Secrets out! I had another blog going all this time. i mean, i had it started... haven't been updating so well. im ready to let everyone read it because my mother had finally told me she supports me. thanks, maaaa
look here: esmilado.blogspot.com
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Crossin´borders, breaking boundaries.
Written by: Maria
`(Here I will soon write about our trek from Cuenca, Ecuador to Lima, Peru. )
In Lima, I will leave Kiley and travel on to La Paz, Bolivia, on me own. I suppose it´ll be my responsibility to keep the blog going from there on out. But, Ki, I welcome you to write about what comes up at home! Everything from the dishes dear Deanna whips up for you upon your return to the terrific words your grandma pours out. Always a joy to hear about your family and I´m sure I´ll need it especially around Christmas when I may be sleeping under a decidious tree all alone.
`(Here I will soon write about our trek from Cuenca, Ecuador to Lima, Peru. )
In Lima, I will leave Kiley and travel on to La Paz, Bolivia, on me own. I suppose it´ll be my responsibility to keep the blog going from there on out. But, Ki, I welcome you to write about what comes up at home! Everything from the dishes dear Deanna whips up for you upon your return to the terrific words your grandma pours out. Always a joy to hear about your family and I´m sure I´ll need it especially around Christmas when I may be sleeping under a decidious tree all alone.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
My first ambulance ride
Written by: Maria
Should I feel bad that I took this picture? This man had an enormous brain aneurysm according to the CAT scans and so he was being rushed to the Quito hospital where the neurosurgeon was in surgery so he couldn't help for another hour or so. Doctors in this rural hospital in Lago Agrio, Ecuador, volutneer for $100 to make the trek and stay overnight in the country's capital. I went on this mindboggling jaunt, helping to check for breathing every 5 minutes and that his nasograstric tube didn't slip or that the IV was flowing. Thankfully, he didn't wake up. My first charge was to keep track of the syringe to knock him out again, "the single most imporant item to have on hand." Although we didn't have to use it, I would argue that tape is more important. I was glad to find a shabby few strips of tape in the bottom of the relatively empty cabinets so we could really get some work done: tape the broken cabinet doors shut, tape the oxygen tube together, tape the IV bag so it didn't swing off as we raced west across ecuador. This man made it alive to Quito and I didn't throw up after what was referred to as a "slow passage"... an 8 hour bus trip up the mountains in 5 hours. (I'm told 3.5 is possible). Unfortunately, there is no way to know what happened after we handed him over. He was still breathing the last 5 minutes I was with him so a dios rezco.
On the way to Lago Agrio we stopped at a waterfall not far from the road. Water feels magnetic sometimes and I had a hard time resisting a dive. The force of the mist from this 50meter fall was enough to adequately soak me. Things are bigger in Ecuador: a humbling new perspective from this nameless fall. I thought about how in the US I'd have to pay to see such a thing...
(note the little man to to the right of my on the horizon for a perspective on the size of this bugger)
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Weekend
Written by: Kiley
Life in Cuenca has been real. So real that I'm considering staying here a bit longer. I'll inform you all more once I hear back from some job prospects.
Maria headed to the jungle yesterday to do some job shadowing of a doctor there. I'm here in Cuenca relaxing for the weekend. Soon I will go the the mall with my local friends Silvana and Maria Pilar. Not much to do in Cuenca on a Sunday so that's usually where the people go. Maybe we'll see a movie- who knows.
Not much new to report. I just wanted to check in and let you know that everything is going well. Mom, you would be proud- I'm going to church tonight with my friend Kler.
Love to all.
Kiley
Life in Cuenca has been real. So real that I'm considering staying here a bit longer. I'll inform you all more once I hear back from some job prospects.
Maria headed to the jungle yesterday to do some job shadowing of a doctor there. I'm here in Cuenca relaxing for the weekend. Soon I will go the the mall with my local friends Silvana and Maria Pilar. Not much to do in Cuenca on a Sunday so that's usually where the people go. Maybe we'll see a movie- who knows.
Not much new to report. I just wanted to check in and let you know that everything is going well. Mom, you would be proud- I'm going to church tonight with my friend Kler.
Love to all.
Kiley
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Hola!
Written by: Kiley
I'm glad Maria has been keeping you all entertained on our blog because I definitely have beenfailing to do so. Honestly, I think it is because I don't feel like I am traveling in Cuenca, therefore I forget that people might want to know what I am doing even in my home away from home.
It has been so wonderful to be able to spend time with my friends from here. Some days it feels like there aren't enough hours in a day to see everyone that I want to spend time with. This week I'm going to try to be better about going up to Tania's house (Friend that just had the baby) because being down in the center is just so convenient to spend time with everyone else without having to travel by bus.
