The First Week

Hard to believe Ive already been here a week so far, I know my time here is going to fly by. Anyway, monday I went to go work at the clinic and it was a very tough day. I watched and assisted with patient exams for about 4 hours, and because it was so busy we averaged maybe 5 minutes per patient. The doctor I was working with would check their throat, check their lungs and then prescribe an antibiotic, no matter what the ailment. It was really hard for me to watch so many people getting so little care, and feeling like I was in the way the whole time rather than helping. There was very little I could do to help these people, and because we spent so little time with each patient, I could do nothing to connect with them. Anyway, tuesday we hiked to the top of a glacier (15,700 feet!) and almost all died because of the altitude. Phew that was tough but soooo beautiful. The past two days I have been able to switch to working in a school here and have fallen in love with it. From now on 4 days a week I will teach english in the mornings, and everyday go back in the afternoons for the after school program where we do english worksheets, play games and just have fun with the kids. I think this is the perfect opportunity for me and I actually feel as if I am accomplishing sometihng now. The kids are so smart and amazing (and sometimes really crazy) I just love it. Im the only "gringo" at the school and they all ask me for my autograph every class. Its awesome. Anyway, got a little sick yesterday so Ive been taking it easy. Our host family and 9 of the volunteers are leaving tonight for Macchu Picchu and after sunday there will just be 3 of us in the house on our own for the week. Neto and Ellie come back next friday with 2 other new volunteers. Miss you all! Please email me if you want to talk its very easy to get internet access here so I should be able to respond within a day or so.