Shadowing at the Regional Hospital

On Monday I got to spend a few hours shadowing a relative of Jaquelis who is a gynecologist at the regional hospital in Cusco. Before I left Jaqueli told me that last year, the American staying with them had brought a friend to do the same, and that he had ended up fainting while watching a woman give birth! So, excited as I was to get to follow Jorge around for the afternoon, I was also pretty nervous about how I would react to what I was about to see.

And of course, the first place Jorge took me was the heart- and gut-wrenching scene of a woman having a miscarriage. Her 2-and-a-half-month-old baby had died inside her, and when I arrived on scene the doctor was cleaning her uterus and removing the dead fetus. I had never in my life seen so much blood (besides in my favorite medical shows, of course), nor did I anticipate that the woman would be fully conscious and moaning in the bed above me. Whether it was the rigorous scraping, the amount of blood, or the though of seeing a dead fetus, I felt myself getting dizzy within 5 minutes of entering the room. While I have never fainted in my life, I felt that that day might be my first time, so to avoid creating a scene and an unnecessary distraction for the doctors, I left the room to sit on a bench outside. After a few minutes, one of the nurses came out to bring me a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol to help keep me conscious if I was bordering that line. Jorge came out a bit later, once I was feeling better, and told me we had to go see a patient in an emergency situation. I was a bit embarrassed about my reaction to the miscarriage, so I was eager to follow him to the next adventure waiting. It turned out that the emergency was a pregnant woman needing and appendectomy (as determined by Doctor Jorge), so while it was hard to watch her crying in pain, the lack of blood on the scene of the diagnosis was a million times easier on my nerves.

Before his scheduled Cesarian sections at 4pm, Jorge walked around the hospital with me (and also bought me my favorite candy here, a Sublime, which is basically like a Mr. Goodbar but thicker and ten times more delicious). As we wandered through the hallways (that were much cleaner than those of the little clinic Im working at), Jorge informed me that not only was he a doctor but also an architect and an artist who had studied at the Universidad de Bellas Artes, a very prestigious university in Peru. He proceeded to show me 2 beautiful murals he had painted in the hospital, along with a gorgeous Greek-goddess-esque statue he had made, and then told me that he was currently studying law to get the ball rolling on his 4th career. Needless to say, I was exceptionally impressed and inspired; this man was not only very skilled in each of his professions, but continued to return to school to study and push himself further. I told him this, and like the wise man he is, he returned by saying that the most important vocation, and the hardest, is that of being a parent; no one can teach you how to be one, you must simply learn with practice, instinct, luck, trial, and error.

At 4, Jorge took me to scrub in for the Cesarian and, like in all my fantasies from watching House and Greys Anatomy, I found myself entering an operating room in full green scrubs, with my hair, shoes, and face covered. This time, I was ready for what lay ahead (although the sight of a 15 year old girl giving birth is never something you are really ready for). Standing just a few feet away from the surgery, I was awestruck by what I saw. I was fascinated by how diverse the layers of skin are, and how many were cut through to get to the uterus! Surprisingly, during all the cutting, and didnt actually feel faint at all but was loving every minute of it. I couldnt believe how rough the doctors seemed to be with the human body- they would make a small incision in a layer of skin and then the two of them, one on each side, would pull the skin open to stretch out the opening. When the baby was finally visible, they had to push on the womans upper abdomen while pulling the baby out by its head to get it out. The baby came out with the umbilical cord wrapped around its neck, and once on a separate table, you could see that something was wrong; his skin was bluish-green, he wasnt crying and was clearly having difficulty breathing. However, after several minutes of removing liquid from his throat and presumably his lungs, he began to breathe regularly and cry. Though I believe the mother may have been conscious (I think she only had an epidural for anesthesia), she was not able to hold her baby even after the surgery because he was taken to another room for immediate attention.

Throughout the entire procedure, I found myself fascinated by what I saw. The placenta, for example, is so much bigger than I had ever imagined; it was so big, in fact, that I thought it was the womans liver at first! I was amazed to see how Jorge expertly sewed up the uterus as it sat outside the womans body, and then moments later even more amazing as he smoothly popped it back inside (as if returning a water balloon to a bucket). The experience absolutely exceeded all my expectations, but didnt particularly make me want to be a doctor. I was, however, most definitely blown out of the water by the whole experience.

