Salt Flats!!!

I'm Back!!  So the island was BEAUTIFUL.  We were surrounded by salt flats, which look like a flat plain covered with snow.  Driving to the island over the flats was definitely an adventure!  I have no idea how fast our guide was going because his gas gauge and speedometer were both broken..... but we were definitely going fast :).  The salt kept covering our windshield so the driver was constantly sticking a wash cloth out the window to wipe it down or just sticking his head out the side of the window so he could see.  The flats were also covered by a thin layer of water, so occasionally water would splash up the sides of the car as well.  I've never experienced anything like them.  After the tour was over we went out to eat at an Italian restaurant close to the bus station that had live music.  It was actually some of the best italian food I've had!!  The pizza and pasta a few of us split was delicious!  We then headed to the bus station and huddled together under our blankets while we waited for our 11:55 train.  This train was heated AND had bathrooms, so it was a luxury ride compared to our previous bus experiences!  We arrived in Auro around 7:00 and found a bus that would take us back to Quillocollo at 8:00.  That bus ride was a little chilly, but for the most part was nice.  We got back to the guest house around 12:00, smelly and tired.  Although the trip was exhausting, it was definitely worth it!

Later that night we went into Cochabamba in search of a gluten-free empanada place one of the volunteers had heard about but when we got to the restaurant we found out it was closed on sundays.  We ended up going out for salponchos, which are always good :), and then out for ice cream.  Ice cream here is less creamy than in the states, and they have a HUGE range of flavors!

On Monday I went to CBA with Teddy and Katie and got to see THREE surgeries.  One was a nose job, which was even more bloody than the previous one I had seen.  The other was a laproscopic gall bladder removal, and the last was a C-Section.  The c-section was AWSOME.  The baby was out within 15 minutes of the first cut.  It was a BIG baby, even the doctor made a comment as he pulled him out.  It then took about 40 minutes to stitch the mom back up.  Something interesting is that here they do a vertical cut under the belly button whereas in the states they do a horizontal cut.  I was also on dinner duty, and may I say it tasted delicious :)

Today I went to Movimiento Sonrisas and played with babies in the malnourished ward.  I got to hold one of the babies named William, who was almost a year old but looked like he was barely a month.  It was really fun, but I got peed on TWICE.  If the parents don't bring diapers for their kids, then the nurses just use cloth diapers, which leak a LOT more apparently.  This afternoon all the volunteerss from Westmont and Point Loma are leaving so we are having a big dinner before they go.  The house is going to feel REALLY empty with all of them gone.  I still can't believe three weeks have gone by and that I only have a few more left!

Hasta Luego!
Emily