Arriving in La Paz

Arriving in La Paz
Originally uploaded by interplast

Michael Galvez, Interplast volunteer coordinator/ translator.

We arrived a day before beginning clinic day in La Paz, Bolivia. This place is breathtaking (literally at times); it has blue skies over a huge valley with amazing Mt. Illimani in the background. Everyone on the team feels well today. Besides the slight time change, most team members are worried about "soroche" or altitude sickness, considering last year’s team was significantly affected by it. Most of us are on Diamox (altitude medication) and some have tried “mate de coca” or coca tea, a local alternative. We walked around today to acclimate and went to see our operating site to evaluate and deliver our crates of equipment. Tomorrow is clinic day, where we evaluate potential patients and determine if we can help them during our trip and/or offer physical therapy.