ciao!
Ross non ha molto tempo per scrivere perche e´stato inglobato da degli altri italiani che abitano qui e e´molto indaffarato a potare in giro sabbia, pitturare chiese e andare in giro per le comunita mangiando fagioli.
Anche io sono indaffarata ma me la cavo. Ieri sono andata in un parto a assistere il mio primo neonato, che emozione! avevo soprattutto paura di farlo cadere, ma fortunatamente non e´caduto ed ha iniziato a respirare e a diventare rosa subito.... era una bambina che pero non ha ancora un nome.
Oggi invece sono andata con lo chaffeur Don Jose´ a fare le visite domiciliari: pensavo che Zumbahua fosse in culonia ma queste case...erano un altra cosa! Siamo andati con una specie di carro armato capace di guidare sopra pietre, buchi, cumuli e siamo andati in casette o capanne meglio lontanissime fatte da una stanza, senza pavimento, senza luce acqua o bagni....con tutti gli animali dentro... un paziente non ci ha fatti entrare e lo ho visitato sull erba, in mezzo alle raffiche di vento gelido! Che miseria. E che impressione consegnare la scatola di omeprazolo al vecchietto seduto sull erba, in mezzo al nulla solo pecore maiali e lama. Lama a volonta!!! Oggi ho anche visto 2 lamini, cuccioli. I can pero son ferocissimi, fan paura, e ieri Ross e stato morso nel pantalone.
domani mi han detto che andiamo in un posto ancora piu remoto che si puo raggiungere solo con la moto! speriamo in bene!
E domani notte copro il mio primo turno di notte, speriamo bene anche per quelllo.
Per Babbo: credo che abbiate avuto fortuna a trovare il ristorante oro verde ancora non operativo lunedi mattina. Perche lunedi sera e´venuto uno che aveva mangiato li con una diarrea storica, dicendo che gli avevano dato lo stesso seco de pollo sia a colazione che a cena.
Just a few lines in English because Ross is quite busy carrying around sand to build houses, painting churches and going round the elderlies in the community getting bitten by dogs in the trousers (no harm done to the legs!!!). He will write soon though. He is very well.
Yesterday I attendend to a newborn in the delivery for the first time!!! Was quite scary but luckily all went well, breathing and getting pink and everything, but was a bit afraid to let her fall! and how very tiny!!
And today started to go round the countryside for the home visits to the cronic patients, just for a check and to bring the meds. Qite difficoult to get there with chaffeur, n a huge sort of lorry with big wheels, like a tractor or sth, houses without windows, floor or bathroom, with all the animals in as well...medical visit with the pig... or on the field because one of the patients didn t want to let us in and wanted to be examined in the field , in the gusts of freezing wind! I am seeing things here that are unbelievable.
The girl I wrote about a few days ago apparently is now awake and "well" , or so the parents say, just in case you wondered...
and tomorrow i m going to cover the first night shift! Ojala´!
Love to you all,
Adele xx
mercoledì 29 agosto 2012
domenica 26 agosto 2012
Terrifying tales of an ordinary friday night out (Adele)
Hello everyone!
All is well here in godforsakenland, had a lovely walk around lake Quilotoa today as well, the fiesta of the village is in full swing with lots of music and lots of borrachos, hopefully noone will free the bulls.
Just need to share my friday night with you as too frightening to keep in, xx
Around 6 pm a 9 year old child was brought in fitting after a hanging accident, couldn stop her fitting, had to heavily sedate and intubate, at 10 pm found a place in intensive care in a town downhill, had to put her in the land cruiser disguised as ambulance , me and a med student ventilating, the other med student driving, drove down the mountain on a non paved road for 2 hours and a half in the dark the rain and the fog, had to stop every hour to administer more midazolam and rocuronium to the child, had just 1/5 of oxigen tank on board, every curve and every hole in the road risking to extubate, Sats probe not working on the bumpy road, managed to arrive to the town, had to stop more times to ask for directions to the hospital, managed to deliver the child alive and stable, drove another 2 hours up the mountain and finally to bed. Doesn t happen every friday night out luckily.
I think I lost a couple of years of life and gained mu first grey hair.....but had amazing chicos with me and all went well in the end....
I think we are completely settled up here by now and feel quite happy. Ross is well as well.
