Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened

It is my last week in Ecuador and I am having some mixed emotions. I have had the most wonderful summer of my life, mostly thanks to the wonderful people I was blessed with. I learned so much about myself throughout this journey, things that I think will change my life forever. I am so grateful that I got to share this experience with Ariel Johnson and Amanda Luna. They made the whole "living in a developing country" thing not only bearable, but enjoyable. There are many things I won't miss about Ecuador. The list includes the following: 1) Cat calls every 2 seconds by creepy men 2) Pollution 3) Prepaid cell phones 4) Rice and potatoes at every meal 5) Cold showers 6) Being stared at. Even though there a lot a things I won't miss about Ecuador, there are a lot more things I will miss. My host family was amazing and treated me as their second daughter. I'll miss the beauty of the Andes mountains, but luckily I DO get to go home to some fabulous mountains. I'll miss my frequent trips to the beach. More specifically I'll miss the person that I spent so much time at the beach with. I was so lucky to meet a man that taught me that not all men treat girls like shit. I'm not sure what is going to happen from here, but I can only try to be grateful for the great times we had.

On a happier note, my parents are coming tomorrow!! We are heading to the Galapagos Islands for 5 days and will then return to Quito for 4 days. I'm not sure exactly how we will spend 4 whole days in this city, but I am excited to see my parents and show them where I have spent the last 9 weeks of my life. We head back to the EEUU on August 28th. I can't say I'm stoked to have to go back and try to find employment, but such is life. I will look back on my times in Ecuador and smile.

Hope you all are well. Miss you and love you all!

-KNel

Things I ate this week...

So, I have finished my internship at the hospital(a little early--I was supposed to be there till Thursday). In typical Ecuadorian style, things began to go to shit quickly. After an interesting first week, I had an equally interesting weekend with my host family. My host dad(the mayor) is part indigenous, meaning that they through fun parties and wear different clothes, among other things. On Saturday, his brother turned 50, so of course there was a giant party in his honor. That afternoon, we drove a little ways to the neighboring town of Cotacachi, where we were greeted with mounds of food--three different kinds of meat, potatoes, salad, guacamole, etc. We danced and played games, including a pinata smashing in which I got to represent our little family of 6. Also, the picture above is me and my host brother Amauri passing an egg. We did not win. Once again, it was proven to me that the indigenous now how to have a frickin' fiesta. On Sunday, my friends Ariel and Amanda came for a little visit and we went to El Mercado Artesenal(Artisan Market) and picked up some souvenirs. After a great weekend, I was less than thrilled to teleport back in time to the 1960's for my internship at the hospital. Monday was more of the same--colds, urinary tract infections, some throat infections, and a case of appendicitis. On Tuesday, I was informed that the doctor I was following(and the only attending doctor in the ER) was leaving on vacation. Only in Ecuador can you send both attending doctors on vacation at the same time. This left me without a doctor to follow and the ER without a doctor to attend to patients. Some random residents and doctors filtered in throughout the day to see patients, but there was no consistency. Also, my awesome back and knees began to hurt badly, so I requested to be sent back to Quito, and here I am. Don't get me wrong. I had a good time in Otavalo and learning about medicine, but I was just kind of fed up with things not functioning in an orderly or reasonable fashion.
On the topic of the title of this post, I will elaborate on the more interesting part of my trip--things I ate this week. My host family thought it was funny to give me food, make me try it, and THEN tell me what lovely things were in it. It worked, though, because had they not taken this approach I would have vomited all over the table. The first "interesting" thing I ate was a soup that contained tripe, other unidentified animal organs, and cow's blood. It wasn't entirely bad, but the thought of ingesting cow intestine and blood grossed me out after the fact. My second food adventure was eating cuy, or, for those who don't know, guinea pig. It was actually quite "rico" and tasted like chicken. If you don't remember what rico means, see my previous blog post. Third interesting thing I ate: cow placenta. Yep. I was told to try the small, chewy, mushroom-like meat with no reservations. It was fine, but I will not be eating that again. In summary, my week was filled with eating new things seeing approximately 1000 infections of various sorts. Hope all is well with you all...I'll be home soon!
Mil besos,
KNel

Doctorita Kristin

So, I know it has been a litttttle too long since I have blogged--my bad. I had a busy few weeks with school and more beach vacations! I went back to Salinas for the weekend and had a fricking awesome time thanks to our friend Jack. I am constantly amazed by how I manage to find the most amazing people in the world. Anyway, after an amazing weekend, I was sent out to my new home for 2 weeks--Otavalo. Otavalo is a small city in the mountains that is populated with many indigenous folk, many of whom are artesians who sell their stuff in a giant market called Plaza del Ponchos. Right now, I am fortunate enough to be living with the mayor of the town and working in the hospital here. The mayor of the town and his family have been wonderful and they live in a beautiful home in the countryside. I am currently at an internet cafe just around the corner from the house, and there is a cow in the street just hanging out. Pretty funny, in my opinion.

