The end of week one

The next morning was my last at Vozandes, much to my regret. I learned a lot and really enjoyed my experience but I was also looking forward to seeing what health care at a public Subcentro de Salud was like. The morning passed quickly, an achilles repair in the OR, Cleaning out some more infections and wounds in the ER, and a kid with his hand caught in the door (luckily superficial and only requiring two layers of stitches). The morning ended off with a man coming in after falling two stories and having some material fall on him. Once again, responders in the front of the ambulance, no spinal control or head support. When I have time I want to come back and offer some basic first aid and CPR courses to the first responders here… might be able to save some more lives. I helped get him out of the ambulance (one of the two back doors was jammed so getting him out was a challenge. We finally got him into the ER, somewhat stabilized then I took head control so that a full exam of his back could be done. Once we sent him off for X-rays and got them back we found only a broken clavicle and potential lower spine (lumbar) damage. I then had to leave for La casa de fe, said my hurried goodbyes and headed out.

At La casa de fe (house of Faith), I met with some of the women that work with the kids. Though considered an orphanage very few of the children are actually orphans. A good number are special needs that their families couldn’t care for and many of the others were simply too much for their families to look after at the time. Most are indigenous from deep in the Amazon and many return to their families in their mid teen years. It felt so surreal, walking from room to room, faces peering up at me, some in my space and time, others in their own worlds. I felt almost like I was at a zoo… “and over here we have our baby chimp Maria, she is blind but gets by alright”… So many kids, so sterile an environment, so secluded. Upstairs was the school, four class rooms with some local teachers and some from the US, downstairs the dorms and kitchen. After we finished the tour of the main building, my guide took me to the shell of the new school and I met with one of the missionaries from the US that had been working at Casa de Fe for three years. The eventual plans for the place include the new school, and several houses which would act as ‘houses’ so that the kids could live in smaller ‘families’ each house with a volunteer or staff member living with the kids for guidance. The whole place made me itch, and once I was told the mission I understood why. Its incredible that a bunch of strangers have taken in all these kids, given them the love, care, and education that would otherwise be denied to them, but they also gave faith. More than that, the mission was to have these kids go back to their families, deep in the amazon with their own traditions and beliefs, and spread the word of god to save them.

I left when I saw the teachers head out, it felt wrong for me to be there, as I represented something quite contrary to their mission, freedom to choose and explore cultural differences, spiritual differences. I was here, in the amazon, to learn about traditional ways and to learn from them. I had a lot to think about, and question on my way back home. Both about the mission of Casa de fe and about my own stance on spiritual teachings.

The next morning I found myself off to a local subcentro de salud in the El Dorado district of Puyo. I spent my morning in consults then joined a young doctor at one of the near by schools to do checkups and pass out medication from previous checkups. From our conversation I gathered that many of the kids at the school were indigenous and that this was the only access point for them for health care. Almost all the kids that we saw had some sort of parasite and many were suffering from a lack of vitamins and minerals in their diets. Every single kid we saw got a prescription for something. I joined the doctor for lunch and her husband joined us. In the afternoon I did a few more consults before the rain drove away almost all the patients and my supervising doc sent me home. I finally had an afternoon to get to know Puyo. The next day was similar, without the school visit, and once again rain prevented most patients from coming to the clinic. When it rains it pours here. I found some yuca bread in the afternoon to keep me company, bought some fruit, and spent the evening reading.

First two hospital days

Firstly, this is my apology to all that have been waiting for updates. I will try and be better now, but expect to be bombarded with three weeks of Ecuador in a very short period of time.

My first evening I arrived and settled in with the promise of getting up early to catch a ride with Dr. Torres to Hospital Vozandes del Oriente where I would be spending my first three days. Upon arrival I joined in for the briefing pre-rounds then was introduced to Dra. who was seeing patients in the clinic. We saw ten patients in the morning, broke for lunch, and saw many more after. We saw patients with lung problems, with colds, with temperatures, and with high cholesterol. One of our patients was an indigenous woman from three hours away, who only spoke her native language. Her son joined her so that he could translate for her. Standing no more than four and a half feet, with a beautiful wispy voice, she patiently explained to her son, and through him to us, about her stomach pains and breathing problems. We learned that the sweet voice was changed by tuberculosis twenty years before and had never returned to its original strength. Later in the day, an x-ray of her lungs revealed the damage done in the past and present.

