sorry i am a bad blogger... life in ecuador is fast paced... but slow at the same time, which leaves me wondering exactly what i did with all of my time and where it went. anyways... it is good and bad to be so busy because looking back on my journal, i wrote every single day when i was in quito... and now... i find myself 5 days behind and a little OCD about the whole matter. needless to say, the blog has taken a backseat in mi vida ecuatoriana. the past week has been eventful and uneventful at the same time... i have been battling the most obnoxious case of traveler's sickness the entire time... and after two stool samples, i can still proudly announce that i do not have parasites. but. that leaves me wondering what the heck is going on. i think i have spent more time in the bathroom than in the hospital... fun. however, i think today is better... and i am taking it one hydrated day at a time. (not with the tap water.)
some highlights of the past week included my adventure to the discoteca (spelling?) with cristina's nieces, pauli and mariela... which was fun. of course, i was the sola gringa there... but i learned some salsa and didn't get much sleep. the next morning (sunday), pauli and i went with fannita and the family to this river in lita... which is on the border with esmeraldas. we parked the car and played in the river for about 5 hours... it seems to be a popular spot with the locals, and for good reason. it was so beautiful and the water was so clear... and it was just good to pick a big rock and relax in the beautiful weather. we got back and hung out with pauli's family (her mother is cristina's sister) which was fun as well. her mom wants to learn english... which is always my favorite. :)
hospital highlights... umm... i am writing prescriptions and test orders and instructions... and doing vitals and such... i can't remember all of the patients, but there was an 8 year old girl today who came in basically unconscious due to ingesting something poisonous... but they don't know what yet... that was the exciting case today. yesterday, there was a boy with measles or mumps (could not translate which one)... which is rare even for ecuador due to the vaccination. so yeah. the exciting and sometimes boring life of the emergecia department.
umm what else? spanish is still improving and i am able to better explain myself cada dia, which is nice. i went to a tienda for some bread yesterday and the woman ran back into her house and brought me this bottle of vitamins that had instructions in english and she needed me to translate... so that was fun. (plus she wanted calcium, but there wasn't enough in the multi vitamin... so i told her to go get pills with calcium and vitamin d... because they are dumb here and sell calcium with vitamin c... which just counteracts the action of calcium... strange.) and today dr. muñoz thrust this big scientific article in my face about experiments with treating acute diarrhea in children... in english... and said, 'translate this please.' umm... ok... i have been speaking spanish for 7 weeks now... hmm... but it worked. so that was nice too.
i guess these little things like translating for the random woman and dr. muñoz, teaching the family english, and having real conversations (beyond 'hi. how are you?') with cristina is what this is all about. i didn't expect to be a miracle worker or anything here, but i also didn't realize the power of small interactions. and i think i like the small things better. (plus, cristina can only say like 5 things in english, one of them being 'shut up donkey'... which makes the whole trip worth it... seriously... maybe the funniest thing ever... and she calls me sarita maria joesphina... also well worth the trip. don't be surprised if i come home with 10 other people in tow because i don't want to leave!)
gotta run... no money for the cafe! ah! ciao!
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