10. May 2012
will be published soon
4. May 2012
will be published soon
3. May 2012
Back Problems in Cusco
Yesterday we went to the school for working children to talk about our trip. One of the girls wanted to try sitting on Markus bike and I lifted her to help a bit. CRACK! An now I am having back problems.
Markus had the same thing in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and went to a Chiropractic and so I searched the net, without hoping too much for one and actually got lucky! To be honest he is an emigrated Canadian who has been living in Cusco for 12 years. That builds confidence.
The Internet says that he opens at 10 in the morning. We make it at 10:15. The downstairs entrance to the building is locked by a barred door, we are ringing the bell, nothing. Apart from us other people are sitting on the curb too. This is the waiting room? At around 10:45 the assistants arrive and take their patients upstairs. First thing they do is turn on the radio AND the TV on which they are showing ” sopa de lettras” letter soup. Veeeery intelligent show. Because the assistant is not sure what she likes better she turns the volume on both devices to the same level. I prefer reading a magazine. My name or any other information is not needed. Strange, in a country where it requires your passport number when you want to go to the bathroom. I’m getting a bit insecure and walk up to her again, telling her that in fact I do speak a little Spanish and she hands me a registration sheet with Spanosh questions which I am allowed to answer in English.
After quite a while it is my turn. The Doc examines my back in the same manner as I am used to from my doctor in Germany plus an infrared scan. He explains in detail what my problem is and what consequences it can have on all sorts of organs. Finally an anti-inflammatory cream is applied and I am ready. I am supposed to come back at 4 pm because then he will have had time to examine my case more closely and tell me how to proceed.
We are back at 15:50 only there is no one in the office. Same procedure, at 16:10 the assistant arrives, a bit later the Doc. The patients seem to be the same as in the morning. This time only the TV is running, a Telenovela. It doesn’t take as long until it is my turn, the diagnosis remains the same, my back is being set once more, tomorrow at 11 I am having my next appointment. He says normally I would have to come 10 times but since we are leaving in the middle of the week that is not possible. Fortunately, at home I usually only have to go one or two times.
Let’s see what’s on TV at the doctor’s office tomorrow.
28. April 2012
Allerheiligen
Immer mehr Leute wehte der Wind zum Tor herein, den Hang hinauf zwischen die Gräber. Kinder äugten aus den Tragetüchern der Mütter, Hunde streunten zwischen den Kreuzen herum, Hühner mit gefesselten Beinen gackerten. Der Brunnen strömte an diesem Tage nicht sinnlos. Seine zwölf Röhren spien in Suppentöpfe. Ach du herrliches Allerseelenfest! Ihr Toten, seid lustig!
Aus: Bolivianische Hochzeit von Gudrun Pausewang.
23. April 2012
Yanapanakusun
Cusco, the navel of the world. We decided to stay in a place where most of the money goes into a charity called Yanapanakusun (Quechua for “We help each other”). It takes care of children and young people mostly girls that have been send to the city by their families in the belief they would receive an education in exchange for a little help in the household. Sadly the reality is different. The kids don’t go to school at all and have to work long hours often up to 18 a day with little breaks and food. Very often these kids are economically and sometimes sexually abused. Most of them lose touch to their families. The place here takes care of these girls, imforms them of their rights, offers them schooling and a future. Over time the project has grown and now goes into the rural communities to educate them about what really happens to their children to prevent migration at the source.
Today we went here for breakfast for the first time. Some of the girls are working in the kitchen but under very good circumstances. The kitchen is warm (actually one of the few warm rooms I have been to in the Andes), and the tourists friendly. The caring does an old Italian woman I would say in her 80ies. She is the one who started the project by simply taking girls into her home who had been exploited as cheap domestic workers. She is very skinny, her back is bent, face very wrinkled with a loving, kind expression and white, a bit tangled hair. She is dashing through the kitchen making sure that nobody goes hungry and inbetween has time for a drag on her occasional cigarette. As one of the girls is leaving for school, a sandwich in her hand, she doesn’t forget to say good bye to this wonder of energy and is happy to receive some heart warming words on the way.
This time no photos in respect for the girls!
