An Update on Bowel Movements

Blog 11. Quito, Ecuador.

Spanish class is difficult. Giant mandarins optional.

At this point, after observing different rotations and blogging, I think it’s become pretty obvious to everybody here that this is a cultural experience rather than a highly technical one.

Today, because Dr. Alvear was occupied by his medical students, and because the nurses were not at the office today, we did not end up learning much in the way of medicine. We did get to learn a LOT about indigenous medicine from our Spanish teacher Angel (pronounced An-Hel), who is a super cool dude who has lived in the jungle with indigenous tribes for three years, working as a nurse. Before that he was a commander in the Ecuadorian army and fought in the war against Peru.

He spoke a lot about indigenous medicine and practices: for one thing, a lot of indigenous people will prefer their natural medicines to Western ones, because of their beliefs. For example, in order to induce abortions, women will prepare a mixture of achote, a native plant of red color; a rabo de rata, the dried tail of a rat; and pepas de aguacate, seed of an avocado; and then mash it all up (machaka). Another very popular plant is Yawasca, which is used as a purifying remedy: locals will take the plant and then prepare and consume it in a way that induces vomiting. Yawasca also induces hallucinations, which are used in a ritual to be able to see one’s future.

There are a lot of interesting tidbits Angel shares with us; we’re going to the Amazon this weekend and living with a local tribe, so I might be able to blog in a better-informed way than now. But I’ll definitely keep you all posted!

After class, a group of friends and I went to Banditos, which is an artisanal craft beer bar in the seedier part of Old Town Quito. The beer was AMAZING - and the company was better. It was the first time I had ever gone to a sit-down bar without dancing and actually had a good time; I think it really depends on the people you bring with you though. Everyone was down to have a good time, so it was pretty easy to relax and talk. We had an awesome conversation about the political atmosphere of Ecuador (will post more on that later).

Also, I think I’m finally done with my traveler’s diarrhea. Sorry not sorry for oversharing, haha, but I just want to remind everyone who romanticizes travel that yes, it’s AWESOME, and yes, you meet all sorts of interesting people, and yes, you get to see AMAZING, once-in-a-lifetime things, but it’s also stressful and tiring and dirty sometimes and sometimes you just have a shitty day, like getting robbed because you stand out or realizing that you are completely out of your element in another country. A lot of times, you get nauseous and ill and besides diarrhea you also have vomiting (I didn’t, thank goodness, but all of these things I’ve mentioned has happened to my friends) and sometimes you aren’t 100% to enjoy traveling. But usually the experiences outweigh the bad parts. So yes, I think I’m finally done with my diarrhea! Hooray!

Overall, a super solid day.

(teehee sorry couldn’t help myself)

xoxo,

Diana