Holy Crap

Ok... I've been in Peru for almost a week now, and I JUST REALIZED that my blog posts haven't been saving/posting!!

I was posting via. email, but now I'm logged directly in through the web interface so HOPEFULLY this will post!

ACK!!

I will go back and re-post everything (it is saved in my sent-mail) but it may not be right away so here's a round up:

Left MKE last Saturday afternoon, great flight to Atlanta, great flight to Lima, 3hrs in Lima airport and then... BOOM... travel sickness hit me like a brick wall. Nausea, fatigue, no appetite. By the time we got to Arequipa at 5am I was a hurting unit. 6 hrs of sleep and some Phenergan and I was MUCH better.

3 days working in Father Alex's mission projects in Alto Cayma (above Arequipa): clinic, home-visits, food-kitchen, day-care.

3 days to Cusco, Aguas Calientes, Machu-Picchu, Wayna Picchu mountain (yup, I climbed that sukka right there!) back to Cusco and then 3 hrs IN A PLANE ON THE TARMAC in Juliaca on the way back to Arequipa.

Today was a whirlwind of tourist stuff... primarily stimulating the local economy with an influx of my personal cash.

Tomorrow we jump on the bus for Colca Canyon and Mon/Tue/Wed it is NRP training time!!

There are pics on facebook and I'm really having a wonderful time despite the altitude sickness, constant nausea, diarrhea, and smell aversions. FUN eh? Truly though, I'm having a wonderful time.

I miss Mike and the boys terribly though!! I'll be very happy when I get home.

1.5 days

This is amazing.

This is actually happening.

You all made this happen!

*SQUEEEEE*

3 days...

On Saturday, April 17th I will take my bags (one duffle with my clothes and necessities and one VERY large suitcase packed with donated vitamins, art-supplies, baby clothes and hats, bulb-syringes, ambu-bags, non-sterile gloves, etc...) get into Mary's car and we will be off to Milwaukee International Airport to start our adventure to Peru.

My final donation $$ Amount is $2120. I don't know how it happened... but it did, and every single person who donated even $1 helped make this trip possible.

Mary and I will arrive in Arequipa, Peru early Sunday morning and we will immediately begin our Mission with Father Alex. We will help at their free child-care center... we will deliver meals to the elderly members of the community, we will help in every way we can. On Wednesday the 22nd we will take a brief break (2 days) to travel to Machu Picchu. On Friday we will return to the mission, complete our work there and prepare for the second portion of our Mission.

On Sunday, the 25th we will board a van and travel up into the mountains (over 15,000 ft. elevation) and then back down into the Colca Valley (the floor of the valley is at 11,000 ft). Here we will help Dr. Gheringer teach NRP (Neonatal Resuscitation) to groups of nurses and physicians who man the government run clinics in these tiny rural villages. When classes are done for the day we will help in the clinics with immunizations, vitals, wounds, etc... anything that needs doing. Friday we will return to Father Alex's guest house and Saturday evening we board our plane home.

I am nervous, I am excited, I will be sad to leave my family, but somehow I think it will all be worth it in the end.

Thank you for making this possible.

THANK YOU!!! I'll keep this spot updated as much as I can from Peru. Expect Alpaca pictures!!

xoxoxo

2 weeks...

Its been very busy around here as we prepare for the trip.

I am gathering the little things: socks, travel bottles, etc... and putting them in a small pile in my bedroom. Delta allows 2 free checked bags to South America and Mary found a wheel-chair that we can bring on the plane with us!! We sold our huge old recliner for $100, which is going directly to the trip, and I am really hoping that we can get our final arrangements made for our trip to Machu Picchu completed soon as well! Our travel agent in Peru is being a bit slow in responding to us.

Honestly I still can't believe I'm going to Peru in 2 weeks. I haven't traveled out of the country in so long that I feel like a complete boob. I am an obsessively light packer, which should serve me well, but my Spanish sucks and I'm nearly petrified of heights/bridges/etc... so there will definitely be some emotional challenges for me on this trip.

Plus I'm going to be away from my family for 2 weeks... all this adds up to me being a bit emotionally volatile lately. If you've been caught in the wake of that, I do apologize!!

Seriously though... 2 WEEKS!!! *SQUEEE*

The countdown begins!!

We're less than a month away from leaving for Peru now! I've put out a request to gather things that would be useful for us to bring to give to the Peruvian people while we're there.

Infant clothes and hats
Non sterile gloves
Pens for the school children
Children's chewable vitamins

We can each carry 2 50lb suitcases with us, but we'll only need one for our own gear, so the other is dedicated completely to carrying supplies that we'll leave there.

I have been working a lot of extra hours these last couple of weeks... trying to build up some more cash to take with me and maybe earn enough to buy a telephoto lens before I go. I'm exhausted and also trying to finish up the on-line Statistics class I have to complete to get into grad-school.

Anyway, hopefully everyone has received their thank-you notes (Rhia... yours is late, I had to figure out postage to Canada!)... and once again, THANK YOU all for your support. Without you this wouldn't have been possible!

Poker for Peru!!

Last night, Mike and I played poker with some friends. Mike took 1st and I took 2nd (tournament style Texas Hold 'em). Each person put in 20$ and we paid out the top 4 seats, so Mike won 40$ and I won $35. All of the winnings are going right into the Peru fund! I also got another $50 donation and sold my Nike sport band and sensor to my friend Michelle, so in total I've gathered $1725 for my trip!

I'm also picking up a few shifts here and there for extra money (overtime is good!) and I really think I'm going to be able to have the whole trip paid for before I leave!

In other news I was accepted to Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing this week! I start grad-school to become a midwife in May/June!! I am absolutely petrified and excited at the same time. Its very similar to how I felt starting my BSN program. I am confident that I can do this, but to be honest... I'm petrified of how much work it is going to require, and I can only hope that I'll be able to find a job when its all over.

Wish me luck?

Its a Garage Sale!!

Hey everyone! In order to try to raise some more money toward this mission Mike and I have been pulling together some things to sell in a virtual garage sale type format. He has already sold his Taylor acoustic guitar and I'm gathering items I can't/don't use to sell as well. First on the list is my Nike sport-band and shoe sensor... I only used it about 3 times because I've been told I should not run (ever) for the health of my feet, so it's going on the auction block. We're going to put my leather recliner on craigslist along with another office chair that we don't use... not huge ticket items, but every dollar counts and I really think its worth it. I'll post a full list of items for sale by Friday and hopefully we'll be able to get stuff sold over the weekend!

I'm trying to figure out (also) how to put a running total on the side bar, I'll see what I can come up with today... with the sale of Mike's guitar I'm up to $1550!!! YAY!!!