Usually every afternoon I go have lunch with my friend Sandrita and new friend Blanca. Blanca also now works with Sandrita at CEDEI, so when 1:00 p.m. roles around there's a little party on Calle Larga (Long St.). Maria has been helping teach English at a school so she has not been attending these wonderful dining events. Maybe this week though, as she told me tonight that she probably won't be going anymore.
I have been spending a lot of time writing and reading while here in Cuenca. My friend Prisi and I are doing a daily writing assignments where she writes in English and I write in Spanish. We then swap notebooks and correct each other's errors. Every day we write about a different topic of life. Yesterday's theme was, "What is love? Not who, but what?" Last night I spent the night at her house and it was so beautiful to realize that we were still talking in bed at 4:00 a.m., in Spanish, about life, while I'm now living in Ecuador. Sometimes I forget that I'm speaking in Spanish all the time here. So refreshing and challenging at the same time.
After Prisi dropped me off at the hostel my friend Soledad (Where Maria and I stayed our first week in Cuenca) came over and we made Ceviche for lunch. It's a typical dish here that is made with blended tomato juice with onions (mine without onions), lime, some greens, and our choice of meat was shrimp. This afternoon I then went to the movies with my friend Kler (Claire). Maria opted not to go since we had no idea what any of the movies were. We ended up watching a horrible French movie that was all French with Spanish subtitles. We survived it by making jokes about how horrible it was. Long story short- vampire girl, outcast boy, killer father, ...vampire girl kills the bullies that pick on outcast boy. Most of the movie we spent throwing popcorn at each other and trying to ignore the guy two seats down from me that kept staring at us like a piece of meat, with no shame.
Tomorrow I plan to go up to Tania's. Tuesday we will go with a friend Silvana to a few neighboring towns to help her with some research she is doing for her thesis. Wednesday night I'm going to the Cuenca soccer game with Kler; I'm guessing Maria will join too. Thursday afternoons are with Prisi, and who knows about Friday. Time flies when you're having fun, right?
Hope you all are well.
Kiley
I'm glad Maria has been keeping you all entertained on our blog because I definitely have beenfailing to do so. Honestly, I think it is because I don't feel like I am traveling in Cuenca, therefore I forget that people might want to know what I am doing even in my home away from home.
It has been so wonderful to be able to spend time with my friends from here. Some days it feels like there aren't enough hours in a day to see everyone that I want to spend time with. This week I'm going to try to be better about going up to Tania's house (Friend that just had the baby) because being down in the center is just so convenient to spend time with everyone else without having to travel by bus.
Usually every afternoon I go have lunch with my friend Sandrita and new friend Blanca. Blanca also now works with Sandrita at CEDEI, so when 1:00 p.m. roles around there's a little party on Calle Larga (Long St.). Maria has been helping teach English at a school so she has not been attending these wonderful dining events. Maybe this week though, as she told me tonight that she probably won't be going anymore.
I have been spending a lot of time writing and reading while here in Cuenca. My friend Prisi and I are doing a daily writing assignments where she writes in English and I write in Spanish. We then swap notebooks and correct each other's errors. Every day we write about a different topic of life. Yesterday's theme was, "What is love? Not who, but what?" Last night I spent the night at her house and it was so beautiful to realize that we were still talking in bed at 4:00 a.m., in Spanish, about life, while I'm now living in Ecuador. Sometimes I forget that I'm speaking in Spanish all the time here. So refreshing and challenging at the same time.
After Prisi dropped me off at the hostel my friend Soledad (Where Maria and I stayed our first week in Cuenca) came over and we made Ceviche for lunch. It's a typical dish here that is made with blended tomato juice with onions (mine without onions), lime, some greens, and our choice of meat was shrimp. This afternoon I then went to the movies with my friend Kler (Claire). Maria opted not to go since we had no idea what any of the movies were. We ended up watching a horrible French movie that was all French with Spanish subtitles. We survived it by making jokes about how horrible it was. Long story short- vampire girl, outcast boy, killer father, ...vampire girl kills the bullies that pick on outcast boy. Most of the movie we spent throwing popcorn at each other and trying to ignore the guy two seats down from me that kept staring at us like a piece of meat, with no shame.
Tomorrow I plan to go up to Tania's. Tuesday we will go with a friend Silvana to a few neighboring towns to help her with some research she is doing for her thesis. Wednesday night I'm going to the Cuenca soccer game with Kler; I'm guessing Maria will join too. Thursday afternoons are with Prisi, and who knows about Friday. Time flies when you're having fun, right?
Hope you all are well.
Kiley
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