Inside My (Haunted) Peruvian House: Ghosts, Natural Remedies, and Parasites

Nov. 9, 2011

            Last night I was up until 3am, the girls picking lice nits out of my hair in our tiny bathroom, and me putting my sheets, pillows, and clothes into air tight bags to set out into the sun. When I was finally finished, I took a sip of my Anis tea and placed a white bell flower under my pillow. I then put my plastic vase of Ruda plant next to the head of my bed with a lit candle of the Virgin of Guadalupe and my Bible opened to Psalms.

            What is this all about you may ask?? Well, the first part is obviously because I have lice, contracted from who knows where, and had to decontaminate my entire bedroom in hopes that the eggs will not hatch and search out my head once again. This along with Kelli having mites on her hands and feet, our kitten Fidea having fleas, and Kyle thinking he has an intestinal parasite and insomnia. We are all doing pretty well here?? Hahaha. But seeing the humor in all of it for sure. We are all taking bets on what Emily is going to contract since she is next in line.

 The second part is a little harder to explain… But we can start with our Fig tree.

Our haunted fig tree attacking Emily and Kyle

The other day, a Senora was at our house helping teach Emily how to make Tamales (yum!!).

Me, Giancarlo, and Emily tamale making (though I really didnt do anything)

While they were cooking, there was a knock at our front door. Emily went to get it, and when she returned to the kitchen, the conversation went a little something like this:

Senora: Did you go out to look at the garden?

Emily: No there was someone at the door so I went to get it.

Senora: Oh, I saw a shadow in the garden, but it was probably one of the spirits.

Emily: What??

Senora: Well you have a Fig tree, which means your house is full of child spirits.

Emily: What???????

Senora: Any tree that is full of milk, like a fig tree or a banana tree, attracts child or infant spirits who died before they were baptized. But you shouldn’t be afraid, no children live in your house and you are all baptized. They only try to take people who aren’t baptized and other children or babies.

Emily: … You think there are little child spirits in our house because we have a fig tree??

Senora: Yes. I mean, they are here. They won’t try to hurt you, just probably knock things over here and there and knock on the doors sometimes. But occasionally spirits attract other spirits, so you should try to get your house blessed as soon as possible. Anyway, so about these tamales….

Emily and the senora

          After Emily relayed this story to Kyle and I, I was horrified. What do you mean our house is full of baby child ghosts who are going to float around knocking on our doors and pushing things off tables?!?!?!?! And worse, attract other ghosts who will do who knows what to us while we sleep. That night, I made Kyle sleep in my room. Bible open, Holy Water sprinkled around the perimeter of all the walls. The next morning, I retold this story to my co-workers at Hospice, hoping for a response of how ridiculous this all was and not to be afraid. THAT conversation went a little like this:

Me: … And so she said we have little baby ghosts in our house!!!! Isn’t that so crazy??

Nurse Ada: Well you don’t need to be afraid, they only want to take you away if you aren’t baptized.

Me: Wait. What.

Social Worker Anita: Yes, I had these child spirits in my house too. But after we put a blessed cross up in the branches of our fig tree, all the strange things stopped happening!! It is also good to open your Bible to Psalms, or light a candle.

Me: I think this is probably just all in our heads. Like do you really think this is real??

Doctor Cinthia: Oh, you think it is in your head?? It isn’t. They are definitely in your house. But don’t be afraid, just know the power of God is stronger than the power of these ghosts!! If you are really worried, cut the tree down.

Nurse technician Cesar: Yes, just get your house blessed. And until you have your house blessed, don’t let children come in, especially children who are not baptized or the spirits will try to steal them.

            You can imagine how this confirmation of spirits in our house made my heart stop. Ok, this is getting too crazy for me. I don’t believe in superstitions normally, but everyone made this sound so REAL. My co-workers then took me into the courtyard and proceeded to rub newspaper all over my body while chantin ghte Lords Prayer and then burned it on the sidewalk. The newspaper is supposed to soak up the fear and negative feelings you are having and burns them away. They said you can also do this with a piece of bread.

That day after work, the Pastoral Care worker from Hospice took me to the market to buy Ruda Plant. This is a plant that apparently spirits do not like, so if you put it in your room they will hate it and not come in to haunt you. We bought a bouquet of Ruda plant to scare away our child spirits from the fig tree until the Father can come bless the house for us. After I got the Ruda, I had to go buy bread and butter for dinner…. I was standing in line to pay when…:

Man in line: Oh, Ruda plant. Are you using it for medicine or do you have spirits??

