  Patrick bought soap! Wow! Fascinating!  Elizabeth then went with Patrick back to his house and I walked back home packing cash, medication, AND Q-Tips. 

Blah blah blah normal day of lesson prep. 

Here is where things get interesting.  The medication made me so much worse!  I felt dizzy, shaky, and weak, and my throat began to hurt.  My eyes, on the other hand, were pretty much as good as new after a couple days.  After a few days of taking the medication the doctored prescribed to me for my throat and stomach, that I didn’t really need, I stopped.  It was ridiculous.  I knew it was a bad idea from the start, and that I should have only taken the prescription for my eyes.  It would have saved me money and a lot of trouble.

Days pass in which I take my prescribed pills and eye drops, and then I plummet.  Barely able to put on pants, unable to swallow with ease, I will myself upstairs to my host family.  This was last night.  It had been rough for a couple days, but last night it got really bad.  I waited for them to come home and when they arrived, I forced down what little food and water I could bare to swallow.  I choked down some ibuprofen and then went back downstairs to my room.  Sleeping is not easy.  Today I woke up and the dizziness had subsided, but my throat was still in bad shape.  So my host family helped me find someone from Projects Abroad to take me to the clinic.  I would have called Hugo, but it’s his birthday!  I didn’t want to bother him.  After a few hours, Jessica, a Projects Abroad Peruvian arrived at the apartment complex with her daughter to take me to the clinic. Again.

I went into a different room this time.  This one was about the same size as the first one, but seemed to have more medical equipment.  There was no hyperbaric chamber, but there were two places for patients to recline, a suction machine (scary), and a lot more stuff I couldn’t identify.  Also, cabinets filled with medical thingies.  The room from the first visit was barren in comparison. 

 

Today, my visit was pretty pleasant.  The doctor was a nice lady who was accompanied by two other nice ladies, who I can safely assume are nurses.  The doctor reached for the tongue compressor.  I HATE THOSE THINGS.  So in my Spanish, I asked her if we could just try it without the compressor. I opened my mouth as wide as I could and stuck my tongue out. She took one look in there and said “WOW VENGA” (pretty much translating to “holy sh*t come look at this sh*t”).  Yup.  That was a tad worrying.  Then she explained that my throat was really red and inflamed.  I asked her what I had and we tried to bridge the language gap and we finally got on the same page.  I have tonsillitis and strep throat.  We think.  In the states, they would have taken a culture of my tonsils and waited for the results or something, but here it is perhaps more practical in that you get treated quickly and efficiently.  Then again, I did get screwed over in my first visit to the clinic.  Anyway, we talked about how I would get treated.  She could see how much pain I was in every time I swallowed, so she wanted to give me a penicillin shot. 

Where, Anna? Where was the shot?

IN THE TOCKS.  IN THE BUTTOCKS.  ZE TOCKSSSSSS

Yup. I went over to this table, laid on my belly, and allowed one of the ladies (I don’t even know which one) to stick a needle in the meat of my caboose.  It took like 20 seconds. Pretty great!  I take it back.  It was not pretty great.  It was pretty uncomfortable.  Pretty uncomfortable!

The main doctor woman wrote down my prescriptions (one for ibuprofen and another for an antibiotic) and we took this fantastic picture. 

 

I said bye and went to pay.  Next it was time again to find a cheaper pharmacy than the one in the clinic.  We walked down Avenida de la Cultura and found the pharmacy where I paid like 3 dollars for my medicine.  The medicine from the first visit at the clinic was around 30 dollars I think.  And it only made things worse.  Then we ventured (me, Jessica, and her 2 year old daughter) to a market because I needed to buy snacks for my room.  First market was a disappointment, but the second was fruitful! And merry!  I bought 3 boxes of cereal (because granola bars aren’t a thing here), 12 juice boxes, tissues, and 2 liters of water.  Finally it was time to go hooome.  I said by to Jessica and her little girl and took a taxi to my apartment.  YAY.  Home.  That’s where I am right now. 

My butt is sore.  It feels like a UFC fighter jabbed my left bum cheek.  Maybe that’s what penicillin does.  Who knows?  Oh wait.  Everybody knows that that’s not how it works.  Awkward.

