Thursday, February 28, 2008

The rest of Ecuador

So I've made it home from Ecuador. I have so much to say about the experience but I don't have enough time to really write about it all.


My host family Danny, Patty, Raul, and Carla.


Cuenca
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Inca ruins preserved in the town of Cuenca.


Kat,Me and Kerri eating at a ranch outside of Cuenca.
Linnie, me, Kerri and Natasha taking a break after hiking in Cajas national park in the Andes.

The whole group. This is a picture of our tour group when we went to Cuenca.



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The Clinic


I wanted to post a picture of our bus. This is the bus I took every day to clinic. Luckily my friend Linnie came with me most days. It doesn't look scary but honestly I was very afraid for my life sometimes while on the bus. They drive CRAZY!This is the street on the way to the clinic we hiked up the this road everyday.


This is a nearly one block from the clinic it is bamboo and a typical house for the area.





This is the waiting room at Luchadores Del Norte it's usually packed and everyone has to wait their turn. It's not unusual to wait 3 hours to be seen. The patients are given a number when they arrive and they are seen in that order. Unless there was an emergency then we'd sneak them in ahead of everyone else but even then people would get upset if their number was skipped for an emergency.


This is the pharmacy and where we keep the patient charts it gets pretty crowded and things get lost all the time. It can be a mess. I really learned to appreciate the organization we have in our clinics in the USA.



This is a picture of some of our team at Lucadores del Norte. This is our tiny little exam room. We had to bring our own soap, there were no paper products we even had to bring our own toilet paper.
Linnie on the right (She lived across the street from me she was basically my guide through all the craziness in Ecuador). In the Blue is Kerri she's my classmate from Pacific University. I'm so glad she came with me I'd have never have made it without her. In the light blue is Carrie who has been in Ecuador for over 6 months. She's serious about learning medicine and she volunteered at the clinic with us. She was tons of help. On the left is our Janitor he was so pleasant and thanks to him our floor was clean every morning.

This is me in front of Luchadores del Norte. You'd put your life in my hands right?

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The Amazon




These are the cabanas next to the lake where we stayed while visiting the Amazon.



This is me and Kerri in a canoe going down the Napo river in the Amazon.

Kerri being blessed by the native Shaman during a cleansing ceremony.


This was taken on our 26 mile hike through the Amazon rain forest. Me on the left, Kerri in the middle and a Doris- a hiker from Switzerland.

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Machalilla



These are pictures from the Canopy tour that we did in machalilla. This is my friend Linnie she was as scared of heights as I was. Linnie lived across the street from me and volunteered at the same clinic. She speaks great Spanish and she hopes to go to Medical school someday.


Liz was so brave on the canopy tour. She lived across the street next to Linnie and she was a life-saver while I was in Ecuador.


Me on the Canopy tour. The reason I look like I'm about to cry is because I felt like I WAS going to cry.


This is Kerri the other PA student from Pacific University who braved Ecuador with me.


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Artisans of EcuadorPanama Hats hang in a store in Cuenca, each was handwoven.
Palm leaf gathered to dry and make into Panama hats.

My friend Cynthia learns about the dyes stored in these clay pots.
An Ecuadorian man near Quito demonstrates how to use a spinning wheel.



This is a girl weaving straw mats near Quito.

1 comment:

The Poll Family said...

Lex, what a GREAT adventure for you to experience all of this! I enjoyed all of your pictures. It looks like you still managed to have a good time amongst all your hard work! You're awesome!!