Ecuador-Dia Tres

We made it through Day 2 and were ready for Day 3. Again, Cherine and I with the 10 minute rise and shine, breakfast and down to the lobby with 50lb bags in tow. Each medical team was color coded and separated in the lobby. When your bus color was called, it was time to move.

The ride again ,was about an hour away from the hotel. As you can see there are no lines for traffic patterns, but I could do without hearing a car horn for the rest of my life. People just honked ALL THE TIME! Even behind buses, they honk. They honk at red lights, green lights, no lights...ALL THE TIME! I was so tired of hearing car horns. We passed this along the way to our location today. I had come to the conclusion that a great number of adults in this country/city were employed in some shape by the police. Approximately every 25 feet along the streets and waterfront were police officers with automatic weapons. It was crazy. Tons at every traffic light, even though the lights worked, they were still directing traffic. And the fact that all businesses were up with metal bars and full size metal garage doors, I didn't understand WHY there were so many. Maybe its a sign of intimidation? Along with the history of th Lighthouse, Ill definately look up this part of the country as well.

Like I said yesterday, trash piles...more and more. I did see a truck that had backed up to a pile and guys were behind it with shovels, putting the garbage in the truck. But, of course, they never get all of it, so bits and pieces of rotten food, trash, etc. are left behind. That on top of, the next day there is more trash piled in the same location, the smell gets worse and it never goes away. You could definately tell where we were each day, after coming across the mountain. The smell and the look was changed.

We ended up passing by the 'Farmers Market' today. I was totally amazed at how chickens hung, red meat, sausages, etc. The next table over the guy actually chopped off a chickens head. I didn't get that picture. But it was right in the middle of the road. There were 2 lanes on each side and no where to pull off. So you either had to go away and park and walk or deal through the windows. The bus driver did tell us not to put anything out the window, like our cameras or hands with jewelry because they would take it right off your hand. I hadn't put the camera out but it was kind of crazy hearing that.

The fruits and vegetable tables were probably the most color we saw all week. Everything was so brown and dirty here. There was only one place we saw grass, other than that, everything was dirt colored.

Not sure what all the fruits and vegetables were, but it was kind of interesting seeing them.

More trash.....like I said...trash, trash, everywhere. Are you starting to get the picture? Now imagine the smell! Y-U-C-K!

We finally turned off the paved road and into the area of dirt roads. As our guide was attempting to tell the bus driver where to turn and how to get up this steep hill, the bus driver kept saying (in Spansh) "but this isn't a car". The guides kept telling him 'but cars go up this hill all the time'. This back and forth went on for a good 5 minutes. Alas, the bus driver made his attempt at going up this hill. As well all looked and couldn't believe he was actually attempting to go up, I don't think there was a word spoken as his lowered the gear and gently pushed on the gas. I think secretly we all thought the bus was going to turn over with us on it! But we all held our breath until he made the turn onto the dirt road that led us to the church we were going to today!

As we rounded the last turn and saw everyone lined up, we all clapped! I don't think any of us thought we would actually make it. What was funny, later when the bus driver left to go get the dental students, he refused to drive the bus back to get us and made us walk back down. With the 50lb suitcases! We all laughed at the end of the day!

Ok, back to work! We came into a church that had a tile floor, concrete walls and 2 bathrooms inside the church. No running water though. They had a volunteer watching the bano's, so everytime someone used the bathroom, she would get a bucket of water out of a barrell and 'flush' the toilet, and then mop the foor! It was definately a turn around from yesterday!

We actually had electricity and fans! We needed it, it was very hot! And this church, even nicer, didn't have a cross-breeze.

The pharmacy crew rocked. Mike, our Pharmacist from the ED, Chris, who is a UNC Pharmacy student works now as a Pharmacy Tech at Rite Aid, and Kelsey who is our interpreter. She is at Trinity College majoring in English. She was very nice and everyone on our team, including the entire team just meshed well together. It was great! Oh I forgot Bob. Yes Bob was with us to watch over the meds.

We broke for lunch after noon. Time was flying by despite us all sweating like crazy and taking water breaks as dictated by Mike and Dwayne! At lunch today, as we were eating, Michael and Dr. Ken broke out in guitar songs. Ken was crazy. Michael is Kelsey's brother (in case you couldn't tell), he just finished his 3rd year of Medical School at UNC. I knew there was a reason I liked him! Go Heels! He is a MD from Ft. Lauderdale, and is definately the entertainer of the Purple Team. He entertains us on the bus, during our day, especially at lunch and on the way home! He brings harmonicas, a drum, guitar, etc. I definately want to make sure he's on our team next year!~

This was our set-up. Michael actually started seeing patients today, so we had 5 MDs, which let us see more patients quicker and kept the pharmacy team on its toes. I think our best reported time from the patient entering to leaving us with meds filled was 8 minutes. At least, thats what Brad tells us! I think we were much faster!

At the end of the day, we were glad to be done. I think mainly because we were so hot and tired.

After we were caught up and waiting on the last few prescriptions to fill, Kelsey & I went outside to breathe and to get some pics of our surroundings. This little girl entertained Kelsey all day. She was so cute.

When walking down the dirt road to the cross road to get a picture of how steep the hills were that we came up, I looked up and saw these shoes around the power lines. Amazing, that some things are everywhere. People in the USA do this. I, personally, haven't done it and I don't really know why people do it, but here I was, south of the Equator, thousands of miles from home and here were tennis shoes around power lines. Crazy!

This picture is lookin up the cross road, the other direction (looking down the hill) is where our bus is waiting on us. It was so steep and nothing flat, there were bumps and holes everywhere. Imagine that in a bus.

This next picture is after I made it down the hill and watching the rest of the team come down. The picture really doesn't give the angle justice. It was soooo steep! And the fact we had made it up in a bus. Someone was definately looking out for us!

Back on the bus and back to the hotel we go. We, of course, passed the Farmers Market again. Im sure some of the chickens that were hanging in the morning were the same ones hanging in the afternoon! Then we remembered we hadn't seen any cows, so Im not sure what red meat was hanging. We saw only 2 cats the entire week, but tons of dogs! Whatever it was, it was probably dinner!

This guys was unloading plantains. You know, bananas! ha ha By the stalk load. It was kind of crazy watching him pull a stalk off at a time, then the guy on the ground would take 1-2 off and then lay it out in order.

Back through traffic and heading home a different way, I passed this billboard! McDonalds! In Ecuador? Yep, they really are global. And I figured Allison and Chris would like this! I sure would love a Large Sweet Tea, but I can't use the water in the tea, so thats a no go! But definately as soon as I get home! Maybe Chris will come next year, now that he knows theres a McDonalds!