Mindo

This weekend I went on a trip with my amiga Laura and two friends from her program, Larkin and Anyel. I thought we were going to Baños until the day of departure but the gals had changed our final destination, and I hadn’t caught on. We actually went to Mindo (elevation 4,100 ft) and as you’ll see from the pictures it was spectacular.

We caught a bus north from Quito and over the 2.5 hour trip we descended from the arid valley of Quito through cloud forest to the higher rainforest of Mindo. The ride itself started out a bit late as the bus company had double booked a number of the seats and we had to explain to an irate girl that yes, we were in “her” seat but that the old woman over their was in “our” seat, which was really also her seat. Eventually a young couple with a screaming baby left the bus and everyone more or less had a seat.

We arrived in Mindo just after dark (which comes at around 6:15pm) and after acquiring some information struck out for the Rubby Hostel. We found it after a fair bit of wandering and the owner gave us the whole third floor to ourselves!

The next morning our $8/night provided an ample breakfast of eggs, bread, juice, and chocolate milk/coffee. We struck out to find the renowned waterfalls. We had to pay $5 to get to the waterfalls, which at the time I didn’t understand. It turns out you have to cross a huge valley with a river and this is accomplished via a cable car; a definite highlight of the trip. The cable car spans hundreds of feet and on the ride over the guides just hang off the side the car! There are times when pictures are better than my blithering and this is one.



(View along whole cable traverse)



(Anyel at left, Larkin, and the operator/guide)



(A view of the car from the ground)




(View of the rain forest from the cable car)



Arriving on the other side we took the “long” hike of about an hour to the most remote waterfall. The sight of the sunlight piercing through the mist given off by the fall’s spray was magical.




(The little waterfall before its big brother)



(The tree-trunk ladder over one fall and up to another)



(Laura walking along the stream to the big falls)



(The big one!)



(Me, under the waterfall, in my boxers)


We hiked to another waterfall but it wasn’t quite the same, being a smaller hike it was much more crowded. The first waterfall we’d had all to ourselves!



(2nd falls)


We’d taken a truck ride up the 5km to the cable car but there were none returning when we were, so after 3 hours of hiking in the intense humidity we got to tack on another 3 miles! Needless to say we were rather tired upon returning to the hostel and rested/ate for the rest of the day.

Sunday morning we engaged in the most unique tubing experience I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures as rivers and cameras don’t mix. The “raft” consisted of a central inflated truck tube with 6 more lashed around its circumference. The river itself was quite shallow, but fast with many rocks protruding from its surface. Any other raft I’ve been on would have been grounded numerous times but our contraption would bend, warp, and flex its way past any obstacle. I cannot forget to mention the guide’s role of directing our course by jumping all over/out of the raft to tug us into position; it really was quite a display of skill!

After a half hour of rafting for $4 (we tipped up to 5 in thanks for such a great time!) we packed up and went searching for hummingbirds. One of the local hostels has a garden with feeders and plants that attract the hummingbirds and they were everywhere, too many species to try and identify! Some more exploring the town and it was time to catch our bus back to Quito.



(Humming bird)




(Main street in Mindo)

Hope you all had wonderful weekends as well! Until next time, -Michael

A meeting with Dr. G

It took a bit longer to occur than I had thought, but today I finally sat down with Dr. Guevara and discussed my goals for my time at CBM and what he expects of me as a research assistant. First and foremost I want to learn as much as possible, any disease, any technique, everything going on in that lab is of interest to me. However, as laid out in my proposal, I also desire to work with Chagas disease and up until now that hasn’t been happening. Dr. Guevara explained to me that they are waiting for key materials to continue work on Chagas but that I need not worry about being able to spend significant time working with Chagas disease. I also hope to spend time in Pastaza province collecting serum and triatomine samples, interviewing local inhabitants, etc.; this he explained to me would happen after we are able to process the samples currently collected from a field research excursion conducted before I arrived. Another goal of mine is to take a class at the CBM to help facilitate my time in the lab and also to learn more, meet new people, and improve my Spanish. Dr. Guevara told me this is no problem and I will be selecting a class very soon, as classes start next week! Until the Chagas materials arrive I will be helping Dr. Calvopiña work on onchocerciasis.

