We are in Urubamba right now and it is INCREDIBLE. Last year we stayed at a Vo-tech school and it was adequate but a little, uh, rustic (Peruvian toilets, for example). This hostel is geared towards Americans and it also had hot showers (I got one anyway, not everyone was so lucky) and a beautiful Peruvian-style courtyard which features a pair of parrots. Breakfast this morning was again llama bagels, drinkable yogurt, and a variety of fruit for which we had no names.
We did our health orientation last night at the Pro-Peru office here in Urubamba. We went through descriptions of the common parasites and how to identify them in stool and blood samples. We also talked about the importance of our women´s health campaigns. They gave us the results of last year´s campaign- there were 2 cases of confirmed cervical cancer, but both women responded well to the treatment and are cancer-free now. The payment for their cancer treatment came in part from the fee dollars that we paid to ProPeru, and we were the group whose campaigns identified the women with cancer. It is humbling to think that we are actually saving lives- and it also makes us feel very guilty that we are not doing enough.
Some of the students went out last night to explore Urubamba a bit more. They met other volunteers, from Duke university and from the University of Pittsburgh. It is pretty cool that everyone else who does this is from a big, prestigious school. PSU is awesome. :)
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