Last 2 days!

I can not believe how fast this month has gone. I remember finding the internet cafe the first week! So much has happened to me in Quito and I have learned so much. I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel here this summer and learn medicine, Spanish, and the way of life of Ecuadorians. I have laughed until I´ve cried and I´ve cried until some very special people have made me laugh again. I´ve learned that I HATE the Trole. And my state of mind is more important so I will pay $4 for a cab if it means I can actually breathe. I have learned that although the healthcare is not the best, they are doing the best they can and really trying to reach out to everyone. I have also realized we have it extremely EASY in the U.S. and even though our country isn´t perfect, any person who spends a month in Ecuador would agree with me. I have learned to give everyone a chance and slow down, listen, actually listen, to people talk and you will be amazed at what they have to say. I am happy and proud to say I have made friends for life down here not only within my program but with Ecuadorians as well. Ok so that was my ramble session but I really wanted to post what is coming up in the next two days before I leave because I´m sure I won´t get a chance to write a lot.

Tonight is my roommate and I´s last dinner with our host mom, even though she never eats with us. It is her last night cooking for us. Then we are planning on heading to the Mariscal (downtown area) for ¨Ladies Night¨where us girls get in for free. Sorry guys :) Tomorrow (Thursday) is our last day of clinic :( And then Rosita, the coordinator at the school, is taking all 30 of us out for dinner and then we reserved a CHIVEA for the night. Like I defined in my Baños post, it´s similar to an American party bus but BETTER. So we all plan on doing that and then probably going out again. Friday we do not have clinic, due to the CHIVEA the night before (Thanks Dr. Alvear) and I am planning on, when I wake up, returning to La Maternidad to say one final (and difficult) goodbye to Fernando and hopefully anyone else who is working that day. Fernando wanted me to work an overnight shift but unfortunately we can´t do that because A) it´s not in the program and B) it´s dangerous...or MUY PELIGROSO. I will explain the humor behind this all to common phrase when I return. Anyway, after that I will most likely run around Quito and try to squeeze in a few more sights, tastes and smells before a group of us head to Tapas y Vinos for round two! All you can eat appetizers (tapas) and wine (vino). Then Saturday morning I wake up bright and early and head to the airport around 6:30 and my flight leaves at 8:35. I´m not thrilled about my 4 hour layover in Miami but Hilary, another student, is flying to Miami an hour after me so I should have someone to hang out with for awhile. I get in to Chicago around 8PM that night where Cody, and my long anticipated Dr. Pepper, is picking me up. I´m not sure how to feel right now. Part of me wants to come home but the other part could see myself staying for awhile. I do miss my family and friends and I can´t wait to see all of you!! I´m pretty sure I am going to have reverse culture shock when I return, walk into a store and they charge me $8 for lunch instead of $2. Not cool America. Not cool.

I did want to mention what I did today (Wednesday): I was in clinic with Dr. V until 11 AM where I witnessed a hernia repair. It was pretty intense and the resident even showed Matt and I how to do the stitch. We did not get to scrub in because I guess they didn´t need that many people. After, I walked to the TROLE (ugh) and took it to Santo Domingo church which was finally open. I have been there three times and its been closed every time. I walked around inside for awhile although they were just finishing up Mass when I entered. I then walked across the plaza so I could take a picture of the church and a lady came up to me and said, ¨Cuidado.¨ which means, ¨Be careful.¨I asked her why, all I was doing was taking a picture and she said because I might get robbed. Once again, MUY PELIGROSO. I thanked her and put my camera away. Don´t worry mom, I did NOT get robbed. Everyone just thinks Quito is like the most dangerous city and you are going to get robbed every time you whip out your camera. FALSE. After I went and had lunch in El Historico on Espejo street which is really a cobblestone walkway blocked off to trafffic. I found a cute cafe with soup, main course, desert and bebida for $2! I sat outside and ate and then planned on heading back to my house. However on my way back I happened to walk by Santa Catalina Monastery, where the nuns live. Being my curious self, I walked in and they immediately asked if I wanted to a tour. It was only a dollar and I was fortunate to get a tour guide who spoke English! It was amazing to see the convent and hear the stories about how the indigenous people taught Catholic religion through paintings. I learned about Saints, although sorry mom, St. Anthony was not included. I did see the nuns outside in the garden where they are allowed to speak with each other for only an hour during the day. The convent was built in the 1560´s and is proof when you walk across the squeaky floor. The church inside was absolutely beautiful and she even took us up to the bell tower. She showed us the handicrafts the nuns made and at the end I tried the wine they made! It was delicious. I´m really glad I accidently stumbled in. Well once again, it´s dinner time! And my last dinner at my host mother´s house. Love and miss all of you and I will see you soon!! :)

Love,
Hilary

Hospital Militar

I wanted to write about my day/this week before I forgot. This week I am in Hospital Militar which is the Military Hospital. According to Evon (a professor at the school I took Spanish classes and who gave us a tour the first day) this hospital sees and treats not only the men and women in the military but also their families. Matt, Julie and I are with Dr. Vargas in cirguia (surgery). Monday morning bright and early, we saw a cardio-thoracic surgery. A 27 year old male was beaten in the chest with a wine bottle and the shards of glass had puncture his lung and diaphragm. We did not scrub in but we pulled up stools so we could lean over and see the two surgeons working. Matt and I were on one stool and Julie was on the other side. Dr. Vargas told her to put her hands on the surgeons back so she could lean forward and see better and the surgeon told her the only stipulation was that she had to give him a kiss ever ten minutes. HA. Then Dr. Vargas asked Julie if she wanted to scrub in on an appendectomy (sp?). Of course she said yes so Matt and I stayed to watch the rest of the current surgery. I saw the heart beating, the lungs inflating and the diaphragm contracting and relaxing. Amazing! The surgeons were brillant and fixed this kid up. After about an hour, and the surgery was complete, Matt and I wandered over to the other OR (Quirofano) to check on Julie. We walked in to see the small intestines sitting on top of the patient. Apparently, they couldn´t find the appendix and it took them another hour and half to do so! The sigmoid colon was apparently overlapping on the appendix which made it tough to find. Sorry, that´s the science portion of the post :) Matt and I just watched but it was crazy to see the intestines completely outside of the body. It was easy to see, too, because the light above the patient had a camera which projected the surgery onto an HD TV located at the foot of the patient. It was the nicest, and cleanest, OR I have seen yet. Since it the surgery got complicated (and they had to make another incision around the bellybutton) Julie was allowed to leave around 12 when Matt and I did.

