Elderly Woman

Because my school is closed this week and there is a local strike today we can only walk to placements. No driving allowed. The nursing home is within walking distance, so about 8 of us decided to head down there.

When we arrive we have to split up between the side for the men and the side for the women. I quickly scoot over to the women's side. I was surprised by what a nice, clean facility it is. There is a big courtyard with a well kept garden and a small church. This place is run by nuns, so I see a few of them walking around. Me and three other girls go to the courtyard for the women and see all of the women sitting around. Most of the older women speak Quechua, so it makes it really difficult to communicate (that and the effects that come from old age). There is no one there telling us what to do so we just have to figure it out on our own. We help some women move to sit in the sun. We wheel some that don't object or really talk into the sun as well. Not really sure what to do next, I sit by one woman that looks eager to talk to me. Another one joins us. I try to speak to her in Spanish and understand bits and pieces. I am pretty sure she kept asking me if I like to cook. I kept telling her yes, but I don't really know how to very well. Then, I think she asks me again. I tell her again (you know how this goes).

Then, I decide I want to walk around, so I get one woman and start wheeling her around the facility. We go for a long ride and she shows me which direction to go by pointing. This was probably the highlight of her day and I felt bad when I had to return her to her starting position. A few of the other girls are painting the nails of various women. Finally, we sat by a happy woman and started taking pictures of her. She LOVED it when we showed her the pictures on the digital camera. She didn't really speak, but squealed with laughter after each shot. It was great!

After we left the nursing home, we headed to the main plaza to see if we could see any protesting or striking. Today's strike was (I think) called by the local workers union. We saw one group of about 100 mostly women carrying a banner and yelling things as they walked down the street. It was very tame. Deciding this was much less exciting than we were hoping for (and told by our program director. He warned us about tires burning..etc) we headed back to the house for lunch.

Elderly Woman, Pearl Jam