Besos, Adele
All is well here in godforsakenland, had a lovely walk around lake Quilotoa today as well, the fiesta of the village is in full swing with lots of music and lots of borrachos, hopefully noone will free the bulls.
Just need to share my friday night with you as too frightening to keep in, xx
Around 6 pm a 9 year old child was brought in fitting after a hanging accident, couldn stop her fitting, had to heavily sedate and intubate, at 10 pm found a place in intensive care in a town downhill, had to put her in the land cruiser disguised as ambulance , me and a med student ventilating, the other med student driving, drove down the mountain on a non paved road for 2 hours and a half in the dark the rain and the fog, had to stop every hour to administer more midazolam and rocuronium to the child, had just 1/5 of oxigen tank on board, every curve and every hole in the road risking to extubate, Sats probe not working on the bumpy road, managed to arrive to the town, had to stop more times to ask for directions to the hospital, managed to deliver the child alive and stable, drove another 2 hours up the mountain and finally to bed. Doesn t happen every friday night out luckily.
I think I lost a couple of years of life and gained mu first grey hair.....but had amazing chicos with me and all went well in the end....
I think we are completely settled up here by now and feel quite happy. Ross is well as well.
Besos, Adele
lunedì 20 agosto 2012
da Adele,italian with some english at the bottom :)
Hola chicos!
Adesso scrivo qualcosa anche io, sempre che la musica happy sudamericana in questo internetcafe non mi perfori i timpani prima.
Questo week end di esplorazione dei dintorni e´stato perfettto per rilassarci e per sublimare nella fatica muscolare lo shock culturale in cui mi trovavo, soprattutto io, dopo i primi giorni di lavoro all`ospedale...:)
L ospedale Claudio Benati ha una ventina di posti letto, un servizio di visite non urgenti e un servizio di pronto soccorso, piu un ambulatorio di vaccionazioni e una sala parto. Ce un lab e una macchina da radiografie, e un ecografo (nuovissimo!!!arrivato dall Italia pochi mesi fa)C e´anche una sala operatorio che pero´funziona solo quando arriva l equipe chirurgica dall Italia o da Quito. Ci sono tre medici fissi, due dei quali sono qui da piu di 20 anni! e un medico giovane, piu o meno come me che sta qui un po prima di specializzarci. Ci sono 3 ostetriche fantastiche e una decina di infermieri. Ci sono anche 4 studenti all ultimo anno di Medicina, da Quito.E´un equipe strepitiosa. Tutti lavorano cosi duro! E sono sempre ma sempre sorridenti. Imparero´ molto da ognuno.
Io fin ora ho lavorato in pronto soccorso e ci staro finche il mio spagnolo non migliora. Anche se soprattutto qui i pazienti parlano Quichua, grrr...Al momento mi sembra tutto assurdo, ma credo che mi abituero in fretta. Tutti ma tutti i pazienti che vengono stanno male. Tutti inoltro stanno male gia da un po perche oprima si rivolgono al curandero e semplicemente non ne vogliono sapere di venire in ospedale. Hanno gastroenteriti tremende, polmoniti, tubercolosi, complicazioni della gravidanza (ma quante preeclamptiche esistono??) e ferite come incornamenti da toro, ustioni, fratture varie. E´molto diverso dalla selezione di patologia cardiovascolare, diabetica e alcoolica a cui mi sono abitutata a Londra. I pazienti sono indigeni, e la maggior parte e´analfabeta, non sa la propria data di nascita e non ha i servizi basilari in casa. Sono denutriti, imparassitati e alti al massimo un metro e mezzo.
In ospedale abbiamo fissi un bebe´con una malformazione cerebrale che i genitori non possono gestire in casa, e un ragazzo di 20 anni in coma dopo un incidente in moto, paralizzato e con varie stomie, stessa storia.
I primi due giorni mi sentivo sopraffatta da tutto, e tornata a casa non facevo che piangere. Spero che le cose vadano meglio ma mi sento gia piu forte.E´una sfida molto grande per me, ma poi penso che all inizio anche lavorare a Londra era cosi dura, e poi e´diventato rutine. E capisco anche di piu.
La nostra casa e´bellissima e io e Ross siamo fortunatamente insieme. e cé lacqua calda.
