Christmas Work Party...Ecuador style

So I went to a Christmas work party on December 23rd, held at one of the nurse's house (photos below).  I definitely left my "amigo secreto" present at the house without opening it, still don't know what Dr. Luje got for me!! Amigo Secreto is Secret Santa. At the Christmas party we had chancho meat, which is basically a pig roast; choclo, or corn on the cob; roasted potatoes, avocado, a variety of salsas, and my apple pie with vanilla ice cream for dessert! I was shocked we did not have any rice nor soup, it was a Christmas miracle!! After dinner we moved the tables out of the way and danced for a good hour. We also exchanged our gifts at that point. I bought my secret amigo two music DVDs.  Who knows if he will like them, but I really didn't know what to get him! Also from the hospital every employee got an exercise outfit and a giant box from Super Maxi that was filled with all sorts of goods to make food for the holidays with (they call it a canasta, and it contained rice, hot cocoa powder, ketchup and mayonaise, cookies, a bottle of red wine, a bottle of vegetable oil, sugar, lentils, salt, and some other random items).  I'm assuming that after the holidays Super Maxi no longer can sell these boxes, so they donated them to the hospital for a cheap rate and the hospital gifted them, which is awesome! The exercise outfit is soooooo entertaining, and I will be sure to take a foto sometime in my lovely light blue on blue on blue outfit.  Also, I wear a size Large here, no doubt about it.

The rest of my Christmas went by nicely. On the 24th I didn't work; in the morning I listened to Christmas music on YouTube and tanned in my bathing suit...in the afternoon I Skyped with my family for quite some time which was fantastic. José and I went to church at 9pm, it was a nice service and the sermon was great. Interesting though that not many people dressed up, like what is custom for Christmas mass at home. What was fun was seeing the blessing of the "niño Jesús" - every family brought their own baby doll Jesus to be blessed by the priest at the end of mass. It was very funny to see the various sizes and colors and decorated baby Jesuses, as well as what a MAD HOUSE it was at the end of mass to get your baby Jesus blessed. Each family will keep their baby Jesus in their house to bless their home until the next Christmas comes around. I don't know if they throw out their baby Jesus or if they reuse their baby Jesus every year... The only time I cried (and SEVERELY missed my family and home and Christmas traditions) was during the sign of peace at mass, when everyone was exchanging peace.  If I didn't have José there, I would have been absolutely miserable. That was when my heart longed for home more than any other moment since I've been here. But, that moment passed and although I of course still miss my family, I continue on with my life here!

Recently I have determined that eating rice gives me sharp pains in my gallbladder, or "cólico". I have been trying to evade eating rice at all costs, and so far I've been doing okay.  Its almost like a game, how to avoid eating mountains upon mountains of rice here.    Rice is served almost every meal, even sometimes with breakfast (not kidding at all).

I have also started having moments where I say something, and have to think afterwards if I said it in Spanish or English. My Spanish is starting to flow a lot more naturally, which is such a relief! I know in a few months it will be even better. When I look back at my book of "new words" from when I got here, there are so many words that I cannot believe I didn't know how to use when I arrived because now I use those words all the time.  It is starting to become much easier to switch back and forth rapidly between English and Spanish also.  Yay!

Tonight I leave for the beach!! José and I are taking an 8+ hour bus ride to Crucita, and I absolutely cannot wait. I have been dreaming of this! I think I am going to start planning a beach vacation every month!

Next update will be allllll about the beach....pray for sun, 24/7 for me!

Me and my coworkers before our Christmas party, waiting to catch a taxi.




Dinner is served




Kissing the "chancho", pig. 




Waiting for food!




My four homemade delicious apple pies. I'm going to be a pro by the time I get back home to the states!!