Our last patient of the day was a pregnant mother of two that had started bleeding earlier in the morning. With an exam it was almost certain that she was miscarrying but in order to be sure she opted to go for an echo first. Incredibly her echo came back not just positive for a baby but for one still alive with a strong heart beat. Even though the news was good at that moment my discussion with the Dra. after revealed a less than optimistic outlook on the baby going full term. I will never know. I was reluctant to leave and didn’t end up catching the bus back from Shell until almost 6:00pm.

The next morning I got up even earlier to catch the 6:15am bus to Shell, eager to learn more. Once again I joined the doctors, residents, and interns for morning consult then tagged along with one of the Surgeons (the only one currently in the town as the other two were away) on his rounds with patients. He changed the dressing on a few post-op incisions and two colostomy bags. I then accompanied him, along with two fourth year american med students, to watch two endoscopies. On the second I even got a try and felt like I was playing a very advanced video game. From there I wandered over to the emergency room and helped with the dressing change for a young teen with a couple of holes in his side. I learned that he had fallen onto the rifle he was holding and it went off, discharging the shrapnel it contained into his side. Incredibly all his wounds were superficial (if you call having pingpong ball sized holes blown out of your sides superficial), and though an exploratory surgery was performed to see if there was any damage to his organs no damage was found. From there I got invited to observe an open appendectomy on a 16 year old with acute localized abdominal pain. Once the surgeon found the appendix we discovered that it wasn’t appendicitis causing the pain and further explored to see if we could find the culprit. After an additional half hour of looking the surgeon gave up, closed the boy and prepared to talk to his parents. This was all before lunch. I joined the other students for lunch then headed back to the clinic to sit in with the surgeon on consults for the afternoon.

I have to mention how much I admire everyone I worked with or observed at Hospital Vozandes. Every doctor, nurse, intern and resident would focus all of their attention on their patient, and seemingly have nothing else to do but help that one individual or answer that extra question. This was particularly noticeable after one of the consults in the afternoon. Earlier that morning the son of one of our elderly patients asked several questions about lung surgery for his son. In the afternoon they came into consults with the surgeon. We looked at the x-ray before they came in, and while one lung was mostly clear, the other was riddled with tumors. A pneumonectomy (removal of the whole lung) looked like the only option for him, something that Vozandes del oriente is not equipped to deal with, and in fact very few, if any hospitals in Ecuador are equipped to deal with. I watched as surgeon explained all of this to the father, uncle and 16 year old (who was shaking with sweats). At the end of the consult the surgeon offered the only thing he could, prayer, then the family thanked each of us, shook our hands and walked out with a near death sentence hanging over the head of one young man. We took a couple of minutes after the family left to quickly debrief, collect ourselves, and go out to call the next patient. The surgeon greeted the young girl and her mother with enthusiasm, able to move on, at least outwardly, as if nothing was more important than her. He inspected her hand and wrist (he had completely put them back together after her hand was nearly ripped completely from her arm in an accident) and was pleased at the level of mobility she had gotten back, it seemed she would make an almost full recovery, minus sensation in her ring finger.

Once we had gone through all of his patients for the day we headed over to watch another doctor working in the clinic scrape down and freeze a number of warts that one of his patients had on his hands and feet. This was followed by a prescription for liquid asa to treat them in hopes of completely destroying them.

We finished up and saw one more patient before I headed back to the nursing station to get my bag. Almost there I heard sirens and changed course to emergency instead. I arrived at the same time as the ambulance and watched as both bombardiers got out of the front to unload their patient from the back with his wife and some family members. Once in the ER we began CPR on the lifeless body of an elderly man. no pulse, already cool… puff…puff… 1..2..3..4..5…. puff…puff. 15 minutes pass, only for show now, wife crying, family frantic… 1..2..3..4..5.. thats it, done. Lymphoma, terminal, from Quito. Came to the amazon looking for natural medicines, looking for a miracle, not ready to let go. Who? the patient? No. The family. My supervising doc apologizes to us, none of us should have had to do that he tells us, the family should have been prepared to say goodbye, the patient allowed to pass on in peace at home. Poor communication here, free medical care, lots of medicine, lacking care? Never done CPR on a person before, firm chest, steady slow squeezes of the BVM. Numbness. His time? what is the role of health care?

