La Brigada

The less frequent contributor to the blog here (Josh) to update a little on our Ecuador experience. I'm working as a volunteer medical "professional" in rural Ecuador. Like in lots of developing countries, Ecuador does okay with healthcare in the cities, but is often lacking in giving access to the rural areas. The NGO (Non-Government Organization) I'm working for partners with the Health Ministry here to provide healthcare to these rural communities. I just returned from my second medical brigade (brigada) to two communities. It was a great experience and I continue to fulfill my dream to see international medicine from the front lines.

The brigada required lots of walking to get to the communities. Here I am with our nurse, local health provider, educator, and others from the community who donated their time and their mules to get our equipment and us to the community of Viche.
There's a lot of mud. This makes walking fun but makes getting places a little more difficult.


Here's an example of some jungle we walked through to get to Viche. It is beautiful and wild. It is also disappearing as more people clear land for their cattle and farms, the only way they know to survive economically in these rural areas.

This is the house where we stayed in the community of Nuevos Horizantes. This is typical of this costal area. The family received us very well with great food (home made chocolate) all grown on their land.

Here's my medical suite. We set up in the local schools. I mostly see kids and some adults. Many of the kids have intestinal parasites or have colds. We did see some hypertension. We also did a vaccination campaign and doled out the vaccines.

Here's some classic landscape with secondary rainforest on one side and the cattle grazing on the other.

Here's a picture of the little center of the community of Viche. You can see the school, some houses, the soccer field, and the large clearing where people can meet. There's maybe 150 people living in this community, mostly in farms up to an hour away.


This continues to be an exciting experience for us. Melanie survived a week alone in Quito, and I am learning how to manage patients on my own. My Spanish is better than ever and we are having a great adventure.

If anyone would like to donate money to the foundation they can go to http://www.f-h-n.org/ and follow the links to donations.

Tagged x 4

I've been tagged! In fact, several times recently. I don't usually respond to them, but since I have nothing else to do at the moment I figured this could occupy my time. I think I'll call it "everything you didn't want to know about Melanie."

8 Things:

8 Favorite TV Shows

1. LOST
2. Chuck
3. Heroes
4. The Office
5. CSI
6. Almost anything on TLC
7. um, I don't really watch a lot of TV
8. and the thing that stinks is I can't really watch any of these in Ecuador!

8 Favorite Restaurants

1. Wildfire
2. Giordano's
3. Jimmy John's
4. Coco Pazzo Cafe
5. Pockets
6. Nuevo Leon
7. Cafe Iberco (mostly their icecream crepes!)
8. Opera

8 Things that happened today

1. I woke up to Owen's crying
2. Fed, changed, and dressed Owen
3. Showered, got myself ready for the day
4. Went grocery shopping at the Supermaxi
5. Played with Owen
6. Talked to Josh on the phone
7. Checked email/blogged
8. Went to KFC for lunch. My first time at a KFC that serves rice, beans, and french fries, and sugar cookies instead of buscuits. The buscuits are my favorite part! At least the chicken was good.

8 Things to Look Forward to

1. Learning Spanish and actually being able to understand everything that people are saying, and maybe even have a conversation myself. Don't know if it will really happen.
2. Owen consistently sleeping through the night.
3. Getting root beer in Ecuador! I didn't think I'd ever have root beer here, but I heard about this American hamburger restaurant that's run by a California transplant, and he apparently understands the concept and joy of root beer. And I hear the hamburgers are delicious too!
4. Owen learning new thing...how to sit up, crawl, walk, talk, etc.
5. Christmas. Even though we won't be with any family this year, Christmas is always a magical time of year!
6. Having more children
7. Josh being done with medical school
8. Someday owning a house and a newer car

8 Things I love about Fall

1. The beautiful color of the leaves
2. The smell of a fireplace burnimg
3. Apples, cinnamon, spices, pumpkin
4. Pumpkin patches
5. My birthday
6. Thanksgiving
7. Scarves and sweaters
8. When in AZ, the fact that it's no longer 100 degrees outside

8 Things on my wish list

1. A happy, healthy baby
2. a KitchenAid mixer
3. Lasik eye surgery
4. To someday be able to conceive a child without the aid of IVF
5. To someday run a marathon (who am I kidding...this is just a wish list, right?)
6. A trip to Hawaii- Josh has promised to take me there for our 10 year anniversary
7. A husband who is happy and satisfied with his job
8. To always be a good mom

6 Quirks:

1. I can't stand it when those manual locks in cars rattle and jiggle. My car is the perfect example, especially the driver's side door. It rattles when it's unlocked. If Josh is driving and he left his lock unlocked, I have to make him lock it, or sometimes I just lock it myself. The front passenger's side lock has started jiggling when it's locked, so now I have to keep that one unlocked when driving. I guess it's a good thing I won't be driving my car until next summer!
2. I find myself counting in my head the steps I take. For example, when I'm walking up stairs I'll count how many steps I take, or if I'm walking a farther distance I'll just count "1-2-1-2" or "1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4."
3. I like to keep a written schedule book of places I need to do and things I need to do. I usually write the more pertinent things in it, and once I've done it I'll cross it off. The quirky part: if I did something that wasn't written down, I'll often write it in just so I can cross it off.
4. I often tap/shake my leg/foot to the beat of music. I don't even realize I'm doing it until I look down and see my leg or foot moving.
5. I have to get ready for bed in a specific order: remove contacts, brush teeth, floss teeth, wash face. I don't like to do it out of this order. I also have a specific order I do things when I shower: put shampoo in hair and lather, wash body and rinse hair at the same time, put conditioner in hair, wash face and let conditioner sit while doing so, then rinse hair.
6. I always wear printed socks. I don't like to wear plain white socks. The only time I do is when I am working out, camping, or hiking.

