AnaAnita

Last day at the clinic. Though I honestly didn’t see myself as too much of a help there, I was gladly surprised by how sorry everyone was when they found out I was leaving. It was nice departing the hospital with Dr. Cárdenas, a wonderful pediatrician with whom I spent the most time with, telling me that should I ever return to Quito I always have a friend who would be happy to see me. He also wished me the best of luck in all my future studies. Tuesday was also moving day! The family moved from the first floor of the apartment house, to the second floor, and most of the day was spent working on hauling all the items and rearranging rooms, etc. The move was great for the family, who received an extra ... read more

If I have one tip when gong to Ecuador, it would be to basically bring ALL your cash in $1 bills. I had spent all my 1’s, 5’s, and 20’s, and what can only be a tourist's greatest fear, was left with only a $100 bill. So much, yet so worthless in that form! After unsuccessfully getting change at a bank, and with no coins, I was unable to get myself to work, so I drove around with Nancy to two other banks who also rejected her asking to split a hundred. After Nancy kindly allowed me to exchange the bill after she got the same amount out of the ATM, we drove around Quito for a while. Though the day was pretty gray and cold, Paige and I decided to visit some unseen sights of ... read more

7:00 am. ¨Portoviejo!¨ Woke up to blinding lights as our bus from Quito pulled into the bus stop after a seven-hour ride. Here, Stephen, Julia, Royal, Sandra, Paige, and I began our three day trip to the coast. As we all groggily emerged from the bus, we greeted Olga, our guide for the day, and the driver of our own van, who would take us around town. We piled into the vehicle and headed for breakfast. After uselessly asking us what we wanted to eat, Olga ordered something for us all and we began to wait for our food, blankly staring around; still asleep. After what seemed like an hour, we all received breakfast: a plate-sized egg pancake and fried plantains with orange juice and instant coffee. Stuffed, we walked out into the drizzle and humidity ... read more

Work, food, Quito! That basically has been my week. I´ve started working at the Clinica Santa Barbara. So far I´ve seen a few operations, watched work done in the biochemistry lab, worked with the nurses (taking blood pressure, weighing/measuring patients, etc.), worked in the nursery, and shadowed a pediatrician. All very cool stuff. Everyone who works there is incredibly friendly and working there is a great opportunity for me to speak Spanish and for many of the doctors to practice their English. We´ll see what this coming week brings! Monday night, Royal and I went to La Foch and sat next to Amelia Vega, Miss Dominican Republic and Miss Universe 2003. Yea, no big deal. Tuesday, Royal, Julia and I started private salsa lessons at Mariana´s house with David, a friend of Miguel´s. We´ll be taking ... read more

Woke up, got dressed, had breakfast (salted boiled egg, freshly squeezed orange juice, and instant coffee), and was at Mariana’s at 8:30 sharp, like she told me. Yea right. Today marked the trip to Otavalo. I waited for Mariana until 9 at the earliest with Sandra, another volunteer from Houston. Another thing Royal told me when I first arrived in Quito, ¨no one is one time here.¨ We left with Miguel and Lucho, our driver, and picked up Amanda and Stephen, other volunteers, and Stephen´s father, John. As we began our trip, dozing on and off, low clouds covered the tops of mountains, suspended above the city. We wound and snaked our way along the mountains listening to festive meringue and other tourist-y Latino pop music. Our first stop was at a rest area overlooking el ... read more