I head home, walking out of the hospital with my small bag, scrubs and name tag, hop on the bus, “buenos noches doctora.”

Baños

I arrived in Baños around 8:30pm with little incident after a three and a half hour bus ride from Quito.  I wandered until I found the Hostel Plantas y Blancas, got a room, then headed to the Casa Hood for some dinner.  I ordered a plate of beans, rice, and salad and while I ate and several different bands and singers came and went I began chatting with the woman at the table next to me.  She’s been traveling for quite some time, including having lived in Buenos Aires for a while.  As it was her birthday the next day she was celebrating and I joined her with a delicious brownie of my own.  Her friend joined us part way through and we all stayed chatting until the restaurant kicked us out at closing time.  I went back to meet my roommate for the night.

Nicolas, from Belgium, greeted me as I entered our room.  He had been traveling around South America but was on his way home for a family emergency.  We stayed up chatting until about early in the morning, then finally got some sleep.

I spent my Saturday morning on the roof top terrace of my hostel, enjoying a big breakfast and chatting with a variety of individuals, including an independent film maker.  In the afternoon I went for a walk on the trails, then returned to read, relax, and head to Casa Hood once more for dinner.  In the evening I was joined by a woman from Ireland in my room and we chatted then I headed to the Piscinas de la Virgen, the natural hotsprings, situated under a waterfall.  I was the only white individual there, which was very interesting, but also meant that I got to converse with a bunch of locals.  After an hour at the hotsprings I returned to the hostel and bed.

In the morning I went for a massage, facial, and pedicure then went to book Paragliding for the afternoon.  I checked out of my hostel then met up with Edgar and Isreal, as well as a girl from Isreal and we headed out of town to find some wind.  The flying was fantastic, I can see myself becoming a paragliding pilot in the future, its so freeing!  After I went I sat with Isreal and watched my companion fly.  Late in the afternoon we finally headed back down, stopping several times on the way to take photos of the volcano.  Once back in Baños, I exchanged contact info with the girl from Isreal then headed to the bus stop to catch a bus to Puyo, my home for the next three weeks.

Clinical and Lingual Experiences

Upon arrival at my host family’s house I was greeted by Rosita, the local coordinator and my host mom. She took me down to my room, introduced me to Davinder, then left me to unpack and sleep as I wished. I didn’t stay up too late, as we had our orientation in the morning at the spanish school. On Sunday we drove to the Amazing Andes Spanish School, got the lowdown on expectations during our stay, then Davinder, Raj and I went for some lunch at Gus. After lunch Davinder and I headed to el Mitad del Mundo, the equator. We visited the Indigenous museum there, enjoying the view from the top, then took some equator straddling photos to have some tourist shots, Davinder even planked across the equator.

We caught bus back that got us to El Centro and met a guy from Quebec as we got off. We joined him for coffee in the Plaza San Francisco and he told us stories about getting mugged twice, the first at knife point. Note to self: be smart about where I go at what time and with who…
We then headed back to Rosita’s house where we met the other two students, Kelsey and Courtney, ate dinner, then headed to bed excited for Spanish classes the next day. Monday and Tuesday were 7 hours each of Spanish, with a meeting with my Puyo medical director on Monday and salsa class on Tuesday after Spanish.

Wednesday was Davinder and my first clinical rotation at El Centro de Salud #1. We had a slow morning in the ER, only a couple of ulcers, kidney stones, strep throat, a dog bite, and a hook stuck in a foot. At one point a man with a gun passed us and there were calls to close all the doors (I’m still not sure what that was all about). Shortly there after an ambulance stopped by and a young woman was wheeled in. Turns out she was in labour so we followed along and watched a rather quick 20 minute birth of a beautiful baby girl. Once it was time to take mother and daughter back to the ward I got the honors of carrying the little girl… mom still hadn’t had the chance to hold her. After that Davinder and I ran upstairs to meet with Dra. Magdalena Castro to arrange our schedule for the next day then we headed to a Krishna restaurant for lunch before catching the trole back to our Spanish school for our afternoon class.

After class I headed back to my Tropical Dance class (today included Salsa, Merengue, Reggaeton, samba, and lambada). The lesson continues until 6:30, by which time I was very tires then I returned home for dinner then bed.

