Adolescent Clinic and Mindo

This past week has been extremely busy! I rotated in the Adolescent Clinic with Dra. Dora Carrera, a pediatrician. The whole week was filled with doing rounds in the post-partum adolescent maternity wing and well baby checkups. The Adolescent Clinic is solely focused on the health and well being of teen mothers and their babies. The adolescent maternity wing was full of 14-17 year olds who had a baby in the past day or two. This rotation by far, was interesting, but VERY routine. I think It was a government run clinic, so there were tons of people in the hallways waiting to be seen, and tons of babies. There was very little variation in the children that I saw; some babies were extremely healthy, or if not, they had a cold or a rash. The sheer number of patients that the doctors saw per day were amazing. In Ecuador, the government only pays doctors to work for 4 hours at a time. In one day, we would see at least 10 babies, with plenty more still lounging around in the hallways.

My Spanish is getting much better, conversationally. My medical Spanish, on the other hand, is stagnant. I need to work on it a lot more.

This weekend, I went to Mindo, Ecuador, a small town about 2 hours north of Quito, with Sharon, a med student from UVA. Mindo more commonly known as the Cloud Forest, because (I think) it is higher in elevation than Quito and when you are up high enough, all you can see is clouds above your head. On Saturday, Sharon and I met up with three other med students and went tubing down the Rio Cinto. As our tour guide told us, the Rio Cinto is not for children, and boy was he right. I was a little nervous to go because I cannot swim, but it was an INCREDIBLE experience and an amazing way to see the natural side of Ecuador. There were several rapids that almost tipped us over but thankfully, we didn't. I almost wished that we had gone on a longer expedition; it was really relaxing and amazing.

After that, we went to a little restaraunt that a couple from Michigan (random!!) owned. The wife always wanted to learn how to grow her own coffee and chocolate, so they bought a plot of land in Mindo and started growing their own cacao and coffee beans. They showed us and a group of students from Vanderbilt how they process and make their own chocolate from bean to finished product. Afterwards, they made us some fresh sugar cane juice with a dash of lime. It was sweet, but not as sweet as I expected it to be. It was very good.

Later on Saturday night, we ate at a restaraunt that specialized in "natural" foods. I had a huge fried trout, papas fritas and a tomato and onion salad. I also had a tall glass of tree tomato juice (my absolute favorite of all time). We sat around and had great conversation and amazing food. The restaraunt was open so it was like you were sitting in the middle of the jungle. Very cool. Later on that night, we walked around the town looking for something to do. There was a club (or discotecha) but it cost $2 to get in, so we didn't go. We were hoping to go to a karoke bar, but it was closed. We ended up sitting outside with a bunch of locals and couple other Americans chatting and watching people walk and dance in the streets. Around 10PM we got super tired, and headed back to our hostels.

I should take a moment here and say how amazingly wonderful my hostel in Mindo was. If anyone goes to Mindo (which everyone should!), please stay at the Cabanas Armonia. The owners are amazingly welcoming and for $14 a night you can stay in a cute little cabin with a private bath situated in their orchid garden. Desayuno (breakfast) is included and while you eat, you can watch hummingbirds feed on sugar water less than 6 feet away from you. It is an incredible experience. As I fell asleep Saturday night, I could hear the sounds of nature all around me. That was the best I had slept in a LONG time.

On Sunday, we rode in the back of a pickup truck and down a dirt road to a butterfly farm. We saw all different types of butterflies and took some amazing pictures. We hiked back down the road to a ziplining place (they call it canopy). We had already walked (in the early morning blazing hot sun) 20 minutes to get to the entrance of the park and then it was another 2 kilometers up to where the course began. I walked maybe 500 meters and then I gave up. I flagged down the next truck driver going up the mountain and in my best Spanish that I could muster, I hitched a ride the rest of the way. So, those of you that know me know that I do not particularly like heights. So I'm sure you're wondering why on Earth did I go ziplining in the middle of West Nowheresville. I think I did it because I realized that this is a once in a lifetime experience, and if I didn't do it, I would eventually regret it. In addition, I had four other girls staging an intervention for me and forcing me to go. Oh and finally, I had already prepaid my $10 for my ticket. So I had to go. The ziplines were absolutely amazing! The guides were really knowledgable (they had better be) and friendly, and for $10, we did 10 different ziplines. People could go "Superman" or "Mariposa (Butterfly)" on a zipline. The Superman was just like it sounded: horizontal with your legs wrapped around a guide for safety/stabilization. Mariposa is a little bit different; you go on a zipline spread eagle...and upside down. Needless to say, I did neither. :)

After ziplining and snacking, we took a truckride to a waterfall that had a huge slide. Unfortunately, no one told me that there was going to be another 20 minute hike 98% downhill to get to a cold spring, the slide and a kiddie pool. Although it was incredibly gorgeous going down (and up), I was ready to pass out as soon as I got there. I took off my shorts and tshirt and stuck my feet in the most frigid water known to mankind. I could have been in Alaska and not known the difference. Once again, I would like to say that the water was really pretty and the scenery was amazing, but I had no desire to jump all the way in. 15 minutes later, I packed up my stuff and started on the most difficult hike that I have ever taken in my life. I had to stop like 10 times on the way back up the mountain because I was so completely out of breath (the air is really thin here) and because my thighs were burning like I had been running a marathon. I was the last one of my group to arrive and I felt like I had finished a triathalon.

We headed back to town in a pickup truck of course. By then, it has started to rain. We went back to our hostels, took a shower, grabbed our stuff, bought snacks for the bus ride and headed back to Quito. We were all incredibly exausted and fell asleep almost immediately after we started off. Mindo was an amazing experience and I really would love to come back. I'm thinking of coming next summer, emailing the hostel and seeing if I can stay with them, learn more Spanish and work for room and board. South Americans love to do that for people. :)