So, I am here in Tena, one of the largest cities (and really it feels like a town) in the Amazon region of Ecuador. My new host family is wonderful - my host sister is eleven, Karina; she is super friendly, but talks really fast. My host dad travels a lot, so I have not met him yet. My host mom, Rocio, is also my supervisor at the hospital. She is a clinical social worker and so far it has been really interesting to observe her work - I just wish I knew more Spanish. My room overlooks one of the largest streets in town, but at night I can open the doors and there have been cool winds and thunderstorms - a welcome relief from the heat. Our first night the storm was strong enough to come through the skylight and we had to move the table while we were eating dinner.
At work there are two other students from the program, Allie (from Grinnell) and Emily (from McAlaster). I have been helping to take people´s information and it is challenging to spell the names correctly. It has been truly eye-opening in terms of the struggles and poverty that many people in this community experience. Often the social worker comes into the picture at the moment of crisis, meaning that the situation is ususally pretty bad. I spent part of today in emergency and the patients need to purchase their own saline and gloves when they come in. We watched a minor toe operation and a doctor diagnosed this kid with a parasite from water. Each day here will be very different and I am working on learning all the new Spanish vocab for medical and social work related words.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
highlights...
so much has happened since my last update….so I will stick with the highlights.
-Cuenca is maybe my favorite place so far in Ecuador….narrow streets, colonial buildings, parks with fountains, a beautiful river through town, incredible markets with everything from fake puma shoes to hand woven sweaters….and the city is very close to national parks with some of the most incredible scenery.
-explored Inca ruins with long, stone walls with no grout surrounded by mountains and indigenous towns.
-nora’s cousin in the States is married to a man from Cuenca, so we visited his parents and sister. They were incredible welcoming as if we were long lost children and the mother prepared an enormous, traditional meal with mote, ensalada, chicken and potatoes.
-back in Quito we took the Teleferiqo (sort of like an enclosed chair lift) up to 4100 meters for the view of the city before hiking higher until we were literally above the clouds. On the way down we got caught by a huge storm preventing the carts from moving….when we finally started the descent, it was so foggy that the wires looked suspended in mid-air.
-went with Nora and her host mother for the best / cheapest haircut of my life ($15). It turns out that Jimmy, the haircutter, travels with Miss Ecuador and the former Miss Ecuador was in the chair next to me getting her hair done, all of which cracked me up. It is not too short, maybe a little below shoulder-length, but it looks a lot less scraggly.
-night tour of Quito with my family in the central historic district to see the churches with lights, then up to the huge statue of the Virgin of Quito for the most amazing view of the city.
-Leaving tomorrow for my internship in Tena, a town in the Oriente, or Amazon region. I am excited for the work and to spend time with my new family, but also sad to leave my Quito family who I am comfortable with at this point. I will be living and working with the clinical social worker, Rocio, her 12-year-old daughter, and I think the husband. I am excited about the opportunity to speak only Spanish and curious about the work in Tena’s large public hospital.
-Cuenca is maybe my favorite place so far in Ecuador….narrow streets, colonial buildings, parks with fountains, a beautiful river through town, incredible markets with everything from fake puma shoes to hand woven sweaters….and the city is very close to national parks with some of the most incredible scenery.
-explored Inca ruins with long, stone walls with no grout surrounded by mountains and indigenous towns.
-nora’s cousin in the States is married to a man from Cuenca, so we visited his parents and sister. They were incredible welcoming as if we were long lost children and the mother prepared an enormous, traditional meal with mote, ensalada, chicken and potatoes.
-back in Quito we took the Teleferiqo (sort of like an enclosed chair lift) up to 4100 meters for the view of the city before hiking higher until we were literally above the clouds. On the way down we got caught by a huge storm preventing the carts from moving….when we finally started the descent, it was so foggy that the wires looked suspended in mid-air.
-went with Nora and her host mother for the best / cheapest haircut of my life ($15). It turns out that Jimmy, the haircutter, travels with Miss Ecuador and the former Miss Ecuador was in the chair next to me getting her hair done, all of which cracked me up. It is not too short, maybe a little below shoulder-length, but it looks a lot less scraggly.
-night tour of Quito with my family in the central historic district to see the churches with lights, then up to the huge statue of the Virgin of Quito for the most amazing view of the city.
-Leaving tomorrow for my internship in Tena, a town in the Oriente, or Amazon region. I am excited for the work and to spend time with my new family, but also sad to leave my Quito family who I am comfortable with at this point. I will be living and working with the clinical social worker, Rocio, her 12-year-old daughter, and I think the husband. I am excited about the opportunity to speak only Spanish and curious about the work in Tena’s large public hospital.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Cuenca
I am in Cuenca (3rd largest city) right now tryping in an internet cafe next to our beautiful hostal. I am with Nora, her parents and her brother for our week-long spring break before the internships. We went first to Baños for a couple of nights to hike and go to the hot srings. On the bus I sat next to an indigenous woman, Eva, and she offered to teach me Quichua if I would teach her English. She wanted to listen to some of my music, so I played her some Los Lobos, which she said she loved. Eva is from a town called Salasaca, famous for weaving, and she is studying economics in Quito so she can run her own business. She invited me to visit her when mom comes. In Baños we took a night bus ride up to see the active volcano, but it was so foggy that we could not see much of anything. On the way back a couple of guys were trying to ask us what we were doing that night, but I thought they asked why I was looking straight ahead in the bus, so I responded "i am not so good with the altitude" which is now an ongoing joke on the trip. Basically, that phrase works for just about anything. The seven hour bus ride to Cuenca was breathtaking - winding dirt roads through the Andes with indigenous women getting on and off and people jumping on in towns to sell all sorts of snacks. Cuenca is a colonial city with a beautiful river, flower market and huge churches.