Thursday at the Hospital: Davinder and I found ourselves in El Plaza Grande for a free Influenza vaccination clinic, set up under a tent with the workers inviting anyone over 65, under 5, diabetics, and those with high blood pressure to get their influenza vaccination. Giving your name and age was all it took to get a vaccine. We ran out of vaccinations around 11am so we headed back to the hospital. The streets were rather full and there was an expectant air to the crowd. We found out why when we returned. Apparently the President of Iran had an imminent arrival in El Centro. We were advised to catch our trole before the whole centro got shut down for security reasons.

Class ended well, it was my last day with Jorge, and after my final Tropical dance class I returned home to get ready for a night in the Mariscal (aka Gringolandia). We ate dinner at a funky restaurant, had some volcano shots, then headed to a couple of different bars before settling on a club which was featuring Brahma (my favorite Brasilian beer). The music was quite mixed from electro to American pop hits, to reggaeton to salsa. We stayed until about 1 then the others hit up the taco bar before we caught a cab home.

In the morning we headed out on our tour of Quito which included a museum, a beautiful view of the city, the Panacilla, and La Basilica. We finally returned home, picked up our laundry, got packed, then I said goodbye to the others who were headed north for the weekend before catching a cab to the south terminal in Quito the catch a bus to Banos.

An Ecuadorian Beginning

I last left you with my arrival in Quito, Ecuador.  My first day in Ecuador I hopped on one of the trole buses and headed into El centro (Old Town) to check out the colonial architecture and culture.  I visited several museums and churches, as well as climbed the towers in the Basilica.  For lunch I found a Krishna restaurant and at 3 courses for $1.80 (absolutely wonderful food and people).  Before I left old town I heard some drumming from inside one of the churches.  I headed out to investigate only to find a parade taking over one of the main streets in El Centro.  In the evening I headed over to the Mariscal and at dinner at a place called the Magic Bean where a couple of American guys invited me to join them for dinner (they are in Ecuador with a guiding program to summit Cotopaxi).  After much talking and some delicious food I headed home for sleep.

The next morning I got packed up, left one of my backpacks at the hostel, then caught a taxi to Ophelia, the bus station at the north of Quito.  I missed the bus I wanted to take by about 3 minutes so had to wait two hours for the next one.  The bus took me north, across the equator, to Chavezpamba, a small town of about 200 nestled in the Andes.  After getting off at the stop ‘after the orange house and pink and green school’ I waited only a few minutes before Anna, my German sister, came strolling up the road.  After a happy reunion she took me back to her host family’s house, pointing out the school that she is teaching in on the way.  I got served a lovely lunch, then we headed out for a walk to get a better view of the area, and ended up doing a loop through one of the next villages over. Even with a light shower of rain I really enjoyed the view.  It was a strange mix of mountains, farms, and flower plantations in the valleys.  We got back in time to have some dinner, exchange photos of our adventures from the last couple of years, then head to bed with alarms set to 6:00am to wake us up in time to catch the bus to Otavalo.

In the morning we at a quick breakfast then headed down the hill to wait for the bus.  Once we hopped on it was about an hour ride to the junction (just back south of the equator) then we changed busses, heading back north and on to Otavalo.  The market at Otavalo was overwhelming, a riot of colours, sounds and smells.  I managed to buy a few gifts but will probably return on my last weekend here now that I have a better idea of what is available.  After a quick lunch (Anna and I shared a pineapple) we picked up a few more items before hopping on a bus for Quito.  We went out for dinner at an indian restaurant in the Mariscal then I said my goodbyes, headed back to the hostel to get my backpack, then caught a taxi to my host family’s house in Northern Quito.

Natal and Reveillon in Brasil

So this is take three (my computer deleted the last two attempts at this post before I could publish it).  I spent two weeks over Christmas and New Years back in Brasil with my host family again.  Christmas, a day after I arrived was once again filled with food, family, and fun, as well as a few glasses of sparkling wine and champagne.  Many of the days before new years were spent relaxing, sleeping, and planning for what is to come.  New years itself was once again a fantastic affair with everyone dressed in white, wishing for peace in the new year, and my host family once again all coming together to celebrate.  We enjoyed more great food, drinks, company, music, dancing, and of course fireworks.  In the morning I hopped on the 7:00 bus to Rio de Janeiro to visit one of my friends from GMUN.  She took me to her grandparents for lunch, then to the lake to see the huge Christmas tree and enjoy some Arabic food.  The next day we headed to the Botanical Gardens to look at the incredible flora of Brasil, then out for lunch for crepes before I caught my bus back to Pindamonhangaba.  I had one last day to spend with my host families before caught the 5:30am bus to the airport.  I thoroughly enjoyed my time and will greatly miss my families now that I am gone once again. 