10. April 2012
Ordeal and Tears of Joy Part 7
Part 7 Nurses, Superstition and Hats
The next morning Markus looks like shit. He almost hasn’t slept last night due to the pain in his eye and also when he was able to dose off he woke up because he was lacking oxygen. He says he cannot go by bicycle and he doesn’t have to convince me to believe him. His eye keeps watering and has acquired a nasty bright red. So I am setting off to find someone who could take us to Cabanaconde.
My first stop is the police station and the helpful police officer tells me, that there is really only one way, and that is the bus in the afternoon. He would gladly take us but the police car has broken down and needs to be taken to Arequipa for repair. It is in fact the only car here in the village which actually makes this place so quiet and peaceful. The policeman also tells me that there is a health station in the village and is glad to take me to the place and ring at the door to explain Markus problem to the nurse. She says it is best I take him over here so that she can look at his eye herself.
So I am going back to our “hotel” to get Markus who hasn’t really improved. The nurse looks at his eye and says that it is infected due to cold winds, dust and the altitude, a common problem here. She gives him a shot of diclophenac, puts a patch on his eye, because it needs rest and to be protected from the wind and tells us to go to Cabanaconde because there is a pharmacy that has drops for his eye that will make it better. The whole consultation cost us 3 soles (under a Euro). I lead Markus back to the hotel and he goes back to bed and almost immediately falls asleep. That shot is really working well! The medical service here seems to be limited but the nurse definitely knew what she was doing and the price is unbeatable.
While Markus is sleeping I am going for a walk and it seems as if the whole village knows about our health problem. They are kind, ask if he is feeling better and how we are getting to Cabanaconde. Some people also tell me that he should use Ruta, a plant with which he should gently stroke his eye, that would chase away the bad ghosts that are penetrating it. The policeman tells me that he has done it before and that it worked and that he also puts it under his hat for protection. I am getting some of the stuff, can’t hurt us.
This place is really the most peaceful place I have ever seen. It is surrounded by mountains on which are pre Inka terraces that are still in use. On the grass there are happy cows and sheep, here and there a pig wanders through the village. All agricultural work is done by hand which I am sure is hard but no one is in a hurry, people have time for a chat and most important is the absence of noise, because there are, as I have said, no cars. Who needs to go to places takes the bus that goes once a day to Cabanaconde and once to Arequipa. Whatever they eat comes directly from the field and is super fresh.
Back in the hotel Markus has improved significantly. The pain is mostly gone and he is a bit rested. We are packing our stuff and go to the same restaurant for lunch where we were for dinner last night. The food is equally good and fresh and the woman asks for Markus well-being. I could stay here for a while, if the accommodation was a touch better. Afterwards we are going to the Plaza de Armas to wait for the bus. We are early but slowly people are arriving who are also going to Cabanaconde. Among them there is a mother and daughter both wearing the traditional Colca hats. To pass time and because the girl is so sweet I start a conversation with her. She is really smart, asks questions about our tour, what we have in the bags, where we sleep at night and wants to know how my handlebar bag is removed. I show her and she tries herself. Then I take her around the Plaza on my bike, she sitting I am pushing the bike. When I ask her if I could take a picture of the two of us she is getting her mom’s hat so I have one to wear to.
Shortly after the bus finally arrives and after the usual procedure of unloading and getting off, our bicycles are tied to the top, together with other luggage, sacks of potatoes and so on and we are getting on too. Last minute one of the tires needs to be changed so our departure is even further delayed. I use the time to buy some chocolate for us and my new friend. Finally we are setting off.
On the way further up in the mountains again more and more people are getting on, many women in traditional Colca clothing are carrying bundles of wood or other stuff in their carrying cloths. They must have waited for quite some time in the cold as our departure was so delayed but no one is complaining. Once again I admire these people who scrap a living in this harsh environment.
Shortly before dawn we are reaching Cabanaconde. We retrieve our bikes and go to a hostel right at the plaza. It is an inexpensive charming place with warm feather blankets and a hot shower. I am getting Markus medicine while he engages himself in a conversation with another German couple. We seem to have survived again.
