Overwhelmed

Overwhelmed has two definitions that are relevant to me right now: 1. to surge over or submerge; engulf. 2. to present with an excessive amount. I feel both right now.

Definition #1 connotes something that is dangerous like waves crashing over a boat. This is the feeling I get when I start thinking in global terms about healthcare, social injustice, racism, consumerism, poverty, etc. Being here in Peru gives all of these issues that I've considered in theory names and faces. It's not that all these issues don't exist in the United States, but they are not nearly as apparent as they are here. Take for example Altiva Canas. This is a place that's about 15 minutes away from our apartment that Jasmine (the Peruvian nurse doing all the talking), Megan, and I went today to talk to some people about personal and social hygiene focusing especially on their children. One of the families we talked to today (a family of five) lives on 2 soles a day-- that equals about $0.70. The lady we talked to was 31 and looked about 45 and being the wonderful hostess that she was, she served us all she had to offer-- tea-colored water from the public well. We had to explain that as Americans we could not drink this water, but the nurse that we were with drank it down like a Dasani. All this to say, I'm overwhelmed with things to think about.

Definition #2 connotes something that is lavish and wonderful like the presents you got for Christmas as a kid. This is the feeling I got as we walked around the mountains of Machu Picchu. I'd love to describe everything we saw when as climbed the steps made for tiny Incan feet but I'd have to write a poem or a song and I don't have the time or confidence for that. This resort in the mountains was fit for a king, but it did more than suggest that he wasn't the true master of his domain. The Rockies or Appalachians are not apt comparisons to the sheer 2,000 foot precipices in the Andes. Here, the clouds kiss the peaks and leave them white with snow and glacier. The world is beneath your feet and it feels like heaven is closer than it has ever been. In this case, the 422 pictures that we took do a much better job than my words can. Overwhelmed is how we felt.

Spanish word of the day: el cielo. It means "the sky" and "Heaven". At Machu Picchu you can understand why the Spanish used the same word for both.