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
I wish A goog luck to you both in this new adventure.
RispondiEliminaË molto interessante quello che scrivete.
Un abbraccio da la cugina di Adele.
Sono Erika
Ciao Erika! Ecco chi ci stava seguendo dalla Spagna! un abbraccio anche a te , Adele y Ross ( ps poi verremo a trovarti parlando fluentemente lo spagnolo :)))))
RispondiElimina