Today (Tuesday) we met Dr. V in the report room with a bunch of other doctors and med students. He told us we would only be doing consults today. And every single person we saw, post and pre-op, had a hernia. Most of them were not grave (pronounced grAv-ay or serious) and we watched the resident remove stiches for the most part. Dr. V is absolutely hilarious. He told us today the he studied in Paris for 5 years and knows French. He also did his residency in CHICAGO! He speaks very good English but told us the first day that we can speak to him in Spanish so we can improve and he will, occasionally, explain complicated procedures in English so HE can practice. That was our agreement. I should mention he is a general surgeon but mostly concentrates in the abdominal region. One of our patients was a FAMOUS SOCCER PLAYER who plays for the National League. I feel like I am completely breaking HIPPA rules but I´m pretty sure they do not exist down here. His name was ¨Michael Jackson¨and he told us that his mother was a huge fan of his so that´s why she named him that. He had a hernia as well but did not was to be operated on because he was being drafted by a Mexico team for more money. Dr. Vargas said that was fine because it wasn´t serious enough but he needed to be careful while working out. Then, randomly, Dr. V told us that he had a houes in Miami and one in Crucita (Little Cross) a beach town close to Chone, in Ecuador. Since Matt is going to Chone next week he told him he should come chill at the beach house!! Which includes a pool and sauna. This guy rocks! He asked us to write down our email addresses and he will send us pictures of his FOUR houses. I want his life. He´s pretty much a baller. He operated on the top soccer player for the national team here via laproscopic surger and he played in the championship game a month later and won. Yep, he´s pretty much the coolest doctor EVER. After consults, which ended at 11:00, we went back up to the 8th floor (we were on 1) via STAIRS. we had to stop at the 4th floor so Julie and I could catch our breath. He told us he never takes the elevator because he likes the exercise. He also runs. I honestly felt like I learned more about his life than abdominal surgery today. After arriving on the 8th floor, we took a picture with him and then left for the day. We´re back tomorrow in the OR and hopefully I will get to scrub in! Even though intestines gross me out. I would rather be delivering babies!! It´s time for dinner now so I better run so my host mom does not freak out on me. That will need to be an entirely new post. She´s a sweet, old lady but sometimes, ok most of the time this week, she drives me crazy! I can not believe I only have 3 days left here!! I am actually looking forward to coming home and seeing everyone. I love and miss you all!!

Love,
Hilary

Piña Colada´s and Hammocks Galore

We left for the beach yesterday (Thursday) morning. Our flight was supposed to leave at 9:30 but we did not end up taking off until close to 10. It was a 35 minute flight! The fastest flight ever. We arrived in Guayaquil, grabbed some lunch and then tried to find a taxi to take us to the beach for $30. Unfortunately the taxi company we found outside the airport wanted to charge us $170 for each car!! We would need to take two because we had six people and apparently people dont travel in groups that large down here because they did not have a taxi van for us. So we asked them if they could take us to the bus terminal because we were not paying that much. Will, Elise and I get in the first cab and our driver is going on and on about how much time we will save and blah blah blah by taking a taxi so I tried to satisfy him by saying that we needed to talk to our friends before we made any decisions. So he decides to pull over in the middle of the road and tells me to get out and go talk to the three others in the taxi behind us. I was like, ¨NO! Take us to the bus terminal!¨ Apperantly the other taxi driver was also trying to barter and told us that he could get us a taxi van and it would only be $20 per person. We said screw it, would would rather pay $4.25 for a 4-hour bus than $20 to get there an hour earlier. We finally got our bus ticket and left Guayaquil around 12:30. Arriving in Puerto Lopez, we found our hostal which appeared sketchy at first but turned out to be relatively nice. The lady who runs it, Maxima as she told us to call her, absolutely loved us. She gave us a deal on the rooms and told us about 10 times that she has over 700 movies if we want to watch them. Our rooms have mosquito nets in them so that was my first experience with that last night and it wasn´t bad. Last night after the Chone people got here, we ate at a little cantaña right on the beach that served HAMBURGERS. They were amazing! and cheaper than the piña coladas. They had hammocks that overlooked the beach as well...absolutely perfect. All ten of us then went to the beach to play ¨ten fingers.¨ It was absolutely hilarious and I was crying I was laughing so hard by the end of the night. Inside jokes that no one in the states will understand: ¨Wait, what constitutes Europe?...But Granny was there, so it doesn´t count...being assaulted by a toy...creepy dogs...taking a nature walk on the beach...what do I wear to a passion party?...MUY PELIGROSO...DING! Then Katie, Eleanor, Hilary and I went to get another piña colada and ended up making some Ecuadorian friends. I don´t remember all their names but they were super cool and invited back for happy hour at their cantaña tonight. Also, there is ONE discoteca called ¨Taurus¨so we are going to check that out tonight as well. One of the guys was trying to tell me they all had the same name so I asked if they were his sons. Also, another inside joke that no one reading this will understand. Sorry, I just wanted to make sure I did not forget anything. Today it was a little cloudy so we went whale watching!! It was aboslutely amazing! They jumped out of the water about a dozen times and swam right up next to our ship. I saw four humpback whales and blue footed boobies on the island of Salango and the entire excursion cost $15. I love Ecuador.

Beautiful Sunday :)

I was really happy we stayed in Quito Saturday night A) because I was sick and B) because I wanted to have a whole day to explore the city! I have been here for two weeks but haven´t had the chance to see much beyond the new town. Which if I didn´t mention before, Quito runs north to south in the Northern part of Ecuador. The Northern end of the city is called, ¨New Town¨and is just that, new and modern with shopping centers, plenty of McDOnalds and other fast food resturaunts, businesses, hotels, schools, etc. The southern end is the ¨Old Town¨or as the locals call it, El Historico. It is full of churches and cobblestone walkways and plazas. It also has plenty of hole-in-the-wall resturaunts (which I love) and little boutiques. Before we explored its grandur, ¨our group¨(Julia, Jay, Katie, Me, Alisa) met at the bus station to go to ¨Mitad del Mundo¨(the middle of the Earth=ECUATOR). It was finally nice out for an entire day and we definitely took advantage of it!!

