Monday, May 25, 2009
Ecuador
The day before Michelle, Chelsie, Becky and Nan (Becky's mom) decided to go to Ecuador, Michelle talked me into going. :) Thank goodness I still had my passport from before I got married, which expires in 6 months! So I hurried and packed, spent the night at Michelle's, (well, got like a 3 hour nap) and we met all the other girls at the airport.
Nan is a total riot. :) By far one of my new favorite people!
Michelle and I on our way to Houston. Thank goodness both Michelle and Nan go to the passport place early (before 12:00pm) because they had an appointment set up at 1:30pm, but were told if they hadn't been there at 11:30, they both would've had to wait til the next day to get their passports! Craziness! But they got their passports on our layover, and we were on our way to Ecuador once again!
The agency we went through for the service project was "Charity Anywhere".
Us in front of the bus, waiting to go on our first trip!
We got to see the middle of an active volcano- which they don't expect to erupt for quite some time. (At least I hope not, since a lot of people have farm-lands on top of it right now!) I believe this is Cotopaxi. (But don't quote me on that.)
Cute little old guy that gave us a history lesson on Ecuador, the volcanos, etc. It was quite informative!
I was trying to get a picture of the bug on his hat.
Almost got it. I need a better lens I guess. :)
We went to the Equator, the "Center of the Earth" and got to see a bunch of neat things.
The ampitheater Michelle and I got sunburnt at while waiting for the rest of the group to finish their tour (which we would've gone on too, but didn't know it was an actual tour; we thought it was just "Pay $5.00 to see this line" but that's okay- I guess we can always google or youtube it, lol!)
After seeing the Equator, we went to this restaurant that served fresh guinea pigs. We weren't brave enough to try it (although I have eaten many weird things before) but they gave us this hot sweet drink that I SWEAR wasn't alcoholic, but Michelle insists it was. Oh well. I drank it all- and so did everyone else, but to this day I'm sticking by my word that it was some sort of hot herbal tea, and not alcoholic, lol!
Afterwards, we were able to go on this tram to the point of the eart that is closest to space out of any other part of the earth, because of the way gravity pulls (or something like that- I should pay closer attention).
I think this is Mt. Chimborazo.
The next day we went to church.
Then we finally made it to Otavalo! After some finagling, we managed to get a room for the 5 of us gals. It was a lot of fun. :)
The view looking out from the clinic onto the street.
People waiting to be let in at the upstairs entrance- notice the guy with the peace sign. :)
I love seeing the traditional dress of the women in Otavalo!
Me working on a VERY scared little girl. She as about 6.
You can see her look up at me, trusting me- she was soooooo good!
Cute little girl that was waiting with her parents for us to see them.
Mercedes, part of a group of students from Southern Virginia University, playing with another adorable little girl. We joined up with the group of 13 or 14 kids from Southern Virgina University to give both medical and dental care to the people in Ecuador.
Isn't this woman's teeth awesome? I thought they were real- until she took her "grill" out for me. :) LOL
The set-up wasn't too bad; but it wasn't until Thursday that I found you could actually move the chair so you could get in the 12:00 position! I was one of the lucky ones with a rolly-chair, poor Michelle and others didn't even have rolly chairs, they had wooden chairs. Which is no wonder why Michelle's back gave out on her Thursday night.
Me and another cute Otavalian lady.
Michelle and I caught these kids staring at us from the window outside- (broken middle panel) so we went outside to talk to them.
They were so cute! Michelle gave them quick oral hygiene education instructions, and gave them some toothbrushes.
Michelle telling them to brush 2 times a day, especially at night, etc.
View from the clinic down the street- notice the medical bus parked on the side.
Michelle talking to a little boy she had pulled teeth on the day before; his mom had come back to be a patient of Michelle's. Obviously the experience the kid had wasn't too traumatic (he was screaming like nobody's business the day before) because he gladly gave Michelle a hug, and kept smiling at her.