Un abbraccio a tutti!
Dimenticavo, cari saluti da tutti qui a Emanuele! Anita e Rodmy si ricordano certamente di te!
for my english speaking lovely friends...
hello everyone.We are well and settled in Zumbahua and I have started working in this little hospital. There s 4 doctors including myself, 3 midwifes and 9 nurses, and a few med student. An outpatient dept, a small emergency room and a delivery room. There s a theatre as well, but only working when the surgical equipe from Italy is here. A small lab, an x ray machine and an ultrasound. Incredibly everything works like a clockwork and everyone is really good and friendly, I hope I will be able to help and I m sure i ll learn so much. I m working in the emergency at the moment while my spanish gets bettter, and it s so amazingly different that it makes me a bit crazy. Every, every patient is profoudly sick and needs admission, has been sick for a long time and has seen the traditional medicine sciaman first and hates being in the hospital. I have dealt with tremendous gastroenteritis, with stool pòsitive to absolutely every form of life that you can think of, pneumonias, and bull horn injuries, and complications of pregnancies (coming in in the expulsive phase of labor, coming in with preeclampsia etc etc) I have tended to newborns as well! The patients generallly dont speak much spanish, but quichua, and generally dont want to share. (history etc) , they are heavily infestated and lacking of toilets and water at home. And very difficoult to undress as wearing so many layers. It is heartbreaking at times and very, very hard. I feel very challlenged in about everything, from the language to the competencies and in my heart as well. But I will keep up allright .
Hugs to you all
Addi
Adesso scrivo qualcosa anche io, sempre che la musica happy sudamericana in questo internetcafe non mi perfori i timpani prima.
Questo week end di esplorazione dei dintorni e´stato perfettto per rilassarci e per sublimare nella fatica muscolare lo shock culturale in cui mi trovavo, soprattutto io, dopo i primi giorni di lavoro all`ospedale...:)
L ospedale Claudio Benati ha una ventina di posti letto, un servizio di visite non urgenti e un servizio di pronto soccorso, piu un ambulatorio di vaccionazioni e una sala parto. Ce un lab e una macchina da radiografie, e un ecografo (nuovissimo!!!arrivato dall Italia pochi mesi fa)C e´anche una sala operatorio che pero´funziona solo quando arriva l equipe chirurgica dall Italia o da Quito. Ci sono tre medici fissi, due dei quali sono qui da piu di 20 anni! e un medico giovane, piu o meno come me che sta qui un po prima di specializzarci. Ci sono 3 ostetriche fantastiche e una decina di infermieri. Ci sono anche 4 studenti all ultimo anno di Medicina, da Quito.E´un equipe strepitiosa. Tutti lavorano cosi duro! E sono sempre ma sempre sorridenti. Imparero´ molto da ognuno.
Io fin ora ho lavorato in pronto soccorso e ci staro finche il mio spagnolo non migliora. Anche se soprattutto qui i pazienti parlano Quichua, grrr...Al momento mi sembra tutto assurdo, ma credo che mi abituero in fretta. Tutti ma tutti i pazienti che vengono stanno male. Tutti inoltro stanno male gia da un po perche oprima si rivolgono al curandero e semplicemente non ne vogliono sapere di venire in ospedale. Hanno gastroenteriti tremende, polmoniti, tubercolosi, complicazioni della gravidanza (ma quante preeclamptiche esistono??) e ferite come incornamenti da toro, ustioni, fratture varie. E´molto diverso dalla selezione di patologia cardiovascolare, diabetica e alcoolica a cui mi sono abitutata a Londra. I pazienti sono indigeni, e la maggior parte e´analfabeta, non sa la propria data di nascita e non ha i servizi basilari in casa. Sono denutriti, imparassitati e alti al massimo un metro e mezzo.
In ospedale abbiamo fissi un bebe´con una malformazione cerebrale che i genitori non possono gestire in casa, e un ragazzo di 20 anni in coma dopo un incidente in moto, paralizzato e con varie stomie, stessa storia.
I primi due giorni mi sentivo sopraffatta da tutto, e tornata a casa non facevo che piangere. Spero che le cose vadano meglio ma mi sento gia piu forte.E´una sfida molto grande per me, ma poi penso che all inizio anche lavorare a Londra era cosi dura, e poi e´diventato rutine. E capisco anche di piu.