Me: Umm…. We have spirits????

Man: Oh, yes. Hang this from your ceilings and you will be fine.

Woman in line: You also need to make sure to change the water everyday because the ghosts know when the plant is dying.

Me: Ok, thanks a lot. I will make sure to do that.

Man: Have your house blessed too if you can. It worked for me when we had ghosts. Now the ghosts are gone!! Have a good night!! Enjoy your dinner.

            Great. Everyone knows about our haunted ghost house. So now we have Ruda in every room to scare away our baby infant spirits and their friends. I guess using one illogical idea to help me feel better about another illogical idea balances it out?? Right??

Our anti spirit station

            We attributed Kyle’s trouble sleeping to the ghosts for awhile, but then decided to try to get to the bottom of it in a realistic way. So he decided to ask his co-workers at The Posta, the clinic that he works at with a malnutrition project, thinking they were medical and would definitely know what to do. He asked with hopes of a prescription medication, “I have been waking up at 5am daily with no alarm and can’t get back to sleep. I am always exhausted.” He then stood still for 15 minutes while a woman floated an egg around his entire body and cracked it into a cup to “read” the yolk. “Oh”, she said, “You are feeling shame. This is why you can’t sleep. You need to drink water from boiled celery every night before bed.”

Since this wasn’t exactly the most helpful or dependable information, I decided to ask MY co-workers at Hospice. I was out working in the community with my co-workers Amparo and Cesar. Here is how this scene played out…

Me: He wakes up at 5am every day sharp and can’t get back to sleep. He is always so tired and sleepy. Do you have any advice?? Maybe a doctor at the clinic or a medicine he can take to help??

Cesar (pressing on his palms): Yes, you need to do a reflexology massage. First press here, this is for his head. Then press here, this is for his stomach. Then press here…

Amparo: No no no. What he needs to do is boil the heart of a lettuce head, and then drink the water from the boiled lettuce.

Cesar: OR, he can boil celery and drink the celery water.….

            While Cesar was explaining this, I look to the side and see Amparo climbing over a fence into some random person’s yard to pick white bell flowers off of a tree. Totally confused, I see a man come out of his house and start yelling. I assumed he was angry…

Owner of the house: What are you doing????

Amparo: Her friend is having trouble sleeping!!

Owner of house: Oh, yes, you can take as many of these flowers as you want!! Also, I noticed that you have a limp while you were walking up, if you pick the leaves off of this plant and rub them on your knee, you will feel totally better in the morning!!

Amparo: Thank you Senor!! I will do that tonight before bed. Goodbye!!

            I was then instructed to give Kyle a reflexology massage before bed, have him drink lettuce water, burn incense, and then put the white bell flowers under his pillow at night. The magical flower apparently makes you sleep harder than any medicine ever could…. We tried this. And guess what?? Kyle didn’t wake up at 5am the next day. So maybe these crazy natural remedies really do work… ??

So here is a list of what I have learned so far:

-Lettuce water helps you relax and sleep better

-Celery water will cure an upset stomach
-Putting fresh rosemary in your pillow will make lice leave your head bc they hate the smell

-Hang an aloe vera plant upside down from the ceiling to absorb negative energy.... but if there is too much negative energy in your house the plant will die so you will have to keep getting new ones if you are super pessimistic

-Anis tea and Manzanilla tea helps you relax

-Eating five cloves of garlic a day will get rid of an intestinal parasite

-Drinking grapeseed extract will get rid of an intestinal parasite

-To get rid of feelings of shame, guilt, fear, or anger, rub a newspaper or piece of bread all over your body and then throw it away or burn it

-If you are having a spiritual or emotional disturbance, have an old Peruvian woman rub an egg around your aura and read the yolk to tell you what your problem is

-After giving someone a massage, you need to wipe all of the negative energy downwards off of your body and open your hands towards the earth so you don’t become sick as a result of the negative vibes you absorb from the massage

-Oregano tea will get rid of menstrual cramps

-Reflexology massages solve everything

-Eating tiny insects that live in moldy bread called Gorbojos will prevent cancer

-Eating Guavana leaves cures cancer

-Ruda plant will get rid of ghosts and spirits that roam around your house, but don’t forget to change the water daily!!