The Christmas decorations at Monica's house where the party was held



El Pregón

El Pregón was a parade (one of many) of high school military bands and dance groups/baton twirlers. There were some groups with themes (for instance one school had costumes to represent el medio ambiente, or Environment) and other groups represented traditional Sierran customs/dances.  There were thousands of people in the streets all to watch the parade, which lasted several hours.  I couldn't get any pictures of good quality, but you get the idea!

Quito Love List!!

Long overdue my love list of Quiteño items thus far in my adventure here....First off, I love my "Quito family" that consists of Lupita, María, Elsa, Judith, Marco, José, Pablo, Yessenia, Elena, Darío, Felix and Mingo! I love my doggy, Mingo, that I have now started walking/running a few times a week. I love being surrounded by mountains, and weird unpredictable weather patterns. I love dancing to Banda y Cumbia, and listening to the endless love ballads. I also adore singing to these love ballads at karaoke! I love the returnable beer bottles, and Pilsener brand beer more than Club (even though both are Pilsener products).  I love cooking randomly, and that sliced chicken is called "jamón de pollo".  I love empanadas y morocho, my favorite and most unhealthy food here. I  love when I have a conversation and understand everything that is said. I love all of the beautiful parks in the city, and can't wait for a day off to go run around in all the parks! I love living in the tranquil ghetto of the city, in what I consider one of the best areas of town. I love the crazy bus system and that sometimes things just simply don't make much sense down here. I love reading books in Spanish and learning about the history of Quito and Ecuador. I love being included in a group down here, and having people to share my time with. I love keeping in touch with my family and friends back home, and that technology makes the distance so much more feasible...I hardly feel like I left! I truly love my time here and hope I'm not being missed in my abscensce too much!

Censo 2010 y Thanksgiving!

Today is eerily quiet and tranquil in Quito...no honking on the streets, no loud trucks/buses going by. This is because it is Census day here in Quito, and they have put an "immobility law" in place from 7am to 5pm. Everyone is to remain in their houses and wait for groups of high school students to come around and bring the census forms. There is no transportation available.  The only people in the streets besides the high school students are policemen and military personnel!! There are no masses at churches this morning however they will have mass later tonight, despues del censo.

Yesterday I hosted my very first Thanksgiving dinner!! It was my first time cooking most of the items on the menu, which consisted of cheeseburgers, mashed potatoes, stuffing and apple pie for dessert! Everything turned out well, except I knowingly used the wrong kind of butter in my apple pie because I was in a crunch for time and didn't want to return to the mall to find two sticks of unsalted butter! It didn't turn out horrible, just was a little off on the taste...next time I will use the correct kind of butter, and definitely add cinnamon and spices to the recipe. I had 11 people attend my first Thanksgiving, pictures below!!

I started grilling the first hamburger, and was having some difficulty, so I told Marco that in America, grilling is a man's job.  He took over after that : ) and grilled the rest of the hamburgers perfectly!

First attempt at stuffing! It was a little crispy, since it wasn't baked inside of a turkey. I also forgot to add some seasoning, so it was a little bland, but overall everyone like it!

Happy Thanksgiving! The table is set. The guests included Marisa, Elena, Lupita and her boyfriend Edwin, Marco and his son Felix, Darío, José, Pablo and his wife (can't remember her name this moment!)

This is the oven I get to use at the centro...There is no thermometer. You turn it on with a match, turning the knob at the bottom until the gas ignites. I don't like turning on the oven, so I make Marco or José do it.

My homemade apple pie...with the wrong type of butter. 

After dinner, we all drank hot canelazo and danced in the kitchen to cumbia music

La Cofia

Yeaaahhhh.....I am about to go purchase one of these, cofias.....the cofia is a little hat that nurse pin on top of their head. They are still used here in Quito to give nurses a distinguished look, to separate nurses from the rest of the personnel. Why can't we just have identificacion badges with "licen" printed in large red print, like in the states???? Que molestoso!!!! So, starting next week, I will be wearing la cofia on top my head while I am at work...wish me luck!