La nostra casa e´bellissima e io e Ross siamo fortunatamente insieme. e cé lacqua calda.
Un abbraccio a tutti!
Dimenticavo, cari saluti da tutti qui a Emanuele! Anita e Rodmy si ricordano certamente di te!
for my english speaking lovely friends...
hello everyone.We are well and settled in Zumbahua and I have started working in this little hospital. There s 4 doctors including myself, 3 midwifes and 9 nurses, and a few med student. An outpatient dept, a small emergency room and a delivery room. There s a theatre as well, but only working when the surgical equipe from Italy is here. A small lab, an x ray machine and an ultrasound. Incredibly everything works like a clockwork and everyone is really good and friendly, I hope I will be able to help and I m sure i ll learn so much. I m working in the emergency at the moment while my spanish gets bettter, and it s so amazingly different that it makes me a bit crazy. Every, every patient is profoudly sick and needs admission, has been sick for a long time and has seen the traditional medicine sciaman first and hates being in the hospital. I have dealt with tremendous gastroenteritis, with stool pòsitive to absolutely every form of life that you can think of, pneumonias, and bull horn injuries, and complications of pregnancies (coming in in the expulsive phase of labor, coming in with preeclampsia etc etc) I have tended to newborns as well! The patients generallly dont speak much spanish, but quichua, and generally dont want to share. (history etc) , they are heavily infestated and lacking of toilets and water at home. And very difficoult to undress as wearing so many layers. It is heartbreaking at times and very, very hard. I feel very challlenged in about everything, from the language to the competencies and in my heart as well. But I will keep up allright .
Hugs to you all
Addi
POST 4- QUILATOA
Hola!
We are settling in quite well to our new existence in the Andes- Adele is already working in the hospital and I have tested my prospective students, ready to start lessons with them this week. As I mentioned in my last blog the village, Zumbahua, really is in the middle of nowhere, but once a week it´s market day (Saturday) and all of a sudden it´s absolutely heaving. It starts at 3am and it´s how I imagine markets used to be once upon a time in Europe- the farmers from miles around come with potatoes, rice, maize, apples, cows, pigs, chickens, llamas, sheep, shoes, hats, ponchos and all sorts of other wares, dragged on a rope or bundled up in enormous packs on their backs or in rusty old pickup trucks. I´ve been given the job of going to the market and getting the fruit and veg for the week, so I suppose I´ll get to know the people there quite well in the end. The meat stalls sell ALL of the animals that have just been chopped up- the first stall has a huge pile of chicken breasts, then legs, then so on down to the feet, and the same for the other animals. There are also a lot of stalls selling soup and grilled guinea pigs, but in after the market packs up the whole square is full of bits of bone (I guess the dogs clean it up?).
Yesterday and today we had our days off, so yesterday we took a pickup truck up to Lake Quilotoa, which was amazing- it´s an extinct volcano with a huge lake at the bottom of it. After a rustic lunch of giant corn-on-the-cobs and a slab of local cheese we got another lift down to the village of Chugchilan with an American couple who were headed in the same direction. Chugchilan is a lot better off than our village due to its proximity to various tourist attractions like the ´cloud forest´, and it showed- the place was a lot less ramshackle than Zumbahua (and a lot less cold, as it´s a bit lower down). We stayed the night there in a fairly fancy (for us) place with a log fire, but the bus left at 4am to come back to Zumbahua (!) so we decided to have a lay in and walk it instead. 5 hours later and we´ve just got back home- the scenery was spectacular, we only passed about three people along the way (luckily we could ask them if we were going the right way!) and now we´re shattered!
Hope everyone is well, look forward to hearing from you all soon!
Love Ross (and Adele)
We are settling in quite well to our new existence in the Andes- Adele is already working in the hospital and I have tested my prospective students, ready to start lessons with them this week. As I mentioned in my last blog the village, Zumbahua, really is in the middle of nowhere, but once a week it´s market day (Saturday) and all of a sudden it´s absolutely heaving. It starts at 3am and it´s how I imagine markets used to be once upon a time in Europe- the farmers from miles around come with potatoes, rice, maize, apples, cows, pigs, chickens, llamas, sheep, shoes, hats, ponchos and all sorts of other wares, dragged on a rope or bundled up in enormous packs on their backs or in rusty old pickup trucks. I´ve been given the job of going to the market and getting the fruit and veg for the week, so I suppose I´ll get to know the people there quite well in the end. The meat stalls sell ALL of the animals that have just been chopped up- the first stall has a huge pile of chicken breasts, then legs, then so on down to the feet, and the same for the other animals. There are also a lot of stalls selling soup and grilled guinea pigs, but in after the market packs up the whole square is full of bits of bone (I guess the dogs clean it up?).