            These past two weeks have been pretty crazy, and to say the least, unbelievable. But we are loving all of these new natural remedies that we have to try and stories we have to tell. Last night, we spent hours trying to de-lice my hair and by 2am were so exhausted no one was even talking anymore. As Emily was picking Lice eggs off my scalp, Kyle was drinking his lettuce water and pulling fleas off of Fidea’s neck, Kelli was rubbing her anti-inflammatory cream into her foot rash, and our baby spirit ghosts were floating around our backyard, Kyle broke the silence with a very good point… “Sooooooo, shouldn’t there be some kind of tea potion you can drink or magical leaf you can rub on your head for this so we can finally just go to bed??”

           

           

           

HAPPY HALLOWEEEEEN!!!!!!!!

Oct. 31, 2011

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!! From all of us here in Chimbote!! For Halloween, we went to a Dog Costume Contest during the day, and had a Halloween Party at night to share our Halloween traditions with our Peruvian friends (they don’t really celebrate Halloween here at all). Costumes were required!! Photos below.

October 13, 2010




My six inches of scarf so far



            Miscommunications have become a daily part of my Peruvian life. Speaking in another language is hard, and it is even harder when your comments are constantly being misinterpreted into something else entirely. Here in Chimbote, for example, if you compliment someone’s garden, the reply will most likely be, “Ok, this Saturday at 4pm you come over and I will teach you how to garden.” All of a sudden your intended side-comment to start a conversation becomes an obligation.

        Two weeks ago I was in a patient’s house and her daughter was crocheting a scarf. I was standing alone with her in the living room and decided to speak with my toddler-age Spanish after about 30 seconds of awkward smiling.

Me: Me gusta tu chalina. (I like your scarf)
Her: Gracias!! Sabes que como tejer?? (Thanks!! Do you know how to crochet??)
Me: No, no puedo. (No, No I can’t)
Her: Bueno, este Jueves a las 4 in la tarde puedes venir y te enseño. Puedes comprar linea in Al Centro hoy dia antes de 9. (Great, this Thursday at 4:00 in the afternoon you can come and I will teach you. You can buy yarn downtown today before 9pm.)

        Needless to say, this situation escalated into a twice a week visit to this lady’s house to learn how to crochet my new red scarf. I have about 6 inches done so far, 3 more feet to go. Two days ago, I was talking about cooking   lunch for my community every Monday with another nurse. It went a little something like this:

Me: Tengo que cocinar cada Lunes (I have to cook every Monday)
Her: Que te gusta cocinar?? (What do you like to cook??)
Me: No puedo cocinar muy bien. Puedo cocinar pasta y otros cosas muy facil. (I can’t cook very well. I can cook pasta and other easy things.)
Her: Pues, este noche tengo tiempo libre. Me llamas antes de 6:00 y puedo venir a tu casa enseñarte como cocinar Estofado de Pollo. Hasta luego!! (Well, tonight I have free time. Call me before 6:00pm and I can come to your house and teach you how to make Estofado de Pollo. See you later!!).

          I was left standing there mid-sentence (“But I have English class tonight and can’t….), a vegetarian with a date to learn how to make a chicken and rice dish before 6pm.

    At first this attitude seemed presumptuous and frustrated me, but I am starting to see the beauty in it all. The Peruvians attitude is to drop everything they are doing just to share their culture and lives with someone they barely know. In The United States, we are all so rushed and living inside of ourselves that it is a huge inconvenience to have to pause and share something with another person. Our usual way of communicating is to have an interaction to get our point across. Here in Chimbote, the interactions are so much more about sharing presence, life, stories, hobbies, language, and love. Their openness and willingness to bring you into their culture with open arms is so beautiful and genuine. While I might not be too excited about having 3 more feet of red scarf to crochet, I feel blessed to have this time to share with the Señora who is teaching me. It is about the conversation and the presence, not just the messy ball of red yarn sitting beside me.

At least someone is excited about the scarf making

A Short Life Update!!

October 1, 2011

         I CANNOT believe it is already October!!!! How is time going by so fast?!

         Things here are going really well. I am still loving Hospice. The Hospice team is really like a little family, and I am so excited to be a part of it!! They are always joking around with each other and laughing. I am happy that I am in a work environment that is so positive and motivating.

