June 2nd - 12:17 am
It's almost here. The thing I have been waiting 4 years for.
I leave today for my first Medical Mission trip.
For those of you who have been on this journey with me for a while know where I am at.
For those of you that haven't let me tell you, it have been a long, hard, and WONDERFUL journey.
It started with my cross-country move from my house in Illinois to Idaho.
I moved in with a lady and her mom whom I had never met.
I have developed a relationship with these women that I wouldn't trade for anything. They have been a HUGE blessing in my life and I could never thank them enough.
I met so many new people.
Watched my parents move to the other side of the globe.
Pushed through EMT school and the 4 tests required to get nationally certified.
Two Skills practicals and two written tests.
All the while working as a barista.
Mission Medic class started the same week as my last EMT classes.
I spent Christmas with a wonderful family that took me into their home and shared their life with me for a number of days.
Was blessed with a number of beautiful friends that encourage me and help me be brave.
Got involved in salsa dancing which helped heal my knee immensly and brought even more great people into my life.
I gained an unbelievable amount of medical knowledge.
Mostly I learned what it meant to be brave.
I leave today for Ecuador to do the very thing that I have dreamed of for years.
To do beautiful things in broken places.
Thank you for all the support and encouragement over the years, this year in particular.
You mean the world to me!
I will updates you on the Ecuador trip as soon as I can.
Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4
6-2
The three of us girls met up with Sheri at the LAX airport. We
found ourselves outside of the secure area with no way of
checking into our flight to Panama until hours later. We
decided an adventure was a good idea. We walked off to the bus
stop and headed toward the Santa Monica beach. We ended up at
a Thai restaurant instead. I had been craving Thai for weeks
and was overjoyed when the rest of the team was as excited
about Thai as I was. After dinner we checked into our flight
and headed out. We made it to Ecuador with no trouble. Customs
was a bit cautious when they saw the suitcases full of
medications and medical supplies. Thankfully they didn't need
much convincing to let us through.
Bennie was there waiting for us at the other end of customs.
We were then shuttled to the church that was to become our
home for the next two weeks.
Friday and Saturday-
6-3
The first two days here have been spent learning new names and
faces. Last night was our first night here. We walked to a
local restaurant for dinner.We were going to go with just
Bennie but the guys at the church were so distressed at the
idea of us going without more men to escort us, so they walked
with us to the place. This place was like the place in Al
Satwa were they had no menus, they were making just one sort
of dish but were making it well.
We ordered 5 meals of pollo expecting to each eat one. We
ended up eating about 2 of the servings between the 5 of us.
The good news was that we had a fridge at the church for the
left overs. We then went back to the church and settled in.
found ourselves outside of the secure area with no way of
checking into our flight to Panama until hours later. We
decided an adventure was a good idea. We walked off to the bus
stop and headed toward the Santa Monica beach. We ended up at
a Thai restaurant instead. I had been craving Thai for weeks
and was overjoyed when the rest of the team was as excited
about Thai as I was. After dinner we checked into our flight
and headed out. We made it to Ecuador with no trouble. Customs
was a bit cautious when they saw the suitcases full of
medications and medical supplies. Thankfully they didn't need
much convincing to let us through.
Bennie was there waiting for us at the other end of customs.
We were then shuttled to the church that was to become our
home for the next two weeks.
Friday and Saturday-
6-3
The first two days here have been spent learning new names and
faces. Last night was our first night here. We walked to a
local restaurant for dinner.We were going to go with just
Bennie but the guys at the church were so distressed at the
idea of us going without more men to escort us, so they walked
with us to the place. This place was like the place in Al
Satwa were they had no menus, they were making just one sort
of dish but were making it well.
We ordered 5 meals of pollo expecting to each eat one. We
ended up eating about 2 of the servings between the 5 of us.
The good news was that we had a fridge at the church for the
left overs. We then went back to the church and settled in.
 |
| view from our kitchen window |
6-4
This morning Sheri, Manaal and I walked to a nearby fruit
market.
We then had a meeting with Pastor Samuel who pastors the big
church in Guayaquil, Pastor Caluca (sp?) of the Nigeria
church, our team and our translator Andres, who we just met.
Meetings are something else when you don't speak the language.
I know that my understanding will get better with time, but
for now I am so lost. The meeting was really good for setting
the schedule for the next few weeks.
After the meeting we went to Nigeria for a visit. We saw the
church. We were supposed to stay at this church but they had a
water problem that prevented us from staying there.We all
loved it right away and agreed that something could be figured
out in spite of all the standing water. We visited the Daycare
there and made plans to do assessments of all the children
here in the future.
We saw two children while we were there who had minor
illnesses. There was one baby that we were a bit concerned
with. She had a pretty bad cough that lingered.
One thing that goes without saying is that the children there
were adorable.
We visited some church members after. They wanted us to check
on their children who were sick.
It was a great experience to be invited into these people's
homes to talk with them and see how they live.
Our trip to Nigeria was short. Upon returning to our home/church, we set out
in search of ear plugs and tongue depressors. We may or may
not have wandered a bit out of the way just for the sake of
exploring.
There was a youth service at the church that night, so we
just walked downstairs from our room and got to watch all
these youth get excited and dance for Jesus! PERFECT!!
6-5
The morning started out with breakfast, lunch building and a
wait for our ride. There was alot of "hurry up and wait" moments
over the course of the first two weeks. We met our new translator,
The morning started out with breakfast, lunch building and a
wait for our ride. There was alot of "hurry up and wait" moments
over the course of the first two weeks. We met our new translator,
Eric, today.
We all squeezed into the van and rode out to Nigeria for
church.
The church service was wonderful. For part of it the pastor had us
break into groups and each group was to write about different ways
they would like to see the community improve and how they plan to make
those changes happen. It was the best way to truly see these people's
hearts. The church also prayed for our team. The pastor then asked us
to come up and speak to the church one at a time. I had no idea what
to say, but I wasn't nervous. I just spoke from my heart. :]
At the end of the service, the church was served a lunch. After lunch we headed out to do house to house assessments. Jen and I made a team with Andres translating, while Sheri and Manaal went with the pastor and Eric translating.
church.