Yesterday and today we had our days off, so yesterday we took a pickup truck up to Lake Quilotoa, which was amazing- it´s an extinct volcano with a huge lake at the bottom of it. After a rustic lunch of giant corn-on-the-cobs and a slab of local cheese we got another lift down to the village of Chugchilan with an American couple who were headed in the same direction. Chugchilan is a lot better off than our village due to its proximity to various tourist attractions like the ´cloud forest´, and it showed- the place was a lot less ramshackle than Zumbahua (and a lot less cold, as it´s a bit lower down). We stayed the night there in a fairly fancy (for us) place with a log fire, but the bus left at 4am to come back to Zumbahua (!) so we decided to have a lay in and walk it instead. 5 hours later and we´ve just got back home- the scenery was spectacular, we only passed about three people along the way (luckily we could ask them if we were going the right way!) and now we´re shattered!
Hope everyone is well, look forward to hearing from you all soon!
Love Ross (and Adele)
giovedì 16 agosto 2012
POST 3- Arrived at Zumbahua
Hello all!
Tuesday morning we got up bright and early and headed south into the mountains, to a market town called Latacunga. It didn´t look like much from the bus station but the centre of the town was quite scenic (albeit full of massive, ancient cars and buses belching out black smog). In the day we visited the museum (we were the only visitors, they seemed very pleased to see us) and stocked up on paper, pens, and bread to take up to Zumbahua. The traditional food of the place was a mixture of fried pork, pigskin, potatoes, popcorn and various other things, but I wasn´t feeling 100% so I decided not to risk it!
Yesterday morning we made the journey up to Zumbahua where we will be spending the next three months. We didn´t really know what to expect, either of the village or the hospital where we´ll be staying and where Adele will be working (and I will be teaching English). The village itself is very small and very isolated, and very poor. We´re hoping that this means that any help we can offer will be useful, and in fact Adele has already started to work in the hospital with patients from the village and surrounding countryside. I´m sure she´ll be able to explain in more detail, but basically I think this will be the opposite from working in Europe- patients tend not to come in until they are very sick, and one of the biggest problems is malnutrition (very little grows this far up in the mountains except for potatoes and onions).
The hospital is small but quite well equipped, and they have put Adele and I in a room together (which we didn´t expect!) in a house that is much more comfortable than we expected. The people that work at the hospital (about 3 medical students, 3 doctors and 10 nurses etc) seem very friendly and welcoming.
Hope everyone at home is well, we look forward to hearing from you!
Ross (and Adele)
Per i lettori italiani: non so se Adele avra´lópportunita´di aggiungere un blog oggi, visto che sta gia´lavorando nell'ospedale. Stiamo molto bene e la nostra casa e´piu´comoda di quanto ci aspettavamo, e quelli che lavorano qua sembrano molto amichevoli e accoglienti! Ross
Tuesday morning we got up bright and early and headed south into the mountains, to a market town called Latacunga. It didn´t look like much from the bus station but the centre of the town was quite scenic (albeit full of massive, ancient cars and buses belching out black smog). In the day we visited the museum (we were the only visitors, they seemed very pleased to see us) and stocked up on paper, pens, and bread to take up to Zumbahua. The traditional food of the place was a mixture of fried pork, pigskin, potatoes, popcorn and various other things, but I wasn´t feeling 100% so I decided not to risk it!
Yesterday morning we made the journey up to Zumbahua where we will be spending the next three months. We didn´t really know what to expect, either of the village or the hospital where we´ll be staying and where Adele will be working (and I will be teaching English). The village itself is very small and very isolated, and very poor. We´re hoping that this means that any help we can offer will be useful, and in fact Adele has already started to work in the hospital with patients from the village and surrounding countryside. I´m sure she´ll be able to explain in more detail, but basically I think this will be the opposite from working in Europe- patients tend not to come in until they are very sick, and one of the biggest problems is malnutrition (very little grows this far up in the mountains except for potatoes and onions).
