Ecuador Day 10: Beach House Water Park, Salinas, La Chocolatera and Back to Guayaquil

I got up around 8 a.m. and downstairs breakfast was being made for us by Dr. Harris's relatives.  We got to meet the lady who owned the beach house and we were told that we were going to the water park that was only restricted for people who owned houses in the immediate community.  I was super excited because the last time I was at a water park was last summer when Ben and I went to Wild Waves.

They made us eggs, rice, bread and fruit.  It hit the spot because I was hungry.  Myrna told us that the water park opened around 10 and we would be staying until around 1ish.  After I was done I got ready to go and took some of our dirty clothes, mostly underwear, socks and bras and washed them with detergent in the sink.  And yes, we  had to go outside to the clothes line and hang them up to dry.  I figured get them washed and up while we were gone so they had time to dry properly.

I walked down with mom, Kaitlin and Amy to the water park.  We took the beach route and had to wait until someone saw us standing at the entrance waiting to be let in.  Myrna and the lady we stayed with let us in with her keycard.

We walked in and we were astounded that we were the only people there.  The place was empty.  It was empty for at least an hour.  I felt like we were VIP's.  No lines.  No waiting.  It was amazing.  A group of us continuously took turns going down the water slides. 

The next 45 minutes I spent playing HORSE with Thomas, Dr. Smith, Thomas, Kaitlin and Mark.  I was doing well until my shots were falling short for some reason.  Dr. Smith ended up winning.

I just chilled in the pool for the most part and then I went down the water slides a few more times.  I tried getting mom to go but she said no.  I had a blended lemonade which hit the spot.

Then I started feeling it.  I had gotten way too much sun.  The weather is very deceiving at the equator.  It wasn't very hot and kinda overcast but the sun rays were real.  I even put some sun screen on but I still saw the wrath of the sun on my skin but not until later that evening.  We all packed up our stuff and walked back to the beach house.  Myrna told us that we needed to have everything packed up because we were leaving that night.  We left our piles of stuff in the foyer.

Again, we got back into the three vehicles and headed to Salinas for some food, shopping and sight seeing.  Salinas wasn't that far from the beach house.  You could actually see the city skyline from the balcony of the beach house.  When we got there, parking wasn't as difficult as last night but we still had to look around.  Like most cities, Salinas also had a lot of one-way roads and side streets so you really had to pay attention along with all the pedestrians walking around.  We broke up into tiny groups but made sure to let people know where we were going and when to meet back at the vehicles.  Mom and I wandered around with Maritza, Joy, Myrna, Edna and Carolina.

We got hungry so Edna took us to a place that she was familiar with.  There, mom and I shared a platter of beans, chicken and rice.  I ended up getting a Coke because it was bottled and I just felt like some pop at that point of the trip.  The food was pretty good unlike the food we had last night in Montañita.  The entire time we were in South America I was afraid to eat some of the food because I didn't want diarrhea or stomach problems the entire tie I was there.  This food didn't do that thankfully.  We walked around a little bit and decided our group wanted to go see La Chocolatera.

Dr. Harris joined our group when we piled into two cars and headed to the view point.   The route took us through the Navel Base of Salinas onto the most western point of Ecuador (not including the Galapagos Islands) along with great views of the Pacific Ocean and the lighthouse. The chocolate converging currents which lift the sandy bottom and give the chocolate brown of the sea, hence arises the name.  It offers a unique, colorful experience especially when the crash of the waves against the jagged rocks.

We parked the cars and walked over to the first viewpoint.  The water was so blue.  It was hard to believe most of South America was a third world country.  Why were these countries so poor but they are located in the most beautiful places in the world?

I was a little jealous standing there looking into the water knowing the coast of Washington will never look like this.  We took a few pictures then walked to the lighthouse.

