Men vs. Wild: My Home Away From Home

Greetings listeners. This update is coming to you from a local internet cafe in the town of Archidona, Ecuador. I arrived here two days ago and moved in to my temporary home for the next 4 weeks or so. I´m staying in a cabana in Amupakin, a clinic just south of Archidona, which is staffed by midwives practicing traditional Ecuadorian medicine. I am currently rooming with my new buddy Danny, another medical student volunteer. The accomodations are pretty nice: we each have our own room wtih a bed, and we share a small bathroom with a shower (no hot water). The clinic has a generator, but they only turn it on in the evening (after dark) until about 9:30pm, and occasionally in the mornings as well. The region we are in has been great so far. The people are very friendly (I was greeted out of the blue by a young boy riding on the bus the other evening). It is pretty hot/humid; the first day we were here was practically unbearable, but it has since cooled down a bit. Sleeping can be a bit rough at night. Also, akin to my experience in Costa Rica, we have had a bit of a battle with the indigenous inhabitants of our canaba (namely, bugs). They started out strong, but in the end, our side seems to have won the war after having cleared out some of their rather nasty soldiers -- I had a giant spider on my wall and a sizeable cockroach in my bed; Danny bested a bullet ant in his room. Since then, they seem to have realized our superior tactics and resigned to a shameful defeat.

We have worked in clinics for two days so far, both times in Cotundo, a town just North of Achidona. So far it has been really great. Nothing too out of the ordinary yet, and a bit of standing around, but still a great experience overall. All of the staff are super nice, and the doctor there was great. Tomorrow we will be working at a clinic in San Pablo (Southeast of Archidona), and on Saturday we will spend a halfday at a clinic in Tena (for a presentation, I believe). We are taking Sunday off (possibly going to do some tubing down the Tena river in Misahualli).

So, in addition to seeing the country and working in clinics, I have another rationale for my desire to travel  abroad: the food. So far, Ecuadorian food has been very appeasing, and certainly ample. Like Costa Rica, there is little diversity in the types of food; the flavors, however, are pleasantly variable. Lunch always consists of a soup (usually with vegetables and often some small portion of some meat) followed by the main dish, a big plate of rice, some sort of veggie/salad, and a meat (so far chicken or beef, often fried). Most restaurrants (where we typically eat lunch) serve a set almuerzo (read: lunch) which costs $1.25 - $2. Dinner often follows the same pattern (soup, rice, veggie, meat), but is a bit less rigid in its requirements. Since moving into Amupakin, the midwives have been cooking our breakfasts and lunches, and their meals are always exceptional. Last night we had a very interesting cut of fire-roasted chicken in which, as Danny pointed out, you could truly taste the flavor of the wood that we had been smelling. It was delicious. As in Costa Rica, plantains are used very frequently here, typically fried. Also like Costa Rica, they serve them both ripe (maduros, which were my absolute favorite food while in Costa Rica -- so far they haven´t been quite as good here), and unripe/green (patacones, which are also very delicious and more similar to a french fry). Plaintains are also used to make breads, though as of yet I haven´t had the opportunity to try this variant. It is pretty incredible the diversity of dishes they can prepare with plaintains, and bananas too, for that matter. So far for breakfast at Amupakin, we have had eggs (either fried or scrambled), along with friend bananas (a bit dry), and fried/mashed patacones (delicious!). Ah, one last point about the food, as I am sure you are all drooling by this point -- I know I am (blame any types on the slobbery keyboard). Often times the soup will be served with a bowl of popcorn, which is supposed to be put into the soup to give it a bit of texture (since the soups are usually pretty brothy and often not very substantial) -- Mom, I had you in mind while trying it this afternoon. New favorite, perhaps? I wasn´t quite sure how I felt about it personally, but then again, I´m not a huge fan of popcorn, so who am I to say? I very much look forward to trying more tasty local delicacies during the rest of my stay.