Tena

On Thursday, Nora, Allie, Emily, Jenny and I took the six-hour bus ride to Tena in the Oriente region. It was very hot and humid, although less oppressive at night. The town is about 20,000 people and attracts tourists for its white water rafting and access to the Amazon. We were supposed to meet the social worker (my supervisor for the internship and possible host mother) at the terminal, but she was not there and did not answer her phone. After finding a place for dinner we located a hostel and were excited to find cable TV. Around 11:00 we heard a knock at the door and it was Rocio asking for what sounded like “siza” so we figured out she was looking for Souza. She was so relieved to find us and apparently she had called all the hostels in town asking for five American girls. She is super friendly and she hugged and kissed us as if we were her long lost relatives.
The next morning she took us to the Tena hospital, which is a public hospital for the entire province. She has been working there for 14 years and is an incredible person…I feel very lucky to have the chance to shadow her, both in the community and in the hospital. She gave us a tour and she knew everyone….and greeted them with the customary kiss on the cheek. The hospital is very basic and it was very full with people, especially women and babies, waiting to be seen. The maternity floor was incredible and she brought us into the rooms with the new mothers and surgical patients to meet the doctors and nurses. After our tour we took a bus to the next town over to see the hospital in Archidona where Nora and Jenny were supposed to intern. Unfortunately, nobody told them it is a private hospital, which basically meant there were more nuns and doctors than patients. I could see the disappointment on their faces, especially after spending time at the other hospital. Nora and I had looked forward to the idea of being close to one another, but at different sites, however we are going to talk to the internship coordinator about switching because Archidona is not a viable option. After rushing around and looking at the homes of possible home-stay families we boarded the bus for the long trip home to Quito.