Today was very busy, and very tiring. For some of us it was our first time in the hospital so we were able to get to know our way around and become acclimated to our new surroundings. We woke up early, breakfast was at 6, and made our way to the hospital. Katie and Brooke, the other youth on the trip, were in Pediatrics most of the time keeping the children entertained.

I spent the day with George Steiner and Claudia Diez working on logistics; there were always new necessities for us to take care of. I also got the opportunity to practice my Spanish, which is improving a lot as all of the people I speak with are very patient and correct me when it is necessary.

I am amazed at how much the Peruvian nurses want to help us, they have insisted on giving us rides everywhere we need to go and I heard the phrase ''mi casa es su casa'' numerous times throughout the day. I didn't see the children as much as Katie and Brooke, however when I was around them they were very happy and energetic, and their deformities didn't seem to limit their enthusiasm. We had two sessions of screening, and many people trickled in during the day requesting to see a doctor to inquire about surgery for their children.

We returned to our hotel at about 6 PM, but many of the surgeons and doctors didn't return until 10 or 11. Although everyone was exhausted, we were all very proud of what we had done that day, helping over 25 kids from many different cities including Cusco and Puno.

An amazing day. Today I was able to be with the children more so than yesterday, and best of all I got the opportunity to go in the operating room. I watched Dr. Aliabadi perform surgeries, and I was very grateful to him for including me as part of the surgical team, and explaining to me what he was doing. I couldn't get enough of it, and now I am very inspired to be a surgeon!

I got to watch Dr. Tholen as well in repairing a cleft palate and remove a vascular growth above the same girl's eye. Later in the day, as I was walking through Pediatrics, I saw a little girl with a huge growth on the side of her face. At first that was all I could focus on when I was with her, but after some time her vivacious personality overshadowed her deformity and captured my attention. We aren't fixing this girl here, because we found out that she can have the surgery done more safely in the United States in the next three to four weeks.

Later in the day I encountered another new experience, however this time it was really scary! An earthquake. The building shook and we huddled under doorways, things were hectic for a few minutes but recovered quickly and surgery continued. I was really scared, but the day ended quietly, all the kids did well, and I can't wait for tomorrow. I'll keep you posted!--Gina