language frustrations

As of today, I have been in language school for 6 weeks and 4 days (minus the 3 days I was sick). I am reaching the end of the predetermined amount of time I would need to master the spanish language (9 weeks). This week I have been in contact with the doctors in Shell (who are patiently awaiting my arrival) about when I will be starting. I informed them I was not sure I would be ready after 2 more weeks. We decided we would do a little test. The last week that I am in Ecuador, before returning to the states for Navidad, I will be going to Shell for 3 days to work with the docs there. They will then decide if I am ready or not.

I think this has been a source of anxiety for me. As of right now I do not feel ready, and now when I have a bad day (a day where I feel like I don't understand anything) I get really frustrated and my anxiety increases.

The reality is that I can have more time to study spanish if I need it, but we don't want me to study longer if I don't need it. I don't want to start working before I am ready because that will be even worse frustration for me.

Please pray for me during this time.

Thanksgiving Reflections

This year I spent Thanksgiving in Ecuador with the Aviles family (pictured left). We had such a great time. It was kind of last minute. I was invited to the house of a missionary couple here, but at the last minute (about one week before) they found out the had to leave town. I talked with the family I am staying with and asked them if they would like to have a traditional Thanksgiving meal with me. They agreed.

I was going to make the stuffing and mashed potatoes and a cake. And Pachi (the mom) was going to buy some turkey. You see they don't eat a lot of turkey here, so she had never made turkey but knew a man who made turkey and she could buy some from him. On Thanksgiving day, I had class in the morning (because it is not a holiday here), I returned from class around 11:30 am. We had to eat around 2 pm because work began again around 3 pm. When I got home, I asked Pachi how she was doing, she said she was doing very badly. She said she went to buy the turkey and he didn't have any. So she want to Supermaxi (the grocery store) and bought a turkey breast but it was frozen solid. We had about 3 hours cook this frozen turkey breast.

I started making the stuffing and potatoes, she put the turkey in the microwave to try to defrost it. Eventually we decided to cut it into pieces to speed up this process a little. So we did and believe it or not, the turkey was ready to eat at 2:20 pm. So we had turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, and cake. Everyone enjoyed the meal. The stuffing and cranberry sauce were thngs they had never eaten before. They especially loved the cranberry sauce.

I am so grateful for this family I am staying with. This meal was strange for them, but they willingly ate it with me because they knew how much it meant to me. They have gone out of their way to make me feel at home. I feel like I belong in the family.

I am also very grateful for my family at home in the states. They have supported me in my decisions (as crazy as they may have seemed to them) over the last several years. I know they love me very much and I know they are praying for me while I am away.

I am also grateful for my friends in the states. I know that I will not make it in Ecuador without the prayers and love from my friends. And I know that my friends are praying for me all the time.

Most importantly, I am grateful for my God! He has carried me and continues to carry me through struggles. I feel his presence and his love with me at all times. I know things will not always be easy here in Ecuador, but I also know that he will never leave me or forsake me because he said so.

Navidad

Many of you know how much I love Christmas and decorating for Christmas. The lady that I am staying with found out that I make wreaths. She asked me if I could make a center piece for her table. We went to the "Salon de Navidad" to get the stuff. They have a limited selection of things to make wreaths with, but I found some good stuff.

I made a center piece (pictured right) and a wreath for the door (below). She asked me if I could make two small wreaths for her husbands office as well.

I feel so at home now because this is something I love to do. She helped me some and we had a good time. They also have a christmas tree in the house so it really feels like Christmas. And I bought some Ecuadorian Christmas music.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, which is not a holiday here. So it is kind of like I skipped Thanksgiving and moved right into Christmas season. I learned that normally they put up their Christmas decorations on November 10, I am not sure why. So most of the people here are all ready for Christmas.

As for New Years, they don't celebrate New Years, they celebrate "ano viejo" or old year on Dec 31. The parties last until 4 or 5 am and New Year's day is just a day for sleeping. So in a way it is the same as far as the parties are on Dec 31, but the focus is different. We in the States celebrate the year that is coming, they celebrate the year that has past.

El Desierto de Jubones

Yes it is true, there is a desert in the middle of the mountains in Ecuador. I did not believe it until I got there and saw it for myself. How is the possible you might ask? I do not know, but it is true. And even though it is in the mountains, and still at about 6000 feet elevation, it is hot like the desert. It only rains there rarely. There is a river that runs through it, Rio Jubones, the water comes from when it rains in the mountains. On this particular day the river was very dirty because it had recently rained in the mountains so all the dirt was washed into the river.


We started by hiking up the mountain to the left of the river on a path that was anywhere from 6 inches to 2 feet wide with a cliff down into the river on one side. The higher we climbed, the more forceful the wind became. Once we got to the top of the mountain, it was difficult to walk because the wind was blowing us, luckily it was going with us, not against us. I was wearing a backpack and at times it was under my left arm because the wind had brought it forward.

There were some cacti and a few other types of vegetation, but as you can see, not much. We saw one small (about 5 inches) lizard, he ran from us very fast, I don't think anyone got a picture, though some tried.