Little boy that was staring at us while we were working.
One of the pictures of the massive amounts of calculus that I got to take off. So cool!
This guy was farming right next to the clinic! I thought it was funny that each time someone realized I was taking a picture of them, they would wave or smile or give me a peace sign. I was trying to catch him "au natural" but I like the wave.
Dr. Lee Francis, Rebecca's husband, came in Wednesday night. He is an amazing doctor that has a practice in Wyoming, and it was sooooo nice having him come. He did a lot of very good quality work, and it was neat watching him do what he needed to do, as well as have him encourage us while we did fillings and extractions. (Only in Ecuador, right?) Dr. Francis even extracted a woman's tooth at the hotel, just in a regular dining room chair! He is amazing.
Alex and I on our last day of work- we all went up in the back of the medical bus, and WOW, that was like a roller-coaster ride! 
Last day working! (For me, anyway! The rest of the group went on to Tena, then to the Galapagos Islands.)
Cara (SVU) and I going home after the last clinic day- in the back of the truck. Much better than the back of the medical bus. Cara was THE BEST assistant ever!! Especially for never having any dental experience at all! She was wonderful!
Chelsie's birthday was on Friday! It is the 2nd anniversary of her turning 23. :)
We tried to get Chelsie some good cakes- unfortunately there's not a super huge selection, but after going to 4 different bakeries, this is what we came up with. Sorry Chels! Well, I guess it wasn't TOO bad, but yeah.
The chef at the hotel that served us all our meals.
Saturday is the big market day- the streets were lined up with vendors everywhere! I kept getting lost.
My mom would have loved coming with me. She loves markets like this, where there's everything from vegetables, to meat, to clothes. Since Ecuador is the southern country to Colombia, where we lived for several years, I'm sure it's very similar to the markets my mom went to all the time while living in Colombia.
Interesting push-cart thing that they use- complete with a lever that steers the wheels right or left.
Tons and tons and tons of stuff.
Fried fish brings back memories of my grandma- she would serve something similar to us when she lived with us.
View from a balcony- just a tiny bit of the bustling market place.
Leaving Otavalo, going back to Quito.
During our 9 hour layover in Houston. Yup, that's right, 9 hours! And both Michelle, Nan, and I had very bad "problems" LOL. That made us have to go to the bathroom frequently. Thank goodness Michelle's back was doing better by then, though, and we were almost home!
Nan on our 9 hour layover, getting some much-needed rest after staying up all night sick the day before. 
This would have to be one of my favorite pictures from Ecuador. It was such a wonderful trip- and I'm glad I was able to meet such neat people from Southern Virgina University, as well as get to know Becky and Chelsie and Nan a lot better! And, of course, I'm glad I was able to hang out with Michelle, who I will always be grateful to for helping me make the last-minute decision to go on this service trip.
Nan is a total riot. :) By far one of my new favorite people!
Michelle and I on our way to Houston. Thank goodness both Michelle and Nan go to the passport place early (before 12:00pm) because they had an appointment set up at 1:30pm, but were told if they hadn't been there at 11:30, they both would've had to wait til the next day to get their passports! Craziness! But they got their passports on our layover, and we were on our way to Ecuador once again!The agency we went through for the service project was "Charity Anywhere".
Us in front of the bus, waiting to go on our first trip!We got to see the middle of an active volcano- which they don't expect to erupt for quite some time. (At least I hope not, since a lot of people have farm-lands on top of it right now!) I believe this is Cotopaxi. (But don't quote me on that.)Cute little old guy that gave us a history lesson on Ecuador, the volcanos, etc. It was quite informative!I was trying to get a picture of the bug on his hat.Almost got it. I need a better lens I guess. :) We went to the Equator, the "Center of the Earth" and got to see a bunch of neat things. The ampitheater Michelle and I got sunburnt at while waiting for the rest of the group to finish their tour (which we would've gone on too, but didn't know it was an actual tour; we thought it was just "Pay $5.00 to see this line" but that's okay- I guess we can always google or youtube it, lol!) Us watching some llamas get fed.
