By Christine Chevalier
We slept in for the first and only time this week, after this we’re looking at early morning starts at 6:45am and earlier! After a breakfast of coffee, papaya juice, bread, pineapple and papaya some team members went to the local market for Peruvian popcorn, some took pictures with the llamas behind the hotel, and some relaxed in the courtyard until we met for our group picture. Our incredible Peruvian guide, Luis, brought us the shirts you see in the pictures! We are so thankful to have him with us, he truly works hard to make sure everything runs smoothly and safely. The team walked to the hospital to prepare and unpack all the medical and surgical supplies we brought from America. With every hand on deck we were able to set up the medical clinic and the eye/surgical clinic in good time. Our team was so efficient they were able to perform eye exams on about 45 patients! The optometrists, optometry students, and medical students worked so hard during this process and got a feel for this portion of our clinic. A handful of patients were identified for cataract surgery, and the ophthalmologists will be ready for operation first thing in the morning. After closing up the clinic for the day, the team dispersed for dinner around Calca and some even traveled about 30 minutes to Urubamba. The hotel informed us of water outage, meaning no flushing toilets, running sinks or showers but the team made do with bottled water, washcloths, face wipes and deodorant in hopes of water coming back Monday morning! Bedtime came early with the thought of a long week ahead, and late at night a band began playing loud music outside the hotel in the square hopefully lulling some of us to sleep.
