Twilight Zone

This past week has flown by but at the same time, has drudged on. I often feel as if I’m an extra in The Twilight Zone because the sense of time is extremely distorted... I have a hard time remembering what has happened yesterday, and even this morning.  I usually wake up around 7:15 and get to the hospital by nine (it’s walking distance) and then from there spend the morning volunteering. The afternoons so far have all been different and that’s what I seem to forget the most of.... However, I’m thankful for my stubbornness to try and journal almost every night so I can look back on my day and apply it to my blog. And so, readers, here is what has been going on in the past few days—lots of ups and downs.

We went to “Casa de Amor” Tuesday afternoon, which is a baby orphanage. I spent the afternoon running around pretending to be an airplane, jumping out of corners, etc. with two-year-old Cliffer (Clifford in English). It was such a blessing to be able to play with him. When it was time to go, I carried him up the stairs and put him in his room. He ran after me crying and reaching out, so I gave him a hug (again) and said bye. He continued to cry as I left It was so hard leaving him because he wanted so much love, which I was able to provide, and he definitely deserves it:

What’s an advertising major supposed to do in a hospital? Obviously, not put catheters in patients. That question is what made Tuesday a confusing day for me. I finally felt that maybe I found my purpose for being here in Cochabamba. Being the philosopher I am, I pondered and pondered. The question I came up with: Is my being here a sign that I AM supposed to work with kids as a teacher? Maybe advertising isn’t in the cards for me? It is something that I have been struggling with pretty much all week. I’m constantly reminded of how much joy my heart is filled with when I work with kids... I feel like I’m at a standstill and feel that my future is extremely hazy. At least I know that I still want to continue on with Spanish... My dad’s advice: teach advertising to Spanish speaking children.

On to the rest of my week...

I worked with the physical therapist, Sulma, on Wednesday and she is absolutely wonderful. There is a patient who was in a truffi accident—a truffi is Bolivia’s form of taxi but much larger and aggressive. He did some damage to his pubic bone and we had to do a lot of exercises for him. It was difficult watching how much pain he was in. However, Sulma really cares about her patients and was patient with him and his whimpers. Something that is refreshing because here, work does not seem to be a huge priority for the doctors. They come into the office around 8:30/9 AM and are usually gone by 1 PM and will stop taking patients between 12 and 1... It’s not necessarily bad, it’s just very different from what we are used to in the States.

After the orphanage that day, Necco (our host) made us all popcorn! It may not seem that exciting, but when you have gone just about two weeks without it, you really appreciate it more than you would think. And having had had it, made me thankful for the things that I am blessed to have back home that are privileges to have down here; especially the little things—like peanut butter—that I so often take for granted.

Thursday  and Friday were a hard days. We all went to the pediatric hospital in the afternoon. It was so difficult seeing all of the sick children and how lonely some of them seemed. My heart shattered to a million pieces. There was one girl who couldn’t even talk, her hair was shaved, her head bandaged, here face black and blue, etc.  That was the hardest. However, family surrounded her and it was apparent that she was well aware of their presence because of the change in her facial expressions. I spent  most of my time with eight year old Claudia (sickness unknown). We made cootie catchers and paper hats:

Friday, Claudia had her leg bandaged and she woke up from her nap incredibly sad because her mom was not there, and she was waiting to go home for the weekend. She also had no feeling in her toes and it was hard getting a nurse’s attention to get her help... The atmosphere Friday was much more solemn than that of Thursday. Both days provided experiences that will take a while to process.

Today was wonderful! We met Necco and Rosemary (our hosts) around 12:30 for lunch at a place called Dumbo’s. It seemed very modernized but the food was incredible. It was my favorite meal thus far. It was called piquemacho. The reasoning for the name is that it’s spicy (pique) and being able to eat the spice is symbolic of manliness (macho). However, I avoided the spicy:

After lunch we went to the center of South America. It doesn't look super exciting, and it wasn't, but it was still cool to actually be in the center (literally, not a joke):

After that, we went to the Jesus statue. It was so awe-inspiring and definitely a good reality check. It helped me to realize that my faith is so much larger than what I think it out to be. Jesus (literally) is looking over the city of Cochabamba, and of course, the entire world. His power and love is endless:

So, despite the challenges I was faced with this week, it ended up being a fairly good week. I just remember how blessed I am to have everything that I do have in my life and that no matter what happens, I need to just share my compassion. I also should probably stop analyzing my life before I go to sleep... I think it stresses me out more than it needs to. After all, I am only twenty and have a long life ahead of me... so I guess I don’t need to stress about my future. It will all work out.

Tons of love!