Family Visit

I spent the past two weeks with my whole family in Ecuador, showing them my new home and all the wonderful people I have come to know here. It was a very special experience indeed. My two families, Ecuadorian and American, both fell in love with each other and hope to spend more time together in the future. I would like this too:) The following pictures give a glimpse into my life these past weeks.






(My two families, Shirley wandered into the photo too:)






(A view down the steps of El Parque Itchimbia with the historical district of Quito visible afar. I took them all on a walking tour their first full day here and they handled the 10,000ft of altitude like champs! We ate lunch at a little local place for $1.50 a plate and then walked around the historical district where a mime made fun of us, good times!)






(Our next stop was Banos, here is a shot looking down on the town from a trail that winds up one of the valley's sides.)







(The town of Banos from the viewpoint at the end of the hike. The last portion of the hike we were accompanied by three children who live in a little shack in the hillside. It's amazing the inclines people live and farm on here, no way one could ever use a tractor!)






(When I asked the little girl of the trio what she had in her book she said "airplanes." I didn't get it until we summited and they started making paper airplanes! We joined in too, it was great.)






(We took a one day jungle tour starting from Banos. We only had enough time to make it to secondary rainforest but this was impressive and exciting nonetheless. The day before there were record rains and all the rivers had flooded, wiping out the trail in sections and destroying all the bridges. Thus, we got the "adventure" version of the tour, complete with sketchy river crossings such as this one, adrenaline rush you bet!)






(He we are with our guide Carlos, if you click on the pic to view it larger you can see the designs painted on our checks using a local dye known to indigenous peoples for centuries. It washes off easily with water.)






(A family shot in front of a large tree. The strange coating on several faces is the result of mixing a certain clay with water, it is reportedly similar/better to the substances people pay excessive amounts of money for in spas.)






(Patrick with the goal of our hike in the background. The hike took about an hour longer than normal due to the treacherous conditions but the waterfall at the end was incredible, almost too big to get in a single photo!)







(Many rainforest plants and trees have enormous leaves. These can be used to wrap meat for cooking, build a roof, or cover privy parts.)







(Family shot overlooking the Pastaza river and surrounding rain forest.)







(Another view from the same outcropping, showing more of the Pastaza river as well as a bit of the Puyo river feeding in on the right side.)






(Back in Banos we wandered the town one afternoon and came across a family of textile producers with whom we chatted for over an hour and bought some amazing wall hangings and hammocks.)







(Our next destination was the coast of Ecuador where we resided for Christmas. The surroundings were so unChristmas-like for me I didn't realize it was "the day" until about noon. I guess that's what 80 degrees and tropical plants will do.)







(It was cloudy a few of the days but still plenty warm. My brothers and I made a sand fort like we usually do on the Washington coast, the locals didn't get it but then again most people in the US don't understand either.)






(The place we stayed at, Alandaluz, is a world renowned eco-lodge and was an incredible attraction in its own right. This is a shot of the restaurant, constructed entirely from easily renewable resources, in this case bamboo.)






(Eating fresh seafood right on the beach, amazing)






(My bros and I took a long walk down an uninhabited part of the beach, we found many animals washed ashore, such as this turtle with no head.)







(Exploring a ship wreck we found far down the beach on our walk, no gold though.)







(The way we ended most every night, all listening to the Harry Potter books through Matthew's ipod.)

Pumping Iron EC-style

Carlos (a guard friend) has been inviting me to work out at his son’s gym for a while now but it just hasn’t worked out for various reseaons, that is until today.

A week of later bedtimes made the 6am alarm feel awful early, but I had to get going as Carlos’ night shift ended at 6:30am and we had agreed to head out right after he got off. We caught a total of three different buses and traveled for over an hour to reach our destination, leaving me wondering if I would be able to find my way back:)

His son’s gym is in a part of Quito I hadn’t ever explored, it was full of small stores, churches, central plazas, and lots of Quiteños; in fact I didn’t see a single other gringo. The gym itself was cramped but adequate. Right off the bat I was introduced to Carlos’ son, a fit 30-something who was very welcoming. In fact, everyone I met there was very nice and happy to help me find things or give advice on equipment use. The gym has a main floor with a sparse but functional collection of machines and free-weights and an open upstairs for aerobics, yoga, etc. I had about 3” head clearance from the ceiling and also had some trouble fitting on several of the machines (for example on the lat pull-down I had to sit on the floor rather that the seat to achieve optimal extension) but in my 50 minutes there I got in a great workout; I’m already sore just hours later! I guess that’s what I get for showing off a bit after not lifting for a few months:) I might have stayed longer but Carlos was hanging out the whole time, I believe to help me find my way back, and after being up all night he looked like he needed to sleep, badly. He made sure I caught the right bus but not before we agreed to have me visit him at his home some day when I have more time. He lives just a kilometer or so from his son’s gym, families here really tend to stick together.