We then spent all afternoon Sunday strolling the beautiful, colonial streets of Quito where we sat outside for lunch, had samples of ice cream shoved in our mouths at the country´s oldest parlor, climbed the sketchy ladders to the top of the Basilica, witnessed breathtaking views and had a gaucho ride by and yell either ¨I love you or I want pizza¨and then anticlimatically ride away as his hat flew off. I have to go eat dinner that is why this is so short! I can not believe I only have a little less than 2 weeks left. CRAZY!! I´ll try to write more this week. love and miss everyone!!

Love Hilary

Otavalo

On Friday after clinic, I had to come home and pack so we could leave for Otavalo that night. It is a small town about 2 hours north of Quito. It is known for the artisan market and is one of the largest in the world. That means one of my favorite things: SHOPPING. The streets are lined with vendors every day of the week but the biggest day is Saturday. Note: the reason it takes two hours to get there is because the bus stops every 50 feet for more people to get on. In the US, it would only be about an hour away. Anyway, after about a half hour on the bus a man gets on WITH A LIVE CHICKEN!!! All I could think of was Spring Break and Mexicana...gobble, gobble, gobble (only Cody, Maggie, and Nick will understand this :) Katie and I began to doze off and suddenly it started clucking like 2 seats behind us! I looked at Katie and said, "I swear if that chicken clucks one more time it´s going to be pollo (cooked chicken...aka DEAD).¨Luckily, for the chicken, it simmered down. Arriving in Otavalo we went to find our hostal but unfortunately the guy did not have our reservation. Although upset, we walked about a half a block down and found a better hostal that had rooms for all six of us, Katie, Jay, Julia, Andy, Alisa and I. The hostal looked like a log cabin and had hammocks in the courtyard. We found a good, at the time, place to eat and then went back to our other friends hostal to sit around the fire and enjoy a few cold ones. We met two ladies from Germany who were both school teachers and were spending 17 days in Ecuador for vacation. They were like me and only brought one pair of jeans because they assumed it would be warmer here. So one of them was trying to dry her jeans in front of the fire. Daniel serenaded us with the guitar and we just enjoyed each other company. That was the end of the ¨good¨in Otavalo. I woke up around 6 AM Saturday not feeling well at all and well, I won´t scare any of you but I was pretty sick all day Saturday. But I wanted to shop!! So I made myself get out of bed around noon and walk around the market for a few hours, just long enough to spend over $60 or so on hand made items. Definitely worth it. We came back to Quito Saturday night and went out for sushi which I probably should not have done since I was not feeling the greatest. Yep my body was not ready for it because I woke up sick again Sunday morning. I contemplated taking my anitbiotic I brought with me for traveler´s sickness but thankfully by late Sunday morning, my sickness had subsided and I felt 100 percent better!! I hate getting sick away from home and hopefully that was a one time deal and I am good to go for the next two weeks!! Otavalo was amazing and I´m bummed I did not get to see as much of it as I would have liked too. I´ll make Sunday it´s own entry :)

Perfect Ending to an Outstanding Week

So the rest of last week was pretty hard to top after delivering my first baby but it honestly got better! I am now friends with pretty much everyone on the unit, doctors, residents, nurses, EVERYONE! Fernando and Maria Fernanda greeted me this morning (Thursday) with a kiss on the cheek and we saw a birth right away. Actually, Fernando was the pediatrician and almost forgot!! I looked behind me and saw him sprinting to the scrub station as this lady was pushing. The woman was my age (22) and she had a girl. During the birth, Jen and I held her hands and caressed her shoulder but I noticed she was not breathing right and her lips were turning blue. After the birth, I thought she might perk up when they brought in her new baby girl for a kiss on the cheek. Instead, she just layed there and showed completely no interest. Fernando, although being up since 8 AM the previous morning, whisked the baby away to the nursery. She was really blue and I got nervous so I left and went back to check on the mom. Unfortunately she was not much better and they began giving her oxygen as they called other doctors (anesthesiologists, internal medicine, I think?) to help intibate her. Apparently she went into shock because she suffered from pre-eclampsia. As I returned the nursery, Fernando was giving the little baby oxygen and suddenly she began to cry. I can not describe the joy and heartwarming that comes with hearing a baby cry for the first time. It chokes me up and gives me goosebumps each time. She was only 30 weeks only and tiny. From what I could understand between Fernando and Maria, the mom became hypoxic and was loosing a lot of blood after delivery. Apparently, she came into the ER that morning around 6 AM and they diagnosed her as pre-eclamptic and gave her magnesium sulfate to help lower her blood pressure. Unfortunately, the ER docs did not make a note of the dosage on her chart so the doctors in Sala de Partos gave her even MORE mag. The membrane around the baby had also ruptured and no one had reported that as well. Therefore, because of the overdose she went into shock and they had to sedate and intubate her. It was a scary sight to watch but after a few hours they had her stablized and I was assured she would recover fully. That would be a lawsuit waiting to happen in the US. Fernando and Maria are so great!! I absolutely loved working with them. Fernando was teasing me because I told him Ecuador was NOT a third world country in my opinion and for an example, I said, "You have cell phones." He laughed and then I asked later if they gave Rhogam to women who were Rh- and he said, "Of course! Yes Hilary, we have cell phones and rhogam here." I about died. I love talking with him and he´s absolutely brillant! I learned that when they are "on call" they spend 28 hours straight at the hospital with 1 or 2 hour nap the entire time. Dr. Marquez has beeing amazing as well. He taught me how to feel the baby´s body while it was still inside mom and I also got to watch him perform a c-section today. Fernando told me hates gynocology but he loves babies! He wasnt to be a urologist in 2 months when he graduates. I am so sad that tomorrow is my last day! I have met and became friends with so many people even though it has only been 1 week! I learned Maria studied in Montana for 11 months and speaks English very well. She also told me that a lot of girls here, name Maria, prefer to be called by their first and last name because ¨Maria¨sounds like a housewife´s name. Her and Fernando are absolutely incredible and are going to be outstanding doctors. So right as I was getting ready to head out another lady goes into birth and Fernando runs and asks me if I want to do his job, which includes taking the baby after it is born to the nursery, basically being the pediatrician. Uh, YES!! So not only did I get to deliver a baby, I also got to play pediatrician and take care of it afterwards. After the OB doc sets the baby on the mom´s stomach, I suctioned the mouth and nose and began stimulating the feet and back. It was a little girl and she started crying immediately! I even got to give AP GAR scores, MOM! She was an 8 after 1 minute and 10 after 5. A perfectly healthy baby :) I couldn´t have asked for a better way to end a perfect week at La Maternidad. Fernando invited me to come back whenever and I may have to take him up on the offer later this week or weekend!