The church service was wonderful. For part of it the pastor had us
break into groups and each group was to write about different ways
they would like to see the community improve and how they plan to make
those changes happen. It was the best way to truly see these people's
hearts. The church also prayed for our team. The pastor then asked us
to come up and speak to the church one at a time. I had no idea what
to say, but I wasn't nervous. I just spoke from my heart. :]
At the end of the service, the church was served a lunch. After lunch we headed out to do house to house assessments. Jen and I made a team with Andres translating, while Sheri and Manaal went with the pastor and Eric translating.
The houses we saw were full of children with the flu.We also saw a number of women with arthritis. We didn't encounter anything serious, and didn't have to hand out any medication. We gave the moms some advice and then prayed for the family.
One of the cutest things was when a woman excitedly invited us into her home just to talk. She told us that she had told the pastor that we should have stopped by her house first.
We spent the afternoon in Nigeria doing these house visits.
We asked about a frozen yogurt place and Andres offered to take us to one. So we and Andres and Eric walked to the Naturissmo.
What they call frozen yogurt here is different than what we are used to in the states. The yogurt is a liquid-drinkable form, they then mix fruit and some ice in with it and blend it.
It was just the treat that the team was craving.
The rest of the evening was spent cleaning ourselves, eating, reading and relaxing.
6-7
Today was all about assessments at the Nigeria daycare. We set up stations and it ran somewhat like an assembly line.I started out the line with weighing the children, asking about general health, checking for low weight,and getting immunization histories.
This also doubled as an opportunity for me to practice my Spanish with the children. I then passed the beautiful children to Manaal and Sheri who checked ears, nose throat, and did general checks.
Then the child's information was passed to Jen who made sure they had up to date records.
This method occupied our time until lunch. For lunch, we took one of the motor-buggies to the market. All 6 of us squeezed into the tiny buggie that hardly holds 4 people comfortably.
We ate at the market in the dining area. We were served a meat, a plate of beans and rice and some meat. Andres and I opted for the chicken, Manaal, Jen and Sheri went with the fish, and Eric got cow stomach. It was terribly filling and the total bill came to 9 dollars.
After lunch we squeezed back into the tiny buggie and bumped down the road into Nigeria and to the daycare.
After lunch I switched stations with Sheri and got to work with Manaal, listening to lung sounds,
taking temps, and hugging MANY babies.
LOVED IT!!!
We finished with the daycare around 3:30. Our poor translators were exhausted at this point but we had more houses to visit.
We had many of the usual "You need to drink mas agua" houses or the "just keep giving this medicine and it should clear up on its own"families. I worked as the tech. I took many blood pressures and was there to help Jen with whatever task she needed help with. She got a kick out of how excited I got whenever she would ask me to take a BP.
I am now more determined than ever to work on my Spanish skills. I hate the reality of having to back to the states in the future.
6-8
We had this morning off. We slept in and then did some needed things. We walked off in search of a lavanderia to have our clothes cleaned. We had to do some exploring to find it, and somehow we managed to communicate with the owners to have our clothes cleaned. We walked to the mercado and did a shopping. We hauled our bags of groceries back to the church then walked off again in search of something frozen.
We had to stop at one point and, in our very broken Spanish, ask for directions. Our search was a success in the end. I got a fruitilla frozen yogurt and 2 pan de yuka. Best treat ever.
On the way home, we stopped for empanadas and bought some chocolate ice-cream for the church security guard.
Our evening in Nigeria went so fast. I worked with Sheri and Andres. It was a really wonderful evening in Nigeria. (I'm not sure why I didn't journal more today. I must have been tired.)
6-9
Today was our free day. We headed out nice and early for the beach.
We left the church at quarter to 8. We got a ride to the central bus station where we met up with Eric. (Andres met us at the church)
The bus ride to the beach was about two hours long. The beach was beautiful!!
We rented a little cabana and sat about enjoying ourselves.
I have never before been to a beach like this where vendors come right up to you and try to sell you things.
We were served a lunch on the beach and even had a man with a guitar play and sing for us.
There were pelicans flying around and swooping to catch fish.
Every now and again the fishermen would pull in the HUGE fishing net and bring back hundreds of perfect fish with it.
I also got to spend some time really talking to Andres and getting to know his story. We sat on the sand looking out over the waves. He is a pretty quiet and mysterious guy, so to have him open up to me so easily about things that were tough in his past was really a cool thing. It was great to see how much Jesus has really changed his life too. SO great!
I wish I could have stayed at the beach forever. It is a good thing we didn't gh. I got so burnt!
My face turned all pink, and my back and shoulders were so red.
This happens every time I go to the beach no matter how hard I try to keep up with the sunblock.
The bus ride home was difficult. It was so long and my head was spinning with so many thoughts.
I was so happy to to be back to the church and about to go to bed.
6-10
(I am so sorry about the lack of photos. Manaal was our photographer at this point)
Can I love my life more?? This morning we headed out to a new area, Ceraceta. This place was such a huge contrast from Nigeria and ever Guayaquil. This was more rain forest like rather than the slums or the city. we arrived to find a huge group of children assembled and waiting for us. We did not expect to find this. We brainstormed and quickly came up with some skit ideas. We did a skit about how germs are spread. Then Jen narrated a skit while she had kids volunteer to act out the different parts.
We had only a small amount of time with the children so we did the two skits and before the children left and we set up a small clinic.
Manaal and I saw patients at one station (with Andres translating), Sheri had a station (with Eric translating) and Jen ran pharmacy and anything else that needed doing. Manaal and I made a great team. I took the lead with some of the patients and was very relieved to find that I really did know what I was talking about. We saw many patients of many different ages. Again, most people had a simple flu or needed to drink more water but meeting with them was so special, if for no other reason than to simply meet and connect with them.
We were served a huge meal in the middle of our clinic time. A huge plate of rice, potatoes and tuna. I ate everything on my plate
but regretted my overfull tummy right after. We took a short walk to see the area right after lunch. I really loved this area.
The houses were built on stilts and I wanted to move into one right away.
After our walk, it was back to the clinic.
We met a man from the area who was 105 years old. He laughed and joked with us and told us some of the history of the plantation.
We were welcomed so warmly into this community.
*This story is about to become more interesting*
On the drive back to the church I was able to talk with Andres again.
I really like talking to him. He has such a good heart (and a nice face).
He told me I should move to Ecuador, but I just couldn't see how that would work.
