Sorry I'm not sorry...

Yeah, I know. I'm really bad at keeping up with this blog, but to be honest, I've been having so much fun in Quito that I completely forgot about it. ooopsiee...
I'll try to recap as best I can.
This past Saturday we went to an indigenous community called Tingo Pucara.  They were the nicest people I've ever met.  They all shook our hands and said, "Buenos Dias" to every visitor.  I guess when you're that isolated, you just end up loving everyone... Anyway, they took us to their only water source which consisted of a rough trip down a mountain.  Going to the water sources wasn't bad.  Returning to the community was IMPOSSIBLE because the whole walk was uphill.  So difficult.  By butt was sore the day after because it was so hard.  Those people have to do it every day... maybe even twice a day to get water.  They must be in very good shape.
That night, a few friends decided to go out, so we went to La Mariscal which is an area with a bunch of restaurants, bars, discotecas.  We stayed out until 2:00 AM. Buena fiestaaaa...
Sunday was a chill day.  Woke up late and went to go see X-men first class with my host family.  It was a pretty good movie.
Monday we had class and volunteered at La Macarena
Tuesday was awesome because we had a cooking class.  We learned how to make patacones (tostones) arroz y pescado.  It was so delicious.  I also tried some concha and coconut water.  We were taught to dance Marimba which was pretty entertaining because all the students joined in as well as the professor :)
Today was our last day at La Macarena.  It is sad to think that I'll never see those kids again.  Fernando was my favorite.  He gave me one of his marbles as a gift.  Today I saw a baby for the first time who had scratches and bruises all over his face, neck and chest.  I hate to think that this baby is being abused on a daily basis.  He kept on coming up to me for affection... I'm worried about that baby :(
I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M ONLY HERE FOR 3 MORE DAYS.  I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE YET.
I love Quito.  I want to come back next summer. Period.

The past three days..

I'm so bad at keeping up with this blog. oops... This week has been pretty busy and we have had a lot of work today.  But in short, Tuesday stood out to me because we went to this restaurant called Cafe Mosaico.  There was a lovely view of the city from there.  I had meatballs and vegetable lasagna.  nom nom.

Wednesday was really interesting because we went to some subcentros de salud where they only had two nurses! It really is shocking.  The population keeps growing in Quito but the number of health care professionals remains the same.  We went to another one where there was only ONE doctor and it was closed because he had to make a house call.  There were four people waiting outside the clinic to be treated.
Then we went to a basic hospital where there were only 15 beds.  Some days they delivered 6-10 babies per day and there were only 6 beds for these women who were about to give birth.  There were lines of people in each hospital that we went to showing that there aren't enough doctors or nurses to take care of all these people.

Today we had class from 9:30-2.  A man came in to talk to us about Ecuador's health care system, but he didn't speak any English.  So me and Sahil, a classmate, had to translate the entire lecture which was about 2 hours long.  It was pretty exhausting.  Translating is very difficult and NOT fun at all.

Planning on going out tonight to la discoteca.  We'll see what happens...

It's a small world after all.

Today we went to a hospital and a doctor named Gonzalo Mantilla presented a lecture on maternal and infant health in Ecuador.  He also discussed how the health care system works there.  He even criticized the heath care system in America by saying that it was terrible and that access needed to improve.  I think I might have to agree with him.  He mentioned that he had worked in Georgia and Florida.  THEN he went on to mention that he worked in Gainesville at Shands and North Florida Regional Medical Center (NFRMC).  My dad works at NFRMC so I asked Mantilla if he knew him.  Of course, he does know my father and apparently they were good friends friends back in the day. What a coincidence...

We had lunch in the hospital and went to La Macerna otra vez to play with the kids.  There were not as many kids today so it was more relaxing.  I did find a chid face down on the ground and noticed that she couldn't walk on one of her legs.  It looked like she might have hurt her knee or ankle but none of the adults were even watching.  I had to carry her to one of the ladies that worked there to see if they could do something for her.  I hope she is OK.

I will be studying tonight... I wish I could go explore Quito but I guess I'm here as a student first right?

