Hello friends! As I'm finally sitting down with my laptop open, I am thinking about how much has gone on since last month. Although it means I have not been able to write you and keep you up to date as frequently as I would like to, I am actually pleased that I haven't been spending very much time on my laptop. I also feel like I'm not taking nearly as many pictures as I did when I lived in Spain, which is ironic because now I have a digital camera. This time feels different, though. This time I feel much more like I live here, even though I know it is temporary. I suppose being 10 years older and with an actual job makes it feel less like a vacation. Don't get me wrong- I am fully aware that I have had lots of vacation/adventures while here, but I guess I'm trying to just live each moment rather than worry about capturing the photo. Man, I sound old. ;)
Medical Brigade
Okay, so now on to the fun stuff... One of the main things I was hoping to accomplish while here was to be able to go out into the smaller, harder to reach communities to work, and in January I got that opportunity. I got connected to a group called Timmy Global Health and they were hosting a medical brigade to provide general medical care to the indigenous communities around Tena. There were 6 doctors, 2 pharmacists, 6 nurses, and a group of 30 college students that came from the states to participate. I was one of the 6 translators, comprised mostly of peace corp volunteers who have been here in Ecuador for a year and half. Besides being an amazing opportunity to connect with the local people, it was so inspiring to be surrounded by such amazing energy and passion coming from all the volunteers and the staff running the brigade. My main function was to be a translator, but the doctors knew I was an occupational therapist and allowed me to chime in where my expertise was relevant. I also felt that I could provide a little insider perspective since I was able to recognize some cultural and local issues that someone from the outside may not have recognized.
My favorite moment from the whole experience came at the end of day 3 when were down to the last patients of the day. A woman approached our "consult area" holding her son's hand. He was about 4 years old and throwing a bit of a tantrum, clearly he did not want to be here. He had the physical characteristics of a boy with Down's Syndrome, so I was excited that they were coming to us since I have been working with a lot of kids with Down's here at out clinic. When the mom sat down on our bench, she was attempting to get her son to sit calmly and quietly on her lap, but that was not his plan. He did not want to be there, did not want to be held down. Instead of asking the doctor what he wanted to say, I asked him if I could start by talking to the mom. I sat down next to them on the bench and told the mom to let the son wiggle around on the bench or floor if he wanted to, but to not try to hold him down. I asked her why she had brought him in, and my heart melted with her response. Basically, she just told me "the doctor said my son has a disability, but I don't know what's wrong with him. He always gets upset like this, and hits the walls or floors. He isn't talking either, snores a lot at night, and doesn't like to eat certain things." While we were talking, I held out my hands to him and he climbed right up on my lap and was wiggling around. I started to use a technique that we OTs like to use, which is to apply deep pressure (basically bear hugs, or firm patting on the back, or squeezing legs and arms) as a way to help the child calm down. Granted he was also pulling at my hair a little bit, but that is what told me that this kiddo just needed some help to get some sensory input to help his brain organize and tolerate his environment. After a few moments of giving him some good hugs and rubbing his back and legs, he calmed down and sat on the bench in between mom and I. During this time I was also able to explain to her that all the things she was describing to me were typical traits of Down's Syndrome. I explained to her what I was doing while we were talking and gave her some tips that she could try when he gets upset. Maybe it's not the same as being able to see a kid every week for an hour, at least I know I gave that mom some useful information, and hopefully a little comfort in knowing that what she is experiencing with him isn't out of the ordinary for children like her son.
The 5 days I spent on this medical brigade were full of little moments like these that reminded me why I decided to move to this country to work. As a bonus, I have since become good friends with the peace corps volunteers and Timmy folks who are living here in Tena, and hopefully there will be more brigades in my near and distant future.
Over the course of the entire 10 days of the Brigade (I was only there for 5 days), the team visited 9 communities (some as far as 2 hours away by pick up truck, through rivers, and via canoes), saw 820 people ranging from infants to 91 years old. The most popular meds that we distributed where Ibuprofen and Albendazole (an anti-parasite drug).
Click HERE to watch a video that some of the students put together about their experience.
Click HERE for the link to the pics I took.
Colombia!!
As many of you know, in the middle of January I met up with two friends from SF, Heather and Laurie, and we traveled through Colombia together for 10 days. We started in Bogotá where we rented bikes to ride through town on Sunday when the streets were closed off for "ciclo-via", tasted as many different empanadas as we could so that we could compare which ones we liked best, and rode a gandala up the hillside to watch a beautiful sunset from the top. We also went to a place called Andres Carne de Res (google it) that we all decided was Colombia's Las Vegas. It was sensory overload since the place was filled with lights, decorations, music, people in costumes, people dancing on tables. But the food was delicious, as were the cocktails!