         Our community is still going well. Definitely it is challenging, but that was to be expected. I am really glad that I am living with Kyle, Kelli, and Emily. We have fun together and the vibe in the house is really full of life and love. Fidea is also doing well, most importantly. Last night we may or may not have dressed her up in Puppy, RN’s clothes (a build-a-bear stuffed animal I have that is wearing nursing scrubs). She hated it, and it was weird, but we got some funny pictures which is what matters.

         I went to my first Casa de la Mujer meeting this week, and I am obsessed with it!! It is a community center for women’s empowerment and equality. They have meetings once a week, and work on different project in about 6 month to one year sections. Now until December is an Anti-Violence and Awareness project. The meeting Thursday was super interesting and I felt so welcome there!! I even talked outloud about respect and equality and men and women working together…. In Spanish!! Yeah yeah yeah.

In other random news:
- Today at 4pm is the “Blessing of the Animals” mass at our church. Everyone brings their pets and there is a big outdoor mass to bless all of them. Dogs, cats, rabbits, some people even bring their cuyes!! (Pictures below)

- I am playing "Muerte" or "Death" in our parish's play about Saint Francis of Assisi. It is super fun and I love everyone involved in the show and our theatre group!! (Pictures below)

         This is a short update, but overall I am doing well and enjoying my days!! It is so crazy that while the leaves are changing and falling at home, the sun is shining brighter here every day. It is a change, but everyone knows how much I love summer so I think I won’t have a problem getting used to a 90 degree Christmas (where they apparently still serve hot chocolate??).

         You are all in my thoughts and prayers everyday. I hope everyone back home is doing well, and please send me updates about your lives as well!! I love and miss all of you.

Paz y cariño!!!!

The Sacrifices of Love

September 24, 2011

         There is a big hill here in Chimbote called the Cerro de la Paz with a church on the side, and a huge cross on top. It takes about 2 hours to hike all the way up to the cross, and the cross can be seen from all over the city. It is a constant reminder of Christ’s sacrifice for all of the people living their busy lives below.

A view of Cerro de la Paz at sunset from our balcony

         The other day was the Dia de Juventud, the day of the youth. There were parties and dances and celebrations everywhere!! We went to a dance with the youth of our church on Friday night, and then on Saturday morning got up early to join many other youth from different parishes to hike up the hill to the cross.  Each group had their own song sheet to chant while walking, their own prayers to say at every station of the cross (which are posted on the path), and a large wooden cross to take turns carrying up.

         This started out as a “wanting to experience a part of the culture thing” but ended up being a much more spiritual experience than we thought. Kyle was able to take a turn carrying the cross up the hill for 2 stations, and afterwards we were talking about how powerful that was for him. Carrying the big wooden cross just 2 stations up a hill, knowing that it would soon be passed to someone else, and having all of his strength and health to carry it up. We talked about Jesus, and how there was no end to his burden of the cross, and once he reached the top he knew he would die (not join a big group of Peruvian youth dancing and singing silly Spanish church songs as we knew we would be doing). Jesus had been beaten, without sleep, food, or water. What a powerful love to be willing to do this for such sinful people.

        
         It all reminded me of a conversation we had the other night about the young generation here compared to the older generation. The older generation seems so tired, so hard working. Their hands are dry, cracked, and wrinkled from so many hours in the sun working in fields or washing clothes. In their faces you can see the stories of their memories of “the violence” that was such a huge part of the Peruvian terrorism in the 1970s and 1980s. You can see how much they sacrificed for the future generations of their families, their children and their children’s children.

         Then there are the youth of today. Wearing jeggings and tight t-shirts and blasting techno music in the streets. Disobeying their hard working parents and living their rebellious teenage lives. It is sad that this older generation worked so hard and suffered so much for their grandchildren to…. Dance to reggaeton and eat fast food hamburgers from a street vendor??

         But wait. We ARE those kids.

         I started thinking about my parents and how much they have done for me.

         My dad always talked about his one room house on a farm with his mom and 2 brothers. Chickens lived in the floor and that is how they got their eggs in the mornings. He would dig up some kind of root and sell it to pharmacies for some extra cash (which means about 50 cents). He walked forever to school, in the snow, to his tiny one room school house where he graduated in rural Oklahoma with a class of something crazy like 20 people. He was one of the first people (if not the first person) in his family to go to college and get a degree. He worked hard, studied constantly, and became an engineer. He worked in an office, lived in Iran for a while, and married my mom and then worked to support not only himself, but her.