He then told me that he would come to Ethiopia with me and be my bodyguard. He then offered to help me pay to go there. I just told him to save his money and move to the states. We talked more about our families and just different ideas on things until we got back to the church.
Once we get back to the church Manaal starts making some pasta.We gave two HUGE helpings to the guards downstairs. Then we ate a huge amount of of the pasta ourselves. We were so stuffed and ready to clean up the kitchen when in walks Christian and Victor with a whole rotisserie chicken, plantain chips, a salad, and a doughnut. We told them to call the other two boys up and we would eat then. We all sat around the table eating our second dinner of the night. Us girls were trying to force enough chicken into our bodies to not appear rude. (the chicken tasted wonderful though).
We started feeling the language barrier so Jen and Manaal pull out their laptops and pull up Google translator. With the help of google translate we were able to communicate with each other. We laughed so hard. The translations are obviously not perfect which just added to the humor of it all. It was beautiful.
(I wrote this right before bed so the tenses are going to change)
My tummy is beyond full now. We are winding down now and I am looking forward to tomorrow. I never want to leave this place.
Thank you Jesus for how much you bless me.
6-11
I did not sleep well at all last night. I couldn't stay comfortable for long. My sunburn forced me to lay on my belly and face. I kept waking up every few hours and my pinky and ring fingers would be asleep from the way I was folding my arms. Once I finally got going today, I was happy. We met up in Nigeria with Pastor Caluca (sp?). He told us that he would be out of town tomorrow and asked if one of us would preach. We assured him that one of us would teach. We then went on for house visits. Sheri and I went with the pastor and Eric. We took alot of blood pressures. We saw two pregnant women and were concerned to find that their blood pressures were very high for anyone let alone a pregnant woman. We also stopped by and visited the woman with the Congestive heart failure. Her entire face lit up when she saw us. She had been improving which was so encouraging to see. The pastor also took time to pray with her and encourage her.
After a few more houses the pastor decided a break was in order. We all headed back to the Nigeria church and sat around as he asked us questions about our families, or dreams, our thoughts. I have been so confused and torn since being here that my answer was not a very good one. All I could tell him was that I want to do what Jesus did.
Then he told us his dreams, and the story of how he met his wife. It was so cute. He is a very energetic and expressive guy and his wife is very quiet and meek. It was cute to hear him talk about how he tried to win her over.
If you ever get the chance, it is worth listening to a Latino man talk about how he met his wife. The passion that these men have is crazy. it is always one of those "I saw her, had to have her, pursued her tirelessly until I got her." kind of stories.
After our rest we headed to the house of the man who was our driver. He has such a sweet spirit and it was obvious that his heart was very wrapped up in working with us. Sometimes he would walk around Nigeria with us just because.
He had invited us to eat dinner with his family. So the large group of us all invaded his house, and naturally a bunch of his relatives showed up also to meet us. We were served a huge plate of pollo, a huge helping of arroz, and an advacado which I passed on to someone else to eat.
I felt like I could pass out at the end of this meal.
We then did check ups on the family. The whole family, including the relatives who had stopped by. The whole family had such beautiful spirits. We then prayed with the family before leaving.
I was bordering on a food coma and fighting with everything in me just to stay awake.
There was a reggatone concert at the church tonight that one of our friends performances and he invited us. Not like it would be easy to miss considering we live there, but still he made it very clear that he wanted us there. US girls sat in the balcony and watched the sanctuary fill up with students. Andres found us and I went downstairs with him to be with the excited youth. He tried to get me to dance but I lack the confidence to completely let loose, not to mention I was still exhausted.
I did dance though, and talk with Andres. I was surprised to hear him tell me that he may not be able to translate for us the last week. I asked him why but he just said he would tell me later. He never did tell me that night.
I have a feeling my heart is going to break in more ways than one when I leave Ecuador.
Near the end of the concert I met a girl who was so excited to meet me. She said it has been her dream to meet an English speaking girl from the states. She was so excited and started introducing me to all of her friends. I cannot even begin to explain how excited she was,and her excitement made me very excited too! Why do I have to leave this place????
6-12
It is wonderful having our present home filled with people and noise on Sunday mornings. I went down for first service with the rest of the team. After worship I sat with Andres during the sermon while the other girls were doing some sort of preparing. Right after service we headed out for Nigeria. Jen,Manaal and Andres led worship. They sand a few English songs that were translated to Spanish, then they asked the congregation to teach us some songs. Livre lead some songs and was so passionate about it. It was unbelievable, and way powerful. Jen then spoke. The topic was God using using our weakness to show His strength. Each member of the team also shared a story. I had a story planned, then after hearing Jen speak I realized that my story needed to change, so I had to wing it. It went very well I think. Jen did a wonderful job and the team all had good things to say. After service we headed back to our Guayaquil home. We ate, took short naps and then returned to Nigeria for house to house visits. We saw alot of high Blood Pressures. I feel so blessed to be here doing what I am doing.
After our Nigeria visit we prepared dinner and had some good heart to heart talks. In the middle of our talks the phone in the kitchen rings. It was a call telling us that Marlon was ready for us. Marlon was one of the guards who just so happened to have an infected bite on his knee that was full of pus. We, being caring mother-like medics, offered to drain it and dress it for him. We left our prepared food in the kitchen un-eaten and ran downstairs to the patient. Manaal was so sweet and gave Marlon a sucker to keep him calm during the procedure. haha! I'm surprised by how well my stomach did as I cut open the blister and cleaned the pus out. GAG!
When you are in those situations it is different. Like Manaal was explaining to a lady in Nigeria today about EMS work; when you see the injured person you almost don't look at them as a person but as more of a problem that needs to be solved. We drained, cleaned and dressed it nicely for him. We then ran back up the two flights of stairs to our waiting dinner. Near the end of dinner our phone rings again. It was someone asking us to come down and play soccer. We decided to go watch but considering our full tummys none of us were eager to play. We met up with some of our friends at the soccer field next to the church. Checho, Sara, Andres, Marcel, and a handful of other familiar faces. We sat on the bench and watched the game. Manaal was asked to play with a girls team and being the brave girl she is, she played and well at that. I sat on the bench enoying these wonderful people, thinking to myself that life could not get any better, but it did. A guitar was brought out and the whole group broke out in song. My heart was so happy that I couldn't even sing. My heart felt like it may explode. We sat there for a few hours until Manaal was done playing and people were getting tired.
