LMU Application~Three years of medical school~ Eight hours on a plane~one day in Lima~Eight more hours on a bus and finally we made it!
Welcome to our LMU Blog everyone! Helen and I are so excited to be able to share our experiences in Huancayo, Peru with you all! It has been a crazy adventure just getting to this point and we can't wait to see what lies ahead for us during our time here!
Our journey to Huancayo really began before we even applied to medical school and we both read about the LMU program at MSU. For me it just seemed like the perfect opportunity to combine my passions of medicine and working with the underserved. I always dreamed of traveling abroad as a physician and working with individuals who were not as fortunate as I, of course I didn't understand the intricacies of medical care abroad but that desire just stuck with me.
To be honest, when I read the description of LMU and the blog posts of students who had traveled abroad through the program in the past I felt like it was meant to be. Let's go back a few years and find out why...in undergrad at the University of Michigan, I had gone to a few FIMRC meetings and been volunteering in the organization and the spring of my sophomore year the upcoming president sat next to me randomly (I felt) and asked me if I would apply to be on the executive board for the next year. At that point, I definitely thought that I was not qualified or involved enough to be on the executive board but I took a leap of faith and made it. The experiences and people I met through the organization really helped me grow into the person I was meant to become. During my time there we were able to fundraise the missing funds to establish a new clinic in the Dominican Republic. Through our donation and the donation of years before us in 2012 Project Restauracion became a reality. I was unfortunately not able to go on the founding visit to the site but was looking forward to a trip in the future. However, over the next year the opportunity to volunteer at a site just never seemed to work out.
Fast forward to the 2013, when I was applying to medical school, reading about the LMU program and finding out that they use FIMRC to do their international rotations I felt excited. (Fate, right? That's what I thought too!) So I applied! However, after months of waiting I found out that I didn't get into the 2014 class at MSU and instead was accepted into the ABLE program, a post baccalaureate program that guarantees admission into the medical school class the following year after successful completion of the programs requirements. After a year of honing my science skills and finding my love for anatomy, I joined the 2015 MSU CHM class, with most of my fellow ABLE family. At that point, I had to reapply to the LMU program but I definitely knew that I was meant to be there and was accepted a few weeks later.
After making it through two grueling years of medical school and Step 1 (a big bad board exam), I was ready to start my journey in Flint. Through the LMU program we were able to choose a location in the community to volunteer on a regular basis. I chose to volunteer at Whaley Children's Center a home for children in the foster care system. Adrienne (a fellow LMU student) and I feel in love with the elementary- high school children that we taught on a weekly basis. We covered numerous topics starting with nutrition, the human body and some fun science experiments. I had previous worked at a camp for children in the foster care system and had developed an indescribable love for these kids. My year at Whaley flew by and it was hard to let go of the kids, but I hoped that they would remember just a little bit of what we taught them or just how much we cared.
A few months later and here we are! New Year's was great! I went to a conference in Missouri and felt ready to concur all that 2019 had in store for me. I knew that God had big plans for me in 2019, and was excited to see where it all lead! I got home from Missouri with only two days to pack before leaving to Huancayo. I was worried about what to pack, January and February are considered summer time in Huancayo but also wet season with February being the wettest month of the year. I decided to pack a few T-shirts, a raincoat and rain boots, but mostly fall weather attire, considering that it gets cooler in the evenings. (This will be important later I promise.)
We left for Huancayo on Friday January 4th, we flew Air Canada which took us slightly out of the way to Toronto from Detroit (where I randomly sat by a girl from my high school who was off to attend her brother's wedding in Buenos Aires) but after that we had a direct eight hour flight to Lima. After landing in Lima, Luis the FIMRC Transportation Coordinator was waiting for us outside with a FIMRC Volunteer sign, we were slightly late so we felt bad, especially when Luis asked me if I had gotten his call, which I definitely had not. Luis was shocked by our 4 luggages, 2 carry ons and backpacks, good thing he brought his SUV he said as we loaded up the car. Out of those 3 large luggages were donations from school, our family and friends. It is a great testament to the people that we live life with, their generous spirits and love for us! We are so grateful for their sacrifice in giving!
