Thursday, September 04, 2008
Hola amigos! Today was a full day at the clinic! Two births and a C-section. It was a little tough to actually see the c-section, since the room was full of residents and students observing. But it was pretty cool that we could stand right there and watch. During the non-cesarean births I got to pour antiseptics and move a light. Pretty exciting, oh yeah. The doctors are all very friendly with each other, it seems like a happy place to work. One of the residents was chatting with us and said he works 50-80 hours a week, which sounds about like how much residents in the US work, too. It struck me how different people are with regard to cell phones here while at La Maternidad. Phones were going off during procedures, people (not the sterile people) would answer them, people observing the procedures were texting, it was pretty different.
To fill everyone in on questions you've been asking... yeah, there are electric heaters in the shower head, which sounds dangerous but is really safe. Although not very effective, I haven't been able to get a hot shower yet. I will prevail! The weather here is very nice, kind of chilly in the mornings and evenings but warm (75 ish) during the day. It's been raining a little in the afternoons, which the locals say is not normal. Oh global warming...
New Word of the Day: sabon (antiseptic)
Friday, September 05, 2008
Last day at La Maternidad. Not too much happened, it was kind of a slow day, but we did get to see one delivery. The doctor performed an episiodomy, which was interesting to see. Said it was because it was the woman’s first birth. I think everyone gets episiodomies the first time here. Numbed the area and then just cut a 2-3 inch area below the vagina. He stitched it up afterwards, and I think he hadn’t done it very much before because he was very slow and very careful, and there was an attending telling him what to do. I felt kind of bad for the new mom, she had to stay there for a long time. Interestingly, the doctor asked me to get the bottle of anesthetic for him, and clean the cap with an alcohol swab. He then proceeded to draw the dose with a used needle. Don’t know if that was his mistake or a common practice. Kind of goes along with the fact that we had to wear hear nets and booties over our shoes, but there was no soap or toilet paper in the doctor’s bathroom. Just a little different. I’ve asked all the new mothers if they had names picked for their babies, and none of them had. I’ll have to ask Lorena (host mom) why that is. Thought it might be because of the infant mortality rate; easier not to be attached if the baby has no name? Don’t know.
Went to a nearby mall this afternoon because it has free wifi. Two hours later…my computer said it was connected, but it LIED. It was incredibly frustrating! I got fed up and just left, have to try it again next week. I did have some ice cream, that made me feel a little better. It would be great if I could get that free wifi to work so I can use Skype; phone calls to the US are kind of pricey. Oh well, que sera sera.
At 4:45 our group is headed to Banos, a city a few hours south of here. Apparently it is just gorgeous there, lots of mountains and waterfalls. We’re going to bike and white water raft, so it’s our extreme sports outing. I came back to the apartment a little early to shower and everything (don’t know if I’ll be able to shower where we’re going), and there is no water. The joys of living in a developing country! Apparently it’s pretty common. Yesterday there was no power for most of the day. We walked right by the downed power line. Pretty crazy.
New Word of the Day: Aguja y hilo (needle and thread)
Monday, September 8, 2008
Back from Banos! 9 of us went, 3 of whom continued onto their program in a town in the jungle. It was so much fun!! Went on a 22 km bike ride through this gorgeous area full of mountains and waterfalls. A little scary, because people here are loco with the driving. We stopped once to go bungee jumping, and I totally did it! It was off of a random bridge, so fun. It was quite the thrill, let me tell you! Everyone in the group bungeed, it was really fun to watch people poise on the edge and decide if it was really such a great idea. The ride terminated at a gorgeous waterfall that we hiked down to. (Seriously, this weekend was more exercise than I've ever had in my life.) We crawled through some caves to be able to go behind the waterfall, which was pretty cool. Got really wet, but there were good photos! And to top the day off we rode back to Banos in the back of a random truck. I felt so very adventurous. In the evening the hostel manager (by the way, if you're ever in Banos, Princesa Maria is an incredible hostel, highly recommend it) suggested that we go to the hot baths, which is what the town is named after. It was quite the experience. There were so many people! The hot water felt really good for the sore muscles. We alternated from really hot to really cold baths, cause it's supposed to be good for you. Does give the system a shock!
The next day I woke up with some pretty crazy gastrointestinal issues. Not good. Decided that maybe the best place for me was not on a raft all day. So me and another girl who was feeling the same stayed in the town and wandered around. Bought an awesome scarf, totally made my day. And then we ate cuy, which is (drumroll please).... guinea pig, the local specialty. There was just a woman roasting the whole critter on a fire, then she chopped it into quarters and served it up. The lighter parts tasted kind of like chicken. It was weird the have the head, teeth and all, still attached while eating it... we got lots of pictures, it was very exotic. Took the 4 hour bus ride back to Quito kind of late, didn't get back till midnight. And the bus was so cold!! Overall, it really was a great trip, and I definitely had fun (minus the diarrhea part).
New Word of the Day: Medias (socks)
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