         Then I thought about my mom. She also grew up in a small house with 3 other people. She was one of the only women in her highschool to get a college education. She became a secretary and worked very hard. Then after marrying my dad, she worked very hard to have a nice family and a nice home for both of them.

         THEN, after ALL OF THAT, they had me. And had to work EVEN HARDER!! To make money to support me, to teach me to talk and walk, to teach me to be a moral and ethical person. They provided me with food, water, shelter, clothes, love, support, advice, hugs, late night talks, homework help, an education, a love for Christ, a love and respect for animals and the environment, a need to do service, a passion for living life to the fullest. And so much more I can’t even think of.

Then I repaid them by arguing to stay out later, asking for even more money to buy clothes or go out to eat with friends, and begging for a new car when I turned 16. As if I wasn’t already blessed with more than enough.

I guess it doesn’t matter what culture you are living in, this is something that defies cultural borders. Someday these party-loving youth will grow up and have to handwash their clothes in the hot sun and scrub their floors on hand and knee. Just like someday I will be working hard to make money to put my own food on the table, and someday to support my future children the way my parents so lovingly and sacrificially supported me.

So it all comes back to this idea of sacrifice for the ones that you love. My parents gave so much in their lives to have what they have now, to support each other and me. And I want them to know while they are reading this, that there are no words in any language that could express my gratitude and how blessed I feel for their hard work, from age 10 when my dad starting selling Snakeroot, to 2011 when my mom now makes me my favorite meals when I come home. Jesus does the same thing for all of us. We argue and try to be independent and live our own rebellious lives, but in the end we are so grateful for his life, suffering, and death. Because of his life, we have the hope and grace that we have today.

          In the end, thank you mom and dad for being the most amazing people and parents, and thank you Jesus for the sacrifice you made for your children all over the earth.

         

(home)Sick

September 13, 2011 

           This week I got sick for the first time since being in Peru. I woke up around 5am throwing up and couldn’t stop until like 5pm. I was literally in bed until 7pm. It was really hard to be sick in such a foreign place. Not only was I not with my mom and dad to comfort my sickness, but other things that I take advantage of in the States were not there to help either: a hot shower, a movie to watch curled up in bed, friends to text when I felt lonely, a grilled cheese with tomato soup, mindless television to get my mind off of how I was feeling… Nope. None of those things. I laid in bed and slept in and out all day. Occasionally I would wake up and run to the bathroom, or snuggle Fidea (who was being a great nurse cat), or take a drink of gatorade and then fall back asleep (gatorade that Kyle bought me before he went to work, along with a packet of saltines and washing out the vomit bucket beside my bed… what a wonderful friend!!)

            Not only was this the first time I was physically sick, but it is the first time I have really missed home. I guess that being so vulnerable will make you realize the things you don’t have that you used to cling to for comfort. I kept thinking about my dad’s foot rubs and grilled cheese sandwiches (that are grilled to perfection) and laying on the couch watching DVRed TV series with my mom before bed. Driving in my car with my friends and listening to loud music (in English). My Living Word church community back in The Woodlands who embrace me so strongly every time I go back home. Eating familiar foods. Blow drying and straightening my hair (or really just feeling clean in general). Being able to have a conversation without having to form the sentence in my head before I speak outloud. My pets. My bed in The Woodlands. My bed in St. Louis. My apartment at SLU. My friends from school. Bars and restaurants that we would frequent. Not feeling dust in my sheets when I go to bed at night. Using a washing machine and a dryer. Drinking water with out having to boil it. Going out dancing on the weekends. Going out to eat and having a glass of wine with dinner. Wearing sundresses. Being able to actually flush toilet paper down the toilet. Going to see shows at The Fox or The Hobby Center. Swimming in my pool. Italian food, Tex-Mex, even drinking a glass of milk.…..

            But then I snap back to reality.  This is where I am now. This is my life now, and it is a beautiful one!! One major challenge for me is staying truly present where my feet are. When I stop daydreaming about my unnecessary comforts of home that I take so much advantage of, and realize the reason I am here and the vocation I am fulfilling, all of that longing subsides. I am here to live simply and intentionally. With out all of those comforts of home, to be in solidarity for just two years with those who never know what those things are like during their entire lives. I hear the vendor outside yelling “Zapatos!! Cuadernos!! Zapatos!!” (did that guy just say he is selling shoes and notebooks??), I see the kids playing on the street with marbles and wooden tops, the little old man I see every morning while walking to work smiles and says, “Hola gringita” in his raspy voice, and I walk into the homes of my hospice patients and I am embraced with such a warm familiarity and love after only being here for one month. I will still get lost in daydreams of my life back in the USA and feel a longing to hug and laugh with my mom, sit by the pool and have a long conversation with my dad, and dance the night away with my best friends, but I know that in two years I will have the chance to do all of that again, and with the people of Chimbote is where God is calling my name now. This is where my feet are. 

