One Month Down

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Well, the first month here is almost up. All the other students are getting ready to go home, and a new batch arrives on Saturday. It’s kind of sad that everyone is leaving, I really like all my friends here! Especially my roomies, Anu and Melissa, we’ve had a lot of fun together. Tonight we had another movie and hot cocoa night, watched a few episodes of Grey’s Anatomy. Another 1.50 movie purchase. The best part was looking at how impractical the operating room and hospital situations were, now that we’ve all actually spent some times in some. And we kept laughing that all the people were wearing gloves all the time…SO not like the Ecuadorian hospitals. Good stuff. I really feel like the last four weeks have gone by quickly, although right now it seems like another four will be longer. Looking back, I’m not really sure if my Spanish has gotten much better. I think I pick up on more of what people are saying, but I’m not even sure of that. I’m definitely good enough to travel and work here, since I’ve survived so far, but that’s mainly because everyone is no nice about trying to understand me/get me to understand them.

Today Anu, me and a random German medical student Anu met went to a few art museums in the Eastern part of the city. They were dedicated to Ecuador’s most famous artist, Guayasamin. He has lots of very dark and creepy paintings about various atrocities in human history. They were very cool, but pretty depressing really. One of the museums also had a large collection of pre-Columbian and Colonial art. That was really interesting, there was some really great pottery! And lots of crosses.
Yesterday was a trip to the Mitad del Mundo, the center of the world. I stood on the equator. Actually, I stood on what people thought the equator was when it was first calculated a few hundred years ago, which is actually about 200 meters off from the really equator, but it was close enough. I was actually in the same hemisphere as you guys for awhile! It was a pretty touristy place, lots of shops, but it was fun.

Research continues as normal. Did all my interviews at La Maternidad today, since this week is pretty hectic and I didn’t know whether I’d have time later. At La Maternidad there are a few other med students, Ecuadorian, who are rotating through at the same time as me. It’s nice to get to know them a little, and to have other people around who are clueless too. Most of the women I’ve seen in the emergency room there have urinary tract infections or sudden bleeding. There was one woman today who was 38 weeks pregnant and hadn’t told her husband, who I gathered was in Columbia working somewhere. That was kind of sad, she was crying and I didn’t really understand what was going on. Since a lot of the patients at LM are low income, and typically have little/no pre-natal care and poor nutrition, the women typically have high risk pregnancies. Lots of c-sections and abortions. I feel really lucky to be able to see all of this first hand.

Well, that’s all I’ve got for now. The next few days are pretty crazy, what with everyone leaving, but I have a nice relaxing weekend coming up. Woohoo! And, very exciting here, there is an election on Sunday. They’re voting on a new constitution. It’s very controversial because it gives more power to the president, and legalizes same sex unions and abortions. Big deal! Also, I learned that voting here is mandatory. If you don’t vote you’re denied things like bank loans and employment. I’ll let you know how the election goes, thanks for reading!

New Word of the Day: cubiertos (silverware)



Saturday, September 27, 2008

Well, I am the only student in the house now. Said goodbye to Anu and Melissa this morning, and most of the other gringos last night. Just a few left today. It’s kind of sad to see everyone go. But a new roomie should be showing up today, so there’s that to look forward to.

So how to describe what I’ve been up to the last few days…It’s been a little crazy! We’ll start with my trip to the top of the basilica on Thursday. It’s a huge, beautiful building that looks really old but was really build in the 1920’s. The cool thing is that you can climb all the way to the top. Like ALL the way to the top. No railings, nothing to keep you from just climbing out on ledges (except the fear of a big big fall). Anu affectionately referred to the stairs to the tower as “the rickety ladders of death”. I think it was all the roofing experience this summer, but those ladders totally didn’t phase me; at least they weren’t going to blow off the building. The view from the top was gorgeous, and it was so cool to do something that would never be possible in the states (oh, the lawsuits). Wandered around the downtown area that afternoon after the climbing, saw lots of gorgeous buildings. Bought some face lotion made by cloistered monks. There was a lot of political campaigning going on in the streets, with the election tomorrow and everything. We avoided the bigger groups, cause foreigners can be arrested for attending political demonstrations here. That just would not have been fun. On that note, in the whole country it is illegal to buy or sell alcohol (started Thursday night!) so that everyone is sober for election day.

Thursday night the group participated in an Ecuadorian tradition called Chivas. Oh my. I can’t even describe it. It’s basically a party bus, open on the sides and all colorfully painted. There was a band on the roof! So cool! We basically rode around the city in this bus, blowing whistles and drinking an alcoholic beverage that was really cinnamony and anisy. (Yes, I made those words up.) It was pretty good, but really sweet. There was a dance contest in one of the squares. At this point there’d been a lot of the liquor flowing, so it was pretty entertaining. Afterwards we went and got some pizza before hitting the dance scene. The salsateca was pretty full (everyone getting their partying done before the prohibition), and we couldn’t really dance. Did do a shot of “fire water”- wow…

Yesterday was a pretty lazy day all around. Ate lunch at Crepes y Waffles, my new favorite restaurant. I really wish they had them in the states. Got two cups with the crepes y waffles logo, it made my day. Then Melissa and I came back and watched a Mexican film “La Mujer de mi Hermano”, with no subtitles. We did pretty well understanding it I think, we were pretty proud. Weird movie though. I also cut Melissa’s hair. Seriously, this is the second time I’ve cut someone’s hair while I’ve been here, I think I should just start a little business. New fall back plan if the med school thing doesn’t work out. At night we all got together for one last fiesta before everyone heads home. When a bunch of med and pre-med students get together, the conversations are pretty interesting. Talked about prolapses and hemorrhoids for a good hour.

I have no idea what to do with myself. It’s kind of nice to have nothing to do. Might go to a mall with the girls who don’t leave till tonight. And I suppose I should work on entering my data and all that. Work, pshaw. My program here is now half over, time has kind of flown by. No time at home till I’ll be heading home.

New Word of the Day: aguardiente (fire water)