Onchocerciasis is a disease resulting from a parasitic worm transmitted by small flies. It isn’t fatal but the worms develop into the adult form in the subcutaneous tissue forming painful, itchy and unsightly nodules; these nodules can harbor adult worms that live up to 14 years! As such, if the disease is ever to be fully wiped out health officials will have to wait 14 years after the last diagnosed case. The heaviest disease burden results from worms migrating to one’s eyes and causing blindness in the afflicted individual. For more information see: http://www.who.int/tdr/diseases/oncho/default.htm

We are currently trying to recover oncho DNA to determine if the flies are actually infected with the worm and the optimal part of the fly to do this from is the head. However, the flies are too small to cut effectively. Thus (what we did today) is a procedure in which the flies are washed in ethanol several times before being frozen in a -80 degrees C freezer for two hours. After this the flies are removed and, still in their plastic container, slammed violently against the bench; quite possibly the most forceful lab procedure I’ve ever witnessed. This, if done right, separates all the heads from their respective bodies. Brilliant really. The next steps involve the oncho DNA extraction from the fly heads but I will detail that more as I get to do it.

I continue to talk with the local security guards every day after work: each one I’ve met so far is a great guy. Today I met Douglas for the first time, he is from Bolivar Province and has worked in Quito for 4 years. I’ll have to find out more soon! Yesterday I was chatting with Oswaldo (another security guard – pictured in a previous entry who also lives in Bolivar!) and found out we’re almost the same age (me 23, him 22). He described his home and family to me and even let me see a few pics of his family’s prize cows on his cell phone. I expressed interest in seeing his hometown sometime and he invited me to come stay with his family in February for a certain local festival that is supposed to be the bomb (please note, this was my interpretation, Oswaldo did not literally say “the bomb.” I’m not actually sure if they use bomb to mean cool down here, my other “cool” word literal translation – sweet – has failed utterly). Anyway, I can’t wait!

Two days back I spent some time with Carlos, my third guard friend (good to be friends with the guys who have guns!). I found out he’s 60 (looks much younger) and served 25 years in the army. He also has a son in Quito who owns a gym that I will have to check out sometime. I asked if I could get his picture to share and he agreed… on the condition he could hold his gun!



(Carlos!)


I’ve also decided to show you a representative sample of what I eat on a daily basis. For breakfast there is usually a toasted ham and cheese sandwich, some type of bread or jam sandwich, a bowl of fresh fruit/yogurt/granola, and juice or chocolate milk.



(Breakfast)


Lunch, during the weekdays, is bought in one of the many small restaurants near the lab (I usually go with Theo and we haven’t gone to the same one twice!) Soup is followed by a main plate of rice (ALWAYS rice), meat, and beans/potato/veggies of some sort; juice, coke, or water to drink.

I actually get two lunches, as when I return home around 5pm I eat the lunch from home that I missed! Similar fare to the above description but more food and better tasting.



(Lunch)


Dinner is eaten around 9pm and consists of a sandwich, maybe fruit; not very much food really as lunch is the main meal.

OK, I have to sign off to study my Spanish vocab, hasta luego. -Michael

Fin de semana

My weekend can only be described as action packed. Friday night I attended the birthday party of a relative of Karla’s (I have recently decided that Karla is related to one out of every thirteen people in Quito as I run into them all the time!). The fiesta was at a family owned restaurant, also attending was Oswaldo, the man who kindly assisted me in finding the wonderful family I currently reside with. We chatted much of the night and our conversations provided the highlight of my night. The party had scheduled a man to sing, which would have been fine, except the volume on the speakers was such that it was literally impossible to hear someone screaming in your ear; yes that loud. I thought I was going to come away from the event with permanent hearing damage but I think I’m OK☺

Saturday morning early Dimas and I went mountain biking in el Parque Metropolitano; our second time there. Things went well until Dimas’ front brake failed. As you may or may not know the front brake delivers 70% of one’s stopping power and losing it on the trails is never good. We cobbled together enough of a fix to limp back to the car.



(Me hitting a drop in the park)



(View of Cumbaya, a nearby town, from the biking park on high)


In the afternoon Dimas, Julian, and I went to Parque Carolina (smack dab in the middle of the city) mostly for Julian to ride his bike but also to toss the Frisbee a bit. I brought along the camera to give a better idea of Quito’s largest park.



