Riobamba

Last weekend, Tamara and I took a 5 hour bus ride to the city of Riobamba to hang out with some of our coworkers in their hometown.  We left a day early to be tourists and ride the train that is called the Nariz Del Diablo (the Devil’s nose).  It was definitely an overpriced tourist attraction, but I was glad we did it.  The train left from a very cute town called Alausi. My favorite part of the day was sitting in the plaza of this town and watching all the locals stroll by in their brightly colored traditional Andean outfits. Just by watching the way the walk, interact with each other, and work the land in these layered outfits was truly beautiful! Often times the women are wearing multiple skirts, shalls, hats, knee high socks (probably not cotton), adorned shirts, and layers of necklaces. And this is their every day wear, even when they are working in the fields. 

As for the train, it was a 30 minute ride down into a beautiful valley, with switchbacks to get us down to the bottom.  Once we arrived, there was a small museum, a small lunch of tamale de pollo, and a small store where there were people dancing and selling goods.  Not a bad way to spend the morning.

While in Riobamba, we also visited the Laguna de Colta that was about 30 minutes outside of town. It was also next to what is claimed to be Ecuador’s first Catholic church built in 1534 (if I remember correctly).  Old adobe buildings line the street next to it, while the volcano Chimborazo towers in the distance.  Not a bad sight to see. 

Of course visiting a new town with locals would not be complete without a night on the town. This was no exception, but this one was unique.  If there is one thing that Ecuadoreans love that I did NOT expect, it’s karaoke!! Seriously! There are karaoke bars everywhere, even here in Tena.  It involves sitting at a table with your friends, and whoever’s turn it is to sing gets handed a mic. You don’t have to get up in front of everyone if you don’t want to. And the majority of songs that people pick are the really quality sappy ballads. Good times! Tamara and I did work up the nerve to sing a Beatle’s song, and then I sang one in Spanish that everyone knew and sang along with me.  When in Rome, right?

Although all of the above was fun, I would have to say that the landscape in this area was what made the biggest impression on me. During the bus rides and the train ride I couldn’t believe how vastly different the landscape is between Tena and Riobamba. We started in jungle, went through mountains that reminded me of the Eastern Sierras and rolling patchwork farm lands, and ended in a city surrounded by 3 volcanoes at about 9,000 feet elevation!  The best part was that on Sunday, one of the volcanoes became active and was at an orange alert level as we were driving past it on our way home.  We didn’t see any lava, just plumes of smoke spilling out of the top.  Needless to say, I took as many pictures as I could. 

Another fun adventure to put in the books. Here's the link to the pictures :) 

La vida

Wheelchairs and splints!

I have gotten lots of feedback that you all are enjoying the pics of the kids and the clinic, so here are some more! Last week we had a fun week of adapting 3 different wheelchairs.  This involved hand saws, needle and thread, rubber cement, and scraps of foam we found in the storage room.  With a little creativity and manual labor, we were able to get these chairs to be much more suitable for the little ones. 

Not sure if you remember, but back in the beginning of my journey I met a little guy named Hugo who just needed a thumb splint. I was able to make one out of some materials we had laying around here and I was quite proud of myself.  I also made a deal with his mom that I could take him home with me if I taught him English. J  Well, as most kids do, he had a tendency to put his hand in his mouth, which didn’t work out so well for a splint made with paper tape and foam.  Also, he’s pretty much outgrown this one, so it was time to think of something new.  It was another proud moment for me that I was able to find some old splinting scraps and make a much more official looking and durable splint.  (see pics) 

Happy accident

Back in October, Tamara and I went out of town to Banos (with the waterfalls and bike trails) where we met two American guys who were on vacation. One of them, Ben, had mentioned that he had brought with him some school supplies and toys that he wanted to donate to a school. I informed him that our clinic just so happened to be affiliated with the local special education school and that I would be happy to deliver the goods for him. All he requested in return were some pictures of the kids with the toys.  I FINALLY was able to get a chance to go down to the school last week with Tamara and we had so much fun there.  Unbeknownst to us, the day we went was also the day the mayor was coming to inaugurate an area for a new park for the kids. So we walked right into a big presentation and celebration. Being that we stand out like sore thumbs, the administrator thought we were there as part of the inauguration so she had us sit in front with the firemen, mayor and representatives who were actually there for the inauguration.  This gave us front row seats to watch all the kids playing with their gifts from the “Reina de Tena”, play soccer, and dance.  Finally after the festivities, we were able to give some of the kids the presents from Ben, and take pictures.