"La presencia de Dios de la vida en nuestro campo de trabajo; nos dará una creatividad desbordante. Nada nos detiene frente a los problemas y dificultades. El corazón es inagotable cuando caminamos con Dios." Padre José Carollo

Nurse unwillingly becomes patient

I fell by a bit of bad luck this week, and consumed an undercooked piece of chicken...while at work, of all places!! It wasn't even from a vendor off the streets. In any case, I diagnosed myself with Salmonella induced gastroenteritis, and read that the course of infection typically lasts 4-8 days. I had severe abdominal pain for three days, which I likened to "cuchillos en mis intestinos" and I was being stubborn, just telling myself that it would pass, it would pass.  No need for medical attention. Well I wasn't eating or drinking anything, was dehydrated, weak...etc. Course of infection wasn't just "passing by" like I had hoped, and on day 4, Thursday, I was miserable. I cried for the first time in Quito. I just wanted Saltines and Ginger Ale! And some toilet paper, that was the real kicker.  I went to my bathroom in the afternoon and there was no TP, so I asked Judith, the cleaning lady, because sometimes she forgets,  and she just smiled and said in spanish "sorry, there isn't any...I will ask tomorrow!" That was a large joke, because at that point I knew I had several trips to the bathroom in my future - I had those gut feelings...So I went, in misery, and bought myself some tp.

Today, I finally gave in. I went to the hospital, I had lab exams of both blood...and stool...and it was determined I had a really bad infection. I had IV antibiotics, a liter of fluid, and some pain medicines...and finally, I am starting to feel better! I still haven't eaten a full meal since Sunday, but I am definitely starting to be able to eat some things, and I have a lot more energy!  I think I've learned my lesson, so IF there is a next time (hopefully not...as I will be avoiding chicken for some time now), I will go to the doctor at first stomach pain!

Yo aprendí el truco!!!

...to having a hot shower! Yes, I have finally learned the trick to having a hot shower! José showed me exactly how far to turn the shower handle so that I would actually have HOT water, not just water that was tolerably warm to stand in.  SOOOOO HAPPY FOR HOT SHOWERS!!!!!!!

Birthday Pizza Cake!

Blowing out my candle on my Birthday pizza!

"If you can value truth above approval, and friendship over beauty, wealth or fame, If you can share your gifts and talents wisely, leaving someone better off when you came. If you find happiness in simple pleasures and see the rainbow, not the falling rain, If you have faith to keep right on believing in miracles that no one can explain, If you can look until you see the good in others and keep your spirit honest, true and free, Then you'll be, not just happy and successful, but the woman only you were meant to be. " Emily Matthews

Photos of ER!

Main 6 beds of our ER

Triage Room

IV carts...the milk jug is our sharps container

Our one monitored bed with crash cart/suction

Old School EKG hook ups

Cart next to our "cardiac bed"

El Chulla Quiteño

Song of Quito!

Click link above and get ready for some magic. Lyrics below:

Yo soy el chullita quiteño
La vida me paso encantado,
Para mi todo es un sueño,
Bajo este, mi cielo amado.


Las lindas chiquillas quiteñas
Son dueños de mi corazón,
No hay mujeres en el mundo
Como las de mi canción.


La Loma Grande y La Guaragua
Son todos barrios tan queridos
De mi gran ciudad,
El Panecillo, La Plaza Grande
Ponen el sello inconfundible de su
Majestad


Chulla quiteña,
Tú eres el dueño
De este precioso
Patrimonio nacional
Chulla quiteña
Tú constituyes
También la joya
De este Quito Colonial

Joy > happiness

"There's alot to be said for a clear conscience...there is a tremendous tranquility born from knowing that you are doing the right thing for the right reasons."