Sundays

Also, I've noticed that Sundays are unlucky for me.  Last Sunday, my flight to Atlanta was canceled and I missed the first day of class in Quito.  This Sunday, my camera was stolen... I wonder what will happen next Sunday.

Quito Quito... No te quiero bonito.

Ok. So quick recap of yesterday...
We went to Otavalo Market where I got some really good stuff for my family and I made some pretty good deals.  We saw a volcano that had a lake because when it erupted 3,000 years ago, the snow and the ice melted to water.  The interesting thing about it is there are no fish living in the lake because there is no drainage.  The lake doesn't lead to any oceans or other bodies of water.  We also went to this restaurant that served indigenous food. So basically, all I ate was corn.  We took a tour of the restaurant and the garden where they make the fruits, vegetables and herbs they use to cook their meals.  I tried this fruit called taxo and it was really good, like sour candy. Yum... 
I also bought movies yesterday!  It was very exciting!! 4 movies for $5.  I was going to buy Thor but they said the quality wasn't that good yet, so I'm going to wait until before I leave to get it. 

Today we went to Colonial Quito.  We went to a few churches and they were all very impressive.  We also went to the White House of Quito.  I got to see where the president of Ecuador works every day.  The building was beautiful.  The horrible highlight of the day was when I got my camera stolen :( Two kids started distracting me.  They tag teamed it: one distracted me while the other took the camera right out of my bag.  I was pretty upset.  I guess I just didn't see it coming.  I had a lot of great pictures on there.  OH WELL... Everyone thought it was funny that I was the one targeted because I'm the only one who can speak Spanish.  I guess the Hispanic look didn't work in my favor?

I don't have much else to say because I'm still angry about my camera...

Boston College loves La Basilica

So today was another exhausting but fun day.  We had class from 9-12.  We talked about health care as a human right and a professor from the university came in to talk about mental health in Ecuador.  Then from 12-1 we had a medical Spanish class.  It was very helpful and I did learn a few new terms.  After classes were over we went to Cactus which is a restaurant in front of the university and I had a quesadilla and half a wrap.

We then took a van took La Basilica which is an AMAZING church built in 1883.  It might be the biggest church that I have ever seen in my entire life.  It was so beautiful.  I was speechless when I saw it.  There were stairs that went all the way to the top of the church, right up to the towers.  Our onsite coordinator said that there were about 700 steps from bottom to top.  We had to climb ladders and cross bridges inside the church but once we made it to the top, there was the most beautiful view of Quito.  I was in awe of how pretty and quiet Quito seemed from all the way up there.  There were even stores and restaurants inside La Basilica which was pretty funny.  They even sold shot glasses in the stores inside.  Anyway, the explanation I've given really doesn't do it justice.  It's really a spectacular place.  As we went up the stairs of the church we noticed that people would write stuff on the walls.  I saw my name written a few times: "te amo Gaby."  Our group decided to leave their mark on the roof of the church: "Boston College loves La Basilica."

We hopped back into the van (because la Basilica closed at 5) and the driver took us to Quicentro which is a very nice, upscale mall in Quito.  Mami and I would have had a great time shopping there.  Some stores are similar to in the U.S. but there were others that I had never heard of before and they were really cool.

My new mom picked me and Debi up from Quicentro and we went home.  I was hungry so my new mom fed me right away.  I had rice, hamburger, salad, fried plantains with tuna, and flan.  The fried plantains were kind of like tostones but here they are called patacones. 

Now I'm sitting at home, procrastinating, not wanting to do the tons of reading that I have to do....