I had several hours to kill at the Sao Paulo airport so I made sure I sent my postcards, exchanged my money, picked up some last second gifts, and made it through security in time to catch a plane to Panama City.  On the way I met a wonderful Brasilian family (on their way to Disney land) and chatted almost non stop to Panama about everything from Brasilian cuisine to the political climate in Canada.  After saying goodbye as we got off I went in search of some food (nothing gluten free and vegan on the 7 hour flight unfortunately) and had a hard time finding something that wasn’t strait out of the States.  The airport took me aback, especially since I had just come from Sao Paulo.  After finding some food I spent the next 30 minutes trying and finally succeeding at connecting to the free internet in order to book a hostel in Quito where I could spend a couple of nights.  I finally heard back from one just before boarding, mixed up my gates and had to run, then spent the next 2 hours sitting between two Canadians and speaking Spanish all the way to Quito.  I had met yet another Canadian in the line to board and we caught a cab together to our respective hostels once we had cleared customs and collected our baggage.  I finally arrived at my hostel at 12:30am, was led to my dorm, climbed the ladder to my bunk and fell asleep.

Bridging the Years

With all things Quest change is a constant. Since my last time posting we have not only undergone many transformations as a university but also added a different format for blogging at our Life@Quest page. For my journeys last year and this year check that page out. I will, however, also begin posting here this year as well since I shall be heading on another journey to South America on a program to learn about traditional and western medicine in the Amazon.

My classroom in May 2011

Back to Class

Tango on the Great Wall, Summer 2010

So the rest of the Spring and Summer semesters got eaten up in the midst of busyness teaching tango to the 10 visiting students from Hong Kong, studying hard, and sailing 12 hours a week and somehow blogging never really fit back in.  Well, its time to get started again!  We are officially back at it, two weeks in in fact, and I find myself busier than ever.  Class is going as well as a class can for a non-philosophy student, but I must say I truly am enjoying it!  On top of class there has been the arrival of all the new students to significantly improve the days.  The class of 2014 is amazing and I can’t wait for them to outdo everything we have already begun here at Quest.  All the dancers have gotten together this year to form the Dance group under which we are currently offering 9 different styles of dance and clubs for everything from Frisbee to food have gotten up an running.  Stay tuned for more coming soon!

Pampa Linda and Cerro Tronador

Our day began early, leaving my pack behind with all the unnecessary gear and food.  We met up with several others headed in the same direction just outside the Clube Andino Bariloche office, payed our dues and got into the van that would take us to Pampa Linda, our pack swaying with the rest from its perch on the

roof.  The two hour drive, with a beautiful view the whole way, took us along Lago Gutiérrez and Lago Mascardi stopping at the outflow of the second for a break, before continuing on to Pampa Linda.  We got our pack off the roof, checked in with the local rangers, then set out, chatting with a couple of Israelis along the way.  They soon got ahead and we were left to enjoy the beauty of the area, switching the pack every half hour.

We had our lunch break just before the steep climb of switchbacks which we took in stride, trading the backpack every 15 min. to make the going easier.  Finally we reached the top, took off the bag and briefly enjoyed the view before the monster sized horseflies drove us to continue. 

