Wednesday, November 10, 2010
First Days of ISP
I got to Tena (in the Oriente or Amazon jungle) Saturday evening after a five and a half hour bus ride. I'm living in a neighborhood called Aeropuerto 2 because it runs along one side of the landing strip, although as far as I can tell the landing strip is never used except by the people for exercising along. I'm working in the free government health clinic here, run by the Ministerio de Salud Publica. Most of the patients are women and children, although there have been a few men. Its heart-wrenching how small some of the children are, they'll be nine years old and look like they're 5 because they just don't have enough nutrients in their diet. Everyone here is short compared to me, but the women and children that come to the clinic tend to be those who have the least, since it's completely free to come. Gripe, which technically means flu but is often used to describe a cold is the most common illness. I've also seen a couple cases of pink eye, a couple infections, and planificacion (family planning) since they give out free condoms, birth control, and also some kind of contraceptive shot. Today, there was a fifteen day old baby who had bronchotis, was vomiting, and had mottled skin. Mostly I'm writing down names (very hard to do in Spanish and get the spelling completely right, although it helps that a lot of the last names, and they all have two last names, are the same), birthdates, ages, weighing them on the scale, taking temperatures of the children (which we do under the armpit), taking blood pressures of the adults (using a blood pressure cuff and a stethescope), and measuring the circurmfrance of the head for children under 2. Sometimes Fernanda, the doctor, has me listen to people's stomachs or chests or backs using the stethescope, but I usually can't tell exactly what she wants me to here. I also hand Fernanda the medicines she asks for, and today I gave a woman a shot.
La Costa
Mid October (I know I'm a little slow)
After flying into Guayquil (45 minutes from Quito by plane), we took a bus to the Malecon, a newly reconstructed area along the Guayas river that was once a very seedy part of town but has been reclaimed and turned into a river-side walkway, with a world class museum at one end. The Guays river is huge and flows into the ocean shortly after Guayaquil. The really cool part is that at high tide, the river actually flows backwards for some large number of miles. After lunch (fried fish, and the ever present rice) we went to the museum to look at the collection of ancient ceramics. The museum was technically closed because there was a book fair scheduled for the next day and they were setting up, but because our directors have great contacts, we got a private one hour tour.
After the museum, we went to the parque centenario. This park was the original home of a large group of iguanas, so instead of removing them, they built the park around them. In every single tree there were literally about 20 iguanas, along with many more on the ground and the statues. After dinner, we climbed up to the old lighthouse (444 stairs that wind up a hill) which had a great view out over the river and the city.
The next morning, we first went to the Parque Historico, a huge park with several different exhibits. First we wandered through old Guayaquil architecture, which had been relocated into the park. The wealthy houses were incredibly nice. The houses for the workers were very small, and made entirely out of bamboo and raised up so that they could catch whatever breeze may have existed. We also walked through an exhibit of Ecuadorian animals that have been rescued. The exhibit started out with a mangrove forest (mangroves look SO cool) and then moved on to the various ecosystems in Ecuador. Finally, we started driving north up the coast to get dropped off at our different villages.
Michelle and I stayed in Olon, a village of about 800 adults (no one seemed to know the number of kids). The house we lived in was right off the main road (Ruta del Sol or Ruta del Spondylus), and every time a bus went by, the house shook. The house was made of cinderblocks, a few walls were semi painted. The roof was sheet metal, and in most places didn't meet the walls. Emma, the woman we stayed with has 7 children, but only the youngest, a 20 year old named Carla still lived at home. A couple of her children and grandchildren also still live in the town, so there were always other people around. They make a living by renting out a couple rooms during tourist season (December through February, the tourists go hang out in Montañita, the nearby surfing/gringo/drinking town and return only to sleep) and selling bead bracelets and crochet work. Since we were supposed to be participating in their lives as much as possible, one night I tried to crochet with Emma, and even though I can normally crochet pretty well, it was impossible. She used the thinnest hook I have ever seen, along with the thinnest yarn. I also couldn't figure out how to copy her stiches, because she didn't really know how to explain it and she was doing it left handed. Laura probably would have had much better luck.
Every day we walked around town talking to people so that we would have information to write in our work journals. The biggest source of employment is in construction. Although Olon is still a sleeply place, it is becoming more and more touristy, and there are also a lot of construction jobs in Montañita. A few men fish, and there are also a lot of small business. One man and a team of five or six women make balsa wood boxes to hold chocolates and panama hats for export to other countries. Another family makes flipflops to sell in Guayaquil. One person cuts out the foot part, another cuts slits and threads the straps, a third fits the straps using a wooden foot and then glues them down, and then another person attaches the sole. A pair can be made in about four minutes. Another shop made very detailed, beautiful products out of bamboo (tables, chairs, bunk beds, mini whales, napkin holders, etc.).
Olon has a combination of paved and dirt streets. Downtown is bout for square blocks and then it runs into the ocean on one side, a river on another, the main road along the coast on the third, and the soccer field on the fourth. The entire time we were there, gargua (the lightest, finest drizzle you can possibly imagine; we could always feel the drops but it took about an hour of being outside for anything to actually become wet) fell continuously from the sky, and one time it rained hard, turning the streets into mud holes. About a twenty minute walk out of town, a Catholic sanctuary perches on a cliff. It was one of 10 "gifts" built throughout Ecuador for the 2000th birthday of the Virgin Maria, and has an incredible view out over the ocean. Inside there is a chapel with a statue of the virgin that is said to have cried human blood in 1990, so people often go there to pray for miracles.