The trip back was more uneventful than I had worried, but gave me time to think on how lucky I am to have met people like Carlos. I couldn’t have imagined a better way to start my morning.

On another topic, my whole family arrives here in Quito tonight and I’m super pumped to spend the next two weeks with them but just a warning, the blog may suffer a bit. Happy Christmas if I don’t post again before then:)

Official FB Update 3

(L-R, Yosselin, Theo, Manuel, and Dr. Unnasch - I was there, I swear, just taking the picture:)


Another full month already, time is really starting to fly. This one started with a visit from Dr. Thomas Unnasch, an Onchocerciasis expert from the University of Alabama who is part of OEPA (Onchocerciasis Elimination Program for the Americas) and was in Ecuador to attend a conference on Oncho as well as work with our lab. In addition to dispensing several vital and costly reagents he worked with us for a day and half to refine and troubleshoot the complicated DNA extraction and subsequent PCR and ELISA procedures. The visit was a great success and our first full trial run yielded the results we were hoping for. All the positives came out positive, all the negatives were negative, and none of the test samples were positive, great news for the people of Agua Blanca! We have been mainly working on this project since Dr. Unnasch’s visit and now have only about 250 pools left to test.

The huge Oncho push has put the Chagas disease project on the back burner a bit. However, we still managed to prepare T. cruzi antigen for use in the two confirmatory tests we need to carry out in order to be sure the putative positives we have are actually real positives; one test is never enough.

My immunology class continues to provide ample opportunity to push myself academically and socially. We just got our first test results back and I did better than I thought I would going into this experience. I’m not in the class to obsess over grades but doing well doesn’t hurt anything☺ I also continue to make headway with my fellow students, they even saved me a seat recently after I arrived a bit late!

My latest excursion of the month was to Baños and I had an amazing time. Two of my companions for the trip are in Ecuador visiting a mutual friend and vacationing. There is nothing like being around people who can hardly speak any Spanish to help me see how much progress I am making.

I’ve also come across a new area of interest as of late. In addition to my time researching tropical diseases I would like to step back and take a look at the big picture of healthcare in Ecuador. Towards this end I’ve been talking with any Ecuadorian who will hear me out about where do they go when they are sick, what have they done during health crisis, what do they think of the system in Ecuador, etc. Carlos, a guard on my street, put it this way. “When a poor person here gets really sick, well, they just die.” Talking with my Cuban host-father about the system in Cuba has been an interesting contrast. I’m not sure exactly where this side-project will take me but I’ll be sure to keep you informed of all developments.

A recent source of great enjoyment in my life has been playing with my four-year-old host brother in the park by our house. Soccer, “chase,” sliding, and more! The two-year-old daughter of our empleada is often around too, she can’t quite speak coherently yet, but we have great fun; she loves being swung around and trying to eat all my things.

Morning run in La Floresta

Slept in late, up and on the street at 9am, sun is already high overhead. Right out the door I hear “hola.” It’s Oswaldo, we chat and plan to meet up to work on his English later. Down Coruña, amazing vistas of Quito across the valley, how beautiful it looks, distance obscuring the trash, filth, and poverty. Down, down, past a drunken man passed out on the sidewalk, no older than me. Through a roundabout plaza, plastic cups, bottles, and other refuse from last night’s fiestas de Quito celebration litter the ground. A dozen plus pigeons observe my passing from a central fountain that no longer functions. Down some more, I pass a track and field stadium and think of my brother. Flat, past little shops, several panaderias waft their scent of fresh bread and pastries out to tempt me. Through a park, two more men sleep off the night’s revelry on the grass, oblivious to the hustle and bustle around them. Farther and farther, I’m not sure what I’m looking for, when I should turn around. Then I see it, a small local market, replete with fresh fruit, veggies, meat, and fish, a kaleidoscope of color and smell with numerous locals hawking their wares. As I enter all eyes turn toward me, the tall, white, sweating gringo. Everyone wants me to buy from them, expectant of my great wealth – all I carry are my keys. Two older ladies ask me where I am from, we chat for a while, I tell them I hope to return – every Thursday morning, this time they say. Reverse course, flat, flat, up, getting steeper, lungs burning, up some more, legs aching, close now, and then I see Carlos. We talk about my run; “gotta be real careful as a foreigner out there,” he says. Yup, yup. I’m running again, right up to our gate, home.

Rafting

I promised to put up rafting pics when I got them and I didn't forget, enjoy:)





(We went through some beautiful country.)





(Navigating past a rock... backwards!)





(Our boat/ a waterfall)





(Then it started raining, hard. Luckily we were pretty much in the rainforest and it never got cold.)





(A big one!)





(Team victory pose.)