After seeing the Equator, we went to this restaurant that served fresh guinea pigs. We weren't brave enough to try it (although I have eaten many weird things before) but they gave us this hot sweet drink that I SWEAR wasn't alcoholic, but Michelle insists it was. Oh well. I drank it all- and so did everyone else, but to this day I'm sticking by my word that it was some sort of hot herbal tea, and not alcoholic, lol!
Afterwards, we were able to go on this tram to the point of the eart that is closest to space out of any other part of the earth, because of the way gravity pulls (or something like that- I should pay closer attention).
I think this is Mt. Chimborazo.
The next day we went to church.
Then we finally made it to Otavalo! After some finagling, we managed to get a room for the 5 of us gals. It was a lot of fun. :) Us outside of the hotel.
We had every lunch and dinner together- provided by the hotel. It was always some type of soup, either popcorn or some other appetizer, and then the main meal- and then dessert. I swear I haven't eaten meals like that ever!
Michelle sporting one of the juice-drinks that they served fresh with each meal- sometimes it was melon, sometimes it was watermelon, sometimes tree-tomato, etc. The juice may or may not have caused us severe diarrhea later on. :P Each breakfast was a roll, with THE BEST hot chocolate ever!
Us on the daily drive up to the clinic, in the back of one of the pickups. Michelle, Sam, and me.
The view looking out from the clinic onto the street. People waiting outside of the clinic- there were two entrances, a downstairs entrance and an upstairs entrance.
People waiting to be let in at the upstairs entrance- notice the guy with the peace sign. :) I love seeing the traditional dress of the women in Otavalo! View from the second floor in the clinic (there were three floors) that looked out into this "Secret Garden" as Michelle dubbed it, it was quite a view. Michelle and some other girls from Southern Virginia University tried to find a way in (I was too chicken- what if there were snakes or huge bugs or something?) but luckily they couldn't find a way in- but found some chickens and pigs instead out nearby. Too bad I don't have pics of those.
Me working on a VERY scared little girl. She as about 6. You can see her look up at me, trusting me- she was soooooo good! The same little girl crashed in a chair afterwards- while waiting for me to finish her mom. :) It was cute. I wish I would've gotten another picture of yet another girl, who was 3, who FELL ASLEEP in my chair as I was working on her! LOL! I guess that's good that I have that calming of an effect, right? :) Although not always- I definitely had my share of intersting experiences.
Cute little girl that was waiting with her parents for us to see them.
Mercedes, part of a group of students from Southern Virginia University, playing with another adorable little girl. We joined up with the group of 13 or 14 kids from Southern Virgina University to give both medical and dental care to the people in Ecuador.
Isn't this woman's teeth awesome? I thought they were real- until she took her "grill" out for me. :) LOLThe set-up wasn't too bad; but it wasn't until Thursday that I found you could actually move the chair so you could get in the 12:00 position! I was one of the lucky ones with a rolly-chair, poor Michelle and others didn't even have rolly chairs, they had wooden chairs. Which is no wonder why Michelle's back gave out on her Thursday night. Me and another cute Otavalian lady. Michelle (in her hard wooden chair) and her assistant Elizabeth, another student from Southern Virginia University.
Chelsie Todd (UCDH) and her assistant Alex, who is also from the Southern Virginia University group.
Rebecca Francis (UCDH) and her assistant Lauren, also from SVU.
Michelle and I caught these kids staring at us from the window outside- (broken middle panel) so we went outside to talk to them. 
They were so cute! Michelle gave them quick oral hygiene education instructions, and gave them some toothbrushes.
Michelle telling them to brush 2 times a day, especially at night, etc.
View from the clinic down the street- notice the medical bus parked on the side.
Michelle talking to a little boy she had pulled teeth on the day before; his mom had come back to be a patient of Michelle's. Obviously the experience the kid had wasn't too traumatic (he was screaming like nobody's business the day before) because he gladly gave Michelle a hug, and kept smiling at her.