3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, and 3 facts about yourself:

Joys:

1. Spending time with Josh
2. Back scratches/back rubs
3. Traveling the world and broadening my experiences and views of the world

Fears:

1. That Josh or Owen will die
2. Cockroaches
3. Becoming terminally ill

Goals:

1. To be able to run a race of a significant distance (perhaps not a full marathon, but maybe a half marathon)
2. To have a few more children
3. To learn Spanish

Obsessions:

1. All the yummy bread shops here in Quito! I'm seriously going to gain so much weight from them. There are so many and everything costs so little! (think 30-50cents) It's so easy to hop in and grab a tasty treat.
2. Fruit. If I don't have fruit in some form every day, usually at least 3 servings, I go crazy. I love fruit!
3. Owen. I love playing with him and love that I can smile at him and he gets so excited to see me!

Facts:

1. I don't like cantaloupe or green peppers. I've just recently started to like red peppers.
2. The first fingers on both of my hands curve outward, away from the rest of my fingers. I dislike it very much.
3. I never wanted to be a nurse...I really wanted to be an engineer. I even went to summer engineering camp in high school. I changed my mind about engineering when I got to college because I feared taking 16 credits a semester (I had been told I'd have to do that to graduate in 4 years). I chose nursing almost by default. I had searched the entire college catalogue, circled the degrees that sounded interesting to me narrowing it down to biology, chemistry, math, accounting, or nursing, and nursing was the only thing seemed it would garauntee me a job when I was done. I'm so happy as a nurse now, and I'm so glad I changed my mind about engineering!

My Amazing Husband:

1. What's his name? Joshua Lee Wallbrecht

2. Who eats more? Usually he does, but I've been known to have a hardy appetite (especially with breastfeeding) and I can sometimes out-eat him.

3. Who said, 'I love you' first? Josh did. Well, his exact words were "I think I'm in love with you." Yes, I think. But he soon said "I love you."

4. Who is taller? Josh is, by only a couple inches.

5. Who is smarter? Probably Josh, when it comes to academics. He can just learn things so quickly, and he'll remember it forever. Me, I have to study hard, then I forget it like a week later.

6. Who is more sensitive? Neither of us are super sensitive, meaning emotional, but I'm probably a little more sensitive to things. We both try to be sensitive towards the other's feelings.

7. Who does the laundry? Right now, the lady at the laundromat across the street. Here in Ecuador, most people hand wash and air dry their clothes, or else take them somewhere to get washed. We opted to take them somewhere to get washed. It's nice though, because we don't have to do much work at all! We just take them our clothes and a day or two later they are waiting for us all fresh and nicely folded. Back in Chicago we would both do laundry, but I did it the majority of the time since I was home more often.

8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? It depends on the room. Right now, I do. It's because it's the side next to the side table where I can set my glasses and alarm clock within easy reach. In Chicago, I slept on the left side because it was closest to those things.

9. Who pays the bills? I usually do. Here in Quito, Josh pays the rent though.

10. Who cooks more? Me. Josh does cook for me sometimes, and he was really good at doing it on the days I worked because I wouldn't get home until 8pm. He's also really good at making stuff without a recipe. I'm the one who likes to try out new recipes and new ingredients.

11. What meals do you cook together? Any that I can get him to come help me with. :)

12. Who is more stubborn? Probably definitely me.

13. Who's the first to admit they're wrong? Most often Josh. (I'm never wrong!) No, but we both try to admit our wrongdoings.

14. Who has more siblings? I do. I have 3 sisters, 1 half brother, and several step siblings. Josh has 1 brother and 1 sister.

15. Who wears the pants in the relationship? We each take one leg.

16. What do you like to do together? As much stuff as possible! Travel, live in foreign countries, go to the movies, go out to eat, window shop at malls, go to parks, spend time outdoors.

17. Who eats more sweets? I do. I definitely have a sweet tooth!! (and my poor teeth suffer from it)

18. Guilty Pleasures? eating cookies n' cream ice cream, wasting too much time online

19. How did you meet? We had an institute class together at ASU, and I found out he was planning a trip to Europe the following summer. I had been wanted to go to Europe (already had my money saved up from a previous trip that got cancelled) so I started talking to him about it.

20. Who asked who out first? I asked him out first. There was a girl-ask-guy dance I wanted to take him to, but he rejected me! (his excuse was he had already been asked by another girl, which was true). He made up for it by asking me out the next week.

