Past and Present-First Hospital and Staff and new clinic

Last days

July 20, 2008

It has just stopped raining after another 12 hour stretch. The rain forest is not short on rain.

Had pinchos last night, a local Friday night delicacy. Basically a type of shish kabab marinated meat on a stick complete with greasy fries and seasoned Choclo. Choclo is a type of pale yellow latin corn that has bigger, softer kernels than American corn and is quite tasty. After that headed to Becky’s for movie night from her arsenal of literally 200 movie DVD’s. Not much else to do in Shell on a Friday night.

So it stands that I am down to my last week in this strange rain forest land. Home to the biggest and strangest insects I have ever seen. I have seen spiders the size of my hand, fluffy tarantulas that are actually quite cute, and a odd sort of flat spider that inhabited the corner of my door. Rhinocerous beetles with pokey black horns who always seem to be belly up clawing the air with their insect feet, florescent green bees, walking sticks of various hues, grass-hoppers in the shape of large green leafs, and butterflies in brilliant blues or painted with huge owl eyes.

Some places you are drawn to and they call you back with an almost tangible force. For me these are the mountains and high places of the world. This rain forest holds mystery and intrigue and curiosities of every sort, but it is not where I am drawn, but where I have labored for a while.

So many lives have been touched by this small service I have offered, and in return my heart has been molded as well. Esteban learned to walk in Makuma and Angelita sat up for the first time in months. Juan Eras travels two hours once a week for therapy on his knee and Zoila Herminia Perez wet my arms with her tears when I left. Daniela, our new therapist now has a job in the town of her family, where no work existed before. The hospital now has a physical therapy department and new clinic, a service they had been waiting over eight years to put in place. The lives of certain disabled orphans at the Casa de Fe, “House of Faith”, have also been touched through the work of Dr. Sue Curfman, my previous anatomy professor who felt led to come to Ecuador for a week to provide physical therapy.

“Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God” 2 Corinthians 3:5
It has started to rain again.

Patient Patients

Casa de Fe

Climbing up Basilica Spires and Pinchincha volcano

Old town and Basilica with animal gargoyles

Old Town Quito and Honey Pot door

7/1/08

The sign read, “Look carefully because the goods will only pass once.” It was placed at the top of a small dark brown revolving door in a wall at the Monasterio del Carmen Alto. The Rough Guide Lilli had brought suggested rapping on the door to request goods from the Carmelite nuns. As the nuns were living in complete isolation, they passed objects to customers around a lazy Susan type revolving door, so they wouldn’t be seen.
The sign didn’t give any hints as to what one could actually purchase or how one was to go about the transaction. The guide book listed honey, herbs, and wine as possible choices for consumption.
I thought it was best to get on with it and rapped three times on the small door in the wall resting at about chest height. We waited a few minutes and nothing happened, so I knocked again. This time I heard a muffled young voice ask me something in Spanish that I couldn’t quite understand. I figured I should have the appearance of knowing what I was doing.
I leaned forward and spoke into the brown paint, ”Puedo ver su miel?” “Can I see your honey?” This has to be one of the single most odd things I have ever done. There I was standing in the foyer of a nunnery asking someone I couldn’t see for honey. The lady uttered something in reply and then the door began to move.
Believe it or not, out popped a rather large jar of honey.
“Do you have anything smaller?”, I asked.
“No”, was the answer from beyond.
“How much is it?”
“4.50”, was the reply.
“Do you have any herbs?”, I asked next. I think she asked me what kind of herbs, so I asked her if she had anything for chicken as I couldn’t think what else to ask about herbs from a lady behind a revolving door.
Nothing else came around from Netherland and I didn’t feel right asking a Nun for wine. She wanted to know what else we might like. I told her we didn’t know what she had. The lady at this point seemed a bit bemused and I got the impression that I was somehow entertaining her. In the end she indicated that the shop outside had samples of the wares for sale. As we didn’t want the large jar of honey I thanked her and the honey disappeared around the corner of the moving door.
That was certainly a strange experience and one I am quite sure will not be repeated in the near future.