Once back in the church we checked on Marlon who had played a bit of soccer in spite of his infected knee. He was really feeling the pain. His knee was throbbing and his body had chills. We kicked back into medic mode and started telling him to ice and elevate his knee, then ran upstairs to get him ibuprofen and ice, then ran back up the stairs
again to get the guys some water. Finally we got to go to bed and it was WONDERFUL!!!
6-14
This morning was supposed to be about meeting with a small group and doing some sort of work with them. For some reason or other we ended up on some random street just a few blocks from the church with the plan to go door to door as we looped our way back to the church.
This idea didn't work at all. This plan wasn't working out. People were at work, doors were not being answered and it was more of a business area. Andres then suggested we go to the area where he lives and see people there. We decided that sounded like a perfect plan, so we split up and found taxis. One illegal and one legal. In Ecuador if you are standing on a sidewalk waiting for a cab, a car may drive by and flash its lights to signal that they will pick you up.
I took the legal cab with Jen and our two other friends, Juan Carlos and Byron. Dr.Sheri and Manaal went with Andres in a random taxi.
We met up with the other half of the group once we got into Andres's neighborhood. They met arrived in a different car then we saw them leave in. They got ride a cross the neighborhood by Andres's mild man or something like that. We then tried going door to door, but found that people were reluctant to let us into their homes. We then walked to the home of Andres's Grandmother and Aunt. We did check-ups on them and talked with them and setting up a clinic in their home the next day.
WE also asked them questions about what we should teach on in Nigeria, and about the Ecuadorian government. These women were so bright and expressive , it was so fun to hear them talk even if I only caught a few words here or there.
Our driver was then able to pick us up from the neighborhood and drop off back at our home base.
Jen and I headed out right away with the boys to buy lunch.
We went to a place to get rotisserie chicken and all the fixings that go along with it. Upon arriving at the place we were not attended to quickly at all and were barely acknowledged for that matter.
The American in Jen and I got the best of us and we could not possibly wait any longer for food. We asked if any of our friends knew of another place in which we could get the food we were lusting after. We were assured that there was another place close by that we could go to. Little did we know that this close by place was actually a mile or so away. We walked on and on and our patience was being tested as our hungry tummies made us grouchy. Once we got there we were served right away and caught a cab back to the church. We had to persuade the boys to stay and eat lunch with us. We were so hungry that we served the meal to them AMerican style. We set out a plate and fork for everyone, then we just put the containers of food on the table and told everyone to help themselves. We didn't even realize how strange this must be for them. In Ecuador your plate is dished for you. The plate is filled to the brink with so much food and everyone at the table is served this same amount of food. If you want to build a friendship with someone I am convinced that sharing a meal with them is the best possible way.
The boys then offered to clean up the dishes after lunch. It was so cute to walk in the kitchen and see 3 boys washing the dishes and cleaning up. (I can't help but smile just thinking about it.)
I then went to the music room with Andres to listen to Victor Wooten. Next thing I know there is a guitar in my arms and Marcel is teaching me some chords. I start playing the chords how he tells me, and then Marcel starts doing these solos along with me.
I cannot even begin to explain how awesome, yet nerve racking it was for me.
I am no guitarist so playing with Marcel, who is an amazing guitarist, was crazy.
Marcel and Checho are the best people. They have such wonderful spirits and they are always encouraging. They are the sort of friends that I cannot ever imagine myself getting sick of. Checho then played a song for me that he had just recorded for his girlfriend. It was the cutest song. I stayed in the music quite a while with them until Jen came and got me to see if I needed resources from her for my teaching in a few hours time. My topic to teach on, Diarrhea and dehydration.I wrote down some notes and some of the ladies at the church printed some stuff out for me. We then headed off to Nigeria.
We spent a few hours doing house visits in Nigeria. We had a house with a mother experiencing headaches and a pregnant daughter with acid reflux. THe next house was one of those houses where the people just kept coming out of no where. We first checked on the mother who had a very high BP and but felt fine otherwise, then her husband had a hernia and back pain, then there daughter was anemic and had vision loss with exercise. This house hold was so sweet though. They were beautiful people and even gave us some frozen yogurt which they make and sell out of their home. We scarfed it down excitedly. Once it got dark we headed to la iglesia La Roca. We had an hour and a half to finish preparing our teachings. Dr.Sheri taught on exercise, Jen on germs, Manaal on Nutrition, and like I said before, I taught on diarrhea and dehydration.
I was last to speak and only had time to teach on half of my topic. The group we were teaching got so excited and into what we were saying. It was so great. The teachings went very well. I never imagined I would be doing something like this. 20 year old me, teaching these men and women who some of them are old enough to be my parents, others who were my age already had 1-4 children. God loves the inconceivable.
I was so surprised that I wasn't nervous. I just didn't plan out what to say, but rather just taught what I knew just like I would talk about it with a friend. I didn't trip over my words, and I didn't fail. A special thanks to the translators that are great though.
After we were done teaching, I asked Pastor Caluca if he would have work for me if I came back to Ecuador in the future. He got very excited and told me that he would have work for me at the church there. I told him that as I long as I have a place to sleep and food to eat, I would be happy. At that he got excited and said "THANK YOU JESUS!" in English. (He doesn't speak much of any English.)
It is days like this that assure me that I could spend my entire life doing this. Being vulnerable and brave (not to mention dirty and smelly) and trusting wholly in God everyday.
6-15
Today was clinic day in the house of Andres's Grandmother and Aunt.
We had a very large group of friends with us. We had about 4 guys from the church who came with and just talked with people about Jesus. Sheri and I worked inside the house seeing patients while outside Manaal and Jen did some primary assessments and send in only certain people to Sheri and I.
Checho went with us this morning. We found our selves short a translator so we called Checho who speaks enough English. Checho is the best sort of person. He is the sort of friend I don't think I would ever get sick of hanging out with (not that I make it a habit of getting sick of my friends).
He helps me a lot with my Spanish and I help him with his English.
After the clinic we went to lunch with the group, and Victor and Christian also came and joined us for lunch.
I LOVE the people here so much!