Desfilando, Corpus Cristi, and Inti Raymi

The past week leading up to the holidays of Corpus Cristi and Inti Raymi had the streets of Cusco packed with people, food, music, vendors, and so many vibrant colors. On Tuesday I participated in a desfile with my clinic; we dressed in red ponchos and sombreros and joined hoards of other organizations and groups from Cusco in marching up the Avenida del Sol through the main Plaza de Armas. The experience was, in a word, unique. I arrived with a nurse to the Avenida del Sol at 8:30 am and, as is pretty typical of Cusqueñan style, we ended up waiting around for hours before being able to march in the parade at 1 pm. While standing around, however, I got to see tons of other groups go by in elaborate traditional dress, dancing and playing live music as they passed us. One of my favorites was the group behind us: though I think the message was somehow promoting regular gynecological exams, the women were dressed as middle-aged pot-bellied men waving beer around in a silly sort of synchronized choreography.

As the groups slowly made their way through the cobblestone streets of Cuscos center, you couldnt help but be hit with Cuzqueñan pride. Vendors everywhere were selling traditional food, dress, and (along with packets of sunscreen) rainbow ribbons, pins, and flags so everyone could show his pride for the city. What inflated my pride even more than these colorful gestures was just getting to be IN the parade itself. Marching through the Plaza while crowds of Cuzqueñans and tourists lined the route made me feel like I was really getting to be a part of a tradition, as opposed to just standing on the sidelines and watching one.

Corpus Cristi, brought to Peru by the Spanish, is likely one of the most important Catholic holidays celebrated in this country.

On Thursday, the holiday began in the Plaza de Armas as huge effigies of 14 saints were carried out through crowds of people. The procession began with some of the most beautiful organ-accompanied choral music Ive ever heard being projected out from the cathedral, in a way so clear that it felt more like a soundtrack to the moment than anything else. Before the saints are carried out into the streets, an elaborately adorned metal altar carrying what is believed to be the blood of Christ, la carroza, is brought out through the crowds as everyone stands and removes their hats in respect.

What was most interesting to me was that, despite this being quite clearly a Catholic holiday, Cuzqueñans only eat Chiriuchu, a traditional Incan meal meaning "cold food," on this day. I went with some friends to the Plaza San Francisco nearby to discover vendor after vendor selling plates of Chiriuchu for 18 soles- a pretty expensive meal by Peruvian standards. Chiriuchu consists of a serving each of cuy (guinea pig), chicken, sausage, corn, seaweed, a native grain similar to quinua, and toreja- a savory sort of corn bread made with onions. The meal is eaten cold, as the Incas used to travel long distances through the Andes with their food. To eat the dish in the traditional way, you take a little of each component and chew them all together, combining the flavors and textures in your mouth. Although I didn't get to try the whole dish (and am still avoiding cuy like the plague) I did get to eat some toreja and dried corn, both of which I found extremely satisfying.

And then Friday was Inti Raymi, the Incan celebration of the Sun and the winter solstice. The celebrations began at Qoricancha, in the center of Cusco, with music, dancing, and the bringing out of the Inca- a man dressed as the king of the Cusqueñans who addressed the crowds in booming Quechua. It was so crowded that it was hard to see the ornate attire and dances of each group in the ceremony, but we pushed over one another in order to see the splendor. What made the moment just that much more Cuzqueñan was the presence of a dog in the middle of the ceremonial lawn; as dogs are allowed outside during the day, you can find them almost everywhere they "shouldn't be," from inside the medical clinics to, apparently, the center of a sacred Incan ritual. After starting in Qoricancha, the procession made its way to the Plaza de Armas, but 9 friends and I bypassed this step in order to beat the crowds to the final and most important location for Inti Raymi- the ruins of Sacsayhuamán. My friends and I tiredly weaved our way up steep streets and stairs, finally joining the massive pilgrimage up to Sacsayhuamán, which overlooks the city of Cusco (see my last entry). Once at the ruins, we hurriedly found a spot to sit among the high boulders overlooking the amphitheater below. You see, what most tourists do is just pay $80 for seats in the amphitheater to watch what has now become more show than ritual. My group decided to opt for the local-preferred, free option of staking out a spot above the site to watch from above. We arrived at around 10:30 in the morning, and, to our dismay, discovered that the ceremony itself didnt begin until 1:30. While we were glad that we got there early enough to get decent seats among the hoards of people, being under the strong Cuzqueñan sun (even at the day it was furthest from the earth) was not exactly a pleasant or comfortable experience.