(View of the BMX/Skate freestyle section of the park, fun to ride in!)



(A view from the park; the cross commerates the visit of the pope in 1985. Around 95% of Ecuadorians claim to be Catholic, although my experience has shown this is changing among the younger wealthier generation)



(People playing soccer in the park, THE sport here as in most Latin American countries)


There were little children playing everywhere in the park, happy and laughing. A young boy approached me, not much older than Julian, and asked if I wanted my shoes shined. I tried to tell him my crocs wouldn’t benefit and he asked me for some money for food. It breaks my heart to see the multitudes of children for whom a real childhood will never be more than a dream. I gave the original boy and a companion fifty cents each to take their picture and wished them luck. I know there is suffering and poverty in the US but it is much more hidden; here in Ecuador it comes out and slaps me in the face every day. When will the majority of our world start caring more about their fellow human beings than about money? Is it possible? As before, I must continue to believe that it is.



(Shoe-shiner boys)


Saturday night was spent in the company of a number of my fellow Fulbrighters. Those that could make it met for dinner at the house Vikki is staying at. Topics ranged from Juliet’s latest scare (being on a bus that was assaulted by a gunman) - the poor girl, she is the one that got mugged her first day here! – to why and when we all took up the study of Spanish. I really like the group and can’t wait to meet the final member, Greg, arriving late September.




(L-R: Lisa, Vikki, Juliet, Me, Martin, Sarah - missing Emma, Jessica, and Greg)


I didn’t stay too late as this morning Dimas and I headed to the north of Quito for a softball game. We picked up a few people along the way and by the end had 6 people in car that is tight with 5! Most of the other players were Cuban and being around them made me wonder if they were really speaking Spanish; I almost couldn’t understand a word! They spoke incredibly fast and slurred; luckily sports is a medium that can transcend language. I was called the “Gringo” the entire time but I’d like to think it was with more affection than hostility☺ “Hey, Gringo, su turno para batear!” – “Hey, Gringo, your turn to bat!” My team had a come from behind victory, 23-17, a high scoring game to say the least! I started off a little rusty on the hitting but warmed up by the end and managed to get two homeruns to help us seal the win. Several of the older men got into heated arguments that later on Dimas told me were all in good fun; I thought they were really pissed at each other.



(Beisbol!)


Later in the day I made some banana bread with my friend Laura but we ran into a few difficulties. First we didn’t have all the right ingredients and when the batter was finally ready the oven wouldn’t heat up, doh! After an embarrassing length of time it was determined that the oven had simply run out of gas and needed a new canister. The oven then went super hot and burned a bit of the top of our batches. In the end it all worked out OK. The finished product wasn’t quite like my mom’s (which is obviously the best in the world☺) but was still good and worth all the effort.

So there you go, my weekend in brief. Now I’m getting ready for another big week at the lab; tomorrow Tatiana has promised to let me help her with a PCR prep and I can’t wait! Hope you’re all well. -Michael

The Bank

How did I come to be walking down a side street in the crime-ridden Mariscal Sucre district, glancing apprehensively over my shoulder to see if I was being followed, with $1,300 in my right pocket? Well, the origins of this story start sometime earlier.

By this week I had managed to incur substantial debt to my host family as a result of my bank account not being open and them graciously paying for all my purchases. Karen finally told me I could access my account today.

Now, before the story continues you must be informed a little about banks in Ecuador. Inside is relatively safe, but as soon as one exits, watch out. It is not unheard of at all to get robbed just after leaving the door. Yesterday an old lady was assailed after exiting her bank, the thieves made off with all the $15,000 she had taken out. What happens is when an individual withdraws a substantial sum of money the bank teller tells the customer that they have to go “confirm such a large withdrawal with higher management.” During this time the teller calls to an outside accomplice and says, for example, in approximately five minutes a tall gringo with a green backpack is going to walk out with $1,300. As soon as the person exits they are attacked, throwing scopolamine in the victims face is a common tactic. A boyfriend of a fellow Fulbrighter here had just left his bank with $300 when something was thrown in his face. The next thing he remembers is waking up in a parking lot, no money, no phone, and no idea of what had happened.

