Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Putting things into Perspective

A while back John and I went out on a date. We got a bite to eat at a local restaurant and then headed to "El Centro" - just the center of town. Every "center" of town here has what they call a Plaza de Armas -really historical buildings that are still used for lots of government things- and usually in front of the plaza is some type of park. The park in front of the plaza in Arequipa is quite beautiful with a huge fountain. During the day there are always lots of people sitting on benches just talking and hanging out. The little kids are usually feeding/chasing all of the pigeons around the square. All of the local vendors are selling bird feed, candy and other random things. It is a pretty busy place and when I have three children attached to me it is quite important to keep an eye on them.

Anyway, so after our date we meandored on down to the park in front of the plaza. Often times there are local vendors who sell the most beautiful roses. John and I spotted a young girl selling roses the other night and we went over to try to buy one. As we were walking over we could see that she was earnestly trying to sell one of her roses to a couple close to her. They did not seem to be interested and she continued to be patient to try to make the sale. When she turned to see us you could tell she was excited to make a sale. We bought one rose from her. A whole 5 soles - equivalent to about $1.75. As I was handing her my money, I could not help but notice the two very big feet hanging from the carrier on her back. It is very common to carry your kids across your back here horizontally not vertically. So I could see two big feet sticking out of her side, but I could not see a head. In an effort to practice my Spanish I asked her how old her baby was. She replied 2 and a half years! It was around 9:30 at night and this poor lady was carrying her 2 1/2 year old on her back while she was selling roses! You cannot help but wonder how much she makes an hour and what kind of conditions she lives in. By the look on her face you could tell she was exhuasted. The truth is, she probably works at least two or three jobs just to make ends meet. Almost everyone here in Peru works at least two jobs and maybe three just to pay the bills. My perspective is changing...

Or how about last week when the kids and I were walking to the Plaza de Armas when suddenly I hear this man yell, "Ayudame, ayudame, por favor!" I turned around to look and that is when I notice that a blind man was about to step off the sidewalk into one of the busiest streets in downtown Arequipa. I had Hudson in the carrier on my chest, Hannah in the stroller, and Caleb holding onto the side of the stroller and I thought to myself, how in the world am I going to help this man?? Then a lady came from out of nowhere, grabbed his arm and walked him across the street. I am not sure how blind people survive here in Peru. At times I think that the uncovered drainage ditches, and the 15 ft drops off the edge of the sidewalks give me more gray hair ***especially since I have young children - imagine if you were blind living here? Again...my perspective is changing...

Recently John helped with a rural clinic a few hours away from here. After he got back that night he began to tell me about his day. Quite sobering I must say. As I sat there nearly in tears as he was telling me about some of the patients he saw that day I thought my day was pretty boring in comparison. The kids were kind of rough that day, hence my day was rough too, but everything was put into perspecitive after hearing some of his stories. My day did not seem too bad as he told me about the mother who brought her 50 pound, 18 year-old son who had hardly eaten anything in 3 months and had an undiagnosed case of what was likely muscular dystrophy (which they could not do much for). Or the little 18 month-old boy who got his hand caught in a sugar cane grinder. Or the man who had been blind for 10 years (due to a car running over him) who was hoping John could restore his sight (to no avail). Or the lady who miscarried during the clinic. Sometimes being in medicine is overwhelming and difficult on the heart. Thank you Lord for putting things into perspective...  photo DSCN1913_zps186f64f7.jpg  photo DSCN1905_zps80c98aab.jpg  photo DSCN1900_zps1e9511ef.jpg  photo DSCN1895_zps7f67ba4d.jpg  photo DSCN1886_zpsf56d0157.jpg  photo DSCN1914_zpsa9f52a7e.jpg  photo DSCN1916_zps5831e397.jpg

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Fruit Chronicles

We are really enjoying the fresh fruit over here
and thought I might photograph some for my kitchen wall someday - whenever I find a place that prints photos and a place to buy frames. No big deal right? I will let you know when this happens :) Anyway enjoy!
This is a granadia (granadilla-not sure on the spelling here). It has seeds that are encapsuled in sack that resemble fish eggs. Not the most apetizing but very interesting to look at.  photo DSC_0019ba_zps5ee63f75.jpg
 
Okay well these are just apples so not to exciting but they photograph well :)...and they are very tasty. I buy them by the kilo, sometimes 4 or 5 kilos at a time. Just imagine me with three kids, one in the stroller, one holding the stroller, and one in the baby carried on my chest carry 4 kilos of apples (~2.5 pounds per kilo). Quite the sight I tell you.  photo DSC_0096copy_zps545dc6af.jpg  photo DSC_0075copy_zpsa4933028.jpg
 
Hannah has fallen in love with oranges. She makes a ridiculously large mess with them but at least she is getting some fiber.  photo DSC_0105copy_zps0e61a522.jpg  photo DSC_0126copy_zpseee7f5e0.jpg
 
We did find some blueberries this last week. I bought a TON of them. Really wishing I had some canning jars :( Still cannot find these...what a bummer. So I made some blueberry muffins, blueberry syrup and I froze the rest for now. What a treat!