Luckily, vendors were EVERYWHERE selling everything from ice cream to popcorn to chicha morada (a drink made of purple corn), keeping us cool, full, and busy. When the ceremony finally began, not only was it nearly impossible to see (due to the vast amount of people sitting on the angled ground in front of us) but the people around us drew more of our attention than the activities below. People were throwing rocks and bottles at each other for blocking the view or for standing up in the front, all while people behind us chanted "sientense! sientense!"- "sit down!" The most anticipated moment of the ceremony was the llama sacrifice, and while we still don't know if the beautifully dressed black llama was actually killed or not, the heart and lungs that the Inca held up were most definitely real (so cool).

In case anyone is interested, below is a link to The Lonely Planet's suggestions on planning your Inti Raymi experience. It might give you an even better idea of what this day was like!

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/travelblogs/1113/64522/Surviving+Inti+Raymi%3A+What+Not+to+Do?destId=363401

Sacsayhuamán

This weekend my group went to Sacsayhuamán (pronounced like "sexy woman" with a strange accent), a site of Inca ruins just outside of Cusco (actually, "just above" would be more accurate- we had the best view down to the city). Luckily, we were placed with a FANTASTIC guide who showed us around the site and gave us what might possibly have been the most exciting and interactive tour Ive ever taken. Before embarking on our journey, our guide discussed the meaning of the Incan cross, shaped like a cross with several steps in it (google chakana for pictures). He explained that the Incan cross represented the 3 worlds (the upper world of the gods, the world of human existence, and the underworld of the ancestors) and was also used as a calendar, with each corner representing one of the 12 months. As we walked up the hillside, he then began to point out several native plants (in Spanish and in Quechua) and their uses; the Incans had plants to combat soroche, altitude sickness, as well as flowers to rival our modern Viagra! He then proceeded to amaze us by bringing us into what used to be an old aqueduct but what was now an extremely dark and compact tunnel- through which we blindly snaked our way (holding the shoulders of the person in front of us for guidance) to the site of a manmade lagoon. By the now empty lagoon was an area for Inca mummification and a tall chair that was used as an area to communicate with nature. Our guide explained that the high level of magnetism located within the rocks is relaxing to whoever sits there- so of course we all did.

After showing us several other amazing sites (an Incan cemetery, a staircase that had been overturned by the Spanish, a huge boulder shaped like an Inca, a sacrificial table!!), our guide took us to my favorite part of the tour- the glacial ruins. We, as likely did Inca children, got to slide down these beautifully shaped, colorful rocks! No description could do the experience justice- Ill let the pictures do the talking here.

Sacsayhuaman, which houses Cuscos celebration of Inti Raymi- the celebration of the sun (this Friday!)- was yet again a place that did not fail to take my breath away. The history of the land itself, and of the stones, was so old that it was just magical to be there. We got to see the masterful way in which the Incans cut boulders to fit together perfectly without cement, and the areas where the Spanish opened up the cracks between them in search of silver and gold. We saw where Incan children played and where nobles were buried. Being there was like being in the presence of this grand civilization, by going through the motions of what life would have been like almost 9 centuries ago.

Cuzqueña Cuisine

Now that I'm settled into my routine here I can give you a little peek into some of the finer details of daily life here, starting with one of my favorite topics- food! Cusco boasts some of the freshest and healthiest cuisine in the world and, in addition to housing my new favorite grain- quinua, Peru is home to over 2000 species of potato. Needless to say, potatoes are of huge importance to the Peruvian diet. I personally think that Jaqueli's breaded and fried yucca are the best thing I've had since landing in Perú, but I have probably tried only 4 species of potato since arriving, so I guess I've got a long way to go before I can make such a claim.

A typical almuerzo (lunch- the largest meal of the day) includes some sort of meat, usually chicken or beef, a serving of rice, and a side of potatoes (so far I've had everything from fresh french fries to fried and breaded yucca). Jaqueli, being the loving and caring mother that she is, always serves huge portions of her delicious cooking and makes extra dishes, like a salad of salted avocados, tomatoes, and onions, to ensure that everyone leaves the table full and happy. As it is the largest meal of the day, everyone comes home from work or school around 1 to eat and rest before returning to the day's duties for a second shift that starts around 3.