My work in the hospital has been ummmmm...interesting to say the least. I have been following a doctor in the emergency room, which is literally a big room. There are no seperate rooms for patients and no privacy. On the first day, I got to see a necrotizing finger(it was completely black), as well as a plethra of urinary tract infections, stomach illnesses, and throat infections. It is completely amazing how this healthcare system functions(in a bad way). The doctor I follow is wonderful and talented, but he is given more work than he can handle. Here in Ecuador, there are subcentros de salud(neighborhood clinics) that are responsible for the care of their substituents. However, these subcentros often will not attend to patients and send them to the hospital ER. Consequently, the doctor(who has been the only doctor there all week), has more than 40 patients daily, often without any sort of urgent emergency. The patients must also purchase any and all injections, pills, IV fluids, urine containters(for tests) BEFORE they can be cared for. Before one man could go into surgery, the surgeon gave him a grocery list of crap to buy from the pharmacy before the surgery. Such a different system than I am accustomed to. Additionally, patients bug the doctor no matter what he is doing. If the doctor is doing an exam on a patient, other people just walk right in and ask him questions, ask him to sign things, ask him to look at X rays. Which brings me to another point. This hospital cannot currently issue xrays because their radiologist is on vacay. Ever heard of back-up. Oy vey.
So enough ranting about their healthcare system...I have gotten to see and do some cool stuff. For example, I have gotten to see sutures sewn(I get to do the next ones!!), and today I got to remove dead skin off of a burn victim. This may sound absolutely vile, and it was, but it was also very cool to help him. This man arrived at 8 am with about 40 percent of his body severely burned by a gas fire. He had decided to burn some trash with gas and it exploded all over his body. This man was indigenous, so he had dark skin. When we removed the dead skin(all over his face, neck, and arms), he looked like a white man. I have never smelled burning flesh before and it almost made me vomit. But after the initial disgust passed, I was able to help this man by peeling off his sheets of dead skin so that we could apply gauze. It turned out that he had to be sent to Quito for further treatment, but it was sure awesome to be a part of his treatment.

Well, I hope I provided you with a through dose of disgust and intrigue with my latest update. Hope you are all well! Hasta luego, mis amores!

I am in love, alright, with my crazy, beautiful life.

I am a terrible blogger. My apologies for not updating you all on my adventures for nearly

two weeks! But I can explain…I promise. The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of fun/school/more fun. Two weekends ago(July 10^th-ish), Amanda, Ariel, and I went to a town called Baños for the weekend. Baños is about 3 hours south of Quito by bus and is famous for its thermal baths (baños, if you will) and extensive canopies, waterfalls, and mountains. We headed out on Friday morning on the bus and let me tell you, the busses here are sure a treat. There are not really any interstates here, so the bus spends a majority of time winding around two-lane highways and through small towns. Baños is only 180 km from Quito(about 100 miles), yet it takes 3 hours to travel there. Also, the bus drivers apparently enjoy scaring the shit out of passengers. Every speed bump and corner was taken with more speed than normal, causing us to fear for our survival. After surviving our bus adventure, we spent some time hanging out at our super nice eco-hotel which cost us each $12. Our hotel was a large home owned by an Australian couple and their little boy, John. The owners made a delicious homemade breakfast (included in price!) and bom

b snacks(available for cheap purchase). It was probably the best deal I have ever participated in. Also, the hotel had a massage therapist that offered an hour-long massage for $25! It was the best(and cheapest) massage of my life!! After some chillin’ in our swanky hotel, we headed to the town to dance/drink, where we were all hit on by various Ecuadorian men. Our Friday was a little lackluster, but little did we know we were going to have a fun turn of events on Saturday.

