Hey. It’s Kristen, Wayne’s daughter.

Dad called last night (Wednesday) and told mom that he lost his wi-fi connection. It went off last night (Wednesday) before he could upload the photos. He will upload everything whenever he can get a connection… that maybe as late as Saturday when he gets back home.

This post is post-posted—pre-dated—well, you know what I mean. I am writing on the posted date of the post. Sorry again. I have lost my Internet connection. Don’t know why. But then I didn’t know why I had it in the first place.

It is 9:55 and the cowbell guy is back. We discussed it at breakfast. Keith Olree said the cowbell guy was alerting people that they could bring out their trash for the trash truck. It seems odd, but he must be right. The trash truck comes about 10 minutes after he rings the bell. I don’t know why he needs to ring it for so long on our street corner.

A few more updates: I now know why the houses look so bad—the taxes are lower if the house is unfinished, so no one finishes their house. And land is expensive, relatively, so people build up instead of out. Well-off families live in the bottom floor and rent out or sell the upper floors to those who can’t afford to live on the ground floor. That is why the even the good houses still have bad-looking, unfinished upper floors.

Update 2: The room at the back of the community center that I mentioned yesterday is actually someone’s house. The back door of the house opens into the community center.

Update 3: Oh, and the dog is fine. I saw it tonight at the children’s class.

Right-of-way is a very loose concept down here and “leash law” is a non-existent concept. I haven’t seen any traffic lights, stop signs, or for that matter, traffic signs of any kind. The drivers just seem to drive where they want to and people and dogs just walk (or lay) where they want and some how everyone misses each other, if barely. If they have car problems, they seem to just stop and work on right on the street.

There are dogs all over the place. All of them are nice, at least to people. I have heard a few dog fights but I haven’t seen any.

The clinic got very slow in the early afternoon. At one point there was no one waiting in line for a doctor or screening. Well, the dentist was busy. Andrew Marshall never gets a break. We saw some people working on the mountain in the distance. It looks like they were clearing land of rocks or building another retaining wall. I used my longest lens to take a few photos.

The doctors have had some tough cases. One man had a broken arm; a few people were in wheel chairs. One of the patients told the screener he was a paranoid schizophrenic. The doctors just can’t help cases like these in a simple clinic like ours.

The one patient that stands out in my mind is a man who was using a beat-up chair for a walker. He pushed the chair a few inches in front of himself and then moved a step. Since I was one of the people working crowd control, I had to move him around a bit. I felt bad each time I did, but he seemed to accept his problem.

I went to the children’s class tonight. They sort-of blocked off a street. What they really did was setup a circle with a few benches that some of us carried from the church building a block away. There are several ladies who teach the class. They told a story using poster boards they had drawn pictures on. I think the story was Peter and Cornelius, but I’m not really sure. Then they told another story with some of the ladies acting out some of the story while another lady narrated it. During the story someone in a house next to the class needed to leave in their car, so some of us moved the benches and children out of the way while he backed out. The story continued during this. They also sang some songs. The children really like to sing. At the end they handed out a worksheet with connect-the-dots, fill in the letters for numbers to see the message (I can’t think of a shorter name for it), etc. Andrew Lawson brought some candy to hand out. I helped give it away. The kids swarmed all over us.

Tomorrow is the last day of the clinic. We will open the clinic for half a day and then pack up and move to Mira Flores—a very different part of Lima.

We had another smooth morning at the clinic. When I left for lunch, the line waiting outside was only 50 feet. That is the shortest I have ever seen it. Here are a few photos.

Today is… Today is, uh, uhmm… Today is an increasingly irrelevant concept. We are now somewhere in the second half of the trip. I think.

I had the local apple juice this morning. It is good, but very appley. (Is that a word?)

Not much time for a blog. Cold water this morning and I locked my key in the room and I had to get seconds on biscuits and gravy. Sorry. Here are the numbers.

• 527 patients
• 1378 prescriptions
• 54 dental patients
• 64 teeth extracted
• 192 pairs of eyeglasses
• 230 in children’s classes (And i thought we had controlled chaos)
• 15 in young people’s classes
• 196 at services (the local fire Marshal said the suggested occupancy is 35. For the clinic, anyway.)
• 3 baptisms

We had an even smoother day at the clinic. It seemed to me that people were moving through faster. My job is crowd control–putting people into and out of lines–one for screening, one for doctors and occasionally the dentist & eye glasses line. I also check on people who are just wandering around inside to see where they should be. I get many chances this way to entertain the locals with my Spanish. It is not hard to get them to laugh, especially the kids. Several people say ‘John Wayne!” after I tell them my name. I usually give them a bit of my John Wayne impression. It leaves them in stitches. Well, not literally. I will describe more of my adventures another day. (How many are left? I forget.)

