back in the USA

Well I finally made it home! I stayed that extra day (photos and info to follow) and it was actually super fun. I got home on Saturday afternoon. It's been so fun to see my roommates and friends in the ward. I'll just be working in Provo until summer classes start. I'm going to go back and finish those few days I missed because I'm actually printing this out in a little photobook. I think I might just keep this blog because it's gotten me in contact with so many people. Thanks for reading and sharing my experience! I'll post the rest of the days soon.... 

Love, Allie

bittersweet $400

So I'm a little behind on the blog but here's an up-to-date post. 

Tonight I arrived at the Quito airport for my flight for the U.S. of A. and was pretty stoked right? Well, I walked up to a desk right after my friend, Katie. While the lady is typing and clicking away checking me in, Katie (my roomie) turns to me and says, "Wait, Allie, want to stay 24 hours more for $400?" My first instinct was to turn down the offer. The airline agent started rattling off something about a five star hotel, food vouchers, transportation, and $400 towards any Delta flight. The whole time I was thinking of my dear bffs and bro at home! We had so many plans for Friday and Saturday- the most distressing being a welcome home party on Friday night! 

I broke out the computer, jumped on Skype, and made some phone calls. Mother said it was probably a good idea because $400 is quite a bit of dinero and I'm not exactly rollin in the dough with my little research jobs. It kinda seemed meant to be especially because I have been really wanting to come home in June. Ty seemed a little less enthralled with the idea but agreed. I was still beside myself about my sweet friends who had made so many plans for the weekend but decided I wasn't in a place to pass up $400 in Delta vouchers. I made my decision but waited to hear from my friends that everything was okay.

Katie convinced our friend, Sonya, to join us too and then it was official! Three other girls later in line decided to stay the extra day also. Two of the boys called their wives but when they heard the sadness of their wives about the 24-hour delay it was a no go. Oh the joys of being single and unattached!

For the first few hours I could hardly enjoy myself, still worried sick about my besties (Ty, Lisa, Katie, Bree, Benson, Jenna, Kalli, etc.). Luckily, I have the sweetest friends ever and they all were really understanding. Hopefully we can reschedule the party for sometime soon! Thanks guys for even thinking to plan a welcome home party and for being so nice when it didn't work out. I can't wait to see everyone! 

In the meantime, we are living the dream in Ecuador! We decided if we're going to have to stay 24 hours more we might as well make the most of it. It's not too hard to enjoy yourself here. Delta has put us up in one of the nicest hotels in Quito- the Dann Carlton. We even have a swimming pool and spa! 

As soon as we got to our rooms we all put on our little slippers. 

Now I'll be arriving Saturday morning at 10:25 am! I'm so super excited to see all my friends and catch up, especially after the delay. See you then!

Ecuador=Equator

So today we finally found out why Ecuador has its name! Okay maybe we already knew but we actually got to go to the Equator today. I was wondering how cool a line on a map could be but I was presently surprised. 

We arrived at Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the Earth) and I immediately sensed a tourist trap. From the outside I saw a sign that bragged about being the actual location of the Equator found by GPS. We started on a little tour showing traditional dress of the people there (don't worry the men's only item of clothing is a single string around the waist) and how they shrink heads the heads of killed enemies or leaders. Basically, we all got grossed out for the first few exhibits. 

Then, we followed our tour guide over to a line showing the actual Equator. He did a few Bill Nye type experiments and it was so cool! 

The first was probably something you've heard of- the changing water direction with hemispheres. First, he filled the bucket and showed that on the Equator the water flowed straight down. Then he moved five feet over to the north and the water flowed out counterclockwise! It was nuts! Next, you guessed it, he pulled it over five feet to the south and it flowed out clockwise. Crazy. 

Next he talked about how on the Equator because there is no Coriolis Effect it is really easy to balance. He told us if we could balance an egg on a nail we would get a little certificate at the end. Being nursing students and highly motivated, we all tried again and again to balance that darn egg. Finally, I did it! Here's a picture for the fridge! 