Breakfast, el desayuno, and dinner, la cena, are typically much smaller meals and often consist of a simple serving of tea or mate and bread with butter, jam, or dulce de leche. However, due to Jaqueli's endless generosity (and my botomless stomach), I have gotten to explore several other versions of my first and last meals of the day. She has made me jam- or dulce de leche-filled crepes, yogurt and granola, toasted bread with cheese, omlettes, scrambles, and fried eggs in the mornings, cooking up hamburgers, meat sandwiches, soups, and endless french fries for me to eat at night.

As I mentioned above, mate is a central part of Cuzqueñan meals; I've been drinking at least 5 cups a day, especially at night to stay warm in the cold cement buildings. Cuzqueñans differentiate mate from normal tea in that it contains no caffeine or added sugars and is a 100% natural herbal tea. Some of my favorite mates have been coca (yes- from the plant that makes cocaine, but here the leaves are used not as a drug but as an herbal aid for the altitude adjustment), hierba luisa, and manzanilla (for the stomach).

Mate, as is the case with every drink here, is taken with sugar- and LOTS of it. In fact, sugar is such an integral part of Peruvian food that it has replaced artificial sweeteners like corn syrup in almost all processed food (making the Coca Cola and ketchup here SO much more delicious, and naturally sweet!).

I'm including a few pictures so you can get a better idea of the delicious food I have been eating here. Though adjusting to the large amount of meat Cuzqueñans eat has been tricky, I have had no problem at all getting used to the fulfilling starches and delicious sweets that I have been able to enjoy during my time here.

La Clinica

This week I began my work at the health clinic in Santa Rosa, about a 20 minute combi ride from my house in Cusco. I cant begin to talk about my work at the clinic without first explaining the combi system. The combis are small- to medium-sized vans that run on bus routes around Cusco and the surrounding neighborhoods, and cost only 60 cents (in soles, mind you) per ride. The tricky part about the combis is getting on and off; they stop only briefly at a bus stop to open the door while someone manning the door yells out upcoming stops auctioneer-style, while telling you hurriedly to "Sube! Sube!"-get on! Often the combi will start to drive off before the door closes behind you, and you have to wrentch yourself up into another passenger's lap to stay on board. Getting off is just as tricky: you yell "Baja!" when you want to stop and pay the person manning the door as you are hurried off the combi, making sure to get your change before the rickety vehicle starts to move again.

The clinic I am working at is very small, containing one room each for an obstetrics unit, a pediatrics area, a dentist, a psychologist, a general doctor, and a laboratory (some of which are located in an outdoor area behind the building itself). After lining up in front of the clinic before the doors open in the morning, patients wait in the crowded hallway for what can sometimes be hours until they are seen. My first day I was placed in the obstetricia to work with the obstetrician and a nurse for my first rotation. While I spent a lot of my time sitting quietly and observing the doctor-patient interactions, I actually got to examine a patient and extract secretion samples on my first day! So far I have also helped to examine many pregnant women, locating their babies heads and listening to their hearts, and have helped update lots of hand-written medical histories. Today I got to spend some time working by myself with the general doctor in the clinic as well, which was great because he let me examine all the patients with him as he explained not only what he was doing but why. I got to observe several ultrasounds and learned the formula they use to ascertain whether a woman's belly is the size it should be for her weeks of pregnancy.

Throughout the course of a morning we see around 20 patients, so I've already been exposed to a variety of medical issues and patient scenarios. What first impacted me the most was noting that the average age of the pregnant women coming in (many already with toddlers) was 23. I saw a 16 year old and two 20 year old girls my first day working, all of whom were due to give birth before the end of the year. After talking with the médico today I learned that many women coming into the clinic, which draws mostly quechua-speaking patients from rural areas, actually started having children around the age of 15! What was further hard-hitting was the fact that many of the women coming in for prenatal checkups were malnourished, anemic, and underweight. While the obstetrician (whose demeanor is much like that of Christina from "Grey's Anatomy") scolded them and told them what they needed to be eating, I couldn't help b

ut wonder if some of these women had control over their dietary intake. Many came in without any sort of seguro, or insurance, and confessed that they ate mostly soup, potatoes, and bread- common sources of sustenance in poor, rural areas of Cusco. It was sad to watch these women get reprimanded; you could tell from their eyes that they worried just as much for the health of their babies as did the obstetrician.

