Very Very Horn

A special prize for the first person who can interpret what the intention of that sentence was . . . Good Luck!

I´m off tomorrow to the jungle, very exciting indeed! Tonight is a little get together with some of the staff from the hospital and should be alot of fun as well. Salsa, I would guess, is bound to be in my very near future! It has been another great week at the hospital. I have really enjoyed making the kinds of connections I have with people here, certainly one of the benefits of staying in one place for an extended period of time. The woman who runs the restaurant across from the hospital pours a cup of cafe con leche for me when she sees me get off the bus and her children know me by name. The bus driver knows which stop I get off at and even got a little excited today when I left the bus early to come email. The security guards at the hospital watch every night while we get on the bus, and I have met the families of most of the people I work with. Such an incredible experience. The culture here really is a rich social network. I wonder if we come even close to making people feel as welcome in Canada. I don´t think so . . . Something we should all strive to do more of.

I don´t think I´ll have internet access at the lodge, so this is a little goodbye for now. I will return, with many stories I´m sure, on Wednesday evening. And for anyone that´s concerned (you know who you are), none of the women at the hospital were worried when I told them where I was going - they all though it was a great idea.

Love to you all,
Emnlyn

Las Palabras Mucho Malo en Español

There is a tradition that I have found inevitably occurs no matter where you are in the world. At some point in time, you learn how to swear in another language. Now the really fun part of this is that if you learn bad words in a language that isn´t spoken where you currently find yourself, you can yell them down the halls and no one even flinches . . . Except for the one person who knows what the word means. I learned my fair share of bad Spanish phrases in Chile. The nurses and one of the doctors at the hospital now know all kinds of wonderful and colorful phrases, and quite merrily went around saying them all afternoon. And yes, they taught me a few new ones too, only I have to wait until I´m back in Canada before I can use them effectively.

Another great day at the hospital, following a wonderful relaxing time in Baños. My only complaint is that I´m not taking many pictures, but there is time for that too. I found out yesterday that Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week are national holidays. aka I don´t have to work. So I´m planning on heading off to a little jungle lodge about 5 hours from here on a very very safe bus. I think I´ll leave Saturday morning and make it a day trip - all the better to see the scenery that way (and its safer too). I had thought about doing a guided tour in the jungle, but this is apparently a difficult and expensive thing to organize when you are only one person. And I kind of like the idea of hammocks by the river interspersed with wandering through an ecological reserve with a naturalist guide . . . Canoe trips in the night to see the animals. Hopefully no fearsome badgers or ferocious turtles though (I highly doubt I´ll find either of those here).

So this is the big plan. You can check out the website of the cabañas at http://www.ecuadoramazonlodge.com/.

:o)

Emnlyn

There´s a Volcano Here . . . Somewhere

Here I am in Baños, a quiet little resort town at the base of a huge beautiful volcano. I know its a beautiful volcano because I have seen it from Ambato looming up above the clouds, happily pumping out wafts of grey smoke. The above the clouds part seems to be the key though. Baños is currently tucked safely away beneath those clouds. There are beautiful green mountains all around me though and hopefully the clouds will part and I will get to see this amazing creature before I leave.

Apparently I have caused some concern among the parental-types ;) with my comment about the women at the hospital not wanting me to go to Baños alone. Rest assured this has nothing to do with them being concerned about my safety, only that there is little understanding here about doing things by yourself. Why would one go somewhere alone when one could have the company of friends or family or both? So, after much convincing that I really didn´t want two of the secretaries to meet me here this evening (to show me around and keep me company), here I am alone and enjoying every minute of it. I arrived yesterday evening and got myself settled into a wonderful little hostal just outside of the centre of town. I have to admit I splurged a bit on accommodations, I am paying $20 a night for a beautiful room with a private bath, a little sitting area, a balcony, and breakfast. I brought all my laundry with me as well which is being done as I write this for somewhere around $4. What a luxury!

The bus ride last night was quite an experience as well. It cost a whole dollar for the hour long ride on a bus equipped with reclining seats, a bathroom, rather loud salsa music, and traveling salesmen to boot. Yes, traveling salesmen. The first young guy hopped on the bus while we were still in the terminal and dumped a handful of candy in my lap, only to return a minute later to collect his 25 cents. The next young man, who hopped on and then off the bus at the next stop, was selling travel toothbrushes, he was very convincing so I bought one, along with a little container of q-tips . . . About half an hour into the trip one of the guys sitting at the front of the bus stood up and started showing off his wares, along with an animated demonstration of every pen (with light so as to write in the dark), key chains, wallets, flasks, purses, and a million other little knick-knacks. It got a little tiring after the first five minutes and when I got off the bus at Baños 20 minutes later he was still going on and on and on . . . So my dollar bus ride turned into a $2.75 bus ride. But I am now the proud owner of two travel toothbrushes, 50 ¨cotton buds¨, and a handful of dreadfully sweet strawberry flavored candies . . .