Another happy accident about this trip was that while we were in the special ed classroom we noticed some equipment that was part of the donation (that I mentioned in a previous post) that wasn’t being used. We asked the teacher about it and she informed us that she didn’t know how to set it up so she was afraid to use it.  We pulled out one of the standers, dusted it off, and fit to for a kiddo named Carlos who has cerebral palsy. Now he is able to spend some time out of his wheelchair, have a work surface where we can play with some toys, and he is in a better position for feeding as well.  His father happened to be present and seemed very pleased with this new set up. And the teacher was appreciative of our help. 

What started as a small trip for some donations turn into a very successful morning. J We were very glad we were able to make the trip to the school. Thanks Ben!

Views of everyday life

My favorite moments to capture are the candid ones that really show the uniqueness of life here.  Check out the pics in my web album to see a few.  To give you a summary, there is the parrot who likes to visit my next door neighbor from time to time, laundry at the river, and water than can cure all your ailments.

Well, update on the soccer tournament is that we did not make the finals. Despite being known as the American girl who runs fast, we had very inconsistent attendance from my teammates so we came in 5^th place (out of 12).  Anyways, watching the finals was very fun and the whole tournament ended with a trophy ceremony/party that went until 4am in the morning.  There also was an impromptu dip in the pool at the end of the party to cool off. J

Finally, last weekend was my little sister’s 2nd birthday. We celebrated by eating a jello cake, and going to lunch in the next town over called Archidona. There we ate at a row of shacks that I otherwise probably would have been too worried about my digestive system to eat at. However, both my “mom” and the nanny who took care of me when I was sick were present, so I trusted that they would not want to put me through that again.  Sure enough, the food was delicious! I had tilapia cooked in a maito leaf and fresh guayusa, which is the specialty tea in this province. As a treat at the end, my “mom” bought maito de chontacuros for everyone to share- this I did not take part in since they are cooked larvae. Yea, you read that right. Larvae.  Think Lion King, when they’re teaching Simba to eat the tree grub.  Yep.  My sister loved them and sucked them down. I watched, and took pictures.  

All in all, I’m at the three month mark and new experiences and challenges just keep coming!

Next entry will feature erupting volcanos and train rides down the “Devil’s Nose”. Also to come, NAVIDAD! Don't forget that my pics are now in a web album, check them out HERE

Quito...again.

Since I'm down with a stomach bug, I thought I'd take advantage of the opportunity to send you all more pics and stories. :)  As for the bug, I made it 8 weeks with no events (besides the altitude in Quito) but this one got me good! Thankfully, I have an amazing host family who have all been taking care of me. My mom, her mom, and the nanny have been delivering homemade chicken broth and horchata (rice and carrot puree) to my bedside, and my little brother and sister have been watching movies with me. I'm very lucky! Now back to stories and photos...

So the visa saga continues, if you can believe it. At this point it has become absurd, not just an inconvenience. Last Friday when I went (with my appointment slip, mind you) I was told that only 180 turns are given out each day and they had already reached that number, even though it was only 9:30 am. They guy then proceeded to say "you'll have to come back Monday and try again, but I suggest you don't come back til Wednesday, cause they probably don't have your paper work done yet since they are behind".  Ha. At least someone was finally just being honest and providing useful information.  I explained to him that I'm coming from 5 hours away, and he informed me that I could write an authorization to have someone else represent me. For once I actually trusted what someone there was telling me since he was being honest and seemed to know what he was talking about.  SO as suggested, the woman who has been helping me through all this, Maria Eugenia, showed up on Wednesday only to wait and be told, that, in fact, the paperwork STILL wasn't processed, and was told to come back in a week- but that even then they can't guarantee that it will be ready.  Absurd.  So the wait continues, but at least I'm not making trip after trip back and forth.