I DELIVERED a BABY GIRL today!!

I don´t have time to elaborate right now but definitely the coolest and most amazing thing I have ever done. Even though I tried to explain to Dr. Harin that I had never done this before he smiled and said, "You will be fine." Fernando knows English really well so he coached me through the entire thing...and took pictures. The baby´s name is Carla. Enjoy :)

La Hospìtal Maternidad

This week I am working in La Hospital Marternidad with Dr. Marquez. He´s a really great guy and knows quite a bit of English, which helps me understand. I am also with another student, Jennifer, who just completed her first year of med school at Cornell in NYC. The hospital that is affiliated with the school hosts celebrities like David Letterman! We live aways from each other so I take a taxi and she takes a bus and we just meet at the hospital. It is a public hospital so patients pay very little, if anything. The government covers the costs and this mirrors the care and organization the patients receive. Monday was my first day and after changing into my scrubs, I met Dr. Marquez in the antepartum room. The first patient we saw had pre-eclampsia, as did numerous other mothers. It was hard to concentrate on the diagnosis of each patient, not because of the language barrier but because I could not believe the conditions of the hospital. There are around 10 beds lined up next to each other, each occupied with a pregnant woman. They are using maternity pads as pillows and many of them have IV´s in. They do not give pain medication before hand so many are crying out in pain. In addition many are in labor. I will elaborate on that later. Also, I did not see a sign that said, "No Med Students Allowed" as I have seen on Mother/Baby a few times. Whoever is in the room gets to hear and see everything. That day there were 17 of us looking at the patient along with the other patients in the room. It was more disturbing to see the conditions these women were in and knowing there was nothing I could do.

If one woman complains when I get back to work I am going to show her the picture of this room and say, "You could be here! And without pain medication!" I honestly had to leave the room a few times just because it was disturbing hearing them cry out in pain. I got to see one of the doctors insert Prestol in a woman´s vagina. It looks like a tiny pill and dialtes the cervix further. I also watched Dr. Mejia insert one when I shadowed her on Labor and Delivery back in the states. The doctors tend to talk amongst themselves ABOUT the patient, rather than TO the patient. The fathers do not wait around at the hospital. There are no visiting times or menu to order from. Dr. Marquez told Jen and I that the reasons the fathers aren´t here is because there isn´t room. They could come if they really wanted to, but they don´t. Only to pick up the mother and baby after the delivery. The next room we walked into was smaller with only 2 woman lying under wools blankets. At first, I thought it was more antepartums but then I heard it was the abortion room. Since abortions are ILLEGAL in Ecuador, most woman come in with partial abortions and then the doctors can complete it. Once again, the government pays for these operation. One woman was ten weeks along. When I walked back into the antepartum room, I noticed a new patient and I began speaking with her. I found out she came to Quito last night from Lohan, which is 18 hours away by bus, and she was in labor! There were no births on Monday but I was okay with that because I needed to take in everything else I was seeing.

On Tuesday I arrived at the hospital earlier and immediately heard a woman crying out in pain. I think the med student was trying to break her water. All of a sudden everyone starts screaming,"PARTO! PARTO!" (Which means BIRTH) And they run with the woman on the bed to a birthing room. The doctors frantically scrub in as the woman is moved onto the birthing bed. Usually they do not move the woman here until they can see the head coming out. It´s insane. They asked me if I wanted to help but I was unsure of what that would intail so I said no, I would only watch. Also, I have no idea what I am doing! I did get to do the footprints and Jackie Powers would have been proud. I even showed them the clipboard idea so you get a clearer mark. I also got to take the baby back to the mom. It was a boy and his name is Manella.

Fernando, the resident cutting the cord of the baby in the above picture, told me the mom should name it after him. I asked if they do circumcisions here and they said no, not unless the penis is huge. They don´t get erythromyocin or Vitamin K. After, I met Gabriel the doctor that delivered Manella and he showed me the placenta and the membranes around it. He was showing me how to make sure that he completely removed the placenta by checking to see if it bled when you cut it. I think he was making sure nothing else was left in the mom. For the next 15 minutes or so, I could swear I kept hearing people say, "C-section," but really they were talking about Dr. Cesar. They all laughed at me because I would come rushing out and ask if I could watch. Dr. Cesar also showed me the nursery which is completely seperate from the birthing area/antepartum rooms. Most moms see their baby right after it is born and then when it is time to go home. Also, nurses doctors and myself carry the babies around in our arms, not in cribs. It feels so weird/wrong! I am so used to making sure that babies are in their cribs when they are being transported. I wonder if they even have Code Pink here. A lot of women were in pain on Tuesday and many of them were vomiting. The doctors check the mom´s cervixes a lot here and the more they check the greater risk for infection. I just want to give each patient a pillow, a blanket and some strong pain meds. But with all that comes money. I cried during the birth this morning. I always get teary eyed and I wonder how many I will have to see before I don´t cry anymore. It´s such an amazing sight. I finally saw my first ceasarean section on Tuesday as well!! It was crazy and I thought the baby´s head was going to pop off as they pulled it out. I have learned a lot already and I love working with the doctors here. The picture below is of me and Dr. Gabriel. He delivered Manella. Below is what the crib cards look like. Oh yea, I learned how to upload photos to the computer :)

Yo Conoces Papa de Yankee?? Out of Control!