censo
so, Nora and I had to go get a censo card...mostly a form of ID. We had to get in line early, so we showed up at 5:15 in the morning and we were the second and third in line. So after waiting until about 8:30 the not-so-friendly guy told me that I was missing a signiture and would need to come back. Long story short, I went back twice the same day and when i tried to pay for the 4 dollar card with a 10, they did not have change, so i went out in the rain to find change.....it was a very long day, especially because at school we had to write our final group essay. My group wrote about privatization of water in Ecuador.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Monday, March 12, 2007
Cotacach, Valle de Chota & Otavalo
Sunday – my host-grandmother woke up chuchaki (the Quichua word for hung-over) so we had a very slow morning cleaning the remains of the fiesta. Nora’s family and mine went to play futbol and we spent some time at a pool before returning to masses amounts of homework. This is the last week of formal classes, so we have final papers / tests etc. I am so excited to start the internship portion in Tena and Nora’s parents and brother are coming this week, so we will travel together for spring break!
Saturday – market day in Otavalo (the largest and most known artesian market in Latin America). All the streets in town seemed filled with stalls, tables and vendors with weavings, bags, scarves, paintings, belts, tablecloths and ponchos. The place had more gringos then anywhere else I have been in Ecuador, but the magnitude of the market was truly astounding. I wandered around, not sure where to start and many of the vendors are indigenous and call out… when I would stop we would bargain over prices which seemed to drop drastically when I started to walk away. I had a great conversation with a woman selling scarves and I showed her the purse that my mom wove and she was really excited that I appreciated her work.
That evening we returned to Quito and dressed up for the birthday party in honor of Abuelita and Maria Gracia. All of Maria Paz’s cousins came as well as Abuelita’s brother (the awesome professor) and his wife. The wife was incredible – she must have been 70 and danced the entire night in heels. Nora braided my hair with ribbon and I felt dressed up with my polka-dotted dress (despite my polka-dotted legs from the bites). The dance party lasted until 1 in the morning and the entire family kept reminding me that I might be able to salsa if I would drink a little more….i might have improved a little as the night went on, but I am nowhere near as good at dancing as the cousins and my host mom. Even my host-grandmother, who is incredibly arthritic, danced and she made them play the same song “que calor” over and over again.
Friday – after a morning learning about grass-root development projects in Cotacachi we went to Valle de Chota – a region with a predominantly afro-Ecuadorian population, a desert climate and very few resources. We visited a workshop where a group of women make clay masks to supplement their income and to express their history and lives. The masks are incredible and there were a variety of sizes, colors and some even had fabric. That night there was a band and dancers and the entire class ended up dancing….
Thursday – a class trip to Cotacachi…a small city north of Quito. We met with a group of indigenous midwives to learn about traditional birthing methods and medicine. It was really interesting and they did a demonstration…and I even got to hear some spoken Quichua. At the end of the presentation one of the midwives brought out her 8-day-old grandson. They wrapped him in a woven belt to make him less wobbly then a blanket before passing him around to let us hold him
….that evening I received the worst bites of my life….so painful / itchy that I actually took benadryl.
Saturday – market day in Otavalo (the largest and most known artesian market in Latin America). All the streets in town seemed filled with stalls, tables and vendors with weavings, bags, scarves, paintings, belts, tablecloths and ponchos. The place had more gringos then anywhere else I have been in Ecuador, but the magnitude of the market was truly astounding. I wandered around, not sure where to start and many of the vendors are indigenous and call out… when I would stop we would bargain over prices which seemed to drop drastically when I started to walk away. I had a great conversation with a woman selling scarves and I showed her the purse that my mom wove and she was really excited that I appreciated her work.
That evening we returned to Quito and dressed up for the birthday party in honor of Abuelita and Maria Gracia. All of Maria Paz’s cousins came as well as Abuelita’s brother (the awesome professor) and his wife. The wife was incredible – she must have been 70 and danced the entire night in heels. Nora braided my hair with ribbon and I felt dressed up with my polka-dotted dress (despite my polka-dotted legs from the bites). The dance party lasted until 1 in the morning and the entire family kept reminding me that I might be able to salsa if I would drink a little more….i might have improved a little as the night went on, but I am nowhere near as good at dancing as the cousins and my host mom. Even my host-grandmother, who is incredibly arthritic, danced and she made them play the same song “que calor” over and over again.