One of the many lizards

Our trail continued in the shortening scrub for a while longer before opening up to bare rock for the last hour or so.  The day was incredible with not a cloud in the sky!  We could see forever in every direction except behind the mammoth Tronador.  It felt so good to be back in the alpine, breathing in the fresh cool air, and enjoying the solitude of the mountains.  Each time I return to the mountains I am reminded of just how small I am, and how powerful nature truly is.  We finished our scramble over the rocks, following the same red dots that had led us off of Cerro Cathedral, filling up our water bottles each time we happened upon a creek running off of the glacier.  The water in the mountains is so incredible, refreshing, and pure.  I wish we hadn’t so blatantly destroyed our own water sources that once contained that same purity.  We finally reached Refugio Otto-Meiling, perched like a miniature cabin on the shoulder of the mountain, embraced by two hanging glaciers.  Ditching our pack and checking in were followed by an hour of just sitting alone and admiring the surrounding beauty.  I watched the flight of a couple condors, and the raw grace of pieces of glacier tumbling to their shattering a thousand meters below.  Eventually we got dinner cooking, and were accompanied by the same two Israelis for a meal beneath the setting sun and the rising moon.  I have never seen such a large moon in my life, rising like a giant orb of light from behind the surrounding peaks.  Its light was more than enough to see by, making headlamps useful but not completely necessary.  After hours of conversation beneath the moon we headed into the Refugio to continue with a beer in hand.  Finally it was off to bed in the loft, curling up on the mattresses provided.

I rose early, well kind of, at 6:30 am to watch the sun rise.  The golden light on the glacier was a beautiful sight and well worth the lost sleep.  having run out of fuel the night before (I forgot to pack the extra canister) we borrowed the Refugio’s kitchen stove to cook our quinoa breakfast, adding apples, dried fruit, and chocolate to the mix.  Thanks Heather for the excellent idea!  That was to be followed by some crazy carpeting on the Israelis sleeping pads down the glacier and over one small crevasse.  On our way back a snowball fight broke out and left us all refreshed and out of breath.  What better way to spend your spring break than in the Andes of Norther Patagonia, with two people from a different culture, having a snowball fight on a glacier in the middle of summer?  I can’t think of any answer better.  We then headed back to collect our gear and head back down to catch our van at 5:00pm.  It was another beautiful day and despite the bugs the hike went well.  We arrived back at Pampa Linda with time to spare and enjoyed it lounging in the shade of some trees.  All too soon we were bumping back along the gravel road to Bariloche, a magical two days in the mountains behind us.

Bariloche and Nahuel Huapi National Park

El Vegetariano!

Upon our return from Cerro Cathedral, Heather and I used our handy Lonely planet guide to find a hostel in Bariloche where we could nurse our blisters and take a shower.  We found on, Bariloche Backpacker’s Hostel, right near the downtown core of the town next to a kiosko with both internet and phone services.  We went in, got our beds, ditched our packs, and went in search of lunch.  Thanks to our guidebook, we found a great vegetarian restaurant called El Vegetariano, which offered a variety of dishes on their menu as well as the menu del dia which was a platter of five different dishes of the day.

Gull's flight following our boat

The food was excellent, if a bit pricey for Argentine standards, and by the time we had finished our complimentary cups of spiced chai we were both ready for a nap.  We headed back to the hostel, slept for a bit then went out on the town, finding dinner and heading to the old theater to watch Avatar.  The theater was great, the slightly decrepit seats with stuffing sticking out adding to the somewhat eerrie feeling of the place.  Couldn’t go wrong though, the price was right… cheaper than a rental in Canada.

One of the Myrtle trees

The next day we spent some time around town then decided to check out Isla Victoria and the Bosque Arrayanes (Myrtle forest).  To get to either of them we had to join a boat tour that stops at both.  Our first stop was at the Bosque, the only one with it’s species of trees in the world.  The trees were incredible, the rich cinnamon colour of their bark vivid in contrast to the surrounding foliage and undergrowth.  There was a short boardwalk that takes you through the forest, giving a variety of different aspects to the park.  Part way along a crackling in the forest turned out to be a group of cows, browsing on the scarce grass found in between the trees. After a few hundred photos we hopped back on the boat to our next stop, Isla Victoria.  I’m still not to sure what all the excitement about the island is referring to,

The... locals?

but we were able to go on an enjoyable stroll through a botanical forest containing trees from around the world and also slip through one of the small villages on the island past monkey puzzle trees and a few locals.  From there it was back on the boat to return to Llao Llao and finally our Hostel.  We grabbed some dinner, walked around town, and finally headed to bed with the plan of getting up early to catch the 8:30am bus to Pampa Linda to start the next leg of our adventure.

next installment soon to come!

El Bosque Arrayanes

The water of Lago Nahuel Huapi

Walk of the Giants- Isla Victoria

Isla Victoria and Lago Nahuel Huapi