The hospital is small but quite well equipped, and they have put Adele and I in a room together (which we didn´t expect!) in a house that is much more comfortable than we expected. The people that work at the hospital (about 3 medical students, 3 doctors and 10 nurses etc) seem very friendly and welcoming.
Hope everyone at home is well, we look forward to hearing from you!
Ross (and Adele)
Per i lettori italiani: non so se Adele avra´lópportunita´di aggiungere un blog oggi, visto che sta gia´lavorando nell'ospedale. Stiamo molto bene e la nostra casa e´piu´comoda di quanto ci aspettavamo, e quelli che lavorano qua sembrano molto amichevoli e accoglienti! Ross
lunedì 13 agosto 2012
Me Encanta El Cuy (in italiano)
Hola!
Voglio condividere con chi interessato una cosa che ho imparato oggi dalla mia maestra di spagnolo.
Mi ha mostrato un video sulla medicina tradizionale indigena delle tribu degli altopiani, e in particolare mi e`rimasto impresso il trattamento a base di CUY, il porcellino díndia. Il o la curandera (sciamano) prende un cuy vivo e lo agita/strofina con abbastanza violenza sul corpo del paziente, dalla testa ai piedi, finche gli soffia in faccia del fumo di sigaretta e dell alcohol. Dopo averlo scosso a sufficienza lo apre (squarta) e legge nelle interiora (del cuy)quello che non va nel paziente.Poi lo buttano. Visto che l ospedale dove siamo diretti pratica sia la medicina scientifica che quella tradizionale, spero che chi ci e`stato mi dica che non dovro`scuotere porcellini dìndia sui mieI pazienti! VERO EMANUELE?
Poi la mia maestra ci ha portato una torta tipica oggi, il pastel de plantan y queso, o torta di banane senza farina e con formaggio. Mi son fatta dare la ricetta (per esercitarmi un po con l imperativo!) e la rifaro`a casa!
Ho imparato tutti i tempi verbali in tempo di record, e anche se faccio ancora una magra figura in confronto a Ross, me la cavo nei negozi e ristoranti!(Lorenza , tenias razon!)
Domani partiamo per Zumbahua, e ci han dato l incarico di portare marmellata e pane. Domani faremo incetta di pane.
Un bacio! Adele xxxxxx
Voglio condividere con chi interessato una cosa che ho imparato oggi dalla mia maestra di spagnolo.
Mi ha mostrato un video sulla medicina tradizionale indigena delle tribu degli altopiani, e in particolare mi e`rimasto impresso il trattamento a base di CUY, il porcellino díndia. Il o la curandera (sciamano) prende un cuy vivo e lo agita/strofina con abbastanza violenza sul corpo del paziente, dalla testa ai piedi, finche gli soffia in faccia del fumo di sigaretta e dell alcohol. Dopo averlo scosso a sufficienza lo apre (squarta) e legge nelle interiora (del cuy)quello che non va nel paziente.Poi lo buttano. Visto che l ospedale dove siamo diretti pratica sia la medicina scientifica che quella tradizionale, spero che chi ci e`stato mi dica che non dovro`scuotere porcellini dìndia sui mieI pazienti! VERO EMANUELE?
Poi la mia maestra ci ha portato una torta tipica oggi, il pastel de plantan y queso, o torta di banane senza farina e con formaggio. Mi son fatta dare la ricetta (per esercitarmi un po con l imperativo!) e la rifaro`a casa!
Ho imparato tutti i tempi verbali in tempo di record, e anche se faccio ancora una magra figura in confronto a Ross, me la cavo nei negozi e ristoranti!(Lorenza , tenias razon!)
Domani partiamo per Zumbahua, e ci han dato l incarico di portare marmellata e pane. Domani faremo incetta di pane.
Un bacio! Adele xxxxxx
domenica 12 agosto 2012
POST 2
!Hola!
Thanks to all of you who have read our first blogs, if you want to leave comments on them then please do, so we can keep track of you as well!