(Some things that make me less homesick....)

Making Mexican tortillas with Kyle (it still didn't taste the same as home though!!)

Fidea!!!!!!!!

Delicious Peruvian desserts.... Arroz con Leche and Masa Morado

9.11, Terrorism Around The World

September 11, 2011

         Today I pray for all the people who lost loved ones on September 11 in the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington DC, and in Pennsylvania. I also pray for those around the world of different countries and religions who experience terrorism and war as a part of their every day reality. That God bring all of these people peace and comfort in a time of such great grief and sorrow.

My Schedule

September 9, 2011

         I have finished with my first week of work. I am still excited about my vida Peruano and what the future will bring. Everyone in my community is loving their service sites right now and feeling really useful, which is so great that we can share all of this joy and relief with each other.

         We finished painting the Incarnate Word symbol in our chapel room – and it looks so beautiful!! We are all so happy to have a prayer space in our home. Emily and Kelli are going to try and find a chalice to put in the corner to be representative of the Eucharist, and we have left over paint to paint some quotes on the walls or the pillars of our community.

         My parents have been asking what my schedule is like, so I thought I would write it out here.

MONDAY:

7:30am – daily prayer in our chapel room

8am-1pm – home visits with Hospice

1pm-3pm – lunch and siesta!!

3pm-6pm – home visit with Hospice

7pm-7:30pm – nightly mass

7:30pm-9pm – teaching English at the parish

TUESDAY:

7:30am – daily prayer in our chapel room

8am-1pm – home visits with Hospice

1pm-3pm – lunch and siesta!!

3pm-6pm – home visit with Hospice

7pm-7:30pm – nightly mass

7:30pm-?? – community night with Kyle, Kelli, and Emily

WEDNESDAY:

7:30am – daily prayer in our chapel room

8am-1pm – home visits with Hospice

1pm-3pm – lunch and siesta!!

3pm-6pm – home visit with Hospice/Casa de la Mujer meeting

7pm-7:30pm – nightly mass

7:30pm-9pm – teaching English at the parish

THURSDAY:

7:30am – daily prayer in our chapel room

8am-1pm – home visits with Hospice

1pm-3pm – lunch and siesta!!

3pm-6pm – home visit with Hospice

7pm-7:30pm – nightly mass

7:30pm-9pm – Choir and volleyball with the youth group at the parish

FRIDAY:

7:30am – daily prayer in our chapel room

8am-1pm – home visits with Hospice

1pm-3pm – lunch and siesta!!

3pm-4pm – Interprofessional meeting at the Hospice center

6pm-8pm – English conversation night at our house with our English students from the parish

8pm-?? – Whatever we want to dooo!!

SATURDAY:

7:30am – daily prayer in our chapel room

8am-1pm – home visits with Hospice

1pm – 8pm – nothing to do

8pm-10pm – Game night with the youth group at the parish

10pm-?? – Friend time!!

SUNDAY:

7:30am – daily prayer in our chapel room

8am – back to bed!!

11am-1pm – TEFA (theatre) meeting at the parish

1pm-7:30pm – free time

7:30pm-8:30pm – Mass at the parish

         I am really trying to find another group to join for another service site, as kind of an outlet for all of my energy that I can’t really expel while nursing old people all day (though I really do love doing that). There is a women’s empowerment group called Casa de la Mujer that I am thinking about joining on Wednesday afternoons instead of going back to Hospice. I miss having a sense of political progression in my life. I also would really love working with kids, so I am trying to check out different after school programs or daycares that I may have time for in my week. There is also a prison ministry group that Kelli is also interested in that I am thinking about looking into.

         That is all for now!! I love you and thanks for reading this ridiculous epic novel of a blog that I am writing.

Texas Wildfires

September 7, 2011

My tears, heart, thoughts, and prayers go out to everyone back home in Texas who have been and unfortunately will be effected by the wildfires. My community and I are praying hard for everyone.