The bank I happen to have my account at also happens to be in one of the four most dangerous areas in Quito (as declared by the US Embassy). Dimas agreed to drive me there and back for more safety. Upon entering the bank, wearing a small waist pack to hold the money, I was thinking how this whole thing about bankers conspiring couldn’t really happen that much. The opening of my account wasn’t exactly smooth, there ended up being some snafu about my signature but finally they declared my account was set and I could withdraw funds. I got in my 5th line of the day and when I asked to take out $1300 the lady said she had to check with her boss… This couldn’t be happening! Dimas was standing a ways off, he saw her leave, came over, and whispered to me that once she hands me the money to put it in my pockets and be ready to just give up the waist pack as a diversion if needed. She finally came back and after counting the bills in front of all the other customers (almost all in 10s!) she handed them over. With so much money in my conspicuously bulging pocket I didn’t know how good of a plan this was but I didn’t have a better one. We walked nervously out the door, past the four guards with assault shotguns and bulletproof vests, and into the street. We had about 2 blocks back to the car and it’s amazing how paranoid one is walking around with huge sums of money. Every person approaching became a potential threat; I kept glancing over my shoulder to see if we were being followed. When the car door slammed shut I couldn’t help but breath a huge sigh of relief. I’ve never had a trip to the bank quite like it and all I can say is the less often I have to undergo that experience the better.

The rest of my day didn’t have quite the 007 status of the first hours but was great nonetheless. I haven’t worked specifically with Chagas disease yet, but all the techniques I am learning will carry directly over when I branch out more on my own. I got to the lab just in time for Theo to hand over the rerun of yesterday’s project. We had been making and running gels to see what size DNA we had (from which the specific TB strains of patients in a nearby hospital could be elucidated) but had been having trouble getting usable results. I mixed my own gel following what I had seen the day before, let it set in the mold, mixed marking dye and DNA samples which were added to the gel’s wells, turned on the electrophoresis machine and waited for an hour. After electrophoresis I stained it in ethanol bromide and examined it under UV light. Honestly, it wasn’t of much use; for some reason Theo’s gel the day before had looked deficient in a similar way. Tatiana had been running the same DNA sample on a different machine and got better results. It’s hard to say where the greatest error came in (tons of places to go wrong in the whole PCR/gel electrophoresis process) but the experience was great practice for me and hey, real science is like fishing; you don’t catch one every time you cast! In a bit of down time I had a chance to get some pics:



(Me waiting for my gel to run)




(Dr. Calvopina, a parasitologist currently working on Leishmaniasis, and one of the amazing people I get the privilege to work with!)


Oh! Yesterday, the head of the lab, Dr. Rodriguez, commented to me that he thought my Spanish was quite good. Rather nice of him, but what this means to me is that my accent isn’t quite as bad as most gringos; as I know I have a long way to go in terms of comprehension☺

I’m heading to another family birthday party soon with Karla, Dimas, and Julian; there sure are lots of b-days to attend when one counts their close family in the 70’s!
Cuidense,
Michael

The Embassy

The US Embassy in Quito is a Fortress. At first I didn’t think they were going to let me in for the security meeting! All the front people were native Ecuadorians and the lady I was trying to explain my reason for entering wasn’t having it. She eventually called a superior and they let me in. There was a line of about 100 Ecuadorians there waiting to get visas and during my wait I saw a cousin of Karla’s in the crowd. Later on in the day I biked by the owner of the bike shop where I got my bike; what are the chances of randomly seeing two people I know in a city of 2 million in which I’ve resided for 1.5 weeks? It can’t be good, but hey, it happened! Back to the briefing. You know, in all honesty I almost wonder if me giving a detailed description constitutes release of “sensitive material” so if you stop hearing from me assume I’ve been detained.

Anyhow, we passed through two metal/bomb screeners and were issued special passes that designated us as visitors that must be escorted at all times. I can’t imagine what the Embassy is like in Iraq! The “meeting” started with us watching a power point about how the Embassy works and how Ecuador is a struggling and very dangerous country. They have currently designated the country as “critical” (the highest) in terms of crime. I drew serious contention with one aspect of the presentation though. In the power point the US is described as significantly helping Ecuador through anti-narcotics funding, particularly near the northern border with Colombia. “Once the dangerous drug problem has been curbed Ecuador will be able to proceed forward.” Now, wars against drug cartels have been waged for a quite some time and has the drug problem really lessened? Might that same funding be better used to help raise the economic, social, and health indices of the majority of Ecuadorians so that they wouldn’t have to engage in drug running in the first place? I don’t know, just a thought.

