Owen at the beach

I was finally able to get some videos posted on here! I still can't do it from home, but I can do it from an internet cafe. I know family has been dying to see some videos of Owen!

This is of Owen laughing and squealing. He does this a lot now, it's so fun!

This video is of Owen's first time in the ocean! (please ignore the way I look) He didn't have much of a reaction, but it was fun to see his little feet buried in the sand.

Root Beer!

Josh and I love root beer. We love it plain and in root beer floats. Josh's drink of choice when out to eat is usually root beer. I love it with pizza. We don't usually buy or drink much soda, but will make an exception for root beer.

When moving to Ecuador we figured we'd have to give up root beer since it seems to be solely a North American thing, excluding Central America and Mexico (do they drink root beer in Canada??). But....lucky for us we heard of a place that serves it! It's called Hamburgueses de Rusty. This is the only place we know of in Quito with root beer. The owner, Rusty, is a California native and we are grateful he understands the joyful concept of rootbeer (and also dill pickles on hamburgers). They make it homemade and it is quite tasty!

Rusy is an awesome guy. He's 70 years old and he's still working there, taking orders. And he's got a sweet handlebar mustache! I wish I had taken a picture of him. His stache is so cool that the whole restaurant is decked out with his handlebar mustache logo, including the table, lights, and glass!

We'll definitly be making several return trips to Rusty's!

Brigada, animales, misc pics

This is sort of a tag on miscellaneous post with mostly pictures from my last medical brigade and some great pics mostly taken by the other volunteer doc Eddie:

-Here's me ready to hit the trail brigada style. The bigote helps me stay on the horse better and I think I look pretty ecuadorian actually.


-Some of the great wildlife we saw on this brigada. This dude was just chillin (as most sloths do) under a foot bridge. I was going to pick him up but he was covered in bugs. Another pic to follow with he and I together.

-Some of the scenery along the way. It is beautiful here...

...but these coastal cloud rainforests are around 95% deforested. Roads in means better access to healthcare, jobs, and ability to grow crops to sell, but it also means they sell the wood from the forest to americans and europeans.

-Some of the cute kids from the community of Los Angeles. They love to have their picture taken. I later treated them all for intestinal parasites.

-There is beauty in abundance here in the forests. Mother nature put on a great show with this sunset one evening in La Y.

-This chicken was wondering what was cooking in the kitchen (she better watch out, because tomorrow it could be her). She later wanted a closer look at me as you can see in the last post.

The End

Another Week in La Y

Well, we survived another week in La Y! Josh was able to see a decent amount of patients, not too many. This time we were there with another American doctor, Eddie and his wife, Sarah. It was really nice to have more people to hang out with, and especially for me to have English speakers around. The local people are really nice, I just can't converse much with them. Life is definitely slow in La Y, but I manage to find enough things to do.

We were there over Thanksgiving, and us Americans did the best we could to make a Thanksgiving dinner. There was no turkey or stuffing or pumpkin pie involved (we tried to get a turkey), and it actually ended up being a strickly vegetarian dinner complete with mashed potatoes, green beans, tomato cucumber salad, a bean soup/gravyish dish, and bread. Oh ya, and rice. There is always rice. Someone also made a delicious apple cake!! That was the best part. It was definitely one of our most memorable Thanksgivings. Being out in the jungle with so little made it so much more meaningful for me. You can't help but recognize everything you have to be thankful for. For the most simple things.....

a hot shower

(most the people who live here probably have never had a hot shower)

a bed with a nice mattress

running water

flushing toilets

washing machines

paved roads

carpet

can openers

non-stick skillets

peanut butter

I truly have been blessed with all I have. I have so much! The USA is such a privileged country. And most importantly, I am so thankful for my family, for Josh and Owen, and for all the fun times we have together and for the time we have to spend here in Ecuador. It really is the opportunity of a lifetime!

Ok, here are some pictures of the week:

Our mode of transportation to La Y. We're on this charter bus for 5 hours until we get the the city of Quininde.

Most of the time I look like the lady behind Josh.

Once we're in Quininde, we catch a ride on this truck called a Ranchera. Then it's a bumpy 1.5 hour drive into La Y. It's amazing how many people can fit in/on this thing!

Lots of bananas hanging off the back porch of the clinic. It was so fun to just go out and grab a banana whenever we wanted one! Bananas are one thing that are always plentiful.

I got a spa pedicure! There is a local girl who does. She brings a basin of water to soak your feet in and everything! She had 3 posters full of different designs to choose from. All this for only $1!! She was really good and painted detailed flowers on all my toes. I gave her a good tip and paid her $1.50. This surely would have cost me $30-$50 back home!