Everything is still going really well at the hospital. I am working with the residents and my typical day consists of spending the morning in the operating room (either with the anesthetist or assisting the surgeon - I am getting really good at suturing). Then onto the rounds in the acute care area, checking up on post-surgery patients. After lunch, which is always very tasty, its on to the clinic downstairs to assess walk-in patients. I have been doing more and more every day, and am really enjoying working with the residents. I am learning a lot about antibiotic treatment, and the typical disease presentations that are common here. Lots of cold and flu stuff, but also lots of illnesses related to water contamination, pollution, and malnutrition. We had a little girl the other day (9 months) who has had flu-like symptoms for about a week. Her parents had been giving her an adult cold medicine that contains pseudoephedrin, which is basically a natural form of ¨speed¨. Needless to say it hadn´t helped her any.

Outside of work everything is going well also. I love the family I am staying with, they are all very wonderful and very patient with my spanish. It is a little different for me living with 3 other people, but on a whole a very good experience. My only difficulty is how hard it is to express myself and to understand the little nuances of what is happening around me. That isolation is hard at times, but it is also really forcing me to listen and to learn, which is so good.

Well, I guess I should probably go explore this beautiful place I am in some more, tomorrow I am planning on a mountain bike ride about 20 km down into the high jungle. Fortunately there is a bus that will return me and my bike back up the mountain . . .

Take care,
Emnlyn

A Busy Week Almost Finished

I was hoping to have more time to write this entry, but I have figured out that the cafe is closing very soon, so I guess this will have to be quick.

Everything is going really well, I am learning more Spanish everyday, and have even had the opportunity to joke around a couple of times, a linguistic feat I assure you. The people here are wonderful, and so are all of the doctors at the hospital. This is turning out better than I could have possibly imagined.

This weekend I am going to the town of Baños just south of here that resides at the base of the very large, and very active, Volcano. The town is famous for its hotsprings, and should be a good holiday for the weekend. All of the women at the hospital are very worried about me going by myself, but I keep assuring them that I will be ok.

Anyways, I am getting stressed looks from the store owner and they are whispering about me now too, so I guess its time to go. Hope you are all well . . .

Emnlyn

No Hay Englaise

Well that about says it all. And for those of you to whom that makes no sense at all . . . Welcome to my world. I have not spoken English to another living being (other than myself) for three days. But, I have to admit, my spanish is improving rapidly, and although I am frequently thuroughly confused, I manage to understand most of what is going on and being said.

I am now in Ambato, staying with my host family which consists of Señor y Señora Robles and their daughter Soledad who happens to be the same age as I am. We spent the weekend looking around the city, it is very beautiful here with volcanoes looming over us from two sides. I forgot how much I like volcanoes. Today we went for the first time to hospital where I am going to be working. Any worries I had about bringing the wrong supplies quickly dissipated, and the two bags of stuff I brought seem like I´m throwing a teaspoon of water on a house fire. The director of the hospital is wonderful, very friendly and very enthusiastic about getting me involved in the day to day activities. She seemed quite relieved that I have actually worked in health care before coming here. Apparently many people who volunteer are pre-med students from the states who, of course, have never touched a patient in their lives . . . It seems like it is going to be an incredible experience. I start tomorrow morning at 0800h.

There has been a small amount of miscommunication up to this point, unfortunately the main miscommunication came from the coordinator of this whole project in the States that told me I needed to have scrubs to wear at the hospital. This, of course, made perfect sense to me. The problem is though that I am only required to wear scrubs in the operating room. For the rest of the day I am expected to wear professional dress. And as you all know, I tend to travel with copious amounts of dress shirts and pants. So, this afternoon we went shopping. Fortunately everything here is substantially less expensive than in Canada. And hey, if I ever decide to turn in the Red Wings for office pumps, I am now at least partially equipped.

So, on a whole things are going really well. I will keep you all updated as I am sure you are all eagerly anticipating my next post . . .

Love to you all,
Emnlyn

Number One Rule of Travelling: Always remember your towel

I read in a very funny book once that no matter what you take with you when travelling, you must always have a towel. With this everything will go smoothly. Without it you leave yourself open to numerous perils. I, with all of my towel wisdom intact, managed to forget my trusty travelling towel at home. This did, however, lead me to venture out of the pequeña casa where I am staying and seek out the central commercial de jardin, aka: the mall. Although I am sure I could probably have found a cheaper one somewhere else, I am now the proud owner of a very soft, not too big not too small, blue towel. Perhaps I will be lucky and it will multiply. Don´t laugh, it has happened before.

I have also decided that no weather information for outside of N. America or Europe is ever correct. Or perhaps all of these beautiful places in the world misinform them of the weather in order to ward off the hordes of tourists that would inevitably follow the sunshine. The forecast of rain and more rain from the time of my arrival until some unknown point in the future could not have been more wrong. Again today I find myself under blue skys and fluffy white clouds. Already 24 degrees and not even noon.

Last night I went for supper with the regional coordinator and a British woman who is here setting up English schools. It is quite amazing how much work is being done here both by nationals and foreigners. There are huge projects going on in civil rights, environmental conservation, domestic violence, teenage pregnancy prevention, and many more. Just incredible. Quite amazing to be connecting with people who are doing this work - really in the trenches of community change.