The last one was showing how the Equator affects us. He had us try to pull each other's arms down away from the Equator and then on it. It was way easier to do on the Equator. I guess without the pull we all weigh less on it so we're weaker. Haha okay so the explanation wasn't every detailed but it really worked. Here's all the proud nursing students with their certificates. 

Next we went to the place where they have thought the Equator was forever before GPS. They have a pretty monument there and shops/restaurants. 

We then went on a little tour of Quito. We saw a beautiful cathedral and toured the President's Palace. Ecuador has been pretty crazy with dictators and coup d'etats. It was fun to hear a little bit about the political history. 

We also saw a pretty statue of Maria on a hill...

After this we were pretty tuckered out! We ran home to change and shower before heading off to a fancy dinner at the Hotel Quito. It was pretty yummy! I even ate shrimp Dad!

 After a long day of sightseeing we were ready to sleep! 

jurassic park and eating guinea pigs

Monday we were able to tour with the Benson Institute and see what work they have been doing in Otavalo. It was super interesting. The Benson Institute is kinda an offshoot of the Church Humanitarian Aid. They work mostly with nutrition and agriculture projects. In Otavalo they help families grow their own gardens and tend chickens and cuy (pronounced kwee). Here's a photo of me holding a cute cuy. 

You may be wondering why they are called cuys. Well this video should explain all. 

 We got to visit four families and talk to them about their involvement in the project. The thing that really stood out to me was the families’ self-reliance. Within a year the families were basically tending the gardens and chickens/guinea pigs on their own and providing for their families. If their yield increases beyond what they need, they can donate to the Bishop’s storehouse or community families, and then even sell some for a profit. I loved talking to the mothers and fathers. They seemed so proud of the work they were doing whether it was a beautiful vegetable garden or a group of large chickens. I also love how they are to donate their excess first to the Bishop’s storehouse or community if they are nonmembers. This Law of Consecration type organization works down here! I believe it is because the people down here are much more communitarian and much less individualistic than we are in America. They are so quick to share of their substance- even with us! It is rare for us to enter a house and not be offered a drink or snack. We have even had families run down (unbeknownst to us) and buy a liter of soda to offer us. I have a lot to learn from these people. They make me want to simplify my life and truly care more about those around me than I do myself.

After the Benson Institute, we grabbed lunch in Cotacachi. This city is famous for their leather so some people got some cute purses. 

We ate at a little restaurant that even had a little Andean music band! On the menu was Qui, the name for the little guinea pigs we had seen earlier. It is a delicacy around these parts so we decided we better try it. The scariest thing was that it actually was a whole guinea pig with eyes, teeth, and a tail! We took some pictures of our lovely appetizer before divvying up the rodent. I got a little drumstick I guess- one of the hind legs! It tasted just like chicken so if you didn’t think about the fact it was a guinea pig it wasn’t too bad.

Then we went to a little crater  lake and took a boat ride around an island in the middle. In typical Ecuadorian style, our boat broke down in the middle of the lake, we ran into the swampy island, and had to wait until the engine would start again. I seriously love this place- always an adventure!

During the boat ride, someone mentioned that they felt like they were in Jurassic Park, all they needed was the theme song. Luckily, I learned that little ditty on the piano back in the day (mind you it was about ten years ago). I started humming the tune and everyone chimed in! When we landed, my friend, Taniel, started speaking in an awesome British accent and this video was born. Again, not sure why I'm humiliating myself though this blog. 

Next we packed out of our lakeside hotel and loaded the bus to head back to Quito! It was a peaceful two-hour ride. I sat next to Katie and we chatted the whole way about nursing, our futures, and decisions that were coming up. Before leaving, I barely knew Katie except for taking her home once from clinical. Now, I’m so grateful for our sweet friendship. Luckily, we’ll have the whole next year together in our nursing classes too!

