Ecuador week 3

It’s hard to believe I only have one more week in Ecuador.  The past few weeks have been amazing.  Last week I was able to participate in a health fair at the local clinic I’ve been working with.  The topic was diabetes and my classmates and I were to prepare some presentations and talk with people about diabetes.  We arrived at the clinic around nine and I expected we would start soon after.  However, as we were all waiting to start talking with people a high school marching band rolled up and started playing for everyone.  This was followed by a karaoke singer and before long my classmates and I were dancing with everyone else with our white coats on.  Eventually, we did end up talking with people about diabetes and I gave a small presentation to a class of elementary school kids on the importance of exercise. 

Initially, I was perplexed at this event as it seemed more like a party to me than a health fair.  However, it was explained to me that this is a typical Latin American health fair.  The reason it is more centered around having fun and interacting with people in a different way is so that patients can feel more comfortable around their health care providers.  This helps promote the idea that going to the doctor’s office doesn’t need to be a scary thing.  I also had the chance to go to a local school and do eye screenings for kids.  This was a ton of fun and I wish that healthcare providers in the U.S. had more of an opportunity to get out into the community and provide these types of services. 

My Spanish seems to be improving a lot and I’m already trying to think of ideas of how to continue improving my Spanish once I return home.  A couple days ago I was eating lunch with my host family and their five-year-old grandson.  My family asked me if my Spanish was improving and I replied, “yes, it’s improving everyday.”  And then their grandson said, “yes, I’ve been teaching him a lot”.  We all laughed and I think we all knew it was true.

                  pic: my class at the health fair

Ecuador week 2

         It is my second week here in Ecuador and I can’t say I feel like I’ve mastered Spanish.  In fact, it feels like the opposite.  Learning a new language is very humbling.  I will be honest I am being a bit hard on myself and perhaps that is because of my personality.  I’ve always had this trait and I constantly have to remind myself not to think this way.  When I turn things upside down I can honestly say my Spanish has improved dramatically.  For example, last night my host family had a guest over and I was able to talk with him for at least ten or fifteen minutes and understood most of what he was talking about and I think he understood me as well.  We talked about my travels this past weekend and where I’m from.  It genuinely lifted my spirits to be able to have that moment.  However, this morning I started rotating through a different clinic with a preceptor that speaks extremely fast and in-depth using medical terminology and I was quickly humbled at little I understood. 

            Alright, enough complaining about how hard it is to learn a new language.  This past weekend my friend and I were able to travel to the city of Baños which is about a two-hour bus ride from where I am living.  Baños is heading east towards the Amazon.  It is still at a relatively high elevation of 6,000 ft. and it sits at the bottom of an active volcano!  This is a town of adventure sports with tourists from all over the world.  We had quite an adventure the first day there as we rented some bikes and rode them in the rain down a mountain road in search of some waterfalls.  On the way we stopped to ride a zipline over a gorge about half a mile down the mountain.  Afterwards we continued onward and fortunately found some spectacular waterfalls at the end. 

            After all of that complaining I will say that I am thankful for all of the intense learning experiences I’ve had here.  The complete immersion with Spanish classes, working in local clinics, and living with a host family have been so valuable so far.  I would definitely recommend this experience to anyone else who is serious about learning a language. 

                            Pic: Swinging off the side of a volcano in Baños.

Adventures from Ecuador

         This week has been a whirlwind of emotion.  It has been such an eye-opening experience to see how people of a different culture live.  A few things I have learned about the Latino culture are that family is extremely important to them and that time moves slower here.  Family loyalty is of the utmost importance and often times extended families live together under one roof.  Also, the Latin culture traditionally has a different concept of time.  People are usually not in as much of a rush to get places.  Fortunately, this suits my personality well.  On the flip side people often have to wait for longer for things which for us Americans can be quite challenging!  

            The last few days I have been working in a remote clinic high up in the mountains in an area called Cacha.  This area is inhabited by indigenous people who have inhabited this area since before the Spanish conquest, five hundred years ago.  I have been amazed at how simply these people live and it is humbling to be able to interact with them.  There are many things that are vastly different about practicing healthcare in these clinics than from the U.S.  For example, in Cacha dogs wander freely and today a dog happened to pop in the clinic and introduce himself to everyone.  Nobody really thought anything of it which seemed a bit odd to me.   