One thing I realize over and over again when I am hiking here in Ecuador is, there really are no standards for safety. You can do what ever you want to at your own risk. Like hiking up the side of this mountain with nothing to keep us from falling down to the river if the wind had gotten just a tad bit stonger. At times I am grateful there are not safety standards, because some of the things I have seen and done, I probably would not have been able to. But other times, I wish there were, because maybe the hike today could have been made safer. Again, inspite of the wind and the slight feeling of fear, I had fun.

The Earthquake

For those of you who have been asking, here is my spanish entry. The english translation follows.

Era jueves, a las 10:13 in la noche. Estaba durmiendo. Me desperte porque oi un ruido alto. Pude ver la ventana moviendose. Pense que alguien en the casa estaba corriendo. Oi al padre gritar "bajen todos" pero, no desperte totalmente. No entendi porque alguien estaba corriendo en la casa en la noche. Cuando me desperte en la manana, olvide lo sucedido, hasta que la madre me pregunto si he sentido el temblor. Entonces me acorde. No pude entender porque el hijo fue abajo dejandome en mi cuarto??

It was Thursday at 10:13 pm. I was sleeping. I woke up because I heard a loud noise. I could see the window shaking. I thought someone was running in the house. I heard the father yell "everyone downstairs" (my room is on the 3rd floor), but I was not really awake so I did not understand what he was yelling. I did not understand why someone was running in the house or why the father was yelling so late at night (you see I thought it was midnight). When I woke up in the morning, I forgot what had happened until the mother asked me if I felt the tremor. Then I remembered. I could not understand why the son had gone downstairs but left me in my room "asleep"??

The Earthquake epicenter here in Ecuador was in the jungle. We just got a tremor and no damage was done in Cuenca. There was also an Earthquake the same night in Chile that did a lot of damage. I do not know all the details about either one (or if they were really the same one). I wish I had been fully awake to appreciate, I hear it was pretty impressive. It lasted about 25 seconds.

Permission to leave

This week, I had the experience of the immigration office. I am here in Ecuador on a volunteer VISA. Because of the type of VISA I have, I had to go to Immigration and fill out some papers to comply with some laws.

First, I had to obtain a Censo. The government maintains a census of Extranjeros (foreigners) in the country. The Censo is proof that I have been counted. It is an ID card of sorts. It also is my proof that I am now an official resident of Ecuador. To obtain my Censo, I had to sign the card before it was laminated (like how old drivers licenses used to be). When I signed it, I signed it like I sign my name now. The immigration officer yelled at me because my signature did not look like my signature in my passport (which I signed 8 years ago, before I was a doctor). He made me sign another paper, with a signature that matched my passport, to prove that I was me. I guess signatures are very important here. But on my Censo is the sloppy signature. This card also contains a photo. He took a digital photo that he then printed on my Censo. Well, I am not sure what kind of software they are using, but the computer elongated my face. So on top of it being a bad photo, my face is very long, so now it is a really bad photo.

Next, I had to obtain a Salida. Now that I am a resident of Ecuador, I have to get the government's permission to leave the country. I am planning on going back to the US for Christmas, so I need a Salida. When I went to that part of the office, I said I needed a Salida. The immigration officer asked me in a very gruff voice where I was going and when. I was thinking to myself, 'this is ridiculous that I have to tell him anything, I am an American citizen and I can go to the US whenever I want to.' Of course, I did not say anything even close to that to him, because I knew I needed his permission to go. So I just answered his questions and he gave me a paper to fill out. I then had to leave my passport, my Censo, and that paper with them and return the next day to get it back. I returned the next day and retrieved my passport, my Censo, and my Salida. No problems. I now have the government's permission to leave the country.

I still am having a hard time processing all of this. I am now a resident of Ecuador, I am now under the laws of the government of Ecuador. Of course, I am a US citizen first, and I am and always will be protected by the US government. But it is weird to imagine that I had to get permission from Ecuador to go back to my home country. The reality is, I could have left here without permission, but then they would not have to let me back in when I return in January. This is all definitely new for me and, as with all new experiences, it takes a while to get used to how things work.

My purpose for being here is to serve God and I have to jump through all these hoops first before I can do that. I will do whatever it takes to follow God's will, and right now, I believe this is all a necessary part of that. I do not want the government to kick me out, then I can be of no help to anyone.

Bus Experience

I am now living with a different family, and I get to take the bus. Taking the bus in Ecuador is an experience. I have done this before, but today was the first time I did it by myself.

First off, the maximum capacity of a city bus here is 50 people. There are 39 seats (mas or menos) and the rest of the people (supposedly only 11) get to stand. I believe at times there are probably 30 people standing. You see, there are 2 people working on each bus, one drives, the other collects the fare and yells out the window what the destination is trying to get more people on the bus. These 2 people, more or less, own the bus. Every fare is pure profit so they want to get as many people as possible on their bus. They never believe the bus is full, there is always room for one more.

There are bus stops, but you can wait anywhere on the bus route and when the bus comes just wave and the driver will stop for you, even if you are not at a designated stop. The same is true for when you want to get off. There is a string or at times a button and you pull the string or push the button when you want to get off. The problem is there may be 20+ people standing in the aisle and you have to try to get past them to get off.