The last part of the meeting was great, we were introduced to Kevin Skillin, the Embassy’s Cultural Affairs Officer (and a former Ecuador Fulbright Fellow!) who informed us of upcoming events as well as offered their support if we wanted to create any outreach or informational programs with their help.

After the meeting the fellows in attendance at the meeting all decided to go out for lunch (if I haven’t mentioned it yet, lunch is the largest meal of the day, usually conducted around 2pm). We ended up at a Lebanese place and the food was a bunch of different dips or spreads to be eaten with pita bread. The bill with tax and tip for each person was $10 (including dessert). Now this may seem cheap but many little mom and pop lunch stops where you can get soup, a plate of rice/meat/other, some fruit, and juice cost between $1 and $1.50!

Leaving the meeting I decided to bike over to my “Grandmother’s” house and see what her exchange student (Laura, a junior from Willamette studying at USFQ) was doing. I met Laura back at one of the huge family gatherings and we’ve stayed in touch. She was the first American I met here and it was nice to speak a little English and rest my brain. Laura wasn’t up to too much and we decided to go for an adventure. Leaving the bike we picked a direction, west, and started walking in a straight line. After 30-40 minutes we were way above the main portion of the city. A beautiful vista greeted us, bolts of sun piercing the clouds to reflect off the tall skyscrapers. Unfortunately I did not bring my camera, but I will provide photos of the view in the future. Turning my gaze from the city and looking around me I was struck with the sharp dichotomy that is Ecuador. Shacks constructed from trash, tin, and brick lay all about me, innocent children playing in the dirt. The haves and the have-nots, will it ever change? I must continue to believe it can.

A view I can provide a picture of is below. There is another park nearby that is right on the brim of a large ravine cutting away from the city. One has to be careful in such parks as there are no rules about dog owners picking up their pooch’s doo-doo and as such landmines litter the grass.



(View from the park)


I’m off to read up on the work done so far by Dr. Guevara on Chagas disease; interesting and great Spanish practice! Buenas noches, -Michael

First days at the lab + random

I’ve realized this isn’t going to be easy. I never expected it to be a breeze but the magnitude of the challenge has become apparent to me these past two days. Learning more advanced laboratory techniques such as PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) and ELISA (Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay) would have been tricky in the States but throw in the language impediment and the difficulty reaches a new level. My Spanish has progressed to the point where I can have a 10-15 minute conversation with a new person and not run into too much trouble. However, in the lab, where a single word can carry utmost importance and meaning, I still have a way to go. Despite this I have enjoyed my time at the CBM (Centro BioMedicina).



(My desk space, shared with Dr. Guevara and Dr. Calvopina-I've mostly been in other lab rooms)


My first morning, after an exciting bike ride into the lab, I met Theo Murer. Theo is a Swedish national, about 40 years or age, who is volunteering in the lab and absolutely pumped to be helping out on such important public health issues. He is still a bit of an enigma, but I believe he has worked most of his life in labs throughout the world. His family (wife + 2 kids) are here in Quito as well and he says he plans to stay for quite some time. I have worked with him and a young woman named Tatiana these past two days, primarily helping/observing in how PCR is prepped. Once the reagents are all set the process is rather automated but getting to that step has proven far more complicated than I ever thought. They are working to determine the exact strains of Tuberculosis bacteria infecting patients residing in a nearby hospital. The lab is a mecca for infectious disease research; Chagas disease, Leishmaniasis, Onchocerciasis, TB, Malaria, and Dengue are all being examined.

One area I was able to contribute concerned a reagent manufacturer’s instructions. The instructions were entirely in English and it was giving them fits. There were tricky key words they had no idea about that I was able to render into Spanish so they could catch the meaning. I wasn’t the only one having language be an impediment to the research! One thing I’ve noticed is that all the young student level people in the lab, with one exception, are female. I’m not sure if this normal in Ecuadorian science but the ratio is almost uncanny. In conclusion, I was getting frustrated with myself for not following well and not “getting it” but once calmer I realized I’ve been there only two days out of 10 months and just need to keep trying. I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to work with and I know things will improve.