We got into Quito in the evening and went out to find some dinner. We asked the front desk for a suggestion. We wanted Italian, cheap, and close to the hotel. I thought it was a little much to ask for but the lady gave us directions and we were off! I couldn’t believe it when we found a cute little Italian restaurant. Guayaquil had nothing of the sort. I got a huge plate of spaghetti for $3.60. Another reason I will miss this place… 

Sabbath in Otavalo

We had another wonderful Sabbath in Ecuador! This was our first time attending church in Otavalo and we loved it. The church is really strong here- they even have two stakes! We had a really neat discussion about the three degrees of glory in Sunday School and a good lesson on prayer in Relief Society. The members are so sweet to us and excited to have us there. It was fun too to see some of the members in their traditional Ecuadorian dress.

After church we mostly relaxed and enjoyed our lakeside hotel! First we ventured over to our hotel's pet llama collection! We discovered that my roommate Mykel is a llama-whisperer. She seriously charmed those llamas. I, on the other hand, was not so good with the animals. This picture pretty much captures my interactions with them... 

My roommate Katie and I laid out on some lounge chairs looking over the lake, took a nap in our room, and then ventured outside some more to take some pictures of the beautiful view. 

The surroundings are seriously gorgeous. We are in the middle of the Andes five feet from an alpine lake. This is such a contrast from the crowded, polluted city of Guayaquil. The air smells so good! No trace of dead fish, rotting garbage, or even exhaust. Here's a bunch of the photos we took. 

That night we were craving Mexican food so we headed into the city of Otavalo to see what we could find. Katie and I led the group to a little restaurant we had seen at the market, Tabasco’s. It hit the spot! Although we have rice and beans almost every day, I still craved tortillas, chips, salsa, etc. It was definitely one of the more satisfying meals of the trip. 

The water costs just as much as soda here so I treat myself to a Fanta probably a little too often. Funny how I rarely drink soda in the States but here in Ecuador I LOVE my Fanta! Only sad thing is there's never free refills. Mother would not survive here. :)

I think that's all that happened Sunday. It was a much needed day of rest. Hope you had a lovely Sunday too! 

stolen goods and drug smuggling

We left Guayaquil today. As we packed up last night I felt like I was leaving home again. We made so many friends there, even within the hotel—Angel and Ronald the doormen; Papi (don’t know his real name, we just called him that because we always had to ask him for the sheet to sign out whenever we left the hotel so our instructors would know where we were, and he liked the name); Freddy was our favorite guy at breakfast; and of course our girls that helped us clean our room: Teresa, Lady and Nelly.

We arrived in Quito around 11:30 am today. It is TOTALLY different than Guayaquil. It is super green and the streets are a lot cleaner, and it just seems a little less third-worldish. I have to remember though that we did basically only see the airport and then we drove through the town on our way out to Otovalo. Even though it is cleaner and nicer looking though, Guayaquil will always have a very special place in my heart because of the friends I met and was hopefully able to serve there and maybe even because it wasn’t so nice looking.

We did have an experience at the airport that didn’t leave the best taste in our mouths of Quito though. As a group of 22 people, and even worse, 22 American people, getting around  is sometimes  a little bit of a circus. After we got off the plane, we went down and got all of our bags at the baggage claim no problem.  We then in herd-like fashion started exiting the airport looking for our Quito/Otovalo tour guide, Ornela, and the bus we would be getting on to go out to Otovalo. We found Ornela as soon as we exited the airport and she waved the bus over to get us. As we were walking out to the bus, all of these people started swarming us, some asking for money, others asking to take our bags. I have learned from traveling previously that most of the time people offer to help and then ask for a tip. I didn't have a bunch of extra change and was fine carrying my backpack myself. I just held on tight to my stuff and kept telling them, “No. I’ve got it, thanks.”

So we all form this line to get our luggage put under the bus and still there are like 4 people helping put the luggage in. We knew after, that really we only had one bus driver that probably should have been helping. Where the other people came from, I have no idea. Luckily though, I just stood there until I had handed them each piece of my luggage and watched them load them each into the bus. I then got on the bus.