Lunch was wonderful and so filling. NO matter how I tried to pace myself, I couldn't eat all of my meal. After lunch we had to rush around to be ready to leave for Nigeria. It was our last day doing house to house visits there in Nigeria. A local lady who we had come to know well came with us along with her son Juan Pierre.
I worked with Jen and Eric today. We saw many runny noses again, and high blood pressures. Before leaving Nigeria, we took photos with our friends in Nigeria. Jen and I would be coming back in a few days, but Manaal and Sheri were leaving very soon.
Once we got back to the church we said our goodbyes to Eric and asked Andres if he would go with us to the Mall. Manaal needed to buy a dress for a dinner that she was going to as soon as she got back to the States. We hailed a cab to the mall and spend the next few hours walking around trying to put together a nice outfit on a small budget with a short amount of time to look. I fell asleep early knowing that I had an early morning ahead of me.
6-15
Today was clinic day in the house of Andres's Grandmother and Aunt.
We had a very large group of friends with us. We had about 4 guys from the church who came with and just talked with people about Jesus. Sheri and I worked inside the house seeing patients while outside Manaal and Jen did some primary assessments and send in only certain people to Sheri and I.
Checho went with us this morning. We found our selves short a translator so we called Checho who speaks enough English. Checho is the best sort of person. He is the sort of friend I don't think I would ever get sick of hanging out with (not that I make it a habit of getting sick of my friends).
He helps me a lot with my Spanish and I help him with his English.
After the clinic we went to lunch with the group, and Victor and Christian also came and joined us for lunch.
I LOVE the people here so much!
Lunch was wonderful and so filling. NO matter how I tried to pace myself, I couldn't eat all of my meal. After lunch we had to rush around to be ready to leave for Nigeria. It was our last day doing house to house visits there in Nigeria. A local lady who we had come to know well came with us along with her son Juan Pierre.
I worked with Jen and Eric today. We saw many runny noses again, and high blood pressures. Before leaving Nigeria, we took photos with our friends in Nigeria. Jen and I would be coming back in a few days, but Manaal and Sheri were leaving very soon.
Once we got back to the church we said our goodbyes to Eric and asked Andres if he would go with us to the Mall. Manaal needed to buy a dress for a dinner that she was going to as soon as she got back to the States. We hailed a cab to the mall and spend the next few hours walking around trying to put together a nice outfit on a small budget with a short amount of time to look. I fell asleep early knowing that I had an early morning ahead of me.
6-16
It was an early morning departure. We left the church at 8am for Ceraceta.
We got there around 9 and had to start teaching almost right away. Manaal began by teaching about nutrition. She got the kids excited and involved. We then did a skit about a wealthy king who dressed as a beggar to visit his kingdom. He found that those villagers who had the most would give him nothing and the family with the least gave everything they had. The kids really liked it and laughed as we over exaggerated as we acted. I then did a teaching on dehydration. Eric was my translator this time. It was so different having him translate for me. I felt like my teaching was a completely failed attempt this time. Everyone else assured me that it wasn't but I still felt that I could have done better.
We then did one more skit. This skit was the parable of the King who asked his servant to pay back a debt, but forgave the debt when the servant told him that he could not pay. The forgiven servant then demanded a payment from one of his debtors that owed him the smallest amount. The forgiven man was unrelenting in wanting his payments. I hope you know the rest of the story.
In our skit we replaced the King with a Lion (the king of the jungle), A monkey was the forgiven servant, and the man with the small debt was played by me, a timid mouse.
It was a riot. The kids were laughing so hard.
After the children thanked us and gave us many hugs. I couldn't believe how much love they showed us. I was hugged by so many children that I almost fell over a couple of times. When I sat down, a group of girl came and sat by me. I just wished I could have talked with them.
We then walked to a nearby house and rested in hammocks until it was time to eat lunch with them. As is a reoccurring theme in this story, the meal was HUGE, I was stuffed by the end of it and thought I might explode.
We then prayed with the family before leaving to do some house visits.
Manaal and I went with Andres and found a house with many people to do check ups on. It is always a great time to work on a team with Manaal.
We saw one lady with a crazy high BP and then an elderly lady in the same house with the BP of an active teenager, though she was having some other health problems that led us to believe that it could possibly be TB. Upon digging a bit deeper into the history of this illness we were able to better determine what was going on and give appropriate advice. We made sure to have Dr.Sheri talk with her though.
 |
| church in Ceraceta |
I was just struggling with the dichotomy of if I was so happy because I was doing the work that I am meant to do, or because i am in the place where i am supposed to be.
Manaal also told him about where she was in life right now. He encouraged us and prayed for us.
We were then served a large meal that his wife had prepared. We sat around the table laughing and talking. It is people like this that make me love Ecuador. We all were getting tired half way through dinner. It had been a long day for all of us. I was so excited for a shower and bed once we got back to the church.
We all said goodbye to Andres and headed into the church.
I got out of the shower and expected to find the girls in the room packing and resting. TO my surprise I found a group of people sitting around the table, including Andres (who had never left apparently) eating ice cream and talking. This was the surprise that Marlon and Christian were talking about. A group of our friends were sending Manaal and Sheri off with a small party.
6-17
Sheri and Manaal left at a very early hour. I woke up at 3am to bid them goodbye. It was very sad to see them go. I wish I had been able to spend more time with them as they waited for their ride to the airport but I was much to tired. I slept until 10am and then proceeded to take hours to fully wake up to my usual cheery self. Jen and I spent the rest of our morning and early afternoon taking care of some clinic things then went out. First stop was the Lavanderia to drop off our dirty clothes. After all the hard work of dropping off our laundry, we got some frozen yogurt and pan de yuka. Can I just say that I love pan de yuka. SOOOO good! We then visited two pharmacies; the first pharmacy stop was just to buy smell good lotion, and the second was to purchase bajalinguas (tongue depressors.). I love being here. We know our way around now and feel ok to walk around without a male bodyguard. Of course, now that we know our way around, it is time to leave our church home.
After our early afternoon stroll, we made plans to visit the Malecon.
We had some friends that didn't get to go with us before and wanted to go with us and I was anxious to go back just in hopes of finding colorful beaded earrings. So we met up with Victor, Checho, Andres and another friend (I feel terrible that I cannot remember his name) and headed out for the Malecon. I walked the whole way there with Checho. We had a really good talk, and he also taught me some more Spanish and I helped him with his English. I love learning Spanish with him, he is such a patient teacher. Checho could not stay long because he had to do some sort of work. We said good-bye to him and then started walking up the steps toward the light-house. It was about 400 steps up.
