Una Fiesta De Santa Rosa

Hola mis amigos. The last couple of days have been packed with fun. I managed to go with Karina and Fernando, employees of the clinic, north to many different towns to inform the people that if they needed emergency medical care all of the costs would be covered including the transportation. Many of the people were in disbelief. It was great to see the different towns. I was the offical photographer for the day :)

Today I ran into a surgeon that had exchanged emails with me before I left. When I mentioned that I hadn´t been allowed to work with the nurses at Clinica San Pablo he took me in his car to the Hospital Regional in the south end of town where he also works. I meet with him tomorrow to discuss the possibility of volunteering there!

I then went to the mercado to take pictures and ran into a fiesta, equipped with a band and crates of beer. The fiesta was right in the middle of the market, a most inconvenient location for those who wanted to pass, and was celebrating Santa Rosa. One person insisted that I drink some beer and dance; so there I was giggling, dancing, and drinking with the locals. The plan was for me to go climbing after the mercado, but when one of the women insisted that I go with them to her house for the rest of the celebration, I couldn´t pass up the opportunity. There I was in the backseat of a taxi with 3 band members and their large instruments. I have no idea how we all fit in the back seat but somehow we managed. The views from this house were amazing, overlooking all of Huaraz. As I walked back down from the party this evening I kept hearing "gringa, gringa", a rare sight in those parts.

Karina is actually going to Pisco and Ica the weekend after this one and has invited me to tag along. She is planning on bringing water and clothes for people there and is going to help out in any way possible. I´m hoping to make arrangements to go with her :)