On a positive note, my travel buddy Tamara and I took advantage of the long weekend and went to a really cool town that has a huge indigenous market. Maria Eugenia and her husband were our guides so we got to stop and see extra things we would have missed had we gone on our own. We ate delicious biscotti in a town called Cayambe that had the bakeries on every corner.  We spent most of the day in the market that was FULL of colors and amazing people watching. I get better at the bargaining as the day went on, so I came home with some fun stuff.  I am sure I will go back to that market, especially just before I come home so I can stock up on goodies to share with you all.

The most eventful part of this trip was the return. Apparently, the evening that we decide to drive this route is the same night most of Quito is doing a pilgrimage from town up to a monastery at the top of the mountain. The pilgrimage was to start at 5pm...just as we were heading back to town. This meant we were directed on a detour clear around to the other side of Quito.  Luckily there was a caravan of cars because the directions given by the police officer were "go to the town of Perucho, and turn left".  Well we went to Perucho.....and once there a car ahead of us asked someone on the street where we needed to go, and apparently our left turn was the dirt road to the left just before getting into town. How in the world were we supposed to know that!? It was a sight to see all the cars doing three point turns in a tiny street, but at least everyone was waving to each other and laughing. What else could we do at this point.

Well we made it to the dirt road... and it was exactly that. A single lane, bumpy, dark dirt road. We must have been on that road for 2 hours. I felt bad for people who were traveling in the back of pick-up trucks, which is very common around here. They had to have sore rear ends by the end of that journey! And probably asthma too!  Along this part of the trip the four of us did our best to joke and laugh throughout the journey. We listened to a CD we had bought in town from the group of locals who came to entertain us during lunch. Our running joke was that they came to us because they secretly knew what kind of journey we had ahead of us and that we would need the entertainment.  Since the road was dark and all you saw were a row of lights from the cars, we also joked that we were actually being lead by aliens to "the other side". Perhaps it was all much funnier and more entertaining in the moment, but it worked. What should have been a 2 hour smooth ride home, turned into a windy, dusty, dark, 5 hour trek.  But that makes for a much better story, right?  Needless to say, we came home exhausted but content from a full adventure.

Also in this weekend, I got to do some salsa dancing at a real salsa club. Maria Eugenia commissioned her nephew to take us, which I could tell wasn't his favorite idea, but he obliged. The club was decent sized, new, nice dance floor and had just enough dancers to keep me  happy all night! I finally got to do some spinning!! I am sure I had a grin from ear to ear all night and I definitely hope to get back there on my next trip to Quito, whenever that may be. The promoter guy was also telling me about the Peru Salsa Festival happening in February.... might just have to check that out! Anyone want to join me?!

So you're probably wondering, why all the stories, but no photos? Well, apparently I have used up my capacity of photos, so now I have to use my Web Albums to show you the pictures... use this link below and you'll find the pictures there! :) Also, I added a link to the right called PHOTOS! that will take you to the same place.

Web Albums

Here's hoping the stomach bug is done doing it's damage and I can get back to my kiddos soon!

Miss you all and hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

Festival de Tena, Working on the park, and Christmas is coming!

Last week was a big deal here in Tena. Thursday was officially Tena Day, so there were parades, chicken fights, 4x4 truck races, and more happening around town all week.  The only event I was really able to catch (since most things were happening during the day time) was a parade of all the different dance groups here in Tena. I think that most groups were affiliated to the different schools and represented the different national dances based on the different regions of Ecuador. I wish I knew the different names and regions, but I'll do my best... 

I think this group represents the Andes region

These guys were definitely representing the indigenous people

Not sure which region they represent, but they were so much fun to watch as they interacted with their partners and with each other. Made me want to join in!

