Ecuador - July 21, 2011

 

After settling down, I slept well.  As usual, I put my ear plugs in, so I heard very little.  I woke up a few times, bewildered by my whereabouts, but I rolled over and went back to sleep.  In the night, I heard sirens, airplanes, and barking dogs (of which Deb was not particularly fond).

At about 7:30 a.m., I rolled out.  People were milling around already, so I checked out my surroundings.  The backyard is shared by three houses and a common, postage stamp of grass.  The grass itself is a bit odd to me.  It certainly doesn't feel like MN grass.  It's kind of spongy - almost like astro-turf (it's real), and it's very, very dense.  The washer and dryer for the four houses in the complex is tucked under a carport attached to the supposed single car garage next to the Swedish house (now, it serves as a storage shed).  The front "yard" faces the street, but it is completely gated in.  If you are a visitor (as Richard was on that first morning), you have to be buzzed in.

After a shower (warm), breakfast was served. My shower was great; it was warm with an intense blast of hot water at the end, just to punctuate the fact that it was, in fact, warm.  It was critical to remind myself not to get any water in my mouth.

Mercifully, Mike had gotten the new French Press (coffee maker for travel) to work, so I was able to have hot coffee with my breakfast.  There was bread, two types of jelly (orange and grape), juices (orange, apple, peach - Dan's favorite), and fresh (and I mean, really fresh) fruit.  I had a orange that tasted nothing like I've had before.  As I peeled it, the juice ran from it so much so that I had to peel it over the garbage can to avoid dousing myself and everyone around me.  The taste was inexplicable.  It was a flavor blast of juice that put even the largest orange in the Cub grocery store to shame.

After breakfast, we got cleaned up and waited for the bus.  A spontaneous yoga/exercise class began in the backyard.  Beth, Sheila, Erika, and even Mike Buer were stretching themselves in odd positions in order to stretch sufficiently before the long bus ride.

Nick wasn't feeling great yet, so I consulted with our nurses, Faith and Karen, when they returned from their field trip to a womens' clinic.  It was decided that we would go to a local pharmacy (they are everywhere) and get an antibiotic for Nick's ear, just to be on the safe side.  In Santo Domingo, we would have access to a pharmacy if we needed it, but we decided that it would be better to start treating a possible ear infection right away.  Ever the lifesaver, Richard accompanied Nick, Karen, and me to a pharmacy two blocks from the Swedish house.  Richard translated, and I ended up with ear drops for Nick that cost. . .$3.75.  Are you kidding me?!  After two doses, Nick was feeling somewhat better.  Even if it wasn't an infection, there was a pain reliever in the drops that seemed to make him feel better.

Next was the LONG drive to the camp.  After swirling and twirling through Quito (which took about an hour to do - Quito is so BIG), I decided that I needed to be up front to avoid motion sickness.  Jess Bays and Rachel jockeyed for position on the other side, knowing full well that motion sickness would kick their butts as well.  A little Dramamine sent them off to la-la land, so it didn't pose a huge problem for them. It was a very good choice, especially as we entered the tilt-a-whirl through the mountains to Santo Domingo.

As I mentioned, Quito is huge, and there is so much new, yet abandoned, construction.  Buildings are partially finished everywhere - in some cases, there are no windows on the structure, and rebar points heavenward, promising construction that will more than likely not continue. Heartbreaking to me, an intense animal lover, stray dogs in various levels of care wander the roadside, and cows in the city randomly graze on available grass, no matter where it happens to be.  The temperature was good - no humidity, but that's probably because we are in a mountainous region. 

As we traveled, we stopped at a gas station, and everyone took a potty break and bought snacks.  I noted that on this particular day, regular gas was $1.48/gallon while diesel was $1.08/gallon.  A 20 oz (sort of - since they run on the metric system) soda was around $.70.  Everything is cheaper here, and Coke is king when it comes to beverages.

Finally, we were on our way out of Quito to Santo Domingo.  The hair-pin turns and switchbacks were nauseating for even the toughest stomach.  Even Karen Twedt who was in the front seat with me felt dizzy and nauseas.  It rained on the way and became increasingly more humid as we neared Santo Domingo.