Anyway, there were six of us on the bus—me, my two roommates (Katie and Mykel), Jerome (one of the 3 boys on the trip with us), Marie and Tricia. Katie and I just sat down and were putting ourselves together—arranging bags, sweaters, etc. Then Katie notices that there is this woman walking down the aisle of the bus. She pokes me and says, “Hey look at those girl’s sunglasses! They are super cute!” I agreed and we kept on doing whatever we were doing (which was nothing). Next thing I know, there is someone tapping on the other side of the bus and talking to Marie, I look over there to see who it is, just as a man dressed in really nice clothes, comes and taps on our side of the bus and starts talking to Jerome. He says, “Where are you from?” As if it isn’t obvious?! We are like a walking American flag everywhere we go. I don’t really pay attention to anything else the man says, but can’t help but notice the big cheesy grin the guy is sporting. It was almost like he was playing the permasmile game himself. Eventually the tappers of both sides of the bus leave and then Tricia is frantically searching for her backpack.

The story is that some man in a white button-up official looking shirt got on the bus and asked Jerome if he could help him with his backpack, and Jerome said no. He then moved on to my roommate Mykel and was able to talk her into giving him her carry-on bag but not her backpack. He put it above her head and then moved it down towards the front of the bus. She noticed and said, “No! Aqui.” (pointing for him to bring it back above her head) and so he did. Unfortunately Tricia was not as lucky. He asked for her bag and she let him put it up on the shelf above her head, and then as far as we can guess, he slid it to the front of the bus with him as he walked off and was able to take off with it while the people were tapping on the sides of the bus! It had everything in it—her computer (with pictures of her and her fiancé that she was going to put in her wedding video), her iPod, her camera and $150 cash. So sad. We all pitched in $10 or whatever, but even still that barely even covered her lost cash! Sondra (one of the professors) said that we could use the leftover money we have from the trip to help her out too, which will hopefully help a little more, but still, such a bummer! We are super lucky though that they didn’t get more bags. It could have been way worse. I still am puzzled as to why they didn’t even ask Katie or I. I know that I probably would have been dumb enough to give them my bag too. He just looked like he belonged to the bus crew! I never would have guessed that someone would have the guts to get on the bus and do that if they weren’t a part of the bus staff or whatever. We know better now I guess.

Taniel, one of my friends here, randomly took a picture of the bus at the precise moment when the distractions were happening. You can’t see any faces, but you can see the man’s shadow in the bus. Freaky. Our tour guide made Tricia go through the whole process of reporting it and everything which took forever and even Tricia herself didn’t want to do it, because she knew that she would never see any of her stuff again regardless, but whatevs. We all are going to be a lot more cautious from now on, even with our own tour guide because there are some reasons for suspicion of her possible involvement, not that we will ever find out for sure, so I will try not to false accuse.

After getting through that mess, we had a 2-hour bus ride to Otovalo to the prettiest little hotel on the lake. Here is the link to it and you can check it out yourselves.  http://www.puertolago.com/

It was a fun change up from the city. Everything is a lot greener and prettier here. It is like a new country. Beautiful. I still love Guayaquil though. The rooms here are more like cabins and we also don’t have the best internet service or whatever so that is kind of a downer especially for the married and engaged peeps on the trip, but it is really nice and relaxing here. It has a kind of Tahoe-like feel. Love it.

We went out to the Ponchos Fair right after check-in and we stayed there for almost 4 hours finding and buying lots of cool stuff. They have some beautiful tablecloths, blankets, jewelry, and embroidery. I tried to be thrifty and not buy anything unnecessary. I’m glad I don’t have a house or any kiddos or else I would have bought way too much stuff.

Then we went out to eat at this restaurant our tour guide had picked out for us. It was really good. We had these like cheesey/meat crepe things that I wouldn’t have normally ordered for myself, but loved them. Then we went back to the hotel, had a quick devotional, and then girls night in our room. Of course we had to watch She’s the Man because what else would be more appropriate for girls night? Fun. This unflattering, quadruple-chin picture is unfortunately the only one we took that night!

After the other girls left,  Katie was unpacking my suitcases a little, and when she opened her smaller suitcase she was met with an interesting surprise!  There were several packages of medications that were ripped open lying on top of her bag.