Andahuaylíllas and Tipón

Today my group got to travel to some areas outside of Cusco, beginning with a bumpy van ride to Andahuaylíllas, the site of a church built in the 1500s. Although we werent allowed to take pictures inside, trust me when I say that this church deserves its nickname as the Sistine of the Andes. Despite its humble, colonial-looking outside, the inside was filled with hand-painted frescos, elaborate murals, and 6 huge oil paintings artfully done in a very museum-worthy European style. However, what was most interesting about the church was that it was built and decorated entirely by indigenous Peruvians. So what stuck out the most during our private tour were the hidden remnants of Inca religion that the artists had snuck into the creation of this masterpiece: the giant gold sun placed at the top of the altar, to help the indigenous Peruvians feel comfortable when praying towards the large statue of Jesus right below, and the countless mirrors lining the curves of the metalwork, reminding the Peruvians of the reflective glory of the sun, even while standing inside the dark church. What our tour guide neglected to tell us, but of which I was reminded by Jaquelis brother during dinner, was that the church itself was actually built on top of the ruins of an Inca temple- an explicit message from the Spanish that they were here to dominate everything about Inca civilization.

After stopping in a town filled with only families who owned bakeries (and getting our 5 soles worth of delicious freshly made bread), we headed up a treacherously thin and windy road to Tipón, the site of an Inca agricultural center. The site was full of open grassy terraces, and there were canals of water flowing down the mountainside that have been running from a natural spring since the height of the Inca empire. Several members of my group and I split off during our lunch break to hike high above the terraces to see more ruins and get an even better look at the already gorgeous view from 11,200 feet. Though hiking was extremely difficult, and we were all winded by the time we reached the top, the trek was worth it. And realizing that we were standing in what was once a bustling, integral part of Inca civilization made the moment just that much more breathtaking.

Exploring

After seeing what became of that first blog post, I've decided to make future entries much shorter if possible. This one will be a much more brief discussion of my latest adventures, I promise!

Now that I've been here for almost two whole days, I have gotten the chance to start to explore much further beyond the walls of my house. Last night I went with Cydni to a café in the Plaza de Armas, where I ate pizza with cuy (guinea pig!), a delicacy here in Peru. Though the experience was fun and a must-do on my list of adventures this summer, I don't think I'll be eating cuy, prepared somewhat like bacon on the pizza, again any time soon. Today, in fact, I went to a rural village 40 minutes outside of Cusco to build stoves with my ProWorld group and in exchange, the grateful villagers prepared us a feast of cuy, potatoes, and cheese. While I was blown away by the generosity of the villagers and enjoyed my cheese and potatoes, I happily gave my leg of cuy to our cuy-loving bus driver David.

Our work in the village was one of the greatest experiences I've had in my life. Never before have I done any sort of community service involving manual labor, but today, I (with many new friends interning here this summer!) spent 6 hours building adobe stoves in the hot Peruvian sun- and I LOVED it. I think the most enjoyable part was getting to interact with the villagers and knowing that we were helping them create a healthier and much safer set-up for their kitchens. Without the cleaner burning stoves we were constructing, many of the women develop severe respiratory issues due to fume inhalation and also often catch on fire when working over the stoves. After the community president came to our ProWorld representative, Lalo, ProWorld began sending volunteers to build new stoves with long chimneys to direct the smoke out of the houses- a much safer alternative for these women who often spend the majority of their days in the kitchen. Not only was the work rewarding, but the village itself was eye-opening and beautiful. This was likely the greatest level of poverty I have ever witnessed first-hand; the children played in mud filled with animal hair and bugs, trash was everywhere, and livestock (cows, sheep, pigs, guinea pigs, chickens, dogs, cats, donkeys, goats) ran more or less free throughout the village. But despite these conditions that to an outsider might seem unlivable, the villagers seemed happy, the children were adorable and full of joy, and the daily routine seemed as normal to them as to anyone else I've ever met.

CUSCO!

Wow, okay, my first blog post from Peru! So much has already happened in my first 48 hours here that I want to share with everyone! Though I know I cant share everything during the next few weeks, I do hope to give you a good idea of the experiences I have and some of my reflections on what I encounter. Here goes...