We used the restrooms before we had to go because it was almost 6 and it was getting dark.  We hopped back in the cars and headed back towards the beach house to find out what the next step was in this adventure.  The vehicle I was in needed gas so we stopped and gassed up.  We all got to the beach house around the same time and decided what we were going to do.  Two vehicles were going back to Guayaquil that night with the supplies and possibly people if people wanted to go.  Mom and I volunteered to go. Dr. Smith and Thomas rode with Felipe and the supplies. The rest decided to stay at the hotel one more night.

I rode with Carolina and Maritza and mom rode with Myrna and Edna.  Carolina had a really nice car and it was weird being inside of a car that had kilometer measurements on the dashboard.  As we drove, it was also strange to see the kilometer signs and seeing that 90 km/h was only 60 mph.  She also had a touch screen in the middle of her dash.  Maritza spent time switching radio stations.  The song I heard the most during the trip was that Despacito.  I must have heard that song twenty times during the entire trip.

We got to the apartment in Guayaquil around 9ish that evening.  I was so glad to be back to civilization with an actual shower.  We unloaded the car and brought everything upstairs.  We awaited the van so we could help bring the supplies up.  They arrived shortly after.  We all helped bring the supplies up the stairs and let me tell you I really hated those stairs especially with heavy bins.

I took a shower and then got ready for bed.  I took the same bed as I did the last time we were here and so did mom.  I went to bed shortly before midnight.  I was exhausted and my sunburn started hurting.

Next Adventure:  Ecuador Day 11: Breakfast, Parque de las Iguanas, Shopping, Geocaching, a Tour of Guayaquil and an Early Flight

Ecuador Day 9: Volunteering in Comuna El Azucar, the Night Life in Montañita and Beach House

We woke up around 7 a.m. ish and got ready to go.  We had to pack up everything and put it in the truck because we were moving to the beach house on Punta Blanca.  Dr. Harris's aunt owns the place and is in the process of selling it to move somewhere else.  I found my pants, shirt and jacket as well as mom's stuff on the railing.  We got dressed and took our bags and ourselves downstairs to eat our last breakfast with Richardo.  Again, he had the same stuff out for us to eat.  I had another omelet made to order, some fruit, bread and some juice he made from the fruit I think it was called Uchuva.  It was actually pretty tasty.

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. 

We had it set up to where you had to see Dr. Harris for an exam to see which section (restoration, extraction or hygiene) they needed to go to first.  I set up my sterilization area which was near the bathrooms because I needed a sink.  I also set it up to keep people out of that bathroom since there were three of them.

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.

It started to thin out around 5-6 and I continued to have Thomas help me transport extraction instruments to and from the sterilization area.  I would be the last one to pick up my station after all of the restoration got done at mom and Maritza's area.  Restoration and extractions were definitely the most busiest in terms of people needing care. 

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

Ecuador Day 8: Our Second Day in Cerro Alto

We got up early again, but mom got up an hour earlier so she could go with Kaitlin and Beth to the beach to watch the fishermen.  Afterwards when she got back she said it wasn't as exciting as she thought it would be but she was glad she went anyway.

I made myself get out of my bed and prepared myself for another long day in the humidity and headed downstairs for breakfast by Richardo.  We put on stiff clothes that had been drying on the railing all night. This time he made pancakes as the main dish, he had made to order omelets, fruit, breads and assorted juices.

I asked mom if we had everything that we needed for the day in her back pack including some snacks because you never knew when we would break for lunch or what lunch was going to be that day.  We all piled into the vehicles and headed back to the community of Cerro Alto.

Again, there were a lot of people waiting to be seen even before we got there.  It was overwhelming because the building was not big enough for everyone so we started sending patients to be examined first by Dr. Harris and an assistant and they triaged their conditions and wrote their name and what they needed on a piece of paper.  It seemed to go better than what we were doing the past few days.

I got my sterilization area ready and got slammed after the first set of patients.  Luckily, I had Thomas bringing me buckets of instruments that needed sterilized.  You could tell after a few days of not properly drying some of the hinges started to get a little rust on them and I don't think we had any oil or lubrication with us.  