After hitting up the municipal hot springs (a little dirty, a little smelly, and a lot of scantily clad Ecuadorians), we headed into the downtown area to grab a bite. We were eating some sandwiches when a group of 4 boys and 1 girl came into the restaurant. We were confused becaus

e they were apparently bilingual but we thought nothing of it. As we got up to pay, the girl(Laura), began talking to us in perfect English. Turns out she is from Houston and is dating an Ecuadorian (Walter). After a couple minutes of conversation, they invited us to hang out with them for the afternoon and go hiking to a waterfall. Since you only live once, we decided that new friends would be fun. We packed up our stuff in their “Magic School Bus”, their

mode of transportation for the weekend, and headed out for some adventure. I have included a picture of me zip lining across a giant valley/waterfall, which only cost me $10(freaking cheap). Unfortunately, I did not have enough momentum to make it to the end of the zipline, so a small child had to come rescue me. Not embarrassing at all. After the ziplining adventure, we hiked to a waterfall in the dark, drank some beer at the base of the waterfall, and headed

back into the town to eat/go out. As the night went on, we found out that our new friend Walter is actually a semi-famous actor in Ecuador and that his family owns approximately half of Ecuador. What was awesome was that he is so incredibly humble. After a night of awesome drinking and dancing, our new friends invited us to the coast the following weekend to hang out with them. Even though it sounded a little bit like the movie “Taken”, we knew that these guys were awesome and decided to take them up on their offer.

Fast forward through the school week and we were on a plane to Guayaquil the following Thursday. When we arrived at the airport, we were greeted by Leche, Jack, and Laura with roses. We were then whisked away to Walter’s mansion to change our clothes and head to Montanita, the beach town we were going to(and where Walter has a beach house). We arrived in Montanita at about 2:00 a.m. and were informed that the party was about to begin. We dropped our bags at our hostel(which was owned by one of their friends, Picoto), and headed out to the bars. In Montanita, the bars get hopping around 2:00 and keep going until 8:00 in the morning. We ended up staying out until 4:30 a.m. on a Thursday. Latest I have ever stayed out, let alone on a Thursday. The next morning, we headed to some beaches to hang out, surf, and tan. We also bathed ourselves in mud(see photo), which is apparently good for your skin(but it smelled like ass). After a great day in the sun, we grabbed a snack, which I can’t recall the name of. It was basically a chunk of fish(maybe tuna?), wrapped in plantain, and fried to delicious perfection. It kind of tasted like a fish corndog. It sounds weird, but it was absolutely awesome. We headed back to town for a late dinner, pregaming, and headed out to a bar where our friend Leche was playing a show(he is a bassist in a band). The awesome thing about Montanita is that there are little tiki-hut bars in the street. You just walk up to them and they make you awesome (and cheap) drinks. I have honestly never seen a street so packed at 12:00 a.m. There are also all of these random food stands all over the streets. One thing we had EVERY night after dancing was peluche, which was grilled corn-on-the-cob brushed with mayonnaise and sprinkled with cheese. Peluche literally means “teddy” in Spanish, and our friend Jack, who speaks some English, kept calling it “teddy corn”. Hands down the best drunk food EVER.

On Saturday, we went to Walter’s beach house for the day, which was frickin awesome. As we were given the tour of the home, we noticed original indigenous artifacts(worth millions), as well as pictures of Walter’s dad with Jacques Cousteau, NBD. We got to spend the whole day on their private beach, where their maids prepared us a smorgasbord of seafood and rice. My life is awesome. More partying, tropical drinks, dancing, and peluche followed, and by our 3^rd night of partying I was feeling like a local. In summary, I had the time of my life and can’t wait to visit Montanita again(hopefully soon!!). Hope all of you are having fun, too J Hasta luego, amiguitos.

Gatas Locas

I haven’t written in a about a week because I got slammed with homework, which sucks. We have lots of essays, reports, quizzes, and a whole book to read IN SPANISH. I thought this whole “study abroad” thing was supposed to be easy. Anyway, the last week has been relatively uneventful in the fact that we have not gone to any indigenous street festivals. Things I have done in the past week: 1) Gotten motion sickness on a public bus 2) Watched 3 hours of Keeping Up With the Kardashians on a Friday night 3) Stood on two sides of the hemisphere AT THE SAME TIME (see photo). 4) Hit a cat with a pillow(see photo). My “host cat” Chica really likes to spend time in my room, for whatever reason. Apparently my disdain for cats does not cross language barriers very well. Despite the fact that I direct expletives her way, she enjoys laying in the middle of my bed right around the time that I get ready to go to sleep. When I try to ask her nicely to leave, she gets more comfortable. This is where the pillow comes into play. If I hit her with a pillow(gently, of course), she will eventually run out of my room. Although I do have to admit, this cat is kind of growing on me…

