the week hospital got better..

---

So what to say about the week after cotopaxi..well with 5 weeks left, my homesickness evaporated..not to say i dont get the odd pang, but half way through made the other half feel more manageable and it also made me awar that there was still so muchto see and how many amazing things i have already seen and therefore how glad i was after all that I came t o Ecuador. Also being on my own , although strange after having mum there meant I settled into my routine which always makes time start to go by fast.

Whilst im not going to lie and say I was or am glad to go into hospitals everymrning at 6 30..my favourite bit is still the bus ride.. 45 mins of doing nothing, the dread isnt there anymore,

I think this is in part due to my spanish suddenly improving, and the interns swapping round, and theres several really nice people who make me feel part of the group and its a laugh, Im also a bit more involved in examining patients. All the consultants are lovely too..one lady in particular who has really taken me under her wing and includes me in everything and has a kind face!
But actually all the consultats wseem to harve suddenly decided they like me and keep patting my and calling me preciosa or giving me hugs...its a it strange if you compare it to Britain, but makes me feel liked at least!

There have been several occasions where i havent been desperate to leave at 12 o clock!!!!

As for the medicine..really just a line iup of diarrhoea and fever the whole time..im wondering about a career path change...

Other than that..I got skype working which is great..

The onoly cloud on the horizon wasthis male intern who was really bothering me,,,grabbing me touching mde at any given moment and just generally invading my personal space..
At first the consultants just laughed but I finally got it across that i didnt like it and now its a joke, but people are laughing at him instead of the other way round so things a re much more comfortable.


On Saturday I went riding..I ended up paying 20 dollars more than i could have if i had gone back to the same place as i went last weekend. It was the most epensive activity yet, but I miss riding so I thought it would be worth it, I also chose it because it was in the pululhua crater which I wanted to visit. It WAS a nice day..and I got to wear my leather hat which made me feel happy, but it wasnt great and def overprivced. However I do have sympathy for this as its one german woman who has been here 20 years {standard came on hol met someone got preggers eventually broke up story} and i dont think its very easy to make moeney out of horses with the kind of trekking business she has.

Anyway she picks us up from quito..a couple of american hguys and an austrian guy who are beginners and a swiss woman who could ride a bit.
When we got to the yard it turns out the groom was drunk so none of the right horses were in, i asked for something sparky and got a little pony who she said wwas the fastest..ACTUALLy it was not what i wa=ould call sparky...forward going yes but sparky no..and very small, but i do quite like riding ponies.

The actual crater is qutie interesting..It is the only inhabited active volcanic crater in the world. there are two other inactive craters used by people. One is inhabited in panama,a nd one sis a hunting ground for masai in africa.

But a proper eruption isnt due for another 1000 years based on its 3000 year eruptioncycle. This does not stop some volcanic activityt though. Its si miles across and its odd place to live, it feels a bit hemmed in because you can see the wall surrounding you, . Therea re two lava domes in the middle , strange shaped mountains odf acient lava...but its covered in forsest.

It was formed int he same way as quilotoa but 3000 years ago, when the volcano exploded and blew the top off..it would have originally been the size of cotopaxi, so there is about 3000m of height missing.. so technically one is inside a mountain, rather than being surrounded by a wall.

Once again like quilotoa there is a microclimate within the crater, but even more different. Outside the crater is mitad del mundo area. Hot arid desert land. Inside the crater is green lush fertile and foresty!!!
Its strange., but apparently it has to do with being sheltered from the pacific winds.

Anyway the ride was slower than i would have liked , plentty of time to look at the scenery bu t I wanted gallops! We scramblesd up and down a narrow path fthrough the forest covered in rocks and better suited to mountain goats than horses..

We had lunch at an hacienda..nice soup, bola de verde which is typical..a weak soup with a mushed up ball of platano in the middle...not sure i liked the bola part..and then the rice with chicken but this time with beans,, which are always good in ecuador and chocolate cake

the rest of the ride afforded a couple of opportunities to gallp but if im honest wales is far better riding country. The sceneeryt was interesting, the path through the forest had steep walls eaither side and one can see the different layers of ash from eruptions

At one point we got to a place where the iron colour in the rock was showing and there was no vegetation. This ws where some volcanic activity had dislodged part of the crater wall, caused a rock slide and buried three farms killing everybody and everything in its path. This happend 40 years ago.

Although the rifde was pleasant I felt it wasnt worht the money, and my piony wasnt as fun as I had wanted...I was frustrated when we got back and saw a youngster galloping around the field and astrid the owner said she wished she had thought of her first because she was always looking for riders good enough to take her on treks...

damn!!!

but anyway it was a pleasant enough day.

Sunday was a lazy one. Stayed in bed in the morning..first lie in when i havent been ill...eating endless amounts of buttered toast and then went to check out a market that didnt exist with the south african girls and then had chinese and read the rest of my book..still no mtas from or project accomplished...

So far I have felt strange this week..Last one and lots of things to sort out. There is a mi up with the galapagos tickets.. they booked me to fly back after my plane has left for the uk..its strange to be think8ng about return already..so much to do! so now i might have to fly back a few days earlier because the flight i wanted is booked.

Thuesday which was yesterday was a very strange day, I had gfelt a bit ill monday night..stomach again and then tuesday morning i had to run away half way through ward round with an awful stomach ache head ache and d and v again....lovely.
Anyway, everyone over reacted but in a nivc e way so i couldnt say no..and I got put on a drip for 5 hours iv antibiotics iv ranatidine and 3 litres of fluid which was actually helpful..it was qutie boring though..i completed allt he levels of the golf game on my phone. So I though t I was cured but unfortunately on the way home on the very slow bus my stomach started calling me again and i only just made it home in time..so i stayed between my bed and the loo for the next 4 hours..then decided to go to the gym anyway.
HOwever jumping on a trampoline is decidedly unpleasant in my state! I was determined to finish though...

Perhaps im paying the price now..im in bed..having not slept because my stomsach was sore and ive got a horrible dry throat cough and splitting head ache.
I wanted to go in for some strange reason but couldnt face it, and thought i should use the opportunity to do my mtas...oh joy..feeling migrainy and fluey and gastroenteritisy and i have to write about a memorable teaching experience...joy...hemnce the procrastination of blogging!!

---