OK, another topic. There is a sweet little park about 100ft from our front gate that I’ve gone to the past two evenings after work. They have a bunch of old monkey bars and other equipment that is perfect for pull-ups, throw in some pushups and crunches and I think I’ve found a far cheaper and almost as effective option as seeking out a gym. Today after a short workout I met a little boy, who’s name I was not able to pronounce back to him (Maybe it was Quechua?), and we engaged in some one sided teeter-tottering. Both parties involved seemed to have a great time☺



(The park!)


On the way to the park I ran into the local neighborhood security guard, Oswaldo. We chatted for a while and I found out he’s lived in Quito for only 4 years, originally coming from a southern coastal province. He always has a smile on his face when I see him and I hope to talk with him more soon. As much as people must internally cringe at some of my pronunciations they haven’t said anything mean yet! I get the sense that a lot of people come to Quito looking for employment, some like Oswaldo succeed, while others, the many homeless to be found all over the city, are not so fortunate.



(Oswaldo)


Tomorrow I won’t be going to the lab as I have to go the Embassy for a security briefing followed by a meeting with one of the personnel there to discuss our projects. They are supposed to scare the **** out of us but I’m already pretty paranoid. This stems from talking with one of the other Fulbright fellows, a young gal named Juliet, who got mugged her first day here and also hearing a story from Theo about how he was strangled to unconsciousness before being robbed; at 3pm in a populated tourist area…

It would be unkind to end with such a morbid image so I will tell you about the fruit truck. The first time I heard the garbled megaphone I thought the political campaigners were in our area. Even several rooms back into the house the booming voice resonated loudly. I went outside to see what was going on and saw a pickup truck full of fruit and people, with the driver screaming into microphone. What a deal, a broken eardrum and two papayas for only a dollar! Seriously though, the fruit here is amazing, served with every meal and the juices, wow, they really are in another league. Fresh made every day and so many different types!

Just in case you didn't know, if you click on the pictures they show up enlarged.

Hope you’re all well, hasta luego. -Michael

C.B.B.B. or calendars, bikes, balls, and birds

There are no calendars in Quito. This is a problem you see, as I am a calendar person. I like to lay out everything to come in the next few weeks on a gloriously large piece of paper. I actually bought a calendar before coming to EC but neglected to open it and see it was for ‘08/’09, doh! I will provide you with a sampling of my search for a calendar.

I enter a book/office supply store and wander around looking for a calendar. After not finding one I chalk it up to my gringoness and decide to ask the nice lady at the help desk. (The following conversation was originally conducted in Spanish). Me: Hi, do you have any calendars here? Her: No… Me: Do you know anywhere that has them? Her: No… Me: …Uhh, thanks. Now repeat this scenario five more times. I refuse to believe there no calendars in a city of 2 million people. However, so far, not a single person has been able to point me in any semblance of a direction. Amazing. So today I made my own calendar, not fancy but it works.

Not all has been frustrating; I recently met a friend of Dimas’ , Dennis, who rides mountain bikes and asked if I wanted to go the next time he went. That next time ended up being this morning. There is a large wooded park (Parque Metropolitano) at the edge of the city with miles and miles of singletrack. We rode for an hour or so and to be honest I got schooled. They’ve got some big jumps and stunts built up that reminded me of Whistler BC. Needless to say I was rather surprised to find them at the Ecuator but the surprise was of the most pleasant variety. I had a blast and can’t wait to get back out there and explore more.



(Pic of Dennis gettin' some air on one of the park's trails)


After biking I went to a futbol (soccer) game here in Quito. The home team got spanked but I was there more to see how futbol works in South America. Violent, in a word. The fans weren’t too pumped about losing to an inferior team and started throwing full water bottles onto the field, I also saw some huge ice chunks thrown. As the game drew to a close there were a number of police in full riot gear down by the field to protect the players.



