Peru! A Marvel in itself.

Peru truly is a marvel in itself. My experience thus far has been very rewarding… a lot of firsts for me: first time visiting a foreign country for more than 1 week, first time traveling to South America, first time living with a host family, and first time having to take local transit to work. Much of my stay has been in the coastal city of Trujillo, located an 8-hour bus ride north of Lima. The host family I am living with for the duration of my stay has been more than accommodating. My host parents Javier and Aida have 3 children (Javier Jr. – 19, Aida – 24, and Lucia – 23) who are very much into learning more about the American culture and improving their English skills. In return I hope to learn more about the Peruvian culture and practice my Spanish. Already I have become immersed and have fallen in love with Peruvian cuisine. I have yet to try guinea pig, which is considered a delicacy here. However, I can now say that I have eaten the heart of a chicken. In the words of my host father, “Es muy rico! Si?” -> translation “It is very rich tasting… right?” Lunch is the biggest affair of the day, much larger than breakfast or dinner with a soup as an appetizer, followed by the main course, and usually Jell-O or gelatin for dessert. It amazes me how everything revolves around lunch. Even work schedules are devised such that family members may go home and break bread with the rest of the family and talk about their day. In the states, you’re lucky if you get an hour break for lunch and don’t have the luxury of going home to a cooked meal.

During the week I commute to my volunteer site in Delisias (a small rural town located on the outskirts of Trujillo) to work in a small medical post with a general physician. Much of the community of Delisias is very poor. There is a clear division between the rich and the poor with few in between. The doctor I shadow even mentioned that within his 15 years of experience as a doctor, his monthly salary totals to 3000 Soules that is equivalent to $1000/month in the U.S. Though this is way below the poverty line by our standards, an earning of $1000/month is a comfortable wage here. To put things in perspective, to commute to work everyday I pay 4 Soules roundtrip for a 30-minute commute. This ends up totaling to $1.30 in the U.S. You can’t even purchase a gallon of gas for such a price!

The patients Dr. Mario see range from infants, toddlers, teenagers, and adults. Usually Dr. Mario performs routine checkups consisting of looking in the ear, looking up the nose, looking in the mouth to check the pharynx, and listening to the sounds of the heart and sounds of the lungs. The most interesting case that I observed was an individual whose chief complaint was an open sore on his skin which turned out to be tuberculosis. I could not even fathom such a disease just because of the rarity in the U.S. All in all I have extremely enjoyed my experience volunteering in Peru; this is probably one of the most rewarding summers ever… EVER! It has been very interesting deciphering Peru, from navigating the bus system in a country where honking is commonplace and traffic laws are essentially non-existent to understanding the difference in health care delivery between at home and abroad. Peru truly is a marvel in itself.  

Justin Stiller