The ups and downs...

I have had a crazy last couple of weeks.

My great-grandma passed away on July 27th, she was 90. I left the States knowing that something like this could happen and I may not be able to come home. I got to celebrate her 90th birthday party the weekend before I left for Ecuador and I spoke to her briefly the previous week on Skype while talking to my mom.

I was able to attend the funeral via Skype. It worked well in the beginning, I got to talk to many of my family members and family friends, but later the connection wasn’t very great and I couldn’t hear much of what the pastor said. I am glad we attempted this; it is difficult being away from your family when something bad happens and seeing the funeral made it feel real while I am 3,000 miles away.

Also sad news, my Peace Corps friend, Nancy, was sent home because of thyroid problems and a biopsy showed that it is cancerous. Her surgery is today, I am sure she will recover to new, but Peace Corps has decided that it is best if she doesn’t return. I will miss her!

I also worked at a Medical Brigade this past week in a town called Pataloma. It is a small indigenous community, outside of a large city called Ambato. (Picture a school-turned-clinic with 100 people packed in and around a small concrete building - babies crying, three dogs running around inside, lines of people translating, and general confusion among everyone.) 10-12 doctors came from the States, along with many nurses, med-students, physical therapists and translators. It was a great time and I learned a lot about medical issues in Ecuador, many new Spanish words, and about a different and interesting sub-culture of Ecuador. I generally helped the physical therapists with translating. However, at times this was difficult, because among the elderly population, most only spoke Quichua. So we had four people at times to translate. The PT would say something to me in English, I would say it to a younger family member in Spanish and they would translate to Quichua for the elderly person. By the time it got back to the PT, it could take a few minutes. The other challenge was the general understanding of medical issues is not as universal among the population as in the US, some had never even gone to a doctor. For example, in the US you can tell someone to do some exercises twice a day and most people understand why, but here it is completely new to them. Many had never even heard of physical therapy, so I would have to do a little extra explaining why it is good for them and how it will help and that medicine alone won’t fix the problem. I know that technically translating should be word for word, but with cultural differences and misunderstandings at times that was not possible. (When the PT said, “fill a plastic bottle with water and freeze it,” I would say, “Do you have a refrigerator?”)

I also had been getting my house all put together. I am assembling and am almost done with a futon. The lumberyard process was one of the very interesting things I have done in Ecuador. I went in with my list of pieces needed, and tried to ask if they have 5 cm x 10 cm pieces, which is close to a 2” x 4”. I had thought that they would be pre cut to those sizes and that all they would need to do is cut them to the lengths I needed, not so. The lumberyard only has very rough large cuts of wood and they cut them into the sizes you ask for. I should have known not to expect precut wood…ha. Then I went back to the workshop to watch them. Another thing about Ecuador, no gloves, no eye protection, but in this lumberyard, everyone had all their fingers, this can’t be said for the other one I went to.

Two days until my mom is here! Our plan is to visit Quito (the capital) and Otavalo (largest market in South America), spend a few days in my site. We also plan on going to Tena, which is a city in the Amazon basin, where we will go white water rafting...yay!