Friday – after a morning learning about grass-root development projects in Cotacachi we went to Valle de Chota – a region with a predominantly afro-Ecuadorian population, a desert climate and very few resources. We visited a workshop where a group of women make clay masks to supplement their income and to express their history and lives. The masks are incredible and there were a variety of sizes, colors and some even had fabric. That night there was a band and dancers and the entire class ended up dancing….
Thursday – a class trip to Cotacachi…a small city north of Quito. We met with a group of indigenous midwives to learn about traditional birthing methods and medicine. It was really interesting and they did a demonstration…and I even got to hear some spoken Quichua. At the end of the presentation one of the midwives brought out her 8-day-old grandson. They wrapped him in a woven belt to make him less wobbly then a blanket before passing him around to let us hold him
….that evening I received the worst bites of my life….so painful / itchy that I actually took benadryl.
Monday, March 5, 2007
weekend...
-Saturday morning….i made arepas (basically corn pancakes) for my family.
-nora’s family took us to a town outside of Quito,Calderón, known for folk-art – mostly ornaments and decorations made of bread-dough and salt. (mom….you would have loved this place).
-comida tipica for lunch including a special soup made of potatoes called Locro, which is served with avocado, cheese and tostados (toasted corn). This may have been the best Ecuadorian meal so far…i am going to attempt to learn to make it.
-we drove to an incredible park overlooking the city and then down a famous incline called Guapulo, which is on a steep hillside leading to a historic church built in 1633
-Maria Gracia and I watched little miss sunshine in Spanish on my bed and then played countless games of cards with Pedro…my host mom is recovering from minor leg surgery, so she was in bed super early.
-Sunday morning started with miscommunication about plans, but I ended up staying home to help Maria Paz prepare / learn my enchilada and nora’s bread pudding recipes. My entire family helped….. Maria Paz blasted the salsa music, Abuelita and Maria Gracia chopped vegetables and I did the rest. It was a great morning and they seemed to really enjoy learning how to make them. Before the guests came I went for my first solo run….it was incredible, although it is still difficult to breath (altitude or smog???)
Abuelita’s brother came over with two of his daughters, son-in-law and grandchildren (7 & 16). Abuelita’s brother is a history / geography / philosophy prof and he was really friendly and incredibly interesting and smart. When he entered he asked where the gringita was…apparently I looked Ecuadorian to him. We had some great conversations about recycling, dogs, history and politics. I asked him who he thought was the most influential Ecuadorian woman and the whole family got into a debate….i think they decided on three women, all of whom are named Manuela. Also, when he found out that I did not support Bush he got super excited, grinning a toothless smile, and grabbed my arm to show his enthusiasm.
-nora’s family took us to a town outside of Quito,Calderón, known for folk-art – mostly ornaments and decorations made of bread-dough and salt. (mom….you would have loved this place).
-comida tipica for lunch including a special soup made of potatoes called Locro, which is served with avocado, cheese and tostados (toasted corn). This may have been the best Ecuadorian meal so far…i am going to attempt to learn to make it.
-we drove to an incredible park overlooking the city and then down a famous incline called Guapulo, which is on a steep hillside leading to a historic church built in 1633
-Maria Gracia and I watched little miss sunshine in Spanish on my bed and then played countless games of cards with Pedro…my host mom is recovering from minor leg surgery, so she was in bed super early.
-Sunday morning started with miscommunication about plans, but I ended up staying home to help Maria Paz prepare / learn my enchilada and nora’s bread pudding recipes. My entire family helped….. Maria Paz blasted the salsa music, Abuelita and Maria Gracia chopped vegetables and I did the rest. It was a great morning and they seemed to really enjoy learning how to make them. Before the guests came I went for my first solo run….it was incredible, although it is still difficult to breath (altitude or smog???)
Abuelita’s brother came over with two of his daughters, son-in-law and grandchildren (7 & 16). Abuelita’s brother is a history / geography / philosophy prof and he was really friendly and incredibly interesting and smart. When he entered he asked where the gringita was…apparently I looked Ecuadorian to him. We had some great conversations about recycling, dogs, history and politics. I asked him who he thought was the most influential Ecuadorian woman and the whole family got into a debate….i think they decided on three women, all of whom are named Manuela. Also, when he found out that I did not support Bush he got super excited, grinning a toothless smile, and grabbed my arm to show his enthusiasm.
Friday, March 2, 2007
hospital
Our Spanish professor took our class by troleybus to a public medical university in central Quito. First-year students gave us tours, so we each had the chance to ask questions and walk around the campus...which included a room with cadavers! The student who gave me the tour, Isabel, was really nice and explained all about the process of becoming a doctor in Ecuador. She also explained that she lives at home (which is very common for college students) and commutes 1 1/2 hours to get to and from the school. Afterwards, in the central courtyard there was traditional dancing and a play, which our professor was in.
un otro perrito
My host mother's cousin came over last night with her huge, 7-month-old golden retriever puppy...so he almost knocked over my host sister, Maria Gracia.
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