We all freaked out for a minute and then called our professors to come over and check it out. Sondra and Cheryl were so good and quickly came over. Sondra put on latex gloves (yes, only nursing students probably pack latex gloves with them) and inspected it. It turned out just to be some topical anti-fungal medication and some vitamins. It was funny because as she dug into the box that had been ripped open, there was a piece of paper in there and she was like, “It’s a note!” Of course we all gasped, and then laughed when it turned out to be a prescription for the drugs.

I am still not really sure how those ended up in her bag. It just added to the creepy day. Another girl on the trip, also found drugs in her bag in the same condition—ripped open boxes, just laid on the top of her stuff. Weird. Our guide is supposedly going to try to get the medications back to the person they were prescribed to, but we’ll see if she actually is able to. I hope so, the receipt said it was like $25 or something, which is a lot down here. Creepy, yet very pretty day. 

I'm Spiderman!

Today was a little bittersweet. We finished up all our work here in Guayaquil and packed up to leave for Quito tomorrow!

In the morning, we took the bus out to the Hogar de Cristo headquarters. We spent a few hours compiling all our data from the schoolchildren assessments for them to use later. They are going to distribute multivitamins and iron to those who are anemic and try to follow up with children with other medical problems. It took quite a while to add up all the numbers and assess whether each child was underweight/overweight, small for age, or anemic according to their hemoglobin level.

We presented the information to Hogar de Cristo in a little meeting and they were pretty excited. They had made a bunch of goals for the year regarding health in the communities and one of them was to screen 1,000 schoolchildren. We came close! We screened 918 because some of the students were absent from school when we came. It was sad to say goodbye to the volunteers we have been working with this whole time. They are amazing people. I would love to work with them in the future but in reality I don’t know if I’ll ever be down here again.

I got a picture with my two favorite volunteers- Pamela and Vivi.

After the meeting with Hogar de Cristo, we ran back to the hotel for a second and then on to a lunch with the Junta de Beneficia. They are the group who provides healthcare to the public through the lottery. They own Sotomayor and Luis Vernaza Hospital, where we’ve been doing clinicals. I don’t know why they’re so nice to us but this was the third nice meal they have treated us to! We got to eat at a snazzy restaurant on the Malecon (river walk). One of their employees, Vincent, has gone with us to clinical every day over the last three weeks! He is so sweet and gets us into a ton of cool opportunities in the hospitals. Here’s a picture of all of us with him.

After this we went home to blog, pack, and relax! For our final evening in Guayaquil, we got batidos (smoothies) at a little corner fruit shop and played love-odometer. This is basically a glorified game of MASH with playing cards. We had fun predicting each other’s future lives (husband, number of kids, wealth, etc.) and having girl talk. I love all the girls here. We seriously have so much fun together. Here’s the fortune telling crew with one of our sweet instructors- Cheryl.

That night was spent packing up all our gear! I had a random idea earlier in the week to make a movie like we were spiderman scaling the wall because our elevator had an open side that would pass by while we were going up. Anyway, Katie and I decided we should definitely make these videos we had talked about. We were exhausted and delirious so this probably was a lot funnier to us than it will be to you but enjoy!

P.S. I don’t know why I keep putting really embarrassing stuff on here but hopefully you guys appreciate it! 

miss piggy and the swine flu

Today was so interesting. My roommate Katie asked me to come with her to conduct interviews with mothers who have recently given birth. She is doing a study with one of our nursing professors to gain insight on the significance of giving birth for Ecuadorian women. We rode the ambulance to the health subcentro and started doing diabetes/hypertension screenings. After testing quite a few people, we set out to interview.

Hogar de Cristo gave us a volunteer from the community to help us find people to interview. We needed moms who had given birth in the last six months. We were able to complete three interviews. I loved walking around in the rural communities and seeing where the people actually live. The mothers seemed to love their birthing experience and the treatment they received. This was a lesson for me about ethnocentricity. I saw Sotomayor (baby factory) and thought the moms must hate giving birth there. The care lacks privacy, compassion, and patient advocacy. Surprisingly, each mom raved about the health care professionals and their experiences at the hospital. I realized their expectations at much different than mine and that Sotomayor meets their needs.