Matthew Kelly, The Rythym of Life

Día de los Difuntos

Guaguas de pan...en Piña, Frutilla, y Durazno

November 2nd, here in Quito it is Día de los Difuntos; in Mexico its more commonly called Dia de los Muertos, and for Catholics we know it as All Souls Day.  It is a feriado in Quito, and alot of places are closed for the day. Many people are just lounging around, out in the park, enjoying the day.  It is custom to eat Guaguas de Pan and drink Colada Morada (a hot drink made with blackberries and blueberries, other fruit and spices). I had a guagua de pan with frutilla filling this morning for breakfast.

I then worked from 0730-1500...I was supposed to be done with work at 1330, but the nurse who was coming to relieve us was over an hour late. Whoops! No pink slips filled out; this is just part of life in Quito. People are late, it happens, and we stayed until she got there. I had a great day at work too, I'm becoming comfortable with how things are done, and people are starting to know me too! I even made a couple jokes; which its surprisingly difficult to tell jokes in a different language. I work with the same people tomorrow and Thursday night, so those should go well too. It's amazing now that I have less anxiety about learning the unit how much more I can focus on the patients! I cannot emphasize enough how much more enjoyable work is now that I'm not so anxious. I celebrated with an algodón de azucar (cotton candy) that I bought from lady sitting outside the park. Mmmm...and tonight, I'm venturing out to get empanadas because I have some weird inexplicable craving for them...

News flash:

The Jonas Brothers are in Quito!!!! Hahaha we are watching the news, and they are playing a concert at El Estadio Olympico Atahualpa.  So sad I didn't know about this beforehand, I would totally be there right now...

Halloween in Quito...

passed like any other Sunday! There is no meaning to October 31st in this city. It was one of the hottest days we've had in Quito since I've been here. I went out walking - through an area called "La Jota", which is just a street nearby that has a lot of commercial activity - shoe stores, peluquerias (hair salons), restuarants selling encebolladas, morocho, empañadas, ceviches, arroz con mariscos, florerías selling rose bouquets for $1, stores selling watches and DVDs and all sorts of things...however, there's no book stores in the whole area.  I ended up buying a nice warm jacket with a hood for $15. Mind you, I said it was one of the hottest days we'd had so far - I was in a t-shirt and shorts when I returned home; but by 5:30 when José and I walked to church, it was cold and I had on my jeans, my new jacket and a scarf (the weather changes as much here as it does in Indiana)! We went to a new church that neither of us had ever been to, La Iglesia San Ignacio - I liked this church much better than Cristo Resuscitado, the one that is next to Tierra Nueva, and this church is closer - only a 15 minute walk through La Jota.

After church we walked back, I tried the morocho - basically rice milk, kind of like sweet rice pudding but more a drink.  It was really good.  Then I made José teach me all the songs we sang at church, because I don't like not knowing the songs, and because he's a good guitarist so we played music and listened to You Tube videos and sang for a good three hours.  Although it was no trick or treating, it was still a good time!

Today I ran through El Parque de las Cuadras - it is a very safe park, it has guards at three different locations, and it's not very big.  It's nice to be able to run again, but I still have to take breaks about every 10 minutes. I have adjusted to the altitude though, my Hemoglobin was 15.3 last week!! Normally my Hgb is low, and I take iron.  No need for iron here!

Tomorrow I'm back to work. . . will take pictures of the unit soon.

Sobrevivendo turns into disfrutando!

Today is Saturday...I picked up an extra shift and worked this afternoon - it turned out to be a good decision! When I first got there I was slightly flustered, and in a weird mood - a "what the heck am I doing here??" kind of mood. I was feeling that way because at times I get frustrated with speaking. Luckily, that mood quickly passed. I worked with three coworkers who will probably end up being my favorite coworkers (at least as far as I can tell for now). I did a good job with almost everything I did during my shift (minus missing one IV), and feel like my understanding when I'm listening to people is increasing so much - for example, being able to converse on the phone.

That was something rare for me last week...I answered the phone and was instantly tonguetied and couldn't understand anything the person on the other line was saying. It's one thing speaking a different language when the person is standing in front of you and you can watch their mouths and body language and all that...but when it is ONLY the words, it's so different! And today, I proudly answered the phone several times...small victories!!