 

Anyway.  My throat still hurts a lot, but I am passing the time resting in bed, writing songs, and writing this blog post.  Oh!  And I’m drinking lukewarm tea.  That is pleasant.

Okay.  Until next time.  I miss you all.

 

To close, here is a picture of me with a pig.  We became acquainted as I was walking home from lesson prep.  A cab driver saw me taking the selfie with the pig and I told him I just wanted a picture with my boyfriend.  Okay bye for reals.

 

 

So Much Peru

Teaching

Well, I guess I should begin with what has been demanding the majority of my attention and energy:  teaching.  I am officially halfway done with the teaching project as the program is only 6 weeks long and I have just concluded my third week.  Time flew by so quickly!  I have been working so hard to provide my class the best foundation in English they can possibly get.  As I speak Spanish, I was given a class of thirty filled with people who have a basic or below basic level of English.  My students are actually teachers.  The program is geared towards educators who seek to learn English to better their practice and to be able to share their ideas on an international scale.  I would say the age range of my class is from about 25-65.  It’s never too late to learn a new language! 

Initially, I thought I would want to teach alone.  I thrive as an individual and would not have to worry about the balance of leadership between a partner and myself.  Also, I would not get screwed over by being given all the work.  Sure I would be happy to do it all, but not while my “co-teacher” would be slacking off.  Anyway, each of us was given a partner to teach with, but there was a flaw in the way this was set up.  The coordinators thought it would be a good idea to pair up the people who know absolutely no Spanish with the people like me who can write, understand, and communicate in Spanish.  Well, this system is nice in theory as the person who doesn’t speak it can be translated by the speaker, and can begin to learn a bit of the language, but it reality, the Spanish speaker ends up doing all the work.  The basic classes cannot ask questions in English, so the Spanish speaker is left doing all the work.  Whenever the person who can’t speak Spanish tries to communicate with the students, they have to speak very slowly and use very simple words and it makes me think that the students feel as if they are children.  It just didn’t work.  So after the first 2 weeks with one partner, a few people were switched around and I was given a partner that had at least a little Spanish.  Still, I have to do the majority of the lecturing because explaining grammar points in English to them would be entirely useless.  But things like vocabulary, games, and review work for my partner so I do get some time to relax during class.  Both of my partners are awesome and are my good global gap friends and it has been a pleasure working with them both.

My students are stars.  They all want to learn, so it is never a struggle to get their attention.  They take copious notes and ask questions and are so keen to understand.  I try to keep the class fun and exciting, so I’ll crack jokes or dance around while lecturing or whatever else to keep them entertained and engaged.  So, if I do say so myself, the class really likes me!  Each day a different student will ask to take a picture with me, or ask for my facebook name, or will give me a snack!  One day early on in the program, I gave the class a worksheet with some songs in English written on the back and brought my ukulele.  I played the songs for them and we all sang together and they absolutely loved it.  Now it has become routine for me to play them a song at the end of class as our plenary review.  We even wrote a song together and sing that one everyday =)  Here are some pictures of my class and me.

If anybody is wondering about the structure of our class and the order in which we have been teaching, read this paragraph.  If not, go ahead and skip this stuff.  Each day we begin with Spanglish Ball, which is where we throw a ball to the students and when they catch it, they have to say a sentence in English that fits the criteria we give them and then they translate it to Spanish.  Next, we usually teach them new vocabulary and then play some games with the new words.  They always seem to enjoy competition.  Next we will move on to our main concept, which is always a verb tense.  Week one was present simple.  Week two was past simple.  And finally week 3 was present and past continuous.  Throughout the days we also add smaller grammar points to their repertoire such as this/that/these/those, possessive adjectives and pronouns, prepositions, plurals, articles, many/much/a lot of, and so much more.  We also review everyday.  We have covered a lot of material in the past three weeks, and hope that we give them the tools needed to retain all the information we have thrown at them.  We play games, do worksheets, and take tests to go over topics we have already gone over.  Like I said earlier, we always wrap up the day with some music.  Days when we run out of time, they still request to stay late and listen to some music.  It is so sweet.  An activity we do with the music that they tell me helps a lot is when I give them a schematic of a song with blanks in the lyrics and they have to fill them in as I sing.  They also enjoying singing along with me as it helps with their pronunciation.  Every time I introduce a new song, I translate the lyrics to Spanish so they can mark down any new vocabulary or take note of a new verb tense.  I want them to understand the meaning in all of the songs and see how the mess of words in a song can convey a beautiful message.  Oh!  And another thing!  Our classroom is plastered in labels!  From the whiteboard to the mountains outside our windows, we have tagged the classroom to pieces.  Also, every time we introduce new vocabulary, we put a poster up above the whiteboard with all of the new words on it.  Now that the third week is over, we have quite a few posters.  Some of the vocabulary subjects we have taught are places, prepositions, school supplies, parts of the body, illnesses, greetings, family, jobs, emotions, weather, food, drink, clothes, and more.  IT’S SO MUCH. I DON’T KNOW HOW THEY DO IT!  Like I said, my class is incredible.