My first bus ride today, I got a seat which is a good thing during the ride, but bad when I was ready to get off. I got up in what I thought was plenty of time to wiggle my way past the people in the aisle, pull the string, and get to the door. Well, there were no people on the side of the road wanting to get on so the driver was going about 40 mph (try wiggling through people at 40 mph). I pulled the string, the bus stopped very suddenly, so everyone standing, including me, jerked forward then backward. Then I had about 4 more people to get by before the door. The driver only stops for a couple seconds. Needless to say, I made it off, but I think he may have started driving again before my back foot was off the step (this is also common). If there is a line of people to get on, the last person will usually have to get on a moving bus because he starts going before everyone is on, yet another tactic to getting more people, always in a hurry.

My second bus ride was slightly more eventful. Again, I got a seat, again not a good idea for when you want to get off. When we were getting close to my stop, I pulled the string but nothing happened. In this bus, there was a button and the string was disabled. So I moved toward the button and the bus stopped suddenly, I almost fell. Some teenage boys smirked. I pushed the button, the bus stopped but the door did not open. You see, I was at the back of the bus and apparently either the back door was not working, or the driver chose not to open it. So now I had to make my way to the front of the bus. Luckily I always try to get off a little before my road, so we hadn't passed it yet. I got to the front of the bus and pulled the string but again nothing happened. Then I realized there is no button in the front of the bus. So I said "quiero salir" ("I want to leave"), nothing happened. Then suddenly the bus stopped. Right in front of my street there were some people who wanted to get on. So I was able to get off.

So, this is what I get to look forward to everyday. I am thinking it will get easier as I get used to it, but I don't know. At least I don't have to walk, that would be over an hour each way.

Cajas National Park

Today I went on an excursion with the school to Cajas National Park. This park is up in the Andes at 11,000 feet elevation. The temperature was about 45 degrees and it rained all day.

For Americans (especially those who live at sea level) it is difficult to breathe up there. We did a lot of hiking (about 4 hours) and walking through water (because it was raining) and mud. I think I fell in the mud 3 times.

We ate lunch in a cave because it was raining. I didn't see any spiders and believe me, I looked.

There is a special type of tree that grows in Cajas (this is the only place in the world where it grows). It is called Polylepiz. These trees were very important to us today as we were hiking in the mud and many times when I thought I was going to fall, I would grab onto the tree.

When I got home, I was soaking wet and full of mud. I had to throw my socks away and my clothes, shoes, and jacket went straight into the wash. Inspite of all this, it was a good day.

Cajas is a great place to enjoy God's creation, it is beautiful and complex.

Cuenca

Cuenca is the city I am currently living in. Cuenca is in the Andes mountains. It is a beautiful city with lots of culture. Here in this photo you can see the top of the new cathedral, which is in the center of downtown. Many fiestas are held in the park that is right in front of the cathedral.

Cuenca is a mostly catholic city with cathedrals being a main focus point. On any given day at any given time (when the cathedral is open) there are many people inside praying to the saints and leaving there candles and flowers.

Lately in my conversation class we have been discussing the religious aspects of Cuenca. It has been an interesting discussion as the class currently consists of me (protestant) and 2 catholics (one from Ecuador, the professor, and one from Germany). The discussion often turns to the evangelical churches which are now present in Cuenca as well. I have enjoyed our discussions, and have learned some about the catholic religion here in Ecuador as well.

As you can see, Cuenca is a beautiful city. I like it alot which is why I am here for the 4th time!

The perspective of a patient

I recently had the opportunity to be a patient here in Ecuador. I have a bad cough that I had attributed to my allergies, but it was getting worse and now had been 6 weeks (I know doctors are the worst patients). So I decided to go see one of the doctors here that I have worked with in the past and whom I trust. He listened to my lungs and decided I needed a chest x-ray. A little bit of background. The day before I went to see him I got an upset stomach and was real nauseated. I did not eat anything all day because I was afraid I would get sick. So here I am now, needing a chest x-ray. To get this x-ray, I had to walk 5 blocks up hill to the nearest place where they do x-rays. Now keep in mind I am weak from not having eaten anything all day the day before. I got my x-ray then I had to wait 1 hour for the doctor to come who reads the x-rays. After this I had to walk back 5 blocks (through a construction zone where they were working on the road. you can just walk right through while they are working, but beware of all the holes they have made.) I returned to the clinic with my x-ray and result, the doctor looked at it and said it was normal but I had abnormal sounds in my lung (which I had heard as well). Now he wants me to go see the pulmonologist. I had to get in a taxi and go cross town to the pulmonologist for another opinion. It ended up that I had a bronchitis type infection and I am now on antibiotics.

Here are my thoughts on this. When someone is sick enough to need an x-ray, we (physicians in Ecuador) make them walk 5+ blocks to get this x-ray, no matter what is wrong with them. Sure they can take a taxi, but that costs money and we already are making them pay for an x-ray they probably do not have much money left. I find this an odd practice, but unfortunatly that is the way it is here.

One good thing is it is very easy to get in to see the specialist and it only cost me $25 to see him.

So you know I am getting better.