Hi everyone! Sorry I've been MIA for the past few days. I've been much busier than I ever expected. So I'll fill you in on the past couple days and today. 

On Wednesday I spent the morning in the pharmacy and later in the afternoon I was in the education tent, which is more or less a waiting area for all the patients. The pharmacy was really cool because I got to put together prescriptions for the patients. Of course we needed help from the local Peruvian pharmacist, but it was still an interesting experience. It's truly amazing how much I take the mini pharmacy my mom has in our kitchen cabinet for granted. People were getting prescribed ibuprofen and aspirin and vitamins. How basic is all of that stuff? Basic enough that I can say with certainty that everyone reading this right now has at least one or two, if not all, of those simple items at home right now. Really, really eye opening. The education tent was fun because of MEDLIFE's belief in not just giving out handouts. They believe in giving something to the community and getting something in return. The patients here get basic medical care and attention, and in return, they give us their time to be educated. They are given pamphlets and information sessions on various medical topics to improve their knowledge, and hopefully help them in becoming more aware of how to maintain their health. Both of these experiences, the pharmacy and the education tent, were real life embodiments of the first two letters in MEDLIFE's acronym: medicine and education. I think that was my favorite part about Wednesday. Except maybe it was way more fun playing soccer with the kids, carrying them around on my shoulders until I physically couldn't anymore, or just laughing and getting dirty with them. Who knows. Regardless, Wednesday was beyond memorable. 

Now yesterday was also incredible. We got to our clinic site and waited on the bus for our awesome group leader, Christian, to survey the area we'd be working with. To our surprise, we had no flat ground to set up on as we are supposed to. We shut off the road we drove up, and set up the clinic! Keep in mind the road was steeply slanted downwards and completely uneven. The set up was something in itself. I shadowed the obstetrician that day, which was very interesting because I've never seen anything like that. That only lasted a little bit though because I soon got distracted by all of the cute kids and the local women saying four of the boys look like male strippers. Anyway, it's amazing to see how grateful these people are. A little girl walked up to me and handed me this pretty, yet very small, blue tile and told me it was "un regalo". These people don't have much to give to show their gratitude, but when they have anything at all, they want to give it. The women and moms kept telling me that they wanted all of us to come back soon, and hopefully we will be able to. 

Today I got the privilege of seeing the "D" in MEDLIFE in action. We finished the project that everyone has been working on for the past week. We built two staircases for the people in Pamplona Alta (the poorest region in Lima). The people were so grateful and so happy, and as I painted the MEDLIFE logo on the side of the steps, the people followed us around, all smiles and full of thanks. 

After we finished painting, we had an amazing celebration where we "inaugurated" the stairs. We broke a bottle of champagne on each staircase and then we had a celebration. The people were so grateful and showed it by cooking for us, giving us water, and even showing us these amazing and elaborate dances, which ended with them bringing us onto the dance floor. 

All in all, it was an amazing day, but I know tomorrow has more adventures in store!! To be continued...