21 August, 2014

{this memory} 112

I've got some catching to do. Again. <sigh>

This is the story behind last Monday's {this moment}.

It's June 2004 and we're in the Sacred Valley in PerĂș. I was studying Spanish and volunteering in in a public hospital in Cusco during the summer between my first and second year of medical school. In this shot, quite possibly the most touristy photograph I've ever posed for, my fellow traveller (a Canadian pharmacy student) and I are dipping our hands in a sacred fountain in order to be blessed with life and health.

Within the next couple weeks, I managed to electrocute myself trying to figure out how to turn on the hot water (after that, I stuck with cold showers - better cold than dead, right?) and acquired pneumonia, followed by HAPE (high-altitude pulmonary edema). And all despite near-constant consumption of coca tea. So, I have no comments on the efficacy of washing one's hands in sacred waters.

(Unfortunately, I can't remember which sacred fountain this was - the Incans had quite a few. I thought Puka Pukara, but Google suggests Tambo Machay is more likely...please comment if this looks familiar.)

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