These are younger kiddos, decked in Ecuador's colors

This style is from the Esmeraldas region which is the northwest coastal area. That is where there is a  large Afro-Ecuadorean influence.  The boys in this group were the most animated dancers, despite the heat!  They were waving their handkerchiefs around with such pride.  

Next major event of the week was a work party that we held in order to (attempt to) finish up the park that is next door to our clinic.  This is the park I mentioned in my last blog that Nicole designed to be handicapped accessible. Despite heavy rain in the morning, parents still showed up once the sun came out and were a tremendous help in sprucing up the place.  Now we are waiting for the swings to be let out of customs in Quito- who knows how long that might take.  :)

Scrubbing off the moss... not sure how long that will last with how often it rains here.  

Trimming bamboo and planting flowers

The sand box

One of my kiddos, helping us out. We can turn anything into "therapy"! 

It was amazing to watch the parents patch this thatched roof with palm frowns and wires. 

These are two engineers from the hospital who graciously came over and gave us some pointers on finishing touches. 

 Here are some more pics of some kiddos in the clinic:

This is Mateo- he has cerebral palsy which has affected the right side of his body. I love this pic because he is using that right hand so well, despite how difficult it is for him.  He is a stubborn little dude, so it's a miracle we caught this moment. :) 

Here is again, with me this time. He allowed me to cover up his left hand for about 10 minutes, just long enough for us to work on opening up his right hand and flexing his wrist. Another proud therapy moment. 

I'm sure you all remember Leandro. This was another star moment as I've really been working on  helping him use his hand, to communicate more clearly, and work on oral motor control (aka drooling less). He LOVES to talk but is only using sounds, gestures, and facial expressions to make his needs known.  I have since discovered that bubbles and cookies are great motivators for communication. 

Another example of parents being resourceful. This is a home made sock aid made from PVC pipe and rope that this kid's dad constructed.  

Oscar and I working on being able to dress himself.   He is a very shy guy, but is starting to open up to me and we're making progress!

As the holidays come closer, I am thinking of you all.  Since there is no Thanksgiving here, Christmas decorations are appearing everywhere, including in my living room! Here is a portrait of my family here in front of our tree that went up this weekend. 

It's amazing how busy I have been since I arrived here. Between jumping straight into working with the kids, soccer games, traveling, and swimming in rivers as often as possible, nearly 2 months have already gone by!

Next entry: indigenous market in Otavalo, visa saga continued, and Salsa dancing in Quito! Stay tuned!

I swear, I am here for work... even if it doesn't look like it.

I am not sure how I got from week 3 to week 6 so quickly, but here we are! As I sit on my balcony with a welcomed refreshing breeze, the rain is beginning to fall and lightening is lighting up the sky in bright flashes. I have tried to video the lightening storms, but they just don't come out well enough to pass along.  I think that will be my project for the year, get at least one good picture or video of a storm.  Only 10.5 more months to make it happen! ;) And in just that short amount of time, the rain is now POURING down. The analogy I use is to imagine a fire hose being sprayed directly at your window- that's what it sounds like. Impressively loud. A corrugated metal roof does not help to dampen the sound.  And just 2 minutes standing in the rain and you are drenched as if you'd jumped into the river.  We'll see how long this downpour lasts. I'll keep you posted.

So as I sort through my pictures to share, I am realizing I am taking more pictures of the every day life and adventures, and less of the kiddos or clinic. But I promise! I am working! So I'll start by sharing about them.

 Remember the donation I talked about before that was given to the special ed school? In that same donation, there were some items that were specifically for the clinic. Here they are! They included a few therapy swings that we will suspend from the ceiling, ladder swing, monkey bar swing, tunnel, adapted chair, walkers, a handful of different general toys that have already been a hit, trampoline, wedges with straps for positioning, 3 huge boxes of foot/ankle orthotics, and even some sensory toys, puzzles, and foam tubing specifically for us OTs! :)  The foam tubing is to build up handles on things when kids (or adults) have a hard time gripping things like pens, pencils, toothbrush, utensils, etc.  We're still trying to get creative and figure out what kind of material we can find here in Tena to use to make small hand splints. So far we're at a loss so if anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears!

