When my mom was young, she went to a kibbutz in Israel. Here she met a family who were living on the kibbutz. My mom spent much time with this family while she stayed at the kibbutz. One day, after around 30 years of not staying in touch, the kibbutz family managed to find my mom through the internet. This family moved from Israel to Peru 15 years ago. Since I was going to Peru, they would love to meet me and I would love to meet them. I had been in contact with their youngest daugther Maya and we agreed to meet up friday when I arrived to Lima.
After checking in to the hostel, I told Maya that I had arrived and she suggested to come and pick me up in the evening and go out for a drink. She took me to a very nice bar in a cozy little street and we tried 3 different peruvian beer :) We talked for hours! Later her ex-husband joined us - Patrick from Denmark. We had a lot of interesting subjects to talk about and I had the best evening I could imagine for my first night in Lima.
Saturday Maya picked me up with her 2 year old son Damian and her mom Esther. They took me to a nice neighbourhood called Barranco where they knew a organic cafe. We got some breakfast and coffee. I got eggs with ham and cheese and fresh baked bread which was very similar to the danish ryebread! It was a great cafe and a great company to be there with. Afterwards we went to a park. Every saturday there is many activities in this small park. There were adults doing tai chi and yoga, there were a group of men playing instruments and singing for family´s and the kids could try to play along and dance. Then there was also a big area with all kinds of different toys for kids, you could pay 10 soles and then play all day. The sun was shining and everybody were happy in this park. Maya´s dad/Esther´s husband joined us and so did Patrick. Outside the park, there was a big organic marked where we got some nice food. Maya drove me back to the hostal and I went for a walk. In the evening she took me out to the Magic Water Circuit - a big park with many different and unique fountains. We walked around Damian, Patrick, Maya and I and enjoyed the beautiful park and ate some popcorn :)
Sunday I went for breakfast with Esther and Maya. We sat on a cafe with a great view over the sea and had a great big breakfast with coffee, tea and juice :) On sunday one of the main streets in Lima is closed in order for people to do sports and mainly bike - just like in Quito. Maya and I went to rent some bikes and I had my first bikeride in South America :) I went back to the hostel, packed my stuff and went to the airport to catch my flight to Iquitos.
I could not imagine a better way to spend my 48 hours in Lima! I feel that my luck on this trip is never ending. Maya and her family is lovely people who I can´t wait to meet again when I will return to Lima! They made me feel at home in Lima in just two days. It was also nice to speak some danish for a few days with Patrick :)
Keeping my insulin cold on the way to Iquitos was not a problem. The thermos was cold after being two days in the refridgerator and there was a bar at the hostel that provided me with a lot of icecubes for the thermos. My flight was two hours delayed, but the trip was short and it didn´t take long for me to find a cheap motortaxi to a nice and cheap hostel.
I began taking my malaria medication yesterday. I haven´t been feeling bad at all, but my blood sugar level is a lot higher than normally and I therefore need more insulin. I wonder if this will be all the time while i´m on the medicin or just in the beginning - time will tell.
In Iquitos everybody is driving a motorcycle or motortaxi. Now I will find a motortaxi and a boat to take me to a village 30 minutes from Iquitos. They don´t have wifi in the village and I will be there for a month to volunteer. Since it is close to town, I might come and use the internet a few times, but I am not sure yet. I am going to this place http://pilpintuwasivolunteers.blogspot.com/ and I can´t wait!
Thank you again for all of the updates you give. If you don't mind my asking, how do you deal with extreme weather and it's effects on your Diabetes. I know that heat is a major problem because the insulin can go bad, but what about cold? With my testing supplies, it won't even register when it's below a certain temperature, and you mentioned going up in the mountains earlier, so I'm sure you have encountered similar problems. How do you deal with these situations when they come around?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your question!
DeleteRight now it is around 35 celcious every day. I keep my long term insulin in my room since I only need it before I go to bed, the room don't get too hot. The extras I keep in the freezer, since we only have electricity 3 hours a day, I keep them in the thermos and hope it still works in January - if not, I made sure to find out where in Lima and Cusco I can get my insulin since these are my next stops. My fast working insulin in use, I keep in my fanny pack, where it doesn't get too hot.
When I went to the vulcano, I was suprised that I had no troubles measuring me blood sugar level. I use Contour and it works fine for me. I keep my measuring machine in it's bag and in my fanny pack, I believe I didn't get to cold on just the few hours I was in the mountains. Next I will go to Machu Picchu. If I experience any troubles, I will let you know what and how I dealt with it.
Let me know if I answered your question and feel free to ask again :)
You did, thanks! I'm on Omnipod and have to use a freestyle meter if I want to stay on pump, but if I were going on any service missions like what you're doing I'm sure I'd switch back to shots. I'm still in college so there are still a few years before doing anything like this, but it is still interesting to see how you avoid problems.
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