We´ve been studying at the Spanish school every day here and I think we´re getting there slowly, although I find myself saying ´no entiendo´and staring at people blankly quite a lot. Luckily, everyone is very friendly and they don´t mind repeating themselves. On Friday afternoon our teachers took us to a strange Ecuadorian rock concert on one of the hills overlooking the city, and then we spent 2 hours trying to find a museum that was closed when we fnally got there. Yesterday we took a day off from studying and went up into the mountains to the east of Quito, to a place called Papallacta, which has loads of outdoor thermal springs. Getting in was ok but getting out wasn´t- it was about 15 C and cloudy. From what people we have met have told us, the place where we are going to spend 3 months volunteering (zumbahua) is even higher up and probably even colder, and probably doesn´t have hot water (!). We´re leaving to make the journey up there on Tuesday, and they´ve told us to bring bread and marmalade which are apparently unobtainable there...
Speaking of which, we´ve also had some fun culinary experiences so far- such as a nice soup with blanched, flobbly chicken´s feet and livers floating in it. But most of the food is really nice, although odd- today for lunch we had a sort of stew of sea bass, popcorn and roast potatoes, and we've got no idea what some of the vegetables and fruits are (there are about 20 different types of banana for a start). The last few days has also been a big national holiday to celebrate the Ecuadorian independence day, so there´s a nice party atmosphere.
No llamas as of yet, although I´m sure that'll change next week
Hope everybody is well, more to follow soon!
Love Ross (and Adele)
Anche io sto imparando lo spagnolo!!!a.
Thanks to all of you who have read our first blogs, if you want to leave comments on them then please do, so we can keep track of you as well!
We´ve been studying at the Spanish school every day here and I think we´re getting there slowly, although I find myself saying ´no entiendo´and staring at people blankly quite a lot. Luckily, everyone is very friendly and they don´t mind repeating themselves. On Friday afternoon our teachers took us to a strange Ecuadorian rock concert on one of the hills overlooking the city, and then we spent 2 hours trying to find a museum that was closed when we fnally got there. Yesterday we took a day off from studying and went up into the mountains to the east of Quito, to a place called Papallacta, which has loads of outdoor thermal springs. Getting in was ok but getting out wasn´t- it was about 15 C and cloudy. From what people we have met have told us, the place where we are going to spend 3 months volunteering (zumbahua) is even higher up and probably even colder, and probably doesn´t have hot water (!). We´re leaving to make the journey up there on Tuesday, and they´ve told us to bring bread and marmalade which are apparently unobtainable there...
Speaking of which, we´ve also had some fun culinary experiences so far- such as a nice soup with blanched, flobbly chicken´s feet and livers floating in it. But most of the food is really nice, although odd- today for lunch we had a sort of stew of sea bass, popcorn and roast potatoes, and we've got no idea what some of the vegetables and fruits are (there are about 20 different types of banana for a start). The last few days has also been a big national holiday to celebrate the Ecuadorian independence day, so there´s a nice party atmosphere.
No llamas as of yet, although I´m sure that'll change next week
Hope everybody is well, more to follow soon!
Love Ross (and Adele)
Anche io sto imparando lo spagnolo!!!a.
giovedì 9 agosto 2012
Ciao!
Anche io sto bene e condivido quello che ha scritto Ross, látmosfera qui ha qualcosa di particolare, un po aliena ma anche familiare, con le montagne e gli edifici quasi europei e la lingua che si capisce, mas o menos..... la trippa che abbiamo ordinato per sbaglio non l abbiamo mangiata, per la cronaca (anche se ho dovuto un po impuntarmi con Ross a cui non sembrava carino lasciarla nel piatto....) La mattina siamo svegli e pimpanti alle 6 e mezza ma la sera diamo morti alle 8, infatti ieri sono andata a dormire alle 8 alla faccia della fiesta... Il clima e´ bellissimo, il cielo e´ blu e se la notte fa frescolino o anzi freddo, durante il giorno il sole batte forte (e abbronza!). Oggi dopo la scuola di spagnolo ci spingeremo un po ad esplorare le colline intorno alla citta', se ci basta il fiato!
Adesso devo andare a fare colazione (le panetterie sono fantastiche. Hanno decine di tipi di pane :) )
Hasta luego!!
