A day of traveling.....

From Punta Negra to Chilca to Lima to Villa El Salvador and back to Lima, Mira Flores, and then Chilca and finally to the hostal in Punta Negra.

My friend Dave connected with a young guy in the Chilca neighborhood when Hannah's Home is located a couple of years ago. Dave now supports his young friend Gabriel, who is fourteen, by giving his mother money for his schooling. A few days ago we were concerned that Gabriel had tuberculosis. He was coughing up blood so Dave took him to the hospital. We were told yesterday he did not have TB but further testing was necessary. So today I went with Dave, our translator Diana, Gabriel, his mother Lucia, and our bus driver Edgar to do that.

We first went to the public hospital in Lima to get the original x-rays. We took them to the private hospital in Villa El Salvador where we saw a great doctor. He wanted a CT Scan so after we paid his bill ( less than $3.00 US Dollars! ) we traveled back to Lima. We were able to get an appointment for the afternoon but the results would not be available for three hours. So after we paid that bill ( $65.00 US Dollars ) we went to Mira Flores for lunch at Chilis Restaurant. Gabriel and his mom had never seen anything like it and the joy on their faces was worth the drive.

Oh and at one point we drove past the US Embassy. I didn't take pictures because it is embarassingly large. Your hard earned taxed dollars at waste, I mean, work. And it was actually the ambassadors residence, not the embassy.

CT Scan results: probably not TB but their are definitely lesions on both of his lungs. Gabriel will go back to the doctor in Villa El Salvador on Friday for his read of the it and further directions. We asked Gabriel how he might have gotten a tear on his lung and he said he was beat up about four months ago...........because of the soccer team he was rooting for.