(Riot Police)


I forgot to mention an exciting aspect of my home last time. Annita, the lady who lives upstairs and owns the whole building, has a lorro, or parrot. It likes to sit outside our living room window and man is the thing a chatterbox! He has three main sayings and doesn’t seem to like branching out in his old age. First is “hola,” second “corre corre corre” said machine gun fast (it means run run run!), and last is not a word but the seductive whistle guys often do to females. This last one is his favorite and before I knew there was a parrot in the vicinity I thought there was a whole gang of young fellows harassing girls nearby.



(El Lorito - the little parrot)


Tomorrow is my first full day at the lab and I’ll be sure to share how it’s going as soon as possible. Until then, cuidense.

The Beginning

I believe a few years back I was of the mindset that I’d never do anything as silly as keep a blog. Well, times change, as have I, so here goes nothing. I hope you enjoy and feel free to provide feedback.

First, some contact information. Please know that in Latin America the person you call never pays any fees, only the initiating caller. So feel free to call, just use a good plan or you’ll get charged a ton. I will be receiving any mail at the Fulbright Commission compound, as it is more secure.

Cell: (593) 9 858-4703
House: (005) 932 223-8193

Michael Wauters
Comisión Fulbright del Ecuador
Almagro N25-41 y Av. Colon
Quito, Ecuador


(Me writing this blog in my room!)

I planned to post earlier but there have been both technical and intestinal hindrances to said goal. More on those later. I arrived in Quito’s international airport around 11:30pm on September 7th and was super pumped to have no line at customs only to have my enthusiasm dampened when someone’s bag got jammed in the luggage conveyer and hold everything up for 15 minutes or so. Finally getting my luggage I was able to walk out into the pick up area, like a small rock concert with people holding signs for their favorite bands (new arrivals). Dimas, my new padre didn’t have a sign but I recognized him easily from pictures exchanged a few days prior. Dimas is short for Dimitrov and he is from Cuba originally, the Russian sounding name is because of communist links; many Cuban mothers named their children with Russian names for a period of time. Dimas is a web page programmer and has his own company, Kmikaze Media, here in Quito.


(Dimas and his son Julian in the front yard)

I thought I’d sleep like a rock but that wasn’t the case. I forgot to factor in the altitude and in the end slept a max of two hours towards the morning. After groggily rising I met Karla (mi madre) and her and Dimas’ son, Julian (almost 4).


(Karla and Julian in the living room)



(Julian wearing some of my gear)

Karla is originally from Quito and is a graphic designer who works with computers. Both Karla and Dimas have been incredibly helpful, welcoming, and kind. I was planning to stay with them for a few weeks before getting my own place but have had such a good experience that I may stay with them for the duration of my 10 months. For $16/day (about half my monthly stipend) I get my own room, 3 meals a day, laundry, wide band wireless Internet, and the intangibles such as great company and endless Spanish practice. I also like my room.


(A shot of my room)

Soon after breakfast we caught a taxi (which are everywhere and represent a powerful union that shut down the city sometime back by blocking off all major roads!) to the house of Karla’s mother, Laly, for Laly’s birthday. I got to meet the entire family, which amounted to about 50 people! In Ecuador every person greets EVERY other person present at the house. Men shake hands or embrace if close, while women and opposite sex greetings consist of a kiss to the right cheek; right only or problems could ensue! I wanted to be a good guest and so kept accepting the food given to me, probably more than I should have, as after lunch I wasn’t feeling so good.

The next day things were not improving, I had a headache as well as feeling sore all over and my stomach had started to feel a bit queasy in addition. We had gone back over to Laly’s house for a much smaller informal lunch (lunch by the way is the main meal here, served around 2pm and always preceded by soup) and at one point after rising quickly I felt close to fainting. I’ve had problems with this in the past and knew I needed to eat and drink more as soon as possible. I got some food down but my stomach wasn’t happy. I went to lie on a bed and ended up puking a while later. I puked again that night and the next day. The story ended with me in the hospital getting 2 L of lactated ringers to combat my severe dehydration. The emergency room bill was, guess how much… only $46! I ended up losing about 10 pounds in two days.