First of all, for those of you who are wondering what it is that Im doing here, heres a little introduction to my plans (also, please forgive the fact that I have not yet figured out how to type an apostrophe using a Peruvian keyboard!). Im here in Cusco for the next 6 weeks and living with a host family, thanks to ProWorld, an NGO that organizes study, internship, and volunteer opportunities around the world. Every morning Ill be working at a health clinic outside of the city, and in the afternoons Ill be taking Spanish classes, for at least the first month Im here. I start my internship and Spanish classes Monday, so Ill have much more information on what Im doing then! I do know that Ill be doing some sort of rotation in the clinic- they have an obstetrics unit, a lab, pediatricians, as well as general physicians who I will hopefully get to work with! On Saturdays ProWorld asks us to participate in a variety of service projects they have established in the area, and on Sundays they organize excursions for us, such as to Incan ruins and various communities. Tomorrow Ill be working on a project all day to build cleaner burning stoves out of adobe with other interns and semester students studying in Cusco.

During my longest flight from LA to Lima, I decided to watch The Motorcycle Diaries, which details the journey that Che Guevara took around Latin America with a friend before he became the leader of the Cuban revolution for which we remember him. It was such a perfect choice for a film during my flight, as Guevara had his most life-changing revelations while in Peru, interacting with its indigenous populations. This made me really excited for my adventure this summer, because, even if I dont have any life-changing revelations, I know that I will learn so much from the people I interact with here. Also- just wanted to share a great moment in the movie: Guevara is talking to a young boy in Cusco, who is showing him the walls the Spanish built on top of Incan walls that had existed prior to the conquest. The boy tells Guevara, pointing to the wall of the Incas, "este es el muro de los Inca," and then, pointing to the Spanish bricks says, "y este es el muro de los incapaces." To translate, "this is the wall of the Inca, and this is the wall of the incapable {the Spanish}."

After the very long journey here (involving a 9 hour layover in LA, some turbulent descents, and a missed flight into Cusco), my first impression of the city was the dust. The dry season is well under way in Peru, and it was immediately evident as my taxi from the airport took me along the citys winding roads to the ProWorld office. The sun is hot and strong during the day, and the nights are very, VERY cold (last night I slept in wool socks, long underwear, sweatpants, and 4 layers below my sweatshirt and the 5 blankets on my bed). Cusco is a relatively smaller city, with a population under 400,000, but already seems to have a lot of character. The people seem friendly and laid back, and my host family has been nothing but extremely welcoming from the get-go.

In fact, my first night here really gave me some insight into the welcoming culture that exists in Cusco. Before sitting down to eat la cena, we were joined by 4 boys who are here as Mormon missionaries. The boys had recently befriended my host family after making their calls door-to-door, but what was most surprising to me was that their interactions with my host family were those of close friends or even family. As my host mother, Jaqueli, prepared dinner, the boys, Yackeli (Jaquelis oldest daughter), Cydni (the other ProWorld volunteer staying with me), and myself sat around the living room discussing religion, God, music, and our life goals- as if this was just normal light conversation to be having with near strangers. Not only did I find our discussions fascinating, but I was impressed to have found such a mix of cultures and backgrounds interacting this way so soon into my journey. The boys were all from the United States except one, who was from Guatemala, but all were perfectly fluent in Spanish- something they had picked up just from living here and doing their missionary work. The wide representation of religion in the house was also refreshing, as the Mormon boys were joined by Jaqueli, a Catholic, Cydni, a non-denominational Christian who comes from a long line of priests, and myself, a Jew. The conversation was enthralling and the company was exciting and welcoming. As we all sat and ate I found myself moved by the fact that, despite the vast differences of religion, ideology, cultural background, and language, everyone was laughing and enjoying the same meal together like one family.

This morning, after taking a "placement exam" for my Spanish classes that was more like a 15 minute conversation with the professor, I spent some time sitting in the back patio of the house to journal in the sun. Jaqueli left the house for a bit and I was joined only by Matias, the familys adorable dog, whose gender is somewhat unclear to me as Jaqueli had two big pink bows out in his hair like pigtails. As I sat outside, entirely alone, I realized that I had been talking to Matias in Spanish, despite the fact that I could very well have just spoken English and it wouldnt have made a difference to him. I think that my interaction with Matias is a very good sign that I am in a mindset that bodes well for the experiences that lay ahead.