One Month at Site!

Hello friends! I've been at my site in Alausi for exactly one month today. Yay! In honor of this anniversary, this morning I baked a Carrot Cake to share with my family. They wanted to save it for dessert tonight, so I haven't tried it yet, but it smelled delish coming out of the oven.

Instead of boring you with my thoughts and feelings, I've prepared some facts and figures to capture my first 31 days of work and play in Alausi and Tixan. Enjoy!

Altitude of Alausi in meters: 2,347
Altitude of Alausi in feet: 7,700
Altitude of Tixan in meters: 2,940
Altitude of Tixan in feet: 9,645
Number of communities the clinic in Tixan serves: 44
Total population of the parroquia of Tixan: 10,619
Population of Tixan under 15: 6,695
Previous cost of 30 minute bus ride from Alausi to Tixan: 40 cents
Current cost of same bus ride after price hikes: 50 cents
Number of times bus guy has said "Texas?" after I said "Tixan" when asked where I'm going: 3
Cost of lunch in Tixan (soup, rice, meat, salad, juice): $1.50

Number of nutrition/hygiene surveys I've done at the clinic: 82
Number of women who have walked out of survey because they couldn't understand me: 1

Percent of interviewees who traveled one hour or more to clinic from home: 54
Percent of interviewees who walked to clinic: 41
Percent of interviewees who report eating meat 2 times a week or less: 81
Percent of interviewees who own a milk cow: 58
Percent of interviewees who own chickens: 30
Percent of interviewees who report always boiling drinking water for their kids: 35
Percent of interviewees who report always boiling drinking water for themselves: 30
Percent of interviewees who have a family vegetable garden: 53
Percent of interviewees who report eating vegetables every day: 50
Top three vegetables that interviewees report consuming frequently: Chard, carrot, cabbage
Percent of interviewees who report eating fruit every day: 15
Top three fruits that interviewees report consuming frequently: Apple, banana, orange/mandarin

Typical hours of running water at host house: 4:30 am to 9:00 pm
Number of pounds I've gained since I got to Ecuador: 13
Pairs of pants that will fit me if I gain any more weight: 0
Number of books I've read since June 1: 3
Number of pictures I've taken since June 1: 852

Alausi, Week Three

Hello from Alausi! This is where I live now.

ALAUSÍ

I've been here 3 weeks now. Here's a recap:

Day 1: Host mom tells me the family is moving September 1. Is that a problem? Uh, yeah.

Days 2-4: I spent these days getting to know the town, limping through some truly horrible Spanish, and wondering what I'm doing with my life. Also, I made Banana Bread.

And also wondering what the heck I´m eating. This is fruit?

Day 5: First day of work. Surprise! My counterpart got back a week early from vacation. We visited a couple rural clinics and I stood around awkwardly while my counterpart (a nutritionist) and the doctors discussed paperwork.

Day 6: Visited some more health clinics. This video shows a part of the road to a particularly remote clinic in Sevilla. Consider taking a Dramamine before watching this if you have a tendency to get car sick.

Day 7: First day at the clinic in Tixan. It was PACKED. One of the nurses introduced me to the entire waiting room (40ish people), I said a few stuttering sentences in Spanish, and started giving nutrition counseling. Later I went with the host family to pre-approve the new house. It has 5 bedrooms and a regular size kitchen!

Subcentro, aka clinic, in Tixán

Day 8: Hung out at the clinic in Tixan.

Day 9: Day tripped to Riobamba with a few of my fellow Omnibus 106ers. Ate a delicious cheeseburger. Later I screwed up 

the bus schedule and arrived 2 hours late to an extended family's baptism party. No one seemed concerned. I ate cuy at 11pm, danced with very old man around 12am, and drank watered down whiskey until 1:30am.

Day 10: Bought an oregano seedling for 25 cents... Let the herb garden begin! Made Oatmeal Cookies with 10 year old host nephew.

Day 11: Peace Corps came and approved new house. Yay, I have a place to live!

Day 12-15: Hung out at the clinic in Tixán, occasionally giving sensible nutrition advice, mostly reading health manuals, staring into space or Super Jewel Questing. Went with Vivi to day care center to set up possible cooking class with parents.

Kids under 5 in the Centro de Buen Vivir

Day 16: Are we ever going to move? Oh yes of course, why don't we start at 4pm Saturday afternoon? Also, Nick visited for dinner.

Day 17: More moving, mostly avoided by lunching with Meredith for many hours. (Don't judge; you would've done the same thing.)

Day 18: Met nutrition intern Viviana in Tixan and observed her giving informed counseling in intelligible Spanish. Took copious notes. Introduced myself to people at the PDA, or Plan del Desarollo del Área or Plan for Area Development. Talked about coordinating efforts to work in communities surrounding Tixán.

Vivi the nutrition intern gives a charla to the ladies in waiting.

Day 19: More observing in Tixán. Also started testing an abbreviated interview about nutrition and hygiene habits. Baked about 5 dozen Oatmeal Raisin Walnut Cookies (with Quinoa flour!).

Day 20: Handed out cookies to interview participants and their kids at the clinic in Tixan. Great reception! Note to self: No one will refuse to be interviewed in exchange for a cookie. 

Day 21: Tixán all day! Did lots more mini-interviews, which are are turning out to be extremely helpful. Ate an entire deep fried fish at lunch.

Alright, hope everyone is doing well! Send me an email or a letter or something. I would be delighted to hear from home!