So off I go to Ambato this afternoon and onto the next part of this adventure. It will be nice to have a place to unpack and hopefully give away all of the many many things I brought with me. I have decided to give some of the supplies to a near by clinic run by another woman I met yesterday. They are in a very poor rural area and will benefit greatly from this. The rest I am taking with me to distribute in Ambato and possibly one or two of the surrounding towns. It really seems like what I have brought will greatly benefit many people - which is all I could have ever asked for. Perhaps I too will be of some benefit in the next few weeks ;o)

Love to you all,
Emnlyn

Hola From Ecuador!

Well here I am in an internet cafe in Quito Ecuador. Its partly sunny and about 25 degrees right now - very beautiful city with the colonial architecture, palm trees, and big green mountains towering all around. The flights were good, and I met the Ecuadorian coordinator Patirica at the airport last night. Tomorrow I head to Ambato where I will be staying with a family and getting started at the hospital. I am amazed, as always, at how incredible it is to get on a plane in one country and then 12 hours later find myself somewhere so completely different. My spanish is horrendous, but even after less than a day I am finding that I can remember more and more.

So just a quick note to you all to let you know I made it safely, and am in good hands here.

Love to you all,
Emnlyn

T minus 23 hours

Well my bags are packed, I'm ready to go . . . Almost. It wouldn't really be like me to actually be totally ready to go more than 2 or 3 hours before my plane leaves. What fun would that be? The list has shrunk though, the bulbs did get planted, I have managed to fit most of the stuff into a couple of duffle bags - and I'm quite sure my clothes and the rest of the stuff will fit into my backpack. If only I had hairless cats . . . Then I wouldn't need to vaccum. Today is likely going to be pretty hectic. I'm working with a new employee who has no idea what he's in for today. I said we were going to be busy and I think he thought I meant doing calls, not running around frantically trying to find Children's Tylenol and cheap Ibuprofen. Tomorrow at this time I will be on a plane somewhere over the states heading towards Dallas, then onto Miami (it's still there right?), and then to Quito. I should be arriving there at 2130h EST. Not sure when that is actually, they don't have daylight savings which puts them about 3 hours ahead of us I think. I still have butterflies darting madly about my insides, but those hopefully will subside once I'm on the plane.

My Grandma is doing much better - her IVs have been taken out, and all systems are go. She looks so much better than she did a week ago, which is so good to see. I'm not sure what I would have done if she hadn't recovered so well. Thankfully I don't have to find out. My Grandpa is doing better as well, definately more relaxed and looking forward to the impending transfer closer to home. Hopefully there is a bed available in Red Deer, or better yet, Ponoka.

So I suppose this is my final communique from Canada - I will write as soon as I can from Ecuador, but that probably won't be until Thursday evening or Friday.

Take care of yourselves in my absence and try not to miss me too much ;o)

Love to you all,
Emnlyn

Pre-trip Jitters

Well they finally hit. About .2 seconds after I woke up this morning I finally got the jitters. The first .1 second was spent figuring out where I was (Amy's house), and that was followed quicly by "OH MY GOD I'M FLYING TO ECUADOR IN THREE DAYS, AND I'M GOING BY MYSELF AND WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS I THINKING!!!" Or something along those lines. Then I smelled the coffee Mike was brewing downstairs, and heard Amy grumbling at the cats and giggling about something or other, and then I realized I have just as good a chance of dying a horrible death here as I do there, and neither is likely to happen any time soon. At least I have managed to somewhat to convince my finely balanced psyche of this. Or as my mom pointed out - when you start thinking that way stop and move on to something else.

Something else like American customs, overweight luggage, unwashed laundry, undone chores, flower bulbs unplanted, work tomorrow morning, and the 10 day weather forcast of 20 degrees and rain in Ambato . . .

But I know it will all come together, somehow.

It always does . . .

:o)

A sample of the many medical supplies . . . I think I need a bigger backpack!!!

Everything here is kind of like a hurricane now . . .

And I though 5 days was a long time not to write, here we are 3 weeks later! My mom is probably getting tired of not seeing anything new on here!!!

So its 4 more days and 5 more sleeps until I leave for Ecuador. The last few days have been a flurry of activity trying to get everything ready before I leave. I have had incredible luck with the amount of donations I have received from people to purchase medical supplies. In addition to a $500 donation from a charity run by the sister of the Chief of EMS (my boss), the people I work with have given me about $400 so far. It is amazing how much stuff you can buy with that much money . . . Gloves, syringes, medicine, needles, inhalers. Really quite amazing. I was also given two cases of antibiotics!! Pretty incredible.

I have had a house guest staying here for the past few days, my Grandpa Moore. My Grandma unfortunately had to have surgery on the weekend and they just happened to be passing through the Calgary area when it happened. Things are improving day by day, and although they don't believe me when I tell them, I am really enjoying having him stay here. It feels like precious time spent with them both.

So this may not be the longest post ever written, but it brings everyone up to date. They will become more frequent now I promise . . .

emnlyn

OH!!!! I forgot to welcome a certain friendly yet very ferocious badger to the world of technology . . . I guess that little comment I made about her never seeing her picture on my blog was wrong. ;)