'Noches mi casa, sister hablo inglis'

Last night, I was expecting to stay in due to my 'condition.' Lita (the woman that accompanies me in the cab each day said 'noches mi casa, sister hablo inglis.'  I replied 'si.' I thought she said her sister that speaks English is at her house tonight.  What she meant to say was ' Would you like to come to my house tonight, my sister speaks English.' So, at 9:30 (10:30 Maine time) I get a phone call from the front desk saying 'your friend Lita is here to pick you up.' So, I quickly got on some decent clothes, went downstairs and she was waiting for me.  She had a notebook that her 'sister' had written in.  It said 'come to my house.' I figured since I had agreed to it in the van (????) I should probably go.  I tried to tell her I wasn't feeling well by rubbing my stomach.   She thought I was hungry and said 'me cook.' I replied 'no, no, mal.' She interpreted this as she was a bad cook.  So, needless to say at this point I had to go.  I was happy I did.  When we got there, it was her 14 year old daughter (not sister!) I had her translate that I meant to say I was feeling bad and Lita laughed histerically.  It was very interesting to visit her home.  Her kids were so friendly and were so excited to have me over.  Her 9 year old boy Fabino gave me the customary hug and kiss and asked his sister to translate a bunch of questions he had about the U.S. Her daughter was very excited to show me a video about their culture-it was a tour bus from Lima, Peru that traveled to Peru, Nebraska in April.

Today was my third day at Hospital Sabogal.  I woke up feeling very weak but well enough to go to the hospital.  When I arrived, most of the hospital staff had brought in their loved ones for me to treat.  It was a busy morning! By now, I have demonstrated a typical evaluation for each body part (a modified version since they only have 10 minutes.)  I had each of the PT's do an eval today.  I was very impressed that they all retained everything (I was a little concerned that things might get lost in translation).  We had a patient lacking 30 degrees of dorsiflexion today (moving ankle up).  I asked one of the therapists after the eval what technique might be effective and they did it correctly.  They measured the ROM after, and found that the patient had gained 20 degrees.  They were so excited they all cheered so loud the patients in the other treatment rooms were peeking around the curtains.  Then they started cheering 'Magico'!!!! The group has been so excited to learn the Mulligan technique that they wanted to take today to review all of the techniques.  This proved to be very useful.  I am just so amazed at how happy the therapists are to learn.  One of the PT's came up to me and said her husband had pain in his knee and she tried on of the techniques on him and he was painfree.  She said he was so happy! One of the therapists wives that I helped this morning went home and made me arroz con leche (Peruvian Rice pudding).  It is delicious! Pictured above is one of the treatment rooms, each patient is receiving electrical stimulation due to time constraints, and three photos of the University students and PT's practicing.

I had lunch with Maria again and we chatted a lot about the upcoming presidential election (June 5th).  She said 'the candidates are like choosing between AIDS and cancer.' She said the first candidate Allonto Humala was in the army and supported terrorism.  She said if he gets elected people will be fearful of leaving their homes.  She said Keiko Fujimori (campaign van above) is the daughter of Alberto Fujimori who was president from 1990-2000.  He headed what was considered to be the most corrupt government in Peru's modern history and is in prison for 25 years.  Many of his closest associates are also in prison, and those that are not are backing his daughters campaign.  The Peruvians are convinced it is a plot to get her father out of prison.  I can clearly see what the concern is with this presidential election! Pictured above is hospital van that picks me up each morning-the cross on the windshield is there for a reason!!!!! No seatbelts, no exhaust-the ride to and from work is always an adventure!!! Also above is a little girl that was playing her instrument-I asked if I could take her photo and she was really excited (although it doesn't appear so!) I gave her one sol and she was pretty psyched.  Her singing was incredible!