From there, we flew to Cartagena where we stayed in an apartment just up from the beach. It was a beautiful town known for it's colonial old-town that is surrounded by a huge wall to protect them from pirates. Although it was beautiful, we were not the only ones that thought so, since it was FILLED with tourists. Cruise ships stop here and dump their passengers off for two days to wander the cobble stone streets. We joined the masses and took a tour boat out to the beautiful white sand beaches of Baru, and submerged ourselves in a old volcano crater now full of gravity lifting mud. Both were fun and beautiful, but way overly touristy. We spent our evenings walking through old town, trying new foods, and doing some shopping. One of the highlights in Cartagena (besides stumbling across the most delicious vegetarian meal, dancing salsa with some mexicans in a gay bar, and night swimming in the ocean) was drinking a glass of wine at sunset from a bar on top of the city walls, with an amazing view of the ocean. Just as the sun was beginning to set, a group of kite surfers appeared and put on a show for us all, doing flips in the air and soaring with ease across the red sky. The bar provided a soundtrack of some light jazz in the background that just made the moment that much more spectacular. There was something truly magical about it all.
Although Cartagena was fun, we were happy to move on to our next destination since we were headed to Tayrona National Park along the north coast of Colombia. On our way to Santa Marta where we had to catch a bus into the park, we met an Argentinean doctor named Luciano who was traveling by himself and was also headed to the park but wasn't sure how to get there. We told him he could stick with us as we all figured it out together. Then once on the bus to the park, we met another young Colombian kid named Manuel who was heading in to meet up with some of his friends. You would have thought the 5 of us had all known each other for years the way we all got along, helped carry each others gear, and chatted all along the 1.5 hour hike into the park (in retrospect, Luciano is gay and Manny is 22 years old which is probably why we all got along so well- no sexual tension there!) Manuel helped us find a spot to stay for the 2 nights, and even offered to share his tent with Luciano that they set up right near the hammocks that the girls and I slept in. We wanted to be able to say we slept in hammocks on the beach in Colombia- but we didn't really plan out the details very well. Since we had hiked in we tried to bring as little as possible which meant we did not have sleeping bags, or very much warm clothes for that matter. As a result, we were awake for some beautiful sunrises over the ocean- and surprisingly the boys left their warm tent to join us to celebrate Heather's birthday and go for sunrise swims in the ocean. Another benefit to being up so early was that we got first dibs on the freshly baked arequipe (dulce de leche/caramel) and chocolate filled breads from the little panaderia next door to our camp.
From Tayrona, we made our way to a house that is owned by an Irishman who has taken residency in Colombia. He owns a hostel in Santa Marta, which is is where we stored our bags while in Tayrona and he arranged for us to stay in his "farm house" for our last 2 nights. To get there we had to take a taxi to the next town over, then he called some friends and they took us up the dirt road on motorcycles. Pretty sure we were a sight to see. 3 blonde white girls on the back of motorcycles cruising up into the hills. I had a grin ear to ear on the ride up. The house we stayed in was such a treat! it felt like our own personal retreat, since meals were cooked for us, and we had a beautiful river running right outside the front door where there was a perfect swimming hole to jump in to cool off. Up the road a little further was a cacao farm that we walked to and got a tour of the farm and bought some homemade chocolates. The family that has the farm were the sweetest people, and were so proud of what they do. Another 45 minutes up the road was a big beautiful waterfall where 2 rivers merged and created another perfect swimming hole. It felt like such a happy accident that we got hooked up with this house. Great way to end our vacation with tranquility, nature, and relaxation time. All in all, the three of us traveled well together, and we had a good mix of adventure, tourism, and down time. It was hard to say good bye to them, but I am very grateful we made the trip happen.
From Tayrona, we made our way to a house that is owned by an Irishman who has taken residency in Colombia. He owns a hostel in Santa Marta, which is is where we stored our bags while in Tayrona and he arranged for us to stay in his "farm house" for our last 2 nights. To get there we had to take a taxi to the next town over, then he called some friends and they took us up the dirt road on motorcycles. Pretty sure we were a sight to see. 3 blonde white girls on the back of motorcycles cruising up into the hills. I had a grin ear to ear on the ride up. The house we stayed in was such a treat! it felt like our own personal retreat, since meals were cooked for us, and we had a beautiful river running right outside the front door where there was a perfect swimming hole to jump in to cool off. Up the road a little further was a cacao farm that we walked to and got a tour of the farm and bought some homemade chocolates. The family that has the farm were the sweetest people, and were so proud of what they do. Another 45 minutes up the road was a big beautiful waterfall where 2 rivers merged and created another perfect swimming hole. It felt like such a happy accident that we got hooked up with this house. Great way to end our vacation with tranquility, nature, and relaxation time. All in all, the three of us traveled well together, and we had a good mix of adventure, tourism, and down time. It was hard to say good bye to them, but I am very grateful we made the trip happen.
Carnaval
Two weekends ago was Carnaval, and it was definitely a bigger deal than I expected. I kept going back and forth about whether to travel for the long weekend or just stay in town to see how Tena celebrated the holiday. In the end, I stayed in Tena, and I'm very glad that I did. As you Facebook users may have noticed from my posts, they set up a mini carnival out on the old airport runway and it's been there since the beginning of the month.... and is still there. At first it looked like it would be fun to have, but I'm ready for it to be taken down now. It's been 2 weeks of listening to screeching rides, kids screaming, and really really loud music being blasted until about 11pm every night. Okay, that's enough of me being grumpy about it. :) I did actually go on some of the rides with some friends and we had a good time joining the fun.