Oh my dear. Where do I begin. This past weekend was absolutely pheonomenol. I already scared mom when I talked to her on SKype so I will try not to scare the rest of you. Honestly, I am with a group of people who have traveled alot and we always stay together so MORAL(E) of the story...DON`T WORRY! So Saturday morning we went mountain biking...for six hours. My butt started hurting after two. We paid $5 for the bikes for the day (1st sketchy thing) but they were great!! We biked in the mountains and saw about 7 waterfalls! It was breathtaking and I got some cool pics! There was a group of 8 of us but we all had different speeds we wanted to bike. So a group of four of us went ahead and about a mile later my friend Julie turned around to make sure I was behind her and lost control of her bike and face planted on the concrete. We were in the middle of the road so I quickly stopped and made sure no cars were coming when she came up to me and said, "Am I missing any teeth?" I kind of laughed and said no and then saw blood rushing from her chin. I carefully led her over to the side and luckily I was prepared with bandaids and kleenexs (thanks mom). So I was trying to get her cleaned up when the two boys we were with turned around and came to see what was going on. When she took the kleenex away we could see the fat. (Sorry BJ) We knew she definitely needed stiches but we were in the middle of the mountains. So a nice couple pulls up on bikes and tells us they have a car that is following them that can take her to the hospital in Baños. So her and matt went with the couple and the rest of us continued. We finally saw the sign for the Pailon del Diablo (the largest waterfall on our route) so we hopped off our bikes and were about to chain them up until we realized that we chained Julie and Matt`s bikes to a sign about 2 miles back. Crap. Luckily we met these Isralies (I called them Israelites) who were just traveling through the country on bikes as well and they let us chain our bikes with theirs. So we all begin walking down this sketchy path and suddenly we see a hut with a guy who comes out to greet us. He was probably in his 40s and told us since we were students we only needed to pay 50 cents to see this waterfall. Ok sweet. But while we were talking to him he was being really weird and just told us to take this path and we would find it. We were literally in the jungle. And after walking around in circles for ten minutes we decided that this was not legit. So we walked out and went down the road like a half mile and finally saw the legit entrance to the waterfall. We were like Oh well at least it was only 50 cents but the Israelites were ticked and said, "That`s an hour we could have had at the internet cafe!"So funny. The hike to the waterfall was worth it. It was amazing and we climbed all the way to the top where we could put our hands underneath it and bathe in it. After, we relaxed at the resturaunt at the bottom and then road about another mile and finally decided to call it quits. Luckily we did not have to ride back uphill because a truck took us with our bikes back to Baños. The whole day was exhausting but exhilarating.

Warning: The following activities are not parental/granparental/aunt and uncle friendly
When we got back to Baños a few of us decided to go soak in las aguas calientes (the hot springs). It felt absolutely amazing on my muscles and we were right under a waterfall! After about a half hour we went back to our hostal, showered and ate dinner at an amazing dinner at a pizzaria. We ate with this guy we met at our hostal who was traveling to Colombia after Ecaudor. I asked him if he thought that was safe and I got a whole culture lesson about the country. Apparently his cousin was there last month on a bus and the FARC (the terrorist group) stopped the bus, told everyone to get off so they could take it. Well his cousin had taken sleeping pills so she was really out of it and began puking immediately after getting of the bus. Well of the FARC members was rubbing her back!! Crazy. Anway I learned a lot about Colombia in an hour. Afterwards our entire group of 15 students reserved a CHIVEA BUS. It`s like a party bus but way better. Words can not do it justice so I will have to show you all picture. So my friend Jay and I went to the store to get some drinks. I got a bottle of wine for Katie and I to split and Jay got beer for the guys. We were not five minutes into the Chivea and we had to ask the driver to stop and get us more alcohol. He then took us up to the mountains so we could see the volcano at night, Alisa bought a fried banana and Katie and I took a nature walk, in la selva...of which Jay wanted to come along. We then danced to Shakira about ten times on the way back down and then we got dropped off at a discoteca. The driver said our first drink was free so Katie and I ordered a piña colada. We got a flaming shot instead. I`m not kidding the shot was on fire and of course we took it. Our friend Jesil asked us if we should wait until it went out and we were like, "Eh we dont know. We just waited til it turned blue." All in all, a very successful night :)

Mom, stop freaking out because I know you are right now.

Sunday morning Katie, Alisa and I woke up at 5 to watch the sunrise with our hippie friends in las aguas calientes. It was the coolest thing! We then came back, took a nap, and then went horse back riding. It was fun except everyone`s body was sore from mountain biking the previous day. We watched the final World Cup game at a local resturaunt called Ponchos, which was a blast, and then caught the 5:00 bus home. Once again, pretty sure we listened to Shakira about 10 times on the way home. Needless to say, we were all exhausted Monday morning.

I am actually doing stuff besides having fun and I will try to write about my intense clinical experiences tomorrow.
Things I have learned about Latin Americans:
1) They do not give good directions...EVER they just point and say, "Over There"
2) Even when you speak Spanish they sometimes choose not to listen to you
3) If something goes wrong its always YOUR fault, never theirs

Alright I am off to go out to eat with some friends!! I love and miss you all and hope you don`t disown me after reading this post.

-HILARY

Baños or El Baño?

Ok, quick update: Arrived in Baños around 8 PM last night. It was a four hour bus ride with people (Ecuadorians) standing in the aisle the whole time. Ate at an AMAZING restuaraunt called Cafe Hood. Found our hostal...Hostal Translyvania and it was actually a lot better than I had imagined. There were however, sleeping dogs in random corners and a rabbit! It just hopped around everywhere. Anyway, after finding our rooms, Katie and I met these guys in the room next to hers and mine. Total Hippies. One is from ARKANSAS! Mom, I told him about our tramatic experience a few years back. He told us we just went through the bad parts. The other one is from Texas and they are just traveling around Ecuador, working on farms and loving life. Marshall and I had a good conversation about LOVE. "I Just Love LOVE!" haha. They are an adventure in themselves. We basically went on a bar crawl around downtown Baños with them and it was a blast. They also taught me some pretty sweet dance moves. Remind me to show them to you all when I return. We were supposed to go rafting this morning but last night a bunch of us decided to go mountain biking to see the waterfalls so we are doing that instead. Ok I just wanted to update fast before I forgot anything. Oh yea, they have wi fi at our hostal. I just learned last night that the "fi" means FIBEROPTIC. Oh yea we talked about Google, me eating a huge american sandwich, Julia´s liter of beer and Alfarin´s chuchaqui phrases last night at dinner. I will elaborate on these later. LOVE LOVE LOVE BAÑOS!!

HASTA LUEGO!
BJ and Mom, I am being safe!! :)

Ladies Free!