21. Who kissed who first? He kissed me, in front of my house while I was holding my dog buster.

22. Who proposed? He did, the day after Thanksgiving 2001. (Isn't the guy always supposed to propose?)

23. His best features? Everything about him! ;) The first things I noticed about him were his eyes and his smile. He has a great smile.

24. What's his best quality? His best qualities: He is such a hard worker and always pushes himself to do the most and the best he can. He never gives up on anything. He is very adventurous (I mean, we're living in Ecuador!) and likes to try new things. He is funny and has a good sense of humor. He is so kind and generous, and always puts my needs first. I know he would do anything for me! I love you Josh!

I'm not going to tag anyone back, but if you want to do any of these little surveys, feel free to take a stab at it!

In Memory of Grandma Helen

Josh's great-grandma passed away this week. She was 97 years old. I only knew her for a few years, but she was an amazing woman! She traveled to many places during her life and was always interested to hear about our travels. She was a teacher for many years and she highly valued education. The last time we were with her she made sure to remind Owen that he needs to get a good ecuation! She loved her family dearly and was always interested in the details of everyone's life. Even though she had several grandchildren to think about, she made a point to remember what we were up to in our life and always asked us questions about it. She always put others' needs and concerns before hers. And she could do crossword puzzles better than anyone!

I am so so gald we were able to get this picture in August:

We love you and miss you Grandma Helen!! We know you are in a better place now and that we'll see you again someday!

Three Months Old

Owen turns 3 months today. I think he officially is no longer my infant and is really turning into a little kid! It's amazing how quickly they change and learn new things. Here's what he's been up to these days:

*He loves to play, and he loves attention. He wants me to give him my full attention all the time. So I feel bad when I don't.

*He has discovered that he can play with his toys. He reaches for them and grabs onto some of them.

*He's still not sleeping through the night, maybe 2 or 3 times this whole month. He's also decided to take fewer/shorter naps through the day because it's more fun to play.

*He is starting to want to suck on everything. He still sucks his fist and/or fingers and has started sucking on his toys. He also likes to suck on my shirt when I'm holding him.

*He often stares at his arms and hands. Sometimes when he's quiet I'll look to see if he fell asleep and he's just staring at them intently.

*He is all smiles and will smile in response to my smile. He's especially smiley in the mornings when he first wakes up.

*He laughed for the first time a couple weeks ago, and it is the cutest thing ever! He doesn't laugh all the time, but when he's in a really good I can get him to do it.

*He turns his head in response to my voice, and also in response to music. He loves listening to music.

*He can hold his head up perfectly on his own, which means he now can be a forward-facer in the Baby Bjorn.

*His eyes have stayed blue so far, so he could be a handsome blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy! I hope they don't change color in the future.

He is so sweet and precious, I feel so blessed to have him part of our family! I feel especially blessed that I'm not working and am able to spend so much time with him. I love you Owen!

El Mercado

One of the things I like most about living where we do is that we're only three blocks from a great produce market! Every Friday a local market is set and people sell their fresh fruits and veggies. Everything is so inexpensive too!! For example, huge pineapples for 70cents, a whole bag of tangerines for $1, a whole bag of green beans for $1. I no longer miss Hyde Park Produce!

There is always a huge variety to choose from, with several varieties new to us, including the tree tomato which we got this week. It looks like a tomato inside but is orange, and tastes similar to a tomato but is slightly more bitter, but still yummy.

My favorite part of the market are these:

These 25 beautiful red roses cost a total of $2.50!!! All the flowers are super cheap! I love it! I think I may be getting lots of fresh flowers while we're here in Ecuador.

First week in La Y de la Laguna

We survived our first week in the village of La Y de la Laguna, or La Y for short (pronounced "La Yay"). This is where the health center is where Josh is volunteering. We traveled from Quito to the town of Quindide, then on to La Y. I will admit it took a bit of adjusting for me, but Owen seemed rather enthusiastic about being there! That, or else he was just happy to be done with the 7 hour journey required to get there.







The subcentro de salud (health center) where we worked and lived.




Ok, my computer won't let me arrange the order of the pictures, so here is what we did, in no particular order:

We played in the laguna. Well, at least Josh did. And he even let little fish nibble at him.

Josh and three other health center employees

View of the laguna from the back balcony of the health center. This was the sunniest day we had. It was usually cloudy, but not too hot and not too cold.

We spent lots of time hanging out in this hammock on the back balcony

We celebrated Halloween, even though nobody else knew why Owen was wearing a pumpkin hat.

No running water during the dry season, so we bathed out of buckets

In the main square of La Y

View of La Y from atop the water tower right by the health center. This is pretty much the entire village.

We made some new friends.

Our room. We sleep under mosquito nets.

The exam room in the clinic

More friends. Everyone loved Owen and everyone says he looks like a little doll.

We also ate some good food, along with some interesting foods. (Amy N., we were so excited to find Inca Kola!)


We enjoyed our time in La Y, it was quite an eye opening experience to see how the people here live. We were very happy to be back in Quito though, and we celebrated by going to Applebees. Thank goodness for American food! :)