On Thanksgiving day we were out for a walk and saw this turkey at someones house. We hadn't been able to find a turkey to eat, so we were excited to see this big guy! Josh explained to them the American Thanksgiving tradition and he asked if they would be willing to sell it to us to eat. They looked at us for a second, then turned us down. They said it was their pet! Oh well. How many people can say they saw a LIVE turkey on Thanksgiving???

Our Thanksgiving dinner spread. It really was tasty! Clockwise from left: Josh, Aruya-a Columbian woman who is a volunteer teacher at one of the communities (she enjoyed our American tradition), Joanna-a peace corps volunteer who has lived at the clinic for about 14 months, Sarah, and Eddie.

One night this chicken was really interested in what we were doing and flew up on Josh! There are chickens running around everywhere, they just don't usually get real close to us. Owen wasn't bothered at all and here he looks somewhat interested in the chicken.

This weird looking thing is a jackfruit. It's huge, being the largest tree fruit in the world! It's really sticky when you cut it open, but it tastes good when eaten in small quantities. It's very very sweet, and has a very very strong odor.

Josh brought his guitar and often found time to practice. (he's been taking guitar lessons in Quito)

Owen got some maracas so he can play in Josh's mariachi band.

We found a few little critters.

This grasshopper wasn't so little. It was a pretty cool looking guy! Josh picked it up to move it back to a safe habitat, and it kicked him hard! My rule is don't mess with the big bugs. Or any bugs for that matter.

La Y has beautiful sunsets! This picture doesn't even do it justice.

The Beaches of Ecuador

Before Josh had to be back to the clinic to work his week for the month, we decided to take a trip up to the beaches of Ecuador. The first place we stopped was Atacames. It's a popular resort town, and we heard it can be pretty busy and noisy so we only stayed one night. The place we stayed was really nice. It was right on the beach.

It was a nice looking beach and lots of people were out. We didn't stay in Atacames long though because we were trying to get to our next destination, so we didn't swim here.

These funny little carts are the taxi's of the town. They are everywhere. They're basically just a motorcycle with some seats attached to either the front or back. We rode in one to get to our hotel. We didn't have to go very far though.

Our final desitation was the town of Same (pronounced saw-may). We stayed at the Casa Blanca resort. The parents of the German doctor who founded the rural clinic own a condo here, and we were able to stay in it. The resort is HUGE with several different smaller villas, each with their own private swimming pool. This is the view from our balcony.

Just a small section of the whole resort. It is famous for its mediterranean architecture.

Owen was ready to hit the beach!

Owen's first time in the ocean! He didn't seem to mind it, but he wasn't overly enthusiastic either. I can't wait to take him to the beach when he's a little older and can really enjoy it.

It was pretty cloudy and windy out. Not the best beach weather, but we still enjoyed ourselves. We constructed this little shelter for Owen so he would be protected from the elements.

Owen's first time swimming. He wasn't quite sure what to think.

I didn't take pictures at dinner, but both nights we at at a restaurant right on the beach that served fresh fish. They typical dish for the regions is "pescado encocado" or fish with a coconut sauce. It was really good!

27 Years

A couple weeks ago I celebrated my 27th birthday! It was a pretty good day overall. I was going to go get a massage, but the massage spa was closed so I just relaxed during the day. (I'll make it up one of these days, I'm sure.) Josh bought me a cake because a birthday isn't complete without a cake!



After making a wish and blowing out the candles, we were able to get a babysitter and Josh and I enjoyed a date at a restaurant called Crepes and Waffles. It came highly recommended, and it proved to be delicious! They had a huge book just for the desserts! The icecream was delicious. The one we chose came with about 7 or 8 different fruity flavors...yummy!!



The restaurant is at one of the local malls. Here's a picture so you have an idea of how nice it is. It is way bigger than this, too.

Llapingachos

This post is a bit overdue, but I'm playing catch-up. A few weeks back the Spanish language school I went to (yes, went to...the school suddenly closed down) had a cooking day. They taught the students how to make llapingachos (pronounced with a "y"). Llapingachos are a typical Ecuadorian dish that originated in the Ecuadorian highlands. They are basically a fried potato and cheese patty. They are very easy to make, and quite tasty!

Here are some patties before (one the right) and after (on the left) they were fried. Some of them had special oil added to them to make them look orange.

Me with some fellow students, Eddie and Sarah. Eddie is an American doctor of internal medicine who is also working at the rural clinic where Josh is working, and Sarah is his wife. It is so nice to have other American friends, and we get along with them great!

Sarah and I hard at work frying up the llapingachos.

This is the how the typical dish is served...with a little lettuce, a salad of tomatoes and onions and cilantro, beets and carrots, and a fried egg. It is often served with sausage and avocado as well, but they didn't serve those this time. It was really yummy!

Owen even came to help out! I never have to worry about what I'll do with Owen when I go places because there are always willing hands to hold him and watch him!

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.