Around early afternoon I was getting hungry so I ate some of my snacks I brought and found out mom took a small break earlier with some of the other volunteers to the small convenience store down the street.  She brought back some wafer cookies and some chips.  It was fun to see the wrappers in Spanish.  She told me I could have some of her wafer cookies.

Near mid afternoon, around 2-3 p.m. everyone started taking shifts walking over to our hosts/community organizer's house.  He and his family made a homemade Ecuadorian meal for us.  This one also involved chicken or pork, with rice, veggies and plantains.  I ate my rice and chicken but I just didn't really like the plantains.  They were too chalky for me.  I'd rather eat a banana.  I understood that this community also didn't have very much money and I ate as much as I could and then gave Maritza my plantains and veggies so I didn't waste them.  This family had indoor rabbits, some chickens and dogs in the back yard.  I was pretty sure the chicken we were eating were some of the chickens that used to be in the back yard that morning.  I used their restroom, which most bathrooms in Ecuador have been horrifying, and this one wasn't pretty either.

On the way back to the community center, I reflected on how great we have it at home in the US....well some of us in the US, not everyone lives the same there either and I am thankful I came from a place where we had opportunities and resources to make our lives better.  I am very grateful I have a job, a retirement, benefits and earned days off.  Mom, Maritza and I watched dogs, pigs and a goat, who yelled at us to pay attention to him.  We laughed because these farm animals were really friendly.

When we returned it had thinned out a bit but there were still people waiting patiently for their turn.  I do have to give everyone so far who has received care from us props, some of these people have been waiting all day, ALL DAY, to see us.

It got pretty crazy after 4 because we wanted to make sure everyone got the care they needed.  I was constantly sterilizing and sending clean instruments out with Thomas to the various rooms that needed them. I either had something that didn't agree with me, too many snacks or all of it was catching up to me due to travel but I desperately NEEDED to use the restroom.  I wasn't too keen on the idea of the bathroom situation.  The bathroom was gross.  I brought my own toilet paper and some sanitizer wipes.  I wiped down the toilet as best and I could and did my business.  Basically that toilet could not hold what I had stored since I left the US on Thursday.  Since this country didn't have good enough plumbing, I had to throw away my toilet paper into the waste basket.  I panicked because it was definitely too much for the toilet to handle.  I am not going to go into detail on what I did but I eventually left the bathroom better than I found it and felt a lot better afterwards.

As the crowd of people thinned I got excited that it was almost time to go back to the hotel, take a shower and go to bed.  We worked on our last set of people while we cleaned up and put our supplies away in the bins.  I rinsed out all of our buckets, wiped down the tables and chairs and made sure we had everything put in the back of the truck to be transported back to the hotel.

When we got back to the hotel, I was still feeling blah after my bathroom episode I was afraid to eat anything.  While everyone else ate food, that Richardo prepared (seafood, pasta and salad) I sat in the lobby and ate a Cliff bar and drank water.  I used the really slow WiFi to talk to Ben for a while.  Everyone got their clothes to the laundry room and they were washed.  Myrna brought them back up and asked if she could have help hanging them over the railing.  I hoped they dried in time for our last community in the morning.

Mom was tired so she went up to our room and relaxed a bit.  I went up shortly after to get cleaned up because I had going to bed sweaty and dirty.  I am not sure what the rest of the volunteers were doing but I didn't have any energy after today especially since my cough wouldn't go away.  My bed rolled so I had to make sure it didn't move a lot while I was sleeping or I could have been stepped on if mom or Stephanie got up to use the restroom.  I used my shoes to keep the bed from rolling too much.

Around 11 p.m. I gave up and went to bed.  I wore my ear plugs and my sweatshirt again because Stephanie wanted the AC on while we slept.  I was excited that we were almost done with our volunteering so we had some time to check out some of Ecuador before we left on Monday.

Next Adventure:  Ecuador Day 9:  Volunteering in Comuna El Azucar,  the Night Life in Montanita and Beach House