Teaching has been an absolute joy.  It is so fulfilling to be able to see the progress of your students and know that they care about you.  I adore this project and appreciate the fact that I am appreciated.  When I am sick, my class brings me snacks, tells me to rest, and offers me their coats.  When I am bubbly and energetic, they laugh and support me.  When they ask me about my life back in California or the rest of my trip, I answer them honestly and they give me their attention and friendship.  I have such a wonderful bond with my students and I am so sad to think that in just 3 weeks I won’t be seeing them regularly.  Good times.  Good times.

 

Life at my House

My host family and I have gotten really close.  I realized Dede’s name is actually Derek with a very strong Peruvian accent, so that is hilarious.  He is hilarious in general.  He is obsessed with skeleton toys, so naturally when he had a plastic container shaped like a man, he filled it with water and apple slices and froze it.  The next day he took it from the fridge and began licking it like a popsicle.  I have nothing more to say about that except here is a picture of him beaming with pride holding the man. 

 

Luciana is very sweet, but keeps falling down and hurting herself.  She is a bit of a tomboy like I was.  Still, like me, she enjoys painting her nails, and I have even painted her nails for her. 

 

Nimia and Ayul are great parents.  They truly love their children and know when it’s best to discipline them or cuddle them.  They are a good team.  The house is usually busy as at any given moment they are hosting at least 3 foreigners.  Nimia has hired a helper named Vanessa to help around the house and with food.  She is super nice.  I live downstairs in a separate apartment with a Costa Rican who is my age called Mariana.  Upstairs is the family and a Brazilian woman called Maria.  Mariana and I come up for meals and to hang out with the kids whenever we want to.  We have keys, so the upstairs is always open for us which is nice.  Here are some photos of the upstairs apartment.

 

 

 

Mercado San Pedro

I have frequented El Mercado San Pedro (The Market Saint Peter) 3 times now for food and juice.  This market is indoors, up the street from the main square (Plaza de Armas).  There you can find souvenirs, clothes, jewelry, traditional Peruvian food, and traditional Peruvian ingredients.  I have had the same meal at the market each time I have gone there.  4 Soles ($1.33) for soup, lomo saltado (tenderloin), rice, salad, fries, and a drink.  It is very good considering how cheap it is.  Below are some pictures of the market.

 

Pisaq Ruins

I went to Pisaq with some Canadians and saw some pretty cool ruins.

 

Plaza de Armas

I often go to the main square, which is a 25 minute walk from my house to write songs and play music.  I don’t do it for money, I do it for myself and to meet new people.  Peruvians and tourists alike will come up to me for a listen and will make conversation.  It is very fun.  The plaza has many restaurants, bars, shops, travel agencies, and even a club.  There are two massive churches in the plaza as well as a fountain that sits in the middle.  Locals are always trying to sell you something but the municipal police shoos them away with their whistles and segways. 

 

Met some Chileans who had a guitar and played with them.

Avenida del Sol

The main street by my house that I take to get the plaza is called Avenida del Sol (Sun Avenue).  It has banks, shops, travel agencies, restaurants, supermarkets, and so much more.  There are some random ruins that sit alongside the road too (see picture below), which is rather cool.  There is also this funky map of the area that shows traditional Peruvian life in the bustling streets.  If you want directions you do not use this map.  Its sole purpose in my book is for a laugh or chortle.