Poco y Poco

By Farah Ahmad- Guest Blogger from Cusco SALUD Today was a great day at the hospital especially since I was dreading that we would be sitting there with absolutely nothing to do. Today I was at the physical therapy department in the "hidroterapia" room that was perfect for practicing Spanish. There were warm baths kind of like Jacuzzis and also a paraffin machine to help people who had arthritis and other problems with their hands. I basically spent the whole morning going from room to room practicing my Spanish. It was wonderful to see that I could, for the most part, get my point across. It was also nice to have conversations without my tense being corrected with every sentence! More seriously, it did make me reflect more on how much I've improved over the last three weeks. After lunch it is time for class, and then time to wander to the bus station and figure out the best way to plan a weekend trip to Arequipa and the Colca Canyon. This is the one free weekend that we have with our SALUD group so I'm looking forward to being away from the group (not that I mind groups or anything, but it is nice to experience something with a few people and take your own time). We had a bit of a debate in preparing for this trip, as it will probably include a little more bus time than expected. It's 10 hours to get to Arequipa and then the 2 day/1 night trip involves bouncing around from place to place and finally ending up at Colca Canyon and seeing the condors at Cruz del Condor. I don't see how we can go wrong especially with a group of three where we all kind roll with things. I'm looking forward to it!