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