I also successfully opened several ampules without injuring myself! One of the younger doctors, Hector, showed me some tricks of the trade...warming up the ampule and flicking the top a couple times - really makes it easier.  From what it sounds like, I should be able to request only working nights, so I think I might do that after next week (depending on how my first night shift goes).

These are a couple of photos I stole from someone's facebook page from the brigade.  I will be certain to take pictures of the ER sometime next week (probably when I work night shift). Get excited!!

No parasites,

just cuts on my finger from trying to open glass ampules all day!!!  ALL of our meds in the ER are in glass ampules...thus I have three new gashes on my right hand, because I'm retarded. I had no problem opening them the other days I worked, but today it was as though I had Incredible Hulk hands and just crushed the tops of the ampules every time.

We had a lady come in our ER today who was satting 49-51% on room air, her fingers and nose were purple, and I took one look at her and told the tech (who's also only been working since monday)  "this lady needs some oxygen and RT orita"... We actually do have oxygen on the wall! She was looking much better and satting 91-92 within a few minutes. I learned that we wash and reuse masks and the little part that holds the Atrovent treatments.

One of the doctors, Doctora Lucano, literally looks like Jenny Boget and I can't help but think of Jenny every time I work with her!! There's also an EMT who looks just like Diana Marquez...

We call our saline locks "DISH"s, but I have no idea what DISH stands for.  and today I did an EKG for the first time... it's the old school kind where we clean off the ankles and wrists with alcohol and put clips on them for limb leads, the other leads are metal and they have suction bulbs on top..so when we take them off the patients there are 6 purple circles where the leads were suctioned to the patient, like EKG hickies.

Next week I start working in rotation; one morning shift (0730-1330), one afternoon (1330-1930), and one night shift (1930-0730).  I'm hoping to ask to only work nights, but I don't know if they will allow me to do that. That would be ideal though.

Hopefully tomorrow I won't add any more gashes to my fingers...

Getting a physical in Quito...

...is nothing like getting a physical in the States.  Today, for example, I showed up at my "doctor's appointment" 10 minutes early...and ended up waiting 20 minutes after when my appointment was supposed to be when I finally called him to see where he was. He met me somewhere different in the hospital than where his office technically was.  30+ minutes wasted while I was supposed to be working in the ER (which was only being run by 1 nurse and 2 techs at that point - brand new, less than 1 week experience techs, that is). 

So, I finally meet "the doctor" in charge of occupational health for the hospital. He's actually only a resident. We walked back down to the ER, he circled a lab test, a urine test, and a feces test (to check for parasites), on a sheet of paper.  That concluded my physical.

So I ask him, do I have to pay for these tests? Thinking, they are going to be expensive and I am an employee, so certainly the hospital will cover it (the physical is necessary to getting a contract of employment).  He doesn't know the answer, so we go to human resources. There we wait, and wait. Finally we ask, and the lady sends us to Trabajo Social, social work for employees. The guy, who is brand new, helps us out and gives me a 30% discount for who knows what reason, and we bring my little paper to Lab, so I can pay/get my tests run.  Well, the lab cashier is confused about the 30% thing, so me and the doctor have to go back up to Social work and get it figured out. then we go back to lab, I pay for the exams (a whopping $8.19), and I am told to come back tomorrow...with my urine and stool sample.  But first, I have to go to the Pharmacy and buy a urine cup and stool sample cup (both for only a quarter). 

All in all, I was gone from the ER for about 2 hours...and that is my experience with physicals in Ecuador (although it's not over yet, as I still have the daunting task of collecting my own excrement and traveling down Rumichaca Avenue with it in hand...hopefully the mote I ate today off the street didn't give me parasites, or I see some Albendazole in my future...)

Notre Dame Brigade

In the tower of La Basílica and a little girl who was so adorable in the community Los Músculos y Rieles!