something that makes me smile.

We get loads of 50 cent pieces at the clinic. This one (the one on the right) is my absolute favorite, though.

I traded it for 50 cents of mine and I was determined to keep it as my lucky coin. Unfortunately, I accidently spent it at the internet cafe the same day. So much for lucky..

mi casa

 

This is the outside of my house. I live on one of the two main streets in Peurto Quito, so I´m surrounded by busninesses (and loud music).

 

 

My chickens. My family just bought two more chickens -- a rooster and a chicken, like these two. The two roosters constantly fight (and keep all of us up at night), so they are killing the smaller rooster (the one in this photo) to eat...

 

my room

 

 

the inside of my house. That gate divides our yard from our house. My living room, kitchen, dining room and basically the majority of my house is outside. 

 

my living room

 

My kitchen has an oven, which many people in the Puerto Quito don´t have.

 

My really sweet dogs that everyone is scared of -- probably because they bark like maniacs at everyone that passes by and they have bitten off someone´s nose before....but they are really sweet!

  

I live outside so seeting giant moths, geckos and, unfortunately, lots of mosquitos in the house is a common occurance.



Next on my Ecuadorian adventure: Otavalo, Ecuador

el mercado de pescado (Manabi, Ecuador)

The night before this picture was taken, I asked my host mom what time I had to be ready. She told me 8 o´clock.

At 7 o´clock sharp, my host dad knocked on the door to my hotel room.

¨Yeah?¨I answered the door, a little confused (and sleepy).

¨Ready?¨he asked.

¨Right now?¨

¨Yes. We have to get up early to go to the fish market¨

"Okay,¨ I grabbed my camera and tried to walk out the door.

¨First, comb your hair. Five minutes.¨

So this is me with my host mom in front of our hotel on the beach... in my PJs.

At least my hair was combed.

We walked down the beach to El Mercado De Pescado.

la playa del Ecuador

CLICK HERE

Check out some photos here.

Next on my Ecuadorian adventure: My house!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRIS!

I´m sorry I can´t get you anything cool.. or really anything at all.

BUT.

I can write you a blog post.

TWENTY things that I love about you on your TWENTIETH birthday:

I love..

1. that I´ve know you for so long. You´re my best friend! (Also, because I´ve known you for so long, I have plenty of blackmail.)

2. your creativity

3. that you´re willing to do crazy things with me

4. along with that, you have the craziest ideas for things we can do..

5. your talents

5. that you´re good with kids

6. that you know how to make a girl feel special

7. the fact that you´re scared of sharks. (I feel like it makes my life more entertaining.. just kidding! sort of..okay, I´m not kidding at all)

8. that you´re a hard worker. Specifically, you´re a hard-working missionary

9. that you always act like you love the presents I give you (even if we both know they´re on the lame side)

10. knowing that you would do anything for me 

11. that you make THE BEST chicken -- which I miss a ton! (& you´re a good cook in general)

12. that you´re not very good at board game type games (which I love because I can always win)

13. that you can do a backhand spring

14. that you will always take a picture with me, even if it´s the millionth one

 

15. that my family loves you too

16. that you´re willing to try new things

 

17. that I can talk to you for hours and it fews like only a few minutes

18. that you have a lot of supporters

19. that you do the sweetest things for me

20. & I love dating you!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOVEY!

A Short Preview of My Apprenticeship.

 

This is the subcentro I am volunteering in for the next six months as a Nursing Assistant.

 

This is me in the subcentro with my over-sized lab coat which advertises a medication that probably has something to do with the urinary system. (I am investing in scrubs in the near future.)

 

All of the histories for the patients are paper.

 

There are over 12,000 of them and that number is rapidly growing. My job includes shuffling through the thousands of histories to search for the patients' history and to return the histories that the doctor(s) saw that day back to their proper place. 

Each of those binders holds 200 histories.

 

I sit behind that nice little window for a good chunk of the day and sort through histories, greet patients, and do all of the paperwork that needs to be done before the patient sees the doctor (which simply includes finding the correct history or making a new history if the patient is new to the clinic).

 

I check vitals before the patient sees the doctor(s) -- height, weight, blood pressure, etc.

 

 I also get to do cool things like cleaning wounds, taking out stitches and assististing/observing the doctor(s).

 

(Want to see the before and after to this patient? Check it out here.)

I´m getting lots of practice doing what I love, learning new skills and learning new ways of doing things (for example, in my clinic, we don´t get sterile gauze in packages on a regular basis, so we fold the gauze inside of paper and we put them into a machine which sterilizes them).



Next on my Ecuadorian adventure: Vacation to the beach - Video and Photos