This has by far been the most popular new toy in the clinic. It's a great tool to use for kiddos that need to work on posture, neck strength/control, using both arms to propel, bending their wrists, opening their hands, weight bearing on their arms.  We've all taken it for a spin and it's not easy! 

Besides the new toys, we have also been preparing to have an inauguration for the new accessible playground that is going up next door to the clinic.  This is yet another project Nicole has organized and gotten funding for. She is truly amazing. She has been here for 6 years, established this clinic from nothing (literally- there was no rehab at this hospital before she came), and has done it all with grants and funding she has acquired from mostly international sources, CMMB being a major one.  We're having a work-party this Friday to complete the playground, so I will be sure to take pictures and share them.  Here are some pics of when the guys from Quito installed the play structure last week.  

As for the kiddos, I have what would normally be considered a full caseload, but this being Latin America, I have yet to have a day where all my kids showed up.  So in my downtime, which there seems to be a lot of, I have been doing a lot of reading of text books, finding info online to teach myself, and doing my best to learn as much as I can while I have the time.  I'm also trying to come up with a project that would benefit the clinic, and have a few ideas, but none have been initiated yet. Again- I'll keep you posted. 

Here I am working with a little guy named Mickel. He has arthrogryposis and does NOT like to let me bend his arms.  He has some serious lungs when he gets upset with me. Luckily, this day I had him mesmerized by our "kitchen" toys. Either that or I'm a really good therapist... yea that's probably it. ;)

In case you were wondering, the storm is still rolling. Which usually means, it may be an all-nighter. Great for the fresh air, not so great for peaceful sleeping. The thunder is in full effect now. I even tried to take a video, but as luck would have it, the thunder and lightening cracked just AFTER I turned the camera off after 45 seconds of just rain.  Figures. 

Okay, now for some day-to-day fun stuff.  If you have a queasy stomach, you may want to skip down a bit... these next two pics are not the prettiest. :) 

So, I wanted to share some of the local delicacies with you... The first one is called Cuy, aka guinea pig.  Usually I find it roasting on a spit with a few of it's friends being spun around. Still not my favorite sight to see, but this one was especially disturbing. Check out those teeth! I have not tried it yet, but of course have been told that it "tastes like chicken".  

Along the street walking to work, I ran into this fine fellow.  It really is true that they use ALL parts of the animal for food, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to see this entire cow head chilling on the counter.  The less attractive part was that the eyes were still open. Couldn't they have at least closed his eyes? Come on!  Another common one to find is an entire spinal column of a cow with all the different organs hanging off of it.  I have yet to get a pic of that yet, but it's fascinating to see.

Okay, back to pleasantries.  As Wednesday was Halloween, no one here cared.  What they did care about was Friday which is known as Dia de los Difuntos- aka Day of the Dead. It's similar to what we see celebrated by Mexican/Mexican-Americans in the states, except instead of sweet breads, here they make a drink called Colada Morada and a bread called Guagua de Pan (which means baby of bread) that has jam of some sort in the middle.  The drink is made with finely ground blue corn, fruits (pineapple, melon, strawberries, blackberries), cinnamon, and herbs. It is usually served warm and is delicious! Here I am eating  my colada morada and guagua de pan that they served at lunch on Thursday at the hospital.  You can also see how big our typical daily lunch is... and that's without the soup that's also served.  I have to draw the line with the soup- it's 90' outside and they want me to eat hot soup?! ;) On the other hand, the fresh juices are always delicious! 