            My Spanish has been improving but at the same time I often catch myself getting frustrated at how ignorant I feel when I can’t communicate something or I don’t understand someone.  The family I’m living with doesn’t speak any English and neither do any of the medical staff I am working with.  Also, my Spanish professor insists on only speaking Spanish to us.  So, yeah, nobody speaks English.  I did learn a helpful hint today in Spanish class.  Apparently, in Latino culture it is awkward to announce that you are going to use the bathroom.  The formality would be to just ask where the bathroom is and then it is assumed you are going to use it.  Not only have I been announcing that I need to use the bathroom every day but one of the first things I said to my family the day I met them was, “I need to use the bathroom.”  So I guess the joke is on me.  But at least I have not been making the same mistake as one of my classmates.  Instead of telling people, “I am good” he has been telling people, “I am sexy”.  Quite honestly it’s a super easy mistake to make but at the same time we all had a great laugh about that.  

                            Me outside of my classroom.

Saludos de Ecuador

Greetings from Ecuador

I have found myself in Ecuador for the next month of my life.  I’m not exactly sure what inspired this idea other than a subtle suggestion from my spiritual director a few months ago.  Somehow that subtle suggestion found its way to fruition through lots of prayer, a little bit of good luck, and most of all God’s blessing.  Fast forward a few months and here I am in beautiful Ecuador.  Honestly, before coming to Ecuador I didn’t know much about this country and still don’t but I’m excited to learn more.  Tomorrow I will start working at a clinic as well as start taking Spanish classes.  

Some interesting things to note so far:  I think cars have the right of way over pedestrians or so it seems by how terrified I am at crossing the street.  The elevation is extremely high: 9000 ft.!!  So I’m still getting used to that.  The food is delicious and especially the food my host family makes which is mostly from scratch.  

                                  Photo: Taken a few blocks from where I am staying this is

                                             looking at volcán Chimborazo, the highest peak in

                                             Ecuador.

So far my host family has been wonderful and extremely hospitable to me.  In hopes of keeping everyone posted my plan is to keep up with this blog as I continue my adventure here in Ecuador.  I also plan on writing a small part of this blog in Spanish (emphasis on small).  Hopefully the Spanish part will grow as I spend more time here.  I am going to try to use translation software as little as possible so if you’re fluent or know any Spanish at all for that matter, feel free to correct or comment on my post.

Saludos de Ecuador

Yo llegé en Ecuador hace dos días y yo estoy un poco nervioso y muy emocionado.  Mi familía en Ecuador ha sido muy amiable.  La comida es buenísima y mi comida favorita es la sopa.  Mi familia tiene un jardin en su patio y hay muchos vegetales que hacen la sopa.  La mańana es mi primero día en el clinic y tambien mí primero dïa de clase.  

Finding Love or Giving Love?

As I thought about the readings from Mass today I could not help but smile when I thought about the second reading.   Today’s second reading was from Corinthians 12:31 – 13:13.   And yes this is the same verse that we all know so well from weddings and was even made famous in our modern culture by the movie Wedding Crashers.   The most well-known part says, “Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous, it is not pompous, etc.  I have always loved that verse but today’s reading included the prequel to those lines which really caught my attention.  St. Paul says:

“Brothers and sisters:
Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.
But I shall show you a still more excellent way.

If I speak in human and angelic tongues,
but do not have love,
I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.
And if I have the gift of prophecy,
and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge;
if I have all faith so as to move mountains,
but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I give away everything I own,
and if I hand my body over so that I may boast,
but do not have love, I gain nothing.” (1 Corinthians 12:31-13:3)

I don’t know why these words stuck out so much.  I think maybe it’s because when I usually hear these famous words from St. Paul I think of romantic love.  And what I think of when I think of romantic love is finding, “true love” or “lasting love” or the “perfect one”.  It’s like I’m a puzzle piece and can only fit with that one other puzzle piece in the entire puzzle.  When I’m dating someone or even if it’s just a first date or even just a first phone conversation I sometimes get ahead of myself and start thinking, “does this have potential to be 'true love' or 'lasting love' or the 'perfect one'.”  I think most of us have this idea of what that is supposed to look like for us.  I know I do.  It’s like this person is somehow supposed to bring love like we have never experienced to us as a gift sent from heaven.  And the only way I can receive that gift is if I go out and find it. 

What struck me about this verse is that St. Paul seems to be telling us we could receive all the gifts in the world: knowledge, prophecy, faith, charity.  Yet if we are not giving the gift of love we will have nothing.  As I pondered this I could only think that instead of wasting so much time searching maybe I need to concentrate on loving more.  I need to concentrate on loving those around me no matter who those may be.  I’m not just talking about romantic love but more so wishing, wanting, and willing the good of others around me.  This is the gift we can all give so freely.  Maybe in giving love more freely we might actually find love in ways that we did not expect.