There is always a long line of people to get into the clinic. The ‘bouncer’ has to keep the door closed and locked unless he is letting in people. That is not the job I want. In fact, thinking about it, I don’t think I would want to trade with anyone. Pull 55 teeth in one day–not even if I could. Give reading glasses to over a hundred people a day, most of the time without a translator–I think not. Andrew even screened patients without a translator today because we were low on translators. My job is a bit hot, but I wouldn’t trade with anyone else here. Anyway, it’s actually fun now that I half-way know what I am doing.

I think I forgot to mention it, but Saturday we had a rush at the door. Several people shoved their way in before the door was closed and locked. No problems since then however. We did have to throw out a dog today though. Actually, some of the locals, patients I think, threw it out. Well, they didn’t actually throw it.

Looking back over the photos, it occurs to me that anyone looking at them will think this place looks like a war zone. Well… it does. However, the people act like it is just another small town. People are sweeping the sidewalks every morning when we go to the clinic. There are always lots of people out, walking and just hanging around. The streets have a fair amount of traffic, mostly the tiny cars you see in my photos. Think of it as a very poor and dusty Mayberry. We usually walk to the clinic in groups, but sometimes I end up walking by myself. I feel safe–no one has bothered me any. However, two people asked if I was a Republican or Democrat today. I have no idea why. Given a choice between walking down a street in New York after dark or a street in Villa Maria after dark, I would pick Villa Maria every time.

On the way to church tonight I stopped at a different street-side store to buy an Orange Crush. Again, 1 sole for a cold half liter. I only got 25 or so soles in change at the airport and I don’t think I can change any more money here, but since all I spend them on is water or a soda or a pack of Peruvian crackers (1/2 sole) to take home to the kids, it should be enough. Either word had gotten around or they recognized my camera case because they wanted me to take a photo of them. I was happy to oblige. Everyone wants their photo taken and to see it on the camera.

Well, I plan to get to bed on time tonight, so that is all. The trash truck and the cowbell guy have already come by so maybe I can get to sleep easily. I shot video of the cowbell guy so I can prove his existence. There is no other way people would believe me. Here are most of todays photos. I will add the rest tomorrow. Be sure to see the view of the kitchen from the rooftop.

Adios

Good morning campers! Today is, uh, uh, a weekday. I think. I have a 5 in7 chance of being right. I think. I’m at breakfast now. Oatmeal, cooked apples, raisins, bacon, beef stick, muffins, raisin bread and several types of local juice. I planned to drink apple, but it turns out that what I choose was peach. Another new experience for me.

We are staying at the Miami Hostel. Really. There were problems with the Hotel Benaute. They said they had added a floor. They had. They just had not added paint. Or beds. This is a better hotel anyway. One of the local Christians told Lynnwood (our esteemed leader and advance-man) about it. It is a 5 minute walk from the community center where we hold the clinic.

(Time for morning devo in the ‘cafeteria’. In English and Spanish. And short so we can get to work quickly. Back in a moment.)

I’m back.

The posted rates on the hostel wall are from $3 to $10 although that might be for half a day. I’m not sure of the Spanish. Private bathroom is extra. Hot water is extra. TV is extra. Andrew and I must have the penthouse suite because we have all of them.

The room is very small—perhaps 100 sq. ft. There is a separate bathroom. There is not a closet or shower curtain. But there is a shower. With hot water. Most of the time. It takes several minutes to get warm and the temperature during the shower varies from scalding hot to ice-cube cold. But there is generally hot water—that is all that matters.

We get a clean towel every day when the room is cleaned. The texture of the towel is, uh—I would say worn out but that would give ‘worn out’ a bad name. Maybe sandpaper. But it is a clean towel—that is all that matters.

The main building holds the rooms. On either side are two separate buildings that are joined to the main one. One has more rooms. The other one holds the ‘cafeteria’. It is one large open room where the food is prepared and where we eat. To get there from the rooms you sort-of have to walk outside. There are walls, but no roof in the passage way. It is open to the construction above. Actually, it looks like construction but I have never seen anyone work on it. We eat with the local workers so there is about 75 people. A big job for the cooks.

Announcements are over, so off to brush my teeth (with bottled water), post and get to work.

Adios Amigos.