La Macarena

Today was probably one of the most exhausting days so far... I didn't get much sleep last night so getting up this morning was a struggle.  But I got up and walked to the bus stop with my new mom to catch the red bus with Debi.  The red bus nearly killed me.
Let me tell you that the doors to the buses in Quito aren't like elevators.  They don't re-open when you put your hand through the door.  It will close right on your hand and the bus will take off.  So I didn't enter the bus in time and the bus nearly cut off my leg.  I made it inside but my purse was flailing in the wind outside the bus as it started to accelerate... not OK. I managed to pull the purse through the doors.  Now I've learned that I need to quickly jump on the bus right when it gets there or I could lose a limb.
We got to school and talked about women's health and NGOs for 3 hours.  We had some good conversations.
Today was a first day of volunteering and we didn't have time to go home to have lunch so we had lunch near the university and then took the bus to place where we were volunteering at 2pm.
The place where we volunteered was called La Macarena.  It is a day care/school for kids who's mothers are in jail.  The kids will stay there for the entire day and then go back to the jail to stay with their mothers for the night.  There is a law in Ecuador that prohibits the separation between a mother and child.  The kids were adorable and were extremely playful.  They were very happy to see us.  They call their teachers "tias" so they started calling me "Tia Gaby."  It was exhausting because the kids wanted to be carried around everywhere but it did feel good helping out the teachers.  I loved making them happy even if it was just for only 2 hours.
I think I'll take a nap now.  I'm debating whether I want to go see a band play at this place called El pobre diablo.  Should I go?

Pato

June 1, 2011
Today didn't start off so good and I think it's the empanada's fault.  I was pretty nauseous and my nose was stuffy and my throat hurt.  Could have been allergies but I'm not sure.  It went away when class started.  Today we talked a lot about poverty and how greatly it affects health.  We also had a discussion on whether equality of health care can be achieved.  Based on the thoughts of most students it seemed that we would not be able to eliminate health disparities until issues concerning race and gender are solved.  I don't think issue about race and gender will be solved anytime soon so I don't believe that equal health care to all will be possible in the near future...
After class I took the bus home.  I took the bus to and from school today and it wasn't too bad.  We have to take a red bus for about 7 stops and then a green bus.  I still have to walk to my house from the bus stop and the whole walk is basically up hill.  That was definitely my exercise for the day and I was sweating by the end of the walk.
Lunch was good today.  There is a maid that comes three times a week to prepare lunch.  We started out with a potato soup which I thought was the only part of the meal so I ate a lot of it but actually it was like an appetizer.  We then had steak, rice patties, and salad with yellow peppers.  There was also a delicious juice that the maid prepared that had passion fruits in it indigenous to Ecuador.  It tasted just like a smoothie. nom nom.
I took a nap because I was exhausted and did some work.  Then Debi, one of my classmates and her host brother, Jose Miguel, picked me up to go to a Mexican restaurant called Chipote.  I had two cervezas but that's all.  Jose Miguel brought some of his friends.  One of his friends introduced himself as Pato (which in Puerto Rico can mean gay).  So I was like, "Wait, say that again? Pato?" Then I explained why I was confused and they told me that Pato is short for Patricio and that pato does not mean gay in Ecuador.  So that was embarrassing but they cracked jokes about it all night so I guess they thought it was funny...
I noticed when I was at the restaurant, practically everyone was smoking.  Even Jose Miguel's friends were smoking right in front of my face.  It was funny because on the Marlboro boxes it said, "Fumar mata" and "Fumar causa cancer" and they STILL smoke.  I asked Pato why he smoked so much (he said that on a good night out, he could smoke almost a pack and a half!)  He answered my question by saying, "It is life."  I guess it's just a part of the young adult culture here.  Almost everyone young person there was smoking except for me and my classmates.  He also told me that many people start drinking there between the ages of 12-14 (I started drinking when I was 18-19).  So yes, I've noticed that the young adult lifestyle is different here, but I guess that's life.

Mantengan encendida una luz que siempre voy a volver..

My first day went really well.  My new mom took me to school which was at La Universidad de San Francisco de Quito.  This campus was absolutely gorgeous.  The building where we actually took the class looked like the capitol.  There were stained glass windows inside.  Honestly, it wasn't really a place where I wanted to study.  I just wanted to lay in the grass.  There were beach volleyball courts and gardens.  There was also a pirate ship in the middle of a pond.  I don't know the story behind that yet but I will find out!  Anyway, class was class.  There were some engaging conversations about MDGs (Millenium Developmental Goals).  What's shocking is that out of the 8 goals that we set out to accomplish by 2015 (set up in 1990), we have only accomplished one.  We talked about simple interventions we could make to improve the health of those people living on only $1/day (clean water, education, cheap drugs, etc.)  The professor is very engaging and she knows her stuff.  She was coughing the whole time and one of my classmates joked that she has TB.  I hope that's not the case!