I´ll start with my adventure last night. So I took my first salsa class and it was so fun! Like 20 of us did it and I definitely was the only dancer out of the group. Katie picked up on it really quickly and we joked about choreographing a routine and then doing it when we walked into the salsa club. I freaken love Katie. She´s just like me and we like all the same things. Today she was complaining about not being able to talk to her boyfriend and I said I know what you mean because my texts wont go through to Cody. And she was like, "Oh mine will but he says he cant talk. And I just need something to complain about." I love her. Anway, so last night after salsa a bunch of us decided we NEEDED to go out. Honestly I have had the same schedule for the past few days which includes, eating, sleeping, SPANISH, and medicine. I needed to feel like a real person again and how does one do that while in Ecuador?? You all should know the answer: alcohol. So we met on the corner of Villalengua (like a block away from my house) and Ave. America. There was ten of us and we took the Trole downtown to the Mariscal. We were all talking on the Trole and decided we just wanted to go to a chill bar, have a few beers and come back. Wellll as soon as we turned the corner into the bar district the music was bumping and we all got the urge to dance. In front of all the bars are like PR people who are handing you flyers and trying to convince you to come to their bar. We kept saying, "No gracias" but then a guy yelled "LADIES NIGHT. LADIES FREE!" And I said, "That one!" So we thought we were going to this bar called The Boot which is a place Karen´s host mom told her was good but somehow we got confused and ended up in the line for the "YES" bar. So we got in for free, even though we had guys with us because we told them we wouldn´t come in unless they got in free too, and all the girls´first drink was free. It was SO fun! Ecuadorians LOVE to dance. We met a few Ecuadorian guys who were around our age and we were all dancing when my and Eleanor decided to take a break and they were like, "What are you doing? DANCE DANCE!" They dont understand the we needed to take a break! Serioulsy I bet we danced for 2 straight hours. AND my favorite part of the night was when they played my favorite ZUMBA song, DROP IT! Kendle, I definitely busted out the moves, you would have been so proud! :) We left around 11 because we all had clinic in the morning. I love Ecuador!

This morning I was back at the hospital and this time I actually got there early! I met the resident, Euro-Hey as I was walking the OPPOSITE direction of where I was supposed to go. She just smiled and said, "Venga" which means COME. I followed her downstairs to the clinic area. We were doing consults today only. We saw about 8 patients, one woman with TWINS a boy and a girl and I got a picture of her that I can show when I return home. Also, there is NO privacy. There would be three patients in the room sometimes, one would be getting interviewed by the doctor, the other the nurse was getting vitals and the other was behind a thin, narrow wall waiting for an exam. The doctor would literally interview a patient and then walk behind the wall and check a lady´s cervix. It was crazy. I am allowed to take pictures in the hospital but I decided that it doesn´t matter who you are or where you live, everyone deserves respect and not to be exploited to the entire world. I am trying to get some pictures to show my experiences while also respecting that this is a person and they deserve privacy, even if their healthcare system doesn´t practice it. I get to be in surgery tomorrow and I am going to try to take pictures there too! This way, you dont see the patients face just the really cool stuff surgery entails. BJ, I will write a warning if it is too graphic for you :) We were done with consults by 10 AM so I got to leave 2 hours early today. I was a little bummed but the doctor said he didnt have anything else to do. I got a little lost trying to find the exit but a very nice man, who told me his life story in 50 feet, showed me the exit. I came back to my neighborhood and skyped Mom. I´m sure she loved it as much as I did! I then went back home and took a nap for about an hour before I had to go to the school. Today in class we each brought a different tropical fruit grown in Ecuador to try. Becky brought a TAXO which was yellow on the outside but looked like fish eggs on the inside. I could barely try it but it was suprisingly good. The guayaba was really good! It looks like watermelon but the inside is a lot softer. We were also reviewing adverbs today and Elfarin told us one time, this girl asked him if he would travel to the United States. His response sounded like "Kiss Ass" but he was really saying, "QUIZAS." We were all dying lauging. He also thought I had a "CHUCHAQUI" (hangover) because I told him I went out last night but I said no, I only had DOS BEBIDAS. And he was like, "Ya ya ya." I love him. After class I went with Katie to the Alegro store (our ghetto cell phone provider) to fix her phone because it wasn´t working. We spent like a half hour there and they finally told her that her inbox was full of text messages. We did get to see the CENTRO COMMERICIAL which is a HUGE shopping area. Complete with McDOnalds and Burger Kind on the corners. I am definitely going to need to come back before I leave. I can not believe tomorrow is Friday! I probably won´t write again until Monday because a group of us are leaving for Baños tomorrow for the weekend. Its about 3 hours south of Quito by bus and a popular tourist spot with waterfalls, hot springs and oh, the volcano that erupted four months ago. Apparently its safe to go now! On Saturday morning we are planning on going white water rafting and then Sunday I think we are doing horseback riding and going to the waterfalls. Have a good weekend and I´ll update again on Monday :)

LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL!!

-Hilary

First Day of Clinic

Alright, I know I have said this before but Quito is HUGE. And of course the first week of class I was the only student assigned to Hospital IESS (It´s like their social security hospital.) So last night my host mom and I spent an hour trying to figure out how I was going to get there. I really didnt want to take the Trole because it is extremely packed in the morning and probably not the safest way of getting there. So Francia, my host mom, called her friend Ferrrrrrrnando (I just really like to say his name) who drives taxis and he picked me up and took me to the clinic. Not only am I unfamiliar with Quito, I don´t speak Spanish amazingly well. I mean I could get by in a small town, but a large city is a bit more difficult. Francia made me practice saying ¨ginecologia¨which is gynecology, the unit I needed to find on the ¨segundo piso¨(the second floor). Also, Ecuadorians run on Ecuadorian time...which is always late. See Cody? I fit in PERFECTLY ;) So Ferrrrrnando was supposed to pick me up at 7:30 but he did not get there until 7:50. I needed to be at the hospital at 8. Luckily, Francia talked to him and told him to take the back roads instead of the main street so I was only about 5 minutes late. The hospital is completely blocked off by a fence and you have to walk by two guards, with guns, to get in. This was only the first group I encountered. I followed the signs as I was told and on my way to the unit I passed at least three groups of guards, with guns. But that made me feel safe! They were very nice and directed me where I needed to go. Quito is not a bad city but it is just that, a city and there tends to be petty crime. After reaching the unit, it took me awhile to find Dr. Salazar of whom I was working with today. He is a tall, thin man with beaty eyes and a good sense of humor. I was in the outpatient with him for about an hour and I watched him remove some HPV cells from a woman´s uterus. He was using a microscope to see upclose and he let me see too! After that the resident, (her name is pronounced ´Euro Hey´)¨ took me down to the locker room to change into scrubs. I was a little confused because I thought I was only in the outpatient clinic today but excited to see what I got to do next. We were given masks, booties and a hair net and walked throught the cirugia (surgery) doors. Lining each side of the hallway were about ten rooms with surgeries happening. I got to see five surgeries in the four hours I was there!! I saw two hysterectomies, one where they entered through the woman´s vagina and the other where they cut open her abdomen. The doctors and nurses and students were incredibly nice to me and always asked if I could see or wanted to see more. During the second surgery, I began feeling a little woozy, probably because I didn´t eat much breakfast because I was nervous, so I took a seat for a few minutes to regain my composure. Dr. Salazar was not the main doctor during these surgeries but I still got to see them! He began his first surgery around 11:00 and his task was to remove a woman´s left ovary because it was leaking. I didn´t quite pick up what she had but I know it was not good. It was not a tumor and not cancer, all I could get was that is was leaking, abnormal and had to be removed. At first, I was nervous about the language barrier and obviously it would be easier if I was shadowing a doctor in America but I absolutely loved it. The second year med students that were with us were incredibly nice too. They always spoke slowly and tried to make sure I knew what was going on, when possible. I told them I was sorry I didn´t speak Spanish very well but they complemented me and said I was better than another American that was there today. That made me feel good! Anyway, I did not get to see the entire surgery because I had to leave at noon to go to spanish class but I did get to see him cut the woman open and insert guaze to keep her from bleeding. I have the same rotation tomorrow and Friday. AND he said I could take pictures during the surgery!! Only in Latin America. So hopefully I can get some good ones ;) Well the internet cafe is about to close and I need to go eat dinner! I took a salsa class today. LOVED IT. and I think I am going to pay for some private lessons so I can dance with an Ecuadorian at the salsa clubs! Sorry this was so short. I will try to write more tomorrow. I think a bunch of us are finally going to check out the night life tonight. Don´t worry, I´ll be safe. There´s a lot of macho guys in my groups ;)
Hasta Luego!
Love Hilary