After four nights in Olon, we caught a bus to Las Tuñas to meet our academic directors at a hostal there. That afternoon (Monday), as long as the next day were free time. Tuesday morning, Taylor and I went for a long walk on the beach. In one direction we walked about 45 minutes to a large cliff and discovered a cave that went at least 30 feet back (that's were we turned around because it became impossible to go forward and stay dry). When we got back to where we'd started, we went for a 35 minute run out the other way. The tide was way far out and there was a semi-soft layer of sand that was perfect to run on. In the afternoon, most of us played in the ocean for a couple of hours. There were three sets of breakers, and four of us body surfed in the second one which had about 6 foot waves. Wednesday morning, we had a two hour bus ride to Manta, and then a 40 minute flight back to Quito.
After flying into Guayquil (45 minutes from Quito by plane), we took a bus to the Malecon, a newly reconstructed area along the Guayas river that was once a very seedy part of town but has been reclaimed and turned into a river-side walkway, with a world class museum at one end. The Guays river is huge and flows into the ocean shortly after Guayaquil. The really cool part is that at high tide, the river actually flows backwards for some large number of miles. After lunch (fried fish, and the ever present rice) we went to the museum to look at the collection of ancient ceramics. The museum was technically closed because there was a book fair scheduled for the next day and they were setting up, but because our directors have great contacts, we got a private one hour tour.
After the museum, we went to the parque centenario. This park was the original home of a large group of iguanas, so instead of removing them, they built the park around them. In every single tree there were literally about 20 iguanas, along with many more on the ground and the statues. After dinner, we climbed up to the old lighthouse (444 stairs that wind up a hill) which had a great view out over the river and the city.
The next morning, we first went to the Parque Historico, a huge park with several different exhibits. First we wandered through old Guayaquil architecture, which had been relocated into the park. The wealthy houses were incredibly nice. The houses for the workers were very small, and made entirely out of bamboo and raised up so that they could catch whatever breeze may have existed. We also walked through an exhibit of Ecuadorian animals that have been rescued. The exhibit started out with a mangrove forest (mangroves look SO cool) and then moved on to the various ecosystems in Ecuador. Finally, we started driving north up the coast to get dropped off at our different villages.
Michelle and I stayed in Olon, a village of about 800 adults (no one seemed to know the number of kids). The house we lived in was right off the main road (Ruta del Sol or Ruta del Spondylus), and every time a bus went by, the house shook. The house was made of cinderblocks, a few walls were semi painted. The roof was sheet metal, and in most places didn't meet the walls. Emma, the woman we stayed with has 7 children, but only the youngest, a 20 year old named Carla still lived at home. A couple of her children and grandchildren also still live in the town, so there were always other people around. They make a living by renting out a couple rooms during tourist season (December through February, the tourists go hang out in Montañita, the nearby surfing/gringo/drinking town and return only to sleep) and selling bead bracelets and crochet work. Since we were supposed to be participating in their lives as much as possible, one night I tried to crochet with Emma, and even though I can normally crochet pretty well, it was impossible. She used the thinnest hook I have ever seen, along with the thinnest yarn. I also couldn't figure out how to copy her stiches, because she didn't really know how to explain it and she was doing it left handed. Laura probably would have had much better luck.
Every day we walked around town talking to people so that we would have information to write in our work journals. The biggest source of employment is in construction. Although Olon is still a sleeply place, it is becoming more and more touristy, and there are also a lot of construction jobs in Montañita. A few men fish, and there are also a lot of small business. One man and a team of five or six women make balsa wood boxes to hold chocolates and panama hats for export to other countries. Another family makes flipflops to sell in Guayaquil. One person cuts out the foot part, another cuts slits and threads the straps, a third fits the straps using a wooden foot and then glues them down, and then another person attaches the sole. A pair can be made in about four minutes. Another shop made very detailed, beautiful products out of bamboo (tables, chairs, bunk beds, mini whales, napkin holders, etc.).
Olon has a combination of paved and dirt streets. Downtown is bout for square blocks and then it runs into the ocean on one side, a river on another, the main road along the coast on the third, and the soccer field on the fourth. The entire time we were there, gargua (the lightest, finest drizzle you can possibly imagine; we could always feel the drops but it took about an hour of being outside for anything to actually become wet) fell continuously from the sky, and one time it rained hard, turning the streets into mud holes. About a twenty minute walk out of town, a Catholic sanctuary perches on a cliff. It was one of 10 "gifts" built throughout Ecuador for the 2000th birthday of the Virgin Maria, and has an incredible view out over the ocean. Inside there is a chapel with a statue of the virgin that is said to have cried human blood in 1990, so people often go there to pray for miracles.
After four nights in Olon, we caught a bus to Las Tuñas to meet our academic directors at a hostal there. That afternoon (Monday), as long as the next day were free time. Tuesday morning, Taylor and I went for a long walk on the beach. In one direction we walked about 45 minutes to a large cliff and discovered a cave that went at least 30 feet back (that's were we turned around because it became impossible to go forward and stay dry). When we got back to where we'd started, we went for a 35 minute run out the other way. The tide was way far out and there was a semi-soft layer of sand that was perfect to run on. In the afternoon, most of us played in the ocean for a couple of hours. There were three sets of breakers, and four of us body surfed in the second one which had about 6 foot waves. Wednesday morning, we had a two hour bus ride to Manta, and then a 40 minute flight back to Quito.
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