After class was done, my new mom took me to the supermarket with my friend Debi.  We bought a few things. I needed a notebook so I went to the papeleria.  Then we went home and played with Polla, the dog and had lunch: chicken, rice, plantains, carrots with tomato, and red cabbage salad.  I'm not sure if I liked the red cabbage salad.  It was very sweet because she put raspberry jelly in it, yuck, but at least I tried it! 

After lunch we watched America's Next Top Model and Smallville in Spanish.  There were also these really ridiculous deodorant commercials.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tttmt9vOzgk  --You'll see why it's weird

At 2:45, we left for El Museo de Guayasamin.  Oswaldo Guayasimin (1919-1999) is the most famous painter in Ecuador's history.  His paintings were very compelling.  His work consisted of three collections.  The first one was called "Trail of Tears."  The Second focused on anger and the final one was called "Tenderness."  All of his paintings depicted the pain, sorrow, hope, love, and faith of the oppressed people (blacks, indigenous, mestizos).  The tour guide was OK.  It was pretty funny because our onsite coordinator for our trip kept correcting his information.  Overall, it was a beautiful museum.  We left the museum and saw Guayasamin's house.  Which was pretty cool.  He had a pool and two cars, one of them being a rolls royce...  There was also a gigantic canadian pine tree that Guayasamin called "The Tree of Life."

I topped the day off with an empanada de pollo.  It was delicious.  I hope I don't get sick from it... hehe

Also, I bought a poster for my parents and lost it within at hour... oops. At least it was only $8.

...and I made it

I'm in Ecuador!  I'm hanging out in my new room with my new family.  I am currently staring at a fly that has just entered the room to my dismay.  Anyway, the family is really nice.  It consists of a mother and his son.  The son is my age and he's very nice so far.  Hopefully, he'll show me around Quito and take me to the places where he normally hangs out. 

Backtracking.. when the plane landed in Quito, everyone started clapping (Mami and Papi, I guess Puerto Ricans aren't the only ones that do that...).  When I got off the plane I couldn't even breathe.  I think I'm 9,000 feet above sea level? But literally, I was having a lot of trouble...

So there was a whole process with customs and took a while but I found my new mom holding a sign with my name on it. The son drove us to the house.  He blatantly ran a red light.  I was about to ask if red meant go but then he told me he didn't have time to stop so he just kept going. They have a labrador and their house is nice too. Oh! I don't have to do my own laundry! Yay...

My new mom suggests that a use boiled water to brush my teeth so I don't get sick.  Very thoughtful.

I know this post sucks.  I'm too tired to think of anything clever to say.

I'll have more energy to write something better tomorrow.
Goodnight from Quito!

May 29 (Angry Bird)

I was supposed to leave today at 2:50pm from Gainesville's Regional Airport.  I wasn't surprised when we did not board 30 minutes, 20 minutes, or 10 minutes prior to departure for that matter.  In fact, I didn't board the plan at all.  It just so happened that a bird decided to fly head on into a plane 203948309483 times its size.  The bird sacrificed itself in the name of damaging the plane... Thanks to this stupid bird, I'm still in Gainesville, FL writing on this blog about nothing exciting about Ecuador.  Oh well... take 2 tomorrow... Let's see if I can get out of here...

I can't believe I'm missing the first day of school! Mad...

Welcome!

Hi guys! So for those of you who don't know, I will be in Ecuador from May 29- June 18 taking a class called Global Health Perspectives.  I'm trying to figure out whether I want to take this whole nursing thing in the direction of a public health concentration.  But on a more exciting note, I just want to experience everything that Ecuador has to offer: culture, food, people, places, etc... I'm starting this blog so I can document all the things that happen while I'm there.  Hopefully, it will be interesting enough to post on this blog!  So the next post will be on May 29-30.  I get in late on the 29th, so we'll see if I have enough energy to post something.  Love you all!