From the airport we zipped through the streets of Lima at 3am the city was still bustling with people, Luis told us a little bit about himself how he worked in the US for 12 years as a construction worker than came back to Lima to work as a taxi driver. He even gave us suggestions on what to eat and how to get around the city since we were going to be here for a day. When we finally made it to our hotel for the night it was about 3:30am and we were ready bed. The hotel was beautiful and the staff were kind, we felt bad making so much noise walking up the three floors to our rooms, hoping no one was annoyed at the loud Americans carrying their luggages through the narrow staircases. Helen and I both agreed to wake up in the morning for breakfast, even though we would have only had 4 hours of sleep. It was so worth the early morning wake up though! We had fresh squeezed pineapple juice and fresh bread! The best part was that we could safely go back to our room and sleep for a few more hours, before we headed out to explore Lima!
After a 4 hour post-breakfast nap, Helen and I were ready to see Lima! As we walked down the stairs we met two of our fellow volunteers who were coming to Huancayo with us the next morning. They were off to explore some markets in town and we were just going to walk around Miraflores. Neither of us had really researched any places to visit, but we just wanted to get a feel for the people and community. We first walked toward a beautiful Catholic church on the corner, where we would go to mass later. As we continued walking we discovered a beach, and a cute outdoor mall Larcomar. Helen asked a security guard for suggestions on where we should eat because by the time we left the hotel it was already afternoon. He suggested three places: Popular, Tanta and Mangos.
We walked by the restaurants just to peep their menu but got roped into going to Popular when the manager came out to speak to us, and we felt obligated to walk in. We took Luis's suggestions at tried the ceviche and lomo saltado. The lomo saltado was delicious the ceviche- I'll be honest, I didn't try (because I'm not a seafood person) but Helen said it was interesting, which probably means she won't be getting it again. ;) The atmosphere in the restaurant was modern but warm, and we had a perfect view of the ocean and people parasailing. We were deciding between getting dessert at the restaurant or getting popsicles at a cute stand we saw outside- we decided on both. At Popular we ordered a dessert called Ponderacion XXL. It was incredible! I discovered a new fruit I hadn't tried before- chirimoya! Guys... this fruit is so good! I don't even have words to describe it, the texture was almost jelly like, and the taste had hints of lemon but sweet. I need to find some more while we are here and post a better description... all I can say is it was great!
After dessert we decided to head to the beach before mass at 5pm. We had some slight troubles finding a path to the beach because we were up on a big hill and the beach was far below us, but we ended up finding the staircase and managed to make it to the lively beach, where their were numerous stands of people selling surfing gear and lessons. We walked to a pier that had some unique artisan crafts, then we proceeded to the beach that didn't have sand but instead rocks! Of course I tripped and later found a huge bruise on my shin, typical Maria. As you can see below it was gorgeous!
After the beach we headed to mass, then back to the hotel where we found 2 other student volunteers who would be coming to Huancayo with us and one that was going to La Merced, another FIMRC site in Peru. We all decided to have dinner at Larcomar, and had a great time
getting to know each other! I knew then that we would be great friends for the next week in Huancayo. Before dinner Helen and I looked for the the adorable Palettas shop we had seen earlier, and we got dessert before dinner! Ordering dinner was challenging for me, the little shop we went to was busy with a line down the hallway and my Spanish failed me and I really didn't know what I was going to get. The good thing was that what I ordered one of the other volunteers wanted and what she ordered was what I wanted too it worked out and we just switched! After dinner we got some water and went back to the hotel to get some sleep before our early bus ride to Huancayo.
Luis came by around 6:30am to pick us up to head to the bus station. Luis had told me earlier that I would have to pay for extra luggage since there was a 50kg limit per person. I was worried it was going to be like 500 soles (1 sol= 0.3 American dollars) or about $150, but it turned out to only be 38 soles extra for all of our luggage together. So it worked out well!
The bus was a double decker coach bus that was quite luxurious with reclining seats, individual TV screens with books, movies and movies. It reminded me of the airplanes of old. The ride however was rough, at least for me. I usually don't get motion sickness, but eight hours twisting and turning through the mountains at increasing elevation really got to me. When we arrived at the bus station in Huancayo I was more then relieved to step on solid ground. However, I was shocked by the fact that it felt like 100 degrees outside (remember what I packed? I knew I was in trouble at that point!). Lucero one of the FIMRC staff in Huancayo was their to greet us. She came with us to introduce us to our host mom- Senora Elena and give us a quick overview of what our next few days would look like. Then she left us to unpack and get used to our new home! Senora Elena even made us a delicious welcome dinner!
That was my journey and our arrival in Huancayo! Sorry it was so long, I just felt like the background information was important as a basis for future posts! Hope you enjoyed reading! I tried to include as many pictures as possible! :)
Chau!
~Maria~
“Owning your story is the bravest thing you will ever do." - Brené Brown
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