Adele
PS friends of Hilllingdon Hospital, if any: Ive been naughty and measured my SatO2 today and was 93%. I was allright though. xxxx
Anche io sto bene e condivido quello che ha scritto Ross, látmosfera qui ha qualcosa di particolare, un po aliena ma anche familiare, con le montagne e gli edifici quasi europei e la lingua che si capisce, mas o menos..... la trippa che abbiamo ordinato per sbaglio non l abbiamo mangiata, per la cronaca (anche se ho dovuto un po impuntarmi con Ross a cui non sembrava carino lasciarla nel piatto....) La mattina siamo svegli e pimpanti alle 6 e mezza ma la sera diamo morti alle 8, infatti ieri sono andata a dormire alle 8 alla faccia della fiesta... Il clima e´ bellissimo, il cielo e´ blu e se la notte fa frescolino o anzi freddo, durante il giorno il sole batte forte (e abbronza!). Oggi dopo la scuola di spagnolo ci spingeremo un po ad esplorare le colline intorno alla citta', se ci basta il fiato!
Adesso devo andare a fare colazione (le panetterie sono fantastiche. Hanno decine di tipi di pane :) )
Hasta luego!!
Adele
PS friends of Hilllingdon Hospital, if any: Ive been naughty and measured my SatO2 today and was 93%. I was allright though. xxxx
09-08-12
Hola amigos!
After months of planning and tearful farewells to friends and family in England and Italy, we're finally in South America! We left from Heathrow to Amsterdam early on Tuesday morning, ran through Amsterdam airport to make our connection and arrived in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, 11 hours later- but since Ecuador is 6 hours behind the UK it was still afternoon here. It´s one of the highest capital cities in the world and we're feeling it- if you move too fast you have to stop and take a deep breath, and it doesn't help that parts of it are very hilly! We found a nice hostel in the old part of the city, there are lots of beautiful colonial-era buildings and baroque churches, and there is a very laid-back atmosphere. Everything has that ramshackle, tumbledown look to it that I expected, but it's very clean and all of the people we've met have been extremely friendly. As for the Spanish, at the moment Adele understands a bit more of what people say than I do, and I can say a bit more than she can, so as long as we stick together we can normally make ourselves understood {although not always- yesterday we ended up with two tortillas full of tripe, which wasn't what we thought we'd ordered}. We're going to stay here until at least the middle of next week because we've signed up to do a short Spanish course, before we head down to the village where we're going to be volunteering for 3 months. We're both very well and really enjoying it so far, although I still have to get used to the time difference (which is why I'm writing this at 7am!). Will be in touch again soon, hope everybody at home is well and enjoying the end of the Olympics, and hopefully a nice summer!
Love Ross
PS Stuart, no spiders to report as of yet
Hola amigos!
After months of planning and tearful farewells to friends and family in England and Italy, we're finally in South America! We left from Heathrow to Amsterdam early on Tuesday morning, ran through Amsterdam airport to make our connection and arrived in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, 11 hours later- but since Ecuador is 6 hours behind the UK it was still afternoon here. It´s one of the highest capital cities in the world and we're feeling it- if you move too fast you have to stop and take a deep breath, and it doesn't help that parts of it are very hilly! We found a nice hostel in the old part of the city, there are lots of beautiful colonial-era buildings and baroque churches, and there is a very laid-back atmosphere. Everything has that ramshackle, tumbledown look to it that I expected, but it's very clean and all of the people we've met have been extremely friendly. As for the Spanish, at the moment Adele understands a bit more of what people say than I do, and I can say a bit more than she can, so as long as we stick together we can normally make ourselves understood {although not always- yesterday we ended up with two tortillas full of tripe, which wasn't what we thought we'd ordered}. We're going to stay here until at least the middle of next week because we've signed up to do a short Spanish course, before we head down to the village where we're going to be volunteering for 3 months. We're both very well and really enjoying it so far, although I still have to get used to the time difference (which is why I'm writing this at 7am!). Will be in touch again soon, hope everybody at home is well and enjoying the end of the Olympics, and hopefully a nice summer!
Love Ross
PS Stuart, no spiders to report as of yet
venerdì 3 agosto 2012
Test blog
Hello everyone, we're still in Italy at the moment so this is just a test post to get the blog up and running.
Ross
Ross
Iscriviti a:
Post (Atom)