The last 40 steps were closed, which kept us from the light house, but it brought us up high enough to see a beautiful view of Guayaquil.
It was dark by this point so we looked out and saw all the lights of the city. It was amazing. As we started walking down, we kept our eyes open for any places to eat. We found a really small place that was advertising sandwiches and pizza. Once we sat down we were told that pizza really was our only option, so pizza it was.
We sat around the table eating pizza and talking about great things. YOu know the usual, "what are your dreams?", "what do you do now?" and things like that. I don't feel like I need to really type out all of that but know that those are the conversations that friendships are built on. AS we are sitting there eating our icecream, Salsa music can be heard outside coming from a nearby restaurant. Andres tells me that he will salsa with me even though we could only use one hand because of the coconut Popsicles in our other hand. OF COURSE I CAN SALSA WITH ONLY ONE HAND, SILLY BOY!
So he and I went outside and salsa danced while we ate ice-cream.
It was a pretty romantic (and lets face it, sappy) moment. I wouldn't trade it for anything though, and the fact that I had coconut ice-cream while it was happening makes it an even fonder moment.
We finished walking down the stairs and at the bottom found a bunch of tents full of pretty things being sold. I bought some bracelets. One has an "H" on it, thus I bought it, and I bought one like it (but not with an "H" on it ) also for Julia. HOORAY!
We all crowded onto a metro car to get back. It was so packed. Imagine the most crowded bus or train you have been on in the States, and then add another 50 people or so. It makes things exciting though.
This post will be packed with photos.
6-18
This morning we were up and packed and heading out the door by 6am. Somehow I managed to wake up and be pleasant. We walked outside and Andres and Efren were ready and waiting. We squeezed into Efren's car and picked up Eric. The plan for the day was to drive along the coast. Jen and I had no idea what to expect. Somewhere in my mind I was imagining myself dripping sweat as I stumbled through the rain-forest all the while swatting a flies and wishing I had brought bug spray with me.
We began driving up the coast and made our first stop at a little breakfast place with outside seating. It was beautiful.
We sat around eating our breakfast of plantains mixed with cheese and bacon. Eric began reminiscing (in Spanish) with his best friend Efren and began laughing so hard that he was crying.
Eric is usually the more analytical, logical, careful, and more serious sort of person, so to see him let his guard down and laugh that hard was so great. Then we headed on up the coast and stopped at our first beach of the day.
It was absolutely breath taking.
The beach was deserted of people. There was only us and a couple hundred sand crabs running around.
Jen and I excitingly ran along the beach with giant smiles on our faces.
We spent some time taking in all the beauty of the beach and not imagining ever ever seeing another thing so beautiful.
We squeeze back into the car and drive on to beach number two.
I am just going to spare you all alot of time reading now and tell you that we went to about 5 beached that day. (I am even forgetting how many we visited.)
At every beach I ran around like an excited 5 year old. I ran to the water and walked in until my rolled up pants were getting wet.
I then scoured the beach for any shells I could find and treasure.
Efren saw how excited the shells were making me and even began picking up one that he thought were pretty and giving them to me. He was well pleased when I freaked out at the sign of them as if they were the best thing I had ever beheld.
At every stop I kept my eyes open for anyone selling colorful beaded earrings. I had seen some before and decided that I must have a pair before I left Ecuador. Finally the time came!
I found them, and Andres bartered with the guy for me, so I got them for $1.50. ( I still adore these earrings.)
We then got lunch together. We were getting very hot from walking along all these beautiful beaches and not swimming.
We thought it was probably about time to swim. Jen and I did not dress for swimming because we didn't expect to spend the day at beaches.
After lunch I went to find a swim suit or something to swim in.
What I found instead was wonderful.
We looked for shorts,but they were all way to small. Then I looked up and beheld it. THE PURPLE DRESS OF MY DREAMS! haha
It was the only one that they had. I tried it on, and found that it fit me perfectly. It had to be mine. I bought it without taking the time to even barter for it.
We then drove on to a private beach (I'm not even sure how we got into the beach area).
I swam in my scrubs,and Jen swam in what she was wearing. It was beautiful! A great end to the day (not the end to my day, but an end to beaches.)
I then put on my new purple dress and colorful earrings, and Jen bought a wrap that was obviously from Hawaii and wore that. I am going to be totally honest, We looked so great!haha
On the way home Andres and I sat next to each other and continued to talk as trusting friends do.
He then nervously asked me if I would be his girlfriend.
Maybe it was the beaded earrings, the purple dress, or all the beaches we had just visited that bewitched me, but I thought about it for a few seconds and told him that I would.
This girl who doesn't date!!
Who was completely content with the idea of being single forever,
Who thought that no guy could ever compare with her daddy,
now has a boyfriend.
Here is where I change topics real quick.
I know so many people are curious about this boy so let me tell you a few things about him.
His name is Andres.
He loves Jesus more than anything.
He is 20 years old.
He speaks Spanish, English, Portuguese, and sign language.
He is trained in Martial Arts.
He is studying to become a dentist.
He plays Bass guitar on the worship team.
He loves learning.
He loves to read and watch movies.
He thinks that Sharks are pretty cool animals.
He likes the color red.
He knows how to dance the tango but not salsa (well aside from what I taught him).
He is just a really great guy and takes really good care of the people around him.
I also just want to add that he Loves Ecuador and has no desire to come to the States. (except for now, to visit me)
That night Jen and I got dropped off at a hotel which was to be our new home for the last week. No more living in La Roca. :[
We also met the big team that was just arriving from the States. A team of over 20 people from all walks of life and training.
It felt a bit overwhelming to go from being a team of 4 to becoming a team of about 30 (including translators).
Imagine how spoiled Jen and I felt to be in that hotel with hot water in our shower, and pillows and quilts on our beds.
So lets recap the day;
So many beautiful beaches,
Colorful beaded earrings,
PURPLE DRESS,
seeing Eric laugh so hard that he cried,
hundreds of sand crabs,
swimming at a private beach,
a boyfriend,
a hot shower,
pillows and blankets,
and a huge new team to work with.
He knows how to dance the tango but not salsa (well aside from what I taught him).