Nursing in Peru

September 6, 2011

   

Community Hospice Team for September

         I love hospice!! I am really enjoying my job so far!! Hospice is perfect for me. I am able to use my nursing skills, orient myself to the community (since I do house visits all day), learn more Spanish, form personal relationships with families, and get closer to my co-workers who I go out in the city with. I am also learning some great nursing skills here. At the same time, I am seeing a lot of nursing practices here that I know are wrong and harmful to the patient. It is hard to walk a line between respecting the culture and traditions, and being a patient advocate when I know something is wrong.

         We meet at Hospice at 8am, debrief on the patients we will go see that day (two teams of two people) and are rationed out supplies: 2 packets of gauze (and not even enough to pack the wounds, and once we are out of gauze they cut up menstrual pads to tape on, not kidding), 1 IV start kit (and if the vein blows or you don’t get it in the 1^st/2^nd/3^rd time, you keep reusing the same IV start catheter and needle), a small bottle of iodine and “sterile” water (that was boiled and left out for a day or two), and some masking tape. Around 9 we leave to go out into the community. We do about 5-6 house visits in the morning from 9am-1pm. We return and visit 2-3 patients in the afternoon from 3:30pm-6pm. I have been going out with a nurse named Maria (Mary) who is really cheery and fun to be around. I like her a lot and she is very patient and teaches me a lot.

         

Mary and I!!!!

         So far I have performed really basic care, and I have a feeling that is all I will do while in this specific position. Wound care (there are bed sores here like I have never seen), dressing changes, IV starts and hangs for those who are dying and can afford the comfort of hydration and possibly pain meds, vaccinations, bed baths, starting catheters, administering meds, changing colostomy bags. I am going to be a pro at taking manual blood pressures by the time I leave. I have also gotten to learn a little about the natural medicine that is used here. For example, a boy burned his bottom lip and it got infected, and Maria wrapped his lip in a penicillin leaf. We also do a lot of reflexology massage for pain (narcotics aren’t really a thing that happen here). I am really excited to learn more about natural remedies.

Mary hanging an IV from a wood and estera ceiling in a patient's house

         All I can say about the care here is that they do the best they can with what they’ve got. Literally the skin breakdown is so horrible here that it goes down to the bone. People die from bedsores. I have seen lots of bones and muscles just open to the air. I was cleaning an old lady’s leg wounds from skin breakdown, and I was cleaning her femur bone with no analgesics or pain meds at all. She was screaming the whole time but it had to happen. There are people so skinny that their muscles have completely disintegrated and they are just skin and bones – in a very literal sense. You can see the outline of every bone and joint. Range of motion exercises are barely something that is a priority, so many of these peoples’ knees and arms are permanently curled up in a flexed position. This is a project that I may want to start a movement for in the Hospice center.

Preventative care isn’t really done here because it really can’t be. IV antibiotics aren’t available, by mouth medicines are sometimes available but so expensive people cannot afford them. In the States where it is a goal to turn patients at least every 2 hours, here it is MAYBE every 2 days, or whenever Hospice visits and turns them, which could be twice a week or even just every Monday or however many times the family can afford it. All they do is change the dressings and put antibiotic cream on the wounds. Palliative care is also very different here than in the States. As I said before, pain medication isn’t really used and comfort isn’t the priority. The priority is prolonging life…. Which is pretty much the opposite of back home. Sterile procedures are also impossible. They have gloves that are packed in a sterile packet, but we only get one pair for the whole day and have to decide which patient and procedure has more of a priority. Today Maria put in a catheter with only clean gloves and had layed it down on a table before inserting it. I was shocked, but I guess that is just all they can do here??

Sol, one of my patient's grand daughters. She always tries to help when we are there.

We go to many different types of neighborhoods and houses. There is no specific socioeconomic class that Hospice caters to, it is just for anyone that can pay the minimum amount for the services. We have gone to houses with walls made of cardboard boxes and dirt floors, and houses with cement walls and tile floors. It really is interesting to see the economic class differences in such close proximity to each other.

Some diagnoses that my patients have had so far: Uterine cancer, breast cancer so bad that it is eating her breast away, spinal fracture causing waist down paralysis, Alzheimer’s, Diabetes, Cerebral Palsy, Epilepsy, brain tumors, and dementia, to name a few.

Me and one of my patients, Paula.