I am finally getting used to my host family and daily life here in Quito, but the last week has been really tough. I got really homesick last weekend (when you all were enjoying the 4^th and sunshine). I really started missing my family, my friends, and my independence, of all things (how cliché?). It is really hard for me to ask things of my host mom, such as “Can we please go to the grocery store because I need more to eat and want some ice cream and you don’t have ice cream.” I am so used to being able to do things by myself and doing these things when I want to do them. I don’t know the bus system of Quito yet (if there is actually a “system”, I am unsure. Most people seem to just jump on and off busses), and it is slightly dangerous for me to walk places alone. Anyway, I am sure that with time I will become adjusted to navigating Quito on my own. As far as the language barrier goes, it is getting better. I am less afraid of trying to speak Spanish all the time and less afraid of making mistakes, and I have found that if I just keep talking I eventually get my point across.

I am also getting ready for my first weekend trip away from Quito! This weekend Ariel, Amanda, and I are going to a town called Baños to hang out, chill in hot springs, and maybe do a little hiking. It will be nice to get away from Quito and do some outdoor activity(still not used to the elevation yet, though!). Anyway, I will post pics of my weekend trip next week! Miss you and love you all! Mil besos

-KNel

Pollo Loco

30 June 2011

Hola Amiguitos! I have compiled a short list of less than scientific findings. 1. Just because you are on the equator does not mean you will be warm. For example, my “pajamas” include, but are not limited to: fleece lined running tights, pajama pants, short sleeve shirt, long sleeve shirt, and sweatshirt. 2. Hot water is a relative term. “Hot” water has only existed for me two times thus far. Nothing says “Buenos Dias” like an ice-cold shower. 3. Two and a Half Men is much better when it is the only thing on in English. 4. One cannot call a cell phone from a land line. Que extraño. 5. There is no quicker way to feel like a contestant on “The Biggest Loser” than to try to go on a run at an altitude of 10,000 feet. 6. The words “lindo” and “rico” can seemingly be used to describe any situation or food. My dinner was “rico”, as was my walk to the corner store. 7. There ain’t no party like an indigenous party.

On Wednesday we went to a festival in the surrounding mountains called “Inti Raymi” or literally translated, sun party(from Kichua, an indigenous language). Inti Raymi is a nearly month-long festival celebrating the sun, the source of all things good for the indigenous people. Different communities have celebrations on different days throughout the month, but let me tell you, this was one BIG party. We arrived at the town, an hour-ish north of Quito, about 11:00 a.m. to find a carnival of sorts with a band, ice cream, and vendors. ON A WEDNESDAY. After a few minutes, we walked down to the very end of the town to give the president of the community our gift of gratitude for inviting us gringos to party with them. What did we buy the president? A bottle of rum, of course. Shortly thereafter, the Inti Raymi parade/dance commenced. Women were dressed in colorful blouses and skirts, while men wore what can only be described as gigantic, furry chaps. Also, dance was a relative term at this celebration (kind of like hot water), meaning that we stomped and shuffled our way across town for 3 hours. Yes. Three hours. About a third of the way through, we noticed our professor, Luis, pull out some rum to start making us some drinks. All of the natives were drinking, so we obviously didn’t want to be the Americans that didn’t fit in. After a few minutes, we were dancing with much enthusiasm and making friends with all sorts of folk (and making enemies with some fellow gringos from BYU). At the end of the epic dance/shuffle, there was a brief dance/shuffle competition, which we participated in with much enthusiasm, much to the dismay of our more serious BYU counterparts, who informed us that they, in fact, knew more about this party than our staff of 4 Ecuadorians who accompanied us. After the competition, we chowed on some empanadas, which were beyond amazing, and got back on the bus haggard and slightly hung over (“chichaki” in Kichua). We were running a little late, but something else I have learned is that no one really cares if they are on time. About halfway through our short trip home, one of our chaperones informed the bus driver that she wanted an ice cream. He stopped at a nearby truck stop, and about 10 minutes later she came out with her ice cream and three bags of fried (?) chicken. We thought this was going to be like regular fried chicken but it most certainly was not; it was Pollo Loco. She walked down the bus aisle handing us all a plastic glove and a bag full of chicken. WTF. The chicken was delicious, kind of like really greasy roasted chicken, and I am pretty sure I am going to demand gloves with my chicken upon arrival to the U.S. Anyway, hope you are all well and I love you!!