He is just a really great guy and takes really good care of the people around him.
I also just want to add that he Loves Ecuador and has no desire to come to the States. (except for now, to visit me)
That night Jen and I got dropped off at a hotel which was to be our new home for the last week. No more living in La Roca. :[
We also met the big team that was just arriving from the States. A team of over 20 people from all walks of life and training.
It felt a bit overwhelming to go from being a team of 4 to becoming a team of about 30 (including translators).
Imagine how spoiled Jen and I felt to be in that hotel with hot water in our shower, and pillows and quilts on our beds.
So lets recap the day;
So many beautiful beaches,
Colorful beaded earrings,
PURPLE DRESS,
seeing Eric laugh so hard that he cried,
hundreds of sand crabs,
swimming at a private beach,
a boyfriend,
a hot shower,
pillows and blankets,
and a huge new team to work with.
I should also probably mention that we saw a rainbow on the way home.
6-19
LOVE MY LIFE!
I woke up at 7:30 this morning and went downstairs for breakfast. I sat at a table with Jen, Paul, Jim, and Bennie. (If the new names confuse you alittle, then you know what I was feeling when I sat at the table and didn't know the people around me.)
Bennie we met right away at the airport, day one. He is a Vineyard missionary Pastor in Quito who was helping to coordinate the clinic during this last week and also translate. He had flown in the night before when the big team arrived. He also brought along his teenage daughter and two of her friends to translate.
This breakfast was like any breakfast you would have in the states, except that there were foods that you would not see at a hotel in the states. Rice and plantains for breakfast along with so many different kinds of juice. The table talk was very American though, because we were all Americans at this table, of course.
After breakfast we were to go to Nigeria for church. We had not been to Nigeria in a few days so you could imagine my excitement to be going back.
We all loaded into the vans and I began talking excitedly with those sitting by me. I didn't know them, but I just could not hold back my excitement just because I didn't know these people.
I figured they had best know I am crazy right away.
I starting asking people if they were excited to go to Nigeria, because they really should be. I was smiling all big and talking about how great of a place it is, and how much I love it and all the people there. I thought my heart was going to explode with excitement.
The people around me didn't really know how to react to my excitement.
We arrived at the church in Nigeria and I was beyond excited.
It was a breath of fresh air to see all the familiar beautiful faces. TO hug and kiss all these people that I had come to know and love over the last 2 weeks. Juan Carlos and Byron were leading worship. Andres was also there holding this little boy named Jeremy who we all thought was the cutest thing ever.
One of the local ladies there gave the sermon and Josue (sp?) translated. I just wish I could explain to you how beautiful this church and these people are. After the service ended, while the big group was standing around trying to figure out how to respond to this new place I went to the front of the church by Andres and Juan Carlos and Byron. They played the guitar and we all sang together just for fun.
Then Bennie came up also and joined along with us.
Only in Nigeria would this timida (shy) girl just walk up to these friends I had just met a few days before and sing with them and in Spanish even.
The group then went to lunch after church. The place we went to eat was just a room with tables and chairs and a small bar area. After we got there people arrived in cars and started to unload food from the trunks of their cars. They served us some rice, beans,and meat of sorts. I had been spoiled the weeks before with amazing home made cooking so this meal was not nearly as good as what I had been used to. We were also given some mystery jugo (juice) that was in a little sandwich bag. We had to bite a hole in the bag and then figure out how to pour the juice into our cups without making a terrible mess. Andres said that he didn't trust the juice because it was given to us out of baggies, but I am a stupid, brave girl and figured "hey, I have been eating whatever I want since getting here and have not been sick. What harm can some juice Oh how I hate myself for thinking that.
After lunch we headed back into Nigeria with the plan to go door to door and hand out fliers advertising for the clinic. Pastor Caluca thought this was a bad idea because people around Nigeria had just started drinking and it probably was not the safest idea. So instead we prepared the pharmacy. We bagged medicines. SO MANY VITAMINS AND BAGS OF IBUPROFEN.
We left Nigeria after setting up for the clinic.
We had a few hours of free-time before heading our to dinner.
I wanted to go see the Iguana park and maybe parts of the Malecon again, so I brought Andres along, you know just so I would have a body guard and translator. ha!
We may have lost track of time a little bit and arrived back to the hotel to find everyone already loaded in the vans and waiting. I felt TERRIBLE!
About half way through dinner I began to feel the effects of that bagged juice ( or something I should not have eaten) on my body.
I hardly remember the rest of the night.
*this is the last entry in my journal. From this point on I will try to summarize the last week. It will not be a day-by-day, but it should still be a good time.*
6/20 - 6/24
6-20
How do I sum up the last week of Ecuador?
It all is sort of a blur.
It was my first time working in a clinic setting.
I found myself running around like a ferret.
Since I had been there for 2 weeks already and knew the area, and Jen, and the translators, and the people of Nigeria it was expected that I knew what was going on all the time.
The good thing is that by some miracle, I did know what was going on most of the time.
The funniest thing to me was when a team member would come up to me for something and the first thing they would ask me is if I was translating at that exact moment. haha
Me translating? Muy chistoso!
Thanks to my training I also found myself able to work every part of the clinic.
One moment I would be at the check in table using my broken Spanish to tell people to sign there name here, and write their age in another place. The next moment I am being rushed over to listen to some child with a heart murmur. Then I am checking spines. Then someone would get my attention to do a urine analysis, then I would look over and there was no one taking BP's so I would go take a BP on probably 30 people back to back
I loved it! My brain works so much better when it is forced to think about alot of things all at once. If I have to try and learn Spanish while doing a urine sample, and answer a persons question about which meds we had on hand, then I am a very happy person.
I joked with Ashley, who was in Pharmacy, about needing to strap a camera to my head that we could call "the ferret cam".
Though I was running around like a crazy person, my tummy was bothering me a bit. I would have to take breaks from time to time and just sit and focus on breathing through the pain.
By the second night of Clinic I went to bed as soon as we got back to the hotel and didn't care that it was 5pm and I would be missing dinner.
That next day I felt a bit better and still managed to scurry around the clinic at anyone's beckoning call.
The things I saw and learned were amazing.
I got to work with some brilliant Doctors and Nurses.
There was also this really good-looking translator that I got to work with from time to time.