The last mother we talked to was such a doll. She was absolutely content and so kind. Her family of seven lived together a small bamboo hut. There was a plastic tub full of water and a large mound of soiled clothing waiting to be washed. Her three youngest children sat on a mattress, while we conducted the interview. I have traveled to developing countries before, but I still love to see the wonderfully happy people in less-than-ideal situations.

Katie teaching me the ropes of interviewing

After then interviews we were walking back to the subcentro when I saw a large pig on the side of the road. I figured it was a sweet photo op so I handed my camera to Katie and crossed the dirt road. As I got closer, I realized the pig was actually REALLY large and I was going to have to jump over a little stream to get to him. I contemplated the whole situation for a second and decided it was worth it.

Contemplating...

So I jumped to the side and slowly stepped towards the napping swine. Katie snapped a picture and we were done right? 

Well, it had all seemed too easy so I decided I could probably get closer without waking the little feller. The moment I picked up my foot to advance, the pig startled, let out a scream-like snort, and jumped up in a hurry. I don't know who was more scared- me or him. I had about the same reaction! I leaped across the little gully and ran to safety (Katie's arms). Our volunteer, Katie, and I laughed our whole way back to the subcentro. Oh goodness. 

That afternoon we met with the nursing students from the Universidad de Guayaquil! It was neat to see their facilities and talk to them about nursing school. We were all pretty pooped from the long day,though. We chit chatted with a few of them, got a tour, and then headed out. On the way home somehow Katie invented the "Perma-smile Game." Basically it's a staring contest but with smiling instead of staring. Four of us in the van smiled the entire ride home. We looked like fools and had the sorest cheeks! We cracked up watching people's reactions to a bunch of white people riding in a fan smiling like lunatics. Wow what we do for fun... 

Then we stopped for ice cream at our favorite place- Fragola. Ecuador just had their first case of swine flu so the workers were taking some precautions. :) I don't know if they were protecting themselves or my ice cream but I'm grateful! We got these huge dipped cones that were absolutely delicious and pretty cool-looking!

After our lovely singing on Sunday, the missionaries had decided to have a musical fireside for investigators with us singing. The boys quartet welcomed me again for our performances. I seriously have to sing an octave lower than the rest of the girls so their kindness is much appreciated. This was actually my first experience with singing in front of people! Yeah I know with my voice you probably thought I had people begging me to perform at any and every church function. :) It was so fun though! I loved watching the people reactions as we sang "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" and "I Need Thee Every Hour." Made me wish I really did have a beautiful singing voice like Ashley! I guess I'll just enjoy my man/smoker's voice for what it's worth. 

Professional Baby Holder

Wednesday was my last day at Sotomayor- the maternity hospital I’ve lovingly nicknamed the “Baby Factory.” I spent the morning providing labor support (kinda like a doula) for one woman. She wasn’t cooperating very much with the doctors because of her pain. Finally when she let the doctors check her, the baby was crowning! (the head was about to come out). So that was a quick delivery…

After she got settled in postpartum, I moseyed up to the well baby nursery. This is one of my favorite parts of a hospital. 

I spent a few hours simply holding babies and talking to the doctor and nurses. Needless to say, it was wonderful. When I was little, I used to tell my parents I was going to be a professional baby holder when I grew up. Well, my dreams are coming true! :) Here are some of the sweet little ones I got to love up. 

The staff was so sweet asking me all about America and what I was doing here. I, in turn, asked them about working at Sotomayor and the culture in Guayaquil. At this subsidized hospital, most of the patients are “campesinos” or rural people who come in to deliver their babies. They are young-even thirteen to fourteen-years old- and destitute. It was interesting to hear the staff members' views and feelings. Many expressed frustration with this population they serve and the lack of education. I think it is difficult for them to do any kind of "Sex Ed." down here with such a strong Catholic presence. They also have the machismo issue. They told me some men will straight up leave their "enamorada" (literally means lover, their word for an unmarried spouse) if they do not produce children, especially boys. For this reason, many women feel pressure to become pregnant and have many babies. It's just hard to see these loving moms in the maternity hospital but also know the reality they face raising their families in the communities where we are doing the schoolchildren assessments. I loved getting to know the sweet doctor and nurses and getting perspective on all this.

