The First Week and Ecuador!!

Wow a lot has happened since I've posted last! I had my first week of work which went great! I love my preceptor, she is definitely an answer to prayer! I can't wait to get back there and keep working!

Now onto the best trip of my life!

Ecuador is quite possibly one of the neatest places I've been too.  I left Atlanta last Saturday and headed towards South America with no clue as to what was going to happen next!  We arrived in Quito after a 6 hour flight and some interesting in-flight food and luckily my luggage made it! The hotel we stayed in was actually really nice and we had running water and a toilet which was more than I thought we were going to have!  One of the things that you had to get used to right away was that you cant flush toilet paper there. Gross I know and its something thats really hard to remember especially when you have to pee at 6 in the morning and you're half asleep.

The second day we were there we went to the equator which was really cool! They showed us some really neat things that happen because of the magnetic forces from each the north and south poles. One we all know is how the water flows in opposite directions on each side of the equator but right on the equator it flows straight down.  We also got to try and balance an egg on a nail while on the equator which is a lot harder than it sounds! Somehow my egg stayed on the nail and I have a certificate to prove it! ha! The coolest part was standing on either side of the equator and being in the northern and southern hemisphere at the same time!

From Monday to Friday we conducted a health clinic for the women of the community where we educated them on things from nutrition to birth control and everything in between while they were waiting to see the nurse practitioner.  Every day we switched working between different places like the pharmacy, working with the children, triaging patients (getting their height/weight/blood pressure/etc.), and then doing exams with the nurse practitioners.  My favorite part was working with the nurse practitioner, which starting out the week, I was not real excited about seeing as I'm not a huge fan of women's health. But it was so neat to have a relationship with each of the women that we saw and then helping them with their problems and seeing that they left you different than when they came. The women that we saw were so sweet and they were so eager for someone to help them. All they were looking for was encouragement and someone to show them hope.  Throughout the week I would estimate that we saw near 200 women.

On Thursday night we went out to old town Quito which was such a beautiful part of the city. We ate at this amazing restaurant and then toured the city. When we got to one of our destinations a party bus pulls up and it took us around the city and the sights were breathtaking.

On Friday it was really sad to leave the people we had been working with all week who we had grown to know and love. I cant wait to go back soon and see the children we played with and see the women that we helped.

On our last day we got to go to a zip line in a cloud forest.  While we were zip lining we got to see a monkey that was swinging in the trees which was a surreal experience and then we went on a nature hike through the forest which was really neat to see because of all the pretty flowers, little water falls and to see that beautiful places like this still exist.  Then sadly we had to leave to go to the airport to catch a 12:30am flight. Talk about culture shock.

Now back in the US I realize how the Lord has truly blessed my life and I have realized that I love doing medical trips and I will be taking many more.  Please pray for the people of Ecuador, that the Lord will stir in their hearts.  In their society it is very male-driven and the women have very little say in what happens.  This past week we saw a lot of hurting people and I pray the Lord will comfort them in their struggles.

Also, a lot of the kids we worked with are being sponsored by compassion international and if anyone would like more information on how to sponsor a child please let me know!

For now I'm going to bed since I haven't really slept since yesterday morning and then its back to Arizona in the morning!