Wed-Friday

On Wednesday evening we went to the temple here in Guayaquil. It was beautiful! The temple grounds were definitely the cleanest and nicest in the city.

Yesterday and today were again spent at the maternity hospital. I’ve really come to love my time there. We don’t have specific responsibilities outlined by the hospital so we are allowed to choose our own work and our own patients. This makes it nice because we can scope out the room to find the women that need the most support and teaching.
Yesterday I helped two girls through their labor. I really bonded with both of them and was sad to see them wheeled off to the postpartum room when it was all over. I know they were glad to have me with them as well. At one point the nurse was wheeling my patient into the next room to give birth and she wouldn’t let go of my hand so I stumbled along behind the gurney trying not to get my arm yanked off.

Yesterday afternoon instead of doing my laundry I got roped into helping with a community CPR class. It was so hot! I was exhausted by the time we finished, but I think the women really enjoyed it so it was worth our time.
Oh, remember how I said they drive crazy here? Well on our way to the CPR class about 6 of us rode in the back of a pickup. It was terrifying (but still fun)!
Last night we had humitas and hayackas for dinner on the malecon right over the water. They're like tamales, but they're kinda sweet. Good stuff!
Today was my group's last day in the maternity hospital. I ended up seeing 3 deliveries. Overall I really loved my time in that hospital. I loved bonding with the women, even if I can't usually understand what they're saying to me. During my four days there I got bitten, squirted with blood, squeezed like a teddy bear, clawed (that hurt), and had one girl shake amniotic fluid all over me. It was way worth it though!
Some girls and I just got back from a dinner of pollo con arroz y frijoles. Muy buena! We also had to do luandry in the tub today, so that was a drag! We have clothes hanging all over the room. Hopefully they dry soon!
Tomorrow we're taking a trip to la playa! We're super excited to finally get too much sun! We also have a health fair here in Guayaquil tomorrow, so we have to prepare to teach about 200 people about nutrition, hyptertension, diabetes, CPR, and first aid. Should be fun!