While this all sounds really sad and depressing… it is also very eye opening and I am learning a lot from the patients, their families, and the nurses, especially Maria. I am forming some great friendships out in the Chimbotano community. Things are done differently here but I think it will make me a better nurse in the end. I love being able to go into people’s homes and share this deep experience of caring for a loved one with them. Every hug and besito that I receive is an affirmation of why I am here; to embrace and learn from the Peruvian people and to do all that I can to walk in solidarity with them and offer anything I can to promote their health and well being. And I think that kind of love goes being lingual boundries.

P.S. Random fact: Almost all of the houses here look only half finished, and we were wondering if it was just so they could add on or build a second floor in the future. Well, Kyle found out that if a house is considered under construction then they don’t have to pay property taxes. So people just pretend their homes are still being built, but really they have no intention of adding on and are just avoiding taxes. Que interesante.

Starting My First Real Person Job!!

September 4, 2011

I start work at Hospice tomorrow, eek!! Please pray for me!!!!

Witnessing Injustice

September 3, 2011

         Today Sister Juanita took Kyle and I out to tour Hospice, where I will be working, and other services offered by a program that she works for. We were able to see different libraries, day cares, primary schools, collegiate programs, and safe houses.

         Hospice is absolutely beautiful, and I am ecstatic to work there. She has done an incredible job with it, and I can’t wait to be a part of the Hospice team!! The building itself is very clean, with 2 different wings of patients and multiple gardens outside. There is an entire interprofessional team there; doctors, nurses, psychologist, social worker, nutritionist, physical therapy. Along with the Hospice building, there is also an external Hospice team that meets at 8am Monday-Saturday and goes out into the community. This is what I will be doing. Going into people’s homes and cleaning wounds, changing dressings, starting IVs, giving medications and vaccinations, bed baths, family education, etc. We go out in teams of 2 nurses. I am really anxious to start working, but nervous at the same time. I am ready to be nursing again and be out in the community learning more about the people of Chimbote and forming relationships with families and my co-workers, but I am also nervous about the language.

A photo of the squatter community

         While we were driving around, Sister Juanita told us about a neighborhood we were driving by and how there was a huge panic because all of the people living there (about 300) had a week to move out. They were a squatter community that the government gave 3 weeks to find a new home, thus they are all being displaced. Driving by we saw mothers carrying babies, kids playing in the street, an old man sleeping on his porch. It was frustrating to think that the government is just removing all of these people from their homes and their lives, and not even helping them to find another place to go. It is easy for the political officials in their nice clothes in their nice offices, far away from this community in Chimbote, to thoughtlessly sign away these people’s neighborhood… but what about these individuals who literally have no where to go?? What happens to the babies, the children, the old man on his porch?? I am sure they don’t know where they will be sleeping in a week from now. All I know to do is pray for him.

The prison to the right

         We also toured Cambio Puente, where Kyle will be working. The largest prison system in the area is there. This prison is highly overpopulated, with thousands more than it was built to hold. I understand they are criminals, but they are also still human beings. It doesn’t make sense in my mind to punish people for treating others inhumanely, by treating them inhumanely. To punish injustice with injustice. I understand that there needs to be consequences for wrong actions, obviously… but isn’t this just further motivating the cycle of violence and a disregard of human life??



Little by little, we can change our lives to be better

          In lighter news (sorry for all of these rants ahh!!), we went to our friend Anthony’s birthday party on Friday night and it was super fun!! Lots of sitting against the walls and dancing in the middle… but with good friends and good food and little Tequila!! I am slowly learning to not be such a Gringa and dance salsa and cumbia with out getting totally confused the whole time. Tonight we are going to the wedding of Rita’s son!!!! I think it is going to be really fun and I can’t wait to experience a Peruvian wedding. I am sure there will once again be wonderful food and lots of dancing.

         Our community is doing well still. Fidea sleeps with me every night and we snuggle. I might get fleas, but what matters is that Fidea is cozy and has a warm place to sleep at night, right?? I start work Monday and I am so excited but so nervous!! Also, the churros here are amazing and I am going to gain a million pounds because the food is so good. I went to a couple of TEFA meetings, the parish theatre group, and I really like it!! I really think I might join. Every day I feel more familiar with the streets around our neighborhood and with our neighbors (I am starting to identify my neighbors homes by their dogs sleeping on the sidewalk outside their door haha). I start teaching English classes this week too, so my schedule is all coming together!! I am excited for my Peruvian life here and to start really feeling like I am a part of something.