Guinea Pigs and Alcohol

I have experienced so much already and I wish I had a computer handy everyday to write about it! But I am keeping a diary so whatever doesn`t make it onto here, I can tell stories when I get home. So yesterday, July 5, we had a meeting with Dr. Alvear who overseas our rotations at the hospitals. I received my schedule and I am so happy I will be in surgery for the last week. She said we may get to "help" with surgeries so I am anxious to see what that entails. This week we have had Spanish all day yesterday and all day today. So I start my clinical rotations tomorrow morning from 8-12 at Hospital I.E.S.S. on the gynocology floor. Dr. Alvear also warned us that we needed to have blue and green scrubs because blue are for ceasarean sections and green are for vaginal deliveries. Also, I`m glad I brought gloves because she said people here aren`t concerned about hepatitis or HIV and there could be blood everywhere in the hospital. Then she told us about an indigenous practice which includes rubbing a guinea pig (cuy) over the body of a sick person and then the doctor cuts it open to see what is wrong with the patient. Kind of like an x-ray. Only the cuy is dead before because they shake it and give it cerebral edema. I have learned so much about Ecuador and its only been a few days! This is mostly in the indigenous population as they have modern technology in Quito in the hospitals.

Yesterday was my first full day of Spanish classes. My professor`s name is Elfarin and he`s hilarious. Pretty sure he loves me because I remind him of Hilary Clinton. I`m not sure how I feel about that...There are 5 other girls in my class and I really enjoy how small it is. He teaches solely in Spanish and we speak in Spanish all the time. I absolutely love it. And it`s the best way to learn. I swear we incorporated alcohol into all of our conversations today. For example he asked me what my favorite type of fruit was and I said, "Pina" which is pineapple and he goes, "Ohhh Pina Colada??" One girl, Veronica, is from China and she eats horse! She said the meat is really tender. I thought of you, Han. And I told her my family owned horses and we would never eat them. A majority of our morning was spent reviewing nouns and ser vs. estar which means "to be" in English. Like I am from Iowa would be "Soy de Iowa." Anyway, I must have zoned out for 30 seconds because Elfarin asked me a question and I said, "Si!" And everyone started laughing. I guess he asked me if I had grandchildren. For lunch a group of us took the Trole to the Mariscal and walked around a really cool area for awhile. I am beginning to get a feeling for the city and how to get around. In the afternoon we read about different Ecuadorian traditions and one was running with the bulls. Apparently, men get really drunk before hand and then run down a narrow street with walls while the bulls chase them. Elfarin asked me if I would ever try this after four margaritas and I told him absolutely not, that no amount of alcohol could get me to do that. I told him I still had brains after four margaritas. He laughed and then I asked him if he would ever do that and he said, "No no not even 15 margaritas!" Alcohol is pretty much a staple of life down here. But they don`t abuse it. He also told us that Diciembre (December) is really called "Bebiembre" (Beber means `to drink`) because everyone drinks around the holidays. I told him my birthday was in December and that was awesome! I might have to move down here :) I have a meeting with Dr. Alvear in 20 minutes so I will write more tomorrow, after my first day of clinic, hopefully! I hope you are enjoying reading about my adventure as much as I am writing about it! P.S. in the internet cafe right now, Lady Gaga is playing!! Hasta luego!!
Love Hilary

KAKA: Multiple Meanings

Ok so I really wanted to post this story yesterday but ran out of time. We were on the Trole back to the school and it was super crowded as always. We actually had to wait for 2 Trole`s to pass before we could get on one. Anyway there was this guy in the back with me and my friend Eleanor who had maybe two teeth but was just chatting away with Eleanor. He started to put his hand around her and she moved closer to me when all of sudden he moved right in front of me and started talking about Brasil. That was literally the only think I could understand because he was talking so much and so fast. Then he started saying "Kaka" and Eleanor leaned down and said, "I think that means shit in Spanish." So we thought he was talking about Brasil playing like shit. Then Daniel started paying attention to our conversation (which was this guy talking and me and Eleanor smiling and nodding) and realized this guy was talking about the player `Kaka`from Brazil. I should have known this since I am dating a soccer fanatic. We busted out laughing as this guy took my hand and told me I had beautiful hair and beautful eyes and that no one down here looks like me. Then he rubbed my hand on his cheek and kissed it. I guess if I am going to experience the culture I might as well get up close and personal. It was hysterical and Eleanor and I were still laughing after we got off the bus about the mix up between the meaning of Kaka.

Day 2!

