Heeeey Everyone!So this week was so far my most favorite clinic to be at! I was a pediatric clinic JOn Monday I started the clinic by arriving and Dr. Parades did not have very many patients so her and I sat down and started to talk in Spanish about everything. Life, school, pediatrics, medical school- the differences in Ecuador and the US, how their training is different, what they focus on, etc. We talked about what her favorite part of the job is and what her least favorite part of her job is. Of course her favorite part is working with the little kids and her favorite ages are 3 months (because this is when the kids are starting to smile and their personalities are starting to come out) and 3 years (because they are now small adults, they can talk, walk, listen, and explain themselves). She was very nice, warm, and wiling to talk and explain anything and everything to me. When we had patients she would examine them and explain to me everything she was doing. Why she was moving the legs, what she was checking their bones for, how to check and make sure they are growing properly and then she would let me try. She would let me listen to their heart, lungs, and intestines as well. I also got to weight the babies, take their height, and their head circumference. When a baby was sick (depending on if they were screaming their head off or not) I was able to look into their throat and see if it was swollen. This is how the rest of my week went! It was great! We were able to talk a lot and I was able to see a wide range of patients! I saw a three week old baby girl and was able to hold her! J and it ranged all the way up to a 17 year old girl who was her for a site infection from a shot. Most of the kids we saw had a cold, sore throat, fever or the flu. Some were there for a well-child checkup and others just for lab results, test results, bowl problems, stomach aches, etc. Most of the same problems kids have in the US. Her office is very nice but little. She sees her patients within her little office; everything she needs is in her office. Her exam table, scale, height table, and refrigerator where she keeps her vaccines. The one sad thing was that a lot of the little babies we saw did not have all the recommended vaccines they needed, most did not have nearly all. The doctor made this point very clear to the parents that they need their child to have these vaccines but most of the parents did not seem like they cared. Dr. Parades was telling me this is a major problem here in Ecuador because this is why most of the infants are getting really sick and ending up with horrible diseases, because the parents cannot afford the cost of vaccines for their children and thus their children end up getting really sick. If they can afford and keep their children's immunizations up to date most of the kids grow and mature just fine. LOne interesting thing I saw this past week was a 15 year old mother with a 2 month old child, who had no idea what she was doing, or how to take care of her child. She did not know how to old him, feed him properly, or change him. Dr. Parades was trying to teach her but she had the "mentality" of not really taking it to heart. Luckily her older (17 year old) sister was there who was showing a greater interest and helping out with the little boy. What a sad situation. Dr. Parades said this happens very often here in Ecuador and girls as young as 12 years old are having babies because contraception is very hard to buy and get here. Ecuador is a catholic country and most men feel it is a horrible thing and do not want the women taking it. The men have the say here, and want their women pure and do not want them on any form of contraception and thus many young girls end up getting pregnant and either having the child or having an abortion. One girl we saw in the clinic was 17 years old and had already had 2 abortions. All in all I really enjoyed this clinic and the young babies! I loved the doctor that I worked with and everything I was able to see and do. I think mostly because this week was so informative, she was willing to talk to me and teach me anything and everything I wanted to know. Whenever I had a question, she had an answer. She would explain every patient that we had in detail to me, until I understood what was going, and the reason she did what she did. I like this kind of learning and feel this type is most beneficial for me! I had a great time here, and if there is time when I get back from Chone this is a clinic I would like to go back and visit again!--This weekend---This weekend has been pretty relaxing and quiet. On Friday we woke up and 4 of us girls (Julie, Monica, Victoria, and I) went up the TeleferiQo- a gondola up a mountain which overlooks the entire city of Quito. We went up to the top and look lots of pictures and hung out and talked and enjoyed the scenery for an hour or so before heading back down. Once we got back down we decided to go around and explore the city of Old Quito. There is a walk you can do which takes you by all the main historic points and exciting things to see which is about a 1.5 mile walk we thought would be fun. We ate lunch at a cute little restaurant before starting on our adventure. Along our walk we saw many churches and we able to go inside one church which is greatly known in Quito because the inside is made completely from Gold! It was awesome. However, they did not allow any photography L but I have it all up inside my head! Haha. A beautiful church though!! We also walked though the grand plaza. We stopped and Victoria got ice cream at a 140 year old ice cream place! The oldest ice cream place in Ecuador!!! It was cute J But it did end up upsetting her stomach so I'm glad I didn't end up trying it after all. After this we continued our walk and ended up at the Basicilla, an old Church which we had seen on our tour with the SpanishSchool. We wanted to hike to the top of the towers and today they were open! So we were able to hike to the top J and take lots of awesome pictures which I will post here soon! J It was a little sketch hiking to the very top because we had to hike up a little ladder outside which had wire around the bars…but don't worry we made it to the top and back down in one piece!!! Saturday our plan had been to go to Mindo for the weekend… the Cloud Forest where we can zip-line and explore and see a Butterfly Farm but we decided that we would wait until we got back from Chone to do this because Julie got pretty sick with a bad stomach bug, and I have been having some intestinal problems. So we opted to take a relaxing weekend in Quito instead! Which turned out to be a lot of fun! We went to the SuperMaxi (their type of grocery store here) and got bread, peanut butter, jelly, bananas, chips, and some drinks. Then we went to this little store where they sell DVD's for $1.50 in English and Spanish in great (excellent!) quality!! I bought 7 DVDs and so did Julie! I was able to buy Stepbrothers here and that movie is not even out in Blockbuster yet in the states!! J And the quality is perfect!! After we did this we went back to Julie's house made PB&J's and watched some movies and relaxed! What a nice day! LOL. Saturday night I went out to Turtle Bar with Monica, Caitlin and Victoria. We were debating what we wanted to drink because drinks were really expensive but then I noticed a sign that said "Saturday shots $1.50" So we opted for those instead! They had about 7 different shots for we all tried all each one! J And took lots of pictures! I got home around 1:00am this morning and then went to bed!This morning I woke up and Julie and I came to the plaza to use our computers!Tomorrow I start at the Maternidad Clinic -Sala de Partos! BIRTHS! I get to see live births!! I can't wait! It is going to be sooo exciting! This week is also the last week with everyone who is here in the program for 4 weeks so our week is packed with lots of adventures and exciting things! More on that to come later.Lots of love,Xoxo Britt