One Year. One Physical Therapist in Trujillo, Peru.

Combining passions of global public health with travel and cultural immersion... With the help of the Catholic Medical Mission Board, I was afforded the opportunity to live outside of Trujillo, Peru for one year's time (2010-2011). Check out old posts about my experiences as a PT working in hospitals, a school, an outpatient clinic, doing research/community based rehabilitation, and a little teaching too. And my experiences with an entire calendar year of holidays, cultural customs and new culinary experiences!

I make it back about once a year with university students/CMMB projects, so I will periodically provide updates :)

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Feliz Cumpleaños!

One of the hardest aspects of living abroad lies in what I’m missing out on back home. For me, I was pretty homesick around Christmas and New Years (though I thoroughly enjoyed experiencing the Peruvian version), and I definitely missed our American Thanksgiving too. I heard an exceptionally loud explosion the other day, which reminded me of fireworks (oh yeah, it’s July 4th)! But generally I don’t feel like I’m missing out on too much – pretty sure the Peruvian calendar has more holidays than ours anyways. However, what I miss the most are family and friends’ birthdays. This week I’m missing two… HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA (today) and DAD (tomorrow)! I wish I were there to celebrate with you and hope you know I am thinking about you from afar!

My dad and my grandma are two influential people in my life that I admire greatly. My dad was very supportive of my decision to take up this opportunity with CMMB, though I’m sure that inside he must have been worried about having his (not so street-smart) daughter being off across the world by herself! He’s always been extremely supportive of my dreams and is also very talented and intelligent, patient, giving, humble, and organized yet laid back – characteristics that inspire me on a daily basis. Thanks Dad for your constant support and I hope that you have a wonderful birthday!


My grandma is an incredible woman- she is thoughtful, giving and also very active – and you would definitely under-estimate her age. (Hope I got those genes!) She is very driven and has an amazing strength in any obstacle that comes her way. Like my dad, she’s always been a very supportive figure in my life. Happy Birthday Grandma, I miss you, hope you have a fun day!


I really do like birthdays. Not just for the excuse to party – it’s a nice chance to send a person some sort of message or gift reminding them of how much you care about them. In a perfect world, I’d be able to pick up the phone and call everyone I’m close to on his or her birthday – or have time to write a little blog post – but for today, I’ll just say “Salud!” to 2 very important people in my life - and a big belated (or early) FELIZ CUMPLEANOS to the ones I’ve missed (or will miss) out on this year!
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 6, 2011 at 6:35 PM

    you are an amazing woman Amber, and CMMB is blessed to have you as a volunteer helping those most in need!

    hugs,
    kathy tebbett

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  2. FredJuly 7, 2011 at 8:19 AM

    Thanks Amber! I'm blessed to have two daughters who make me proud every day and who are my role models! Stay safe (it's the "dad" in me that had to say it); we'll celebrate our missed special events when you return! Dad

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