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.