Little boy that was staring at us while we were working. One of the pictures of the massive amounts of calculus that I got to take off. So cool! This guy was farming right next to the clinic! I thought it was funny that each time someone realized I was taking a picture of them, they would wave or smile or give me a peace sign. I was trying to catch him "au natural" but I like the wave. 
Dr. Lee Francis, Rebecca's husband, came in Wednesday night. He is an amazing doctor that has a practice in Wyoming, and it was sooooo nice having him come. He did a lot of very good quality work, and it was neat watching him do what he needed to do, as well as have him encourage us while we did fillings and extractions. (Only in Ecuador, right?) Dr. Francis even extracted a woman's tooth at the hotel, just in a regular dining room chair! He is amazing.Alex and I on our last day of work- we all went up in the back of the medical bus, and WOW, that was like a roller-coaster ride! Everyone's legs spread apart, in case we went flying around a corner- it was pretty funny.
Maybe I'm the only one that thought it was funny. Nobody else looks amused in this picture (above). :) 
The medical bus- that I will thankfully never have to stand in the back of again while going to the clinic. :)
Last day working! (For me, anyway! The rest of the group went on to Tena, then to the Galapagos Islands.) Cara (SVU) and I going home after the last clinic day- in the back of the truck. Much better than the back of the medical bus. Cara was THE BEST assistant ever!! Especially for never having any dental experience at all! She was wonderful! Chelsie's birthday was on Friday! It is the 2nd anniversary of her turning 23. :)
We tried to get Chelsie some good cakes- unfortunately there's not a super huge selection, but after going to 4 different bakeries, this is what we came up with. Sorry Chels! Well, I guess it wasn't TOO bad, but yeah. The chef at the hotel that served us all our meals.
Saturday is the big market day- the streets were lined up with vendors everywhere! I kept getting lost.
My mom would have loved coming with me. She loves markets like this, where there's everything from vegetables, to meat, to clothes. Since Ecuador is the southern country to Colombia, where we lived for several years, I'm sure it's very similar to the markets my mom went to all the time while living in Colombia.
Interesting push-cart thing that they use- complete with a lever that steers the wheels right or left.
Tons and tons and tons of stuff.
Fried fish brings back memories of my grandma- she would serve something similar to us when she lived with us.
View from a balcony- just a tiny bit of the bustling market place.
Leaving Otavalo, going back to Quito.
During our 9 hour layover in Houston. Yup, that's right, 9 hours! And both Michelle, Nan, and I had very bad "problems" LOL. That made us have to go to the bathroom frequently. Thank goodness Michelle's back was doing better by then, though, and we were almost home!
Nan on our 9 hour layover, getting some much-needed rest after staying up all night sick the day before. This would have to be one of my favorite pictures from Ecuador. It was such a wonderful trip- and I'm glad I was able to meet such neat people from Southern Virgina University, as well as get to know Becky and Chelsie and Nan a lot better! And, of course, I'm glad I was able to hang out with Michelle, who I will always be grateful to for helping me make the last-minute decision to go on this service trip.
6 comments:
I think that was the longest post I've ever done, lol. Complete with 60-something pics, but I didn't count- maybe it's 50-something pics. :)
That has got to be one of the coolest things to do!!! Good for you and thank for you sharing all the great pictures!!
what an awesome, beautiful experience. so glad you went.
xoxo
So great that you got to go! you girls rock! I miss you all!!
I didn't know that's why you were going! That is such a great experience. I love all the pictures!
kris, you are the greatest friend in the world .thanks so much for making the decision to come. we had so much fun, even when we had the ecuadorian version of montezuma's revenge!!! THANKS EVER SO MUCH FOR POSTING THESE PICS AND STORIES ON YOUR BLOG. my dad said to tell you thank you so much for blogging about the trip.
love,
michelle