Along the way was lots of road construction, lots of night clubs (aka strip joints - perhaps, the two coincide?), and uniformed boys and girls who were either coming or going to school.

In order to try to entertain ourselves, Karen and I read road signs and translated them for practice, looking up unfamiliar or unrecognizable words as necessary (since everything now was in Spanish).  There was lush greenery and waterfalls to awe us on occasion.

Once we reached Santo Domingo, we headed to a mall for fans and screens (Seriously?  The only nefarious bugs are the no-see-ums in the grass!). We bought water and tried to converse with pharmacy personnel (it was an attempt; that's all I will say).  After Nick's issue with his ears, Mike's hypochondrical side emerged, and he decided that he needed more Sudafed in order to survive.  Yeah, well, when we couldn't communicate, we had to pass and take the risk. :)

As we wandered around the mall for a bit, one of the things that became most noticeable since it assaulted our nostrils was the fact that people pee wherever and whenever nature calls.  No, they weren't peeing IN the mall, but if they had to go, they would step right outside the mall and do their business.  On the way to Santo Domingo, I personally witnessed this happen at least three times - one dude even pointed his penis TOWARD the road while taken a wee.

After another half an hour of driving, we finally arrived at camp.  We are way, way, way away from civlization.  The road to the camp is about six miles out of Santo Domingo, and it's another twenty minutes of traveling on the road just to get to the camp. 

When we arrived, the camp caretakers (Reuben, Unparo (sp??), etc) had a meal waiting for us, and it was 3 p.m.  I think it was lunch, and they had waited on us!  Our first Ecuadorian meal was rice, onions, green peppers, and tomatoes, fish (ugh - seriously), a squash-like soup, and popcorn.  For those of you who know me, you know that fish is one meal that you can chase me down the street with, but you will be happy to know that I ate my fish like a good girl (tasted like chicken), and I was thankful that the texture was not like fish.

A brief word about IPEE campimento:  As I said, it's situated about twenty minutes from the road.  It consists of a U-shaped dormitory with Mujeres, or women, on one side and Hombres, or men, on the other side.  There are quarters for speakers and/or special guests, and each side has a shower area and restroom, which interestingly enough, are separated from each other.  The shower area is set up a little differently as well.  Rather than dress and shower in one stall, a person showers first, then moves to another room to dress.

There is also a separate building which functions as a cocina, or kitchen, cafeteria, and auditorium all in one.  There is a caretaker house,  a small building where campers can buy liquids and treats, a grass/bamboo hut, and a ginormous, grass futbol field, which is mowed with one of two pushmowers on the premises.  The entirety of the camp is situated next to a fast-moving river.

We then set up our rustic living quarters.  Twelve of us were in one room (Haylee, Beth, Morgan, Brittney, Lavonne, Erika (who was ticked about having to room with her mom), Rachel, Jess, Deb, Sheila, and me), and there was no air-conditioning (fans or blow on each other).

Before supper, we started preparations for the camp.  After all, we were there to help with the camp, which meant we would be helping with set-up as well.  We made candy bags for the beds of each of the campers (like chocolate on a pillow at a finer hotel).  Then, we folded and coalated the devotion guides for each of the campers.

Supper consisted on fried chicken (for real) and homemade fries with homemade mayo (which is apparently the way the Ecuadorians eat fries) and homemade ketchup.

After supper, more preparation for the camp continued.  Randy, Karen, Haylee, Catherine, and I played Phase 10 until we couldn't see straight anymore.

By 10:00, we barely could keep our eyes open anymore, but Dan wanted to have a meeting, which 27 of the 29 attended. We talked about our observations about Ecuador thus far, each offering his/her input as desired.  We also met Maria, Jorge, Jaime, and Marcia (who was in charge of the camp that would occur the next day). Then, we prayed together in preparation for the camp that would begin tomorrow.  Everyone was down for the count by 11 pm.