Ecuadorian Days

I decided that rather than sending e-mails out to everyone I’d just update my blog on a more regular basis. Therefore I’m starting now.

One thing I have not mentioned is that Ecuadorians are scary drivers. First, everyone just drives around honking. At first I either thought they were honking at pedestrians (which they should, cause pedestrians have death wishes) or at our group of American females (which is still sometimes the case). But really, I’ve gathered that they just periodically honk so that the other cars know where they are. This brings me to the fact that nobody stays in their lanes! There may be 2 lanes on a road, but there are 4 cars crammed across it! They just squeeze together, cut each other off, and pay no attention to where they’re going. It’s a little scary, but I’m just glad I don’t have to drive.

Yesterday was our first day of clinicals here in Ecuador. My group of six started at the maternity hospital called Sotomayor. We had a good chuckle when they gave us our scrubs to wear in the unit. Let’s just say we’re a little bit taller than the average Ecuadorian! The scrub pants only reach to about 6 inches above our shoes, so they’re really more like capris.

The labor and delivery rooms were packed with rows of laboring women. There were usually between 10 and 20 patients at one time. No privacy at all! The doctors go around checking on the women without a thought of keeping people covered, but nobody really seams to mind. Also, they don’t even give the women pillows. Instead they all lay their heads on the pads that later get to absorb whatever comes out of them. Quite comfy! When they want a drink of water they get to use the community drinking glass (we wash it of course), and when they want an epidural… nada!

The nurses there are not like in the US. They mostly fill out paper work and such, but don’t perform a lot of the functions that we do in the states. Well the hospital doesn’t allow family (not even husbands) to help in the labor room, so there are a ton of women going through tons of pain without anyone to assist them. That’s where BYU nursing students come into play. We pick a few women who look like they’re not coping well at all (either from emotional of physical stress) and do all we can to make them comfortable. So yesterday I worked with two patients. The first was a little 18 year old having her first baby. She was in a lot of pain and was quite terrified (as are many of the young mothers). She kept saying “I’m done, I’m leaving” as she started to climb out of bed. I don’t know where she thought she was going or what she was going to do when she got out! My second patient was having her first baby as well. She kept saying “ayudame” or “help me” throughout her labor. Later, while she was actually giving birth, she yelled at me “porque no me ayuda?”. I don’t know if she wanted me to help her push, but I don’t think that would have been to beneficial. That same woman actually bit me at one point. I was holding her hand while she was pushing the baby out when she yanked my hand to her mouth and bit down. Then she realized it was my hand, not hers. Haha, she didn’t break the skin so it’s all good. I had fun with her.

Nobody gets any pain medication, so the labor room is filled with moans, groans, crying, and an occasional shriek. You know how birth is really dramatic in movies? Well that’s how it goes in Guayaquil too. There was one woman who was screaming so loud that a nurse had her bite a pad to muffle the sound. All the other women were a tad nervous after they saw what she was going through.

Today I saw a c-section and then stood with a scared little teenager for 2 hours holding her up as she collapsed on me during her contractions. My arms were trembling from exhaustion by the time I left (not to mention sweaty). She was adorable and so inexperienced. I can’t imagine she had any preparation for what she was going through. When it came time for me to leave her (before she gave birth) she said “no vas conmigo aya (pointing to the birth room)?” and started to cry. It was so sweet! I wished I could have stayed with her ‘til she had the baby. The doctors and nurses are a little cold and don’t do a whole lot of encouraging. Poor girl.

Anyway, that was the hospital.

Yesterday my roommates and I took a walk to the lighthouse of Guayaquil. There are 444 steps on stairs that lead to it. The weather was overcast, so we were able to tolerate the afternoon heat. The lighthouse is pretty much the center point of Guayaquil and it overlooks the city in every direction. It was an awesome sight! This place is huge! On our way home we found a little restaurant for dinner, and then headed back to our hotel. Our days are busy and I barely find time to write an email, let alone lie around with a book. It’s fun to have stuff to do though. The time is already passing super fast, and before I know it I’ll be back in the states.

Stairway to the lighthouse

Sporting our new Ecuadorian purses!

Posing with a random sailor
Us with the hospital administrator

Tonight we are all going to the temple. They should have headsets so we can get the English version (thank goodness!). The whole Spanish thing is seriously exhausting. I can only understand about half the time and the other half I’m frantically trying to find someone to translate for me.

Alright that’s enough for now! Thanks for reading my travel log. I hope you find it amusing.