After Clinic on the Wed. night, Jen, Andres, one of the other translators (his name escapes me) and I got dropped off by the yogurt place. We met up with Erick and ate yogurt and talked and laughed.
We had really gotten comfortable with each other and enjoyed each others company so much.
The boys joked about some handkerchief trick that they somehow all knew despite not growing up together. Maybe it was one of those things that all Ecuadorian boys learn at some point. It was some way of folding the handkercheif so that it ended up as a bra. They got so excited when they realized that they all knew this trick. They then went on to try and remember it. When they could not remember it, they went and asked the guy working at the yogurt place in hopes that he would know. Sadly we did not get to see this trick played out that night. BUT WE DID GET TO SEE IT A DAY LATER!!! SO FUNNY!!!
We then walked to the church that we had called home for 2 weeks.
It was the mid-week service. We were really wanting some Jesus time, and we were also excited to see our friends again.
Andres also told me that I would meet his family at church.
I had spent all day working in Nigeria and sweating, and I no doubt looked and smelt terrible, but meet them I must.
AFter the service he took me to where his parents were and introduced me.
He had not yet told his family that he had a girlfriend, so shock was expected. Rather than shock, his Mom was just like "I know she is your girlfriend.".
She then proceeds to hug and kiss me and welcome me to the family. She then go on to speak blessings over me and Andres and our entire relationship. Then his Dad hugs and kisses me and all the while I am being told that they love me and about how excited they were. AS this is going on I look over at Andres who is rocking back and forth onto his toes like a very well pleased little boy at seeing his family except me so warmly.
I was then invited to dinner for the following night at his house.
I then said good bye to the family with more hugs and kisses.
We then go outside and are talking with so many familiar faces.
They are asking me about when I leave, and what I am going to do when I got back.
I told them that I had no idea. I had no house, no family there (aside from my sister in another state) and no job. My heart was so alive and in love with Ecuador that I didn't even want to think about going back to the States.
They then said that they should pray for me.
They called over everyone who was outside, interrupting and breaking up other peoples conversations, and my story was relayed to all of them.
It was a group of probably 20 young people that looked at me with the most caring and sincere faces. They then gathered around me and prayed for me in Spanish. It was such a great feeling to have these people care so deeply and honestly about a person they hardly knew.
That is how churches and people who love Jesus should act every day of their lives.
Once they finished praying for me, they looked at Jen and said "ok, Jen's turn!".
We walked back to the Hotel with Andres and Marcel feeling all the beauty of this place and the whole night.
The next day was our last day of clinic.
I had awoken with a terrible stomach ache still, but now it was worse. Jen gave me a course of antibiotics to start taking. I took the morning dose and went off to clinic.
When I arrived I was just too sick to really do anything right away. The women there were so worried about me when they learned that I was sick. They began to assess my health and think of ways to help me. They decided that I needed tea. One woman also offered to let me go rest at her house. I decided to stay at the church so I could do some more work If I felt better. A cot was set up for me in a back room and I lay there and snoozed for a few hours.
As I lay there on this cot I took in my surroundings. I lay in a cement room, with barred windows that contained no glass, the yard outside was like a swamp due to all the flooding. The nearest bathroom was not only at the day care down the street but the toilets also had to be manually flushed. I smelt all the time now, and my sandals were coated with as much dog poo as mud. As I took it all in I realized how happy I was. "I could spend the rest of my life in a place like this; doing this sort of work. Loving these people, and learning from them" I thought.
As I am thinking this, a figure appears in the doorway. It is some good looking Latino boy who begins to ask if I am feeling better. He then walks over to my cot and starts preparing the tea and hot water that the local woman had sent over. He tells me how worried he is about me, and that he wished he could do more to help me. Then he gives me his cell phone to play games on if I got bored.
He then had to go back and translate.
I then thought about how my mom always asked me if I was "over-romanticizing" this whole mission medic thing. I am not a romantic person naturally, so that question struck me as odd. Then I thought to myself, "Over-romanticizing???? I don't think I romanticized it enough!".
I did feel well enough after a little while, that I was able to go back to analyzing urine, and doing glucose readings and all that stuff.
This was the last day of clinic. It was a hard day for me.
I cried when I had to say goodbye to the women there in Nigeria.
(I am crying just remembering it now)
All of those beautiful people that shared their lives with me while I was there.
The thought that this was our last day in Nigeria was so upsetting.
I hope you didn't forget about dinner with Andres's family though.
Though I had to say goodbye to Nigeria for the time being, I had a family to spend the evening with.
We arrived at Andres's house after a long ride on a crowded bus.
We were greeted so warmly by his mom.
She told me right away "Mi casa es su casa!".
Great!
We sat down and talked for a while. It was really funny because at this point I was understanding quite a bit of Spanish, and his mom speaks some English, and understands some English.
So it was a conversation between two Spanglish speaking women with the occasional look over at Andres to translate for us. haha
Some really incredible things happened this night. I just don't know how to explain it through typing, and I am being a little selfish in not wanting to type it. I would tell you in person, but not on my blog.
We did have a wonderful dinner. After dinner I hooked my camera up to their computer and showed them photos of my family from when I was in Dubai the month before.
Andres's parents drove me to the hotel after dinner, and again I felt the saddness of knowing that I would not see these people for a while.
I was leaving the next day to go back to Los Estados Unidos.
I took my second antibiotic and went to bed.
I woke up the next morning with a swollen left eye.
Aparently I am allergic to Cipro.
Good thing the reaction was mild and left me with only swollen eyes.
A bit of panic set in though when I looked at my swollen eye, and then at the clock and realized that I was supposed to meet Andres downstairs in 30 minutes!!!
I held my puffy-eyed head up proudly as I walked down to the lobby. haha
Jen wanted to pray for Andres and I this morning.
We walked to the Iguana park and talked with Jen.
Then there was yogurt to drink, and pan de yuka to eat and some tango dancing to learn before heading back to the hotel and then on to the airport.
It didn't feel real to be loading into a van that would be taking me to the airport. To think that It was all ending.
I didn't cry though. I was strong even though the flight back was filled with frustrations and problems.
There were many times that I almost turned around and went back to Ecuador.
Maybe I will talk about the flight back later, but I am sure that everyone is getting sick of my airport drama stories. I am sick of living them. haha