More importantly though, I need to tell you about the traditions of Carnaval here. The week leading up to the holiday weekend my co-workers kept saying that we were going to "play Carnaval" on Friday at the end of the day and that people would be "playing Carnaval" all weekend long. What this meant was basically that it was going to be one big water fight, with water guns, water balloons, buckets of water, people pouring water off of roof tops to unsuspecting passer-bys, handfuls of flour being thrown at you or rubbed into your hair, and cans of spray foam in every child's hand. As long as you knew what to expect, it actually was pretty fun. One day we went to the town of Misahualli (where the beach is with the monkeys), and they had live music, and THOUSANDS of people crammed on the beach partying and "playing Carnaval". We met up with a group of friends and had a blast dancing on the beach, running in and out of the river to either reload amo or rinse of foam, paint, and flour. I didn't carry anything of value with me all weekend, which unfortunately means I have no pictures to show you, but I'm sure if you google "Carnaval Misahualli" you'll find some gems.
More importantly though, I need to tell you about the traditions of Carnaval here. The week leading up to the holiday weekend my co-workers kept saying that we were going to "play Carnaval" on Friday at the end of the day and that people would be "playing Carnaval" all weekend long. What this meant was basically that it was going to be one big water fight, with water guns, water balloons, buckets of water, people pouring water off of roof tops to unsuspecting passer-bys, handfuls of flour being thrown at you or rubbed into your hair, and cans of spray foam in every child's hand. As long as you knew what to expect, it actually was pretty fun. One day we went to the town of Misahualli (where the beach is with the monkeys), and they had live music, and THOUSANDS of people crammed on the beach partying and "playing Carnaval". We met up with a group of friends and had a blast dancing on the beach, running in and out of the river to either reload amo or rinse of foam, paint, and flour. I didn't carry anything of value with me all weekend, which unfortunately means I have no pictures to show you, but I'm sure if you google "Carnaval Misahualli" you'll find some gems.
Besides the water fights, I spent a lot of time with the friends I made on the medical brigade, and that has connected me to more Americans who are living here in Tena. In one weekend, my circle of friends expanded and they welcomed me in with open arms. We all got together to play ultimate frisbee a couple times, followed by jumping off rope swings into the river, sometimes done in our underwear. Scandalous I know- but being "extranjeros" (foreigners) we can get away with it. :) Otherwise we were just hanging out at the house where a couple of the Timmy guys live, and it was a retreat in itself. They have a have a rooftop with a couple of hammocks that overlook the river, surrounded by beautiful trees, and birds chirping. It was such a nice escape from the craziness of the carnival outside my house, so we spent our down time there cooking meals and reading on our kindles. Even though I stayed in town for the weekend, it felt like I has away from home :).
Fruits of my labor
As I've mentioned before, one of the main things Nicole, my boss, has done was to gather up a huge donation of equipment from the states, and we are STILL working on distributing all of it. One of my main roles since getting back from Colombia was to start pulling stuff out, cleaning it up, and getting it set up to give to the kids who need them. We have wheelchairs, activity chairs, standing frames, adapted bikes, and walkers of all sizes. Being that I like working with my hands, pulling things apart, and don't mind getting a little dirty, I have been having so much fun working on this project. This last week we took a stander to a kids house, got it all set up for her to use, and taught her parents how to use it. It was such a rewarding feeling and they were so grateful for the gift. Afterwards I looked at Nicole and said "wow, that feels good! Can we do more of that?!" We already have 3 more visits scheduled to kiddo's homes, so I am looking forward to them! I think the most rewarding part of this experience so far has been to be able to go out into the communities and provide knowledge or equipment to people knowing that it will truly be helpful and to their child's benefit. What a treat that I get to be a part of this!
Elections
Okay, I know this has been an extremely long post- but I had a lot to share this time! The last thing I wanted to tell you about are the national elections that happened last weekend. For the past few months propaganda has been showing up slowly around town, but in the past couple weeks it had been impressive. Instead of just 2 main parties, like we have, I have NO idea how many parties Ecuador has. All I know is that they are listed by number and the most popular ones I have seen are 3, 8, 17, and 35. They like to wear their party's t-shirt, pile into the backs of taxis, trucks, cars, motos and drive through town honking their horns, waving their flags, and handing out fliers. I have taken a few pictures, so you can see what I'm talking about. BUT the most impressive part is that the weekend of elections, starting Friday, was totally dry! Meaning, no bars, no discoteca, no beer, no booze. It's illegal! And it is mandatory to vote. You can get fined for not voting. I don't know what happens if you're caught drinking, but I was not willing to find out (even if I wasn't voting). So there was no dancing for me last weekend. :(
Okay, I think that about covers the past month. Time continues to go quickly, and I am doing my best to take it all in. I am so glad that I took the leap to come here, and I am so very grateful to have all of you supporting me, sending emails, pictures, even packages!! I appreciate all of it and all of you! Until next post I'll probably be at the river swimming, at the discoteca dancing the night away, or off on the next adventure!