The clinic runs smoother every day. We are getting more organized and us new gringos are beginning to get the hang of it. I have learned a lot of Spanish down here. I had studied Spanish for about 6 months before I came, mostly from ‘Learn in Your Car Spanish”. However, I have had very few chances to practice it—and most of those were with Keith Olree. (Another gringo from Madison, for those who don’t know.) Learning Spanish without talking with Spanish-only speakers is like learning to swim without going in the water. What you learn will help some, but when you are finally thrown in the deep end, it’s not enough. Luckily, there are many people with us who can speak Spanish and English and many of the local Christians do also. Most of the translators are local. Also, I have learned a lot of Spanish very quickly down here. I really only need a few phrases most of the time and I can borrow a translator for a minute when I need to.

Time is a much loser concept down here. People come into church services late, sometimes even after it is half over, and walk down to the front row if that is the only seat. Sometimes some one at the front will just get up and walk to the back, right down the aisle.

Last night I mentioned a few tings that were different. One thing that is the same is cell phones going off in church. Actually, that happens a lot more down here. Tonight, after a bit of what I just mentioned, a phone ring for 30 seconds—no one stopped it. Then it happened again. And a minute later, again. Then a lady got up, walked to the front and stood on a step behind the preacher and looked out over the audience for a minute. Then she walked to the back. A minute later the phone started ringing again. Then a girl came running down the aisle and up to one of the doors behind the preacher. (Look at the clinic photos to see what I mean.) She pulled out keys and quickly unlocked the door, ran in and stopped the ringing. After a few minutes she left and walked to the back. During all of this, the preacher never missed a beat. Nerves of steel.

The service Saturday night was all in Spanish and only the prayers were translated into English. Sunday, everything was translated into English except the sermon. It was in English and was translated into Spanish. (In case you had not thought about it, a translated sermon takes twice as long—actually a bit more than twice because of the pauses between English and Spanish. Tonight, nothing was in English. I caught about one phrase every minute. It made listening a bit more difficult, not to mention comprehension.

I started writing after diner and finished after I got back to my room and uploaded photos. Once again I have stayed up too far past my bedtime. I really need the sleep, so that’s all for now. Too bad the cowbell guy is back. Everyone walking down the street is just ignoring him. Again, all the photos are here and Day 4 photos are here. And, yes, I know day 1 is blank. I will fix that later.

Adios amigos.

Today is, uh, Monday, I think. This is the view from my room.

I’ve been awaken by traffic and other city sounds before. And I’ve been awaken by roosters before. But never both at the same time.

We brought our own food, but our cooks add a little bit of local flavor. The Kool-Aid is the Peruvian version. One of the flavors is blue corn. Tastes like grape bubblegum. We had biscuits, gravy & spam this morning. Spam has never tasted so good. We also had biscuits with chocolate gravy. It is actually very good. I’ll going to try it when I get back home.

I have Wi-Fi in my room on the fourth floor. I was completely amazed by this. I haven’t even seen a telephone anywhere down here. I actually have two access points to choose from. One is ‘very low’ signal strength and the other is ‘as close to no signal as possible without actually not having a signal’. But, that is enough.

I write the morning post on my computer after breakfast and then post it after brushing my teeth. I don’t have a signal on the ground floor–I have to go back to my room. We don’t have much free time and I have to use every bit of it if I want to be able to blog and post photos.

One of the most amazing things here is the price of things. A half liter of Coke, Pepsi or water from the small store on the street is only 1 sole. That is only 35 – 40 cents.

I have not had a chance to write about our hotel yet. Perhaps tomorrow. Those who have been before say it is much better than the past. I would hate to see the hotels of the past.

Here are the numbers from Sunday.

• 522 patients (or maybe it was prescriptions)
• 54 patients for the dentist
• 53 teeth (with 1 dentist)
• 140 pairs of glasses
• 77 in children’s classes
• 152 in services
• 2 baptisms

We ran the clinic all day today and had church services at night like all the other days here. We had two baptisms tonight.

They do things a bit different down here. ‘At’ doesn’t mean at, it means ‘no earlier than’. The communion bread is a baked flour tortilla. The grape juice is apparently freshly squeezed–it still has grape pulp in it. ‘In conclustion’ in a sermon means 15 minutes more.

Tonight we had a couple of dog fights nearby for background sounds. Last night it was salsa music from across the street. (There is not a roof in the clinic which is also used for the church services this week, only walls.)

When things slow down for a moment and I get a chance to take a few photos at the clinic, all the kids want me to take there photo and show it to them on the camera.

Here are all the photos for Sunday.

It has been smoother today as we get used to the routine, but still very busy. No time for more words, just the photos.