Let's see what else... As many of you know, I had a bit of difficulty getting my visa before coming here, so 2 weekends ago I went up to Quito with Tamara (Swiss volunteer- my travel buddy) and Nicole so that we could get it all straightened out. Well, Tamara used the same letter that I had been denied with and had no problem, but me being from the USA, I am required to provide a myriad of paperwork showing why I should be allowed to stay for a year.  So thinking I had finally gotten everything I needed, I was denied yet again and sent on my way. Back to the hospital I go to beg for more paperwork, which has to be notarized, and back to Quito I will go. But that's not the interesting part of the story... As most of you may also know, Quito is at 10,000 ft elevation. Yikes.  Boy did I ever feel the altitude. It took me about 6 hours to recover, during which time I had to stay laying down or else I felt like I was going to pass out from incredibly low blood pressure. Thank goodness I had Nicole and Tamara with me to help me get from point A to point B since we had to eat lunch, pick up Tamara's paperwork, then finally get us to a hostel for the night.  That was my first phone call home in tears.  Thanks, mom, for listening and helping me out. :) 

The next day when I was able to stay upright, Tamara and I were able to enjoy the weekend sight-seeing in Quito. Here are some pics... 

Mariscal- "Gringolandia" where our hostal was located. Which meant loud music all night long, but also meant some fun dancing the 2nd night when I was feeling better. 

First stop was the "middle of the world".

Obligatory tourist pic

Dancing between hemispheres

More obligatory tourist pics.

 Then we went to the centro historico to check out the beautiful buildings and scenery. Felt like being back in Spain!

Hanging with Mr. Fireman. No big deal. 

We bought these handmade leather sandals from this man. Such a nice guy, beautiful work!

The sky and clouds do some amazing things here! Makes for some pretty pictures.

The virgen, overlooking the town. 

Typical Andean garb. The sack on the woman's back  is holding a small child.  No need for a  fancy baby carrier here. 

 This kid is a shoe shiner, waiting for his next customer. He couldn't have been more than 10 years old.  Works hard for his money. 

More guaguas de pan. MMMMMMM.  

We came across one plaza that was having a demonstration of some kind and they had some regional dance performances going on as well.  These are some girls from the Afro-Ecuadorean region of Esmeraldas. Lots of bootyshakin' going on!

Then came the traditional indigenous dancers.  I love the costume of the guy in the middle.  So colorful!

Lots of old buildings with bright colors, and balconies. Reminded me of Spain. 

We ended the day at the basilica,and climbed to the top of the towers for another great view of the city.  

Another jam-packed weekend, with some ups and downs, but all recoverable and it all went smoothly in the end.  As I've been working on this blog, I got a phone call that I can get a ride to Quito tomorrow- so think happy visa and happy altitude acclimation thoughts for me everyone!

Stay tuned 'til next time. 

Week 3: Part 3- the final installment. Day trip to the "beach".

On Saturday, Gaby, a coworker, and her boyfriend Dario, wanted to take Tamara and I to a nearby town called Misahualli.  It was a 30 minute taxi ride away and an incredibly interesting way to see how people really live out in the country.  

Here homes are either cinder blocks on the dry side or wood huts built up on stilts on the river side.  

This is what a typical school looks like. All windows are just bars, no screens. 

 Apparently, one typical dish involves these little squirmy dudes on skewers. Hakuna Matata! 

We opted for the tilapia cooked in the maito leaf, served with yuka. It was tasty but lots of bones and a slimy head. :)

Swimming in the river was wonderful, but the current was strong, so we just waded.  

These boats carry people up and down the river. They used to be the main method of transportation until the "highway" was built.  

The monkeys rule this beach, and are known to run off with people's cameras, water bottles, sun glasses... anything they can get their hands on . 

Check out this dude's balancing skills!

No wonder they aren't afraid of humans... 

At one point this truck pulled up full of chickens and hens and people gathered around to take their pick.  Not sure how much they were going for. 

My definition of a good day- swimming in the river, followed by a game of pool with salsa music playing, and the Real Madrid soccer game on in the background!!

Speed racers!! 

All in all, this past week was jammed packed with lots of adventure and memory making! The time has gone quickly, but I will say the honeymoon phase is fading.  The reality of 11.25 more months is sinking in.  I'm sure that a lot more adventures and stories are to come! I appreciate all of your emails, comments, "likes" on facebook, and truly would love to hear from any and all of you about whatever you want to share. Big or small! It's nice to still feel connected even though I'm far away!  Stay tuned!