That night we got to go to the Guayaquil Temple for the last time! It was wonderful, as always. Oh, in the locker room I met an awesome Ecuadorian girl. We just started talking while we were getting dressed and all of a sudden she goes off in English! I was pretty impressed. She had lived in Florida for five years and joined the Church there. She worked as an esthetician at a spa (cool huh?). We stood there and talked for about fifteen minutes and I just thought the world of her.  All of a sudden it dawned on me. Set her up with the Church's PR representative, Gunther! If you don't remember he's the guy that took us to the YSA dance. Anyway, I got her number and the next night I gave it to Gunther. He seemed pretty excited about it! They're both in their thirties and wonderful people. I'll keep you guys posted on what happens! Gosh I love playing matchmaker. 

The "I-Lose-Everything-Important" Genes

Tuesday I had my first and only day of real clinical at Luis Vernaza Hospital. Other students have spent a week or so there but I chose to spend more time at Sotomayor (the maternity hospital) and out in the community screening the kids. 

Oh before I begin I have to tell a story on behalf of my dear mother from whom I seem to have inherited my “I-lose-everything-important” genes. Well I have had a letter I needed to send since I even arrived in Ecuador! I had finally addressed and stamped it- ready to go. That morning I was running out with my backpack and a huge CPR bag full of dummies. I saw the letter on the counter and grabbed it to mail on my way out. Well between leaving my room, riding the elevator, and arriving in the lobby, the letter completely disappeared. I ran up to my room three times, tore apart my suitcase, and ransacked the counters and drawers. I was beside myself. After all this time I just up and lost the stupid letter. Our van arrived and I sulked out with the other students.

Needless to say I was rather grumps when I got to Vernaza. My roommate Katie and I were assigned to teach a CPR class to nurse’s assistants. My sour face faded as we started instructing the cute students. We taught adult CPR, baby CPR, the Heimlich, and baby Heimlich. I love watching them practice situations on the dummies. It’s kinda scary how little healthcare providers know about CPR but hopefully our classes will help them in the future.

My friend took a video of me while I was teaching! I can't figure out how to upload it on here but the URL is 

http://picasaweb.google.com/byuecuador2009/19Mayo2009#5339217543755206450

baby Heimlich

After that I headed to the OR for a few hours. This may seem exciting but the OR is my least favorite place to nurse, probably because there is little for a nurse to do while the surgeon slices and scrapes away with his myriad of tools. I basically stood in the corner. We grabbed a free lunch at the hospital’s cafeteria-- always a treat. :)

Here's something I saw while walking the halls of Vernaza Hospital. The sign reads, "Use in case of fire." The fire extinguisher is unfortunately MIA. Scary.

I was still beside myself about the letter. As soon as we got back to the hotel, I ran to the front desk to ask about it. The sweet lady asked me my last name and then said they had found the letter in a hallway of the hotel and placed it back in my room. Phew!

Then, I got back to the room and my roommate asked me where the assignment sheet for the health fair was. Oh no. Yet another moment of the “I-lose-everything-important” genes. Usually this does not strike twice in one day. This time I was not so lucky. I tore through everything and failed to locate the paper. Fortunately, my roomie was sweet and helped me recreate the assignments. Mother please get a kick out of these mishaps. I know you will…  

During the afternoon we blogged and relaxed. For dinner we ordered pizza! They have “Loco Martes” and the pizza is buy one get one free. Wonderful.

Then we loaded in the vans for another health fair! This time I was assigned to teach baby CPR and the Heimlich. It was so fun! Each of us girls took a little part to teach and then we helped the members practice on our baby dummies. It’s fun to teach them because they are so enthusiastic. We made five groups and rotated them through the classes: nutrition, diabetes/hypertension, adult CPR, and baby CPR/Heimlich. There’s also a station where they get to have their blood pressure and blood glucose checked. Some of my friends from the ward we attend came so I snapped some pics.