-KNel

Primeros Dias en Quito

I feel like I have so much to tell you all of my early adventures here in Quito! I have now spent only 3 days in Quito and have already been introduced to many Ecuadorian cultures and seen many parts of the city. My first few days have been overwhelming and fun at the same time. It is super exhausting to have to be speaking Spanish all of the time. On Friday, my first night in my host family’s house, I went to bed relieved that I could finally stop speaking Spanish, but kind of pissed that I had to get up the next day and do it again. Luckily, my host sister speaks some English, so she helps me when I am struggling for words or don’t understand something. I can already tell that I am getting better at understanding and speaking, but it is definitely going to be some hard work!

My host family is great and they basically spent the whole weekend introducing me to Quito and including me in their family outings. On Friday, my host mom, sister, and aunt took me to a casino, which I was not really a fan of. On Saturday, my host mom (Marcia) cooked a big lunch in honor of her son Rodrigo’s birthday. Rodrigo is a lawyer and has the most precious one year-old son named Juan Martin, which I love. Marcia made us ceviche, meat, potatoes, and salad, all of which was freaking delicious. I am pretty sure that I am going to gain a few pounds while I am here. Marcia and her husband Rodrigo also have two other children, Diego and Diana. Diego also has a little son named Mateo, and Mateo is here quite a bit. Right now, only Marcia, Diana, and I live in the house because Rodrigo works in Cuenca as a civil engineer(he comes home on the weekends). Diana is also 23, which is fun for me because she has already begun to take me places with her friends. On Saturday night, we went to a baby shower for one of her friends, which was interesting for me. Girls all act the same, no matter their language or country J .

On Sunday, we went on a little drive out of the city to look at places for Diana to get married. My host sister is getting married in November to a man named Andres, but he lives in Colombia which makes it hard for Diana to make wedding plans. Anyway, we went to these really neat places near a city called Miravalle. Also something that I learned is that women everywhere want the perfect wedding, and while other things are quite cheap here, weddings are not one of them. She wants the most beautiful location with the most extravagant and original decorations, as most brides do. Her Papi, however, does not think these are necessary. It was pretty funny to watch him bug her about every little detail. For some reason, he has latched onto the idea of having Pina Coladas and empanadas at the reception, an idea that Diana hates. She wants to have an elegant affair, not one of “comida tipica”. She also wants live butterflies to come out of boxes instead of a showering of rice when the couple exit the church, a pretty cool idea I think. This is turning out to be quite the problem because apparently every Latin American country has butterflies available for purchase except Ecuador. Also, I have learned that Ecuadorians have two weddings: a civil wedding and a church wedding. I don’t really know what a civil wedding entails, but I am sure I will find out. Another interesting tradition is that there is an hour called “La Hora Loca” in which all of the guests dress up in Mardi Gras-like attire and dance around. Again, I am not exactly sure what this is, but the video I watched was a little weird.

On Sunday we also visited the Historic District of Quito, which was absolutely stunning. There are a ton of gorgeous churches and old buildings that have been maintained. We get to go back to “El Centro” on Friday for school, but it was fun to have a little introduction and to spend time with my new little family. As you can see, I had a busy weekend and I am a very tired gal. I will update you with more adventures soon! I love you all and miss you all! Mil Besos.

-KNel

Gettin' Cracking on Packing?

Welp, I finally starting "packing", a term I use loosely, for my next great adventure. So far, "packing" consists of going shopping for new clothes, lunching, and going to a movie, but I found these things necessary to maintain my sanity. A good portion of my day was spent running errands, authorizing credit cards, making sure I can use my iphone for $90 a minute, and reassuring my father that I will not, in fact, be living in the middle of a jungle. Additionally, about 500 copies of my passport were made, embassy numbers were programmed into various cell phones, and every single email in my inbox regarding my trip was forwarded to my father. I am glad the only thing I have left to do is the easy part: packing my clothes and shoes. Hasta luego, amiguitos.