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

Ecuador Day 7: Traveling to Santa Elena, Hotel and the Community of Cerro Alto

The night before we were told that we were going to have to get up early so we could drive to the Santa Elena providence on the western coast of Ecuador.  It was going to be a 2 hour drive and we were going to be there for 4 days and 3 nights.

That morning we got up around 6ish.  I was a little slow because I hate getting up in the morning and I still felt under the weather a bit.  It usually got worse as the day went.  Luckily we still had a bunch of the cold medicine we bought at the airport.  I washed up, got my clothes on and made sure I had all of my stuff packed in my pack.

Again, I went into the kitchen to grab a banana because I wasn't sure when we will be having breakfast.  Getting and shuffling 20+ people around is a pretty daunting chore.  We had to go into two separate groups, one group went with Felipe and his van, our hired driver for the next few days, and the other had to pay a few dollars to take a city bus to the hotel in Ballenita which was technically in La Libertad.  Mom and I made sure we got in the van to avoid a taxi and a bus fee.  Our bags and supplies went in a separate truck.

We left between 7 and 8 a.m.  We got onto the E40 freeway and headed west towards the coast.  About a half hour in I was so tired I fell asleep.  I woke up a couple times throughout the drive but quickly fell asleep.  I woke up for good about a half hour from our destination. 

This section of the Santa Elena providence was very rural and had several thousand acres of banana plantations.  It was an experience to see where some of our banana's are imported from.  Several of us, because we are not banana plantation owners, were curious to why several of the crops were covered in plastic bags.  Felipe answered our question in Spanish and Dr. Harris quickly interpreted it for us.  She told us that the bags help the bananas ripen.  Makes sense.

We finally made it to our destination around 10ish off of the E70.  We put our bags in the lobby and were told that the chef, Richardo would be making us breakfast.  I guess he went to culinary school, he spoke English and his food was pretty fancy.  We got in line and he made us an omlette to our liking...I picked cheese, green onions and ham.  I got a little bit of oatmeal, a bread, watermelon with some orange juice and a banana for later.  I sat with mom, Maritza and Dr. Harris while we ate. 

About halfway through breakfast the rest of our group arrived via bus.  They said the ride was awesome.  I guess the bus had a bathroom, reclining chairs and movies.  I don't know if they were trying to make a bad thing into something good to make us jealous or the bus actually had those things.  I will never know.

When we were done, we were told to go out to the back to start our first group of the day.  They were the community that lived directly near the hotel and there were probably around 75 or so adults and children.  I heard we were to work on them then go to another location about 10-15 miles from the hotel.  I knew this was going to be a long, humid, sweaty, tiring day.  I followed mom to where we were suppose to go.  Maritza and my mom ran the restoration station and I was close by getting ready to set up the sterilization area.

There was a periodontal/adult hygienist area, two station of kid cleanings, another restoration area and in one of the hotel rooms were the extractions...mostly for privacy and people who yelled and cried during the procedures.

My sterilization area was basically towels, bowls, buckets and a hose.  Of course my prior training with sterilization made me think of this situation as unsanitary.  This would definitely not be acceptable in the US with their standards but according to Maritza this set-up was perfectly acceptable for Ecuador as long as we had bleach.

It was a blur once we started.  I had to change out the water in my bowls a lot just because of the oral surgery happening in the room.  We had a lot of people have their teeth pulled because they were not able to be saved with the amount of decay in them.  We saw a lot more adults this round and we still had one more place to go after we were done here.  There were a few times I was told we were done and we weren't.  I had taken my station down at least twice and had to put it back together because we really weren't done.  In this situation, my improvement to the group would be to have a plan and communicate it with everyone.  We would waste less time, resources and more people could be seen.

We were here until about 2ish.  Maritza told us to actually pack up our stuff because we were being transported to the community of Cerra Alto.  Before we actually headed out that way everyone met up in the lobby and had some lunch.  Richardo had made us rice, pork/beef, salad and fruit.  

We all piled into the van and truck and headed to our next village.  The drive didn't take that long and we got to see all of the big buildings and beach houses along the coast by Punta Blanca.  I heard we were going to stay in one of the beach houses on Friday night.  When we got to our location, it was a small community center, and we were welcomed with open arms.  We got our supplies out and scouted the rooms we were going to be in.  Again, similar to the previous locations, we had a restorative room, a oral surgery room and a hygiene room.  I was with the restorative room again because they chose the room with the sink.

The place was packed with people which overwhelmed me.  How are we going to get through all of these people before bed time?  At the time, I had no idea we were going to come back tomorrow for an all day stint at this particular community, but we were.  

I was constantly sterilizing and moving around instruments.  I even had Thomas helping me move instruments to and from rooms.  They were concerned at first, they didn't want him actually touching them, so we designated a dirty bucket and a clean bucket for him to transport.  It worked pretty good since he seemed like he was bored and needed something to do.

Just after 6 p.m. we all took a break.  Some of the community members all made us tuna fish sandwiches, juice and Coke.  It was very nice of them to take the time and money to make us food.  We knew a lot of these people didn't really have that much to give.  The break came at a great time.  It was nice to sit and relax after the amount of people we went through.

We got through several other people before Myrna and Maritza decided it was time to pack up our stuff and head back to the hotel.  We packed all of our equipment up into our plastic totes and placed them aside for tomorrow since we were coming back to this location.  When we got back we were instructed to figure out room assignments and get into something to go down to the beach.  We needed to get our stuff into the washer so we could have clean clothes for tomorrow.  Plus they would have to dry over night as long as possible so they could be dry.  The process for picking rooms was complicated for some reason and my mom and I ended up in a room suite with Stephanie, Dr. Smith and Thomas.

They told us the nearest beach entry was less than a mile from the hotel.  We were originally going to walk but one of the hotel guys said to hop in the back of his truck.  All of us fit in the truck.

He drove us the few blocks to the beach, let us out and told his he would be back in about an hour.  We walked down and took off our shoes.  Some of us actually went swimming 9 p.m. at night and some of us just enjoyed the warm Ecuadorian breeze while we walked along the beach.  I was not one of those people who went swimming.  I reflected on my time so far since we've been here.  I still could not wrap my head around the fact that I was actually in Ecuador.  I was actually away from the United States in another country in South America.  This was insane.  I was on the other side of the equator where they were just getting out of their winter and beginning their warm season.  If this was their winter I wondered what their summer was like.  I Googled it.  Winter was like our summer season at home in Washington and summer is their really rainy season.  Their temperatures really do not change as much they still are in the tropical humid mid 80's during the day and the tropical humid low 70's in the evening.  No matter what you were going to be sweaty.

The truck showed up exactly an hour later and we all piled into the back of the truck for the short ride back to the hotel.  We thanked him when we got back and I went to my room and showered before all the hot water disappeared.  I brushed my teeth and headed to bed.  I was exhausted and I knew tomorrow was going to be a long day as well.  I wish this cold would go away.  I put in my ear plugs and went to bed.  During the middle of the night I got cold because Stephanie put the AC on so I had to wear my sweatshirt to bed.

Next Adventure:  Ecuador Day 8: Our Second Day in Cerro Alto