Mom took some time to take pictures while everyone was figuring out their mornings. Our hotel had a turf soccer field and a swimming pool in the back. I know the night before several of the volunteers hung out in the pool and I just didn't feel like it.
I hung out a bit and used the internet until everyone else was packed up and ready to get in the van and Edna's SUV. The truck took our bags and supplies to our next location.
Once we got everyone together, we packed up the vehicles and decided as a group to stop by one of the stores to see if they had anymore Lysol wipes and nitrile gloves since we were getting low. We also bought a bunch of water and yes they sell water in plastic bags, they sorta look like small clear pillows.
We pulled into a gas station. Here in Ecuador is similar to Oregon and New Jersey, it wasn't self serve. Their gas was very cheap here as well, it was almost a dollar cheaper there ($1.57 a gallon) than it was at home.
We got onto the freeway (E40) and headed east towards Guayaquil. About halfway to our destination, our van got a flat tire and Felipe had to pull over and change the tire. Mark, one of our volunteers got out and helped him.
They actually fixed it pretty quickly and we were only about a half hour late behind the other vehicles. When we got to the community center we were going to work out of we were told to put our bags into Edna's SUV so they could be locked inside safe from the community. We went inside and arranged the inside in such a way people wouldn't be wandering around where they shouldn't be. The last few days it was overwhelming with the people who weren't being seen with the people who were waiting to be seen just everywhere in these small community buildings.
People started to arrive and it got busy. About an hour into it I found out my sink was leaking so someone found me an extra bucket to gather the water. So much of it got on the floor already. It became a slipping hazard and one of the community people brought a mop and mopped it up for me. I eventually had to move to the second bathroom to use the sink because the other sink was getting really leaky.
Again, I had Thomas walk around checking to see if the dirty instruments needed to come to me to replace them with the sterilized ones. It was really helpful around noon when it was the busiest.
We did shifts for lunch again like we did yesterday. Since I was next to the restorative area with my mom and Maritza she basically told us to stop, someone will take over, and to go with her to lunch. We followed her to one of the member of the community's private homes where they barbequed beef on their make-shift barrel grill and served it with rice, plantains and a weird salad mix. Again, I gave Maritza my plantain and salad. We sat there probably for about an hour listening to Maritza's life story and how she became a dentist. Her story was interesting and I am glad she shared it with us. We thanked the women for their hospitality and walked back over to the community center.
There was one point during the day where I had some time to just relax and take in the experience. A lot of mother's were not shy about breast feeding their baby's in public...in fact there was nothing taboo about it. People actually really didn't notice and continued on with what they were doing whether it was a conversation or working. Another thing that I noticed was a lot of people in this community were wearing some really worn out shoes and clothes. This community was very rural compared to some of the other ones we visited in the past few days. One kid stood out while I was people watching. He was probably around 15-16 years old and he was wearing flip flops that didn't fit him anymore but he continued wearing them because those were probably his only shoes.
Around 7, everyone started picking up their stations and cleaning up after our last patients. It was so hot and humid inside that community center my pants, shirt and jacket were sticking to me. I could not wait until I could take a shower.
We loaded up and took all of our stuff to the beach house. Myrna instructed us to pick rooms however, a few of the volunteers didn't want to stay there so some of them opted to stay at the hotel instead. She also told us to freshen up but we all didn't have time to take showers so we just changed our clothes and put on some more deodorant. We were going to Montañita, which was just north of us by about 30 minutes.
We all piled into the van, Edna's SUV and Carolina's car. I wasn't sure what this place was going to be like but Myrna told us to keep our money hidden, stay in groups and don't wander off by yourself, ever. She also mentioned that last year two girls from Argentina came to Montañita for spring break, hung out with the wrong crowd and both ended up getting murdered. Yikes!
When we got there the place was extremely busy and it was really hard to find a parking spot. I compared it to a hippy-ish Las Vegas but it was a mini version of Las Vegas. This was definitely a "sin city" of some sort. The first thing we did was just take in the experience of this place. It was humid, you could smell the food cooking in the various restaurants nearby, the various sounds, the dazzling lights, the people hustle and bustling, the energy overloaded your senses. People were constantly trying to sell you their wares and you just had to politely say, no gracias.
We needed to find some dinner since it was getting late and everyone was getting hungry. Maeo Beach is the place we all chose to eat because it wasn't busy and they had an array of food choices on their menus. I was really hoping their menu had a sandwich option but they didn't. Both of us got an orange smoothy shake thing and we shared a burger and fries.
Worst burger and fries ever. It didn't end up agreeing with me and I had to use the restaurant's awful bathroom. I'm not sure how it affected mom but I was good after using the bathroom.
We broke up into smaller groups to go wander around. We were instructed to meet up back at the cars in about an hour. Mom and I walked around with Dr. Harris, Myrna, Dr. Smith and Thomas. I wanted to make sure we had someone who spoke Spanish with us. The only things we ended up purchasing were magnets for my grandparents. The place was crawling in hostels. There were hostels everywhere. We went down to the beach near the clubs. Several of the younger volunteers went into the clubs and we had to send someone in after them because we were going to be late to the vehicles.
When we finally gathered everyone, we crammed ourselves into the three vehicles and headed back south towards Punta Blanca along the E-15. It was late when we arrived but I didn't care. I was going to take a shower before I went to bed. There were two bathrooms so I grabbed one and someone else jumped into the other. I didn't realize it at first but I took a shower with a tiny iguana but it didn't seem to mind. The shower felt amazing because it was the first hot shower since the apartment on Tuesday. The hotel that we stayed at throughout the week had luke warm showers. I relished the warmth and the cleanliness of it.
Everyone in my room got clean for the evening. Beth, mom and I slept in one room while Kaitlin and Amy slept in the hammocks outside. We went to bed roughly around midnight. I was nice to finally relax and go to sleep.
Next Adventure: Ecuador Day 10: Beach House Water Park, Salinas, La Chocolatera and Back to Guayaquil
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