INCCA Mission - Cervi Cusco

We traveled to Peru to work in the Cervi Cusco clinic. Please go to the International Cervical Cancer Foundation website to learn more and be sure to watch the documentary video. It was an amazing experience. The other volunteers were wonderful and the Peruvian people are very special.

The Pathology Team

Emily was the star registration and data entry person.

Peruvian patients at the clinic

A Sprouts is sprouting

I had not heard of Sprouts before, but in one week a new store will be opening that is about a mile from the house in Ft Collins. It might just be the next best thing to Trader Joe's. Plus I got a coupon for a free 5 pound bag of potatoes...enough said...

4th day in Peru.

We rested the first day to get used to the elevation, we trekked to Machu Picchu the second day (it was amazing), and we have worked in the clinic 2 days now. Please see AGPERPs blog to read about the first 2 days in a little more detail.

The clinic is very nice, it is only a year old. There are 40 volunteers from all over the US volunteering. The first day was pretty chaotic trying to get set up for the week. So far there haven´t been an overwhelming amount of patients, but there is a lot of work for me and the other cytotechs to do, there were over 400 Paps waiting to be read out when we arrived. Some women travel very long distances to get health care. Last week, one woman walked 5 hours and then took a bus 10 hours to get to the clinic. It seems that the people here do not trust the national health system and would rather recieve care from the ¨American doctors¨.

Emily has also been a great help for the clinic. She has been working on process improvements, and there are many, she has a long list of things she would like to do for the clinic before we leave. Today she also did a large amount of data entry for Pap results and doctors notes, etc.

We are not sure if we will be going to the clinic tomorrow. There will be a national strike. Emily is writing more about it on her blog.

We have eaten at 2 incredible restaurants the past 2 nights. One is called Chi Cha de Gaston Acurio, the other was called Marcelo Batata. They both serve Peruvian fusion cuisine. Emily had Alpaca last night which was excellent. Tonight I had a lamb burger. We have also taken a liking to Pisco Sours. It is made with Pisco, a Peruvian Brandy, lemon juice and egg whites. We make our own food while we are at the clinic. There is a mercado just down the street. The avocados, tortas (cakes), breads, and cheeses here are wonderful.

Some more SLC for your viewing pleasure

We tested out TRAX in the downtown free fare zone. We rode to the LDS Conference Center.

The LDS Conference Center has a waterfall from the roof all the way down to the street.

The source of the waterfall is this rooftop fountain.

The water travels through many pools before it drops to street level.

The roof is also planted with about 3 acres of native prairie grasses, trees, and flowers. You are not allowed to visit the roof unless you are with a tour or a guide. We had the pleasure of being shown around by Laralee (or something like that.) She was the nicest, slowest walking LDS lady I have ever met.

Across the street from the LDS Conference Center, in the Temple Square, are some beautiful flower gardens.

The view back to the LDS Conference Center.

At the end of the roof tour I signed up for the bi-weekly Mormon Mailer.

Fancy Cupcakes

The morning before graduation, Chris and I went down the street to Cupcake A La Mode for some yummy cupcakes for everyone. We tried Stuffed French Toast, After Dinner Mint, Bella Nutella, Marshmallow Dream, Raspberry Lemonade, and Chocolatte.

It's official!

My realtor just called and the buyers just closed this afternoon!

Graduation Dinner

We ate at Blanc Burgers + Bottles. We both had the Inside Out Burger and we both agree it was one of the best burgers we have ever had! They make their own ketchup, chipotle aioli and stone ground mustard. They were excellent. They also had a really good beer menu (according to Chris).

I liked the mini shopping carts the fries and onion rings came in.

Mom and Dad surprised me with Christopher Elbow chocolates at the end of the meal. Root beer float, malted milk and hops ganache were the 3 flavors. Mmmm. Love Christopher Elbow!

More Graduation

Just a couple more pictures from graduation. These are really all we have, I am waiting on pictures from mom.

Sleepy Head

It was a pretty boring drive to Colorado. We made it in 9.5 hours. We unpacked the truck last night. Erica is sorting through and unpacking boxes before she flies back to KC this evening. Chris is working from home today.

Class of 2009

Poor Orchid

Do you remember Erica's beautiful orchid? Alas, it is no more. I am glad this wasn't a dog or a child!

Time of death - 18:50.

It had some crazy fuzzy orchid fungus!

My cube has a view!

I met my new boss Mark and the rest of my team. Everyone seems very cool and I think they like to have fun - everyone had a nerf gun during the team meeting that I was brought in on. I am very excited!

New Home Away From Home

I just heard from the owners of this property and they want to offer me the upstairs apartment. I submitted the rental application, they checked my references - they actually said they were a little sick of hearing all of the superlatives from my references today :) and it is all mine in July.

It is in a nice and safe area called Marmalade Hill which is just a few blocks from downtown. It is also only a few blocks from the freeway which will take me to work every day.

Google Map: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=40.779157,-111.896901&spn=0.000933,0.00206&t=h&z=20&msid=108170651587924089240.000469ade560f5f4cdcee

Bathroom

Slate tile, linen closet and all new fixtures.

Bedroom

The carpet will be ripped out and replaced with new bamboo flooring before I move in.

WTF?

The amazing artwork above our hotel room bed. We are staying at the Metropolitan Inn which got great ratings on hotels.com and was cheap. It serves continental breakfast in the morning and has free wi-fi. It is very clean and the staff is super friendly. Even so, we just can't shake the weirdness that is the Wizard of Oz.

Office Visit

Erica before her trip to her new office.

The office. It is located in Sandy, UT

Squatters

We had dinner at a brew pub called Squatters last night. Chris got the beer sampler which was served in an old ski.

The Widest Streets in the Whole Wide World

The streets in downtown SLC are unusually wide. They were made that way to accommodate teams of horses way back when. At first the flags seemed a little silly. But, it is really difficult to gauge how far away the other side of the street is in relation to the cars on the road. Many streets are 6 lanes wide.

SLC

Looking South from Ensign Vista over the Capitol.

My sweet GPS

Chris got this for me for graduation and he gave it to me early so we could use it this weekend. We have been having fun picking accents for the voice. My favorite so far is Australian.

4 day weekend in Salt Lake City

Spring Cleaning

It was a very nice evening in Colorado so I got outside and did some spring cleaning. I mowed the lawn and I spent a couple hours in the garage. It really needed cleaning. And I have to get it ready for a second car :) The before picture is actually after round 1 of cleaning. Tonight was round 2. I think I might have 1 or 2 more rounds before I completely knock out the mess.

BEFORE

AFTER