Galapagos good-byes

06/29/08

There are no less than 5 sea lions looking at me as I float submerged in the small lagoon off Isabella Island. We have come to see the Islas Tintereras or Shark Islands, where the black tip reef sharks rest in channels among the black lava islands. Unfortunately the sharks were off laying eggs elsewhere, but we could still see the abundance of other marine life. Baby iguanas scattered like rats along the lava path as we walked by. There were sea lions resting on the sandy beaches and larger marine iguanas swimming nearby. As the blue footed boobies and great frigate birds soared over- head, the little Galapagos penguins waddled about and bobbed up and down in the surf. The sun set in brilliant pinks and oranges over the flamingo lagoon as ducks left light trails in the water. As this day set on the majesty of the sea, so our last night in the Galapagos stretched to it’s end.

Iguana tracks

Fateful ferry

06/28/08

There are 13 people crammed into a boat the size of a large living room sofa. This is the “ferry” that will take us across the water from Santa Cruz Island to Isabella. We’ve already prevented two other passengers from boarding by shouting “no room” very loudly.
As the boat makes it’s way out of our safe harbor, and the boat begins to pitch and roll, we all have second thoughts about the safety of such a passage.
None of us are wearing life jackets because the co-pilot has stashed them all in the storage at the front of the boat. The captain is situated in the back of the boat and can not even see ahead because the nose of the boat is higher than the rear. He is relying on his assistant to peek around the boat by sticking his head out to the side. As we leave the dock the co-pilot dons a rain jacket and glasses even though there is no sun.
As we pick up speed and the boat begins to smack into the oncoming waves, Lilli lets out a yelp with each hit. Everyone is now braced and cringes each time the ship launches into the air, knowing that a hard crack will follow when the underside collides again with the rough water.
The people surronding me make an interesting picture.
I have an Englishman to my left who is getting showered with the spray of the waves. One hand is protectively across his chest where his cigarettes are. He has mumbled to me that his “fags are ruined”. He looks like he is enduring his lot. Next to him is a young student from Florida who is studying at an oceanography institute on Isabella. She looks the most rested, staring peacefully into space and listening to music on her IP3. She is sitting next to a 20 something lad with his IPOD and earphones on, in a zone with glazed eyes. Beside him is a stout girl who is looking after her boyfriend who seems to be hyperventilating and keeps gulping air and looking nervously about. His girlfriend holds a plastic bag ready. Next to nervous boy is a drunken fellow sneaking plastic cup fulls of some liquor out of his backpack. Later on he gives up the guise and starts drinking straight from the bottle. He takes his video camera out no less than 7 times to film the same scene he has seen on the previous 6 shots. Next to drunk guy is the cool dude. He is well tanned with shades on and his music plugged into his ears. Beside him is a latin fellow clutching a satchel. Besides him is a large man who has sweated through his shorts and shirt and the salt rings are already beginning to show. Besides him is a beefy guy who calmly passes around mints to the needy. And then comes the young girl who doesn’t want to be there, here hooded parka pulled over her head and staring out to sea. Lilly has a towel draped over her shoulder to avoid the spray and is beside me. I have just removed my hand for the 5th time from the leg of the british bloke who I just can’t help squeezing for some reason every time Lilli lets out a squeek.

Isabella Island

Vistas great and small

Isla Bartolome and Pinnacle rock

This morning was spent on Bartolomé Island. This island is quite new in the Galapagos chain, only 500,000 years old, according to our guide Miguel. For this reason it’s volcanic crust and ash are predominate and there is little life here besides small scrubby “pioneer plants” and the lava lizards that feed on them. It does boast the most striking views in the islands and one can see lava fields, cinder cones, torquoise bays, and pinnacle rocks from the summit.
The highlight of this passage was the snorkel trip around the island. We spent 90 minutes circumnavigating the small island by fins. With the astounding clarity of the water and brillance of sea life, it was certainly a jewel of the trip. We saw tiny little penguins tootleing about, a lazy 7 foot shark sleeping in his den, playful sea lions swimming circles around us, and masses of fish schools, sea stars, and fluorescent orange corals, purple anenames, and green sea urchins. I would have eaten them for dinner if I could!

Sailing into the sunset

Genovesa Island