Ok so my 2nd day began at 7:30 with desayuno (breakfast). I had papaya which was amazing, so fresh! And a toasted cheese sandwich..with butter...I think. Whatever it was it was really good! I also drank hot tea. We have tea with every meal here and its delicious. The portions are much smaller than in the U.S. but I get full! I also have noticed that Ecuadorians do not waste anything. So there was a little confusion on how to get to the school. Alisa thought we needed to be there at 8:30 but Francia told us we needed to be there by 8. This was of course at 7:55. My house is really close to the school, about a ten minute walk and right across the street from my house is a park. Alisa is like a foot taller than me, no joke, so I am like running when she is walking fast. We arrived at the school and were given a placement test and a cell phone. This phone is honestly the one Kinsey had in 8th grade. It`s a Nokia and super ghetto. I have yet to see if Snake is on it. Then we sat for four hours and listened to this guy, who is not affiliated with our program, orient us to the city, the school and the expectations for the program. His name was Matt, he`s from Canada and has lived in Ecuador for 5 years. He has helped Rosita, the director of the school, out for the past 3 years orienting students because she used to do it in Spanish but it was hard for everyone to understand. He was really cool although he scared the shit out of me when he told me about the stuff he has witnessed, experienced and heard while living in Quito/Ecuador. He said we just needed to be aware and keep all of our valuables in front of us at all times. We learned so much it was hard to comprehend it all in 4 hours. After the lecture, Evan took us on a tour of the city. We were told that it would be a BUS TOUR but it definitely was not. We took the Trole, which is like a bus that runs via cable to the north and south end of the city, and got off around the Mariscal which is where all the bares and resturaunts are. It`s always super crowed and why you have to watch your bag at all times. After that, we walked for like FIVE MILES. However, Quito is already 9,000 feet above sea level and I was DYING after like a half mile. All of us were. And here`s Evan just laughing at us as we walked up a hill as steep as the one on the pentacrest but like 3 times as long. Another pre-med, Andy, made a joke about how when CFHI (our program) tells us to prepare for our trip they should include running 5 miles uphill while breathing through a straw because that is what we all felt like. We also saw the military hospital which is nice according to Evan and it serves not only the military but their families as well. Family is very important to all Latin Americans and many things in Quito are family centered. For example, today was Sunday and no stories were open and almost no one was out of their home. The residents go to church, 95% are Catholic and then return home to rest during the day. WHAT A GREAT IDEA AMERICA. We passed like 5 KFC`s during our way to the hospital de Maternidad (Maternity Hospital). After this we walked back down the hill, paid 25 cents and rode the Trole back to `La Y`(pronounced LA YAY) which is where the Amazing Andes Schools is located. We ate at a great Ecuadorian resturaunt for lunch. I had chicken with rice and a COKE. I was so excited and my headache finally subsided after I had caffeine in my system. Side note: I`ve had a headache since I got here but its finally starting to subside. Thank you caffeine. Ok well I have been at the internet cafe for over an hour so I need to go home and eat dinner! I will try to get this fully updated tomorrow. Love you all and can`t wait to write more! :)
LOVE HILARY

Wooo I made it! 7/3

So I finally found an internet cafe to update you all on my life! So much has happened in the past three days so I will try to write as much as possible now. Mom and Cody dropped me off at O`Hare around 8:15 and luckily we brought an extra bag because of course my suitcase was over 50 pounds. After transferring some things, getting my ticket and checking my bag it was time to say good-bye. I tried so hard not to cry but the tears came. I think I hugged them each like 10 times before I finally left and went through security. Well my bag was pulled aside and the security guard told me he needed to do a vapor test on my contact solution. Um..ok? Then he carefully examined my toothpaste and sent me on my way. I guess it was 4th of July weekend but really dude? I had taken my altitude medication early that morning so I attempted to sleep on the plane but I ended up having to get up 5 or 6 times for the lady next to me to go to the bathroom. Maggie, this reminded me of our flight to Cancun when I was trying to crawl over you to get to the bathroom and that guy woke up! This lady at least woke me up before crawling over me. Arriving in Miami, I was told I need to find the J-terminal which meant I needed to exit the current terminal I was in. Ok sweet. Well usually at most airports they have the tram that takes you a half mile to your destination. No. Not in Miami. I lugged my backpack AT LEAST a half mile and had to go through security AGAIN in order to get to my gate. The security dude threatened to take my contact solution but I told him the guy in CHicago let me have it. He was not pleased but let me through. Honestly people? I found the Corona bar and ate some food when the Spain vs. Paraguay (I think? Sorry Cody) game came on. The bar was suddenly filled with people but there were about 50 others standing around outside. It was insane! I had to leave a little ways into to catch my flight. So the lady next to me on this flight asked me what I was doing in Quito and I explained that I was learning more spanish and helping in hospitals...in Spanish. All of a sudden she asked me if I wanted Ecuadorian friends. I said of course, so she whips out a pen and picture and tells me I should look up her son in Quito. His name is Carlos and he is 24. I`m pretty sure she was trying to set me up with him. Sorry Cody ;)She was really sweet though and gave me his and her email address in case I needed anything. If any of you heard about my Costa Rica trip a year and half ago you know about my travel day from hell and I was expecting nothing less during this adventure. BUT it went amazingly well!! My baggage came, although one of the wheels broke off my suitcase, sorry mom, I breezed through customs and then I saw a lady holding up the most glorious sign that read, "HILARY HILSABECK." I literally ran over to her before she could put it down. I have never been so thrilled to see my own name. And no one was grabbing me trying to throw me in a taxi as in Costa Rica. Seriously probably the best day of my life. So this lady, who I assume is my host mom, takes me to her car, we get in and start driving. So I call her "Francia" my host mom`s name and she says, "No no soy Carmen." Uh..what?? Great I got in the wrong car and have no idea where I am going but then she explains that she is Francia`s daughter. Ok. awesome. I was able to see a little bit of Quito on the drive to Francia`s house and I spotted a McDonalds so if the guinea pig diet doesn`t work out for me I have a back up plan. When I arrived Francia had made me dinner and I met my roommate Alisa who is a first year med student at Albert Einstein in Bronx, NY. She was trying to talk to me during dinner but I was exhausted and all I wanted to do was sleep. I went to my OWN room, with TWO beds, unpacked and literally crashed in the middle of trying to put my earplugs in. Oh I tried calling my mom but I couldn`t figure it out so I was hoping to ask someone the next day. I have to be at the school at 8 AM in the morning for orientation. Buenos noches! (Good night)