With the medical stuff behind me I was able to start doing the stuff I had hoped to all along. After getting out the hospital I went to the Fulbright Commission in Quito where I met Karen (programs director- our first contact point for anything) and Susana (Executive director). Karen was very efficient and helpful; providing me with my welcome packet and what I needed to do to set everything up. I was then introduced to Susana who gave me a big hug. She said she felt she already knew me as we had been emailing by this point for over a year and a half. Back when I first started the Fulbright application process I had contacted her for help in finding a researcher working on Chagas disease. After she explained more of the program we chatted for about 45 minutes or so, ranging from my upbringing to how we were both reading books about/by Paul Farmer at the moment! If you don’t know who Paul Farmer is I heavily suggest you google his name right now and find out; a personal hero of mine. Susana’s support for the Fulbright mission of cross cultural understanding through education and research is self evident and I found myself instantly liking this fiery intense woman.

On Tuesday the 11th I got in touch with the head researcher I will be working with, Dr. Angel Guevara, and traveled with him via taxi to the lab on the campus of the Biomedical Center at the Universidad Central del Ecuador, Ecuador’s largest public university. Dr. Guevara is short, clean shaven, and in a word very sharp; his first appearance made any last doubts about the project I was to be working on vanish. I was given a tour of the labs I will be working in and was quite impressed. After the tour I was introduced to the head of the Biomedical Center who told me to not hesitate in asking him if anything came up.

That day Dr. Guevara wanted to check on some mice they had injected intraperitoneally with triatomine feces a few weeks back, strongly suspected of harboring Trypanosoma cruzi (the infectious agent in Chagas disease). After anaesthetizing the mice with ether Dr. Guevara’s partner (Manuel Calvopina, another Doc I will be working closely with who specializes in Leishmania) stuffed them into a “mouse tube” where their tails stuck out a hole in the screw on cap. He then snipped a mm off their tail from behind a face shield and deposited the drop of blood on a slide which I put a cover slip on and brought to Dr. Guevara to examine by light microscopy. We looked at three mice and didn’t see any trypomastigotes (the mobile blood borne stage of T. cruzi). They explanation was that too small an amount of feces had been injected to see the parasites this soon.

I was offered to start coming to the lab full time the next day but had heard warnings that jumping into one’s project too soon can be disastrous. As I was already behind in the game from my sickness I decided to take the rest of this week to sort things out with my living situation/attend to the tasks set before me by the Commission. I bought a small desk and chair for my room that Dimas helped me pick up using his car (almost all cars here are super compact and fuel efficient, perfect for the confines of a city like Quito).

The prospect of not biking (which many of you know is huge passion of mine) for my 10-month stay was too much to contemplate and so I bought a bike for $415. Bike sales here are quite different, one picks out a frame, fork, and component group and then has is it built up. I got the only frame that remotely fit me, a 20” Schwinn High Plains with a Suntour 4” fork and Shimano Acera.


(My new bike!)

In the states this would be beginner stuff but here I was assured it was “muy chevere” or very nice. In my case I actually went into the shop on Thursday and helped them build it to make sure everything was kosher. The shop was small and dirty but I met some super cool guys, Marcelo and Danny who I chatted with about the local scene. It ended up being an amazing time that I kind of lucked into. I’ve talked with a few other Americans who have complained that at one of the big universities (USFQ) there are only foreigners and super rich spoiled Ecuadorian kids and that they have a hard time meeting down to earth people their age. I guess they’re just not going to the right places! The advice about seeking out your passions and the making of friends will follow has been proven to me once again.


(The bike shop show room with Marcelo at center)

Basically no one rides bikes on the roads, I’ve seen maybe 10 people total here do it so far, but there are supposedly a ton of great XC trails in the surrounding mountains. I’ve been using the bike to explore and found as long as I stick to the sidewalks I’m OK. Dodging people, poles, dropping small ledges (no side-walk here is even for long!) and trying not to get run over when crossing roads has proved exceptionally exciting. It’s far more technical than many of the off-road trails I’ve ridden! If I were to explain pedestrian rights in a word it would be “none.” The biggest object rules in the city (watch out for the bus drivers, estan loco!) and people run across streets randomly whenever there is a small gap in traffic. You really have to see it to believe it.

An observation that doesn’t fit into any one day is my improvement in Spanish. Even in just a week in a feel like I’ve bounded ahead of where I started out, vocab, familiarity, comprehension; I can’t wait to assess myself come the end of a few months!

OK, this has become excessively long but I just got my wireless working and can now post it all! Take care, -Michael